Trump pauses Iran strikes, Microsoft visa suspension, French mayor (Updated)

Hi, I'm Kim Vannell in Wanganui, New Zealand. And I'm Christopher Walgesper, in Chicago. It's Thursday, October 8th, today. President Trump says he won't launch another attack on Iran before the midterm elections. Democrats in tight Midwest races deflect or move to the right on transgender issues. And a French mayor goes viral for standing with student protesters. This is Royce's world news, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. The United States will not launch another attack on Iran before the U.S. midterm congressional elections in November. That's according to President Donald Trump, who says the U.S. is having productive discussions with Iran in a post on Truth Social. He says the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect and that oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. That's despite Iran issuing new warnings this week that it would block routes that it is not authorized. Last week saw the biggest number of attacks on tankers in the straits since the war began. Saudi Arabia says three people have been killed and dozens wounded in attacks on two different airports as the fight between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed government in neighbouring Yemen escalates. The Saudi-backed government is a few days into a campaign to retake all the territory the Houthis have gained in the past 12 years of war. Crucially, it wants to loosen the Houthis grip on the Babel Mandib Strait, a key shipping route that the group brought within reach as the U.S.-Israel Iran war spread. Syria, meanwhile, is considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia that's according to sources. Options being considered include defensive aid to protect the Kingdom from attacks or deploying forces in an offensive capacity to help Saudi-backed Yemeni troops fight the Houthis. U.S. President Donald Trump speaking in Texas at a rally for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, the third-time Trump has stumped for Paxton in a month. His speech was interrupted several times by protesters. Trump though remained on message. His appearance a sign of growing Republican concern for a state that's long been considered safe ground. A recent New York Times CNN college poll shows Paxton trailing Democrat James Talleriko in the upcoming midterms by six points. Paxton is one of several Republicans who have made transgender rights, or rather limiting those rights, a central issue of their campaign. Democrats, however, are split on how to handle the issue, particularly in the tight Midwest races, reportedly a Douglas has more on how Democrats are rethinking their strategies, and in some cases, moving closer to the traditionally Republican position. In this midterm cycle, Republicans are continuing this messaging around limiting trans-participation and sports, restricting gender-affirming care for minors. These are aligned with priorities of the Trump administration as well. In this cycle, we are seeing Democrats especially in really tight competitive races adjusting their messaging on trans topics. For instance, in Ohio and Iowa, two states we looked out for this story, there are really tight races here, true concepts, and Democrats and those races are sort of picking from two strategies. One is to try to deflect and change the topic and say this isn't a relevant issue for most of my constituents, and instead we should be talking about the cost of living, high gas prices, the war in Iran, other issues that are really top of mind for voters. The other approach that many Democrats are using is to sort of move towards Republicans on some of their stances, and to mirror some of the language that Republicans are using on these topics. And often to come out and say I agree with Republicans, that for instance transgender girls should not be allowed to participate on female sports teams, or a gender-affirming care for minors should be restricted in some ways. Samsung says quarterly operating profit is on track to exceed $80 billion, which would be the highest quarterly profit ever reported by a technology company fueled by the global rush for AI chips. For more markets news, here's Mike Dolan, host of our system markets podcast MorningBid. So the earnings season is ponetive once again, and we can see the first indications, particularly of the AI boom coming out of Asia and South Korea's Samsung, as given us an eye popping almost 800% increase in operating profit over the past year. And even despite that, its stock is down. Part of the reason for that is that that sort of level of growth is inevitably going to slow, and I think underlying that, there is a slowdown in the huge chip price rises that have been driving it. Also, in the backdrop of the world's biggest chip maker, TSMC reported another beat. So that story keeps going on, but we have to wait until the Wall Street Giants report in the coming weeks. You can catch MorningBid wherever you get your podcasts. The US government is suspending Microsoft, Adobe, and several major tech companies from a program that helps foreign workers gain permanent residency. So our message to Microsoft is, you're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers. You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indigent servants. Vice President JD Vance announcing the suspensions on Thursday, which target a half dozen other tech giants, citing alleged fraud in the labor certification process. The Trump administration is also investigating nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, Stanford, and UC Davis, for allegedly using international students to undercut American wages. We're also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first. A French mayor has gone viral after shielding student protesters from police in Paris. Wally Bagayoko is mayor of the working class suburb of Sondanie and was seen on video standing between officers and young demonstrators on Tuesday, shouting stop before police fired tear gas. The protests now in their third week began in Paris' marginalized suburbs because of overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, and crumbling school buildings. And over in Belgium, similar protests are taking place. With authorities using water cannon to disperse the crowds, gathered to protest rising education costs, overcrowded classrooms, and difficulties accessing study materials. Canadian poet and writer Anne Carson has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. The 76 year old Toronto native won for what the committee called her bold and inventive work that blends poetry, prose, and translations of classical Greek literature into genre-defying forms. She's known for verse novels like autobiography of Red, as well as performance pieces like Norma Jean Baker of Troy, where she mixes the ancient story of Helen of Troy with that of actress Marilyn Monroe. The Academy praised Carson for creating completely new forms for contemporary literature. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis and news shaping our world, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source. 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