Reuters World News - US Ukraine plan, Nvidia, electoral maps and Japan-China ties

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

A U.S. plan to end Ukraine’s war with Russia is based on Kyiv giving up territory, sources say. Nvidia’s results surprise Wall Street and stymie AI bubble fears. A court block of the new Texas congressional map is bad news for the White House. And an off-the-cuff remark signals a long winter for Japan-China ties. Plus, Trump signs the bill to release the Epstein files.   Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Listen 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

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, November 20th. Today, the US tells Ukraine to give up land in order to end the war with Russia. Trump signs off on the release of the Epstein files. Nvidia smashes earnings expectations, allaying fears of an AI bubble. And an off-the-cuff Taiwan comment from Japan's Prime Minister triggers a bust up with China. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

The hum of generators powering rescue equipment to companies' emergency teams searching for survivors in the rubble of an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Turnople. Now, with Russia advancing, the US is urging Ukraine to accept a draft peace deal, giving up some territory and reducing its military. That's according to sources familiar with the plan. It's a plan they've apparently been working on with the Russians. Foreign policy editor Don Duffy has more. Russia has been making military gains in eastern Ukraine. And Zelensky is facing a major corruption scandal within his own administration, right, sort of making him a little bit weaker domestically.

And it appears to be that the U.S. feels that this is a time when they may be able to impose a deal on Ukraine and in their minds hopefully bring an end to this conflict. The deal has not been officially acknowledged by Ukraine nor by the White House, but Don says if the conflict is coming to an end in Russia's favor, it could send a message to the whole of Europe. For Europe, it's not a matter of simply ending this conflict as a question of what comes next and what does it mean for Russia's position vis-à-vis the rest of Europe.

Europe has backed Ukraine really strongly, not just because they're in favor of the Ukrainians, but because they are also worried about increasing Russian aggression. So there's a real desire among the Europeans, among U.S. allies in Europe to see an end to this conflict that doesn't set Russia up for further aggression in Europe. So Europeans will be very curious to see the details of this proposal and may have very strong pushback, depending what's in it. President Donald Trump has signed the bill to order the release of the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department will release the files within 30 days,

but hinted that the files are unlikely to be fully disclosed. We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims. The legislation passed by Congress to release the files allows the department to hold back personal information on victims, and anything that would jeopardise an active investigation. The documents could still shed light on Epstein's ties to powerful figures, including Trump. Invidia's latest earnings are calming fears of an AI bubble, at least for now. The chipmaker surprised Wall Street reporting strong growth after several quarters of slowing sales, with shares in the world's most valuable company raising more than 5%.

And as technology correspondent Stephen Nellis explains, because Nvidia is seen as a bellwether of the AI industry, the money that big tech companies are carving out for their chips is crucial. So the company has said that they have half a trillion dollars of business booked between now and the ends of calendar 2026, which translates to more than 20 million of their chips. And more than that, they also talked about how the speed. spending plans of major technology companies that invest in this. These are companies like Microsoft, Google, along with newer companies like Open AI and Anthropic. The capital spending plans of those companies is up tremendously over the course of the year. So Invita tried to make the case that these results are going to be durable, not just for the next quarter, but well into next year. So, Invidia made the case that we're on the cusp of a generational transition in technology.

They see a world where these chatbots that mostly talk or create images or do other things that are sort of digital will connect to the physical world in the form of robots, self-driving cars, other things where Nvidia could sell many, many, many more chips over time and would become nearly ubiquitous. Bart Steven says there are skeptics. So what we hear a lot from analysts are that Nvidia is executing really well. They've got their supply chain really dialed in. They reaffirmed that all their chips are on time. But there are other aspects of this.

Can you find the electricity for these major data centers? Can the global supply chain come up with enough memory chips to enable what Nvidia wants to do that are beyond the control of even the largest company in the world? A federal ruling blocking Texas from using a new congressional map that favors Republicans is shaking up next year's midterms. Judges there ruled that the state racially gerrymanded its new map in violation of federal law. Those maps were drawn up at the request of President Donald Trump to boost Republicans' chances of holding on to Congress. As our political reporter

Joseph Axx explains, that plan hasn't worked out the way the president had hoped. The Texas map was really the centerpiece of Trump's national push to get Republican states to redistrict. And so this ruling is a major setback. Now, it will get appealed to the Supreme Court. It is possible, maybe even likely, that the Supreme Court will put that ruling on hold and let the map go into effect. But it highlights that even if you assume that's the case, Trump's push has not succeeded in the way that I think he in the White House expected. First of all, California was able to put a new map in place that voters approved that is designed to flip as many as five Republican seats, which would basically counteract whatever happens in Texas. It appears that Virginia Democrats are going to install or at least ask voters to install a new map there that could net them two or three seats.

And while some Republican states like Missouri and North Carolina have redrawn their maps as well after Texas, those states only added a seat each. and there's a number of other states where Republican lawmakers are so far resisting the Trump administration's pressure. Japan and China are locked in an escalating standoff that's shaking political and economic ties between Asia's two biggest powers. The tension flared after Japan's new prime minister,

Sanai Takiichi, warned that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response, remarks Beijing say cross a red line. China Bureau Chief Kevin Krolliki has more on Beijing's response so far. We've had the cancellation of academic exchanges. We've had the cancellation of planned screenings of Japanese films here. And most importantly, because of the economic value, we've seen state media urge Chinese travelers not to go to Japan.

And that's important because they're the largest source of foreign travelers in Japan. and they have been in the last year. If they were to disappear, it's a big enough change to make a measurable difference in Japan's economic growth. If this continues to escalate, the real damage could be for Japan's reliance in its manufacturing on other exports from China. China has used its control of rare earth minerals,

the export of rare earth minerals and control of the licensing regime for those in recent months against the United States. And back in 2011, China had throttled back rare earth exports to Japan in an earlier trade dispute. So if we get there, that's when I think this becomes very serious. And finally, we usually use this spot to give you a recommended read, but today it's a recommended listen with this week's Reuters Econ World.

It's all about Argentina and how a $20 billion swap line with the US may buy President Javier Malay some time, but it doesn't solve the problem. of what to do with the peso. Host Carmel Crimmons breaks it down with emerging markets correspondent Karen Strohiker. Argentina is a massive exporter of soybeans, for example, also to China, of beef. So in some of these, they are competing directly with US farmers who now find themselves, you know, maybe not being able to export and who are asking the question, you know, why do you help us?

those guys down south when, you know, we struggle here. There's a link to that episode 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 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.