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economics culture or science hello this is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service
with reports and Analysis from across the world the latest news 7 days a week BBC World Service
podcasts are supported by [Applause] advertising I'm Kavita porri
and in the documentary from the
BBC World Service I hear extraordinary eyewitness accounts that tell the story for the first time of
the Bengal famine which happened in British India in the middle of the second world war the series
is called 3 million that's the number of people who died and there isn't a museum a memorial or
even a plaque how can the memory of 3 million people just disappear search for the documentary
wherever you get your BBC [Music] [Applause] podcasts hi I'm unaa chapl
ain and I'm the host of
a new podcast called Hollywood Exiles it tells the story of how my grandfather Charlie Chaplain and
many others were caught up in a campaign to root out communism in Hollywood Hollywood exile
from CBC podcasts and the BBC World Service find it wherever you get your podcasts this is the
global news podcast from the BBC World Service I'm Janette Jalil and in the early hours of Thursday
the 29th of February these are our main stories Mitch McConnell the Republican leade
r in the US
Senate has announced he'll step down from the role this year Washington has said it firmly supports
moldova's territorial integrity after officials in the Breakaway region of transnistria called
on Moscow for protection parliament in Ghana has overwhelmingly approved new legislation
making it illegal to identify as gay or transgender also in this podcast one academic's unusual way of making
his research easier to [Music] understand the US Senate's longest serving Republican lead
er
Mitch McConnell has announced he's stepping down from his leadership position in November
when the US presidential election will be held the 82-year-old has suffered Health scares and
has fallen out with Donald Trump in recent years over his election falsehoods he announced
his decision in an emotional speech in the chamber it's been an honor to work with each
viw there'll be plenty of time to express my gratitude in Greater detail as I Sprint towards
the finish line which is now in sig
ht I yield theor our Washington correspondent Gary Odon
Hugh told us more about Mitch McConnell and his importance to us politics he's been around for
a very long time he first entered the Senate in 1985 in the middle of the the Reagan Era he's been
there during that time and George Bush Senior and GW Bush and through the Clinton era and the Obama
era and the Trump era in fact so he's been there a very long time he's the longest serving leader
in the Senate and he's really had a reputation
for being a pretty pretty Master tactician on the
conservative side he's kept together party that at times has been pretty fractious but in many
ways the party that he joined the party that he you know felt most at home in is is no longer
the party of that kind of former that brand of republicanism because Donald Trump has moved it
so far to the right um that he's really a sort of bit of a fish out of water so do we know why
he's decided to go now no I mean he didn't give any explicit reaso
ns I mean he is 82 he has also
had a number of health problems in the last couple of years that have drawn a lot of focus he's
also as I was mentioning there you know kind of out of step with the party as it is now and
he's sort of wrestling with whether or not to to endorse Donald Trump in the upcoming election
he hasn't decided one way or another on that as yet and I think he's you know he's struggling to
get some of his priorities done so you know he's just broke at a a Ukraine package g
etting a number
of his colleagues to vote for that in the Senate but the house House Republicans simply won't pass
it and that's because the leadership in the house and the the atmosphere among House Republicans is
very very much different to to the party he knows so he's struggling to to keep things together in
that sense and he's obviously decided that this is the moment to step down although he's going
to continue as a senator for at least another couple of years and briefly do you think
that
pressure on him to back Donald Trump might be a factor in his his deciding to step down I mean
do you think there's also a hint there perhaps to older leaders that perhaps they should take a
leaf out of his book well that's been the big debate here in America you know the the country
is run by um men in their late 70s and 80s white men in their late 70s and 80s and he is the first
one to to bow out if you like the others shown no sign of that Joe Biden Donald Trump both going
full st
eam ahead for for November but I think there is pressure on him to indorse Donald Trump
it's a personal decision for him because of course Donald Trump went went after his wife who was a
cabinet secretary Elaine Chow some probably racist comments about her so he's not only grappling with
what's best for the party and to get Republican elected and get control of the Senate back in
