Reuters World News - Iran’s ‘bad hijab’, Darfur threat, Ukraine recruits and Tesla challenges

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Tensions mount inside Iran as crackdowns intensify on the streets. The UN says more than one million people are in immediate danger in Sudan’s North Darfur. Ukraine launches a recruitment drive to try and replenish its depleted army. And Elon Musk faces tough investor questioning over Tesla’s performance. Plus, Gaza protesters are arrested on US college campuses. We are looking for your feedback to improve the podcast. Please take two minutes to answer this survey. 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, dozens of arrests after pro-Palestinian protests at Yale and NYU. A crackdown on the streets of Iran as it weighs its response to Israeli strikes. Elon Musk faces investor questions over Tesla cuts, and as Ukraine gets its U.S. military aid, the search for people to use it, intensifies. It's Tuesday, April 23rd. 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.

A police bus taking away several pro-Palestinian demonstrators from outside New York University in Manhattan. Arrests were also made at Yale University in Connecticut. The war in Gaza has reverberated through U.S. university campuses and on Monday, Columbia University canceled in-person classes. Colombia and the affiliated Barnard College have suspended dozens of students involved. Outside the university on Monday, staff joined students and called for the suspensions and charges to be dismissed. Prosecutors in Donald Trump's criminal trial say the former president broke the law and corrupted the 2016 election

by trying to cover up sexual encounters with a porn star. His defense lawyer told the hearing in New York, committed no crime. The prosecution's first witness is the former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who they labeled as a co-conspirator. He's not been charged with any crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. It's been a rough year so far for Tesla. They've had job cuts, price cuts and lower sales. And with a 40% drop in its shares, Elon Musk is going to be facing tough questions. from investors on today's earnings call. Brian Thaveno runs Reuters' automotive coverage.

Brian, what will the focus be on today? So it's going to be about its next product, which had been anticipated to be a car called the Model 2, which is an affordable car that was expected to be $25,000. Reuters a couple of weeks ago said in an exclusive report that the company had scrapped those plans and instead was going to move forward with trying to produce a robotaxie, a self-driving car on the same platform.

But that's probably a lot farther away than any traditional car that could produce. What do investors want from Musk? I think investors are going to want clarity over what Tesla's long-term growth strategy is going to be. I think over the long-term investors are worried about whether Tesla can deliver on its promises of growing into a mass market automaker. Musk was meant to be in India this week. he canceled at the last minute, citing very heavy Tesla obligations. Do we know why? That's another big question that he's going to face at the earnings call that Tesla is going

to face because Musk was supposed to go to India to meet with Prime Minister Modi and had been expected to make a factory announcement that Tesla would be opening a factory there. Reports last year indicated that that factory was going to be for a low-cost vehicle, but now the future of that factory and the vehicle is up in the air. Inside Iran, tensions are mounting. Tehran is playing down the weekend's Israeli drone and missile strikes, but Reuters' correspondents have been speaking to Iranians who say,

on the streets, there's increasing police presence and intensifying crackdowns. Edmund Blair is our Middle East editor. Ed, what can you tell us about the mood in Iran right now? The impression we're getting is that there are a lot of plain clues. police on the streets and morality police present on the streets, particularly in the major cities, there is concern about this crackdown, which is typically accompanied when Iran faces an external threat. How are these crackdowns affecting everyday Iranians? So we're seeing the crackdown focus both on what they would call bad hijab, which is not wearing appropriate or conservative

enough headscarves for women, but also activists have been telling us that there is a crackdown on dissenters on those who are opposed to the clerical establishment. We've seen Tehran's government do this before when it's under external pressure. How long could this last for? It's very difficult to say how long the crackdowns will last. I suppose the bigger question might be whether we will see the kind of explosion of dissent, the explosion of protests that we saw after the death in custody of Massa Amini in September 2022. By all accounts, the pressures remain. People are very concerned about the economy. They are

frustrated at the isolation of the country, but there is no unified opposition. The UN says more than a million people are in extreme and immediate danger in the Sudanese city of Al-Fashir in North Dhar. That is where the year-long civil war is now descending. Nefisa Al-Tahir is in Cairo. Nefisa, what's the situation in Al-Farharshar? So for the last year, the Sudanese army has been fighting against the paramilitary rapid support forces who were previously their partners in power in basically every major city in the country. The RSF has managed to sweep most of the Darfur region except for El Fashin, which is the capital of North Da'Afor.

And that city has been relatively calm because of a local truce overseen by former rebel groups. For a variety of reasons, however, that truce has now fallen apart and we're seeing an increase in skirmishes between the two sides, as well as an attack by the RSF on villages on the outskirts of the city. They've also taken control of the main way into the city, and people are bracing themselves for when they might stage an all-out attack. Why is the UN warning about bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur if the fighting reaches Al-Fashir? So, first of all, it's important to know that Al-Fashid is very dense right now. We have about a million people who arrived just over the past year and are seeking refuge in the city. And in the attacks that have happened so far, particularly on the villages outside the city, we've seen signs that those were ethnic-based killings.

the issue is that the RSF is composed of Arab tribes and is allied with other Arab militias, while the majority of the residents of Alfashid, as well as the rebel groups who are also in the city, are non-Arab. And so what people are worried about is that both sides will kind of call upon their tribal allies to serve as reinforcements, and that could even include people who are across the border in chat. What's the humanitarian picture across the country right now? We have around 18 million people across the country who are facing acute hunger and 5 million who are on the brink of famine according to the UN. Most hospitals are closed, schools have been shut for a year, one-fifth of the population is displaced. So it's dire kind of from every angle.

And the only solution related to any of these problems is for the war to stop. But unfortunately, it seems to only be expanding. The Biden administration wants to start moving desperately needed weapons and, equipment into Ukraine this week, within days of the anticipated passage of $60 billion of military aid to Kiev. But when the gear lands, who's going to use it? The Ukrainian military is facing a serious lack of troops. As Kiev struggles to replenish its depleted army through traditional conscription efforts, the defense ministry is trying something new. Dan Palashuk, Kyiv has the details.

Dan, what does this recruitment push look like? The recruitment campaign looks a lot like it might in a lot of Western countries. So you've got these recruitment centers, these brick and mortar recruitment centers, where you can come in, sit down, talk to a civilian recruiter, and have a open conversation with them. But the important caveat here, and this is something that officials have been very, very careful to communicate, or very enthusiastic rather to communicate, is that there are no strings attached.

You're not being drafted. You're not being mobilized. You come into the recruiting center. You talk to the recruiter, you see what's going on, you receive more information, and it can end there if you want. Or, of course, you can sign up or do more research and eventually sign a contract. Ukraine needs hundreds of thousands more soldiers. Can this recruitment drive meet that demand? So the defense ministry has said, are the officials overseeing the recruitment drive at the defense ministry? They know, in fact, one of them put it to me in these exact words, that

the recruitment drive is no magic pill, but it does go some way into showing that they're aware that people are nervous about joining the military, whether over corruption or kind of fear falling or poor commanders. So defense officials know that their recruitment campaign, apart as it stands separate from the mobilization campaign, is not going to instantly solve anything overnight, but it does show a, it's rather an important political signal at this at this very important time from the government saying to you, I mean, it's that, listen, we're thinking about you. We want to make it easier to track you to fight for us. That's your Tuesday.

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