Reuters World News - Chile arms up and India’s holy city of death

Episode Date: April 27, 2023

In today's episode, why Chileans are stocking up on armored vehicles and guns. The latest on the cat-and-mouse game between Disney and Florida's Governor DeSantis. And journey to the banks of India's Ganges River, where the elderly are choosing to break the cycle of death and rebirth rather than head into a nursing home. 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, we're in Chile, one of Latin America's safest countries to find out why armored cars have become a popular corporate accessory. Disney hits back at DeSantis as the Florida feud grows. And we travel to the banks of the river Ganges, where elderly people are trying to break the Hindu cycle of death and rebirth. It's Thursday, April 27th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from. from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Kim Vinal in London. And I'm Christopher Waljsper in Chicago.

First, let's head to the Magic Kingdom. The Disney Empire has struck back against Ron DeSantis and his efforts to curb the corporation's economic privileges. For the latest on the saga between Disney and the state of Florida, we're going to talk now with Don Shemaleski. Hey, Don. Hey. All right.

Walk us through it. What is going on in Florida? This battle has been brewing and intensifying over the last year. And the most recent development is this. The DeSantis appointed board basically sought to undo this contract that Disney had struck with their predecessors. Well, that triggered a lawsuit that alleges a variety of things. Disney argues that its constitutional rights have been violated. First and foremost, its free speech rights have been violated.

It's saying that Ron DeSantis and some of the politicians in Florida are penalizing it for expressing an opinion about legislation that some of Disney's employees feel is discriminatory toward the LGBTQ community. Is there a chance that this fight could end up hurting DeSantis or the GOP more broadly in their pro-business stance? I had a chance to speak with some political science professors in Florida. And he had some interesting observations to make. What Ron DeSantis may well be doing is adopting policies that appeal to the Republican primary voter. The problem is if DeSantis does defeat his primary opponents, obviously former President Trump is a leading contender there, Desantis will have to find a way to campaign in the general election with a very conservative point of view. And also, he'll presumably confront non-political people who are major Disney fans who might be compelled to go to the general election with a very conservative point of view. And also, he'll presumably confront non-political people who are major Disney fans who might be compelled to go to go to. the polls just to express their displeasure. Interesting. Don, thanks for keeping us across this. Always a pleasure. Thanks so much for us. Great talking with you. Here's what else we're following around the world. The United States and South Korea have signed a landmark deal intended to counter the nuclear threat from North Korea. The agreement means the U.S.

involving Seoul in its nuclear planning operations and promising that one of its nuclear armed submarines will visit the region for the first time since the 1980s. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky has described an hour-long phone call with China's Xi Jinping as meaningful. It's the first time they've spoken since Russia's invasion. Xi told Zelensky that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace. Pope Francis is to allow women to vote for the first time at a powerful global meeting of bishops in October in an historic move.

In the past, women were only allowed to attend as observers. Former Fuji's rapper Pras Michelle has been found guilty of 10 criminal charges, including corruption. The Grammy Award winner was found guilty of conspiring to help a Malaysian businessman and the Chinese government gain access to US officials, including former presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. It's time for markets. We can speak to our very own Carmel Crimmons. Hi, Carmel. Hey, Kim. So what's happening? So we're expecting US GDP figures out later today. They're expected to show that the economy grew at a pretty solid clip in the first quarter. However, recession fears are stalking markets today. There's a few things out there that aren't helping the mood. The first is First Republic Bank.

its shares are continuing to drop after it gave that shocking figure earlier this week for deposit withdrawals. So we need to see what's going to happen there. And second of all, the debt ceiling. That is continuing to worry investors. Republicans got their bill passed yesterday, the bill to actually raise the debt ceiling. But investors are worried that there's going to be a long-running battle between Congress and government to sort this issue out. All right. Kamel, thanks so much. To Haiti and a new level of horror in a country, ravaged by gang violence and lawlessness. As a crackdown on those gangs intensifies,

public anger at the situation is boiling over. This week, a mob set fire to at least 10 suspected gang members in the capital, Porto Prince. Reporter Harold Isaac in Haiti explains what happened, and a warning that some listeners may find this report distressing. What happened is that gang members fled in pretty much all directions. and they got stopped at a police checkpoint. But by then, the mob was already surrounding them

and then eventually started throwing motorcycle tires on them, along with gasoline, getting ready to set them on fire. And they were still alive, you know, when they were set on fire. Drew some scenes where you see folks that were still alive running as they were on fire and eventually collapsing and dying. So it's a very vivid expression of, of sorts, you know, of how the situation has degenerated overall. The kind of terrorist methods of these gangs had left Haitians with a sense of hopelessness,

and the population feels that it has been left to fend for itself. The Haitian government six months ago had requested foreign military intervention. This has yet to materialize. For most folks that you're talking to, they're saying that, has kind of changed camps, you know, or at least there's a beginning of shift in where the fear is. Right now, if you're suspected to be a gang member, you'd be on the run. It's a very complicated situation, but what happened is a major precedent, and we don't really know where we go from there.

Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince. At a shooting range in Santiago, Javier Castillo is learning how to fire a pistol. She and her partner started coming here after their pickup truck was stolen at gunpoint outside their home last June. She says there are so many robberies where she lives that it's become necessary to arm herself. And she's not alone.

Worried about growing gang violence in their country, Chileans are snapping up guns and even armoring their cars. Natalia Ramos is in Santiago and joins us. Natalia, what's behind this rise in violence? There's a mix of factors to explain what we're seeing now. On one side, we have many guns circulating. That's what authorities says, that there are many illegal guns.

And in the other side, there's also a problem with illegal immigrations. So especially in the northern regions of Chile, there have been a really surging crime related to illegal immigration, to arms trafficking, to trafficking of people. people, and a third point to explain this, is that the Chilean state has been slow to face this growing problem. How are people adjusting to this new reality? People are buying more guns according to Defence Ministry. We talk to there's a surge in 6% of people buying more arms for exclusively for personal defence in the last six months. You recently went to a car dealership

that turns regular cars into armored vehicles. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, it's a really new service here. So people who can afford, because it's about $20,000, $30,000 to pay for that. It's not a cheap solution, of course. We spoke with the manager. He's called Rodrigo Rivera.

And he says that this is a business that it will grow in the next few years. He doesn't see that the violence is going down in the streets, so they are prospecting that the company will continue going up. Natalia, thank you. And now to the town of Varanasi on the banks of India's Ganges River. While Western-style nursing homes are gaining popularity in India, thousands of elderly here live out their final days in a sparse life of prayer and fasting.

Old age homes, they are forks. comfort, all right. But our Indian philosophy is those who seek worldly comforts can never go to God. That's 82-year-old Murali Mohan Sastri. His ribs show through his frail frame as he prays and bathes in the Ganges River each morning. Residents hope the denial of worldly comforts might break the cycle of death and rebirth that's core to the beliefs of some Hindus. Death is invited here. We invite death and he's our guest actually. So we are proud that we are going to die here. That's it for today's edition of Reuters World News. We're back on Friday. Before you go, we'd love for you to tell us what you think about the show. There's a survey in the pod's description on the Reuters website or your preferred podcast platform.