November because they're not in control at the moment but also these sort of personal factors
and the fact that
he blames Donald Trump for what happened on January the 6th Gary oonu in
Washington the US has said it firmly supports moldova's territorial Integrity after separatists
in the Breakaway region of transnistria called on Russia for protection the narrow strip of land
along moldova's border with Ukraine has been controlled by pro-russian separatists since a
breakup of the Soviet Union but legally remains part of mova and is not internationally recognized
the US state department spokesman Matth
ew Miller said that Washington was monitoring the situation
in transnistria given Russia's increasingly aggressive and destabilizing role in Europe we
are watching Russia's actions in transnistria and the broader situation there very closely
the United States firmly supports moldova's sovereignty and territorial Integrity within
its internationally recognized borders trans ministria appeal for Moscow to protect it from the
pro-western government of mova sounds very similar to calls made in
regions of eastern Ukraine now
occupied by Russian forces the Russia editor of BBC monitoring Vitali shevchenko assesses what it
means the thing to remember about transnistria is that Russia has a large military base there which
allows it to exercise a signif ific amount of control over what's happening in transnistria
and over what such meetings say or do in fact it's doubtful that transnistria would exist as a
breakaway entity from mova if this Russian base was not there and secondly impo
rtantly we need
to remember that Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine started after Russia backed and Russia
installed figures in eastern Ukraine had asked Russia for assistance now it doesn't necessarily
mean that Russia is preparing to invade mova or uh launch an attack on Ukraine from transnistria
it could just be a way of putting pressure on Ukraine on mova on the west and also in the past
transnistria held a referendum whose results were questioned by members of the International
Co
mmunity and that referendum supposedly showed that members of the public there they want to
join Russia and also in the past Russia backed legislators in transnistria they also appealed to
Russia to pass legislation to accept transnistria into Russia so this is a development that needs
to be watched closely Vitali shevchenko Ukraine's President Vladimir zalinski has called on leaders
from 11 Southeastern European nations to help his country produce ammunition addressing a summit
in Albania
Mr zalinski said Supply problems were affecting Ukraine's ability to fight Russia gu
delone reports Vladimir zalinski told the Western Balkans leaders that ammunition supplies were a
major issue for Ukraine his proposed solution was what he called a joint forum for the defense
industry between Ukraine and the Balkans all of us I think we have to prepare for what just
to be strong to prepare for war or peace it's not about it to prepare for Putin's next steps if
not all of us want to push hi
m back it mean that we have to prepare most of the countries in the
region have been steadfast in their support for Ukraine with the notable exception of Serbia but
the summit's host Albania's prime minister Eddie Rama said the Gathering proved that countries in
the Balkans were United in standing resolutely with Ukraine against a very real threat to
Europe's security and to Global Order gu deloney here in the UK a Bulgarian painter and
decorator has appeared in court accused of being part
of a Russian spiring T ianev is alleged
to have carried out surveillance he joins five other Bulgarian Nationals who are set to go on
trial this year after being charged with the same offense Daniel desimon was at the court in
central London the 38-year-old man is alleged to have been part of an organized network of UK based
bulgarians conducting surveillance against people and places targeted by Russia five other people
were charged last year and faced trial in October but Mr Ivan's allege
d role emerged as chat group
messages were translated by detectives Mr ianev is a painter and decorator and was previously
in a relationship with a beautician who is one of those to have already been charged the group
allegedly run from a guest house in Norfolk is said to have carried out surveillance to assist
Russia in conducting hostile actions including potential abductions Mr ianev is alleged to have
had a role in surveillance abroad in 2021 in 2022 he was remanded in custody Daniel De
Simone a
group of more than 50 broadcast journalists has sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel
and Egypt calling for free and unfettered access to Gaza for foreign media nearly 5 months into
the war in Gaza reporters are still barred from entering apart from rare ESC reped trips with the
Israeli military the letter sent by correspondents and presenters from the UK's main broadcasting
Outlets also appeals for better protection for the Palestinian journalists reporting in the
