Reuters World News - Gaza ceasefire talks, Iraq investment and slavery tribunal push

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Israel and Hamas have sent teams to Egypt for fresh talks on a potential ceasefire. Gulf Arab states are investing in Iraq as they seek to grow soft power in a country where Iran has unparalleled influence. And  African and Caribbean nations are joining forces in the fight to create a slavery tribunal at the United Nations. 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, Gaza's ceasefire talks resume in Cairo. The UN calls for restraint in Ukraine after a nuclear power plant is hit. Iraq's moment in the sun, investment-wise at least, and African and Caribbean nations push to create an international tribunal on slavery. It's Monday, April 8th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. Every weekday.

I'm Kim Vinal in London. The Israeli military says it's withdrawn more soldiers from southern Gaza. Defense Minister Yoav Ghalant says they're preparing for their next mission. The latest withdrawal comes as Israel and Hamas have sent teams to Egypt for fresh talks on a potential ceasefire. Israel is under growing international pressure to de-escalate the six-escalate the six-escalate. month conflict, and to do more to free around 130 hostages still being held in Gaza. Thousands rallied in Jerusalem on Sunday, demanding their release. Hada Subari, the aunt of hostage Nama Livi, worries that time is running out.

And we're still hoping that its solution will be like any minute. We don't have time, Nama has no time. Dan Williams is in Jerusalem. Dan, we've been here before with ceasefire talks. Is this time going to be different? Why might we expect something different, given that there are at least two rounds of fruitless talks on this proposal in recent weeks? Well, one is religious. We're coming up to the end of the Ramadan holy month in the Muslim calendar with Idil Fitter. It's celebratory three days. And I imagine there'll be some impetus on the part of the Palestinians, on the part of Qatar, Egypt, which have been mediating. here on the part of Israel to capitalize on this major Muslim festival in order to shift the tone and lower the temperature in the war. It's also remember that Israel's Passover festival is just two weeks hence. Passover is a major part of the Jewish calendar. So it would also be a propitious

time for Israelis, for Jews to see at least a partial return of hostages. In addition, there has been redoubled, a very public pressure from the United States on Israel. How significant is the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Gaza? It appears that only one brigade of Israeli troops remains within Gaza territory. A very, very significant drawdown. It appears that their job is mainly to secure a route bisecting northern and southern Gaza, which would suggest that within northern and southern Gaza, Palestinians will now be fairly free to move around.

So it's possible that the Israelis are basically sending these troops out to retrain ahead of a re-entry into Gaza. It's also possible, perhaps in parallel to that, that the Israelis are offering Hamas and Palestinians in general a sampling of the quiet, the respite, they might be able to secure if they go ahead and finally clinch this long-way to deal with Israel. The head of the UN's atomic watchdog

has condemned a drone strike on the Russian-controlled Zaporizia nuclear power station in Ukraine. Rafael Grossi says such attacks significantly increased the risk of a massive. major nuclear accident. The strike did not compromise the safety of Europe's largest nuclear plant. Russia is blaming Ukraine for the attack. Kiev says it had nothing to do with it. A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to return to Denver International Airport on Sunday, after the engine cover fell off its Boeing 737-800 during takeoff. The Federal Aviation

Administration is investigating the incident. At least 94 people have died after a ferry boat capsized off the northern coast of Mozambique. The vessel was not licensed to transport people, and initial reports suggest it was hit by a tidal wave. Mexican ambassador to Ecuador Raque al-Serere, criticizing Ecuador's decision to send police officers into her embassy to arrest a politician who had taken refuge there. Serrur and other embassy personnel are now back in Mexico after the raid on Saturday inflamed tensions between the countries. Gulf Arab states are investing in Iraq in a big way. It's a major shift for the likes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar,

which have had a complicated relationship with Baghdad. But the lure of investment and the possibility of gaining soft power while pushing out regional rival Iran have them changing tack. Timor Azari is in back. Baghdad. Timor, what kind of investment are we talking about here? There's really two main sectors. Infrastructure, specifically real estate, and energy. Energy is extremely strategic because up to 40% of Iraq's electricity and gas to create electricity comes from Iran. Gulf states are quite keen on sort of limiting Iran's influence

in Iraq, and the energy sector is a really good way to do that. And so you've got these plans to create links between Gulf energy grids in Iraq. On the infrastructure slash real estate side, we basically have this one big hotel that is moving forward in central Baghdad. That's the glitzy new Rixos hotel where Iraq hopes to host the Arab Summit, Arab League summit, next year. And so that's obviously laced with a lot of symbolism. What are these investments worth? So if we take just the money pledged last year by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, we're looking at more than 10 billion. Most of that is Qatari. You've got 3 billion from Saudi Arabia. These are two states that only reestablished ties with Iraq in 2015 after 25 years of those ties being cut. So this is still very fresh.

What's the Iran factor here? After the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Iran really grew its influence in the country via a network of parties and armed groups who are really allied to Tehran. Iran also grew its influence in the power sector, in the economy. And what Gulf diplomats say is that if it's a can really act as a spoiler here. Gulf states are now trying to increase their soft power in Iraq through these sectors to try and pull the country a little bit closer to them. African and Caribbean nations are joining forces in the fight to create a slavery tribunal at the United Nations. Their support increases pressure on the US and European nations to agree to a tribunal, which could address not only enslavement, but also apartheid,

genocide and colonialism spanning hundreds of years. Katerina Demoni is in Lisbon. Katerina, what would this tribunal look like exactly? So, you know, as in any other tribunal or court, you will have defendants and claimants as well. In this case in particular, affected countries, descendants of enslaved people, indigenous groups even, could be potential claimants,

while defendants could include the European nations, institutions with historical links to slavery, for example, the Bank of England, or even descendants of enslavers. But what is most likely to happen in this tribunal, and if it does go ahead, is that the defendants will be the countries, such as Britain, Portugal, France, Spain, Denmark, those would be the defendants, the countries that benefited from slavery. Would this actually result in money being paid to claimants? So that's a million-dollar question. We really don't know. Several people we spoke with said that one of the most important elements of repair is acknowledgement. So it's much more than just money. And they hope this tribunal will provide somehow an official record of history of what happened. But they also hope that the outcome might result in more tangible forms of reparations. That could be financial payments to countries affected or to descendants of enslaved people. They could also be investment by the former colonial powers, education, health, infrastructure, that will bring

those who suffer the legacies of slavery to a level playing field. And then there is a question on whether it will be binding, legally binding, or non-binding. Some advocates say it must be binding, others are not opposed to having a tribunal that is non-binding, meaning that the outcome will be advisory. It will advise countries about what they have to do to repair the wrongs of the past. That is your Monday. Now, if you're in a part of the world, which is eclipse watching today,

we are wishing you cloudless skies. And as surely as the sun will rise, be eclipsed and set again, we will be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. To make sure you never miss our updates, subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.