Latest / The Rest of the World Podcast / The Rest of the World Report | October 22, 2026 — Morning Edition

Transcript

The Rest of the World Report | October 22, 2026 — Morning Edition · The Rest of the World Podcast

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning from Paris.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez with The Rest of the World Report for Thursday morning, October 22nd.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kiev in three waves overnight,
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: U.S.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Envoy Steve Witkoff had met with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky said 21 missiles were fired at Kiev and that 12 regions were attacked.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: He said the strikes hit residential buildings,
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  SPEAKER_00: energy facilities,
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  SPEAKER_00: a railway station,
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: metro infrastructure, shopping centers, and industrial enterprises.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: He called the attackers Russian humanists and said
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: the strike came almost immediately after the latest round of negotiations.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Real pressure must be put on Russia, he said.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: He asked for air defense,
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  SPEAKER_00: faster missile deliveries,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: and the means to destroy ballistic missile launchers and sanctions.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: City authorities said one person was killed in Kiev and at least 24 were injured,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: with four of them being children.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky said that 34 people were wounded in Kiev and in other regions,
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  SPEAKER_00: including five children, and that two deaths were confirmed.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said six emergency vehicles were damaged at
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  SPEAKER_00: an ambulance station in the Perchersky district and that part of
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: the Southern Bridge metro infrastructure was hit.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Across Ukraine, Russian attacks killed at least nine people and injured 56 over the past day.
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  SPEAKER_00: Three were killed in Zaporizhzhia region,
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  SPEAKER_00: two in Donetsk region, and one each in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihy regions.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine Air Force said Russia used Iskander M,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: S-400, Zircon, and Onyx missiles and 210 drones, 110 of them jet-powered.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: It said air defenses shot down 181 drones, 87 of those were jet-powered.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Witkoff met Putin at the Konstantin Palace with Jared Kushner attending by video link.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Stephen Hubbard,
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: a 74-year-old American arrested in 2022 and sentenced to more than six years,
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: was freed at the start of the meeting.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: A U.S. official said Witkoff and Kushner proposed a three-way meeting at
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: the technical level on guaranteeing security of Ukraine and Russia once
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  SPEAKER_00: the war ends, and that Ukrainians accepted in Oslo on Tuesday.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: The Kremlin said such talks would be held in Abu Dhabi as soon as next month.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a possible meeting of Trump, Putin,
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: and Chinese President Xi Jinping was raised because all three may attend a summit
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: in China, but no specific proposals or agreements were discussed.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Witkoff told Putin, you are a humanitarian, sir.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: I salute that.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I commend you.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Republican Senators Tom Tillis and John Cornyn objected,
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly called Putin a war criminal.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Vice President J.D.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Vance and Trump defended Witkoff.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrei Sabiha wrote
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: that Kiev residents heard overnight what Russian humanism sounds like.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Neither he nor Zelensky named Witkoff.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Russia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted 808 Ukrainian drones across Russia
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: and Russian annexed Crimea between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: At least six civilians were injured.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Injuries were reported in Belgorod and Kursk.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Buildings were damaged in Lepetsk and power lines were down in Voronezh and Kaluga.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: An exiled Russian outlet reported a hit on a missile and artillery storage
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  SPEAKER_00: and logistics facility in Serpikov.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: That has not been independently verified as of publication.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: But American readers need to know.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Russia hit Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight after Steve Witkoff met with Putin
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: on Wednesday.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Putin freed an American, Stephen Hubbard, at the start of the meeting.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Witkoff praised Putin as a humanitarian, and several U.S. senators objected.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: A U.S.-Ukraine-Russia meeting at the technical level could be held in Abu Dhabi
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: as soon as next month, the Kremlin said.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Argentine President Javier Millet called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: a dictator in Madrid on Wednesday and told Spaniards to kick the socialists out.
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  SPEAKER_00: Spain votes on November 29th.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Millet spoke at a Nueva Economía Forum event.
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  SPEAKER_00: He called Sanchez a criminal and a thief and said he would not meet him.
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  SPEAKER_00: He suggested the socialists were encouraging an invasion of migrants in
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  SPEAKER_00: the Spanish enclave of Ciuta because every immigrant is a vote.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: More than 70,000 people crossed into Ciuta in July.
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  SPEAKER_00: The vast majority returned within 48 hours and about 7,000 remain.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was Malay's third trip to Spain this year and his seventh since taking office.
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  SPEAKER_00: Isabel Diaz Ayuso hosted him and promised that Madrid would always be his home.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Vox leader Santiago Abascal joined by video link.
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  SPEAKER_00: Popular party leader Alberto Núñez Viejo did not meet him and did not mention him.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: The popular party leads the polls but is not predicted to win a majority.
