heute journal 12.01.24 Luftschläge gegen Huthi, Klage gegen Israel, Taiwan vor der Wahl (english)

heute journal 12.01.24 Luftschläge gegen Huthi, Klage gegen Israel, Taiwan vor der Wahl (english)

AIR STRIKES AGAINST HOUTHI REBELS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION IN THE RED SEA0 CASE AT THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ISRAEL REJECTS ACCUSATIONS OF GENOCIDE ELECTION IN TAIWAN DECISION OVER THE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA And now, the “heute journal” with Heinz Wolf and Marietta Slomka. Good evening. It was a strike that carried a message

When the USA and Great Britain bombed targets in Yemen last night. We had more or less watched for weeks as the Houthis fired drones and missiles at merchant ships, making this key international trade route impassable. It was clear that the USA would react at some point,

Although it was not only representing Western interests. However, the Houthis have a very powerful ally in Iran. That is what makes this crisis so risky. And the Houthis are no longer amateur fighters. They have modern missiles and other weapons at their disposal and have been successfully defying

Even highly armed regional powers like Saudi Arabia for years. Hilke Petersen reports. Typhoon Royal Air Force fighter jets taking off from Cyprus last night. US forces are also on their way. America is in favour of the military operation in Yemen against Houthi militia positions. They had ignored all international warnings.

The Houthi channel shows the strikes. “Proportionate and targeted.” This is how British Prime Minister Sunak described the strikes. He is traveling in Ukraine today and will not explain to parliament until Monday why the quick decision was made overnight. We have carried out a series of strikes together with our allies

That have likely severely compromised the position we targeted. Initial signs indicate that our attacks have been successful. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Iranian-backed Houthi militias have been attacking international shipping in the Red Sea in order to put pressure on Israel and support Hamas.

Since then, the region has been extremely dangerous for commercial shipping. More than 10% of world trade normally passes through the Red Sea. Now, many ships are navigating around the African continent. This takes ten days longer, disrupts supply chains, and drives up costs. There are almost 200,000 armed Houthi fighters.

Since 2014, they have been in civil war with the Yemeni government and its Arab allies. They call themselves the axis of resistance against Israel, the USA and the West. Today, tens of thousands came out to support the Houthi rebels in the capital Sanaa. And the world is watching.

This has really been the first time that they have presented themselves internationally as an organisation capable of disrupting the global economy in the long term. From the Houthi militia’s point of view, it’s a success in the fight against the great powers.

The demonstration today is also a message specifically to Britain and the US that they will pay a high price for the attacks. The Western allies want to weaken the rebels. But above all, they mean their protector, Iran.

There is also an implicit message to Iran coming from the US and supported by the UK: The US doesn’t want a war. But Iran should know that the US is not going to sit back and watch. We know that Iran supports the Houthi rebels, that they are equipping them with missiles and drones.

We have made it clear that Iran should stop that support. America does not want to escalate the conflict. But the region and the Red Sea have long since become a secondary theatre in the Gaza war. We’ll go now to our correspondent Claudia Bates in Washington. Claudia, does the US now expect

That the Houthis and Iran will now be sufficiently intimidated? Or are they expecting more? First of all, it was important for President Biden and his allies to say “enough is enough”. Biden himself says they won’t leave it at one strike if the military attacks don’t achieve their desired goals,

And that means no more attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea. Otherwise there will be further consequences. The US government leaves no doubt about that. In military circles, this is also seen as a clear warning shot to Iran, in which an international alliance is now clearly saying, “Stay out, stay back”.

