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In this edition of India Today Global, the big focus is on the escalating diplomatic row between the US and South Africa.
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00:00Hello and welcome, I'm Geeta Mohan and you're watching India Today Global.
00:16Now tensions have escalated between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
00:23after Trump announced that South Africa will not be invited to next year's G20 summit to be held in Miami.
00:31Now what is happening and what's the backdrop of the story? Here is a detailed report.
00:39Days after the G20 summit concluded in Johannesburg, it continues to attract controversy.
00:45US President Donald Trump, who skipped this year's summit, posted on social media
00:50that the United States will not invite South Africa to next year's G20, which is set to be hosted in Miami.
00:58In his post, Trump claimed that South Africa had refused to hand over the G20 presidency
01:04to a US embassy representative during last week's summit.
01:08He further wrote, and I quote,
01:10Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will not be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20,
01:16which will be hosted in the great city of Miami, Florida next year, unquote.
01:22South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to Trump's remarks, calling the decision regrettable.
01:28He stated, and I quote,
01:29It is regrettable that despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa
01:35and his administration to reset the diplomatic relationship with the US,
01:40President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa
01:44based on misinformation and distortions about a country, unquote.
01:49Ramaphosa further clarified that the United States was not present at the summit
01:53and that the instruments of the G20 presidency were formally handed over to a US embassy official
02:00at the headquarters of South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
02:07Trump had boycotted this year's G20 after promoting a widely discredited claim
02:12that South Africa's white minority faces large-scale killings.
02:17The controversy first arose during Ramaphosa's visit to the White House earlier this year
02:22when Trump alleged that a white genocide was taking place
02:26and that the government was killing white people, allowing their farms to be taken from them.
02:31The South African government has repeatedly rejected these claims.
02:35We have many people that feel they're being persecuted and they're coming to the United States.
02:41So we take from many, many locations if we feel there's persecution or genocide going on.
02:47So I would say if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here,
02:56including my Minister of Agriculture.
03:00He would not be with me.
03:02So it will take him, President Trump, listening to their stories, to their perspective.
03:08South African officials are now seeking solidarity from other G20 members,
03:15urging them to defend the integrity of the forum and the rights of all member states.
03:20With tensions rising between the two countries,
03:23the G20, which does not have a permanent secretariat,
03:26is currently supported by the Troika, comprising the previous current and incoming presidencies.
03:32As South Africa and the U.S. find answers at odds,
03:36it remains to be seen how the G20 Troika will function after the U.S. concludes its presidency.
03:42With Neha Kumari, Bureau Report, India Today.
03:48A brazen shooting just steps from the White House.
03:52Two National Guard soldiers critically injured and a suspect now in federal custody.
03:57U.S. President Donald Trump has called this an act of terror,
04:01a major security breach at the heart of Washington,
04:03raising urgent questions about screening, protocols and national security.
04:09Here's a report.
04:09A shooting just a short distance from the White House complex.
04:31A gunman opened fire, National Guard personnel stationed in the area on Wednesday.
04:41Two soldiers were hit, one in the head and the other in the chest.
04:46Both remain in critical condition.
04:50Security forces responded immediately, engaging the shooter.
04:55The attacker was injured in the exchange of fire and was taken into custody.
04:59Authorities have identified the suspect as Rehmanullah Lakanwal,
05:05a 29-year-old Afghan national who resettled in Washington state.
05:10Investigators say he entered the United States in 2021
05:13under the Biden administration's Operation Allies Welcome Initiative.
05:19The FBI has now assumed control of the investigation.
05:22There is confirmation now that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces.
05:28We are fully investigating that aspect of his background as well,
05:32to include any known associates that are either overseas or here in the United States of America.
05:39U.S. President Donald Trump and other officials in the current administration have reacted strongly to the attack.
05:46This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror.
05:51It was a crime against our entire nation.
05:55It was a crime against humanity.
05:58As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.
06:08I will ask the Secretary of the Army to the National Guard to add 500 additional troops, National Guardsmen, to Washington, D.C.
06:17This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C. safe and beautiful.
06:23The drop in crime has been historic.
06:25The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it has suspended all immigration processing for Afghan nationals indefinitely.
