Transcript

3.20.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for today, Thursday,
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March twentieth of twenty twenty five. Your reader is Alice Stainer,
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and I will i'll remind you that radiois a program
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for those blind or with disabilities making it easy to
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hold printed or reading material. And I'm going to start
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with the front page of the Washington Post for today.
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On the far left, the article is border plan would
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have troops hold vibrants or would turn sixty foot buffer
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zone into satellite military installation by Dan Lamouth.
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Speaker 2: In the middle on the front page, above the fold.
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Speaker 1: Is a picture of a gentleman looking up to the
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skies with lots of clouds in the background and a
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few open so face is showing a very sunny sky,
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but he's also in Australia, and you see a very
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dry looking landscape and he's got sunglasses on with a
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brownish striped shirt that matches desolation of the ground. Zelensky
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accepts limited ceasefire after Trump phone call. He seeks lasting peace,
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but that's putin a thirty day deal brings hope of
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finally ending three year war. Michael Burnham and Lizzie Johnson.
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Let me go back to the gentleman I totally forgot
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the picture is a Umy Smith is needed to shelter
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last month in Cuba. Fete Australia on a day to
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hit one hundred and ten degrees.
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Speaker 2: Poor to live below ground.
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Speaker 1: Australian towns rested from extreme heat exacerbates its racial divide
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by Michael middle Miller in Kuberfeti, Australia. When we were there,
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it was one hundred plus degrees in Ularut, Greenpeace must
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pay six sixty seven million to oil company environmental groups
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called pipeline protest case an effort to stifle speech by
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Anna Phillips and below the fold four Enemies see new
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Life Upended by Enemies Act Venezuelan migrants taken from Dallas
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home families deny gang link. This is by Sylvia Fauster
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Fraud and the final article on the front page as
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ceasefire falls, new anguish for hostage families. Relatives of Israeli
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held by Hamas say that fighting puts captives at risk
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and that time is running out. By Shira Reuben out
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of Tel Aviv. And there's a picture of demonstrators carrying
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white umbrellas Wednesday in Jerusalem call.
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Speaker 2: For an end of the war in Gaza.
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Speaker 1: The first article is Trump team makes plans for military
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to hold migrants at Bordom. If enacted, miles of buffer
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zone would become a temporary military installation, giving US troops
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their most direct role yet in the President's Enforcement Mission.
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By Dan Lemoth, the Trump administration is evaluating plans for
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the Pentagon to take control of a buffer zone along
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as brawling stretch of the southern border and empower active
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duty US troops to temporarily hold migrants who cross into
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the United States illegally. According to five US officials familiar
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with the deliberations, those discussions have been underway for weeks,
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and they center in part on a section of border
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in New Mexico, officials said, speaking on the condition of
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anonymity to disclose details of the plan. In effect, the
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move would turn the buffer zone into an expansive satellite
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military installation, potentially allowing a greater portion of the Defense
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Department's mammoth budget to pay for President Donald Trump's mortal crackdown,
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while creating new legal jeopardy for those caught trying to
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slip into the country from Mexico. These people said the
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effort would enable the most significant use yet of active
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duty forces at the border under Trump, though any move
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to militarize the southern border's buffer zone is certain to
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raise questions about whether employing the military in this way
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runs a foul of the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal
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law that prohibits active duty troops from most law enforcement missions.
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To date, the Trump administration has addressed such legal considerations
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by having Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs
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Enforcement detain people and move them once in custody, including
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on US military flights involved in its deportion efforts. If
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the plan is approved and administration officials deem it successful,
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the military controlled buffer zone, measuring sixty feet dip deep
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angeally could stretch west to California. There is a map
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with a red line from San Diego, Tijuana area to
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Nogali's siaded wires along the California Arizona and the New
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Mexico border to al Paso and Fort Bliss right at
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the Bortoline. As part of the effort, senior Pentagon officials
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have asked military officers to examine whether any legal complications
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could arise from having US troops temporarily hold those crossing
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illegally when c BP agents are not immediately available to
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arrest them, officials said. By militarizing the buffer zone, the
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theory goes ani migrant apprehensions made by service members would
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be tantamount to catching trespasses on a military base. The
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troops involved would simply hold them until law enforcement arrives.
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It's very very careful on that wording, said one defense
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official familiar with the discussion. It's not detention, because once
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you go into detention, it has the connotations of being
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detained for arrest. This is holding for civilian law enforcement.
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The White House has been involved in the discussion for
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some time, said a senior Administration official and a second
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defense official. The senior administration official said it is not
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yet clear if Trump will approve the plan, but that
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officials see value in establishing a national defense zone at
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the border that could come with some penalties or enhanced
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penalties for migrants crossing illegally, including accelerated deportation. Spokesman for
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the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and the White House
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National Security did not respond to several requests for comment.
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Trump's Legal Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has enthusistically supported other
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efforts to employ the military at the southern border, a
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mission he views as essential to US national security. We
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have defended other places and other spaces, hag Seth said
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in February during an initial trip to the border as
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Pentagon chief. We will defend this line. Since returning to office,
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Trump has doubled down on his aggressive approach to immigration enforcement,
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ramping up arrest and deportations and clashing the federal judges
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evaluating the constitution of his directives. He has ordered active
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duty troops and a broader way of weapons and technology
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to the southern border, and on Saturday, officials dispatched Navy
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destroyer the USS Gravelly, to join the mission at sea.
