Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - Voice of America
Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - July 29, 2024
[music] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned for the United States and threatened swift retaliation for an attack from Lebanon that killed a dozen young people Saturday. Reuters corresponded Zachary Goldman. It marks the single deadliest attack in Israel or Israeli annexed territory since Hamas's assault sparked the Gaza war on October 7th. And it is fueling fears of significant escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Yohov Galant said he visited the town of Majd al-Shams early on Sunday, describing the site of the attack as, quote, "a place where innocent girls and boys were murdered during a soccer game." He vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah for the strike. Hezbollah initially announced it fired rockets at Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights, but denied involvement in the attack on Majd al-Shams. The United States recently announced a plan to deploying long-range missiles to Germany by 2026. As experts worry, the readiness of both Russia and the U.S. to deploy intermediate-range Western weapons could spark a new arms race via ways of Russia or Versati. In a recent joint statement from the White House, U.S. and German officials said exercising advanced capabilities would demonstrate a commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence. Despite the Kremlin's latest round of saber rattling, the Russian Defense Ministry began releasing videos showcasing intercontinental ballistic missile tests days before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Putin at the time discussed plans to assemble his army's so-called "deterrent force," and potentially include a nuclear component in his language that NATO calls "dangerous and irresponsible." A Russia or Versati, the OA News. North Korea says more than 5,000 people were rescued from weak and flooding in airlifts, and other evacuation efforts supervised by the leader Kim Jong-un, the state media report Monday said rainfall Saturday caused a river on the North Korean-Chinese border to rise and created a grave crisis. He said Kim supervised the evacuation in the city and town in the northwest, about 10 military helicopters and AV and government boats, were mobilized for the evacuation effort. A manipulated video shared by Elon Musk is raising concerns about AEI in politics just three months away from November's U.S. elections, details and VOA's Joe Ramsey. The video features a voice that mimics U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and the voice says things she does not say. The video gained attention over the weekend after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on his social media platform Axon Friday. The video uses many of the same visuals as a real ad the Harris campaign released, but it swaps out the voice over audio with a convincing impersonation. The Harris spokesperson referred to the video as "fake, manipulated lies," AI experts and pro-democracy advocates say the video reveals shortcomings in how AI companies, social platforms and the federal government regulate use of AI in politics. Joe Ramsey, VOA news, lawmakers who meant least six countries see Beijing as pressuring them not to attend a summit in Taiwan and Monday, if he corresponded to Karen Shamas. Politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and one other Asian country that declined to be named, so they've been contacted to meet by Chinese officials. The contact appears to be an attempt to stop the politicians from attending inter-polymetry alliance on China's summit in Taiwan. The summit, known as IPAC, is attended by a group of hundreds of lawmakers from 35 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing. Luke de Paulford, the alliance's director, says the pressure from Chinese officials the past few days has been unprecedented. China strongly defends its claim to Taiwan and views it as its own territory to be annexed by force, if necessary. I'm Karen Shamas. A court didn't Libya has sentenced 12 current and former officials to terms of up to 27 years in prison over their involvement in the collapse of two dams last year to send a wall of water several meters high through the center of a coastal city. Thousands of people died, I'm Tommy McNeil, viewing news. The Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon fired a rocket at children, playing soccer in a soccer field. Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country may deploy new strike weapons. Showcasing the Russian Navy missiles fired from various ships of the Black Sea Fleet, the jets dropped bombs from above, and a man in Nigeria has a dream to build a car and an auto industry. Malo's latest model, the sternum, is a sports car built to handle Africa's road and power infrastructure issues. It's a vehicle designed for the African environment. Today is Monday, July 29th, and this is BOAs International Edition. I'm Scott Walterman. We can confirm that Hezbollah murdered 10 children in this brutal attack and injured more than 20. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hageri, after a rocket hit a soccer field in the Golan Heights this weekend, Israel hit back with strikes on Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon on Sunday. Let's get more on this now from Linda Grantstein in Jerusalem. Thousands attended the funerals of the 12 children killed and demanded the Israeli government hit back hard. Hageri said the attack shows the true face of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. For more than nine months, Hezbollah is attacking our citizens in the North, firing thousands of rockets and missiles and UAVs at Northern Israel, targeting families, homes and communities. Israeli analysts at Israel and Hezbollah were closer to an all-out war than they had been since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7th. Since Hezbollah began firing rockets and mortars at Israel, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes