one of us says it plans to start mass production later this. yeah. malcolm web al jazeera homer bay kenya. okay, so there's more and everything while you're including, of course, latest, on our top stories. i'll bring in more detail on that in a moment. of course we're following the taliban rapid advances in afghanistan as well. you'll find more analysis on that on our website as well. ah, quick look at main stories noun, forest fires, ravaging parts. if something turkey of kill 6 people to firefighters died on saturday. officials say the pfizer spread much further this year with hot weather and strong wind fueling the blazes. entire forest have been burned down and villages made by resorts evacuated. president russia type one is declared disasters

owns for several provinces. is called for an investigation into the cause her to show it to emma considering the possibility of sabotage and any other sources of the fire starting. and we will carry out the investigation to provide answers to these. we will not give up until we have all the answers. have been more ass of high profile individuals in tunisia. the latest is a prominent judge, but share a crummy who is now on the house arrest. several parliamentarians, i've also been arrested in the past 2 days. present, kai said who sac, the prime minister and the parliament as pledging to lead a campaign against corruption. now i've gone, astounds a western city of herat is coming under increasing pressure from the taliban with heavy fighting, taking place there in recent days the om group took control of the road to the airport and flight into the city on wednesday, march of her at province as change from being on the government control to being

seized by the taliban, china is rising to contain it's was covered 19 outbreak in months. a cluster of infections caused by the delta very, it was 1st detected in non ging it since fried to 6 on the provinces. the capital paging and one of the world's largest cities cha ching health work as a testing millions of people out of placed hundreds of thousands under locked down . and police and protected have been clashing in france, where tens of thousands of people were demonstrating against so called lack seem possible. it is the 3rd consecutive, we can, the protest are taking place, governance, trying to make the health post compulsory and bars and restaurants. but actually they say it amounts to a form of dictatorship. now the listening post is up next with which it is, but we'll see later news,

news, news, news really, government encouraged the developers to a local cyber fiber went in. and it's only like government setting allegations about golf technology and journalists and even high profile politicians alarm to gilbert in europe. the listening post where we dig into the coverage and look at how news is reported. here are the stories we're examining this week. a global cyber surveillance scandal, spyware, developed in israel, has put the government there under the media microscope. and it story doesn't add up to nicea is one week into

a state of emergency. journalist fair are feeling the heat. handling public relations for governments is lucrative work for western p r. firms. africa has emerged as a new hunting ground. and despite being banned from the olympics, we will walk this foreign ministry spokeswoman in moscow deserves a metal for her spin on the story. it's been a bad couple of weeks for the israeli cyber espionage firm. and so, and for the israeli government, the revelation about and are so spyware known as pegasus, the way it's been used on dissidents and journalists have made international headlines, particularly in the countries affected, leaving israeli political leaders with some explaining to do surveillance tools such as texas our modern day weapons of war, since the israeli government has to sign off on any export deals that n as so makes, it can play the role of gatekeeper effectively controlling which countries and so

can or cannot sell it spyware, to both the israeli government and the company claim, the pegasus is exported only if the client state uses it to fight crime or terrorism follows the terms and conditions. but the list of n s o is clients features a number of authoritarian governments and the timing of their deals with. and i so tells a different damning story that the criteria is not solely about keeping people safe . it's also about his railey interest, and it's putting people perhaps even democracies endangered. our starting point, this is telling me usually reporters like the ones digging into and are so pegasus and phone surveillance are taught, follow the money this time was different. they followed the photo on they are the smoking guns that tell the story wherever former israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu went. whichever leader he was meeting with, that government would often end up with the israeli made spyware. that it could then use against whoever it liked, including journalists, looking at yahoo went it's actually really good for potential pegasus customers. we saw and now who visit india for one hungry reservation visited soon afterward for identified as having pegasus infection. for example, hungary, the 1st numbers are into entered into the database of potential targets, only after lithonian visits with one target actually being afternoon in the met the head of the security rwanda gap. it is a bit longer. it takes like a year or 2, but we don't see any so targets, or potential people select as being targets of edison spyware, before they're tied to. now, what we can deduct from this is that

a lot of these trips, key aspects of the discussion of things like, quote unquote security and stability. when israel ingratiate itself to governments by offering very advanced spyware. israel has the tools to conduct what's come to be known as by tech diplomacy, the sporting of surveillance equipment that other governments want to get their hands on. it has a power house of a high tech sector and likes to call itself start automation. more than $3000000000.00 a year and us financial aid, much of its spent on defense, certainly help. the israeli government can also choose which countries companies like and so can deal with through the selective issuing of export license. which means the pegasus story isn't just about surveillance. the spyware is a form of diplomatic currency. the israeli government spends to make new friends

