Israeli strikes on Lebanon, US political violence and Sri Lanka’s election
00:01Today, Israel launches heavy strikes on Lebanon as world leaders get ready for the UN General Assembly.Violent political messages directed at public officials are on the rise.But why is it so difficult to stop these hateful messages?And Sri Lankans head to polls to vote for a president this weekend, but there are no women on the ballot.It's Friday, September 20th.This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the French.front lines in 10 minutes every weekday.I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool.
00:40And I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago.Israeli warplanes have carried out their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year of war,heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid calls for restraint.The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israelthat blew up Hezbollah radios and pages,killing dozens and wounding thousands.In a TV address,Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
01:23said the device explosions crossed all red lines,describing them as a potential declaration of war.As Nasrallah's broadcast aired,deafening sonic booms from Israeli warplanes shook Beirut,a sound that has become more common in recent months,but has taken on great,greater significance as the threat of all-out war has ramped up.Israel hasn't commented directly on the device attacks,
01:51which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency,which has a long history of carrying out sophisticated attacks on foreign soil.Israel's military has vowed to continue to attack Hezbollahand said it strikes throughout Thursday hit about 100 rocket launchersand other targets in southern Lebanon.Israel's defense minister Joav Galant saying their goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel's northern communities to their homes,adding that as time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price.The attacks on Hezbollah communications equipment have sown fear across Lebanon,
02:33where people abandoning electronic devices for fear of carrying bombs in their pockets.A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities into the communications devices that blew uphas found that they were implanted with explosives before arriving in the country,according to a letter sent to the UN Security Council by Lebanon's mission to the United Nations.The 15-member Security Council is due to meet later today over the blasts.The escalation comes as world leaders are due to address the 79th UN General Assembly from Tuesday onwards.And for more on what to expect from that, listen to our weekend pod special out tomorrow.being shot.
03:20Sorry.Yes, yes.I hear that.I hear that.Probably should not have said that.That's Vice President Kamala Harris warning potential home and truners that she is a gun owner.The presidential candidate made the comment in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.If we don't win this election, Israel, in my opinion, within a period of two to three years
03:46will cease to exist.It's going to be wiped out.Donald Trump's comments made.During a speech to the Israeli-American Council National Summit,he also said Jewish-American voters would be partly to blameif he loses the election to Kamala Harris.He's currently trailing the vice president among American Jews.We're talking bubbles on markets today.
04:17The tea variety.Kamal Krimmins explains.That's right.Beijing is halting plans by at least three Chinese bubble tea makersto sell shares in Hong Kong.The move has been triggered by the experience of Chinese,Tobido, which is another Chinese bubble tea maker, that listed back in April and it didn't have agood experience. It fell 27% on its stock market debut, and the shares are down 70% from their
04:41IPO price. Okay, full disclosure and I'm prepared for some listener backlash here, but I'm abubble tea hater. Ooh, just to world agree with me. Is bubble tea a hard sell? Tara, it's so popular.And you've got all these great varieties. You've got passion fruit, you've got strawberry white chocolate.the list just goes on. But there's big competition. China's tea chains have expanded rapidly,but consumer demand is weakening because the economy isn't doing well. And investor sentiment alsoisn't upbeat because of that economic backdrop. We actually took a look at the pessimismpermeating among China's young graduates in a recent episode of my podcast, Reuters Econ World.It's called Rotten Tail Kids, and you can find a link to it in the description of today's show.
05:22An apparent second assassination attempt of former President Donald Trumphighlights the risks of today's incendiary political environment.The spike in political violence comes amid an historic rise in threats and harassmentsdirected at public officials.Ned Parker has been talking to one man who is part of a wider phenomenon,far-right Trump supporters who use threats to intimidate the former president's opponents,but avoid prosecution.And a warning, this segment
05:58contains languagethat some listeners may find offensive.Jeffrey Gillio is a man who is 57,a stroke survivor,living on federal disability payments in Florida.But what makes him uniqueis that during the early part of President Biden's term,Jillio started to wage a verbal,
06:23assault on judges,Congress members,government officials,and barraged themwith threatening messages.Jeff made a series of threateningcalls to CongressmanDon Bacon and his wife.
06:37We aren't violent, but we're going tofollow your ass. Every appointmentyou have, everythingyou fucking do.Bacon's wife was so terrified by hiscalls that she slept with a gunafterwards. You're going to befucking molested like you can't
06:53ever imagine. And again, nonviolently.You've spoken with Jeff. How is he able to say things like this without getting into legaltrouble? Jeff says he's very deliberate in what he sends. He makes sure to avoid sayinghe is going to do it and typically provides a disclaimer that this is not a threat.It can get murky because much of hate speech is protected under the firstAmendment. What crosses the line into unlawful is when there's a clear, explicit, direct threatthat conveys an intent to cause harm. Giliot told Reuters he would never hurt anyone, andthat he wants to hold politicians accountable for what he considers the systematic destruction
07:43of the country. Legal and extremism, experts have said that the volume and vitriol of Giliot's messagescould ultimately prompt prosecutors to charge him.Trump's team says they have no knowledge or association with Jillio,and they condemn political violence and hatred in all its forms.The White House also condemned political violence, threats, and intimidation.You can read the full story on Reuters.com or on our app.In 1960, Sri Lanka gave the world its first female prime ministerelecting Sirmavaraniqi.
08:2464 years later, and in this weekend's presidential election,out of 38 contenders, none is a woman.52% of the 17 million Sri Lankans eligible to vote are women,but the proportion of women in its modern parliamenthas only ever reached 7%.Uditha Jaisinga is in Colombo and is here to explain.So a lot of it is to do with systemic issues.A lot of it is to do with the fact that we have a few very powerful political parties.
08:57These are very entrenched political parties that have been around for decades.They have a certain way of doing things.We had a woman candidate in 2019 when we had our previous presidential election and she gotsomething like less than 1% of the vote.But her presence was significant.So there's definitely room and scope and interest and passion by women.What about this election?What do we expect?
09:19We may have a very historic second count, which has never happened in a presidential election before.So we will have three very fierce candidates, and if none of them poll 50%, we will have a second count.But the candidate who is the front runner now, Anulukumara Disanaika, is someone who speaks very closely and very well to the women's vote base and their problems and their fears and their concerns.And I think that is an indication that whoever wins, it has to be a candidate.who is interested and open to bringing women into his decision.Today's recommended read is all about Chinese dairy farms being squeezed out of businessas China swims in unwanted milk, the result of falling birth rates and dried up demand.There's a link to that story in today's pod description.
10:16And for more on any of the stories from today, check out reuters.com or the Reuters app.To never miss an episode, subscribe on your favorite podcast,player. We'll be back on Monday with our daily headlines show.
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