welcome to the global news podcast your source
for the latest and most comprehensive coverage of global events breaking news and in-depth analysis
we are here to guide you through the top stories from around the world whether it's politics
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 what connects ci
nnamon buns Bluetooth and one of
the most famous music acts of all time it's Sweden of course and witness history is celebrating
scandinavia's biggest country with a bumper week of programs so tune in as we hear from Abba's
manager 50 years on from their iconic Eurovision Victory Feast on Sweden's annual cinemon bundai
and strap yourself in as we tell you all about the invention of the seat belt that's witness
history from the BBC World Service listen And subscribe wherever you get your BBC
[Applause]
podcasts this is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service I'm Valerie serson and in
the early hours of Friday the 5th of April these are our main stories a warning to Israel's prime
minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his main Ally the United States following the death of Aid workers
in military strikes and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza what we want to see are some real changes
on the Israeli side and um you know if we don't see changes from their side there'll have to
be
changes from our side on NATO's 75th anniversary and with Russia Waging War on Ukraine Estonia
stresses the importance of conscription for European nations the Stars studied cast in new
audio adaptation of George Orwell's dark class CL 1984 for audible also in this podcast
Peru's Congress votes against impeaching President Dina bolatti who's being investigated
for corruption in a scandal over Rolex watches and he is just looking forward to enjoying this new
opportunity for enormously in
creased quality of life the dividend we're hoping for is this will
continue to function well for a good period of time a potential game changer as a man in the
US is discharged from hospital 2 weeks after receiving a pig kidney [Music] transplant how
much support Israel gets from the United States in its war in Gaza will depend on how much Israel
takes action to protect civilians and Aid workers there that's the message President Biden gave to
Benjamin Netanyahu in their first telephone cal
l since an Israeli attack left seven Humanity Arian
staff dead in Gaza on Monday it's a big rebuke on the part of Washington here's the US Secretary
of State Anthony blinkin speaking in Brussels the president emphasized that the strikes on
humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable he made clear the
need for Israel to announce a series of specific concrete and measurable steps to address civilian
harm humanitarian suffering and the safety of Aid workers he
clear that US policy with respect
to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps he
underscored as well that an immediate ceasefire is essential the National Security Council spokesman
John Kirby says Washington expects to see action from Israel imminently what we want to see are
some real changes on the Israeli side and if we don't see changes from their side there'll have to
be changes from our side but I won't preview what that could look like no
w in terms of concrete
state what we are looking to see and hope to see here in coming hours and days is a dramatic
increase in the humanitarian assistance getting in additional Crossings opened up and a reduction
in the violence against civilians and certainly Aid workers our state department correspondent Tom
bitman told me more about President Biden's latest talks with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu I have to say that this is the most sort of strident tone that the Adminis
tration has
issued th far when it comes to that critical us Israel relationship because they talk about the
need for Israel to take what they call a series of specific concrete and measurable steps to
address civilian harm humanitarian suffering and the safety of Aid workers this is effectively
demanding that Israel start to let in food Aid that it brings down that catastrophically
high rate of civilians being killed in Gaza but then there is the key line in the statement
it says President
Biden may clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our
assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps now that will be perceived I think as a
threat because what it says is if you don't start letting in food Aid protecting civilians in Gaza
we're going to rethink our policy towards you now it's deliberately ambiguous it's not saying which
part of the policy but obviously the question is going to be raised are they referring to the
supply of weapons to Israel
that is the bed Rock of policy that's being talked about here so I
think it's a a nod in that direction for the first time by the administration since the start of the
war in Gaza and I think it reflects the sense of anger or outrage as the White House has put it
after the killing of the world Central kitchen workers in Gaza this week do we know how much time
they're prepared to give Israel and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change Tac they just use
the word immediate Anthony blinkin
has just been asked that in Brussels at the NATO Summit he
was also asked a bit earlier about that line and specifically what they meant by changes
in policy what they were referring to and Mr blinken was even more blunt than the statement
he said if we don't see the changes we need to see there will be changes in policy so again I
think that's meant to be seen as wielding that possibility over the Israeli government given that
I think Mr Biden's kind of run out of road when it comes to the
pressure on him to start using
arm supplies as leverage over the Israelis to try and sort out this devastating situation on
the ground in Gaza and now you're starting to see the language reflecting that uh a bit more
that they are no longer potentially regarding the issues of weapon supplies off limits although
as I say it doesn't explicitly say that I think that's how it's going to be interpreted so how