that have killed 400 Lebanese, including hundreds of senior Hezbollah members. Twenty-four Israeli citizens and 18 Israeli soldiers have also been killed. Additionally, about a hundred thousand Lebanese and sixty thousand Israelis have been forced to leave their homes, and there has been extensive property damage on both sides. Yet both Israel and Hezbollah have so far stopped short of a full-scale war. Israel is investing most of its energy against Hamas and Gaza, and Hezbollah seems wary of a full-scale Israeli attack that would hurt all of Lebanon. Hezbollah has more than 150,000 rockets and missiles that can hit all of Israel. Israel has said it would see all of Lebanon as a target if the war expands. The sharp increase in the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah comes amid reports that Israel and Hamas are close to agreement on at least a partial deal that would see dozens of Israeli hostages released in exchange for a six-week ceasefire. And to grad seen VOA News, Jerusalem. The fear of a wider war, a second front for Israel on its northern border, has been a concern since the start of the Hamas attack on Israel last October. Joining us now to talk about the possibility of an Israeli Hezbollah conflict is Mike Domeno with defense priorities. He's a former career CIA military analyst and counter-terrorism officer with experience in the Middle East. Thank you so much for joining us to talk about this. Absolutely. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. So, the missile hits the field, Israel retaliates. This is what, you know, we've been worried about since October 7th. Do you think this is the event that could potentially give us a northern front in this war? You know, unfortunately, I do, and myself and others have been warning about this precise moment, this precise scenario in which an attack, an incident, misperception, accident, whatever you want to call it, is the predicate necessary for sort of both sides to ratchet up sort of a, you know, cause this belly to try to settle this question. Of course, that's been brewing really beyond, you know, just October 7th for many years now over the Latani River and the U.N., you know, resolutions and sort of what is the status of, you know, Lebanon, something Lebanon vis-a-vis Hezbollah and Israel, right? So, unfortunately, you know, this is the kind of escalation that we're seeing now that I think could open a full front and my fear from the beginning has been that, you know, we could see something not just like 2006, but something actually far worse. Now, the wider Middle East and the rest of the world, at least the Western world, doesn't want to see this escalation, but what about Israel and Hezbollah? Are they itching for a fight? Well, I think, you know, if you're parsing comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu from, you know, from Benny Gantz, from members of the war cabinet, right, you know, they're not satisfied with the current security environment, the current threat environment that Israel is facing. And they've made it very clear, I think, that they intend to, you know, handle Hamas, which is the first-order problem, but then also, you know, make an effort to resolve the second question on the northern border, where, of course, you know, at least 60,000 Israelis have been displaced, and there's domestic pressure to have those people be able to turn to their homes, of course. So I think Israel has been looking to use this opportunity to sort of change the security environment, right? I don't think there's any secret about that. Clearly, if you look at Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress last week, I think, you know, a lot of things are pointing in this direction. I do think, though, there is a recognition on the Israeli part, especially on the military side, especially in the IDF, in Shin Bet, in Mossad, the intel community, understanding that a war with Hezbollah is a much, much different beast than a war with Hamas. And the capabilities that Hezbollah brings to bear are far more threatening to Israelis and to Israeli interests than anything in Hamas's capability sets. For Hezbollah's part, you know, I don't think that they really want a full-scale, you know, back-and-forth with Israel either. And this role is public statements over the last six months, every opportunity that Hezbollah's had to escalate, they've sort of shied away from it. Do you think that's why they immediately, do you think that's why they immediately denied it was them? I think there could be a component to that. I think I think that's a fair point that, you know, they're, I think, afraid of the Israelis. They're afraid, really, of the United States, of course, getting involved on Israel's behalf. And so that, I think, is, again, part of the dynamics here. It's not to say that Hezbollah is, you know, does not have plenty of blood on its hands and is not, you know, willing to do things like target civilians or, or, you know, escalate, right, of course. We've seen that for decades, right? So Hezbollah is not, you know, getting off here, it's not free either. But I think if we're being honest about some of the escalation dynamics, it's a little complicated. You have, you know, Israeli officials that are a little torn on this question. And then, of course, you have Hezbollah, which, frankly, you know, to use the layman's term, right? I mean, they've chickened out here at multiple points over the last six months. And I think they're aware that a full blown back and forth with Israel is likely to involve the United States and therefore go very poorly for them as well. But in the immediate term, the price they could exact on Israel is very high. And I think many Israelis in the military and in the intelligence services know that. Mike, thanks so much for the time and the insight. Absolutely. You got it. Thank you. We're following these other stories from around the world, fighters from Myanmar's most powerful ethnic minority group that moved into a strategic town, La Shio, fought over by the Hunta and another ethnic armed group for