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Trump has also sought to expand use of military facilities,
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including the infamous detention camp at Bontanamo Bay, Cuba, for
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holding undocumented immigrants facing deportation. As of Monday, more than
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ten thousand active duty service members are involved in bolder
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security efforts, the military officials said in a statement. At
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the same time, illegal crossings documented by CBP have plummeted
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from one hundred and twenty four thousand, five hundred and
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twenty two in December under President Joe Biden to twenty
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eight thousand, six hundred and fifty four. In February, Trump
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administration officials who said they won one hundred percent control
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of America's borders and to stop the flow of illegal
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drugs into the United States. The plan under consideration involves
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a sixty foot wide strip of southern US border that
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lies within the Roosevelt Reservation federal land that President Theodore
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Roosevelt set aside for border security in nineteen o seven.
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It extends from New Mexico to California. Typically, the land
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is controlled by the Interior Department, though jurisdiction for parts
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of it have been temporarily transferred to the Pentagon in
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the past, including during the first Trump administration, to facilitate
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border wall construction. US law allows the federal government to
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transfer up to five thousand acres at a time to
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the Defense Department without congressional approval. The full length of
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New Mexico's borough with Mexico is about one hundred and
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eighty miles. It was not immediately clear if the administration
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intends to militarize all of it. The issue is being
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handled differently in Texas, where the federal government owns less
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land at the borough, and National Guard troops deployed by
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Governor Greg Abbott, Republican have had a role attaining border crosses.
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National Guard members are trained for the variety of domestic missions,
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including law enforcement, while active duty forces generally are not.
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In recent days, the Defense Department has expanded its presence
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along the southern border, establishing a joint task force with
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the tenth Morton Division of Fort Drumm in New York
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out of Front drum in New York, overseeing the mission
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from a headquarters at Fort who Chuca Guatuca in southeastern Arizona.
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If the Buffer Zone plan is approved, this strip of
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land would probably become a temporary annexe of an existing
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military installation properly Guatuca. Among the most significant deployments approved
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thus far are the roughly twenty four hundred soldiers from
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the Army's fourth Infantry Division, second Striker Brigade Combat Team
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from Fort Carson in Colorado. Soldiers from the unit are
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now at Fort Guatuca and Fort Bliss, an Army installation
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at al Passo near the New Mexico border. According to
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Defense officials and photos released by the Pentagon. As first reported,
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by The Washington Post this month. Their deployment is expected
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to include twenty ton armored Striker combat vehicles. Pentagon officials
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have scrutinized several related issues in recent weeks, including whether
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the Strikers can maneuver effectively in the sixty foot strip
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of buffer zone and if they can drive on nearby
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roads without damaging them. Defense officials said it remains unclear
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when or how the Strikers will be used. While they
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can carry up to eleven soldiers at a time and
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possess long rage sensors and optics that defense officials consider
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useful in detection efforts, similar technology exists that could be
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deployed more affordably, defense officials said.
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Speaker 2: Continuing on the.
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Speaker 1: Right hand side of that front page section, Zelensky agrees
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to partial ceasefire after conversation with Trump, Ukrainian President Volodomir
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Zelensky said we are ready to implement a halt on
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energy infrastructure attacks, a first step in what he hoped
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would be lasting peace. There's a picture of President Donald
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Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the White
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House on February twenty eight by Michael Burnham and Lizzy Johnson.
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Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky agreed Wednesday to a partial ceasefire
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with Russia, focused on energy and other civilian infrastructure. Zelensky,
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who spoke after an hour on phone call with President
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Donald Trump, said it was a first step in what
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Ukrainian leaders said he hoped would be lasting peace. More
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than three years after his country was invaded by Moscow.
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The thirty days ceasefire would be the most concrete result
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yet of Trump's effort to end the war in Ukraine.
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It comes a day after Trump had a lengthy conversation
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with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to broke
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up ideal and also to restore broader relations with the Kremlin,
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which have been mostly frozen since February twenty twenty two
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invasion of Ukraine. Both Trump and Zeleski characterized their conversation
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as positive, a notable shift following their most recent direct
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encounter that resulted in the Ukrainian leader's ejection from the
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White House, which had no modern precedent. Zelensky told reporters
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that Wednesday's exchange was the most substantive and positive one
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in recent times. Still, the conversation between Trump and Zelensky,
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and the timing was just the most recent evidence of
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howk Ukraine has been relegated to the back seat in
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talks about its future. It came amid questions about whether
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Putin would live up to the commitments he made to
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Trump to stop strikes on Ukraine's instructure, pledges that fell
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short of the full cease fire that Trump was originally seeking.
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Trump posted on truth Social just completed a very good
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telephone call with President Zolensky of Ukraine. Much of the
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discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President
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Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in
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terms of their requests and needs. We are very much
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on track, Trump said. The call lasted an hour. Zelensky
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wrote in a post on x we believe that together
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with America, with President Trump and under American leadership, lasting
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peace can be achieved this year. One of the first
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steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes
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on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step,
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and Ukraine confirm that we are ready to implement it.
