Reuters World News - US-China deal, Russian nuclear missile, Argentina and Turkey

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, October 27th, today. The US and China sketch out a framework trade deal, setting up a high-stakes meeting between Xi and Trump. Argentina's president Javier Malay wins convincingly in mid-term elections, paving the way for more reforms. And Kurds in Turkey's south call on the government to act after the PKK disarms. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

Starting point is 00:00:38 The US and China have sketched out a framework trade deal, which will go to President's Donald Trump and Xi Jinping for sign-off when the pair meet on Thursday. The rough deal is the result of talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. Once across the line, it would hit pause on both the 100% percent. tariffs on Chinese goods threatened by Washington and the rare earth's export controls planned by Beijing. But as Reuters Antony Slodkowski explains, the most significant development may be what this deal means for the leaders themselves. The main takeaway from the talks in Malaysia is the vibes, I would say.

Starting point is 00:01:28 It's the fact that even very shortly before the Trump administration officials traveled to the ASEAN summits, they were really playing down any potential deliverables from this week. But what we can see from both on the Chinese and the American side is that indeed, there is some kind of preliminary consensus that has been reached and that indeed both presidents are actually really going to meet. I would take that as the number one positive and the number one sort of takeaway, because not that long ago, that was not really necessarily 100% assured. Reuters White House reporter Trevor Hunnicott, who is traveling with President Trump on his Asia trip,

Starting point is 00:02:13 says a lot is riding on the Xi Trump meeting Thursday, but it's unlikely everything will be hashed out by then. I think one of the most important things about what we're going to see on Thursday is it's going to be the first opportunity for the Chinese to speak in their own words about what exactly it is that they're agreeing to with President Trump. I mean, we've heard exhaustive kind of readouts of these negotiations from the U.S. from the president's aides, Jameson Greer, and Scott Besson, from the president himself.

Starting point is 00:02:43 But we really haven't heard President Xi, who is the ultimate decision-maker in the Chinese system, talked about exactly what it is that he wants to do in terms of these rare earth magnet exports, in terms of the overall tit-for-tat trade war between the two countries. And so this is going to be really an opportunity to see if these two sides actually have agreed on

Starting point is 00:03:03 what the U.S. side says they've agreed on. But again, it doesn't solve any of a deeper, kind of problems in the U.S.-China relationship. It doesn't take us back to the tariff levels we had before President Trump took office in January. So there's still a lot of questions about how this is going to work. Over on markets, investors aren't asking many questions. The mere prospect of a U.S.-China trade deal, even one that looks more like a truce extension, is sending stocks to record highs. Copper, which is seen as a bellwether for global growth, is surging and so is oil. Soybean future's also got a lift after Treasury Secretary Besant said he anticipates Beijing will

Starting point is 00:03:41 revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans for several years. Even with a possible rare earth's deal in the pipeline with China, President Trump is still hedging his bets, signing a flurry of deals with other Southeast Asian partners. My message to the nations of Southeast Asia is that the United States is with you 100%. Trump-inked deals with Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, the latter to boosting cooperation on critical minerals. Malaysia is home to the largest rare earth's processing facility outside of China, making it a key player in the global supply chain.

Starting point is 00:04:22 Malaysia has pledged not to ban or restrict exports of critical minerals to the US, but it's unclear that that promise covers raw or processed materials. After leaving Kuala Lumpur, Trump landed in Tokyo, where he met with Japan's emperor. Later, he'll meet with Japan's new prime minister, Sanai Takaiichi, before that meeting with Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. To Russia, where a new nuclear-powered missile has been tested. President Vladimir Putin saying the Brevshnik cruise missile can pierce any defense shield and that Moscow will move toward deploying the weapon.

Starting point is 00:05:07 Moscow Bureau Chief Guy Falkenbridge has more. So the thing about this missile is unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles which sort of fly up at quite a predictable trajectory, this can move all over the place. It sort of buzzes around in different directions, can change direction very fast, so it can pierce any missile shield. So essentially, I think what Putin's saying with this is,

Starting point is 00:05:31 he's saying, listen, in the world there are. are only a few powers that can even pretend to compete with the United States, and Russia's one of them. I think he's sending a message directly to Trump, and I think the message is quite clear that Russia's not going to give up when it comes to Ukraine. Argentina's president, Javier Malé, saying Argentina will be made great again after scoring a sweeping midterm win. Early results show his party outperforming the long dominant Peronists in Buenos Aires province, giving his party more power to push through free market reforms and deep spending cuts. And that's despite rising frustration about the cost of living among voters.

Starting point is 00:06:18 Reuters Argentina correspondent Leila Miller explains. The analysts that I've talked to think that Argentines were largely, you know, very worried about the government going into an economic crisis. And they saw a president who really needed their help. And that fear of facing a horrible economic situation is what propelled many people to vote for him. The U.S. had offered a $20 billion swap line with Argentina to help shore up its economy, which President Trump later threatened to walk away from if Malay did not do well. Layla says analysts think that likely encouraged support for Malay, who will now have fresh momentum.

Starting point is 00:07:11 It means that in Congress, Muley will have the power with his congressman and with his allies to block attempts by the opposition to override his vetoes, which is something they had been doing over the last few months. Nile had tried to veto laws that he said put Argentina's budget in jeopardy. They were laws that would have increased funding for vulnerable populations in Argentina. And he was overruled, which was also a scary sign for investors. And it seems like now he's going to be able to stop that from happening. At least four people have died in protests in Cameroon, where people are angry over what they say are rigged elections favouring Paul Beer, the world's oldest serving ruler. Hundreds protested in the streets in support of opposition candidate to Cittroma.

Starting point is 00:08:16 Partial results reported by local media show 92-year-old beer, who has been in power since 1982, on course to win. The government rejects accusations of irregularities and is urging people to wait for the full result. Kurds in Turkey's south are digesting news that the outlawed PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, is laying down their arms and withdrawing from Turkey as part of an agreement with the government in Ankara. Diyarbakur resident, Omer Levant,

Starting point is 00:08:49 says it's time for all people in Turkey to be treated the same. Hassan Shaker is calling on the government in Ankara to take the next steps, with prisoner releases, a general amnesty and full recognition of Kurdish identity and language. The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US, has fought the Turkish state since 1984, a conflict that's claimed more than 40,000 lives. And for today's recommended read, a look at how China is harnessing AI for military advantage. Some of the tech China is looking at developing includes AI-powered robot dogs that scout in packs. And for our recommended listen, this weekend's On Assignment podcast heads to Syria

Starting point is 00:09:45 to uncover how a mechanics' curiosity led to the discovery of a secret program to relocate a mass grave under the Assad regime. We've put a link to both of those in the description of today's show. For more on any of the stories from today, check out what is the story. today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. 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 - US-China deal, Russian nuclear missile, Argentina and Turkey

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