06:35The incident has once again highlighted potential vulnerabilities within America's core security infrastructure.
06:42Bureau Report, India Today.
06:44Dominican Republic President Luis Abhinadar announced that he had unauthorized the U.S. government to operate inside restricted areas in the Caribbean country to help in its fight against drug trafficking.
07:02Abhinadar further added that the U.S. can refuel aircraft and transport equipment and technical personnel at restricted areas within the San Isidoro airbase
07:13and lost America's international airport for a limited time.
07:17He made the announcement with Defense Secretary Pete Hexitt at his side.
07:21Hexitt traveled to Santo Domingo to meet with the country's top leaders, including Abhinadar and Minister of Defense,
07:29Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofra.
07:33It was the first major public agreement that the U.S. has struck with the Caribbean nation
07:38as it seeks friendly allies to support its attacks against alleged drug smuggling both in the region and beyond,
07:46killing at least 83 people since the strikes began in early September.
07:51Hexitt said the Dominican Republic was a regional leader willing to take on hard challenges.
07:56I announced to the nation that we have authorized the United States for a limited time to use restricted areas at the San Isidoro airbase
08:09and Las Americas International Airport for logistical operations such as aircraft refueling and the transport of equipment and technical personnel.
08:18The purpose is clear, to strengthen the air and maritime protection ring maintained by our armed forces,
08:24a crucial effort to prevent the entry of narcotics and to strike a more decisive blow against transnational organized crime.
08:31What is a temporary deployment of U.S. service members and aircraft conducting Operation Southern Spear?
08:39Small footprint, temporary, fully respecting your sovereignty and your laws and all the dynamics here in the Dominican Republic.
08:47It's a great partnership that we're, and truly a joint effort between our two countries against narco trafficking and narco terrorism.
08:57Global attention has intensified over the uncertainty surrounding former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's status
09:06as the hashtag, whereas Imran Khan dominates social media platforms and fuels widespread concern.
09:13Rumors alleging Imran Khan's ill health, alleged disappearance and even false reports of his death have circulated online,
09:20prompting heightened anxiety among supporters and political observers.
09:25Khan's family members claim that they have been denied prison visits for several weeks, raising further questions about his condition.
09:33Visuals of his sister's attempting to secure a meeting at Adiyala Jail have amplified public scrutiny,
09:39while protests continue to build outside the facility.
09:43Pakistan Tehri Ke Ansaf, that's PTI, has demanded proof of life and a clear official statement from authorities regarding Khan's status.
09:51Party officials insist the government must allow immediate family access to dispel speculation.
09:58Supporters argue the state bears full responsibility for ensuring Khan's safety and upholding his constitutional rights.
10:06As tensions increased, Adiyala Jail authorities issued a statement rejecting reports that Khan had been transferred.
10:13Officials said he remains inside the facility and is in good health and is receiving full medical care.
10:21Pranay Padiya, my colleague joins me for more on this.
10:24Pranay, we were discussing this yesterday and we continue to discuss the same question comes up.
10:30Where is Imran Khan?
10:31There is a very cryptic silence being maintained by the Pakistani military establishment as well as the Pakistan government authorities,
10:39Jail authorities, that where exactly is Imran Khan.
10:42However, the PTI leader, Salman Akram Raza, who is also a senior lawyer who has represented Imran Khan in different court cases,
10:49has issued a statement and he said that he has been put into a solitary confinement
10:53and this is totally in violation of his human rights, his legal rights because he is being denied any access to family,
11:00any access to his lawyers and this is in violation of the Pakistani legal norms.
11:07But it has been 845th day of imprisonment of Imran Khan.
11:12There is a sit-in dharna outside the Adiyala jail in Rawalpindi and the temperature is around 11 degrees Celsius in Rawalpindi right now,
11:20Gita and his family, his supporters are still there outside the Adiyala court and they are staging the sit-in protest,
11:28asking and demanding the Pakistani jail authorities to give access for family to meet
11:34because consecutively last three weeks the family had been trying to meet Imran Khan but they couldn't meet Imran Khan.
11:41His lawyers are also not being able to contact Imran Khan and that's why a lot of rumours are flying in Islamabad,
11:48in Pakistan that what exactly has happened with Imran Khan, why family is not being given access,
11:53why the family is not being allowed to meet Imran Khan despite the court orders.