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He said. He hoped that the ceasefire could broaden. Ukraine
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was preparing a list of sites that could not be hit,
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including railways and ports. It remained unclear on Wednesday whether
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Russia would adhere to the deal that the White House
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said it had agreed to, since the Krimlin on Tuesday
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announced that it would engage only in a narrow what
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pause and strikes on energy infrastructure that we leave railways
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and ports as targets. As to bout the discrepancy, on Wednesday,
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White House Secretary Caroline Levitt said the White House account
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was correct. In a virtual news conference late Wednesday from
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Finland while he was on an official visit, Zelensky said
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he remained skeptical that Russia would honor the agreement, noting
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that as he spoke, there were one hundred and seven
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self designating SHAHED one hundred and thirty six drones flying
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above Ukraine. Still, he said he remained optimistic that a
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ceasefire would open up opportunities. This is why I believe
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the war can be ended quickly, because once a ceasefire
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is in place, even if one side attempts provocations, there
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is still political will publicly announced to the world, he said.
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He also pressed Trump on the importance of advanced air
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defense systems and how a real shield would help defend
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Ukrainian cities and allow airports to operate again, perhaps permitting
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a visit from Trump. Imagine him flying into Ukraine, arriving
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in one of our cities, whether it's Odessa, Kharki, seeing
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first hand how his support helped people, how they fought,
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and how they continued to live. Zlensky said, I think
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these are the right steps. Zolensky has been troubling to
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navigate a White House that has at time has been
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openly hostile to him and friendly a to Putin. Trump
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last month called the democratically elected Zolensky a dictator and
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told him that you don't have the cards right now.
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White House officials continued their deferential approach to Putin on Wednesday,
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praising him for his willingness to discuss peace in Ukraine. Still,
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Trump and other senior White House officials appeared Wednesday to
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have softened their tone towards Zolensky and Kiyev after weeks
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of tough words for the Ukrainian leader. On Wednesday, Levitt
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said Washington plans to continue to supply Kiev with military
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and intelligence assistance, following a day's long pause. Earlater this month,
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despite Kremlin requests for a halt. Levitt also said that
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after Zelensky asked for additional air defense systems, especially the
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powerful US made Patriot systems, Trump agreed to work with
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him to find what was available, particularly in Europe. She
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also expressed a US interest in owning and operating Ukrainian
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nuclear power plants, saying that the two leaders had discussed
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the issue during their Wednesday call. Ukraine and Russia swapped
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one hundred and seventy five prisoners on Wednesday, another element
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of Tuesday's discussion with Russia, Trump Envoy Steve Whitkoff dismissed
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Ukrainian reports that Russian strikes the Ukrainian energy infrastructure continued overnight,
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despite Putin's claim to halt fire on those targets. President
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Putin issued an order within ten minutes of his call
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with the President directing Russian forces not to be attacking
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any Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Any attacks that happened last night
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would have happened before that order was given. In fact,
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the Russians tell me this morning that seven of their
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drones were on their way when President Putin issued his order,
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and they were shot down by Russian forces. So I
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tend to believe that President Putin is operating in good faith,
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Witkof told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. Zelenski said Wednesday that
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there were extensive Russian attacks overnight, including on energy infrastructure.
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Authorities said that one strike hit the eastern Ukrainian city
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of Slovyansky, damaging the city's electricity grid. The regional Prosecutor's
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office said the strike took place at eight fifty pm
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local time, more than two hours after the call ended.
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Regional police said power lines and the gas pipeline were
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hit in the strike, but it wasn't immediately clear whether
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they were deliberately targeted. Russia's broader attack on Ukraine continued
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after the call between Trump and Putin. Ukrainian authority set
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one hundred and forty five Russian drones attacked in the
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hours after the phone call. The attacks hit two hospitals
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in ukraine Sumi region and destroyed nine homes in Bhucha
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on the outskirts of Kiv. Ukraine meanwhile hit an oil
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depot in Russia's Krasnodar region, igniting a fire that more
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than one hundred and seventy firefighters were dispatched to get
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under control, in what the Russian Defense military called a
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disruption of peace initiatives. Ukrainian leaders weren't formerly briefed on
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the Trump and pouton call until Wednesday. Top officials in
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Kiev expressed skepticism a bit whether Putin would live up
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to his side of the bargain. After the announcement of
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an air truce. We didn't give an air defense cruiser break.
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We simply watched the clock. Less than an hour after
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Number Putin supposedly agreed not to strike Ukraine's energy infrastructure
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had allegedly issued the revervent orders, he attacked the energy
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infrastructure in eastern Ukraine. The response to President Number Trump's
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peace initiatives was the arrival of one hundred and fifty
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Shah drones built about Russians using Iranian blueprints, targeting civilian infrastructure.
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Zelenski advisor Mikhailo Podoleuc wrote on x on the bottom right,
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Green Peace ordered to pay Dakota Access Pipeline up six
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hundred and sixty seven million dollars in a case that
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could destroy the group. A North Dakota jury awarded damages
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to the oil company that operates the pipeline in a
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case that environmentalist warn could chill free speech. By Anna Phillips,
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Greenpeace must pay the oil company that operates the Dakota
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Access Pipeline six hundred and sixty seven million dollars in
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damages for defaming it. A North Dakota jury decided wednesday,
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a massive financial blow to the group that environmentalists say
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could chill future advocacy. The case, heard at the Moulton
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County Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota, centered on Greenpiece's involvement
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in the protest over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline,
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which became a cultural flashpoint in the United States nearly
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eighty years ago. The protests lasted for months, drawing thousands
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of people to a site in Cannonball, North Dakota, near
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the Standing Rocks Sioux Reservation. Dallas based Energy Transfer, which
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runs the nearly twelve hundred mile pipeline that carries oil
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from the back and fields in western North Dakota to Illinois,
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accused Greenpeace of inciting the protest and encouraging violence to
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damage the company's reputation. Greenpeace, whose spokesperson confirmed the verdict,
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has said it played a little role in the demonstrations.
