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news america. south african lawyers accuse israel of genocide over their actions in gaza. as attacks continue by the houthis and the red sea, retaliation contemplated. taiwan's presidential election and the influence china still holds over its island neighbor. ♪ hello and welcome to world news america. i am caitriona perry. lawyers for the south african government outlined their case and the headache accusing israel of genocide in gaza in the first two days of hearings before the top court. lawyers demand the international court of justice order an emergency suspension of israel's nila terry campaign and palestinian -- military campaign

and palestinian territory. they said the intent to destroy gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state. he cold benjamin netanyahu genocider and said it was evident from the way the military attack was being conducted. israel will present its case rejecting accusations of genocide as an baseless and argues it is acting in self-defense against hamas after the attacks in southern israel on october 7. in response prime minister benjamin netanyahu says it is precisely the idf which does everything to avoid harming non-involves the veins that is accused by the representatives of the monsters of genocide. he accused south africa of hypocrisy and says where what south africa was millions of people were murdered and displays in syria and yemen by hamas's partners.

the u.s. is standing by israel s saying it sees no basis for allegations of genocide, according to john kirby. here is the latest from the hague. correspondent: this is the peace palace, home to the international court of justice, the highest judicial body of the united nations based in the hague. we have been hearing from south africa accusing israel of having genocidal intent in committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. evidence presented in court referred to the military bombardment which has led to the deaths of approximately 23,000 people, according to the hamas-run health ministry, but also the forced displacement of much of the population. the attempt to impede medical supplies cause death according

to south africa due to lack of access, but statements from senior israeli officials which south africa says our evidence of genocidal intent. in terms of what happens next, israel will have a chance to present his defense on friday for three hours and then the judges here could issue a ruling on these interim measures, an emergency injunction requested by south africa within weeks. this court does not have the power to stop the war itself, but in the decision against israel could have considerable clinical impact. anchor: let's speak to a professor of the united nations studies in peace and justice at leiden university and was at the international court of justice earlier today to hear south africa's case. talk us through briefly the process at the icj. we will hear from israel tomorrow.

what will happen after that? >> south africa has asked for interim measures, as you heard. that means we can expect a response from the court within three weeks to four weeks in which they will either issue provisional measures against israel or they will declined to issue provisional measures. and after that, the case will be argued and investigated on its merit, and that can take several years, so this is a key moment, these two days of argument where it is not the merits of the case that is being decided by basic the moment at which the icj can decide to issue these provisional measures, which are in the emergent context of the atrocities being committed in gaza, very, very important, and the help of south africa and supporting the states in this case, the hope is that interim measures will be the strongest

possible condemnation of israeli actions and that will help to deter them from further military campaigns against the people of the gaza strip. anchor: a strong deterrent is one thing, but if those measures were granted, we are not at the that point yet, can they be enforced in any way? >> it depends on what measures the court will order and what south africa has us for is that the court would order israel to allow greater humanitarian assistance to the palestinian people. they would order an investigation of the war crimes in the atrocities committed by the israeli military and they would order the israeli military to stop their campaign against the palestinians. um, and so, they would also ordered no more genocidal, what they call genocidal rhetoric or the genocidal intent, as

reflected by the statements of the israeli government members that they laid out clearly in court today. so these of measures south africa has called four. if the court issues these measures, this would create political pressure on south africa and this also means that greater political pressure on the united states to really withdraw their support of the israeli campaign. it can also go back to the united nations security council for a stronger resolution under article 94 of the united nations charter. anchor: we have seen resolutions from the united nations over the past months which appear to have limited effect. what is to say that anything from the icj would be different? >> it is the highest legal court and an icj judgment is the has legal and moral condemnation of any action. the second part of this case is that the south africans have

taken the case under the genocide convention, and the genocide convention of course, came from the persecution of the jewish people will in the second world war and was created in 1948, of the scale of the accusations in the gravity of this case could not be higher so the level at which the stakes at which we are talking about, and that is reflected very much in the arguments before by south africa today, really could not be higher and they talked about the sanctity and prestige of the united nations system and international law and the ability to respond to violations grave violations of international law is really what is at stake here, out that we hope and order by the icj would have the gravity to affect change. anchor: if the icj does not grant provisional interim measures and finds in israel's favor, will south africa be able to proceed with its case beyond

that into that longer hearing period you were describing? >> so there will be other avenues investigated but what is important to air in mind is we have three hours of argumentation by south africa day arising from an 84-page submission to court where they have laid out and very clear legal and moral terms the case against israel, and it is now public and so we have had various reports of course, and great press attention to what is happening, public attention to what is happening in gaza, but this a really clearly structured tightly formulated rigorous argument against israel, so in some ways to serve the court of public opinion, south africa has already laid out a good case here, even before we get to whether or not the court accepts its role to issue provision measures. anchor: of course south africa laying out its case and we hear from israel tomorrow but we'd leave it there for the moment.