11:58So there is a lot of turbulence and in fact the KPK Chief Minister, Sohail Afridi,
12:03he has also joined party colleagues and party workers and Imran Khan's family outside the Adiyala jail.
12:10Right Pranay, keep tracking that story. It's a very serious one happening in India's neighbourhood.
12:15We'll keep coming back to you with that.
12:17We zoom out a little and ask a deeper question when it comes to Pakistan.
12:22Is Imran Khan going to become one of the bravest civilian leaders of the country fighting military dictatorship?
12:29Death, rumours, solitary confinement, foreign conspiracies, nothing broke him.
12:35The establishment feared him. The world watched.
12:38Now can Imran Khan's defiance spark a revolution and redefine Pakistan's political future forever?
12:44Here's Statecraft for you.
12:45Imran Khan may just be the bravest man Pakistan has ever seen.
13:01And that statement alone is enough to rattle every pillar of the establishment
13:05that has choked Pakistani politics since 1947.
13:09Because in a country where every leader who dares question the military's omnipresent shadow
13:15is exiled, executed or forced into compromise like Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, like Sharif,
13:22like anyone who ever tried to stand upright, Imran Khan has done the unthinkable.
13:29He did not leave the country. He stayed.
13:32He fought. He roared back even from solitary confinement, even from a cell.
13:38Even as rumours swirled outside Adi Ala jail that he was dead.
13:42Even as his sisters protested and thousands stormed the gates.
13:46And if he walks out today, he becomes a bigger hero than Pakistan has ever produced.
13:51In a nation where everyone else has bent, broken or bargained,
13:56can Imran Khan's refusal to bow rewrite Pakistan's political destiny?
14:01Or is this yet another sacrifice for the supremacy of the military dictatorship in Pakistan?
14:08Hello and welcome. You're watching Statecraft with Migita Mohan.
14:41But Imran Khan shattered that script.
14:46Even after a no-confidence ouster in 2022, even after solitary confinement,
14:52even after over 900 days behind bars, he refuses compromise.
14:58He refuses exile. He refuses silence.
15:02And he even dared to question Biden's America on interference,
15:07a line no Pakistani premier has ever crossed.
15:10As this defines the reason, he now stands alone, uncompromised and persecuted.
15:18He was once the military's man, created and backed by the Pakistani establishment.
15:24But today, Imran Khan's journey from Adi Ala jail to the centre of Pakistan's political storm
15:30is nothing short of a seismic rupture in a country where political courage usually ends in a grave or an airport leading to exile.
15:39The prison administration can claim he is healthy, comfortable, well-fed and reclining on a velvet mattress.
15:47But that facade collapses instantly when confronted with the reality screamed by his sisters, his sons and his supporters.
15:57He's locked away in solitary confinement, denied visitation rights despite court orders,
16:03isolated in inhumane conditions that expose the underlying truth.
16:08The Pakistani establishment fears Imran Khan more than any threat it has ever faced.
16:14And the louder the nation roars outside Adi Ala's gates, the tighter those gates clamp shut.
16:20The first fractures appeared with the removal of then-ISI chief Asim Munir in 2019,
16:28an act that planted the seeds of the war that could later consume him.
16:33Everything after that spiraled.
16:35Rifts inside the military, economic pressures, PDM agitation and establishment fatigue with the prime minister who refused to obey.
16:44He accused the establishment openly, he spoke of betrayal, he spoke of a foreign conspiracy,
16:52pointing his finger explicitly at Biden's United States of America,
16:57accusing it of orchestrating his downfall through diplomatic pressure, threats and manipulation of Pakistan's military command.
17:05Even in solitary confinement, even when cut off from his sisters, even when his supporters were beaten, jailed, hunted,
17:14even when rallies were banned, even when the party symbol was stolen,
17:20even when PTI candidates were forced to run as independents,
17:25even when the election machinery bent the results,
17:28even when he was isolated behind four walls with a velvet mattress designed to be used as a political prop
17:36by ministers bragging that he had it better than five-star hotel food.
17:41He stayed unbroken.
17:43And that is why Pakistan trembles.
