Transcripts For DW DW News 20240712

After voting to replace the nations constitution in a referendum that removes the last vestiges of the pinochet case. And after mass protests on sunday the bella rose opposition from paris for a nationwide strike today forced the battle leader Alexander Lukashenko to step down. Im brian thomas good to have you with us today armenia and azerbaijan have been accusing each other of violating a new cease fire intended to halt of fighting over the disputed nagornokarabakh region the u. S. Brokered truce was due to take effect a few hours ago it is the 3rd attempt to end the bloodshed which broke out 4 weeks ago and has claimed hundreds of lives. Our correspondent you johan has this report from the town of barga its in azerbaijan about 20 kilometers from the frontline. Here go fires live shows us where he used to live until very recently. To see a rocket take his house in early october he says. So. Particles right off base sure thats. His home for 35 years burnt down to the walls. Never walked over to the whole family was sitting here watching t. V. And suddenly there was an explosion in the backyard everything started burning we ran outside and called the firefighters but when they arrived it was already too late for sure may have. Been the memories. Want to go far as early as is convinced that our 1000000 is responsible for the attack the neighboring country deliberately bombed many civilian targets in the area he says. We cant independently verify this we are not allowed to move freely near the front line we are only allowed to film with the as of a john eales or a tease let us film i. This school in barbell for example even if it looks like it the children here are not students. They are refugees this has been in emergency shelters since the fighting started a month ago i. Was right at the end friends a memorial for a fallen azerbaijanis soldier everyone here is convinced that their army is fighting for a just cause the School Vice Principal doesnt believe that their votes have been attacks on armenian civilians. And laughed at us and then. I dont know much about whats happening on the armenian side i only know what i see on t. V. Here but i can say that the armenians are losing and must retreat so they dont have any other options if we are not to. Lying to take our money and territory we are fighting for what belongs to us tender. Has been at the school for a few weeks now with his wife and 3 granddaughters they are from tower tower right on the border with no go nuclear about lately the clashes there have intensified. That. Im worried about the girls theyre just kids they were so scared of the fighting how are they supposed to know what explosions are they should go to school and study but they shouldnt have to learn what bombs and missiles sound like been in that. At the moment the children see safe days about 20 kilometers from the frontline but nobody knows when they will be able to return home or whether it will soon come to. You to. Get the perspective from the armenian capital yarra vaughn and aaron tells and good day to you aaron whats the latest on this is the 3rd attempt at a cease fire. All right just a couple of minutes ago i was actually able to speak to you earlier who followed filed rather that last report and she was able to confirm to me that there is the sound of artillery fire which can be hear heard from the as or by johnnys side of the conflict now at this hour d. W. Can unfortunately not confirm which side is actually responsible for those our children salvos but we can confirm that fighting is continuing in the region now and in terms of the political aspects of this the azerbaijani side is accusing of armenia violating the cease fire saying that Armenian Forces are actually responsible for the shelling however this is something that armenia has repeatedly denied this move this morning weve seen several reports coming out of both the ministry of defense and the government which say that they continue to support the cease fire and actually accusing azerbaijan of running what amounts to a distant from ation campaign saying that theyre attempting to add confusion to an already confusing conflict where both sides cant even really agree to the basic facts on the ground the u. S. As is behind this latest the 3rd now ceasefire effort that was behind washingtons push in the region. Well. Washington appears to be joining what is a broader push by the International Computer community to support peace in the region now this is the 3rd attempt at brokering a ceasefire after 2 others which russia brokered by russia failed in recent weeks and speaking some are means about this yesterday and it doesnt really seem that surprising they said that the United States is a great and a powerful nation in a very influential one but its also a nation thats located very very far away from this conflict and its attempting to influence what amounts to a regional conflict with deep historical roots that stretch back decades if not centuries so its not entirely surprising that this latest ceasefire effort also appears to be on shaky lakes and as you mentioned this is a conflict with roots deep in history what are people where you are saying about todays fight. Well here in the capital there appears to be broad support for the efforts of the of the troops in ca to most of the armenians ive spoken to view this as a purely defensive action on their part saying theyre trying to protect their people from what you know they see as a potential ethnic cleansing which could go on in the region if they fail to support the armenians living in ca and they really kind of put it in the context of some of the bring the broader historical conflicts weve seen like one thing that mentioned over and over again by the people ive spoken to is the Armenian Genocide which took place during world war one and many people here seem to be afraid if they give a little bit of ground that they