Reuters World News - Wagner neared nuclear base, Dutch collapse and a NATO wishlist by soldiers

Episode Date: July 11, 2023

As rebellious Wagner forces drove north toward Moscow on June 24, a contingent took a detour towards a Russian army base. A Reuters exclusive interview claims they aimed to acquire weapons. Sweden gets a huge boost in its bid to join NATO. Plus, the collapse of the Dutch government and an end to its longest-serving prime minister.   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, new reporting reveals that a contingent of Wagner military vehicles were on their way to a Russian army base housing nuclear weapons. Turkey OKs Sweden's bid to join NATO. Will the military alliance let Ukraine in? Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines tell Reuters they want membership now. And the collapse of the Dutch government brings down one of Europe's longest serving politicians. as anger over migration heats up. It's Tuesday, July 11th. This is Reuters World News,

with everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. Every weekday. I'm Kim Vennel in London. Western officials have repeatedly said that Russia's nuclear stockpile was never in danger when Wagner mercenaries marched towards Moscow last month. New Reuters reporting using online vanguard. videos and witness accounts now reveals that on the day of the mutiny, a group of military

vehicles diverted towards a fortified Russian army base that holds nuclear weapons. The trail goes cold about 100 kilometres from the nuclear base, Vrones 45, and Reuters could not confirm what happened next. But in an exclusive interview, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Karailo Budanov, said that Wagner's fighters reached the nuclear base and that their intention was to acquire small Soviet-era nuclear devices in order to raise the stakes in their mutiny. Investigative reporter Mari Sao is part of the team tracking Wagner's movements and spoke to Budanov.

So, Mari, what did he say happened at the base? So what he said was that they couldn't access it, the nuclear weapon. because the facility within the base, the doors were closed and that the mercenaries could not get through the doors. I think his exact quote was that the doors of the storage were closed and they didn't get into the technical section. So who else has corroborated Budnov on this account? No one has fully corroborated Budano's account,

but we have spoken to sources. There is one, a source close to the Kremlin with military ties that corroborated parts of his account. The source said that the Wagner contingent, a group of mercenaries, managed to get into a zone of special interest, after which the Americans got very agitated because the nuclear munitions are stored there.

My colleagues also spoke to another source in occupied East Ukraine that is under the control of Russia, who said that this incident caused concern in the Kremlin and provided impetus for a negotiated end to the rebellion. The Kremlin and Progoshin did not respond to requests for comment. The White House have said they were unable to corroborate Budanov's report, and they have no indication that nuclear weapons were around. And now a look at other news making headlines around the world.

The NATO summit kicks off today in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a surprise announcement. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has given his backing for Sweden's bid to become a NATO member, after months of opposition. It will now be put to Parliament in Ankara for formal ratification. Police in Israel arrest dozens of people after protests erupt over a bill to limit judicial powers. Israel's far-right government on Tuesday won the first of three votes for the new bill to be written into law. More than 13 million Americans are under floodwatches and warnings as torrential rain sweeps from eastern New York. York State to Boston and Western Maine.

Here, New York State Police rescue trapped people when their cars got caught in fast-flowing floodwater. New York and Vermont are the hardest-hit states, with officials in Vermont describing it as the worst flooding for 12 years. Tarrantial rain has also caused devastation across northern India, killing at least 22 people. In the capital, New Delhi, roads have been blocked, causing chaos on the streets. Millions of people across the region have been ordered not to leave their homes because of landslides and flash floods. Larry Nassah, the disgraced doctor of USA gymnastics, has been stabbed multiple times by a prison inmate.

He's in a stable condition. It happened at the US Penitentiary Coleman in Florida, where NASA is serving time for sexually abusing young females. gymnasts. Now over to markets and today we're taking a closer look at Japan. It appears to have got its swagger back. Higher wages mean workers are flashing the cash, pushing up inflation and the stock market. I spoke to Laker-Kihara in Tokyo to find out if we've reached an inflection point. So Laker, are the good times back in Japan? It truly seems like living in Tokyo, you see people spending more, being able to afford higher or high-end products. So it certainly seems that there's a shift in how people perceive the future. This is also because wages are starting to rise. And wages have

barely risen for decades in Japan. When people start to feel like maybe wages might go up and keep rising, that changes the mindset entirely. So I think there's a mood in Japan that, you know, things might stay good for longer than in the past. Immigration is once again dominating the political agenda in Europe, this time in the Netherlands. Prime Minister Mark Guteur announcing his shock departure from politics after his government collapsed of a tough new asylum policies. Anthony Deutsch is in Amsterdam. Anthony, it's been an exciting few days in Dutch politics.

How did this all unfold? Well, a disagreement between the party of Grita, who is the longest serving leader of the Netherlands, and junior members in his coalition government over immigration policy, led to the resignation of the entire government late on Friday night. And a second bombshell came Monday morning when Ruta said that he would not be standing in new SNAP elections going to be held in the autumn. What were the policy proposals that triggered all of this? Now, Rytta's party was pushing for limiting of family reunification and a smaller Christian party within that coalition and a smaller centrist party had said, well, we can't go along with that. We believe that these families should always be able to be reunited. The rise of a right-wing anti-Islam party under a man named Fierdvilders has really led to a very sharp shift in the approach to immigration.

And a fairly significant percentage of the Dutch electorate support these right-wing politics. One of the consequences of this has been a real cut in the funding for the centers where first arrivals come to the Netherlands, these families have had to be living. And in one instance, a baby died, and hundreds of people were being forced to sleep in the rough outdoors, sometimes in the dirt, in rain and heat and other extreme conditions. What happens next? Well, we're actually going to have the first election in 13 years without Mark Ruta, which opens a lot of space.

And then there's going to be dozens of other parties, all competing for votes. As NATO leaders gather in Vilnius for that summit, Secretary General Jan Stoltenberg says Allies should step up moves for Ukraine's membership. I'm confident that we will make strong and united decisions on Ukraine, both to sustain and step up our support. On the front lines, Ukrainian soldiers and Chasseh Bjar in Mahmoud firing at Russian positions. As they continue the counter-offensive, Reuters' supporters, Reuters' support. spoke to the soldiers about what they want from the NATO summit.

They say membership is vital because the Russian threat will remain even if the war ends. Had we been a NATO member, this war would never have happened, says Muria, a member of the 57th Brigade Artillery Unit. His 27-year-old deputy commander, Barkas, thanks NATO for its support so far and says membership, will be good for Ukraine because it's a big family and members support each other. That's it for today's edition of Reuters World News. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast player or download the Reuters app.