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Major environmental groups have described the lawsuit as an intimidation
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tactic intended to stifle free speech in their attempts to
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stop new oil and gas drinaling. Greenpeace plans to appeal.
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The spokesperson said, what we saw over these three weeks
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was Energy Transfer blatant disregard for the voices of the
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standing Rock Siu tribe, and while they also tried to
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destroy the truth about Greenpeace's role in the protest, we
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instead reaffirmed our ungravering commitment to nonviolence in every action
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we take, said Deepa Pada Madabaja, senior legal counsel for
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Greenpeace USA. She added, we should all be concerned about
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the future of the First Amendment and lawsuits like this
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aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech.
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Any d Transfer, whose lawyers confirmed the damage amount, has
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said its lawsuit is about green Peace not following the law,
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not an attack on its freedom of expression. Vicki Grandado,
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a spokesperson for Energy Transfer, said, while we are pleased
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that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us,
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this win is really for the people of Manden and
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throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily
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harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded
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and trained by Greenpeace. It is also a win for
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all law abiding Americans who understand the difference between the
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right to free speech and breaking the law. Greenpeace has
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said that a verdict in favor of energy transfer would
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be likely to mean the end of its fifty year
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old affiliate in the United States, Greenpeace USA. In twenty
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twenty three, the most recent year for which the group's
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tax records were available, it had roughly forty million dollars
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in revenue and one hundred and ninety one employees. Michael Gerrard,
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director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at
27:56
Columbia University, said that verdict was unlikely to stop activists
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from publicly opposing oil and glass drilling or picketing pipeline companies,
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but he said it would make environmental as fearful of
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disrupting fossil fuel projects pipelines, minds, power plants as they
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are being built. It sends a chilling message to physical
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climate protests anything that actually disrupts fossil fuel production, he said.
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The case before the jury in North Dakota hinged on
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nine statements Greenpeace made that accused Energy Transfer of using
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aggressive tactics against protesters and desecrating burial grounds. The company
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has said these statements were not only false, but also
28:49
were a part of vast malicious publicity campaign against the
28:55
company that damaged its relationship with the banks funding the pipeline.
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Lawyers for the pipeline company also alleys that Greenpeace paid
29:05
professional protesters, organized trainings for demonstrators, and sent them lock
29:10
boxes so they could attach themselves to construction equipment. They
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initially saw three hundred million in damages stemming from lost financing,
29:21
public relation costs, and the five months delay in the
29:24
pipeline's construction. Throughout the trial, Greenpeace said it played only
29:30
a minor role in protests that were led by the
29:33
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Members of the Standing Rock Tribes
29:37
said they saw the pipeline as a threat to sacred
29:40
lands and their water supply. They feared that if the
29:44
pipeline leaked a ruptured near where it crosses under the
29:47
Missouri River, it would pollute the reservation's drinking water. At
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the time of the protest, Energy Transfer said the pipeline
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was safe and that its construction would bring millions of
29:58
dollars into the local economy. By June twenty seventeen, the
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company had begun pumping crude oil through the pipeline. Like
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many environmental groups at the time, Greenpeace supported the tribe
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and the protest against the pipeline. Greenpeace's lawyers said that
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the group had helped by supplies to winnerize the protest
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cramp and paid the travel costs for a group of
30:23
indigenous trainers who went to Standing Rock to teach principles
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of non violent action. Greenpeace rejected trans Energy transfers characterization
30:34
of it as mastered manipulators who used the protest to
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advance its own agenda, and said the statements it was
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being sued over were not unique to the organization. Some
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were written or echoed by other advocacy groups, according to
30:49
Greenpeace as lawyers, Energy Transfers first sued Greenpeace in federal
30:55
court in twenty seventeen. After a judge dismissed the case
31:00
lack of evidence, the company filed the defamation suit in
31:03
state court in twenty nineteen. Scott Siegel, head of public
31:09
policy at the law and lobbying firm Bracewell LLP, which
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represents numerous energy clients said Greenpeace's claims that the protests
31:20
are protected direct action comes with direct consequences when infrastructure
31:27
and businesses are damaged. Siegel said it is clear that
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Greenpeace took great liberties in what it told the public
31:36
about the project. As a result, the jury just reminded
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Greenpeace that free speech doesn't include a free pass to defame, disrupt,
31:47
and destroy. Before the trial began, Greenpeace had repeatedly asked
31:52
for it to be moved out of Morton County, arguing
31:56
that it could not get a fair hearing from a
31:58
jury there. Addition, found in North Dakota Supreme Court, the
32:03
group's lawyers said the pipeline protest had disrupted daily life
32:07
in the rural area so completely that many prospective jurors
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have been personally affected. Others were either employed by the
32:15
oil industry or said they supported it. According to Greenpeace's petition,
32:20
its requests were denied throughout the trial, and an outside
32:25
group of trial monitors made up of environmental lawyers and activists,
32:29
criticized the proceedings as biased against Greenpeace. Scott Wilson Randennock Junior,
32:37
a visiting attorney at the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit
32:42
traveled Demandan to watch the proceedings. He said that during
32:46
the idea, when lawyers directly questioned prudential jurors, seven of
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the eleven jurors chosen either worked in the fossil fuel
32:54
industry or had family members who did. Environmental and Freespee
33:00
advocates in the United States and internationally have paid close
33:04
attention to the case. Environmental activists say that they are
33:08
being increasingly targeted by what's known as a strategic lawsuit
33:13
against public participation or SLAPP strategic lawsuit against public participation.
