PBS News Hour

JOHN YANG: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, Egypt's foreign minister on the effect Israel's war in Gaza is having on its neighbors and hopes for a ceasefire.

Then, farmers in revolt from France to India, why farmers are protesting against climate change policies, red tape and crop prices.

MAN: Most of the world's food is produced by small farms, family farms.

And they're the ones who don't have the depth, the financial depth and the resources to really shoulder this burden in the way that they're being asked to.

JOHN YANG: And as space launches become more frequent, what they're all doing to the atmosphere.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

Now that the mother of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been formally notified of her son's death, she's pressing for details of how the 47-year-old died in a remote penal colony in the Arctic in hopes of seeing her son's body.

Lyudmila Navalnaya and Navalny's lawyer went to the morgue where she was told he had been taken.

But once they got there, the facility was closed.

She wants his remains handed over for burial.

Russia says that won't happen until its investigation is over.

There's no official cause of death.

Navalny's lawyer says he was murdered.

In Moscow, Navalny's supporters risked arrest to lay flowers at a memorial to him at a monument for victims of soviet era purges.

Since word of Navalny's death, Russian police have arrested more than 300 people across the country.

Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the devastated eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Russia a key victory.

Outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers desperately short of ammunition had withstood a Russian assault for four months.

At the Munich security conference, Vice President Kamala Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy said he's hoping for a break in the months long congressional log jam that's bottled up us aid from Ukraine.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): We are counting on this positive decision of the Congress.

For us, this package is vital.

We do not currently look into alternatives because we are counting on the United States as our partner, strategic partner.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. Vice President: When we talk about the role of America as it relates to our support for Ukraine, we must be unwavering and we cannot play political games.

JOHN YANG: Harris said there is no plan B if Congress doesn't pass the $60 billion aid package, there is only plan A, she told reporters.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the aid bill, but House Speaker Mike Johnson said he won't even bring it up for a vote.

Also at the Munich conference, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli officials to talk about negotiations for the release of the hostages still held by Hamas and a pause in Israeli fighting.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not take part in the next round of talks because of Hamas demands he labeled as delusional.

Israeli defense miner Yoav Gallant told reporters that Rafah was the next center of gravity in the war, but he wouldn't say when anticipated ground operation will begin.

And the Food and Drug Administration has approved a novel cancer treatment to tackle an aggressive form of the deadly skin cancer melanoma.

The treatment, called Amtagvi, uses a patient's own immune cells from the tumor.

In clinical trials, more than 30 percent of participants had their tumors either shrink or disappear altogether.

The maker of the treatments of the U.S. retail price is expected to be $515,000 per patient.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, why farmers around the world are protesting and the growing problem of pollution in earth's atmosphere as the space race ramps up.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: This week, Israel stepped up its bombing across the Gaza Strip, and talks aimed at the release of the hostages held by Hamas and an Israeli pause in fighting have bogged down.

Since October 7, more than 28,000 Palestinians and around 1,200 Israelis have died.

Today at the Munich security conference, Nick Schifrin sat down with Egypt's foreign minister.

They discussed his country's role in mediating the ceasefire talks and the effect the war is having on the region.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Mr. Foreign Minister, thank you very much.

Egypt has been in the middle of negotiations for a deal that would pause the war and release Israeli hostages being held in Gaza and also Palestinians being detained by Israel.

Cairo hosted a meeting a few days ago for this.

Has there been any progress since that meeting?

SAMEH SHOUKRY, Egypt Foreign Minister: They were productive meetings, of course.

They are sensitive meetings, and I will refrain from going into details, but we will continue to exert every effort that they should be productive, that they should fulfill the needs for a ceasefire, even though a limited one, but one that necessarily would have to translate into a more sustainable and complete cessation of hostilities.

It's important that we move ahead in terms of the negotiations, recognizing that these are difficulty issues, that both parties will vie for the best possible deal, and it is up to us to encourage them to show flexibility and moderation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, the head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in a statement said, Hamas will not accept anything less than a complete cessation of the aggression, withdrawal of the occupation army from Gaza, and lifting of the unjust siege.

That is something, of course, that Israel has already, before even the statement is made, rejected.

Does that kind of statement doom any progress in negotiations?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Well, I think we've heard statements also from the other side that also raise the bar of the position and might complicate the current negotiations.

