Reuters World News - Ukraine dam destroyed and Trump document probe

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

A massive dam is destroyed in Russian-occupied Ukraine flooding the war zone and threatening thousands who live nearby. Trump’s lawyers are meeting with Justice Department officials in DC, meaning possible charges for the hundreds of classified documents he took from the White House. Plus, Chat GPT’s founder in Israel. 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 massive dam is destroyed in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, unleashing floodwaters across the war zone and fears of a large-scale catastrophe. New charges against Donald Trump could come as early as this week. This time, it's for classified documents taken from the White House. It's Tuesday, June 6th. This is Reuters World News, with everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal.

And I'm Christopher Wal Jasper. We start on the front lines in Ukraine's Kherson region, where residents are evacuating after the Kakova Dam was destroyed overnight. To give you an idea here, the Soviet-era dam holds as much water as Utah's Great Salt Lake. And the images are astounding, water flowing over this broken. dam down to villages below. Moscow and Kiev blame each other for what they both described as an act of terrorism. Rachel Armstrong, Europe news editor is here with the latest. Rachel, how serious is this? It's just been a matter of hours since this dam was breached, so we still don't know.

But what we do know is that millions of litres of water have surged out of this dam down the Dniprae River and flooding large areas of territory with it. So in the near term, there's likely to be a huge humanitarian impact, and the water may end up hitting the city of Herr Sons. There's also likely to be an impact on drinking water. Crimea relies on water from this reservoir for its drinking water. What about the Zeparisia nuclear plant? So the nuclear plant relies on water for this reservoir for its cooling facilities

to keep the reactors at the right temperature. The IAEA, that's the UN's body which oversees nuclear power stations, has said that there's no near-term danger, but it may have to start looking for alternatives to keep those reactors cool. Do we know who is behind this? No. Ukraine says they say it was panicking Russian forces, which exploded the plant. Russia says that it was done by Ukraine.

And we've also had some officials saying the dam just collapsed. If this was deliberately done, who stands to benefit here? It's not obvious that either side would gain. I guess the one thing that military analysts will be looking quite closely at is how this could affect the path of the war. Could it be a hindrance to their counteroffensive? And perhaps that might be one reason some people would point to for deliberate destruction of the dam if that was the case.

And we'll have all the latest from the ground as it happens. Download the Reuters app to keep up and listen to our daily show. Now to the other headlines we're watching around the world. Production of major movies and TV shows in Hollywood has come under renewed threat, with actors agreeing strike action on top of the current writers' walkout. Unions voted on Monday to authorise the strike if contract talks break down. Those discussions are scheduled to. start on Wednesday. Robert Hansen, the former FBI agent turned spy, has been found dead in his

prison cell. He was serving life in jail after admitting spying for Russia for more than 20 years. The Bureau described his work as the most damaging in its history. Prince Harry is appearing in court in his suit against a British tabloid newspaper. Harry could face hours of questioning in the witness box after a judge judge called his no-show on Monday extraordinary. He'll be the first senior British royal to give evidence in court in 130 years. Crypto Exchange Binance and its CEO, Chen Peng Xiao are being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company faces 13 charges for allegedly operating a web of deception, including artificially inflating trading volumes and diverting customer

funds. To Apple's latest glitzy launch event in California. I'm excited to announce an entirely new AR platform with a revolutionary new product. CEO Tim Cook announcing Apple's new augmented reality headset called The Vision Pro. It's seen as the riskiest bet Apple's placed on new product since the introduction of the iPhone. The Vision Pro enters a market dominated by Meta's line of products. and will cost a mighty $3,500,000. All right, it's time for markets now with Carmel.

Carmel, how are markets taking the big reveal from Apple? I think they're skeptical, Kim. Apple shares were near record levels on Monday, but they actually slipped back after the Vision Pro was announced. So Apple is obviously a marketing powerhouse, but these headsets are super expensive. Like rival products cost as little as a few hundred dollars, and this is a crowded market.

And how is the crypto market reacting to the news about Binance? So Bitcoin is stabilized above $25,000. It did have a deep dive overnight. And who knows, there might be further drops, but it's so hard to predict with Bitcoin. It's still the best performing asset of 2023, with gains of around 60% so far this year. Donald Trump could be facing new criminal charges as early as this week. This time, it's for classified documents he took with him from the White House, to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Jack Queen in New York has been covering the investigation. Jack, just what exactly do we think Trump will be charged with? Mr. Trump's lawyers met with Justice Department prosecutors, which is usually something that comes right before charges are filed. The charges stem from his retention of hundreds of classified records that he took from the White House with him. And this potentially violates several different federal laws. the most serious charges would be brought under the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime for the unauthorized retention of national defense information.

And those are closely held secrets that could be of use to an adversary of the United States. That carries up to 10 years in prison for offense. Then, of course, there's also the potential for obstruction of justice. Mr. Trump himself and his lawyers have not exactly been forthcoming or providing accurate information at all times to prosecutors and the National Archives, which initiated all this by seeking to get the records back. Now, Trump doesn't seem to have been phased by any of the previous cases that have come against him. Could there be any real consequences, whether it be criminal, political, reputational in this case? Well, there could certainly be criminal consequences, but Trump does have this unique ability to weather all sorts of controversies that would sink other politicians. And I think it's fair to say that he has been using these cases and investigations against him as grist for the fundraising mill.

And so I don't think his base really minds at all. They believe his claims that this is a witch hunt, that it's all fake. Chat GPT founder Sam Altman is in the Middle East, on the second leg of his global campaign to bring awareness and regulation to artificial intelligence. The tech community, the startup community, the rate that they're embracing AI is incredible to watch. Now, of course, we do have to balance that with all of the risks. Altman, they're speaking with Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. I'm sure Israel will play a huge role.

Stephen Scheer was in Tel Aviv covering Altman's tour. Stephen, why is Sam Altman so concerned about getting support from Israel? He's trying to get support from everybody. And Israel is one of the largest technology centers in the world. So Altman would like to have the country on board, especially since the country is so big in AI and cybersecurity. security. Is a global consensus on AI regulation ever really going to happen? It doesn't look like it's going to happen. The Europeans are really pushing very hard for

very tough regulations, but it doesn't seem like there's going to be a consensus because the United States and Europe are just completely at odds with each other on regulations. Israel was known for its Pegasus spyware, which governments used to spy on activists and politicians. Is there any discussion about AI being used in that field? Pagasus, first of all, was a black guy for Israel for a long time, but the country is moving past it now. And even Aldman in his comments with the president said that he wants Israel technology to play a huge role in developing the AI.

He wants people to understand their risks, but he doesn't want too much regulation. He understands jobs might be lost by it, but he also says that jobs will be created by it. So he's trying to allay a lot of those fears as well. That's it for this edition of Reuters World News. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily news show. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.