Now that you mention Iran, how high is the risk of escalation estimated to be? The White House has emphasised that it is not seeking a conflict with Iran. And Joe Biden also just said that Iran doesn’t want a war with the USA either. Of course, they recognise the risk here,

But they clearly consider it to be manageable. The USA is probably expecting a reaction from the Houthis, but does not seem to fear a wider regional war. And there is really nothing that the US government could be less interested in with respect to this year’s elections. Joe Biden has emphasised from the outset

That an escalation must be avoided at all costs and apparently does not see these military strikes happening now to be in conflict with that position. Are these military strikes also supported by the Republicans? Keeping trade routes open, protecting Israel, that would have been self-evident for the Republicans in the past,

But such certainties seem to have somewhat dissolved. Yes, there is still a great deal of support for Israel among Republicans, and also for these strikes against the Houthis. Top Republicans have now thrown their weight behind the president, saying the military strike was overdue

In the hope that Joe Biden will restore the deterrence against Iran that Republicans believe is necessary. So it’s a rare moment of support for Joe Biden from his political opponents this time. Thank you, Claudia in Washington. If you look at the map,

You will see that Israel is under direct attack from several sides by Iran’s allies. From Hezbollah in the north to Hamas in the west and the Houthis in the south, who have rockets that reach as far as Israel’s vacation resort of Elat. This is not a pleasant situation for such a small country.

But Israel is not just under military pressure. A second battle is raging on the world stage which is being fought by other means. This includes the proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which the Republic of South Africa initiated with its lawsuit against Israel.

Yesterday, on the first day in court, only the prosecutors, South Africa’s lawyers, had the floor. Today, Israel defended itself. Luc Walpot reports. It is the most important story on the television news. Israel is on trial in The Hague on charges of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

An outraged Prime Minister Netanyahu accuses South Africa of blatant hypocrisy. We are fighting terrorists. We are fighting against lies. Against terrorists who have committed monstrous crimes against humanity. Who murdered, burned, raped and beheaded children, women and pensioners. Israel’s response today in The Hague was similarly clear. That South Africa’s accusations are factually false,

A deliberate distortion of the actual conflict. It is in response to the slaughter by Hamas on October 7, the ongoing attacks from Gaza, and Hamas announcing their intention to repeat such massacres. Israel has the right to take action to defend its citizens and free the hostages.

Israel is waging a defensive war against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people. Professor Gross, an expert in international law, believes that these arguments should convince the court. He sees no legal basis for the lawsuit. Neither intent nor premeditation can be recognised. I don’t believe that the court has enough evidence

That Israel is committing or preparing genocide. Many in Israel are following the trial in The Hague with bitterness. While numerous families have been fearing for three months for the lives and health of more than 130 hostages in the hands of Hamas terrorists, they feel unjustly denounced.

They know exactly what atrocities Hamas has committed here, but they look the other way. When it comes to Jews, they speak differently. For me, it’s a double standard. Some are allowed to do what others are not. The court will probably rule on a temporary injunction as early as next week.

It is hardly possible to enforce its implementation, but the political damage of a conviction would be considerable for Israel. Israel is the defendant and has to defend itself. That is damage enough when we have to prove that we are not guilty. That is a problem. Meanwhile, Israel’s army continues its operations,

Especially in the south of the Gaza Strip. And against the backdrop of all these crises in the world, we’ll look at the political mood in Germany. And it’s not getting any more cheerful. This is reflected in the latest “ZDF-Politbarometer”. The figures are a disaster, especially for the coalition government.

But they also raise strategic questions for the CDU/CSU, especially as state elections are due in September, after which there may be a great deal of confusion as to who can still work with whom. If federal elections were held next Sunday, the SPD would only have 13%.

It has never been this weak since Olaf Scholz took office. The CDU/CSU would have 31%, slightly down. The Greens would remain unchanged at 14% and the FDP would be out of the Bundestag with 4%. The AfD would reach 22%.

The Left Party and the Free Voters would both fail to reach the five percent hurdle, as would the newly-founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which would only achieve 4% for the time being, but has potential for more, according to the polls. These may just be snapshots, but they pack a punch. Christiane Hübscher reports.

The traffic light coalition is broken. What can be read and heard in many places at farmers’ demonstrations these days obviously reflects the mood of many in the country. Only 27% say the federal government is doing a good job. 69% percent think it’s doing a poor job.

