Latest / The Rest of the World Podcast / The Rest of the World Report | October 30, 2026 — Morning Edition

Transcript

The Rest of the World Report | October 30, 2026 — Morning Edition · The Rest of the World Podcast

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning from Paris.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez with The Rest of the World Report for Friday morning, October 30th.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize for the lateness of this edition.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I got a little late start on my day this morning.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: No OSCE observers for the midterms.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: The United States did not invite election observers from the Organization
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: of Security and Cooperation in Europe to Tuesday's midterms.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's the first time that that has happened since the OSCE began observing U.S.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: federal elections back in 2002.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: The OSCE
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Its elections office said the decision is not in line with commitments made
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: by all member states.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: The president of its parliamentary assembly called it a significant departure
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: from established democratic practice.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: As of September 25th, Swiss Public Broadcasting reported Washington had given no explanation.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Portuguese reporting,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: It says the U.S.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: demanded last December that the OSCE cut its annual budget by
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: at least 15 million euros by the end of 2026.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Freddie Steiger,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: a diplomatic correspondent for Swiss Public Broadcasting,
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: said the U.S.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: spent months trying to persuade the OSCE to withdraw its report on
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: the 2020 election.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: He said that report concluded the vote was conducted correctly.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Steiger judged it not implausible that the administration wants the exclusion
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: to clear the way for manipulating the results.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: He added that Republicans could claim the vote was improper if they lose.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's his assessment.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I tend to agree with him.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: At home, the federal search for non-citizen voters is widening.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: A news agency report published Wednesday said that
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: the Trump administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas demanding records
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: on tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: At least 49 came from grand juries, which generally make them harder to challenge in court.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: The report also said the Justice Department has sued 30 states that refuse to hand
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: over voter rolls,
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It said courts have ruled against the department in every voter roll case so far.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The White House has said anyone who votes illegally will be held accountable.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The report says multiple studies
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: and its own analysis have found non-citizen voting is exceedingly rare.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Legal experts say the records could be used to contest close results.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: On Wednesday, U.S.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: District Judge David Carter rejected a Justice Department request to halt the count
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: of mail ballots from a list of 20,000 alleged non-citizens in California.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: He wrote that the federal government had never before,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: on the eve of an election,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: tried to coerce a state and local government
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: to abandon their constitutional election procedures.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: California called the list unreliable and says a review
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: of 200 registrants found nearly 40% appeared to be U.S.-born.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: The department filed the suit on October 15th and has appealed to the 9th U.S.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Circuit Court of Appeals.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: In Europe, officials do not expect Tuesday to change much.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: A senior EU diplomat says, we don't think the unpredictability is going to change.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Brussels is focused on a 70 billion euro gap in Ukraine's finances next year.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: NATO allies are waiting for a Pentagon review of U.S. forces in Europe expected in December.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: NATO allies also fear Washington will hold Patriot interceptors for Ukraine until
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: after the vote.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky has said Ukraine is still waiting for U.S.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to approve the transfer.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: NATO sources told a European broadcaster the situation is unpredictable
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: and one said Trump is using as much leverage as he has over Ukraine ahead of
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: the midterms.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky said Russia fired more than 100 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: the surrounding region in the past two weeks.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Ukrainian estimates put the U.S. Patriot production at 60 to 65 interceptors a month.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Translators note.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Outside the United States, the midterms are read as a clock, not a verdict.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: European officials are planning around December's Pentagon review of U.S.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: forces and next year's 70 billion euro hole in Ukraine's budget.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Both come after Tuesday,
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: and NATO diplomats say they do not expect the vote to change the review.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: That is the context in which the Patriot delay is read as leverage.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: One NATO source suggested Washington wants Kiev pushed toward a deal
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: that includes territorial concessions,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: and two said Washington wants the war over as soon as possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: On that reading, the pressure on Kiev outlasts Tuesday.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: For the first time since 2002,
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: the OSCE,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: the European security body the U.S.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: belongs to, did not receive an invitation to observe a federal election.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: As of late September,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: the U.S.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: had given no public reason A federal judge in California rejected