17:46The establishment can jail a man, it cannot jail an idea.
17:50And Imran Khan has become the idea Pakistan refuses to bury.
17:54Imran Khan is the only major Pakistani leader in decades who refused to compromise,
18:01refused to flee, refused to bow, refused to sign a deal for exile,
18:06refused to trade principles for safety.
18:12Pakistan Army Chief and Field Marshal Asa Munir praised his country's achievements during Operation Sindhu yet again,
18:19claiming they boosted Islamabad's international standing.
18:23At an event at the General Headquarters, Munir said professionalism, resolve and commitment shown by his forces
18:30during Markai Haq put Pakistan on the world map.
18:35Continuing his remarks on the country's future,
18:38he described Pakistan as a nation of consequence,
18:41destined to attain its rightful place in the community of nations.
18:45The comments echo his April speech before the Pahalgam attack,
18:49which was widely criticized for its religious overtones.
18:53Munir emphasized that Pakistan's strength lies in national unity
18:57and asserted that the country would overcome the nefarious designs of its adversaries.
19:03Analysts say his remarks are part of the military's effort to frame the May escalation with India
19:08as a victory and a demonstration of Pakistan's capabilities,
19:12a reiteration that Pakistan has been doing over and over again,
19:17but there are no takers.
19:22Hong Kong is facing its deadliest fire in nearly three decades
19:27after a massive blaze swept through Wangfuk Court,
19:31a residential complex in Taipo.
19:33At least 75 people have been killed and hundreds still missing,
19:37but blaze is now under control.
19:42Hong Kong is battling its deadliest fire in nearly three decades.
19:55The massive blaze stowed through a housing complex,
19:58engulfing seven high-rise buildings and claiming over 50 lives.
20:03Dozens more have been injured and more than 250 people are still missing.
20:07The fire broke out at Wangfuk Court and spread rapidly along bamboo scaffolding
20:13at the residential state in Taipo district.
20:16The fast-moving flames forced some 700 residents to flee to temporary shelters.
20:22Firefighters worked for more than 24 hours to contain the blaze.
20:36Rescue operations are still underway as authorities struggle to control the fire
20:41and search for those missing.
20:43A senior Hong Kong fire official said firefighters are trying their best to save lives
20:48despite being hindered by high temperatures, collapsed scaffolding and constrained spaces.
20:54It is very difficult for us.
20:58The area of the fire ground or the domestic unit is not big.
21:04So we need to deploy a limited or optimize our manpower
21:10to perform our firefighting and rescue operation.
21:14The Hong Kong government has ordered inspections of all residential clusters
21:18undergoing major repair works.
21:20Authorities are also investigating the cause of the fire.
21:25Meanwhile, temporary shelters have been set up
21:27to assist the hundreds of residents left homeless.
21:30With Neha Kumari, Bureau Report, India Today.
21:37Nigeria's President Borat Inubu declared that a national security emergency
21:42be placed as authorities struggled to contain a surge in mass kidnappings
21:48that have seen hundreds of people abducted in the span of a week.
21:53Tinubu said in a statement that this is a national emergency
21:57and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground,
22:00especially in security-challenged areas, he said.
22:04Armed groups have kidnapped two dozen Muslim schoolgirls,
22:0738 worshippers, more than 300 students,
22:10and teachers from a Catholic school,
22:1213 young girls and women near a farm,
22:15and another 10 women and children in separate incidents across the country.
22:19While dozens of victims have been rescued or managed to escape,
22:24265 children and teachers taken from a Catholic boarding school
22:28in Niger State are still missing.
22:31Tinubu earlier ordered a redeployment of police VIP bodyguards
22:35for policing duties
22:38and approved the recruitment of 30,000 additional officers.
22:42He has also ordered the hiring of another 20,000 officers,
22:45taking the total to 50,000 new police recruits.
22:49Nigeria has suffered a string of abductions of schoolchildren
22:52since Islamist group Boko Haram
22:55kidnapped 276 children, girls in Chibok,
22:59in the rest of the Northeast in 2014.
23:01That's all on this edition of India Today Global.
23:08Keep yourself updated with all the news and updates
23:11over here on India Today Global.
23:13Goodbye and take care.
23:14Goodbye and take care.
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