thanks very much for joining us. officials in ecuador say prison inmates have taken more cards hostage in the past 24 hours as the country deals with the country deals with a wave of violence. they saved 178 guards and staff are being held by inmates. you can see inmates patrolling the roof of one prison near a central city. hundreds of soldiers and poilce are patrolling the city and streets and markets are quieter than usual. the country's armed forces have arrested more than 3000 suspected gang members since the president declared a state of emergency earlier this week. the country is under a two-month state of emergency imposed by the president after drug lord escaped prison sunday. gangs retaliated with numerous acts of violence, car bombs, attacking schools, universities or shops, and storm to television studio during a live

broadcast. in response to the president announced plans to build two new high security prisons and asserted the criminal organizations responsible for the violence have more than 20,000 members and said they will be treated like terrorists. let's be more about this with our central american correspondent in ecuador's economic capital and largest city. when we were speaking yesterday. describing how quiet the streets where. is it still the same today? correspondent: there is more life today than there was yesterday, there is a big covered market in the center here. the stalls that have been closed for two straight days forced to reopen for economic reasons. so many people cannot go so many days without working. we sought more movement but there were plenty of people who decided not to venture out just

yet. there is a sense in which the city and country wants to get back to normal but there is uncertainty hanging over them and they are unsure of what the next weeks and months will bring. anchor: we heard from the government describing it as a war of civilians against terrorists essentially. is there a sense that people get involved themselves? correspondent: i think there is a sense they do not want to be caught in the middle. all this rhetoric about an armed conflict, war, terrorist groups used by the government has filtered through to the people as well and a lot of people are referring to the groups as terrorists rather than gangs, and that is how they have been officially designated by the president and his administration. i think in essence if you are working as a lot of people are in small businesses are selling

street food aware out of her -- or whatever it might be on the streets image want to make sure there is no repetition of what happened in you might back the strong-arm tactics of the president but you also don't want to be caught in the crossfire. anchor: ok. thank you for bringing us up to speed on that. rishi sunak briefed his cabin on puzzling eminent military strikes by the u.s. and u.k. on houthi rebels in yemen as the rebel groups continues to launch attacks on ships in the red sea. just today, antiballistic missiles were reported to be fired from houthi-controlled areas into international shipping lanes. they had previously said there would be consequences if the group did not stop. the houthis said if attacked they would respond by force. iran seized an oil taker and the gulf of oman and iranian state media said it was a retaliatory

move after the u.s. sees the same vessel last year and allegedly stole iranian oil. armed men reportedly boarded the greek-unshipped and changed its course towards an iranian port. the u.s. condemned the seizure and called for the immediate release of the ship and its crew. let's talk more about this with our north america correspondent tom bateman. focus to the background. how did we get to this point of potential escalation? correspondent: well, the houthis had been starting to fire suicide drones, anti-ship ballistic and cruise miles in some cases towards international shipping in the red sea from november in solidarity with gaza , and also they were linking because they said to any ships they believe were connected to israel and that crucial maritime

corridor in the red sea. what we have seen in the last 12 days is a lethal moment that has led to an escalation because at the turn of the new year there was according to the u.s. account an attempt to hijack a container ship by houthi fast boats. the u.s. fired at those boats and 10 militiamen were killed and that has led to popular protests in yemen on tuesday this week. the houthi said it was retaliation, firing more than 20 suicide drones and cruise and ballistic missiles toward shipping and towards a u.k. warship that was there as part of this maritime patrol. now that u.k. and u.s. forces shot those down, but we have had since then in the last 48 hours increased warnings from the western powers that there will be consequences, and the since

tonight particular from london is that retaliation by the u.s. and u.k. may be imminent. anchor: thank you very much for that. papa new guinea is under a state of emergency after riots in its capital city left 16 dead. the riots in the city started when poilce, soldiers and prison guards protested over the docking of their pay. rioters looted stores and set fires to buildings in their absence. the prime minister called the riots organized, and plying the poilce poilce deliberately fueled them in order to put pressure on the government over the pay dispute and said it would not be the first time that poilce turned to violence, pointing to an attack on the parliament in 2018 also amid a dispute over pay. the country is one of the most diverse nations on earth home to hundreds of ethnic groups and one for most rural. nearly 90% of its 12 million

people live in the mountainous rain forests, but its capital is notorious for lawlessness and violent crime. he warned the poilce he would not tolerate further violence. a judge is now deciding what punishment former president donald trump will face in a civil fraud case. the judge earlier ruled that trump fraudulently manipulated property values. the judge has not yet decided on a punishment for the former president, though the new york attorney general is seeking a penalty of nearly $370 million and a lifetime ban on business dealings in new york. donald trump, the front runner for the republican nomination for president, told the judge he had done nothing wrong. >> we have proven this case so conclusively and ask for a verdict many times. have any facts. they don't have any evidence against us. the ins and millions and years of litigation and all politically motivated.