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: the Justice Department's request to halt the count of 20,000 ballots,
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: and the department has appealed.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: European and NATO officials expect little to change after Tuesday,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: and some fear patriot deliveries to Ukraine are being held until
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: the vote has passed.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Russian Diesel is on the way.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: The first tanker carrying Russian diesel to the United States under
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: the Trump-Putin deal is due in New York on November 7th.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: The Malta-flagged Agioi Fernandez loaded 40,000 metric tons at
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: the Russian Baltic port of Remorsk on October 22nd, according to shipping data.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: A marine intelligence firm said it would be the first Russian diesel delivery to
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: the United States since July 2023.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Kremlin said on October 23rd that the first tanker had sailed.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Trump announced the deal on October 9th,
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: He said Russia would supply more than 300,000 metric tons immediately,
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: 500,000 in November, and 1 million after that.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Moscow partly lifted its restrictions on diesel exports and allowed the sale of 500,000 tons.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Energy policy experts say the deal is unlikely to dent prices at the pump,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: and Russia's deputy prime minister said the first shipment would be 40,000 tons.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's around 300,000 barrels, 7% of the diesel the U.S. uses in a day.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: On October 29th,
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: the Ukrainian Environmental Group said it has identified seven tankers carrying
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: about 288,000 tons of Russian diesel to the U.S.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: and published their positions on a live tracker.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: It says the shipments reach European sanctions and are illegal under U.S.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: law, and it wants the ships turned back.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Three of the seven,
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: the Talisman, Leroux,
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Primorye,
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  SPEAKER_00: appear on Ukraine's sanctions portal as part of Russia's Shadow Fleet,
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: and the Talisman has been under U.S. sanctions since January 2025.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: The ships are due in early November, and it's not known which ports they will use.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Counts differ.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: A Ukrainian outlet cited a report on October 27 of three tankers carrying about 140,000 tons.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: The Environmental Group says a U.S.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Treasury license authorizes imports of Russian origin diesel until April 7,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: 2027, with no requirement for a ceasefire.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Senator Richard Blumenthal warned a shipping company on October 28 to turn back
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: or risk violating U.S. sanctions laws.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: He says the shipments are banned under the 2022 Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill said on October 29th she is considering blocking
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: the tankers from state ports.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: The deal drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Zelensky called the deal a weak decision by strong partners.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: On October 28th, he said Ukraine is not attacking the ships because they are linked to the U.S.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: In September, Trump spoke about Ukraine's strikes on Russian diesel refineries.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: He said don't hit diesel fuel.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Kurt Volker,
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: a former U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: ambassador to NATO,
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: said Trump wants to be seen acting on diesel prices,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: which hit farmers and Midwest voters.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know,
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: the first Russian diesel cargo under the Trump-Putin deal is due in New York
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: on November 7th.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: A Ukrainian environmental group says seven tankers carrying about 288,000 tons are
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: on the way, and other reports give a lower count.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Senator Richard Blumenthal says the imports break the U.S.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: law and New Jersey's governor is considering blocking the ships from state ports.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: The first cargo is a whopping 7% of a full day's use of diesel in the United States.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: The U.N.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: General Assembly voted 130-17 on Wednesday to call for an end to the U.S.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: embargo on Cuba with 25 abstentions.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Last year, the tally was 165-7 with 12 abstentions.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. and Israel were among the 17 against.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Germany and Italy abstain for the first time in many years.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: The resolution is not legally binding and only the U.S. Congress can lift the embargo.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: The General Assembly has adopted it every year for more than three decades except for 2020.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: U.S.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Envoy Mike Waltz said the number of countries that have shifted has tripled
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: and he expects it to keep growing.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: He named Korea and Germany among them.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: The vote followed clashes between Cuban and U.S.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: diplomats, including yelling and shoving on the Assembly floor on Tuesday.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: That day,
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez And other Cuban diplomats walked toward
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: the podium while Waltz was speaking,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: and the Assembly President suspended the session.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: On Wednesday,
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Waltz accused Cuban First Secretary Richard Tur de la Concepción of assaulting
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: an American diplomat and said he would be expelled from the U.S. that day.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Cuban's U.N. mission did not immediately respond.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Rodriguez said after the vote that the U.S. is once again isolated.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: India voted in favor.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Counselor Sumia Nair...