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  SPEAKER_00: Vox may decide the outcome.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Spain's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the insults
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  SPEAKER_00: that said Spain is a sovereign nation and does not accept outside interference.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: It also said it was unworthy for the head of a sister nation to visit only
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  SPEAKER_00: to foment polarization and violence.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Government spokeswoman El Masayes asked for respect.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sanchez wrote online that he is a proud lefty and told a rally in Burgos that
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: the chainsaw and the cuts build nothing and destroy.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sanchez's socialist party hung a banner at his headquarters welcoming Malay.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Spanish sources described his comments as completely out of place
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: and said they may play into Sanchez's hands.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Argentina told the royal household that Malay wanted to meet King Felipe VI.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: The palace replied that a meeting with the king must be paired with With one with
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: the Prime Minister.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: In 2024, Malay called Sanchez's wife, Begonia Gomez, corrupt.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Spain recalled its ambassador.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Argentina's president attacked Spain's Prime Minister in Madrid and urged Spaniards
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: to vote the socialists out ahead of the November 29th election.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Spain's foreign ministry condemned the remarks.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Malay did not meet Sanchez.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Police banned protests in parts of Paris on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: The ban covers the area around Élysée Palace, both Houses of Parliament, and the Louvre.
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  SPEAKER_00: It also covers Champs-Élysées,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Bastille, Place de la République, and the Châtelet-Les Allées shopping district.
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  SPEAKER_00: Student rallies were also banned in Paris and Lyon.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cost of living demonstrations are planned for Saturday.
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  SPEAKER_00: Speaking in Doha on Wednesday,
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  SPEAKER_00: President Emmanuel Macron criticized unacceptable and even stupid comments by many,
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  SPEAKER_00: including foreign leaders.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said some leaders are campaigning at France's expense,
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  SPEAKER_00: whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic.
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  SPEAKER_00: He named no one,
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  SPEAKER_00: but the remarks appeared aimed at Trump
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  SPEAKER_00: and possibly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is also in an election campaign.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Marine Le Pen,
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  SPEAKER_00: who leads the polls for the 2027 presidential election,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: called the remarks conspiratorial.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: She said in a post on X that images from last Saturday were not generated
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: by artificial intelligence.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Justice Minister Darmanin said on Wednesday that of the 2,500 people taken
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: into custody during and after the protests,
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: 174 had been jailed and 917 formally prosecuted.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Sophie Benet,
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  SPEAKER_00: who leads the CGT Union,
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  SPEAKER_00: called for a new phase of protests,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: with strikes early next month, after meeting Prime Minister Sébastien Le Corneau.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: The Yellow Vest movement plans a march for the Bastille on Saturday
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: and nationwide demonstrations on November 5th.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: France's 10-year bond yield passed 5% on Wednesday,
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: and Moody is expected to lower France's credit rating on Friday.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Translators note.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Macron's remark in Doha is read as an answer to what Trump and Netanyahu said
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  SPEAKER_00: about France earlier this week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trump said on Monday that France was under siege, looted,
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  SPEAKER_00: and set ablaze by immigrants,
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  SPEAKER_00: jihadists, and communists, and told Macron to close his borders.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Netanyahu said on Tuesday that France faced an invasion of extremist Islam.
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  SPEAKER_00: Macron said there was no visible foreign interference in the events themselves,
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  SPEAKER_00: but that foreign leaders' comments and AI-generated images amounted to manipulation
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  SPEAKER_00: of information.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Neither Trump nor Netanyahu provided evidence for their claims.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Paris banned protests near its main landmarks on Thursday after
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: the worst street unrest in years.
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  SPEAKER_00: Macron implied that Trump and possibly Netanyahu were exploiting the unrest for political gain.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Moody's is expected to cut France's credit rating on Friday.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: The monitoring group and Abaye's information minister put the toll from two days
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: of drone strikes in West Kordofan and Abaye at more than 300.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sudan's army is accused of carrying them out.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: The Sudan War Observatory said 150 people were killed in two areas of West Kordofan
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  SPEAKER_00: on Sunday evening.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: The Rest of the World Report reported on Tuesday that a strike in West Kordofan
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  SPEAKER_00: on Sunday killed 80 people.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: The group said a truck carrying around 200 mourners was hit as it arrived
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  SPEAKER_00: at al-Dabab, killing 145 people.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: A tent where mourners had gathered was also hit, killing five.
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  SPEAKER_00: About 150 people were injured.