territ
ory 90 of whom are believed to have been killed in the Israeli bombardment the signatories
to the letter include the BBC's Jeremy Bowen ol Garen and FAL Kean CNN's Christian Amor and
Sky Alex Crawford she told us more about why they'd done this the main thing is that we're
all terribly frustrated and feel we're not really doing ourselves Justice we're not doing the
story Justice and people aren't hearing particular information because foreign journalists aren't on
the ground and this is des
pite multiple attempts to try to get access into Gaza since October
the 7th from October the 7th onwards there have been groups of people teams of people media
organizations from all over the world trying to get access into Gaza and we haven't been able to
and that definitely compromises what is probably one of the most important developing events in
certainly in the region for many many decades possibly in the world and will have ramifications
for many years to come Alex you've traveled th
e world with your reporting and you're in Iraq at
the moment how unusual is it in your experience and through your career to have been unable
to access an area particularly one that is the center of a major story I think it's not unusual
that some governments and some regimes will try to keep you out and that presents uh definitely
a challenge for for journalists to try and Report accurately inside but we in the past and even now
we're talking about governments or authorities or regimes tha
t do not describe them as themselves
as democracies which Israel does describe itself as Israel is proud of boasting that it is a
liberal democracy with an open media and yet it is deliberately blocking journalists from all
over the world from getting into Gaza that is the key difference I mean in the past journalists like
myself have had to use boats to get into Myanmar have had to use all sorts of of tactics to try to
get inside closed off areas and we've Managed IT this one is monumental
ly difficult because it is
an extremely small area that we're talking about there are only two border points and it is really
really very massively locked down by Israel and also by Egypt and seriously most governments
around the world should be worried about that Alex Crawford from Sky News speaking to reini
vathan Israel's Supreme Court rejected the foreign media's request for access to Gaza last month on
security grounds saying their entry could endanger Israeli forces still to come Saud
i Arabia has made
its biggest Financial push yet into the world of tennis the Saudi authorities through the public
investment fund will be pouring a lot of money into the sport the amount has not been disclosed
they will become the official naming partner of the ATP world [Music] rankings the global story
helps make sense of the head headlines with expert analysis from BBC journalists around the world
social media has essentially siloed a lot of young men and women into different algorithmi
c bubbles
men and women inhabiting the same environment in the real world but very different ones online
one Global story at a time in detail every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service for
those Russians who sympathize with Alex Nali it will cast a very dark shadow this looks like a
message search for the global story wherever you get your BBC [Applause] podcasts I'm Kavita Puri
and in the documentary from the BBC World Service I hear extraordinary eyewitness accounts that
tell the
story for the first time of the Bengal famine which happened in British India in the
middle of the second world war the series is called 3 million that's the number of people
who died and there isn't a museum a memorial or even a clack how can the memory of 3 million
people just disappear search for the documentary wherever you get your BBC [Music] [Applause]
[Music] podcasts welcome back to the global news podcast MPS in Ghana have unanimously passed
a bill that further restricts the right
s of gay and transgender people it includes a three-year
jail term for people identifying as LGBT anyone promoting the activities of sexual minorities
faces a 5-year sentence this is how some members of the LGBT community in Ghana have reacted I'm
so scared very scared and I don't know my fate my life is at stake it will be my end in arra a
relative told me if this bill is been passed any chance he get is going to poison me I feel like
relocating from the country itself to any LGBT country
which is safe for me to live in the bill
still needs to be signed by President Nana akufo Ado before it comes into effect those who oppose
it say the legislation will infringe on people's rights and freedoms something which is guaranteed
in the country's constitution proponents of the bill argue it will help to preserve garan Family
Values our Africa Regional editor will Ross told us more about the proposed legislation worth
mentioning that the current law so the law that has been there for
many decades already dates
that anyone having gay sex should go to prison for 3 years so that's to give you some context
