Reuters World News - Flotilla, shutdown stalemate, Pentagon and Jane Goodall

Starting point is 00:00:01 Today, Israel intercepts a flotilla of boats carrying activists trying to deliver aid to Gaza, sparking protests around the world. The US government enters day two of shutdown with no agreement in sight. Critics fear changes to the watchdog system at the Pentagon could cut back accountability. And a look back at the life of primatologist Jane Goodall, who's died aged 91. It's Thursday, October 2nd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand.

Starting point is 00:00:46 This is the Israeli Navy. You are approaching a blockaded zone. Israel's military issuing a warning to a flotilla of boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, shortly before intercepting them off the coast of the war ravaged enclave. If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you may do so through the established channels. Communications on the flotilla boats are scrambled and live feed video links from the boats go down. That vessel is currently approaching us as I'm speaking into the phone. Organizers of the global Sumud Flotilla monitored the Israeli Navy's approach with activists on the phone. We are going to get into position and get ready for interception.

Starting point is 00:01:37 They say Israel, aggressively rammed one of the boats, though all passengers are said to be unharmed. Its crew has been abducted by Israel in another flagrant violation of international law. We are still in the process of trying to understand what is happening. Israel's foreign ministry says all detained passengers, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, are safe and healthy. The flotilla includes some 40 civilian boats carrying aid and around 500 foreign parliamentary. lawyers and activists.

Starting point is 00:02:12 Reuters' correspondent, Cynthia Osterman, was watching the live feed as the interception played out. We saw at one point a boat being sprayed with water cannons, and we've seen the flotilla members with their arms in the air, sort of in the surrender position as the Israeli Navy boats got close. The Israeli Navy started to intercept boats and taken their passengers to an Israeli port. Other boats are still attempting to carry on and reach Gaza.

Starting point is 00:02:45 Israel has said they were being taken ashore in southern Israel to a port there. It is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur right now in Israel, where everything shuts down, and Israel has said that they will deport the people that they have intercepted after the holiday. You can follow this developing story on our live page on Reuters.com and the Reuters app. In the U.S., the government shutdown is now in full swing, and President Trump is making good on his threats. The administration has frozen $26 billion in funding for democratic states, including major transit and green energy projects. Vice President J.D. Vance is warning the administration might extend its purge of federal

Starting point is 00:03:40 workers if this drags on. Washington reporter Bo Erickson says even so, both sides still seem to be far apart with the full effect of the shutdown yet to be felt. These missed paychecks are expected to come in the next few weeks for like, you know, military service members and some air traffic controllers. And so that, when that happens, that will naturally kind of put more pressure on the senators to make a deal. One issue that is shutdown related that we are doing reporting on is the lack of funding for a food aid and food nutrition program for women, infants, and children in America. There's about seven million Americans who rely on the specific WIC program, and that funding, we've been told, can run out in a matter of days. Something like that could be the

Starting point is 00:04:32 catalyst if that funding does eventually run out, that senators are kind of forced into making a more compromise position. Bo says for now the threat of mass firings rather than furloughs doesn't seem to be having the intended effect. A lot of Senate Democrats have said that these threats and these firings have been going on the full year. And so many senators that I've been speaking with, especially Democrats, they saying that they're not going to bulk just on these threats alone because they think those moves are illegal. Vice President J.D. Vance says AI altered images of Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries shared by President Trump were just a joke. President Trump posted the first clip showing Jeffries with a sombrero, mustache and mariachi music

Starting point is 00:05:27 on his social media. Jeffries called it disgusting in a TV interview. Trump posted a video of that interview with a mustache and sombrero added again. The White House then played the clips on screens in the press briefing room. Democrats say the post. hosts are racist and bigoted. The Pentagon's watchdog system is getting a shake-up. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing through sweeping reforms to the Inspector General process, claiming it's been weaponised by disgruntled insiders. But critics say the changes could silence whistleblowers and weaken oversight in the world's

Starting point is 00:06:07 largest military. And it comes as Hegseth himself is investigated over his use of messaging app's signal to talk about plans to attack Yemen. National security reporter Idris Ali explains. What Secretary Hexed has done is essentially reduce the time that the military inspector generals have to decide whether to dismiss a case or move forward with it. And they have basically put in new requirements, including one, which sources have said is problematic, which is that every 14 days, if an investigation is being carried out, they must notify the subject of the investigation with details about what is going on, how long it will take.

Starting point is 00:06:51 And the concern there is that it might have an impact on the investigation. If you are telling the subject of an investigation, what might be coming and what evidence you have, you could see that having issues. But what we've seen from the Trump administration since it took office earlier this year is really going after this arm of accountability throughout the federal government, more than a dozen of the inspectors general were fired earlier this year. They are suing to have that overturned. But it really speaks to the administration's attempts to root out and go after what traditionally

Starting point is 00:07:28 has been seen as an agency and agencies that really hold the government to account. The Federal Reserve is another agency in the Trump administration's sites. But it won some breathing space this week, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow President Trump to immediately fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The court says it will hear arguments in January in the case, leaving Cook in the post for now, and teeing up a major legal battle over the central bank's independence.

Starting point is 00:08:02 The U.S. is going to give Ukraine intel on long-range energy infrastructure targets inside Russia. That's according to two officials who say Washington is weighing whether to give Kiev, the missiles that could be used in those strikes. The decision is the first known policy change President Trump has signed off on since hardening his Russia rhetoric. Russia's UN mission in New York declined to comment. Primatologist, scientist and activist Jane Goodall has died. Goodall transformed our understanding of primates and the planet. In 1957, she saved up for a boat trip to Kenya, where a chance meeting with famed anthropologist Louis Leakey led her deep into

Starting point is 00:08:53 the Tanzanian jungle. There she lived among chimpanzees, naming them, documenting their emotions, and discovering they used tools, things that upended scientific norms. Her work became world-famous through National Geographic, and her beloved chimps, like David Greybeard, became household names. Goodall left the jungle to campaign globally for conservation and climate action, founding the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots and Shoots. We all need to get involved. We need to be involved. We involve children now.

Starting point is 00:09:30 The children in our Roots and Shoots program in 60 countries are planting trees. They understand the importance. She received a Damehood and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and never stopped believing in the resilience of nature or humanity's power to protect it. Jane Goodall was 91. And for today's recommended read, tariffs are giving Brazil's coffee sector a tough time, but there is one arabica bean that's emerging unscathed, kind of. It's eaten, digested, and pooped out by Brazil's native Jakku Bird. We'll drop a link to that story for you to read with your morning brew. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

Starting point is 00:10:21 Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

Reuters World News - Flotilla, shutdown stalemate, Pentagon and Jane Goodall

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