The figures are bad and, above all, they are continuing to fall. And that is the dangerous thing. We are dealing with three coalition partners who don’t really fit well together and who are therefore finding it so difficult to react to this great dissatisfaction. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine,

The level of satisfaction with the coalition was quite high. Scholz’s “double bang” gave another small boost, but the government crashed with the heating dispute. Since the budget ruling, things have continued to go downhill. The parties involved do not seem to have a problem recognising this fact. Why have we lost trust?

In the traffic light coalition, we have been at each other’s throats too often over the past two years, because we have found compromises, but then talked them over to death. The most recent example is Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, who was booed by the farmers and showed solidarity with them against his own government.

I heard the resolutions and said, dear friends from the coalition leadership, I cannot support these decisions as Federal Minister of Agriculture. In Saxony, where the SPD is polling at just 3%, they expect more leadership from Berlin. Perhaps not every difference of opinion needs to be aired to the outside world.

What are citizens supposed to do if politicians can’t find solutions? After all, they were elected for these solutions. That includes the chancellor. Olaf Scholz is being punished. 67% of Germans now rate his work as poor, a new low. We can actually see that the budget dispute has affected him personally,

That his competence is in question, that people no longer trust him to the same extent as before. The three traffic light parties together achieve just as much approval as the CDU/CSU at 31%. They have been calling for new elections for weeks, knowing that they are unlikely to come.

All they can do is powerlessly scold the traffic light coalition. The Vice Chancellor said that they were constrained by reality and that’s why it’s all so difficult. The truth is that this government is disconnected from reality. It lives in its own reality. That’s what’s making people angry.

The Politbarometer sees a potential of 21% for the newly founded Wagenknecht party. The Left and AfD in particular could lose voters to the new left-wing populist alliance. Dissatisfaction with the traditional players in party politics means that these other forces are gaining ground, and not necessarily the largest opposition party, the CDU/CSU.

The AfD remains stuck in second place in the polls, but it is unclear whether the latest revelations about secret meetings with right-wing extremists will damage the party. The only thing that is certain today is that the German party landscape is in flux.

You’ll see the entire Politbarometer at the end of the “heute journal” and it can already be accessed online at any time on “ZDFheute”. According to the Politbarometer, there is significantly more understanding among the population for the farmers’ protests than for the rail strike. We’ll continue now with this topic.

The strike by the train drivers’ union GDL at Deutsche Bahn has ended this evening. But it is unclear what will happen next in this wage dispute. Deutsche Bahn has called on the GDL to negotiate. The GDL said that Deutsche Bahn could return to the negotiating table with a substantial offer

And threatened further strikes. For tomorrow, Deutsche Bahn has announced that they are preparing to return to the normal offer in passenger transport. The farmers’ protests against the planned cut in subsidies for agriculture continued today. In Nuremberg, around 5,000 farmers demonstrated at the Volksfestplatz. CSU leader Söder once again promised them his full support

And blamed the traffic light policy for the farmers’ problems. Federal Minister of Agriculture Özdemir, on the other hand, referred on ZDF to failures of the previous Union government. and called for joint solutions for agriculture. The UK has increased its military support for Ukraine to around 2.9 billion euros

For the coming budget year from April onward. Among other things, the money will be used to finance thousands of drones and missiles. Both sides also signed a cooperation agreement in the security sector during British Prime Minister Sunak’s visit to Kyiv.

It should apply until the Eastern European country joins NATO, said Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. The UN mission in Afghanistan expressed concern about the arrests of women and girls, who apparently did not adhere to the Taliban dress code. Since the beginning of the year, there have been state campaigns in two provinces to enforce veiling,

So that only their eyes can be seen. Religious and ethnic minorities have been particularly affected by the arrests. From the point of view of Beijing’s rulers, the matter is clear: They successfully dealt with Hong Kong. Now all that remains is Taiwan as a democratic nuisance on its own doorstep.