But it is going to be incumbent on the ability of both sides to continue to maintain this ongoing dialogue, this mediation, so as to find the point of convergence.

NICK SCHIFRIN: As you put it, the other side.

Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this week have threatened publicly to pull out of talks, not send the head of the Mossad.

David Barnea.

Do you believe Israel is negotiating in good faith?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Again, we hope that all will recognize the consequences of continuing this military conflict and its impact, which is unprecedented in the 21st, even the 20th century, the scale of human lives, children and women now exceeding 20,000, have been killed.

We've gone beyond the 100,000 injured, and we need to deal with it from all of its perspectives.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Is Egypt building a walled enclosure near the border with Israel in case Gazans escape from Gaza into Sinai?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: We have consolidated our border fortifications between Egypt and Gaza over the last four or five years.

This was part of our demolition of the tunnel network.

We continue to have maintenance around the Rafah area because of the volume of assistance and trucks that need to enter.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But with all due respect, sir, there are satellite images that show what seem to be a walled enclosure, a kind of box that presumably Palestinians could go into if they escaped through the border.

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Well, again, I don't have any specific knowledge of what is the construction being undertaken, but what we have indicated is that the displacement into our territory is a red line.

And we appreciate all those who have also indicated that they refuse displacement into Egyptian territory.

But rhetoric is not enough.

I think those who have indicated that policy should also indicate that there will be consequences if that was to happen.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Have you warned Israel that if Israel proceeds with a military operation in Rafah, the peace treaty could be a threat?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Again the peace treaty has endured over the last 40 more years.

We deem that it has brought advantages to both Egypt and Israel.

We implement it in good faith and we will continue to do so.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So what are the consequences if Israel follows through on threats to attack Rafah, where there are 1.3 million Gazans sheltering, they have nowhere else to go.

So what's the consequence?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Well, let me not try to speculate on a hypothetical, but it would certainly be a very dramatic turn of events that will have severe repercussions on the crisis, on the Palestinian cause on Egypt's security, and we will deal with it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you believe the impact would be if this war is raging at this level in three weeks when Ramadan begins?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Devastating.

I think every day we should not be in a position to accept the continuing impact on the civilians.

Everyone should do everything possible to end this confrontation and deal with the legitimate concerns.

As appalling as October the 7th was, it still is not in a vacuum.

The issue of occupation, the issue of Palestinian statehood, the long cycle of violence and counter-violence have all compounded the difficulties of resolving the conflict and living in peace for the region.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Finally, sir, the Senate has blocked 325 million of security assistance and the administration has decided to withhold that money from Cairo.

And for you to be able to get that money, as well as future money, you have to make, quote, specific human rights progress, as well as progress on political prisoners.

So, you've promised to U.S. officials, I've been told, to reduce pretrial detention and to move toward releasing those prisoners.

Have you made those moves?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: These issues are addressed within our bilateral dialogue.

Whatever decisions the Congress makes, it makes by its prerogatives.

Whatever decisions we make that we feel are in the best interest of the Egyptian people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But do you believe you followed through on your promises about human rights?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: I believe that we will undertake our responsibilities in applying policy that is beneficial to the Egyptian people.

And I think at this stage and what we see in Reza, I think the discussion related to human rights needs to be a little bit more insightful and that the issue.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you think it hasn't been insightful from the United States government?

SAMEH SHOUKRY: I'm speaking generally about the international community and how it is applying a single standard and what constitutes the rule of law and how is it applied, whether it's applied fairly.

So the issues of human rights and any perception that any state is immune from criticism in terms of its application of human rights would call into question the authoritative nature of such comments.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Mr. Foreign Minister, thank you very much.

SAMEH SHOUKRY: Thank you.

JOHN YANG: From quiet fields to busy city streets, farmers around the world have launched protests in recent weeks.

They're demanding relief from what they say is a crisis.

Ali Rogin reports on what's driving these protests and what it means for food supply and climate policies.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): They come in convoys of tractors armed with the fruits, bread, even the livestock of their labor.

From Italy to India, farmers are taking to the streets, sometimes facing violence, sometimes causing it, protesting policies they say kill their livelihoods.

CRISTIAN BELLONI, Farmer, Italy (through translator): Agriculture has been on its knees for a long time, and we have reached the end of our rope.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): In fact, farmers in dozens of countries on six continents have been staging protests since 2021.