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Said the Assembly has repeatedly called for an end to the embargo and rejected laws
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: with extraterritorial effects that harm other states' sovereignty.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: She cited a U.N.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary General report saying Cuba's health system faces shortages of over 60%
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: of essential medicines.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Cuba's electrical grid collapsed last month and left millions without power.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Translator's note.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Outside of the United States,
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: the vote is read as a test of Washington's leverage over its allies,
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: more than a verdict on the embargo.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: A large majority still sides with Havana.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: The shift is at the edges,
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: where U.S. lobbying moved some votes to abstention and others to opposition.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Havana reads the 130, as proof Washington is isolated.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Washington reads the shifted votes as momentum it expects to grow.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: The U.N.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: General Assembly again urged an end to the U.S.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: embargo on Cuba, 130-17, but support fell from 165 last year.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Germany and Italy abstained, and the U.S. says more countries are shifting toward its positions.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: The voting is not binding, and only Congress can lift the embargo.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: A day earlier,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Cuban and U.S.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: diplomats clashed on the assembly floor,
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: and the U.S. says it is expelling a Cuban diplomat.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Georgia seeks to ban opposition.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Georgia's constitutional court is hearing a lawsuit from the ruling party
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: to ban five opposition parties.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: 88 lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream-led majority filed the suit.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: It names the United National Movement,
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Coalition for Change,
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lilo Strong Georgia,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: and the Federalists and former Prime Minister Georgi Gekharia's Ford Georgia Party.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: The court accepted the case in October, and hearings are scheduled through today.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: It has until June 24, 2027 to rule, and at least four of its seven judges must vote in favor.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Georgian Dream argues the parties violated Article 23 of the Constitution,
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: which bars parties whose aims include overthrowing or forcibly changing
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: the constitutional order.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: One argument is that the parties refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the current authorities.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: The suit also accuses them of organizing attempts to overthrow the government
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: and holds the United National Movement responsible for the 2008 war with Russia.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: All five parties reject the accusations.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: This week,
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Court President Ravaz Nadaria clashed twice with lawyers for the Coalition
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: for Change.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: The clashes were over the citation of a European Parliament resolution
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: and their reference to the Russian Doctrine.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: He said the resolution was irrelevant to the case.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Lawyer Giga Limonyava argued the suit's claims about
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: the 2008 war match Russia's new foreign policy and security doctrine.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: A Georgian court accepting them,
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: he said, would give Russia's version legal weight for the first time.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Nadaria did not let him continue.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: The European Parliament adopted the resolution on October 8.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: It calls for the suit to be withdrawn immediately and says the case follows
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: the model of Russia and Belarus.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: The co-reporteurs of the Council of Europe's Congress called the court's examination
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: of the request deeply alarming.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know,
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Georgia's ruling party has asked the constitutional court
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: to ban five opposition parties, including the party of a former prime minister.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hearings are scheduled through today, and the court has until June 24, 2027 to rule.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: The European Parliament has called the suit to be withdrawn,
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: and the parties deny the accusations.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Lagarde leaves the European Central Bank early.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will step down on February 7,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: 2027, nearly nine months before her term ends.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: The ECB said she informed its governing council and European Council President Antonio Costa.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Her eight-year term was to end October 31, 2027.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Costa said the process to choose a new successor would proceed without delay.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: The European Council appoints her successor.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Lagarde says she wants the freedom to speak on matters beyond monetary policy and
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: that she is not comfortable with the neutrality the job requires at present.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: The move had been expected after speculation that she would leave early
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: so EU leaders could choose a successor while President Emmanuel Macron is in office.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: French presidential elections are scheduled for April,
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: and Euroskeptic far-right and far-left candidates lead in opinion polls.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Macron praised her leadership and asked that the succession be handled in an orderly
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: and balanced way.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Lagarde has said she will not run for the French presidency and has been tipped for
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: the World Economic Forum.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Two other top ECB posts are changing.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Chief Economist Philip Lane's term ends May 31st,
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: and Executive Board Member Isabel Schnabel resigns January 3rd to join
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: the International Monetary Fund.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Holger Schmeiding,
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Chief Economist at Buremberg Bank,
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: said leaders will likely seek agreement on all three posts
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: before their December 17th and 18th summit.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: He named former Dutch central bank head Klaus Knott
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: and Spain's Pablo Hernandez de Kos,
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: now at the Bank for International Settlements, as leading candidates.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Translators note,
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: outside the United States,
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: the exit is read as the first move in a fight over who controls the central bank
