Reuters World News - Ukraine aid, Tucker Carlson’s Putin interview and Congo’s M23 rebels

Episode Date: February 8, 2024

Democrats have promised a vote on Thursday on a bill to give military aid to Ukraine after Senate Republicans blocked a border security bill that included the funding. Tucker Carlson has said his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be broadcast on Thursday night. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’ terms for a ceasefire as “delusional”. Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to an offensive by M23 rebels. Plus, China’s ‘Broker Butcher’ and mobile phone coverage is suspended in Pakistan as voters head to the polls. 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, Democrats seek to salvage aid for Ukraine after border deal crumbles. What's at stake for Kiev as Tucker Carlson prepares to air his interview with Vladimir Putin? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses Hamas's counteroffer on a ceasefire. And, fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo sends thousands fleeing for safety. It's Thursday, February 8th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. every weekday. I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. Democrats have promised to vote today on a standalone bill

providing tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine in Israel. The move comes after Senate Republicans blocked a border security deal that included financial assistance for both countries. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hoped for a quick vote on Wednesday, but put it off to give Republicans more time. If we fail in this moment, if we abandon our friends in Ukraine to Vladimir Putin,

History will cast a shameful and permanent shadow on senators who block funding. It is a matter of the highest national urgency that we get this right. Even if the bill passes in the Senate, the aid faces uncertain prospects in the House of Representatives. Republicans who control that chamber have balked at further support for Ukraine. As the fate of U.S. financial support for Kiev hangs in the balance, former Fox news anchor Tucker Carlson is set to release an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, later today. In a video posted to X, Carlson says that Americans should hear from the Russian leader about why he invaded Ukraine. Two years into a war that's reshaping the entire world,

most Americans are not informed. They have no real idea what's happening in this region. Andrew Osborne is our Russia chief political correspondent. Andrew, what does Putin get out of sitting down with Carlson? By giving an interview to Tucker Carlson, Putin is able to put across the Russian point of view, which is very different from the Western point of view. The West says this was an invasion that was unjustified and unprovoked. What we're likely to hear from Putin, because he said it many times before, is that actually Russia was forced to do this, it was defensive, because Ukraine was being dragged into NATO, and because Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine were suffering. So why does that matter? It matters because, of course, with this debate going on,

particularly in the United States, about continuing to help Ukraine financially and with arms, the more that Russia and Putin can do to undermine the Western narrative, the better it is, isn't it, for Moscow and for the Kremlin? So that's another reason why, if you have the opportunity to talk directly to American voters, that could be, again, a useful thing for you to do if you're Vladimir Putin. Carlson has said that he's the only Western journalist to ask for an interview with Putin. How does that align with the realities of reporting in Russia? So the Kremlin itself actually said that Tucker Carlson had got it wrong when it came to interviews with Putin.

They said that he wasn't to know. He didn't have the information. But in fact, there are a whole bunch of journalists, including Western journalists, who are constantly asking for interviews with Putin and, of course, not getting them. So reality of working as a journalist inside Russia, particularly as a Western journalist, and journalists, has changed since the war and has become a lot more difficult. Two examples bring to mind, of course. One of them is Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He's been sitting in pretrial detention. Russia has accused him of espionage, something that he and his newspaper strongly deny. There's another journalist, a Russian-American lady, who works

for Radio Free Europe called Al-Sul Kormashava. She's also sitting in pre-trial detention, and she's been accused of various charges. Again, she denies those things. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected an offer from Hamas for a ceasefire. The militant group had proposed a truce of four and a half months, during which all hostages would go free. Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war. Netanyahu called that position delusional and renewed a pledge to destroy Hamas, saying victory was within reach. We had an opportunity today to discuss with... Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was still room for negotiation.

While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas' response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached. And we will work at that relentlessly until we get there. A Hamas official said a delegation would travel today to Cairo for ceasefire talks with mediators, Egypt and Qatar. A US strike in Baghdad has killed a senior leader of a militia that US officials blame for attacking American personnel. The Pentagon has said the man was a leader of Qatib Hezbollah

and Iran-backed militia that officials have said was responsible for the drone attack in Jordan last month that killed three American soldiers. Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone services and closed some land borders as voting gets underway in an election already marred by militant violence. Unofficial first results are expected a few hours, after voting closes, and a clearer picture is likely to emerge early on Friday.

Donald Trump is set to win all of Nevada's delegates in the state's Republican presidential nominating caucuses later today. The expected win comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear a case on whether Colorado can disqualify Trump from the ballot. At issue is the 14th Amendment, which bars public officials who engaged in insurrection. Colorado's top court has ruled that this applies to Trump, given his activities before and during the January 6th attack on the US capital. The world has just experienced its hottest January on record, according to scientists in the European Union. The exceptional heat continues the trend of 2023, which was the warmest year since records began. Over on markets and Chinese shares are continuing to rally after Beijing's

surprise appointment of Wu King as head of the country's securities regulator. The move just ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays is being interpreted as a sign that the authorities are keen to deal with market turbulence. Wu got the nickname Broker Butcher during a previous stint at the Securities Regulatory Commission when he closed over 30 firms for violations in the mid-2000s. He also led a crackdown on insider trading at mutual funds. So far, the market seemed to like his appointment. Chinese blue-chip shares have notched up a weekly gain of over 5% after the stock market hit a five-year low on Monday. To the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where in advanced by the M23 rebel group is forcing civilians to flee.

In Sake, a town just west of Goma, Elizabeth Rebecca cooks on an open fire. Around her, on the street, other displaced women do the same, surrounded by children. Elizabeth says there was a lot of gunfire in Goma, and the M23 burnt their houses. Sonia Roli covers DRC. So Goma, which is the main headquarters for military and humanitarian, operation in the East is under threat of rebels. So it's very difficult for civilians there because they are getting in cross-fired and it's not only between the Congolese army and the rebels, it's also between the rebels and armed groups in the region. What is happening right now is

that the Congolese army is using artillery and drones to fight back against M23 and they receive the support of private security companies to do so. But most of the ground, fighting are done now by armed groups that are against M23. What do the M23 want? The M23 wants to be reintegrated in the Congolese army. They want to discuss about how those former Congolese army soldiers can go back to the Congolese army. That's their main goal.

They're also talking a lot about protecting the Tutsi community. And one of their concern is, and especially in massacite cities, territory where the fightings are now, there is a Tutsi community that is under threat and there are anti-ethnic fighting, so they are kind of scared. Why is Goma so important? Goma is the biggest city in the east, and it's been like if Goma is taken under control, it would be very difficult for the government to dig back that city, especially because the government is saying that Rwanda is backing M-23 and Goma is the neighboring town of Randa.

So it will get very difficult for the government to control the Norskiwu territory if they can control the logistic roads between Rwanda and M23. Rwanda has denied that it's supporting M23. The last time this happened, Thomas Jefferson was president. But this spring, scientists expect hundreds of billions of cicadas from two separate broods to emerge from underground. Not excited yet? Here's Jim Laderman, collection assistant at the Chicago.

Field Museum. And being able to see something that no living person has ever been able to see, and somebody only about six or seven generation from now will be able to see again, I think it's just really, really, really, really exciting. Experts say a northern Illinois-based brood of cicadas that appears every 17 years will cross paths with a southeastern U.S.-based brood that appears every 13 years. Field Insect Curator Bruno de Maderos. So those really rare events are the opportunities for those cicadas to be all out,

and maybe for the species to meet each other, for crossings between species to occur, for cool evolution to happen. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.