Taken Down: Xi-Putin Video

Hi Global Recap readers,

Do you remember the Xi–Putin video where they discussed the possibility of achieving immortality through organ transplants?

• That clip was later “taken down” by Reuters after the Chinese broadcaster claimed it misrepresented their live feed.

• Reuters explained the removal as a legal issue rather than a factual one. But this raises a larger question: “Is China exploiting Western legal systems to exert soft editorial power?”

More on that later. 👇️ 

🌐 WORLD
Fast Scroll News

🇳🇵 Nepal Dissolves Parliament

Nepal’s president just dissolved the House of Representatives and set March 5 elections, hours after naming former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as the country’s first woman interim PM.

• Trigger: Days of violent anti-graft protests, led largely by young activists, forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign.

• Casualties: At least 51 people were killed and more than 1,300 were injured during the unrest, which began after a social media ban.

• Negotiations: Karki’s appointment followed two days of talks between President Ramchandra Paudel, army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, and protest leaders.

• Reaction: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly congratulated Karki and pledged support for Nepal’s stability and prosperity.

• Aftermath: Streets in Kathmandu reopened, with police replacing rifles with batons as tensions eased.

🇺🇳 UN Backs Two-State Plan

The UN General Assembly just endorsed a phased blueprint for an independent Palestinian state, despite Israel’s prime minister flatly rejecting it hours before the vote.

• Vote: The 193-member body passed the nonbinding resolution 142–10, with 12 abstentions, backing the "New York Declaration" to end the decades-long conflict.

• Opposition: Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a settlement expansion signing, declared "there will be no Palestinian state" and claimed the West Bank "belongs to us."

• Sponsors: France and Saudi Arabia co-chaired the July conference that produced the declaration, which calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and a transitional Palestinian Authority-led administration.

• Security: The plan includes a temporary UN stabilization mission to protect civilians, oversee the ceasefire, and guarantee security for both sides.

• Recognition: It urges more countries to formally recognize Palestine, adding to the 145-plus that already have.

🇮🇱 Mossad Nixes Qatar Hit

Israel’s Mossad reportedly refused to greenlight a ground operation to kill Hamas leaders in Doha, pushing the military toward an airstrike that likely missed every intended target.

• Reason: Mossad chief David Barnea argued the hit would wreck hostage-ceasefire talks and damage ties with Qatar, a key mediator.

• Split: IDF chief Eyal Zamir and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi opposed the strike, while PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Shin Bet leadership backed it.

• Method: The eventual strike used air-launched ballistic missiles fired from over the Red Sea, avoiding Saudi airspace and giving the US only minutes’ notice.

• Aftermath: Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya appeared alive days later, performing funeral rites for his son killed in the blast, undermining Israeli claims of success.

• Diplomacy: The attack triggered a backlash from Doha and drew public frustration from President Donald Trump, who said he was “very unhappy” with the timing.

🇨🇳 CHINA
Reuters Pulls Xi-Putin Clip

A hot mic caught Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin casually chatting about organ transplants and living to 150, but Reuters deleted the footage after a takedown demand from China’s state broadcaster. The conversation still exists elsewhere, but not in Reuters’ feeds.

The Intercept is reporting this headline:

"China Didn’t Want You to See This Video of Xi and Putin. So Reuters Deleted It."

Brief Context

It started at Beijing’s September 3 Victory Day Parade, marking 80 years since what China deems as its "victory" over Japan in WWII.

• Xi told Putin, via translators, that “in the past people rarely lived longer than 70 years, but today they say that at 70 you are still a child.”

• He added that “human organs can be continuously transplanted” and that some predict humans could live to 150 this century.

• Putin echoed the transplant line almost word for word, agreeing it could lead to “immortality.”

The Takedown

So why did the clip vanish from Reuters’ platforms just two days later?

• On September 5, China Central Television’s lawyer He Danning sent Reuters a letter claiming the edited clip “misrepresented” the licensed feed.

• CCTV had provided the original parade footage under license, giving it leverage to demand removal.

• Reuters complied, issuing a “kill” order to clients and scrubbing the video from TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and its own site.

What Stayed Online

Not all traces disappeared, but the cleanest audio is gone.

• CCTV’s own YouTube version has music and announcer audio over the same sequence, making the conversation hard to hear.

• Bloomberg’s version, credited to CCTV’s live feed, remains online and was reposted by Russian state outlet RT.

• A Reuters World News podcast episode still contains a short audio excerpt.

Reuters’ Position

The agency insists it did nothing wrong editorially.

• Reuters said it “stands by the accuracy” of the published footage and found “no reason to believe” its journalism was compromised.

• It framed the removal as a copyright issue, not a factual one, citing loss of legal permission to use the material.

• Thomson Reuters, its parent company, has multiple business operations and offices in China, including in Beijing and Shanghai.

Press Freedom Concerns

Critics see this as a troubling precedent.

• Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation called it “a blow to press freedom” and warned that compliance with such requests risks encouraging other governments to demand takedowns.

• He argued that international outlets should resist lowering standards to match the “lowest common denominator” of press restrictions.