This year, most protests have been in European countries and India.

The grievances vary by country, but there's one common message.

Farmers can no longer bear the burden of economic and climate policies.

DANIELLE RESNICK, International Food Policy Research Institute: There's a sense of a rupture in the social contract between farmers and their governments.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Danielle Resnick is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

DANIELLE RESNICK: In the EU it's a sense that farmers are being forced to unfairly bear the burden of a lot of the EU regulations to meet climate emission India, the sense that farmers are overburdened.

They're worried about various shocks, including climate shocks, and they want some type of social protection.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): In Europe, those regulations include limits on pesticides and the amount of land they can harvest annually.

Farmers there also worry about competition from abroad and Ukraine, which has temporary tariff free access to EU markets.

MAN (through translator): Stop grain from Ukraine.

Stop the Grain Deal.

Stop deciding about our land.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): In India, farmers want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expand a long standing policy of setting minimum prices for certain crops.

In 2021 Modi tried but failed to scrap the policy following an earlier round of protests.

Farmers have been marching from the north, where the protests began, to the capital, but police and soldiers have blocked their way.

SARVAN SINGHH PANDHER, General Secretary Of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (through translator): It is not about whether we go to Delhi or not.

We have not come here to clash with our soldiers.

We just want our demands met for a law regarding the implementation of the minimum support price.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Experts say the protests are politically timed.

Both the Indian and European Parliament elections are set for this spring.

DANIELLE RESNICK: I think farmers unions are being politically savvy in some ways and trying to get their issues on the top of the political agenda.

Even though we think of them as kind of small scale farmers, they are pretty politically powerful.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): And ahead of the votes, leaders seem to be listening to the farmers.

France scrapped a plan to end tax breaks for tractor diesel.

And the EU abandoned a plan to reduce pesticide use and postponed a deadline for farmers to leave some land fallow to improve biodiversity.

It also omitted farmers from a recommendation to reduce greenhouse gases by 90 percent by 2040.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, European Commission President: Farmers need a worthwhile business case for nature enhancing measures.

Perhaps we have not made that case convincingly.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): But many stakeholders, like some European moderates and environmentalists, believe politicians are caving to farmers to prevent them from deepening alliances with far right groups who've taken up their cause.

And they note that agriculture is a major driver of climate change, accounting for more than 10 percent of the EU's total greenhouse gases.

DANIELLE RESNICK: I think an attack of the Green agenda is seen as really an opportunity for right-wing parties to gain more seats in the parliament at the expense of green parties.

They see this as an opportunity to really mobilize on grievances to perhaps forward their own agenda around migration policies and other types of nativist policies that would resonate with some of EU farmers' concerns.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): But some experts say leaders must find ways to make the transition less burdensome for farmers and the entire system they represent.

CHRIS HEGADORN, Sciences Po, Paris: Most of the world's food is produced by small farms, family farms.

And they're the ones who don't have the depth, the financial depth and the resources to really shoulder this burden in the way that they're being asked to.

They are being asked to adjust to environmental regulations in a fast period of time.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Chris Hegadorn is a professor of global food politics at Sciences Po in Paris.

CHRIS HEGADORN: This is where governments can step in and start spending money differently to address the cost, not only to these farmers, but the cost that we're seeing from environmental damage, climate change, temperature increases, violent weather increases.

ALI ROGIN (voice-over): After all, as the protesters sign say, without farmers, there is no food.

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Ali Rogin.

JOHN YANG: Earlier this week, the latest entry in the new race for space commerce lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center.

If all goes well, it would be the first ever private spacecraft to land on the moon.

According to data from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, 2023 was a record year for launching satellites, probes, landers and other objects into space.

But scientists worry that those plumes of exhaust that trail rockets arcing into the skies could be scattering harmful pollutants into the pristine upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Freelance science journalist Shannon Hall recently wrote about this new era of space pollution in the New York Times.

Shannon what's in this rocket exhaust and why are some scientists concerned about it?

SHANNON HALL, Freelance Science Journalist: That is a great question right now.

Rocket exhaust has black carbon in it, and scientists are very concerned that black carbon, which is black, will absorbs the sun's radiation and heat the atmosphere.