There is no question that China wants to incorporate the island state sooner or later. Beijing makes no secret of this. The only question is when and how. A large-scale military invasion like the one Vladimir Putin ordered in Ukraine is not the only possibility.

In this respect, tomorrow’s elections in Taiwan are of global political significance. If the China-friendly opposition succeeds in taking the helm, it would be an immense success for Beijing, which it is trying to promote with every propaganda tool at its disposal. Miriam Steiner reports from Taiwan.

A lot is going on at the train station in Taipei. If you want to vote in Taiwan, you can only do so in person at the polling station, where you’re registered. Ariel Chang has to go to the east coast to vote. I’m exercising my democratic right. This is important for Taiwan.

I grew up here and I’ll live here. The first-time voter bus was organized by an association that wants to motivate young voters to cast their ballots. A ticket costs 3.30 euros, no matter where it takes you. The elections in Taiwan are the only free political event in the Chinese-speaking world.

Taiwan’s democracy is a challenge for mainland China. As was recently emphasized in his New Year’s address, state and party leader Xi Jinping never tires of stressing that he does not regard Taiwan as a separate state, but as a renegade province.

He is increasingly allowing his military to go on the offensive around the island. There has been no official contact between mainland China and Taiwan for eight years. And that could continue. Because according to polls, he is the favourite: William Lai, the current Vice President of the ruling Progressive Party.

The Chinese government describes him as a dangerous separatist. They would prefer a president from the Beijing-friendly KMT, who was only a few percentage points behind Lai in the last poll. In addition, China wants to influence the elections. According to Taiwan’s authorities, hacker attacks and disinformation campaigns have increased massively.

Beijing is investing a lot of money to reach Taiwan’s youth, including via apps such as TikTok. They only show the good things about China. Negative things like Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong’s Security Law and other human rights violations won’t be shown on TikTok. She is worried that China could not only attack militarily,

But also threaten Taiwan’s identity through its influence via social media. The information war has already begun. We no longer have peace. His civil defence courses, which more and more Taiwanese are attending, are therefore not just about self-defence or first aid, but also about recognizing misinformation and attempts to influence people.

Geopolitically, we are now returning to the crisis region on the Red Sea with the shelling of the trade route by the Houthis. Heinz, you’re covering this topic on the stock exchange. This route connects the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. This is a central trading route.

The situation there already has an impact on the economy. To what extent, Valerie Haller? How do you assess the economic situation? First of all, it has a major impact on the movement of goods, and you’ll probably soon notice it on the shelves. Many shipping companies are now diverting traffic.

This takes much longer and is much more expensive. Whereas a container from Asia to Europe would cost 1,500 euros at the beginning of November, it now costs 4.000 euros. Ikea and Aldi already warned that individual goods could be delayed. Now, Tesla in Grünheide will stop e-car production for two weeks in January,

Because batteries from China are missing. Volvo, too, has to stop production for a few days. There is now also concern about oil shipments travelling across the Red Sea. This is driving the oil price up by around 3% at its peak today.

The unrest on the sea trade routes will probably not have a major impact on consumer prices. Freight rates only make up a relatively small part of the price. German car manufacturers, such as BMW and VW, are less affected by the supply bottlenecks. They now source many car parts from Europe.

A lesson from the Coronavirus pandemic. Valerie Haller, thank you. Soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, who died last Sunday at the age of 78, has been buried in a Munich cemetery. The funeral took place among his immediate family. In the evening, FC Bayern Munich dedicated the first Bundesliga match of the year

To the deceased idol. Before the start of the match, the club held a minute of silence. In the kick-off circle, a picture of Beckenbauer was shown with his number five on his shirt. And this first Bundesliga match of the year just ended. Bayern won 3:0 against Hoffenheim.

Lea Sophie Friedrich won silver in the sprint tournament ]at the Track Cycling World Championships in the Netherlands. She went into the final as defending champion, but lost to Great Britain’s Emma Finucane, who is now the new European champion. Bronze went to Emma Hinze.

