Reuters World News - US troops to Israel, campaign promises and Switzerland’s melting glaciers

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

The United States is to send troops to Israel along with an advanced anti-missile system, in a highly unusual deployment meant to bolster the country's air defenses following missile attacks by Iran. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris scramble to lay out policy promises as the US election countdown continues. China launches new war games near Taiwan and rising temperatures in Switzerland threaten its huge glaciers. Find today's recommended read here. Listen to our weekend episode 'The legal fights shaping the US election' here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast 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, the US says it's sending troops to Israel, as well as an advanced anti-missile system, to boost defences, while Israel urges UN peacekeepers to withdraw as fighting ramps up. Policy promises target niche voters as Trump and Harris count down to the election, and rising temperatures in the Swiss Alps threaten its huge glaciers. It's Monday, October 14th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything. you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. The Pentagon says it's going to send an advanced anti-missile system to Israel and put troops on the ground.

It's a rare move meant to bolster Israel's defences after Iran's missile attacks. It comes as Israel weighs how it's going to respond to Tehran firing nearly 200 missiles two weeks ago. According to officials, the US has been privately urging Israel to calibrate its response to avoid triggering a wider Middle East war. In the latest developments on the ground, a Hezbollah drone strike on an army base in northern Israel has killed four soldiers and wounded others. Israel's conflict with Hezbollah is putting it at loggerheads

with United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. On Sunday, the UN says Israeli tanks burst into its base. the latest allegation of Israeli violations against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. The UNIFIL peacekeeping force says two Israeli tanks destroyed the main gate of a base and forcibly entered before dawn. But the Israeli military says Hezbollah militants had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops in an attack very close to a Unifil Post, and that a tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire,

then backed into the Unifil Post. Mr. Secretary General, get the uniform forces out of harm's way. It should be done right now immediately. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the peacekeepers to withdraw, accusing them of being human shields for Hezbollah. Hezbollah denies that uses the proximity of peacekeepers for protection. And here in the Reuters newsroom, Sunday marked one year since Israeli tank fire killed our colleague Isam Abdallah in Lebanon.

Writer-in-chief, Alessandra Goloni. On this first anniversary of his death, we call once again on Israel to investigate his killing fully and transparently, to make the findings public, and to hold those responsible to account. China has begun a new round of war games involving ships and aircraft to the east of Taiwan, calling it a warning to Taipei. Taiwan has been on high alert since last week's National Day speech by President Lai Ching-T, where he said China has no right to represent the country.

The man arrested at a security checkpoint near Donald Trump's California rally on Saturday is to face gun charges. The local sheriff says he was found in possession of loaded firearms, multiple passports and a fake license plate. Celebrations in Texas. At SpaceX's latest test flight on Sunday. Even at this day and eight... That magic, the commentary team are talking about,

was the rocket's huge booster landing back at the launch pad in an engineering first. China is promising to significantly increase debt to revive its slowing economy. But Finance Minister Lanphone left investors guessing on the actual size of a stimulus package at a weekend press conference. That lack of detail meant mixed reviews on markets. Kamel Krimands has more. Lan said Beijing will help local governments to tackle their debt problems. They're also going to offer subsidies to people with low incomes, support the property market,

and replenish state banks capital. These are all steps investors have been urging China to take, and shares on mainland China did rise on Monday. But the lack of a dollar figure for the package disappointed some investors, and stocks were down in Hong Kong. Now, the details might be missing for procedural reasons. Extra debt issuance needs to be approved by Parliament, which is set to meet in the coming weeks.

But in the meantime, data on Sunday showed China's deflationary problems got worse in September, with consumer prices still weak and factory gate prices continuing to fall. And if debt and markets are your thing, and even if they're not, do check out the latest episode of my podcast, Econ World.

It's all about Japan and the wall of money it's invested overseas. You can catch it on Reuters.com, the Reuters app, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's just over three weeks. till the US election and campaign promises are coming thick and fast from the candidates. Vice President Kamala Harris this week is set to highlight her economic policies that benefit black men.

The new policies include forgivable small business loans and access to a new legal recreational marijuana industry. Harris is hoping to win over a boating bloc that some in her campaign fear has embraced her Republican rival Donald Trump in numbers that could sway November's election. For his part, Trump has been offering many, many proposals for new tax cuts. Graham's lottery covers the Trump campaign. So he said that he'll eliminate double taxation for Americans living abroad such that they don't have to pay taxes in the U.S. He said that he'll let you write off the interest on your car loans when it comes time to pay

income taxes. He said that Americans in some states will be able to write off home generator purchases. When they file their taxes, he said that he would allow certain corporations to pay taxes at a 15% tax rate, rather than the prevailing 21% tax rate. He said that he would eliminate taxes on tips. He said that he would eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits. How does Trump say he will pay for all this?

Well, the line from the Trump campaign is that they're going to pay basically through tariffs on foreign countries, as well as increased growth that would, in theory, broaden the tax base. That's not a mainstream economic belief. And the prevailing estimates indicate that his proposals would in aggregate at several trillion dollars to the deficit over the course of a decade. So the way he's saying he's going to pay for it is just not going to happen if you trust mainstream economic theorists. What's going on here with this snowball of economic promises? It's not just him, but Harris is doing this to a certain extent as well. He's really trying to pick off certain relatively niche constituencies to try and just win over a few hundred votes or a few thousand votes here or there.

You know, the electorate has really made up its mind for the most part. There's a lot of polarization. You're only going to win over so many people with big picture ideas. Hopefully you can just fish a few thousand boats here or there, and that might be enough to put you over the top on November 5th. And if you haven't already, check out our weekend special episode. on the legal fight set to shape the US election. We'll link to it in today's pod description. High in the Swiss Alps,

Matthias Huss is drilling deep into some ice. This is the Roan glacier, and he's measuring how much it has melted since his last visit earlier this year. His research showing that there has been an above-average reduction this year, the glaciers there losing 2.5% of their volume. In fact, the border between.

between Italy and Switzerland may be partially redrawn because glaciers are melting and the courses of watersheds are shifting. Denis Balibus joined Professor Huss during his research. It's a glacier that I almost go every year since 10 or 15 years and I could see that it retracted again very, very much. What struck me was really the heat. We were meeting at 8.30 in the morning

and despite the sun was not there yet, but it was very warm. And one of the reason of this quick collapse is that there are no freezing temperature at this altitude anymore in summer, and that is really concerning, because the trend of melting doesn't really even stop at night. I definitely feel connected to the glacier

because every time you come back and you look at these changes, it is very impressive. There's really a relation you build up with this site, with the ice, and it hurts a bit to see how the road rocks are simply taking over. In two previous years, some areas have lost eight meters in heights of the glacier. I expect that we might lose several hundred glaciers in the next decades.

Small ones. Rowan glaciers, this one will still be here in 50 years, of course, but it will be much smaller. That's almost all for today. But first, our recommended read, which is an investigation into only funds. Our team has used police files. has used police files to uncover stories of financial ruin, family trauma and extreme behaviour related to content on the site. Find a link in today's show notes. And for more on any of the stories from today, check out rotors.com or the Reuters app. To never miss an episode, subscribe

on your favourite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.