The Nobel Peace Prize goes to Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo – a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israel strikes the heart of Beirut but fails to assassinate the Hezbollah figure they targeted. Hurricane Milton did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater feared in Florida, but the clean-up could take months. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils ‘Cybercab’ - the automaker’s robotaxi. Plus, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has erased Republican rival Donald Trump’s advantage in suburban America, an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.
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, a Hezbollah target survives an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut. In Florida, tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton leave at least 10 dead. Tesla bets big on the Robotaxy. And the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to a Japanese movement of atomic bomb survivors. It's Friday, October 11th. This is Rotor's World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes and Liverpool. And I'm Sharon Raish Garzaan in New Jersey. Starting with some breaking news. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidanku. The Nobel Committee goes on to say that this grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again. Rachel Armstrong is our Europe editor. This award is likely a reflection that as we hear again, threats of nuclear weapons being rattled around whether that's in the context of Russia and the West, North Korea or Iran, that perhaps the world needs to hear again from the only people who have endured the horror of a nuclear bomb and who have spent the rest of their lives campaigning that these weapons are never used again. Local residents allow Biden recounting Israeli strikes on central Beirut overnight, saying he was praying when the first strike hit and calling the scene "horrifying and unbelievable." Lebanese authorities say the strikes killed over 20 people and injured more than a hundred. Iraqi sources say the intended target was Wafik Safa, who heads a Hezbollah's liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, but they report that he survived the strikes, which hit a densely packed residential neighbourhood in the heart of Beirut. There was no immediate comment on the incident by Israel or by Hezbollah. In Lebanon, South, two United Nations peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the forces' main headquarters in Nakura, prompting the UN to say its personnel were facing increasing danger. Andreya Tenanti is spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL. "We decided to stay. There was an agreement with all the troop-contributing countries that it's important for the UN to be there to fly the UN flag, and we continue to monitor the situation." The Middle East remains on higher alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile strike on October 1st. Three Gulf sources have told Reuters that the Gulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran's oil sites, because they're concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates. Both states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington. And for more on our Middle East coverage, stay across rotors.com and the Reuters app. Across Central Florida, Hurricane Milton leaves behind floods, power outages, and widespread destruction. TV reporter Julio Cesar Chavez is in Siesta Beach, where he's been talking to residents. "The morning after landfall, I met a man, Daniel Barn. He spent the entire night through the hurricane in his business office, and his business has a rather large lot, where several big trucks were parked. But his biggest worry was that since the flooding had persisted up to six feet in some areas of the lot he told me was that the electricity was still running, and he was afraid of the fires that might start. In some areas, the flood waters are eight to ten feet high, but the storm surge is still lower than predicted. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario." In St. Lucie, resident Crystal Coleman describes what it was like as the storm began peeling the roof off her home. "I love your experience, nothing like this in my life. It felt like I was in a movie." President Biden says relief from Milton will cost billions and is calling on lawmakers to come back to session to address disaster funding. An Israeli asteroid has killed 28 people who were sheltering inside a Gaza school. Israel says Palestinian militants were using the facility as a command and control center. At least 20 people have been killed in an attack on miners in southwest Pakistan. Unidentified gunmen lined up miners at a small private coal mine and shot them early Friday morning. That's according to police and media. President Obama was in Pittsburgh last night, campaigning for Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. "Get off your couch and vote. Put down your phone and vote." It's the first of several events he's planning in battleground states leading up to election day. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Detroit says he wants to make interest on car loans tax deductible. He also said he'll take additional steps to prevent Chinese automakers from selling vehicles in the US and will renegotiate the free trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada, which he made in 2020. A new Reuters Ipsos poll shows Kamala Harris is more popular than Donald Trump among suburban and middle-class voters. Politics editor Scott Malone lays out what the numbers mean. A review of our Reuters Ipsos polling from the final two months of Biden's campaign showed that Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, had taken a lead in both of those critical demographic groups. And what this review shows is that since coming in, Harris has reversed that. She's picked up nine points in each of those groups. It's important to note that this doesn't mean that she's running away with it. This is the way that she's made what had been an election that Trump was really showing advantage is in, highly competitive. However, on markets, investors are pairing back their expectations for a Fed rate cut next month. Kamala Krimans is here to explain why. Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostik told the Wall Street Journal that he'd consider a pause in rate cuts next month, and that's given traders pause too. It's knocked out expectations with anything more than a 25 basis point rate cut in November. And the odds of there being no move are now at about 17%. Bostik was speaking after September inflation came in slightly firmer than economists had expected. And if you're interested in markets, do check out this week's episode of my podcast, Reuters Econ World. It's all about Japan and how it's trillions of dollars in overseas investments hang over global markets. You can catch it on Reuters.com, the Reuters app, or wherever you get your podcasts. So it will move from supervised, full self-driving two doors, no steering wheel, no pedals. You could fall asleep and wake up at your destination. It's Tesla's latest offering, the cybercap. CEO Elon Musk there, presenting the Robotaxi as the company shifts from low priced mass market auto maker to robotics manufacturer. Chris Kirkham covers the automotive industry. So first let me ask you, how is Tesla's approach different from some of the other robot taxis that are already out there? In many ways, some of the technology that Tesla is using is pretty similar to competitors like Waymo that are already offering fully autonomous rides to passengers in certain cities in the United States. But Waymo and others will use a lot of different sensors, cameras, LiDAR, radar to basically anticipate objects that might be in the road. Tesla is just using cameras. They're also relying on an artificial intelligence discipline called end to end for autonomous driving. And some experts have pointed out that it does very closely mimic human driving and it learns from human driving. But the problem is that there's no way to really unpack what went wrong if there's an accident or a crash. So Waymo and others, they are using redundant AI technologies as well. As we head into the weekend, it's time for a recommended listen. And this time is our own pod special. With the US presidential election only weeks away, Democrats and Republicans are working with lawyers and courtrooms around the country to determine how votes are cast and counted. This surge in litigation could be the first phase of a legal fight that could get ugly if there's a close call. It's our episode on lawfare and that pod drops on Saturday. For more on any of our stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. To never miss an episode, subscribe on your favourite podcast player. And we'll be back on Monday with that Daily Headline show. [Music]
