Reuters World News - Trump tariffs, Abbas, Meta chatbots, UK migration and Tony Hawk

Episode Date: August 30, 2025

A U.S. court rules most Trump-era tariffs illegal but leaves them in place for now. The U.S. blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the UN General Assembly. Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission. A UK asylum hotel ruling comes amid anti-migration unrest and as national flags appear across British streets. And Tony Hawk’s legendary skateboard heads to auction - with a price tag that could hit $700,000.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here.  Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Recommended Listen: ⁠On Assignment Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices.  You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, a US court rules most Trump tariffs are illegal. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is denied a visa for the UN General Assembly. US warships stir tension in the Caribbean. Meta has created flirty chatbots of celebrities without their permission. A UK asylum ruling could add fuel to anti-migration unrest. Tony Hawke's legendary skateboard heads to auction and a look at the sporting highlights for the week ahead. It's Saturday, August 30th.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. Most of President Donald Trump's tariffs are not legal. That's according to a divided U.S. appeals court. Voting 7 to 4 again. what Trump calls reciprocal tariffs from his trade war in April,

as well as separate levies against China, Canada and Mexico. Trump has lamented the decision by what he calls a highly partisan court. Posting on truth's social, if these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country. The court is allowing the tariffs to remain in place through October 14th to give the Trump administration a chance to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Obviously, we would like to see all diplomats and delegates who are entitled to come here to be able to travel freely. UN spokesperson Stefan Dujahik there,

responding to news that the U.S. will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for the UN General Assembly. Several U.S. allies have said they will use the U.S. allies. meeting to recognize Palestine as a state. Abbas's office says the visa decision violates the UN headquarters agreement, while the State Department has reiterated long-standing allegations that Palestinian leadership has failed to repudiate extremism. As we reported in yesterday's pod, the U.S. is building up its naval presence in the Southern Caribbean, raising tensions with Venezuela. Reporter Idris Ali has more.

This is pretty interesting for a couple of reasons, the first one being quite a large show of force for a region that usually doesn't get it. We're talking more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on these ships that are going to be in this region. And to sort of do the counter-narcotics that the administration is talking about doesn't necessarily require that amount of people. And secondly, the US administration is talking about this publicly. For a long time, the US military has had this mantra where it's not going to talk about submarines and where they are, except this time they are. And so officials in Krakis and Venezuela,

it's got their attention and they're wondering what's going on. Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro is denouncing the operation and says the U.S. is violating the UN Charter. The Maduro government has sort of hinted that this is aimed at them, that the United States might be interested in regime change. The Trump administration has not really commented on this, But it does raise the possibility if the troops that are not there for counter-cartel missions or that not being their only mission, what else are there there for? The British government has won a court ruling that means asylum seekers can remain in a hotel where a resident was charged with sexual assault.

It's a decision that could ignite more protests and criticism from opponents. The leader of Britain's Anti-Migration Party Reform UK is Nigel Farage, who this week announced a plan to repeal human rights laws to allow for mass deportations of asylum seekers. Unless we start deporting people, I predicted this would turn into, and yes, I use the word, invasion. Growing public anger over immigration has sparked weeks of protests across the country.

And now, British streets have seen a sudden wave of national flags across towns and cities. That's unusual in the United States. the UK, where flag displays are typically reserved for football matches, royal events, or military parades. Our reporter Katrina Demoni tells us more. We spoke to various people on the streets here in London, and some people would say we should be flying these flags with pride, but then others, and especially people from migrant communities

and people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, are concerned that they are being targeted. And more than that, they are really concerned that this campaign could escalate further. An exclusive story now, and Reuters has found that Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez, to create dozens of flirty social media chatbots without their permission. While many were created by users with a meta tool for building chatbots, Reuters has discovered that a meta employee had produced at least three. The chatbots often insisted they were real celebrities and made sexual advances, with some producing intimate AI-generated images when requested.

Meta removed about a dozen of the bots after being questioned by Reuters, and a company spokesperson says the AI tool shouldn't have created such content and blamed policy enforcement failures. Many of you will have been following the drama of the US Open, but it's a busy week ahead in sports around the globe. We called up our global sports editor, Ocean Shine, to catch us up on the highlights. One of the really big stories this weekend is the return of Formula One.

It's going to be in Holland. It's probably going to be a bit damp and drizzly. And it's normally flooded with orange-clad Dutch fans, cheering Max Verstappen to victory. This year, the Red Bull Driver, he's not at the front of the grid. It's all about McLaren. It's going to be the Australian, Oscar Piaastri, Orlando Norris, the Brit.

I mean, they are miles afed of everyone else. Another big story, actually, if we can head down under, is going to be the Sydney Marathon. It's become one of the marathon majors for the first time. It's going to be a sensational race. You've got Elliot Kip Chogi, one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, and Sifan Hassan in the women's race, who is this extraordinary run.

phenomenon who can run a marathon one week and win a mile race the next. And while the English Premier League is a few weeks underway, it's the action off the pitch that's grabbing attention, right? Exactly that. One thing you can rely on is the English Premier League transfer breaking new records. So they're at about 2.4 billion already now in player trades. And it still has come down to a couple of clubs on one player, and that's Alexander Isaac, who is desperate to sign for Liverpool.

He's currently with Newcastle, and he claims that they promised that he would be allowed to leave at the end of last season. They don't recall that conversation. He's essentially on strike. He's not playing. It's just a lose-lose situation, as the Newcastle manager has put it. And now to a bit of sports memorabilia. Tony Hawk is parting with the skateboard that launched him into legend.

It's the one he used to land the first ever 900, a two and a half spin in midair at the 1999 X Games. I've never been really sentimental about my gear. The board and other gear from his career are hitting the auction block, with proceeds going to build skate parks in underserved communities. The board, once worth about $150, could fetch up to $700,000. Hawke says he hopes the deck means something to the buyer. I hope it skateboarding somehow resonated in their life

and that this means something to them in that respect. Bidding opens September 23rd in Los Angeles. And now, our latest episode of our long-form podcast on assignment is out. Today, we hear from Ukrainians who have fled their hometown of Enahoda, which is now under Russian occupation. It's also the site of Europe's largest newfoundland. a power plant, which Russia sees as crucial. To do so, Russia and its state energy company Rosatum have taken control of Anahodar with the

goal of turning it into a Russian atomic city. Now the town is a desolate shadow of its former self. The streets are patrolled by Russian soldiers. Schools, grocery stores, factories, nearly every facet of life, is now run by the streets. now run by Russian law enforcement and its state energy company. So what happens when a foreign country seizes your town? From Reuters, this is on assignment. We'll put a link in today's description. Make sure to listen and follow on your favorite podcast platforms. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily

headline show.