Reuters World News - Trump’s Russia ultimatum, China's diplomacy and strawberry pasta

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump gives Russia a 50-day deadline to end the Ukraine war. China ramps up its soft power as Beijing capitalizes on U.S. foreign aid cuts. And Wimbledon tennis champion Iga Swiatek's favorite food - strawberry pasta. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. 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, Trump reverses course arming Kiev and handing Moscow a deadline. China steps up as the US pulls back on the diplomatic front. The Fed chair asks for a fresh look at a pricey renovation project. And strawberry pasta, yes, it really is a thing. This is Royce's World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will manufacture Patriot Air Defense missiles for Ukraine. And he's issuing a 50-day ultimatum to Russia's President Vladimir Putin,

agree to a peace deal or face secondary sanctions. And I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there. So based on that, we're going to be doing secondary tariffs. As for the Patriots, which Ukraine is urgently sought to fend off Russian airstrikes, Trump says NATO will foot the bill. Most NATO allies have cut off financial ties to Moscow since the war began three years ago, but they've held back from taking steps that would restrict Russia

from selling its oil to buyers like China and India. Secondary sanctions would target those buyers of Russian exports. A senior Russian official says Russia does not care about Trump's, quote, theatrical ultimatum. White House reporter Steve Holland is in Washington. Steve, how major a policy shift is this for the U.S.? It's a major shift for the president. It shows that Trump is receptive to advice that he's been getting from NATO leaders, from Republican lawmakers, from various voices in and outside of the White House. He's given his gut instinct a long time now to play out with Putin, So now he's willing to try this approach.

And he's given them 50 days. So it's like they have a 50-day off-ramp to make some sort of deal. Now the Patriots, they are mobile surface-to-air missile defense systems, which are considered one of the most advanced defense systems in the U.S. arsenal. The U.S. will manufacture them and send them to NATO countries, who will replace their own and send theirs on to Ukraine. There are also other weapons being sent. Steve, is this a one-time thing?

The NATO Secretary General Mark Rut indicated that this would be the first wave, that there would be massive numbers of weapons being sent to Ukraine. Now, whether that will actually pan out, we don't know. We do know that there have been concerns at the Pentagon about the stockpiles of American weapons, and so they'll be keeping a close eye on that to make sure that they don't get overstretched.

But they did indicate that this will be the first wave of many more to come. Ukraine may be heading for a political reshuffle as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia stall. President Vladimir Zelensky has asked his first deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Svredenko, to lead a new government. Zelensky is also proposing that the current Prime Minister, Denshmael, take over as Defence Minister.

Israel has struck military targets in Syria in what its defense minister is calling a clear warning to the Syrian regime. It targeted tanks in Sweda where sectarian violence between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters has erupted. The Syrian government has deployed security forces to quell the clashes, but so far at least 18 of their soldiers have been killed. The US Supreme Court says the Trump administration can resume dismantling the Department of Education. The justices lifted a federal judge's order that had reinstated nearly 1,400 workers, affected by mass layoffs.

It's part of Trump's bid to shrink the federal government's role in education. A legal challenge is continuing to play out in lower courts. And staying with the Trump administration, which is launching a new effort to keep people who cross the U.S. border illegally detained by denying them bond hearings. It was revealed in an internal memo, a portion of which Royce has reviewed. The new ICE policy encourages prosecutors to make alternative. arguments in support of continued detention.

As the US retreats from its soft power efforts abroad, China is stepping in. That's according to a new report from the Democratic Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The report lists dozens of cases where China has stepped in to fund vaccines, provide food or invest in infrastructure in places where the US has cut back after cutting billions of dollars in foreign aid. Anthony Salkovsky is in Beijing. Anthony, the report cites an example being the earthquake in Myanmar earlier this year. Tell us about that.

The United States, I think they sent a very paltry response and I think they sent three people, some of whom got fired while in the field. And in contrast, China sent a 600-person team and committed over 130 million to the recovery effort. That's according to that report, but also, you know, I was here in Beijing and we could see how China sort of really swooped in and dominated that response. Other examples like, you know, China donating two million in rise to Uganda. In May, after U.S. terminated, or 37 million HIV AIDS grant in Zambia, China said it would help the African nation fight. I could go on and on, but those are some of the eagles. examples. Does China have a long-term goal in the places that it wants to exert soft power,

where it wants to focus on? China looks at the sort of geopolitical map. It thinks about it as a multipolar game, right? As a sort of multiplayer game, so to speak. So it's not just about the US and China, although obviously these are the most important players from Beijing's perspective. But it really tries to draw in the global south, as they call it, the developing nations from Southeast Asia, from Africa. So China is kind of portraying itself as a global defender of multilateral order and wants to deepen and replace the U.S. in many of those locations. The Federal Reserve's chair Jerome Powell has asked the Central Bank's Inspector General to review the costs of the renovation of its historic headquarters in Washington.

In a letter to the Senate Banking Committee explaining the request, Powell says some features under fire for being too costly, including VIP elevators or dining rooms, had never been in the project's scope. Powell was informed last week that President Donald Trump was extremely troubled by cost overruns in the $2.5 billion project. Trump has been blisteringly critical of Jerome Powell in recent weeks and says he should resign. Some other news you need to know today. Forecasters are warning of up to another half foot of rain could fall in central Texas, threatening new flash floods. That could also complicate search and rescue efforts after the July 4th flash flood with almost 100 people still missing. More than 130 people are confirmed dead.

Andrew Cuomo says he's staying in the New York City mayoral race as an independent candidate. The former New York governor lost the Democratic primary to self-described Democratic socialist Sovran Mamdani. Sixty-year-old Cuomo resigned in 2021 amidst. sexual abuse allegations. And some business stories we're keeping an eye on as well. Tesla has started selling its model Y cars in India for the first time, and they come with a nearly $70,000 price tag. Nvidia says it plans to resume sales of its H2O artificial intelligence chip to China.

The announcement comes days after its CEO, who is visiting Beijing, met Trump. And Bitcoin has vaulted past $120,000 for the first time. It's the latest milestone for the world's largest cryptocurrency. It's summer, and if you're looking for a way to use up all those red, ripe strawberries, take a cue from Iger Svientek, who just celebrated her first Wimbledon victory. The 24-year-old Polish star recently went viral for describing one of her favorite childhood dishes, strawberry pasta. That's chef Mikolaj Pichzak in Iger's hometown.

plating up this quirky comfort food for diners. Pasta, sugar, mixed strawberries, fresh strawberries and a bit of yogurt or maybe some sour cream. For many polls, it's a nostalgic summertime favorite, so maybe something to try out. And for today's recommended read, we look ahead to LA28, as organizers of the Los Angeles 28 Olympics released the first look at the competition schedule. the most ambitious sports lineup in games history. We'll put a link to that in the podcast description. For more on any of the stories from today,

check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. And don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.