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: of 21 countries, not as a retirement.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: In France,
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Jean-Luc Mélenchon,
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: leader of La France Insoumise,
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: says the timing lets Macron negotiate the next appointment with
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: the German Chancellor.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Jean-Philippe Tanguy,
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: who drafts economic policy for the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen,
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: accuses Macron of locking down the bank.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Macron's entourage denies it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: In Germany,
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: a center-right member of the European Parliament says
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: an exit timed around national elections damages trust in a bank that must stand
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: above domestic politics.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: The president of a German think tank says leaving now lets governments pick
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: a successor who will protect the bank's independence.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Germany has never held the presidency,
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: and its central bank chief, Joachim Nagel, has put himself forward.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Chancellor Friedrich Mertz says the euro area leaders will finish the appointment by
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: the end of the year.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: The stakes are immediate.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Euro area inflation reached 3.8% in September,
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: the highest in three years,
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: and the bank has postponed its third rate rise this year to December.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Markets showed little reaction, so On this reading, the fight is political, not financial.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Christine Lagarde will leave the European Central Bank on February 7,
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: 2027, nearly nine months early.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: EU leaders are to choose her successor before France votes for a president in April.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Two other top ECB posts are also opening,
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: and leaders are expected to settle all three by mid-December.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: G20 ministers meet in Atlanta.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: U.S.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting G20 foreign ministers in Atlanta today
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: and tomorrow.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: With Russia's Sergei Lavrov attending.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Lavrov arrived Friday,
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: and Moscow said he would use his speech to argue against international sanctions,
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: and its foreign ministry spokesperson,
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Maria Zakharov, said he would promote a multipolar world.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: She also said most organizational issues were resolved at the last minute,
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: and that especially over visas,
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: there was an impression that not everyone in Washington was happy about the visit.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: No bilateral talks between Lavrov and Rubio had been announced as of October 28th.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: The talks were expected to be fractious,
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: with wars in Ukraine and Iran and surging energy prices dividing members.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: State Department said China's top diplomat,
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Wang Yi, is not attending and is sending his deputy.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: A diplomatic source expects a cherished summary written by the U.S.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: in place of a final declaration,
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: and said the foreign ministers can no longer agree on a joint statement.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Washington is also seeking Moscow's cooperation on fuel prices,
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: a campaign issue in the midterms.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: The meeting sets up the Leaders' Summit in December in Miami at Trump's Doral Resort.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. has invited Putin and the Kremlin said it appreciates the invitation.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: The same diplomatic source says the U.S.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: intends the summit as a demonstration of American power with a focus on growth,
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: deregulation, and trade.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting G20 foreign ministers in Atlanta
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: and Russia's Sergei Lavrov is attending.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: China sent a deputy instead of Wang Yi and no joint statement is expected.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: The meeting leads up to a December leader summit at Trump's Doral Resort in Miami,
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: to which the U.S. is invited Vladimir Putin.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: The governor of Taiz, Yemen, says the city is in famine, not on the brink of it.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Governor Nabil Shamsen said so at a briefing,
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: speaking about a mile from the front line during a Houthi siege that began
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: in early October.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: On Thursday, a Saudi airstrike in western Taiz killed at least 13 people.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Shamsen said the city,
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: home to about one million people,
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: gets only a fraction of the water it needs
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: after Houthi forces seized its last outside source.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Cooking gas is blocked, restaurants have closed, and hospitals have nearly run out of oxygen.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: He said 271 people have been killed and 1,129 wounded since the offensive began.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: The World Food Program said it could not reach over 600,000 people in Taiz who depend on aid.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: The U.N.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Migration Agency says Taiz has taken in about 124,000 displaced people since August.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Human Rights Watch said the siege could amount to the war crime of using starvation
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: as a method of warfare.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi dismissed the reports as fabricated
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: by Saudi Arabia and said the way is open for food and humanitarian needs.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: He said his forces are cutting off weapons supplies to Saudi-backed militias.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Taiz's government says the Yemeni city of about one million people is in famine
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: after a Houthi siege that began in early October.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: The World Food Program says it cannot reach over 600,000 people who depend on aid.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Human Rights Watch says the siege could be a war crime.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Houthi leader denies a siege exists.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this morning's edition of The Rest of the World Report.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize for the lateness.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I just honestly have no excuse.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: I slept in, and that's really all it was.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget, tonight we have our live chat, 6 o'clock Eastern.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: A little secret between you and me.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I really look forward to it.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually something that I've kind of started to really enjoy.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you guys are awesome.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you all then.
• 18:17
  [music]