33:23
Critics of these cases have traditionally defined them as meritless
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defamition lawsuits brought a major companies to silence critics and
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forced them into years of expensive litigation. More than thirty
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states have lawsuits that discouraged these lawsuits. North Dakota is
33:43
not one energy transfers lawsuit named three Green Priests entities,
33:49
two that are based in the US, and one Greenpeace
33:52
International that is headquoted in the Netherlands. There, Greenpeace International
33:58
has filed an anti entil mandation case against energy transfer
34:03
in which it claims to use a new European Union
34:06
directive countering SLAPP lawsuits to recoup its costs from the
34:11
defamation lawsuit in the US Energy Transfer in the US
34:17
Energy Transfer did not immediately comment on this case.
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Speaker 2: Next article.
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Speaker 1: As Israel resumes war in Gaza, families of hostages fear
34:29
the worst. Relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas argued
34:34
that armed conflict puts the captives at risk and that
34:38
time is running out to save those who are still alive.
34:42
By Shirote Rubin out of Tel Aviv. When Israel and
34:46
Samas reached a ceasefire in late January, Sharon Kunio suspected
34:52
her husband David would not be among the first of
34:55
the Israeli hostages to come home. He was a young man,
34:59
and she surmised a half value bargaining chip that Hamas
35:03
would keep until later phases of the cease fire. On Tuesday,
35:09
Israel resumed its aerial bombardment of Gaza, and Cuneo said
35:14
her world collapsed. She imagined him languishing in the tunnels
35:19
under Gaza and feared he would die under the rubble
35:22
or be killed by his captives. Cuneo, like dozens of
35:26
Israelis whose relatives are still in captivity, said she was
35:31
shocked and terrified by Israeli Prime Minister Benjaminetna, whose decision
35:35
to restart the war. The massive airstrikes were followed Wednesday
35:40
by further bombing and the deployment of Israeli ground forces
35:44
into a strategic carda dividing the Gaza Strip. At mass
35:49
demonstrations in various Israeli cities this week, protesters have rallied
35:55
on behalf of the hostages, arguing that Netna, whose stated
35:59
goal of coming Hamas into surrender is impractical, and that
36:03
time is running out to save those captives who are
36:06
still alive. David was taken hostage along with his wife
36:10
and their young twin daughters from their home in Kibbutz
36:14
narah Oz in southern Israel when it was attacked by
36:18
Hamas on October seventh, twenty twenty three. A month later,
36:23
Sharon Cuneoh and their daughters were released during a pause
36:26
and fighting. Since then, she and the girls, now four
36:30
years old, sing to David every morning and speak to
36:33
him through photos which the twins keep close at hand,
36:37
including in a draw at daycare. For the past year
36:42
and a half, Cuneo said she has told them their
36:44
father was waiting in a long line and was still
36:48
waiting for his return for his turn to be freed.
36:53
She hopes she hasn't been lying to them. And there's
36:58
a picture of Sharon Cuneo pose with their two girls,
37:01
Julia and Emma, in an undated photo. All four were
37:06
taken hostage by Hamas militants on October seventh, twenty twenty three.
37:13
A month later, Sharon and her daughters were released. David
37:17
is still detained. She is in maroon dressed with white
37:26
and blue flowers on it. The girls are in a
37:31
brown and blue matching vib dresses with hair bows, and
37:37
their father, David is in an orange shirt holding one
37:42
of the daughters. Among the fifty nine hostages still in
37:47
Tama's captivity, twenty four are presumed alive. They include young soldiers,
37:53
other men under the age of fifty one, Thai man
37:57
one Napoliese, and others who were not released on humanitarian
38:01
grounds during the first forty two day phase of the troops.
38:06
The hostages families, as well as Israelis who have been
38:10
held captive and are now free, say a higher priority
38:13
must be placed on negotiating the hostages release than on
38:17
pressing the military campaign because armed conflicts puts their lives
38:22
at risk. The Netanyahu government says negotiations are deadlocked and
38:27
liberating the hostages requires force. From now on, negotiations will
38:33
take place only under fire, Netanyahu said in a televised
38:38
statement to Tuesday. An nott Ungrest, whose son Matan, an
38:43
injured soldier, is among the remaining hostages, Total shed BET
38:47
radio station on Wednesday that the family had received a
38:51
call from Israeli intelligence officers a day earlier telling them
38:57
that the war would be waits with risk manage. But
39:00
the risk is there, and Grest continued, I'm asking what
39:07
mandate does the Prime Minister have to risk my child
39:10
to sacrifice his life. Noah Algamani, a former hostage who
39:16
was rescued by the Israeli military in June, recalled the
39:21
terror she endured when the previous cease spire collapsed in
39:24
November twenty twenty three.