will President Biden's remarks be seen in Israel Here's Lucy Williamson in Jerusalem w
ell this
seems to have been the toughest call of the Gaza War so far it's no secret the relations between
these two leaders are pretty abysmal at the moment as pressure from the US has gone up and up over
the course of the war and Benjamin Netanyahu has largely resisted that pressure but he's going to
have to decide how to play this one because the language has really changed here and he's going
to have to decide what to do about that without losing face at home one consolation he might hav
e
is the clear us statement of support for Israel is in the event of a direct attack by Iran that's
something that Mr Netanyahu has been talking up um tonight actually before a cabinet meeting and
amid all the talk of whether arms deals could be used as leverage against Israel in the Gaza War
this statement of support by Washington on this issue is also a clear signal to Iran that it won't
leave its Ally undefended meanwhile the brother of one of three British citizens killed in Israel
att
ack on Monday says he couldn't comprehend how the UK government could continue to sell
weapons to Israel meanwhile as our diplomatic correspondent James landale reports International
disqui about Monday's incident isn't going away the air strikes that killed International Aid
workers in Gaza have prompted Global condemnation of Israel but they're also discomforting
and dividing Israel's allies Australia's prime minister said Israel's explanation for
the incident in which an Australian died
was not good enough Poland's prime minister demanded
compensation for the family of the Polish national who was killed Spain's prime minister suggested
the EU should debate whether to reconsider its strategic relationship with Israel and in Britain
there was fresh criticism this time from Sir Alex younger the former head of MI6 it's hard not to
conclude that insufficient care is being paid to the collateral risks of these operations pressure
also continued to grow on ministers to suspend ar
m sales to Israel more than 600 lawyers including
three former Supreme Court Justices wrote to the government urging it to Halt defense exports
because they believe there's a risk they're being used to break International humanitarian
law sir Alan Duncan the former foreign office Minister responsible for arms exports said the
government had to act I wholly agree with the lawyers who written the letter today it is
quite clear that selling arms to Israel is really a breach of all the rules th
at we set for
ourselves when we issue licenses for armed sales perhaps the most telling criticism came from the
family of Jim Henderson one of three Britains who died in the air strikes who told the times it was
hard to comprehend the government was continuing to sell weapons to Israel that may be used to
kill British citizens what's clear is that the risk to Aid workers Remains the UN agency in Gaza
anra told the BBC three of its convoys had come under attack in recent months despite coord
inating
their movements with Israeli forces James landale as NATO marks its 75th anniversary in Brussels
estonia's prime minister has told the BBC that NATO allies should consider conscription
because of the threat of Russian aggression possibly spreading Beyond Ukraine Estonia has
mandatory conscription for all men aged between 18 and 27 and other countries countries in Europe
including Denmark Switzerland and Finland have never abandoned Mass military service but the
UK and France stoppe
d conscription last century our Europe correspondent Nick beak is on the
Estonian border with some young soldiers who are doing their compulsory military training
despite freezing hands these new conscripts are now carefully loading their guns and taking
their positions you can see their camouflaged figures creeping among the trees as the rain
pelts down the border with Russia is only 30 km away this is a training exercise there are no live
rounds the enemy has not arrived but these young e
stonians now drenched feared this simulation
could become reality one day but we are still practicing for any threat and 25-year-old
toyu Sabas studied mechanical engineering in Southampton for 4 years before starting
his compulsory military service in January is a service for your country you can say that
I've completed this Army service and now I'm ready for whatever comes in daily life even
estonia's prime minister Kaya kalas is among those leaders on Russia's doorstep urging their
West
ern allies further a field to bring back or boost conscription she tells us how Britain
could adapt her country's system we have a reserve Army of 44,000 people that would would
equal for Great Britain around 2 million people 2 million people who are ready to defend their
country H to know what they have to do the head of the British army a couple of months ago
said the idea of a citizen Army would be a really great thing and he was quite quickly
shot down it doesn't surprise me because we
have different historical backgrounds we
have lost our independence of Freedom once and we don't want to lose it again I'm not
a soldier I'm not a singer he may not be a soldier but 25-year-old vill saru did end up
pulling on Military fatigues as part of his national service he and his bandmates who are
performing this week at a big Festival in the capital Talon were initially skeptical about
conscription I didn't want to do it it's very full on physical training I I think the mental
toll
is pretty heavy on you too for like the two first months a lot of people in in the baltics
are really saying that in the future President Putin might want to go for a NATO country is
that something you think about having done the military service that you could potentially be
on the front line at some point totally I mean ever since the war in Ukraine started I think
it's it's a very present thought I don't think I have a single friend who thinks in an opposite
way or in a different way Nic
k beak reporting from the Estonian border with Russia Congress
in Peru has voted against opening impeachment proceedings against President Dina bolatti who's
being investigated for corruption the opposition was only able to must 32 of the 48 votes it needed