Freezing drizzle and black ice led to accidents in parts of Germany. The German Weather Service warns of icy conditions and frost until tomorrow morning. According to the police, two people lost their lives. In the district of Oldenburg, a 29-year-old man was killed when his car swerved off a slippery road.

In other parts of the country, several people were injured. We have already reported on the new “Politbarometer”. Beyond the Sunday poll, it offers a whole range of other insights into the country’s mood. I’ll hand over to Matthias Fornoff now. POLITBAROMETER Good evening, and welcome to the “Politbarometer”.

January is the time for new beginnings and resolutions. So we are fully motivated for the new year. Politically, this is much needed right now, because the new year began just as the old one ended: turbulently. The German government has to hurry if it’s not to be completely left behind in 2024.

If federal elections were to be held next Sunday, the SPD would be down to 13%, minus 1. It’s a new low for this legislative period. The CDU/CSU would get 31%, also minus 1. The Greens remain unchanged, 14%. The FDP now at 4%, minus 1. The AfD at 22%. The Left unchanged at 4%.

Free Voters 4%, plus 1. Sahra Wagenknecht’s BSW party starts at 4%, too. This means that four parties would be below the 5% threshold and not in the Bundestag. This means that a 5th of all votes could be left out and the threshold for majorities could drop significantly.

It remains to be seen how the BSW will develop. The party currently has relatively high potential. 4% definitely want to vote for the new party. 17% probably would. 27% probably won’t. And 47% definitely don’t want to vote for the new alliance. The party could hurt the Left and the AfD, in particular.

Their supporters include an above-average number of potential BSW voters. Let’s move on to our top ten, the rating of the ten most important politicians, according to likeability and performance. On the scale from +5 to -5, Alice Weidel is the last on the ranking, -2.3, slightly worse than in December.

Nancy Faeser ranked before her, -1.2, slightly better. Olaf Scholz, also -1.2. Christian Lindner, -1.1, both weaker and both with their worst rating to date. Sahra Wagenknecht, on the other hand, has improved by contrast, -0.9. Robert Habeck dropped, -0.8. A personal negative record also. Annalena Baerbock, -0.7. Friedrich Merz, -0.3.

Markus Söder, 0.0, all their numbers dropped. Boris Pistorius remains the frontrunner, +1.5. Although he too lost ground. Overall, support for politicians remains at a low level. This is likely to make the Union’s search for a chancellor candidate more difficult. The decision will be made by fall. Current favourites are only moderately well received.

36% do not consider NRW Minister President Hendrik Wüst fit to be chancellor, while 33% do. Although many have not yet been able to form an opinion of him, about one-third. The majority of respondents deny Markus Söder’s suitability as chancellor, 57%. Significantly fewer people believe in him, 38%.

The majority also do not consider Friedrich Merz suitable as chancellor, 61%. But 31% do. The CDU/CSU doesn’t have a convincing challenger so far, and can therefore hardly put pressure on the federal government. Although the traffic light coalition is rated worse than ever. Pressure is also coming from farmers this week.

They’re angry because the traffic light coalition wants to cut their benefits. Although it has reversed some of the cuts, this doesn’t go far enough for the farmers. 12% of those surveyed think the original cuts are fine. 32% are in favour of the partial cuts as they are now planned.

52% believe that there should be no cuts at all for farmers. 30% thought their blockades and protests this week were excessive. Most, however, are sympathetic toward their cause, 68%. Due to the farmers’ protests, many drivers had to change their plans, especially at the beginning of the week.

From Wednesday on, rail passengers too had to adjust due to the train drivers’ strike. 43% were sympathetic to this. 54% weren’t. More than one in two. Let’s take a look at the Middle East conflict. Israel continues to take military action against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, accepting many civilian casualties in the process.