39:27
Speaker 2: She pleaded with the.
39:28
Speaker 1: Country's leaders to not let it happen again. I told
39:32
myself there was no way I wouldn't make it out alive,
39:36
but then in a single moment, we started hearing the
39:39
explosions again. We cannot leave them behind, she wrote in
39:43
a post on x Israeli officials said they began planning
39:48
this new Gosam military operation in recent weeks as negotiations
39:53
over continuing the ceasefire struggled. Hamas has demanded that the
39:58
ceasefire in a second phase, as Israel and the militant
40:02
group had previously agreed. During this second phase, the remaining
40:07
hostages would be swapped for hundreds of palast Indian prisoners,
40:11
and Israel would withdraw its troops and end the wall.
40:15
Israeli officials, with the backing of US Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff,
40:20
said they have instead sought to secure the release of
40:23
more hostages while extending the first phase of the truth,
40:27
thus avoiding further concessions that net Nyahu's were irreluctant to make.
40:33
International mediators have been scrambling to desculate the conflict, in
40:38
part by pressuring Hamas to make more concessions. According to
40:42
an Dyption official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
40:46
because he was not authorized to speak with the press,
40:50
He added that Hamas has told mediators that the Israeli
40:54
strikes only harden its view of the hostages as an
40:58
insurance policy against its obliteration by the military Israeli military.
41:05
Many hostage families say they feel powerless and embracing for
41:08
more pain. Rebecca Bobot, whose husband Ikhana is among the
41:15
remaining hostages, said, this state of limbo brings me back
41:20
to zero again, just as I felt on October eighth,
41:24
a day after he was abducted from an outdoor music
41:27
festival along with two hundred and fifty others and taken
41:30
into Gaza. Bobot said she learned only last month that
41:37
Ilkana was still alive. Another hostage, oh I had been
41:41
Ami told her upon his relief that Elkana had been
41:46
held along beside him. Ben Emia told her that her
41:50
husband was kept in the tunnels, severely mannourished and forbidden
41:54
from seeing daylight. Then Elkana sent along a request that
41:59
his family remained strong. Bobot shared this message with their son,
42:05
who has been asking why other fathers held us hostage
42:08
have come home and he still hasn't. Bobot said the
42:14
fight that Israel needs to be waging is one to
42:17
bring back the hostages. Just thinking about another war after
42:22
sixteen months in which nothing has budged, how much longer
42:26
do I have to wait? Four Venezuelan Friends A and
42:31
Enemies Act cut short an American dream. The men had
42:37
just begun new lives in Dallas when officers arrived at
42:40
their home and arrested them. Their relatives denied that the
42:44
fore of any connection to the trendr Agura Gang a
42:51
Sylvia Foster Fro. The four friends grew up within blocks
42:56
of one another in Venezuela, playing soccer and bouncing between
43:00
each other's homes. As the nation deteriorated, they journeyed to
43:04
the United States and were eking at a new life
43:06
in Dallas, where they worked long hours and shared a tennhouse.
43:12
Then on Thursday, armed officers showed up at their home,
43:16
arrested them, and took them to a Texas distension center.
43:20
Merv Yamarty, twenty nine, told his mother by phone. Family
43:25
members do not know the charges, if any, and the
43:29
men's names do not appear in federal, state, or local
43:32
criminal court records. What happened next horrified the families. Jamarty
43:38
said they were asked to sign deportation papers and agreed,
43:42
thinking they would soon be back with their children and
43:44
loved ones in Venezuela. But a day later, his mother
43:48
saw a jarring video released by Salvadorian President Nayab Verkelly
43:54
showing alleged gang members being violently pulled off planes from
43:58
the United States and dragged to a mega prison notorious
44:02
for allegations of human rights abuses. Mercedes Yamarti spotted her son.
44:10
He appears only for a second, but she has no
44:13
doubt it is Mervin. He is kneeling and wearing a
44:16
ripped black shirt. His head has been shaped and officer
44:20
stands behind him. He appears to be wincing. I don't
44:24
have words, Mercedes Jamarti said, Mundy, her voice strained. I
44:29
couldn't speak. And there is a photo left of Mervin
44:34
Yamates in Dallas, wearing a blue looks like a blue
44:39
soccer shirt with a collar, and he had hair provided
44:43
his mother on the right. Yamarti, in a video released
44:47
by Salvadoran President Naye Berkelly, shows him with a ripped
44:51
T shirt, his face looking up, and a shaved head.
44:56
Unbeknownst to his family, Yamarty had been put on a
44:59
plane after President Donald Trump secretly signed a proclamation invoking
45:04
the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight. The wartime
45:08
provision gave Trump the power to quickly remove Venezuelans accused
45:12
of belonging to the trend Arragua gang, taking away their
45:17
chance to make their case to a judge before deportation.
45:21
A federal judge blocked Trump from using the power and
45:25
ordered the administration to turn around any planes that were
45:28
already in the air. Three planes landed in El Salvador
45:33
hours later. The White House and the Department of Homeland
45:37
Security did not confirm whether Yamardi or his friends were
45:41
sent to El Salvador, and, if so, whether they had
45:45
been deported under the Alien Enemies Act. The quickness with
45:49
which Jamarti was detained and sent to Al Savador corresponds
45:53
with the use of that authority. Trump's secret deployment of
45:58
the extraordinary power is being argued over in court as
46:05
immigrant efficates demand to know who was deported and why.