could see similar violence cropping up in the region and thanks so much for bringing us up to date on that ceasefire between armenia and azerbaijan in dornoch are a box thanks very much. Thank you. Its julie now and there were celebrations across chile sunday after some 80 percent of voters back a proposal to replace the nations constitution with a new one for many it is a final repudiation of the 1980 s. Military dictatorship the referendum followed a year of widespread sometimes violent protests for better pensions education and health care. And streets familiar with an arrest now overcome by celebration. The supporters are jubilant psyching up a result that will lead to the scrapping of chiles dictatorship era constitution. That its amazing to be part of this historical moment to be able to vote to feel such pride of being part of this great change and of the results that they had. There that the truth is im delighted im very proud of the results this is showing that this is what the people want and theres a very large majority. President Sebastian Pinera who agreed to hold a vote after months of social unrest says its an opportunity to forge a new future for the nation. Until now the constitution has divided us we must all Work Together so that the new constitution is the great framework of unity and stability. Long lines and strict pandemic controls were a feature of voting day people or even urged to bring their own pens. Today has its roots in street protests that erupted late last year but if it increases to public transport fares. It soon turned into a much Bigger Movement frustrated by inequality into lane society. The current constitution was implemented during the dictatorship of pinochet and many see it as something that prevents attempts to address poverty and inequality. It symbolizes the injustice that this country suffered and how the people rebelled against the constitution this puts an end to the dictatorship of pinochet and his chiles transformation to democracy. The plebiscite not only asked if the. Institution should be scrapped but who should rewrite it. To lane strongly supported having it rewritten by a group of elected citizens rather than a mixture of politicians and citizens once the members are chosen they will begin drafting a new constitution putting it to voters in me 2022. Lets give you a brief down some of the other stories making the news this hour japans Prime Minister here she should asuka has committed the country to achieving 0 Carbon Emissions by 2050 marking a shift in policy. Said green reforms could lead to Major Economic growth japan is the latest country to set similar targets following china the u. K. And e. U. Member 6. The Vice President of the German Parliament has died suddenly tomas obama and was taken to hospital sunday evening after collapsing during a Television Program over money aged 66 was one of the leading figures in germanys governing Coalition Partner the s. P. D. A cause of his death is unknown. Lithuanias center right Opposition Party Homeland Union has won the countrys parliamentary elections its leader ingrid us among yet is expected to become Prime Minister in a coalition with 2 other parties both of which are also led by women the current governing party came in a distant 2nd in the. Belaruss opposition figures are calling for a nationwide strike to go ahead today as they seek to increase pressure on hardline leader Alexander Lucas shango to step down and release all the countrys Political Prisoners this comes after more than 100000 protesters took to the streets in the capital minsk and other cities for the 11th consecutive weekend. Security forces fired stun grenades at demonstrators and arrested hundreds of people the opposition accuses lucas shinku of rigging his reelection. Lets get the latest now with joe anger or correspondent in minsk good day to you joe theres been a call for a general strike whats it looking like will people be staying home today you know many people state its only it seems that this is. A big rally at the moment as you would well in the streets of minsk. Because its striking in the big factories the big state factories great defector and other factors all over the country mainly its not a general strike but no one. So its that bilby really a general strike today Public Service employees and Civil Servants are being threatened with terminations getting fired if if they oppose the government take part in this strike will that have an effect on what happens today. Yeah this is this is a fear of to people because if they lose their jobs they dont have money anymore and this is a problem that big stadium factories like that candy factory it is so legal are. Over 16. 00 in front of hundreds. And living from this factory to lose that shops there have no money and it warrant is it could all make a crisis situation and be literals its not so very good so indeed there is some fear that people could lose their jobs then that is putting a lot of pressure on the opposition in the country and its leadership now where people are talking about right now is the Opposition Leader taking on sky cant achieve very much right now outside of belarus whats your assessment of that i dont think so because the opposition moves in the other way that people are organized themselves see it and it still organize themselves its not so important that the leaders are inside the country and in that country people are going to ask the opposition to organize themselves is a very great if thats contested behavior so its not so important that they lead us out of the country enjoying or for us a correspondent in minsk thanks very much for that. This is the debate is live from berlin im brian thomas for the entire team thanks for joining us. In mexico many portions of lunch us thrown out in the woods climb a tree different awful story this is my place from way from just one week. Before its going to really get. We still have time to. Im going