and forge new alliances through technology whose roots traced back to israel's military, and it's surveillance of palestinians. mm. the israeli tech sector. it is based quite a lot on the alumni of the elite israeli technological that these people were trained by the best and use during their military service to surveil palestine. in a lot of times they used to beta, they gathered in order to explore it or to use against palestinians in order to come out with additional information. it's no coincidence that israel has the highest surveillance companies per capita in the world. it's also not a coincidence that 80 percent of founder and so the israel cybersecurity companies come from the israeli military establishment and particularly from the idea of intelligence, the palestinian territories,

and the palestinian people have been effectively a testing ground for israeli technologies. and then we see the disastrous outcome of handing these tools to oppressive regina around the world to do the same, targeting their own people and their own citizens and journalists and what israel basically saying is, hey, we're for friends of creating this cyber surveillance capability. you won't really get products as good as this anywhere else, nor will you necessarily find regimes who acts as amenable to selling this product . so please buy them. and that's what's some of its ability israel hardware to form relationships with other regimes. and crucially, the ability to expand and implement and foreign policy through this diplomacy. ah, we contacted the israeli government with questions about pegasus clients using the

spyware to crush democratic forms of descent and target journalists. we received no reply. the defense ministries line on this echoes and s o l's, that the government only gives the exporting of pegasus the green light when the country's buying it use the spyware for security purposes. try telling that to the family of jamal has shoghi the journalist, whose murder at the hands of saudi operatives came shortly after pegasus had infiltrated the phones of people close to the victim. it's a ridiculous arguments and a ridiculous claim. the israeli ministry of defense has to prove every exports of the surveillance technology and has systematically ignored mounting evidence that those technologies are being used to facilitate agree just human rights violations . in the case of saudi arabia, there was a hard in the relation between brianna. so, and saudi arabia,

after the murder of degenerative jamal back in 2018 at the continent and it's some bull. and according to report, the relationship resumed after a direct intervention from from the israeli government. and if you think about, you know, regional politics, israeli can show up in saudi arabia, it's very, can show up, you know, that memory certainly can tell high and technology that, you know, may have some security ramifications that can sell that in our country. unless someone's cleared it knowledge has revealed, but these are actually pushed and, and so to sell to the saudis and push the cell to the you a. so we can see that there's a certain diplomatic alignment between the, the client and israel. we've lawmakers, they know what's going on. they're not really shocked. they're just bombed that, you know, they're reading about in the newspaper, the prime minister,

who featured in all those photo op benjamin netanyahu is no longer in the job. his successor is enough tale. bennett bennett's coalition government has said it's creating a task force to determine if changes are need to israel is exporting of cyber where task forces take months if not years. plenty of time for the story to blow over. and investigators are unlikely to tell bennett who got rich in the tech sector. anything that he and the world doesn't already know, that israel has peddled spyware to oppressive regime at the expense of activists journalists, democratic movement. all while branding itself start up nation and the middle east, only democracy, israel corporates, was oppressive, regimes wide and allows exports of technology is mostly in the secret. the thing is

that those tools are no different than when it's also helicopters playing guns. it's just another 2 which is being sold and you don't want the burden of being associated with this industry. and a lot of people want to return to the great startup. they should not be an offensive cyber nation presses of it when it's not only about the amazon group. there are many other companies that export their technology to democratic in london, socratic countries, and therefore, the best solution would be an immediate, more terrorism on the faro transfer unused of surveillance technologies until there is a human right. the global human rights mechanism in place that would regulate this industry, the old companies and government, accountable to human rights abuses related to the use of spyware.

this pegasus gambler, being treated by ron russia. we would never have the end of the this is the threat of privacy, democracy and all that kind of thing. because of course, because need to but i can chris lee the most detrimental aspect. it's how it will have a chilling effect from civil society in the middle east because people are worried about being watched. they'll behave in a way that the same with them actually being watched and discouraged janice actors, etc. and being critical of their james and doing the best of journalism to tennessee and now which has been in political turmoil ever since. the president declared a state of emergency there. what critics are calling a flo. phillips has been tracking the impact on the news media, including this network al jazeera. it started last sunday,

