Reuters World News - Ukraine talks, Netanyahu, ‘Hellcats’ and NY's social media warnings

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, December 29th. Today, a Ukraine peace deal remains elusive after Trump and Zelensky meet. Israel's Prime Minister heads to Mar-a-Lago for talks on Gaza. The Hellcats seeking to flip the House for Democrats next year. And New York's warning labels on social media. This is Royce's one. World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days

Starting point is 00:00:36 a week. And I do think we're getting a lot closer, maybe very close. U.S. President Donald Trump speaking after meeting with Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky at Trump's Mara Lago estate in Florida. Earlier, Trump spent hours on the phone with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. The talks are a sign efforts to end the war in Ukraine are ramping up again, although any deal is far from done. Zelensky referencing one of the thorniest remaining issues, that of land concessions, and says any changes to Ukraine's borders must be put to the people.

Starting point is 00:01:20 Of course, our society has to choose and has to ward, because it's their land, the land not of one person, it's the land of our nation. The other big issue is who will guarantee Ukraine's, security in the future. French President Emmanuel Macron says countries in the so-called Coalition of the Willing will meet in Paris in January to finalise their contributions. The next dignitary to visit Mar-a-Lago is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He'll hold talks with Trump later today. They'll be discussing Iran and Lebanon, but the most important

Starting point is 00:01:58 item on the agenda for both is what happens next in Gaza. Here's reporter Mayan Lubell, in Jerusalem. As far as we know, Trump is very keen to move on to the next phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. This is actually the phase that's the most difficult. There are many complications. This is the phase that includes Hamas disarming. It is supposed to include an international force, keeping the peace, governing body to be set up, and Israel withdrawing from Gaza entirely. None of these details seem to be agreed or worked out yet. On top of all this, Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of the last Israeli hostage who's still in Gaza. So there's another complication there.

Starting point is 00:02:45 Hamas has so far refused to lay down its weapons. And Israel said that if Hamas is not disarmed peacefully, then Israel might have to go back in and do it themselves. One point of contention is which countries will be a part of the international stabilization force. So Israel has rejected, for instance, Turkey being in it. And we know that Trump is in talks with Turkey about a bunch of other issues, which are making Israel very, very uneasy. So how aligned are there is what we're going to know after this meeting. It's a test for Netanyahu. Domestically speaking, it's a test for Netanyahu how much he'll be able to push Israel's interest. in this meeting, they don't all align with what Trump wants. That's quite clear. While Netanyahu looks to his domestic audience, President Trump will look to do the same as he enters his second year in power facing waning voter support. Democrats are hoping that translates

Starting point is 00:03:45 to a blue wave in the midterms. They need to flip just three seats in the House to win back the majority and halt Trump's legislative agenda. And part of their strategy involved, a group of women called the Hellcats. As someone who spent 16 years in the military as an act duty army officer serving in numerous combat zones, I've led men and women in the service of this country in defense of America in the Constitution. That's Kate Conley, Army veteran and Democratic congressional candidate

Starting point is 00:04:17 for New York's 17th District. She's one of the Hellcats, a name which pays homage to the first female Marines of World's. World War I. Now, it refers to the four Democrat women with military backgrounds running for office, who Dems are hoping will turn the tide in their favor. And as reporter Helen Costa explains, it's worked before. In 2018, there were five female candidates with military and service experience who won in their respective races. They called themselves the badass caucus after they won. And then in November, Mikey, Cheryl, and Abigail Spanberger, two of the women from that group ran for governor in New Jersey and Virginia and won.

Starting point is 00:05:05 So there's evidence that this is a winning strategy that this idea of the national security mom or the women who have this military background is a really desirable biography and background for candidates in the Democratic Party. Helen says the women are positioning their skills as very translated. When they serve, they serve with people of all different backgrounds, all different political affiliations and perspectives. And in their mind, none of those things are important when you're on a mission. It's all about the person to your right and your left and working as a team. So they think that they can bring that ethos, that service mentality to political office and be effective lawmakers.

Starting point is 00:05:50 New York is mandating warning labels on social media platforms about the risk to young users' mental health. Davna Kathy Hocchell says apps with infinite scrolling, autoplay, and algorithmic feeds must now carry the alerts, comparing them to warnings on tobacco. New York joins California and Minnesota with similar laws as concern grows

Starting point is 00:06:14 over social media's impact on kids. Jasper Ward is covering the story out of Washington, D.C. So the warning labels will appear for at least 10 seconds when a user logs on. and again for at least 30 seconds after three hours of social media use and every hour thereafter. New York's Attorney General will have power to bring legal action and seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation of this law. It will mostly affect social media platforms with infinite scrolling and autoplay, and these platforms would then be required to display the warning labels that are chosen by the New York State's Commissioner of Mental Health.

Starting point is 00:06:52 Jasper says the newly passed legislation won't go into effect for a year. I've reached out to some of the social media companies, TikTok, Snap, meta, and Alphabet, but I haven't actually heard back from them. The move is being welcomed by some groups like common sense media, which has described it as an important progress toward protecting children. The previous US Surgeon General issued an advisory on the safeguards of children and has previously called for social media warnings like the one we're now seeing in New York.

Starting point is 00:07:27 It's a volatile end of the year for precious metals with silver easing off record highs. Anushka Sukhui from our sister markets podcast MorningBit is here to tell us what's going on with the white metal. Morning, Anusha. Good morning, Kim. Yes, silver has been on a tear reaching over $80 an ounce today

Starting point is 00:07:47 and gold as well reaching new highs. both have retreated a little, but driving that has been investors seeking safe havens, hedging against Fed rate cuts. It's also supply issues playing into that. And of course, a complex geopolitical backdrop where, you know, we've seen some comments over the weekend about potentially getting closer to peace in Ukraine. And investors are taking a little bit of profit on that. But the rally is expected to continue into the new year. Thanks, Anosha. You can listen to Morning Bid wherever you get your podcasts. So I feel like we just brought more attention to our sport and I don't see how it can be bad,

Starting point is 00:08:27 how you can talk negative about this. Arena Sabalanka, hitting back at criticism that her Battle of the Sexes match against Nick Curios risked reducing women's tennis to a side show. Curios beat Sabalanka 6363 in a game billed as a modern take on Billy Jean King's famous win over Bobby Riggs more than 50 years ago. Curios also dismissed any negativity surrounding the event,

Starting point is 00:08:55 praising Sambalanker's performance. Andy Murray, Djokovic, Federa and Adela all lost to me. And she just proved that she can go out there and compete against someone that's beaten the greatest of all time. Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena was sold out for the match, played on a slightly smaller court meant to equalize the sides and under modified rules like one serve per point. French president Emmanuel Macron is paying tribute to Bridget Bardot,

Starting point is 00:09:25 calling her a legend of the century after her death at 91. Bardo shot to fame at 21 for her role in and God-created woman, later becoming as well-known for her passionate defense of animals, speaking here in 1968 against seal hunting in Canada. In later life, Badoo, I decided to me occupy to that. In later life, Bardot's incendiary right-wing remarks about immigration, among other things, saw her fined six times by the French courts. But her influence endured.

Starting point is 00:10:00 Her fans gathered at her statue in St. Trapez, calling her an icon. And for today's recommended read, Colcutter's iconic trams face their final stop. Authorities are considering pulling the plug on Asia's oldest tram network in favor of more modern modes of transport. You can read more by following the link in the 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 favourite podcast player.

Starting point is 00:10:37 If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

Reuters World News - Ukraine talks, Netanyahu, ‘Hellcats’ and NY's social media warnings

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