46:10
The last time a president invoked the act was during
46:13
one of the darkest chapters in the nation's passed when
46:16
the government in turned more than one hundred and ten
46:19
thousand Japanese Americans during World War II. The Trump administration
46:25
said that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated each migrant
46:31
sent to Al Saador to verify their ties to the gang.
46:35
Robert Singha, an acting ICE field director, wrote in a
46:40
court felling that those efforts included reviewing surveillance data and
46:44
testimonies from victims. He acknowledged that many of those deported
46:50
under the Act do not have criminal records in the
46:53
United States, but he said that that does not preit
46:57
indicate that they pose a limited threat. After Mercedes Jamarti
47:03
recognized her son, the mothers of other men began wearing
47:07
and searching for information too. One of the other men
47:10
was spotted in the photo release fever Kelly, and the
47:13
mothers assume all four are himself in El Sevado. In interviews,
47:20
relatives of the men, Yamarti, Ringo Rincion, Andy, Javier Peroso,
47:27
and Eduar Hernandez insisted the fall are not members of
47:32
the trendur Agoura gang. Mercedes Germarti said, if there are
47:39
people with criminal records, then look for them, but the
47:42
innocent shouldn't have to pay for the rest. Strong like mom,
47:48
The four men hail for Mara Cayavo, a city in
47:52
western Venezuela that once was one of the nation's wealthiest
47:56
thanks to its abundant oil reserves. If they came of age,
48:01
their nation began to collapse. Hyperinflation made their salaries worthless.
48:06
Venezuela's oil industry tanked, the city began experiencing regular blackouts.
48:13
Merwyn Yamarti found to work with a roofing company, his
48:16
family said, but he still struggled to make ends meet.
48:20
In twenty twenty three, he and his friends turned their
48:23
eyes northward. They traveled through Central America and into Mexico
48:27
to reach the United States. The relatives said they crossed
48:31
the same way thousands of Venezuelans had before them, entering
48:35
illegally across the Rio Grande and then surrendering to US
48:39
voter patrol AGENC, who detained and then released them. All
48:44
the men shared similar stories. They were in their twenties
48:47
and thirties, still young enough to imagine starting over somewhere new.
48:52
All had children. Family members said they have no criminal
48:56
records in Venezuela. The histories there could not be immediately
49:00
verified by The Washington Post. Gamarti left in the United
49:05
States in hopes of earning money to fix up his
49:07
family's dilapidated home, said janellees Para, his partner of sixteen
49:13
years of eleven years. The couple has a six year
49:18
old daughter. Relative said he has several tattoos that are
49:22
testaments to his love of family. One bears the name
49:25
of his daughter. Another on his arm reads fuerte como Mama,
49:31
Strong like mom. A third shows two clasped hands representing
49:36
him and his partner next to the date they began dating.
49:41
The other men were also family oriented, their relatives said.
49:45
Rincio in thirty nine have been working for a television
49:48
provider in Venezuela and has three children. Foroso, thirty has
49:53
five children, has been making a living by delivering food
49:57
on a motorcycle. His mother said it didn't make enough
50:00
to support his family. His mother, Erkia Palencia, fifty two
50:05
said in a telephone interview, I tried to offer a
50:09
hand when I could, but I couldn't always. Fernandez twenty
50:15
three joined his friends in Dallas a year later. His
50:18
mother said that he was also detained when he illegally
50:21
crossed the border in the fall, and that officer asked
50:24
him about his tattoos, a branch on his test an
50:28
owl on his arm. He was released with the date
50:32
to appear in court in twenty twenty seven. Many of
50:36
the men worked initially in a factory that makes corn
50:39
and flour tortillas. One lady got a job with an
50:42
online fast fashion retailer. Their lives had changed, but they
50:47
had managed to keep their friendship. They were colleagues and roommates,
50:51
and when they had free time, relatives said they spent
50:54
it playing Sokko fear. The officers arrived at their home
50:59
Thursday morning. By then, Mervin's younger brother, John Ferns, and
51:04
Yamarti had arrived in Texas. He witnessed the arrest but
51:08
was not detained, and described them to the Post. He
51:12
said armed immigration officers were in his living room when
51:16
he woke up. They asked him to sit down, requested
51:20
his name, and then inquired whether he had tattoos. Scolars
51:24
and journalists who have studied trend de Agua s tattoos
51:28
are not a reliable indicator of membership in the gang.
51:32
Relatives of several Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration described
51:37
as trend Argua members and sent Suguantamino in February, also
51:43
said immigration agents had focused on tattoos. The relatives denied
51:48
that their loved ones had ties to the gang. Jehan
51:52
Farsoe Yomarte twenty one said he showed them in the
51:55
tattoo that he and his brother's share fer Anti como
51:59
Mama strong as mom. It remains unclear while one brother
52:03
was rested but not the other. Jefferson Yamati said one
52:07
of the men Proso had missed a court date and
52:10
had a final deportation order. On Saturday, Merburn Armaty called
52:15
his mom. She said he told her that all four
52:18
friends were in attention together and had signed deportion deportation papers.
52:23
The mothers began making arrangements for their arrival. One of
52:27
the men's children wanted to throw a welcome home party.