richard when the president came, said fire the prime minister unsuspended parliament, after weeks of protest over the government handling of the economy. and cobit 19 the next day plainclothes offices, entered algae. there is bureau and tunis without warrants or did everybody out and confiscated the keys. so the office has been shut down. but i'm just here with reporters. have continue to cover the story going live from the countries journalist union headquarters, the s and j t. the union has condemned the shutting down of algae. there is office as have media, freedom groups, light reporters without borders, and the committee to protect journalists. why would the authorities go after auditor? it's not clear. the bureau chief lot v hagey told us that they hadn't received any official explanation from the 30s. central to this political crisis is the side lining of the moderate islamist party and not the which control to parliament. and the leader of the party has denounced the emergency measures put in place by the

president, cooling his supporters. on the 3, there is one prominent news outlet that tennesseans can hear those kind of criticisms from. but it isn't the only one that's been effected. this past wednesday, the president dismissed the head of state television, what omnia and the reason was given for this, but the channel had grown increasingly editorially independent of the government since trinity or transition to democracy 10 years ago, you are alluding to the arab spring to new year is often held up as the only long term success story in terms of governance, democracy, media, freedom is all of that. now in jeopardy while tennessee i was why the uprising has got that start back in 2010 and one protesters had toppled the former dictator been lee. it was the only country that really managed for many kind of stable multi party democracy. and over the past 10 years, tennessee and journalists have enjoyed unprecedented freedom to speak truth to power. all of that and a good deal more ingenious,

is now at risk. thanks. depending on what country you live in, some of the messaging coming out of your government today may have been brought to you by a p. r company. public relations firms. many of them based in the u. s. and the u. k. make a lot of money trying to make governments look even authoritarian wise clients of those firms can be found in washington, d. c. re odd. tel aviv bay j among others. but one region where the industry is on the rise is africa. we've seen it shadow we saw exposed in rwanda, cameroon, zimbabwe, south africa. and those are just the stories that we know about. since p r operatives ply their trade behind the scenes out of camera range. usually that is the listening posts. ryan, cause now pulls back the curtain on the secret of world of p headliner for the wind injustice minister jack february 2021. rhonda is just this minister johnson

b. c. a is in the hot seat on al jazeera upfront. he's there to address the ongoing trial of a well known rwandan dissident who claims he was kidnapped and forced back to the country. paul was up again, a got on a plane and he was going to burn the what he ended up in wanda. instead, how to get there more than enough rise in galley blaine. me interview with standard news fare, administer deflecting tough question, looking to avoid any negative headline. however, the next day, johnson, the senior, was back on the show. majestic ministers team mistakenly sent upfront a one and a half hour long recording, including a practice interview. the minister did with this p r team on how to answer questions about the big in this case. we gave the minister the opportunity to come

back on our program and the video that had been accidentally sent out era provided a rare glimpse behind the curtain of a very secretive industry. the p r firm, in this case, the london base chug that work with high profile clients to help shape their public image. is it the news that the pay to the plain? i've seen it suggested i haven't seen it. i haven't seen a government book that. so, you know, for example, i have no idea. oh, great. and in a 2nd interview, the minister was ask the question again, you know, paper the playing the transported mr. recess, looking it to wind. the conversation with your advisor was what was written. i just want to tell me who did the government is very revealing that there was this preparation session and that the talking points were fine grained and specific. and this person was being prepared to advance a particular message,

bits of hard information that you made to say i would be cautious about that because his show and the difficult work in journalists have in getting straight answers from public figures. it's a global phenomenon, but it does reveal that these p r firms are very, in many cases, very good at what they do. it also shows us in role of peer fans and the reliance that, you know, these politicians in africa have on, on these fans, which they're paying huge amount of money. he's looking at something that they could put out a press release about the interview. they were looking for nuggets of hard stuff, a horrifying to see the way that the air filters manipulate and try and create a foes message to actually encouraging him to, to lie. we show these exchanges between child gate and there are wanting government to the public relations and communications association. the p. r. ca,

the biggest p r oversight already in the world. basically, they do p r for the p r industry. we ask that shall get violated their ethical standards. the answer was yes. it is completely immoral and unethical for public relations professionals to play any part in deceiving the media. i cannot think of any possible way in which advising a dictatorship on how they might spin the kidnap of a political rival would meet those requirements. despite the existence of organizations like the p, r, ca, the industry functions without any meaningful regulation in the countries where they operate, tailgate is just one of many western p r firms taking on contracts with african governments. others include mercury, public affairs, and b t p advisors. their staff often include former government officials in corporate insiders who bring death communication skills to manage the message for their client. one of the things that children with attained to deny,

when we put this to them, the minister at no point to see the media and shall get offered no advice that he should do. so that statement would appear to be at odds with their own interview preparation. you don't always need to answer the question because you can actually change the you've been a topic was raised by the interviewer and you can leave it to rhonda isn't the only african country taking advice businesses to mean across the region while p r work for african governments is often well intentioned, improving messaging on health tourism and public safety. collaborations with authoritarian leaders are widespread, very well paid, and often take place in the shadows. take cameroon, the west african nation is run by the continent all this liter amanew cares about his image. all b is africa, has morse comb,

