Reuters World News - Harris’ Gaza demand, France abortion, China parliament and Arctic foxes

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris urges an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the US air drops aid into the enclave. France is expected to enshrine the right to an abortion in its constitution. Thousands of delegates head to Beijing for the opening session of parliament with expectations low for a major stimulus package to boost the economy. And in remote Norway, conservationists try to protect the Arctic Fox. 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, Kamala Harris calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the US airdrops aid into the enclave. France is said to become the first country in the world to make abortion a constitutional right. Investors aren't holding their breath for bazooka-style stimulus as China's parliament gathers for its annual meeting. And how climate change is affecting the Arctic Fox. It's Monday, March 4th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinald in London. And I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin.

And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table. Vice President Kamala Harris, issuing the most forceful demand yet from the White House over the war in Gaza. She meets with Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz in D.C. today. The meeting comes after a weekend of destruction and desperation. Strikes on Rafa, the last refuge of people fleeing for safety, killed dozens. Including Rania Abu Anza's twin babies, their tiny. bodies now wrapped in white shrouds, pajamas visible underneath.

Survivors are left starving. On Saturday, screams rang out as civilians battled to reach ready meals airdropped by the US. James McKenzie is Reuters Bureau Chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories. James, what should we make of Kamala Harris's comments? I think what they show is

the extent, the frustration that's building up in Washington and this sort of horror that's growing in different places around the world at the extent of this crisis that's building up, this humanitarian crisis that's building up in Gaza. Kamala Harris is blaming Hamas for not agreeing to the terms of a ceasefire. Earlier reports suggested it was the Israelis not coming to the table. Where are the negotiations at?

The fact is they haven't reached a point where both sides need to agree to deal. I'm not sure that we know enough about what exactly is going on in these talks to be able to sort of conclusively pin the blame on one side or another side. The US airdropped some 38,000 ready meals into Gaza over the weekend. What does that tell us? It was very telling. You know, these kind of air drops are usually done in, you know, absolutely the last resort.

It's the kind of thing. I mean, some of the other times the US of the US militaries dropped MREs were in northern Iraq, in the 90s after the first Gulf War or in Afghanistan in 2001. The fact that just across the border there's columns of aid trucks we're just waiting to go into Gaza while they're forced to do these airdrops

is just a mark of how blocked the whole political and amnucid situation around getting this aid has become. France is set to become the first country in the world to enshrine the right to abortion in its constitution. Lawmakers are expected to vote in favour of the move in a special session of Parliament today at the Palace of Versailles. Richard Locke is in Paris. Richard, why is President Emmanuel Macron doing this now? The catalyst, in fact, came from across the

Atlantic Ocean after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2022 to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. Following that, here in France, numerous draft bills were proposed to cement abortion rights in this country's founding a document so that this freedom would not be repealed by some future French government. This is a move that opinion polls suggest is supported by 86% of the country. There was a poll after that U.S. move in which nearly nine and ten respondents said they would support such an act. Again, quite surprising when you think that this is a predominantly Catholic country. The Supreme Court has signaled it will issue rulings. on Monday, one of which could be a decision on whether Colorado can kick former President Donald

Trump off the primary ballot. Colorado is one of 15 states holding primary elections on Super Tuesday, and Trump is currently on the ballot there. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, has won her first victory of the 2024 campaign. She beat Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., a small, symbolic success in her bid to become the Republican presidential nominee. Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Shabashirif, promising reforms. Sharif was elected by a new parliament weeks after a contentious election. This is his second term as Prime Minister, beating out the candidate backed by former Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

A warning from South Korea's health minister. Chukhyoh Hong says the government will start legal action against trainee doctors who have walked off the job. 70% of the country's resident and intern doctors are on strike, protesting the government's plans to boost med school admissions. Thousands of delegates from all over China are descending on Beijing for Tuesday's opening session of Parliament. The meeting will be scrutinized for clues on how President Xi Jinping plans to deal

with China's economic problems. Marius Saharia is in Hong Kong and will be watching the speeches. What investors have been calling for more than a year is a clear roadmap for resolving the property crisis, as well as for bold policy moves that solve some of China's structural issues. Premier Li Chung, she's number two, will outline China's policy priorities for the year. What can we expect? Analysts do expect policymakers to deploy moderate amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus this year, but they also expect them to avoid the kind of slurge on investment and construction that we've seen,

for instance, after the global financial crisis, because their policy ammunition is limited by major amounts of debt accumulated in the local government sector. We heard today that Lee isn't going to hold a press conference. Has that exacerbated concerns about a lack of transparency around policymaking? This breaks with a tradition maintained for three decades. these press conferences gave the media a rare opportunity to ask questions about government policy. Some analysts raised concerns about transparency and access to information, but authorities say there would be more briefings this year where senior officials can

discuss various issues at length. So it remains to be seen how open policymakers will be in the end about discussing the economic difficulties that they're facing. In a remote and cold region of Norway, conservationists are fighting to save one of nature's most secretive animals, the Arctic fox. Hunting, and now climate change, is a threat to the 300 or so left in Scandinavia.

Lisey Nizner has visited special breeding grounds where the animals are raised before being released into the wild. The region they live is, a mountainous region where it's very cold and temperatures can easily drop to minus 25, 30 degrees during winter. So there's a lot of snow and with a lot of snow I mean meters of snow, harsh wings. That's why the Arctic foxes actually camouflaged white during winter. So it's not easy to spot them. So in these eight enclosures, the eight couples live mainly inside their dens underground.

I would describe it as a mixture of a dog, a cat and a fox. And it's very rewarding to monitor them because they have this typical jump, which is very nice to see. They shout between the enclosures to keep them or make them each other aware of threat or something happening. Conservation biologists Christine Uvlon told me that climate change is a severe threat for the Arctic fox. The surroundings warm and as rodents and food supply are less than it was before. If we get warmer, warmer and more unstable climate, you get snow melt and you get icing on the ground. That is going to affect how well the rodents can survive.

I first saw the Arctic foxes in March 2023 and was lucky and could see the mating. I went back in July, 2023, to see the puppies growing up. And that was very, very cute. So I want this as a pet now. And finally, went on a tree. 500 kilometres by car south of Uktal to a national park where they have been released into freedom. That's it for Monday. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

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