A matter that the International Court of Justice dealt with this week. One-quarter consider Israel’s actions justified, despite the many civilian casualties, 25%. 61% do not. The displeasure at Israel’s actions is clear. The vast majority will share the desire for more peaceful times in the new year 2024.

This was our report on the country’s mood. The graphics and all information on our polls can be found as always in the ZDFtext, from page 165 onward, in our “ZDFheute” app and on zdfheute.de. How the representative polls of the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen were conducted, information on the methodology and quality standards,

Can be found at politbarometer.zdf.de. Thank you for your interest. The next “Politbarometer” will be published on 2 February. Over to the weather report, followed by “aspekte”. Have a nice evening. Goodbye. WEATHER REPORT Good evening. High pressure system Hannelore moved further west today, clearing the way for high fog and clouds from the north.

They brought some drizzle, sleet and snow. And then it became dangerously slippery. Over the next few days, it will rain and snow. At the beginning of next week, rain will turn mostly into snow. Get ready for slippery roads. Especially tonight in the north-east and also in central Germany.

In the south, it will be partly clear, then fog will form. It can become slippery, when the fog freezes to the already frozen ground. And on the edge of the Alps, temperatures drop to a severe frost of minus 13 degrees. On the East Frisian islands, it’s 5 degrees.

The maximum temperatures are between minus 2 and plus 7 degrees. For most of us, it’ll be a gloomy day. Tomorrow morning, it will also snow, drizzle, and there will be sleet. Roads and sidewalks will remain slippery. Even if slippery conditions gradually recede to the Central Uplands as the day progresses.

On the North Sea, the strong westerly winds will blow the clouds apart at times. Between the Upper Rhine and the Allgäu, you will see some sunlight. The weather won’t change much on Sunday. Next week will get off to a wintry start. Southwest winds will bring slippery roads on Wednesday,

And then it’ll become significantly milder. Good evening.

Die USA und Großbritannien haben mit der Unterstützung Verbündeter “erfolgreich” Stellungen der vom Iran unterstützten Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen angegriffen. Südafrika hat vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof (IGH) Klage gegen Israel eingereicht und das Land des Völkermords an den Palästinensern beschuldigt. Und: Taiwan vor der Wahl. Mehr dazu und weitere Nachrichten des Tages im heute journal.

English Subtitles
Today’s topics:Airstrike against Houthi rebels; Struggle for open travel on Red Sea; South Africa’s complaint before criminal court – Israel defends itself against charges; Taiwan before the election – Decisive vote Taiwanese election – Regarding relation with China.

00:00 Vorspann

00:21 Angriffe auf Huthis: Miliz will Vergeltung
Die USA und Großbritannien haben Stellungen der Huthi-Miliz im Jemen bombardiert, als Reaktion auf die Attacken auf Handelsschiffe im Roten Meer. Die Miliz droht mit Konsequenzen.

04:15 “Wird weitere Konsequenzen geben”
Sollten die Huthi wieder Schiffe im Roten Meer angreifen, behalten sich die USA weitere Schritte vor, so ZDF-Korrespondentin Bates. Biden wolle ein “Jetzt reichts!”-Signal senden.

07:01 Israel empört über Völkermord-Klage
Mit deutlichen Worten hat Israel vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof den Vorwurf des Völkermordes im Gaza-Krieg zurückgewiesen. Ein Ende des Militäreinsatzes lehnt Israel ab.

10:02 ZDF-Politbarometer: Ampel im Umfragetief
Das Ansehen der Ampel-Koalition erreicht im neuen Jahr neue Tiefpunkte. Auch mit der Arbeit des Bundeskanzlers sind mehr als zwei Drittel der Deutschen unzufrieden.

16:34 Mit Spannung erwartet: Wahlen in Taiwan
Am Samstag wählt Taiwan ein neues Parlament und einen neuen Präsidenten. Die Welt schaut mit Spannung zu. Denn die Kandidaten stehen für unterschiedliche Haltungen gegenüber China.

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