52:31
Then Mercedes Jamarti saw the video from El Salvador. She
52:35
alerted the other moms and girlfriends. They wailed in despair.
52:39
The host felt like someone had died, said Ya Rally
52:42
Herauur forty four, her Nandez's mother. I haven't been able
52:47
to eat or sleep. Merburn Umighty's partner Para said that
52:51
when she saw the video, my heart broke in a
52:54
million pieces. Because my husband is not part of Trent
52:59
de Ora. I couldn't believe they sent him there after
53:04
so many years together. She noticed his expressions and what
53:08
she saw in his face was clear. It was a
53:11
face of pain, of fear.
53:14
Speaker 2: She said, I.
53:16
Speaker 1: Probably don't have time to finish this article, but having
53:19
been in Urulu, the scorching heat is unbelievable. In the
53:24
Australian outback, climate change widens the racial divide. In the
53:29
scorching Australian Opal mining town of Kuba Pete, white people
53:34
live in cool dugouts, while their Aboriginal neighbors suffer above,
53:40
often without ac Michael E. Miller, Kuba Pete, Australia. From
53:46
her front door, Sonya Crombie can see the sandstone hills
53:51
where white men carved up the land in search of
53:53
Opal and then stayed, turning their minds into elaborate underground
53:58
homes insulated from the desert heat. But when Crombie's air
54:03
conditioner broke in November, just as the scorching summer was
54:06
about to set in, the ailing sixty year old Aboriginal
54:10
woman who had no tunnel in which to take refuge
54:15
had no tunnel as the temperature in her state run
54:18
has topped one hundred degrees fahrenheit. Crombie struggled to breathe.
54:23
Emergency workers flew her five hundred miles to a hospital.
54:27
I nearly died. She said, this heat can kill you.
54:32
Extreme heat is surging around the world as climate changes
54:35
drives up temperatures and threatens to force hundreds of millions
54:39
of people from their homes by twenty fifty. Poor countries
54:43
will be affected the most. Australia is one of the
54:46
wealthiest nations per capita, but the statistics had this dark
54:51
and stubborn debat and quality of life between its indigenous
54:54
and non indigenous peoples. Nowhere is this more evident than
54:59
in Cooper pet a remote outback community of about fifteen
55:03
hundred people in South Australia that is effectively split in two.
55:09
Below ground, the town's mostly white residents live in dugouts bought, sold,
55:15
and expanded in certain neighborhoods where the temperature stays in
55:19
the low to mid seventies and electricity bills are modest.
55:24
Thousands of tourists come to Cooper Peta each year to
55:27
see these underground homes, featured in movies such as Mad Max,
55:31
Beyond Thunderdome or to fassic Opos.
55:35
Speaker 2: Above ground.
55:36
Speaker 1: Aboriginal people who make up seventy percent of the town.
55:41
Seventeen percent of the town swell to without air conditioning.
55:44
A rack up enormous electricity bills. Crimebie owes the district
55:49
council almost eleven thousand dollars, largely from using her now
55:53
broken air conditioner. Records show that seventy six account holders,
55:58
many Aboriginal and indigent, oh a total of three hundred
56:02
and fifty thousand dollars. The South Australian Housing Trust, which
56:07
manages homes in Crombie's community, said it was working hard
56:11
as we can to fix air conditions, but was hampered
56:14
by contractors' shortages. We would be concerned if anybody experienced
56:19
any heat related health issues, It's said in a statement.
56:24
Kuber Peabody's dystopian divide can become more common as climate
56:29
change pushes people to greater lengths to escape increasingly harsh conditions.
56:34
Aboriginal people have inhabited Australia's Central desens for more than
56:39
fifty thousand years, and many feel a deep attachment to
56:42
the land, keeping them there even if it becomes increasingly
56:47
inhospitable to humans. Temperatures in the state are now three
56:51
degrees higher than a century ago and predicted to rise
56:54
up to four degrees more by twenty fifty. The heat
56:59
is already unbearable, and climate change is just going to
57:03
get worse, said Priscilla Larkin, CEO of the Ognuna too
57:08
gut Haku Health Service, which helps Aboriginal residents. She said,
57:14
our mob has been abandoned a subterranean divide across town.
57:20
Thomas Heimeister entered his dugout and felt the coolier hit
57:24
his tanned face. The sixty year old had worked all
57:27
morning in the desert sun, but when the afternoon heatch
57:30
approached one hundred and six, he called it quits. He
57:33
crept open a bottle of deer and led a reporter
57:36
on a tour. I'm toy with the idea of building
57:39
an all suite in the bedroom, high, Meister said, making
57:42
his way through his sixteen room bunker, which sits under
57:45
thirty feet of sandstone. Sometimes it gets too cold in here. Actually,
57:51
when white people arrived here in twenty in nineteen fifteen
57:55
in search of gold, only to stumble upon Opal's, they
57:58
escaped the desert heat, the whole living in their minds.
58:02
The Aboriginal town's name means white man's hole. In the underground.
58:09
In the first two months of twenty twenty five alone,
58:11
Cooper Pete experienced twenty seven days over one hundred four
58:16
degrees fahrenheit, including one of one hundred and nineteen. I
58:21
did experience that in Ularu, also a sandstone monument in
58:27
the outback of Australia. And that concludes today's reading of
58:32
the Washington Post. Please stay tuned for more reading of
58:36
Radio I. Bye.