Specifically, they're worried that it's going to heat the stratosphere.

We care about the stratosphere tremendously because it is home to the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun's harmful radiation.

So if we're increasing the number of rocket launches, we could actually increase the risk of skin cancer, cataracts, and immune disorders here on ground because we have harmed the ozone layer.

JOHN YANG: Were there concerns about.

I think you said this in this article.

At one point, there were concerns about a hole being over the Kennedy Space Center.

But what happened?

What did they find about that?

SHANNON HALL: We did worry about that at the beginning of the space shuttle era.

We actually found that there weren't enough rocket launches at the time to really create a cataclysmic issue.

The ozone hole disappeared relatively quickly.

The same might not be true going forward as we just launch more and more rockets into orbit.

JOHN YANG: And also for more and more sites.

Is that a concern as well?

SHANNON HALL: It is a concern, yes.

We are just going to be seeing a tremendous increase in the number of rocket launches from multiple sites across the globe, as various government agencies and private agencies as well join in this new space race.

JOHN YANG: Now, this concern about the black soot heating up the stratosphere, is this something that research has shown, or is this, I don't want to say speculation, but sort of a theory theorizing this could happen?

SHANNON HILL: That's a great question because the research is really just now catching up to the speed of the space race.

But there have been a number of studies in recent years.

One study showed that rocket emission is 500 times better at heating the stratosphere than aviation, for example.

Another study published in 2022 found that if we increase the number of rocket launches by just a factor of 10, we could warm the stratosphere by as much as two degrees Celsius in various places, and that would degrade the ozone layer over much of North America, all of Europe, and a good chunk of Asia as well.

So we are starting to see evidence that this could drastically harm the stratosphere.

JOHN YANG: Does anyone regulate the exhaust coming out of these rockets, either in the United States or anywhere in the world?

SHANNON HALL: No.

I spoke with a number of sources who actually compared this to the Wild West.

There are no regulations with respect to atmospheric pollution from rocket exhaust right now.

JOHN YANG: What are the potential solutions, people looking at?

Is there such a thing as green rocket fuel?

SHANNON HALL: That's a great question.

There really is no such thing as green rocket fuel, because even if were to change from hydrocarbon fuel, which is what we're using now, to say something that emitted.

Water is actually a greenhouse gas at these upper layers of the atmosphere.

So no matter what, we are likely going to cause harm on the environment.

But we can certainly tweak how much harm is caused.

That is the ultimate hope.

JOHN YANG: And tweak it.

How?

How would they do that?

SHANNON HALL: So scientists are hopeful that they can do the research to know how many rocket launches will be too many, know what types of fuel to use, know what types of materials to use, so that we don't cause quite as much harm on the environment.

But again, this is really just an open question right now.

Scientists are at the beginning stages of their research to try to understand where we are and what the future might look like.

JOHN YANG: Now, there's also an issue about old satellites sort of falling out of orbit and disintegrating as they come into the Earth's atmosphere.

What's the issue there?

What's the concern there?

SHANNON HALL: Yeah.

So the issue is that what goes up must come down.

Right.

These satellites are actually designed to fall back to the Earth after five to 15 years.

We do that so that we don't leave them in orbit.

That creates a space junk problem, a different story.

And we don't want them to impact the Earth.

Right.

We don't want to cause a hazard to life here on Earth.

So they're designed to fall back to the Earth and disintegrate in the atmosphere.

And scientists don't know what impact that's going to have on the atmosphere yet, but if they're disintegrating, they're going to leave a stream of pollutants in their wake.

And one study, a NASA study last year actually took a jet up into the stratosphere and sampled the most common particles in the stratosphere.

And they found that within 10 percent of those particles were pollutants from these disintegrating satellites.

Now, 10 percent might not sound like a lot, but given that we're at the very beginning of this new satellite race, that was actually pretty alarming.

JOHAN YANG: Freelance science journalist Shannon Hall.

Thank you very much.

SHANNON HALL: Thank you.

JOHN YANG: Now online, while boil water advisories in major cities are on the rise due to climate change.

All that and more is on our website, pbs.org/newshour.

And that is PBS News Weekend for this Saturday.

Next time, why eating disorders, once thought to be more prevalent in women and girls, are on the rise among males.

I'm John Yang.

For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

See you tomorrow.