weeks. The military has confirmed their claim. The Tunisian president, Joko Uidodo, who arrived in the country's new capital, Nusantara on Sunday to symbolically work in his new office, the new capital will officially be inaugurated during celebrations for the Republic's 79th Independence Day in August. Protests erupted in New Delhi on Sunday as thousands took to the streets after three students died, drowning in rainwater that filled the basement of a study center. In our continuing coverage of the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, Democrats have warned that former President Donald Trump will destroy democratic institutions if he's reelected in November. Trump has said that democracy will end if he's not reelected in 2024. The OA's Dora Miquar explores whether any president has the power to destroy democracy. The Constitution is America's founding document. It outlines three branches of government, the executive, including the presidency, the legislative, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the judicial, the Supreme Court and other courts. Each branch is intended to keep the others in check. The separation of powers is at the heart of American democracy. Ronald Chen is a law professor at Rutgers University. We are navigating someone uncharted waters because of the assumed willingness of President Trump if he were to be reelected to explore the outer boundaries, including beyond where President had gone before. I only want to be a dictator for one day, and I'm going to be a dictator showing for one day. Former President Donald Trump says he won't be a dictator beyond day one if he's reelected. But what if a future president did try to exceed his or her power? Here's Chen again. The allegation is that one branch is going to run roughshod over the separation of powers. Frankly, I don't know if it has yet been determined whether our system is strong enough to withstand that. He has openly said he will be a dictator on day one. One of the core campaign messages of likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is that Trump is a threat to democracy, Democrats point to Trump's unwillingness to accept the results of the 2020 election and the subsequent January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Ours is a fight for freedom. Across our nation, we are witnessing a full on assault on hard fought, hard won freedoms and rights. They keep saying he's a threat to democracy. Voters aren't necessarily buying into the argument that U.S. democracy is in peril. Chris Edelson is with American University. I was talking to somebody a few weeks ago who said, you know, you hear all these things about Donald Trump trying to overthrow democracy, but he didn't do it. David Ramadan of George Mason University. There's some sentiment among some of the independent voters that, well, it worked. The system worked, right? The transfer of power did take place, so we're okay. It's not easy for a populist leader to destroy democracy, according to Kurt Weiland, who studies democracy and authoritarian rule. Only happens if there's some real institutional weakness and some very special conjunctial opportunity. And some argument is that in the United States, those conditions really don't apply. Weiland says a number of factors limit a president from taking complete power, including good actors in public roles. He points to Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensberger, who refused to help overturn the 2020 election when Trump asked him to find extra Trump votes. American democracy is strong and resilient, and the American people are committed to it, and the American office holders are committed to fulfilling their institutional duties. Weiland says leaders have a better chance of destroying democracy when they have massive popular support, with approval ratings well over 70%. Trump's highest approval rating as president was 49%. Biden's was 57%. Dora McCoy, viewer news, Washington. She's saying, "We are seeing overwhelming participation in the country's polling stations, and I feel very proud to be Venezuelan." Machado has been the star of the coalition campaign despite a ban on her holding public office. At the time these show went to air, then as weiland's were still waiting anxiously for the results of the election that could pave the way to an end to 25 years of single party rule. The OA's international edition continues. I'm Scott Walterman. Attacks, arrests, and restrictions on journalists, including over coverage of youth demonstrations, is causing concern among Kenyan media journalists who are taking to the streets to protest themselves. Juma Majanga covered the protest and filed this report from Nairobi. One of several country demonstrations over police attacks on media as they cover youth led protests. Sriven Leto is a journalist taking part in the demonstration. Media freedom is guaranteed under the constitution, but the Kenyan editor's gill says the government attempts to interfere with that trade, says gill president Zubeida Kalanu. Media organizations are targeted with smear campaigns and threats of lines with drawwall, she says. They've used all means to create fear among journalists, me being one of them, for calling out the government. In the past month, the media council of Kenya has documented more than 20 press freedom violations by police and protesters. Our greatest mistake, which we did that day, was to show Kenyans exactly what trust is required. Some of us have been labeled out as criminals, and we are told that investigations is going on. And our question is what investigations? The National Assembly leader denies media were blocked from parliament. A police spokesperson declined to comment to view a and calls and messages to government spokesperson went and answered Kenya ranked 102 on the wild press film index with reporters without borders, noting lists for journalists covering politics. It's really frustrating, you know, that we no longer feel safe in Kenya, we no longer feel at home as journalists in Kenya, because every time you express yourself, you're looking