Melania ceasefire, Banks block AI agents, Trump's evangelicals (Updated)

Hi, I'm Carmel Kremens and Dublin. And I'm Christopher Walgesburg in Chicago. It's Friday, October 23rd. Today, Melania Trump brokers a localized ceasefire for a besieged Ukrainian town. The far-right firebrand, winning over Israel's first-time voters. U.S. banks are blocking AI access. And New York City is reigning in one of its iconic traditions. This is Reuters' World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the frontlines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. The White House says First Lady Melania Trump has brokered a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky. President Donald Trump applauding the First Lady's diplomacy. Residents of the southern Ukrainian city, which has been occupied by Russian forces since 2022, have reported a deepening food crisis. The main route out of the town is littered with burned-out cars and charred by blasts, while attack drones prowl overhead. The White House says both sides have agreed to temporarily halt military action to allow humanitarian aid and prepare civilian evacuations through a safe passageway. The Kremlin has confirmed the deal and says Russian and Ukrainian militaries are working on implementing it. Meanwhile, a tanker carrying 40,000 metric tons of Russian diesel fuel is headed to New York, the first since a 2022 ban on Russian oil imports. The shipment follows an agreement between Moscow and President Trump earlier this month. This tanker is expected to arrive in the United States by November 7. A powerful magnitude seven earthquake has hit Tibet and southwest China, forcing thousands from their homes. At least 16 people are dead and dozens injured, according to local authorities. Some students, spending the night in sleeping bags on a sports field after the quake, the strongest to hit China in nearly three years. Hundreds of police officers have been deployed to the epicenter in a high-altitude city in northern Tibet for rescue and emergency work. Now to Jordan, where at least seven people have been killed and ten more injured after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church. Morners, tending to the wounded in the aftermath of the attack, say two men, one with a rifle, another with a pistol, got out of the vehicle and fired on dozens of funeral growers at the Hamud Church. Security forces have been deployed to the scene and are pursuing the suspects. No group has claimed responsibility, Jordan's King Abdullah says authorities will punish those behind the attack with a "iron fist". Attacks like this are extremely rare in Jordan, a relatively stable country that's home to a Christian minority and several biblical pilgrimage sites. Taiwan has effectively shut down as typhoon champie closes in, schools, offices and financial markets are all closed and nearly a thousand flights canceled. One of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, champie is packing around 119 miles per hour winds. Around 1,300 people have been evacuated from mountainous areas, at least one person has been killed and dozens injured. Forecasters say that even though the storm is weakening, it could still make direct landfall on the island. Major U.S. banks are blocking third-party AI agents from accessing customer accounts. That follows reports that some AI agents have attempted to take actions independent of user instruction. In some cases, customers did share login credentials with AI agents. Banks have flagged and stopped some transactions, though they can't be deemed unauthorized if the customer has given consent. Justin Stanley has blocked third-party agents entirely, and J.P. Morgan Chase says the bank won't allow outside agents inside the company, calling it "too risky." The people of Iowa are going to elect Ashley Hinssen as your next senator. President Trump, stumping for a public and senate candidate Ashley Hinssen in Sue City for Iowa Thursday night. Hinssen is in a close race with Democrat Josh Turrick, with midterms less than two weeks away, and President Trump's approval rating hovering at all-time lows, there's one voting block that remains reliably in support of the president. White Evangelical Christians. Trump's approval among White Evangelicals has dropped, but only to 63 percent, down from 77 in January 2025, that's according to Reuters' Ipsaus polling, and that's the only major demographic where he tops 60 percent. In South Carolina, Pastor Eric Eastep is leading politically-focused services at Village Church. I want them to vote according to what our faith prescribes us to vote. But not all congregants are in lockstep. I vote it, Donald Trump into his president, and now I'm more, I'm on the fence between conservative and a Democrat. Cynthia Carroll says the decision isn't clear-cut. I'll probably vote more Democrat because I'm thinking of there's people in the world starving and we're hungry. Robert Jones, a researcher at the Public Religion Research Institute, says the bond between Evangelicals and Republicans runs deeper than policy. And the message is, we're a White Christian country. We're losing that identity, but if you stick with me, I'm going to make sure that we keep that identity. Jones says years of rhetoric, demonizing Democrats, makes it difficult for devout of Angelicals to consider crossing party lines. South Carolina's Senate race, typically safe Republican territory, is now within three points, according to one poll. President Trump is standing by a controversial ad campaign from Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Bebek Ramaswami. The ad takes aim at Democrat Amy Akton, featuring her estranged mother disputing her daughter's account of a childhood marked by abuse, neglect, and homelessness. Akton has spoken publicly about these allegations for years, and her brother has supported her account. The spot has drawn bipartisan criticism and raises questions about how personal campaigns should get. It comes as Ohio's governor's race heads into its final days, and polls show Akton with a narrow lead. Israelis head to the polls next week, their first election since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. And while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's liquid party is forecast to shed seats, one man on the far right is bucking that trend. Itamar Ben-Govir, his Israeli's national security minister, and leader of the Jewish Parapartee. He celebrated a death penalty bill with a new, decorated birthday cake, and he's drawn international sanctions for inciting violence in the occupied West Bank. Ben-Govir's party is polling at eight or more seats, up from six, and he's drawing support from a surprising place. Young, first-time voters. Emily Rose is in Jerusalem. I'm going to throw out a third of Ben-Govir's voters are thrown into the first time. They tend to be younger than the average is really voter. They tend to be male, and they also tend to value security, also maintaining gender-pratic values. I've spoken to a lot of voters who say that they were deeply impacted by the events of October 7. We know that in Israel, the younger generation, as seen as the October 7, the last words being called, and a lot of younger first-time voters are telling me that their supporting Ben-Govir are telling me that they're supporting him because the events of October 7 shook them so deeply that this has drawn them to his more hard-line policies. They want to see harder lines on security, harder lines against those who try to take up fire and action against Israelis, and a lot of them told me that they said that it's each more of Ben-Govir had been the sense in a stir when October 7 happened, well, October 7 was his hand at all. New York City is ending one of its oldest tourist attractions. The City Council passed a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages starting June 1, 2028. Support for the ban grew after an Indian tourist was killed this summer when a carriage horse bolted. The ban has sparked fierce opposition, and carriage operators like Christina Hansen say hundreds of jobs will be wiped out. I'd awful lot of New Yorkers feel like we are a part of New York, right? And even people that aren't from here, it's a bucket list item. The horse is in Central Park, we are iconic, we are as much a part of the city as the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building. Animal Rights Group PETA says the industry is long overdue for closure, arguing horses face dangerous conditions on city streets. 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