death spots for 38. he has ruled a country who's not receiving the west to the bus. you know, it is important for us to showcase an image, but he's a country where foreign direct investment can call me a concrete where we cannot trust our allies and ensure that we don't get in some nation about some common law and have spent $3600000.00 between 200620171 western p r firm. so the went from p r from the, attracted by money on the program by the relationship that they can build with these governments to be able to continue to mines. interest in those countries all be as government has relied heavily on us base p. r. firms to manage his and his country's international reputation. one firm cloud. public affairs was paid

$660000.00 between 20192020 the objective. promoting a positive and favorable image of the government. tricia teja, media work including op eds and conservative outlet. we contacted quote public affairs and asked about their work with the be a government we received no response. i. it's a similar story ins and bob way, which recently transitioned out of nearly 40 years under robert mcgarvey, its current president. emerson and douglas has hired firms like the u. k. bass p. t . p advisors, and mercury public affairs, headquartered in the united states, to re brand the government's tattered image and not of its longstanding ruling party. his annual p, f in p r n. a watching turn or london, they're working very hard to try and paint a good picture of this region. despite the realities on the ground,

we've also seen is in, in, in, in respectable tempo, which looked like here it is to be honest because they paint a very unrealistic pico, these involvement situation. remodeling is now open for business wins. have known them as well for 41 years. he was the chief in for solved and we can resume. so they can be fooled by what the piano machine is trying to do. me. hiring p r firms to control narratives is standard practice. but the reliance on a western p, r firm's by some african state to furnish their profiles, is confounding. when you realize they're often partnering with former colonizers, africa was, will continue to honda to the west, the respective on the fact that most of the time they do complete western men in

south fearing come room for the night by the french on the english floor. there is that along which affinity also has a lot of interest income, especially in the utilities corporation. i'm so the continued interest is something that then the government to work the corner now must that particular healthy p, our contracts are multiplying across the continent. but so 2 is public scrutiny shareholders and investors a deserving p. r. john bel passenger in 2017, one of the world's largest p. r. firm spell, passenger found itself in the middle of a major south african political scandal, accused the stoking racial hatred on behalf of its client, a prominent business family with close connection to the government. oh,

passenger was exposed when bank cropped and was forced to shut down. however, these moments of accountability are rare, because this is an industry that's been incredibly successfully keeping its work under wraps. not every day you get to see a video that exposes the inner workings of the p. r, industry. and finally, to the olympic games where thousands of athletes are competing for metals, and there's not a russian flag to be seen. that's because russia is still banned from the olympics after it was found to be running a huge doping program, which it's always denied. a limited number of russian athletes are allowed to compete in tokyo, not a seam, russia, but as the r o c, the russian olympic committee. and they're not allowed to play the russian national . the p. r. oper rochester, at the kremlin, are not taking this lying down the woman you're about to see beating up on the

international media almost literally is maria's, i cut over, she's a spokeswoman for the russian foreign ministry. and what she delivers is like a counter narrative on steroids. was the next time here at the listen post. the region was i'm a colleague in the read to mention supposed to last night. and then when you do need to random stuff, wash actor status new store summer glumly to booker national sports. me in the media with that, i mean, the concept sky i could play list. so i could do she eager to teach the daniel such before as, and you know that that was just way by the other, those pieces notice get cranking of october until the period. that's national sports middle initials for min of book you're, you're going to bid that any better lou,

them move. what's the v m merger lamp run by the it in which the pets it's, you know, it's a little bit, but it's still nice just because it's we will walk. you is it? i see me a year ago, one of the larger cleared, lots of history killed, more than 200 people and injured 1000. the victims families still need answers. we want to compute just how did dangerous chemicals end up in baby support. let's be professional. it was not invented for muslim league,

and was the whole stockpile unloaded from the ship? the missing amal and it wasn't. it was in one way or another in an illegal way before join me for their, for the full report on with you to me . ah hello i'm, i am in my z in london with a look at the main stories now. the forest fires ravaging parts of southern turkey of now kill 6 people, including 255 on saturday. official say the 5 spread much further this year with hot weather and strong winds, fueling the flames. entire forest have been destroyed and villages and nearby resorts evacuated. smoke from the fire is spread as far south as cypress, about 100 kilometers away. president russia type one is declared disasters owns for several provinces and is called for an investigation into.