that there already is that law in place so these are new Provisions including imposing a maximum
5-year jail term for anyone forming or funding lgbtq plus groups and there are other Provisions
up to 10 years for anyone involved in lgbtq plus advocacy campaigns aimed at children and members
of the public are in courage to kind of report on others and this has gone on now
for three
years this bill interesting that it was proposed by the party that's currently in opposition but
unanimously passed in Parliament so both the main parties in agreement on this worth mentioning also
that it's an election year in Ghana and because of widespread as we just heard in those voices
there is a a feeling amongst many garans that being gay is taboo people will say they're very
religious they'll say it doesn't match with their religion now if any Member of Parliament were
t
o stand up and say I do not support this bill I think it would be fair to say that that would
be a a vote losing move by that parliamentarian so perhaps that explains why it was unanimously
passed and we now have to see what the president n aaur Ado does because it doesn't become a law
unless he signs it into law will Ross violence has broken out in Chad a day after it was announced
that a presidential election will be held in May and June heavy gunfire Was Heard on Wednesday in
the capital
and Jamina after several people were killed in earlier clashes near Chad's internal
security agency the government of the military ruler Idris Debbie who's running as a candidate
in the election blamed an opposition party but the opposition said troops had opened fire our
reporter in Abuja Chris Yoko has been monitoring the volatile situation in Chad today what we do
know is that there's been tension in in jera the capital of Chad and this is as a result of uh
the announcement of killing o
f several people after individuals I alleged from the opposition
Socialist Party Without Borders uh attacked the National Security Agency the government said that
that members of the party attacked the agency and some were killed some had been arrested but
that the government is now uh searching for more of the members this has triggered tension and
security agents have been stationed in strategic locations around the capital but the opposition
is saying it was soldiers who opened fire some
members of the opposition uh were arrested uh
including one of their leaders so there were fears that the top leader of of that party Socialist
Party Without Borders may have been killed so the members said they were they went in search
of uh their leader and then they alleged that soldiers opened fire on them so there had been
conflicting accounts of what happened because when the government is saying that members of
the opposition party attacked the uh National Security Agency the opposi
tion party is accusing
the government of attacking members of the party and this violence has broken out a day after it
was announced that elections would be held in May currently Chad has a military ruler Idris Debbie
he's going to be one of those candidates in the presidential election so it seems like there's
a bit of a power struggle going on here yeah I think basically what's happening in Chad is more
like a p struggle Idris Deb the current military ruler took power from after his fath
er was killed
and so he transformed and became the uh president or president of the transition of of CH now a
party which is the government party has picked him as its main candidate even though he has not
commented whether he accepts or not but there are other members of opposition parties that are
also jelling for power and with the election now called for May on May 6th there about three
two or three months from now it is going to be a very difficult situation if such a crisis that has
started uh if it transforms into a bigger conflict a political conflict Chris Yoko the international
criminal court has awarded more than $52 million in compensation to victims of Ugandan warlord
Dominic angan he was a top commander in the Lord's resistance Army militia Anna hollan
reports the court identified almost 50,000 victims of Dominic onan's crimes each person who
suffered directly or otherwise will be awarded a symbolic €750 or around $800 the judge cautioned
the victims cannot exp
ect to receive payments immediately the reparations order also noted the
physical moral material and transgenerational harm and awarded Collective compensation for Community
projects to rehabilitate and rebuild broken lives the judge recounted incidents of babies thrown
into bushes because they were crying women and girls kept as sexual slaves and people who were
kidnapped forced to kill each other anah holic it was once China's largest property company
but now Country Garden is struggling
to even stay in business a liquidation petition has been
filed against it for nonpayment of a $25 million loan it's part of the sorry story of China's
real estate sector in recent years a sector that makes up around a quarter of the country's
GDP but is now mired in debt a liquidation of Country Garden would be a serious blow for the
