Reuters World News - Trump's Syria and Saudi deals, HIV in South Africa and LVMH

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the United States will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria. The move was revealed in Saudi Arabia, where he signed a $600 billion investment commitment. HIV testing has dropped in South Africa since the U.S. cut funding for a global initiative. And LVMH's Bernard Arnault has handed his son Alexandre the task of reviving the famed Moet Hennessy drinks business - can he do it?  Find our recommended read here. Listen to a special episode on Syria here. We also want to understand how you listen to the Reuters World News podcast - and you can complete our survey ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Find the latest podcast episode ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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, what the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria means for the war-torn nation trying to rebuild. South Africa faces a drop in HIV testing and monitoring, threatening vulnerable populations. Plus, the succession drama playing out over cognac and champagne. It's Wednesday, May 14th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. US President Donald Trump has met with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia.

The meeting comes after day one of Trump's Gulf tour, wrapped with a big diplomatic announcement. I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness. A step towards normalized relations with Syria, one of the most heavily sanctioned countries, shattered by more than a decade of civil war. The move was met with celebrations on the streets of Damascus.

Reuters Timor Azari is there. Timor, how significant is the lifting of the sanctions? In Syria today, if you want to do business, you can't transfer money to Syria via a bank account. You have to work in cash. The country is cut off from the global financial system and that impedes really any kind of work that one might want to do. The thing about sanctions is that there's also an issue of overcompliance.

So people know that the U.S. doesn't want to work with this country, and then they don't do business with that country. Now that can change. How did Syria's new government get to this point? They've been able to move really swiftly to make inroads with Gulf ties. Ahmed Sharra, the interim president, has traveled across the region and recently to Europe. So it's an incredible turn of events for a man who fought with al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion in 2003 to now be meeting a U.S. president when he and indeed his group are still classified as terrorists. And what was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's role here?

So when Trump made this announcement yesterday, he received a standing ovation led by MBS. MBS put his arms across his chest and sort of a hugging motion thanking Trump for what he'd done. And then Trump said, oh, the things I do for the crown prince. The argument that they've been making to the US is you don't necessarily have to support these guys, but don't be an impediment. What Syrians are saying today is now they have the chance. Now they can take the matter into their own hands without an international blockade, essentially, and try to make this work. And Trump is not going to Israel during his Middle East trip. What does this Syria announcement mean for Israel? Israel has lobbied the US, as we've reported to keep Syria weak and decentralized.

They've carried out a massive bombing campaign over the last months, and they've basically said these guys are still jihadists, they're terrorists, and you can't trust them. So it's quite a remarkable break here for Washington to sort of still move ahead, lift the sanctions, and indeed for Trump today to, as a White House official said, say hello to Shara in Riyadh. To hear more from Timor about the challenges facing Syrians in rebuilding their country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, listen to our recent weekend episode. There's a link in the pot description.

It's not just Syria in the spotlight as Trump tours the Middle East. He's also reached an agreement to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion. And his trip has ignited a flurry of tech deals. Kamal Krimmins has more. The Trump administration is clearing the way for Saudi Arabia to pursue its AI ambitions, and Silicon Valley is cashing in. On Tuesday, Washington rescinded Biden-era, controls on access to US AI chips, and NVIDIA and rival ADM announced blockbuster deals on the

same day to supply Riyadh with their products. Saudi Arabia's push and AI is all part of its plan to diversify its economy away from oil. I take a deeper look at Saudi Arabia, oil and OPEC on this week's episode of Reuters Econ World. It's out later today on the Reuters app, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Back home, the US president's approval rating, has risen. The latest Reuters-Ipsos poll shows 44% approving of his performance, but the research showing Americans are less worried about his handling of the economy and about the prospects of a recession. The star witness at Sean Diddy Combs' sex trafficking trial

tells prosecutors that performing at his drug-fueled sex parties became her job. Combs' former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, says she was forced to take a lot of the time. take drugs and continued because he blackmailed her with videos of the encounters. To another trial now, and Kim Kardashian leaving a Paris court, where she gave emotional testimony in her jewel heist case. She cried as she recalled the start of the attack, but told the accused mastermind of a group who held her at gunpoint, I forgive you. The Menendez brothers have been ruled eligible for parole by a Los Angeles judge. Lyle and Eric have served 35 years in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills.

Now their fate will be decided by the state parole board and California Governor Gavin Newsom. HIV testing and monitoring has dropped in South Africa since the U.S. cut funding of its global HIV initiatives. The country has the world's highest HIV rate, with about one in five adults living with the virus. The United States was funding 17 percent of the country. HIV budget until Trump slashed aid earlier this year. Reporter Nellie Payton is in Johannesburg. So across the country, viral load testing has fallen in the last two months, which HIV experts say is almost certainly a result of the U.S. aid cuts.

And this means that people who might be transmitting the virus might not know it. Viral load testing helps people to know whether or not they're likely to transmit the virus. nationwide, viral load testing fell about 11% in April compared to the previous year, but the drop was worse for certain groups. For pregnant women, viral load testing was down 21%, and infant diagnostic testing was down about 20%. Experts are saying in South Africa is that this could have really very concerning impacts on maternal and infant health in particular. So is this a warning sign?

Since the United States cut foreign aid early this year, people who work on HIV in South Africa have been warning that the impact could be very severe. And this data is really showing us an early signal that what some people feared might happen is actually happening. It's an indication that patients are not getting the same levels of treatment, that they're not getting as many checkups. And in the longer term, that could definitely result in more people passing. passing on HIV and more people potentially dying of HIV and AIDS.

Now to France, and a succession-style drama playing out for one of the richest men in the world. Bernard Arnaud, the CEO of LVMH, has tasked his son, Alexandre, with reviving the company's worst performing unit, Moe Hay Hennessey. Turning around the drinks division in the midst of a tariff war could give Alexandre a leg up on his five siblings, who are all vying to lead the multi-billioning. dollar luxury company. Mimosa Spencer is in Paris. All of the children are being tested. This is a subject of much speculation, which child is going to pull ahead of the others. They're all very, very well trained. They're all very capable.

They all have very different personalities. Alexandra last week was with the Trump administration. He seems to be the front person for dealing with business in the United States. Trump refers to him as the future. So he seems to have a special American relationship. How important is that relationship he has with the US, given what we're seeing play out globally with tariffs? These days it's very important. Most of the investments by the luxury companies are concentrated on the East Coast and the West Coast. And so there's a lot of room for expansion. A lot of companies plan to build more stores and really increase their business with wealthy Americans. So the U.S. market is extremely important. And yeah, this could be

a really important step for Alexandre Arnaud. One thing to keep in mind is that Bernard Arnaud has built his empire on acquiring other companies. And oftentimes, these heritage brands have been brands that were owned by families. So he has had a front row view of succession issues. And so let's see how he handles his own succession. Our recommended read today looks at the rapid escalation in hostilities between Pakistan and India last weekend. And how hours after military exchanges began, President Trump was able to announce a ceasefire. Reuters interviews revealed the behind-the-scenes deployed.

and the key role Washington played. There's a link in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headlines show.