she campaigned, will get trumpeted have you seen any of her clips are they are horrible lips. she is angry. she has serious trumped arrangements and don't come to letitia james the corrupt attorney general of new york. anchor: china issued a bold statement to type on two days before the island present election saying a win for the front runner would pose a danger to ties with beijing. under xi jinping's leadership, beijing has often adopted an aggressive tone towards taiwan which it sees as a breakaway province. by one's affairs office i did help the people of taiwan what it called extreme harm of the democratic progressive party in its latest attempt to influence the presidential election. our correspondent spoke to people in the province closest to taiwan to find more about china's relationship with the self-governing island. correspondent: bracing themselves against the brisk january winds, these chinese

tourists looked towards taiwan. in reality, see fog clouds their view and undeterred they make the most of their visit. this is as close as they can get to taiwan. they are banned from traveling to the self-governed island which beijing claims as its territory and has valid to take one day. >> my biggest wish after visiting here is that i hope the island of taiwan can return to our motherland soon. even if taiwan is taen back, i hope there is -- taken back, i hope there is negotiations. we want peace. correspondent: war is about award barely register with these seafood workers. even though they live here on the taiwan strait. they have bigger concerns. >> i don't care whether it is

reunified or not. it is up to the officials. we just want enough to eat. we want a better life. we don't care about other things. correspondent: president xi jinping's policies on taiwan involve two things, carrot and stick. the carrot, it is offering incentives for taiwanese people to come in both and work here, including much cheaper rent. and here is the stick. china's latest aircraft carrier named after the province closest to taiwan was unveiled on state media last week. the sound of military jets and warships likely drone out beijing's attempts at wooing at the islands people. he came here from taiwan for work. he tries to entice chinese customers with simpler type a flavors, and is aware the relationship between his past

and current homes is fractious. >> i think the feedings are good between the people, but i don't know how the two governments feel about each other. i hope ties be normalized in the two sides can be like two brothers, like a family. correspondent: many taiwanese are thought to be distance of immigrants from this province. beijing plays on these familial ties to outline a vision of a future china unified with taiwan. but those likely to listen to this view are its own people, not those living across the taiwan strait. bbc news. anchor: joining me now is the bbc's correspondent to talk about this further. we saw voters going to the polls and plenty of issues concerning people, but what are the main contentious issues? correspondent: yeah. thanks.

it is sunrise in taipei. although parties will be pushing to convince voters to vote for them. the most contentious issues according to voters on the ground, particularly young voters, housing and stagnant wages. they feel priced out as housing prices have continued to rise in taiwan, and because wages have been not increasing, it is pricing them out of the market. those of the biggest issues, the domestic issues in taipei, even though we know the geopolitical maneuverings about this with china and its goals and wanting to unite with taiwan weighs heavy on the mind of voters in taipei and taiwan generally. anchor: there are three parties in this election. talk about how they are different and what they are offering to voters. correspondent: yes. so, this is

the key point about this election is that all three parties essentially want the same thing. they want taiwan to be autonomous and continue its democratic practices it has been enjoying the past few decades, but how it goes about achieving that is the point of difference. the incumbent party that has ruled for the last two terms has been quite confrontational with china, edging closer to the u.s. in its desires to seek more autonomy and connections with the rest of the world, and that has rubbed china the wrong way. we had a few days ago a message china sing a vote for the democratic progressive party would be a vote for war. it was a clear indication that the dislike china has for that party. and the presidential nominee for the party, he is seen as a successor to the current

president and would continue the policies of the dpp and something china does not want to encourage. the main opposition party is to rule in taiwan. they have been pushing for a closer relationship with china and seek to de-escalate the tensions taiwan has had over the last few years i want to focus on the economy and trade. the taiwan people's party, the third party that formed three or four years ago, this is their first selection they will be contesting in, they are looking to be the middle ground candidate to sit in between the other two parties and they want to do that by pushing for deterrents against china but diplomacy with china pushing for a more pragmatic approach to how they can progress taiwan go forward. anchor: ok. thank you indeed for joining us. now let's check in on some other news around the world.

u.s. citizens traveling to columbia have been warned against using dating absent the country after the suspicious deaths of eight american tourists in two months. the u.s. embassy in bogota said some were drugged and robbed after meeting. violent deaths went up by a third in 2023. the u.s. federal aviation administration notified boeing of an investigation after a 737 max lowa state door plug -- lost a door plug during a flight enforce an emergency landing. the faa will investigate it. [i narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, an uptick in food, housing, and energy prices complicates efforts to lower the pace of inflation and interest rates.