economy of China which has been stuttering in the aftermath of the covid pandemic Roger hearing
asked Thomas hail the Shanghai correspondent for the financial
times will the property firm be
wound up the question's kind of split into two halves here because Chinese property developers
Al although they are listed in Hong Kong and they have their holding companies in Hong Kong the
vast vast majority of their developments and their assets are in mainland China and of course
Hong Kong and Mainland China operate according to completely different legal regimes a liquidation
order in Hong Kong of the kind that creditors are now seeking for Country Garde
n would not really
allow Liquidators to seize Assets in the mainland unless a equivalent Mainland Court issued a
similar order so the likelihood of Country Gardens Hong Kong entities being liquidated is
reasonably high if they don't come up with a restructuring plan but there are very deep
question marks over whether a liquidation could actually occur on the mainland most of its
developments are cuz we kind of been here before cuz everr which is another similarly in trouble
property compan
y got a an order from Liquidation from H Hong Kong Court recently already it's
exactly the same situation of course the difference between the two is that abrand sparked
the ongoing Chinese property slowdown in 2021 when it defaulted and it was the kind of Problem Child
of the sector it had always been too indebted it was the world's most indebted developer Country
Garden by contrast which defaulted in October so two years later had prior to that been seen as a
safe bet people thought that
Country Garden was relatively sheltered from the chaos that was going
on in the property sector and and the fact that it wasn't and that it not not only defaulted but is
now the subject of this liquidation order really just shows how big the problem is for Beijing
in terms of fixing the property slowdown and I guess even if as you say they aren't necessarily
going to have their goods seized in China itself nonetheless the pressure on shareholders must be
extreme the impression the confidenc
e that these companies rely on must must disappear in fact this
this has become pretty much the most important confidence test for overseas investment into China
enormous amounts of money in excess of hundred billion dollar has flowed from Hong Kong into real
estate development in in China as part of China's vast urbanization process and we're about to get
a pretty clear-cut view it might take a few years to become exactly apparent what happens when your
investments in the mainland go wrong
are you able to pursue conventional legal process is or is it
a place and an investment Market where you have no hope of getting your money back at all when
things go wrong Thomas hail the ft's Shanghai correspondent Saudi Arabia has made its biggest
push into tennis so far the nation's Sovereign wealth fund has signed a major deal with the
governing body of men's tennis the ATP the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has presided over
unprecedented spending on sport since becoming Saudi Arab
ia's defao ruler leading to accusations
that he's trying to distract attention from Human Rights abuses by sportswashing our tennis
correspondent Russell Fuller told us more about the Saudi deal this deal janat is with the
men's ATP Tour and it is described as a multi-year strategic partnership the Saudi authorities
through the public investment fund will be pouring a lot of money into the sport the amount
has not been disclos they will become the official naming partner of the ATP world ra
nkings and
they will have a specific connection to tour events in Indian Wales in California you'll see
The Branding on the court when that tournament is staged next week in Miami and Florida and also the
events in Madrid and Beijing and the season ending ATP finals for the top eight singles and doubles
pairs of the year one country that did not want to be part of this is the United Kingdom the lawn
tennis Association were offered the chance to have a similar deal to those other tournaments
for onc court sponsorship with with PF but the LTA turned the opportunity down when they were
approached in January and there will be those who say this is yet another example of Saudi
Arabia sportswashing I had a very interesting and long conversation with the president of the
Saudi tennis Federation arish Al mutab bagani at the end of last year and I asked her specifically
what she made of the term sportswashing and she laughed when answering the question but she said
it was their way o
f promoting the country and to her to grow the game and to make sure that not
just women are playing the game more regularly but also younger people in Saudi Arabia get the
opportunity but we are seeing this on a industrial scale aren't we across a number of different
sports like football golf Formula 1 and boxing and tennis's footprint in Saudi Arabia is increasing
all the time the next gen ATP finals for the
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