back, watching over your shoulder to see who is following you, who is targeting you. Kenya has strong laws on press freedom, but media experts say more political goodwill is needed to guarantee rights, juma, a younger, very news, nobody. Thousands of firefighters are battling a rapidly growing wildfire in Northern California. The fire more than doubled in size in a 24-hour span. The park fire has burned more than 141,000 hectares. The fire was the largest of dozens across the country that have burned more than 800,000. Hectors. Hundreds rallied in Kyiv on Sunday to commemorate Ukrainian prisoners of war, killed in Russian captivity in the Olinifka prison. More than 50 Ukrainian POWs were killed in the attack at the camp in July 2022. Uliya came to commemorate her husband, an Azov regiment combat medic who was killed in the camp. My son is a federal daughter, held a ban on reading. I will never hug my dad again. He was killed in captivity. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia may deploy new strike weapons in response to a U.S. plan to place missiles in Germany. Both the United States and Russia recently signaled a readiness to deploy intermediate range weapons that were banned for decades under a Cold War-era Treaty. More now from BOA's Arasharabasadi. Sunday in St. Petersburg, Russian state television broadcast footage of the country's fleets at the annual Navy Day celebration. In attendance were officers from 31 other countries, including China, India, Iran, and South Africa, showcasing the Russian Navy, missiles fired from various ships of the Black Sea fleet, jets dropped bombs from above. Overshadowing Russia's pomp and circumstance of the day is a recent plan revealed by the United States to deploy long-range missiles to Germany by 2026. To outside observers, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, this may be history repeating itself. Speaking in St. Petersburg, as carried by Russian TV station Channel 1 and provided by Reuters. The situation recalls the events of the Cold War-era. If the U.S. implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed one-sided moratorium on the deployment of medium and shorter range strike systems. We will take mirror measures for their deployment. In a recent joint statement from the White House, U.S. and German officials said exercising advanced capabilities would demonstrate a commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence. Despite the Kremlin's latest round of saber rattling, the Russian Defense Ministry began releasing videos showcasing intercontinental ballistic missile tests days before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Putin, at the time, discussed plans to assemble his army's so-called "deterrent force" to potentially include a nuclear component in his language that NATO calls dangerous and irresponsible. Since the onset of the Russian invasion, Western powers have by far been Ukraine's largest supporters in terms of money and material. NATO members recently pledged an additional $43 billion next year with plans for sustained support to follow. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking earlier in July in Washington, has carried by host TV and provided by the Associated Press. "All of this support will make Ukraine stronger and more capable. In fact, everything we are doing, the command, the pledge, more military aid, more security agreements, an improved interoperability, put in place the foundations for Ukraine to prevail." While St. Petersburg seemed pleased by its military display, experts worry the readiness of both Russia and the U.S. to deploy intermediate-range weapons could spark a new arms race. And finally, an engineer in Nigeria is aiming to create a new industry for his country with his unique "Made in Nigeria" car prototype. Gibson Amica has this report from Abuja, narrated by Anthony Labruto. Here in the heart of Joss, a city in the north-central region of Nigeria, Jerry Malo's dream of a Nigerian-made vehicle is coming to life. From sketch to prototype, from model to chassis, Malo's cars showcase his homegrown creativity and talent. After studying automotive engineering in London, Malo returned to his native Nigeria in 2017 to chase his boy-the-dream of becoming a car manufacturer. "There's almost no vehicle components that we don't have the raw materials. We did Nigeria and we did Africa." Joss's latest model, the Sternum, is a sports car built to handle Africa's road and power infrastructure issues. "It's a vehicle designed for the African environment. At sport mode, you have just about three inches ground clearance and with a press of a button from your dashboard, it switches to the off-road mode where you have about 14 inches ground clearance. We also designed and built the vehicles that it stores power that is capable of powering your house." Nigeria's first domestically-made car was the IBM 6490A, launched in 2014 by innocent vehicle manufacturing. As an emerging economy, Nigeria's automotive industry relies heavily on imports. Home-grown brands are good for the entire country, says Abuja-based development economist Hawa Mustafa. Automobile expert Joshua Samuel says a local auto industry can help other industries improve. For instance, revamping the huge but idle Adjokuta steel plant could boost the supply of raw materials to manufacturers like Malo. "If I can just imagine ions, I wonder if you can get ions that you can just move into your own specification because it's your country. You see, when you have robust industries in the country, what do I need an old car for?" But it's still early days for Malo and his cars. His project faces big challenges like limited research resources and funding. Malo launched the Benny Sternum in February 2024 and is still waiting for the funds to get the product to market. But Malo and his team of 50 young innovators believe their journey is about more than just building cars. It's about creating a future where Nigeria's engineering capabilities can thrive and lead. Dibs and Emeka in Abuja, Anthony Labrillo, VOA News. Washington. I'm Scott Wolterman.