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  SPEAKER_00: A market in El Mujlad was also bombed, with a toll not yet known.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: The drones were likely launched from the army-held city of Kadugli.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: In Abyeh,
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  SPEAKER_00: Information Minister Johanna Akol-Ngor put the toll from Monday's strike
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: on Amiette Market at 153 and said it was likely to climb.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: A military source said the army carried out the attack.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Satellite images show burnt buildings in the northeast corner of the market.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Médecins Sans Frontières said it received more than 20 wounded at the hospital in Abye town.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: A drone strike near Khartoum's airport on Monday killed four people,
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: including three children, according to a medical source.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: The UN said more than 1,100 people were killed by drone strikes in Sudan in
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: the first half of this year, and 20 million people face acute hunger.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: But American readers need to know.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Drone strikes in West Kordofan and Abye are reported to have killed more than 300 people.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sudan's army has been accused and has not responded to the accusation.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: South Sudan summits Sudan's ambassador over the Abyeh strikes.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Brazil's foreign minister says the United States took sides in
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: the country's presidential election, which goes to a runoff on Sunday.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Mauro Vieira told a Brazilian newspaper the Trump administration took part and took a side.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: He said Brazilians decided the poll.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Eduardo Bolsonaro,
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: son of former President Jair Bolsonaro,
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: has threatened to purge the foreign ministry.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Vieira called that terrible and said that in a democracy you do not threaten.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: He also called terrible a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: to Flavio Bolsonaro thanking him for offering a transition team.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: He said he had never seen such a thing in 50 years as a diplomat.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's campaign asked the Superior Electoral Court
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: on Wednesday to revoke the candidacy of his right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: and his running mate Alfredo Gaspar and to declare Flavio ineligible
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: for eight years.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: It cites abuse of economic power and improper use of the media.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: It alleges that Meta and X favored the Bolsonaro ticket to algorithms,
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: AI tools, and ad moderations.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: The filings say videos by Flavio ally Nicolas Ferreira drew 396,400 views on TikTok
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: and 56.1 million on Instagram,
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  SPEAKER_00: which he attributes to possible algorithmic amplification.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: It also says Meta AI and Grok produced content favoring Flavio's party
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: while refusing similar requests for Lula's.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: It asks the court to order Meta and X to preserve records from August 16th and
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: to explain within 48 hours.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: The allegations await the court's review.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Meta said in an October 16th statement that it was not interfering in the elections
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: after acknowledging technical incidents that affected Lula's campaign.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Flavio led the first round on October 4th with 47%,
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Brazilian imports in July, with Rubio blaming Lula.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Trump called Flavio's first-round lead a very good victory, but has not explicitly endorsed him.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: closed its consular services in Brazil over the weekend of the first round,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: citing security concerns.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Democrats in the United States Congress wrote to Rubio before the vote accusing U.S.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: officials of interference.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Translators note,
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: The complaint about Meta is read as part of the story of American interference,
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: not as a dispute over the platforms.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: A Spanish report quotes a researcher who calls the big tech firm proxies of the U.S.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: government in Latin America.
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  SPEAKER_00: It also repeats an unverified allegation that Fernando Seremedo attended a meeting
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: at Meta's U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: headquarters in early August with Eduardo Bolsonaro and members
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: of Trump's government.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: An Irish report on a demonstration outside Meta's Dublin office notes
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: that Trump has publicly praised Flavio Bolsonaro.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: It quotes one protester saying Brazil is suffering from American digital colonization.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Meta told that report that minor technical issues are being spun into a political narrative.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Brazil's government says the Trump administration took sides ahead
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: of Sunday's runoff between Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Lula's campaign has asked the electoral court to disqualify Flavio
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: over alleged favoritism by Meta and X, and the allegations await the court's review.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Meta says it is not interfering.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, a couple of briefs.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Strait of Hormuz.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Iranian state television reported that several oil tankers were either struck
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: by attacks or hit naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Quoting a Revolutionary Guard Navy statement,
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: it said four tankers caught fire while transferring oil and three were damaged
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: and immobilized by mines.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: It gave no casualty figures or flag details.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: The report has not been independently verified.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: If verified,
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: it could be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: since the Iran war began February 28.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Guard said it may target U.S.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: bases if the U.S. tries to move tankers through other parts of the straits.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And in Saudi Arabia,
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: State Department ordered non-essential U.S.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Spokesman Tommy Piggott said Iranian-supported Houthi rebels
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: in Yemen have increasingly attacked Saudi Arabia,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: including civilian airports and other critical infrastructure.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: A diplomatic source said some embassy families are also being withdrawn in the UAE,
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: But Piggott stressed the order covers Saudi Arabia only.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Four U.S. officials said other Gulf missions will also order family members to leave.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority said late Wednesday that two people,
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: a Saudi citizen and an Indian national,
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: were killed in an attack on King Fahd International Airport and eight were injured.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: A second report citing aviation officials Puts the toll at one killed
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: and eight wounded at Damom Airport.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier State Department orders came before the war began in late February and in July.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: I am struggling this morning.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on some Benatryl,
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: and so please forgive me if I'm a little off on my reading the news this morning.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: But that's it for this morning's edition of The Rest of the World Report.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you all again this evening.
• 14:42
  [music]