Ukraine talks, Huckabee, space wars and French butter

Hi, I'm Tora Oaks in the bubble. It's Sunday, September 6th. Today, a new US push for peace in Ukraine. Washington and Turan fire up vessels near Iran. A blockbuster summer for Hollywood. And a new Paris boutique butters up customers with the finest dairy products. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. Imagine setting your makeup. Then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all-day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin. That still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Maybe it's Mabelie. Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he's ordered the Russian military not to strike Kiev for three days, noting a corresponding pause of Ukraine strikes on Moscow. A U.S. envoy Steve Whitkov and Jared Kushner visit both capitals in the Trump administration's latest push for peace. The Kremlin is calling Saturday's talks with Whitkov and Kushner useful but has given no further detail. U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Friday the U.S. had a fresh proposal aimed at ending the war but didn't elaborate. A correspondent Max Hunder is in Kiev, where Whitkov and Kushner are meeting with Ukraine's president Vladimir Zelensky. What's important here is that they're coming to Kiev for the first time. Kushner and Whitkov have gone to Moscow several times before. This is going to be their first time coming to Ukraine in their roles. So this is a big deal for Ukraine. Ukraine hopes that it can get its point of view across them more. Max says Ukrainians are keen for peace but not at any cost. I think people are pretty tired. I think people want peace but they don't want peace on Russia's terms. Kiev has been under pretty withering attacks for the last few weeks. I mean, we had pretty intense sort of night time missile attacks before and that's been followed up by in the last two weeks a constant barrage of daytime drone attacks using kind of new jet drones that are very hard to stop. So it's been pretty dangerous and exhausting in Kiev last few weeks. We had a couple of people out on the street tell us the day that they want peace but people are aware that peace shouldn't mean capitulation. I think that's the overall moon in Ukraine that they don't want to give away too much in people are especially cautious as indeed as the government not to create a situation where Russia can simply regroup and attack again. I think most people and indeed government officials want to make sure that cannot happen. And in Germany voting is underway in the Eastern German state of Saxony and Holt where the Russia friendly alternative for Germany or AFD have been ahead in the polls. The closely watched election could see the AFD become the first far-right party to take power at a state level since World War II. You can follow the results of the election on rotors.com and the rotors app and the Sunday yesterday's episode for more analysis from Berlin. We'll have the result in tomorrow's pod. The U.S. and Iran both say they fired up vessels in the waters around Iran. U.S. Central Command says it struck three Iranian vessels, including one of the coast of Carg Island. After Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships. Sencom added that no American personnel were harmed. The IRGC responded by threatening intensified strikes against U.S. military vessels in the region. And said later it had targeted three tankers as well as three U.S. linked vessels in other areas. We heard about the challenges that they face living in their own homes on their own property. Some of the intimidation that is being carried out by people that I have characterized as being terrorist. That's U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaking in the Palestinian town of Termas Ayah in the occupied West Bank, where residents say they're facing increasing attacks from Israeli settlers. Most of the town's Palestinian residents are U.S. citizens. Huckabee says there are limits to what the U.S. Embassy can do, and that Israel has a responsibility to protect residents from violence. People in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety. And that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens. The visit comes amid mounting international concern over settler violence in the West Bank. The Israeli government has condemned settler violence. The perpetrators are rarely arrested or prosecuted. Now militaries have relied on satellites for decades, mostly for communication and navigation with soldiers and weapons systems on the ground. But space is no longer just a place for military communication. Increasingly, it's a domain they expect to operate in. And if necessary, fight in. And for major powers like the U.S. and China, that means a lot of investment and R&D. Reporter Kassel Brian Low has been looking at how the world's two biggest space powers are preparing for the possibility that conflict could one day extend into orbit. Space has become increasingly important to military operations as we've seen in Ukraine and in the Middle East recently. What we found was that Chinese military link researchers are developing so-called pursuit satellites that could be capable of even of capturing other satellites on orbit. And we also found that the U.S. and the UK conducted their first military operation in space in the path of Chinese satellite that's suspected of spying. And what some military officials phrase to us as equivalent to a naval operation or an air mission to send Beijing a signal. Space is becoming increasingly important to all of our lives, from our mobile phones, to our banking systems, to our agriculture industry. And what Western officials say is that threats to space could have impact not only for military, but also for the public at large. Now to some good news for Hollywood, which has enjoyed the strongest summer box office numbers since the pandemic. In the U.S. and Canada, ticket sales topped $4.6 billion between May and the end of August, a big jump from last summer. Big releases like Spider-Man, Brand New Day, the Odyssey and Toy Story 5 helped drive those numbers. So after years of false starts and setbacks, it's Hollywood finally pulling off of real comeback, reported on Shimalesky as well. What's interesting about this moment is that theaters are full, studios have released a variety of films that in some instances actually depart from the recent habits of loading us up with superhero movies and sequels. So in this summer, studios invested in original stories and audiences really responded. Studio execs are nothing short of euphoric about the results. They're optimistic that perhaps this momentum will carry through to the winter months and particularly to December when Doom 3 is released and when the new Avengers film reaches theaters. It is possible this year could you know, the total box office in the U.S. and Canada could exceed $10 billion, which is again, a level it hasn't reached since before the pandemic. And finally, a flaky, rich Quesson. A melt in the mouth, Panoshokula. A lightly dorked baguette. What do they have in common? Symbols of France, enhanced by that beloved staple, butter. France is the world's biggest consumer of butter, with each citizen consuming an estimated 17.5 pounds or eight kilograms of a dairy product yearly, according to the country's agriculture ministry. And now in Paris, there's a boutique dedicated to the very finest. At the butter shop, customers line up to sample flavored butters the way you'd sample ice cream, raspberry, chocolate, wild garlic. The store's owner, Owen Leo, says once people taste high quality butter, they're hooked. Butter is just incredible. There is so much to offer. Once you enter that world, there is so many different flavors, there is so many different fat percentage, different regions, different towns. Judging from the crowds, the message is spreading. We're more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis and the 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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