is our America's Regional editor Leonardo Russia Miss bolw is being investigated over the ownership
of expensive Rolex watches and jewelry she's been seen wearing in public last week police raided
her home in the presidential Palace but
she has regained control of the political situation in
Congress thanks in parts to the announcement of new government investments in Peru's important
mining sector the spending will help diffuse opposition from those representing the country's
mining regions on Wednesday Congress approved miss bol's new cabinet confirming the appointment
of her new prime minister Gustavo adriansen Leonardo Russia a new adaptation of the famous
novel 1984 by the British author George Orwell has just been rel
eased on Audible The Classic
dystopian futuristic epic by Orwell who worked at the BBC World Service as a journalist many decades
ago has a starry cast it stars Andrew Scott from the BBC's Sherlock and fleabag Tom Hardy from pey
blinders and Andrew Garfield from Spider-Man as the main character Winston I wonder how long it
will be until I'm still on the Gallows what I'm about to commit for my thought crime because the
weapon in my pocket isn't a gun or a knife or a bomb it's a book this new
production is being released exactly
40 years after the date of the fictional Winston's first diary entry of April the 4th 1984 it's
directed by Destiny eaga and adapted by Joe White who both told mishel Hussein about it well
strangely I'd only read it the summer before and immediately thought about Winston's struggle to
retain his internal voice that autonomy within this world within this machine so the first thing
that came to mind when I was thinking about doing an adaptation was really
focusing in on Winston's
internal voice how intimate that could be as an audio piece in somebody else's head literally and
it also allowed things like humor and very aware of what he was saying always CU he could get
killed for any thought crime or anything else but also the external forces trying to get into
his head the voice of the party the voice of Big Brother the voice of O'Brien and then eventually
when he meets her the voice of Julia Orwell talks a lot about Winston being able to h
ear O'Brien's
voice so it became really exciting to play with whose voice does Winston start to hear in his
own head Destiny for you as a director had you worked in audio before I hadn't this was
my first time and here I got to do the thing that I love the most which is directing actors
did you gather a big group of actors together in a room so they're doing the dialogue face
to face or were you working more individually with them I worked individually with them and I
think that was a grea
t way to work cuz I was in the booth with them but then they they're not
even necessarily then responding to the person who's in the conversation with them in the final
version at that time it's like you're almost like coaching them through it yeah so that's why I have
to remember what everybody has done so I can make sure that I've got the right performances in my
real life I can't remember anything and desie how exciting was it when we got two different
sides of you doing Room 101 I know
right like it was so weird for anyone that's read the book
or knows at least about what room 101 is it's a horrendous horrific scene that I thought I was
prepared for but I wasn't one week I was with Andrew Garfield who plays Winston and Room 101
is basically a torture scene and it was horrific for me to direct that I loved it because I loved
the process but I hated it and we were not okay I asked him to go for it and he really went for it
and it's horrible to hear somebody being tortured a
nd because you're not watching it inevitably
it's even worse because your mind conjures up all of these horrible images I think my body was
shaking it was just not nice and Joe was so kind he came into the room and he was like are you guys
okay you know what I mean and we were like no not really you know a week later I'm with Andrew Scott
who's playing O'Brien and he's like the torturer and my response to it was completely different I
was now in the head of O'Brian so now it was like delici
ously evil and I was just like what else
can we do to torture Winston I couldn't I didn't understand what was happening to me and I think
that's what happens when you're directing right like you step into the minds the heads the hearts
of the character that you're initially with J it is extraordinary material isn't it you think about
this book published in 1949 it was the experience of the Spanish Civil War and the post-war Soviet
Union that was in the Forefront of Orwell's mind and yet the
re are these parallels that we can
feel today about mass of and misinformation I don't think it will ever not feel incredibly
relevant we're now living in a post-truth age of sorts where anything could be manipulated and
presented as truth people can believe so fervently in misinformation it's about somebody trying to
find autonomy and freedom within this machine it's very densely packed there's so much geopolitics
to reimagine and it's sort of a warning and and it's yeah it's interesting t
aking something
that has sort of three time periods in it it has you know 1948 1984 and 2024 Allin one it was
daunting but thrilling to try and reimagine for now Joe White and Destiny eaga talking there to
Michelle Hussein about George Orwell's 1984 which has just been released on Audible still to come
on the global news podcast the look of her they knew the shorts the boots the guns they wanted her
to be sassy and very obviously sexy from the way she looked and well spoken what they did di
dn't
know was how successful she would be we beet the first woman to become the voice of the video
game sensation Lara Croft who has just turned 28 emergency responders in Taiwan are still
trying to find more than 600 people trapped in collapsed buildings and tunnels after
Wednesday's powerful earthquake the mag magnitude 7.4 earthquake was the strongest to
hit the country for a quarter of a century so far nine people have been confirmed killed and more
than a thousand injured our correspo
ndent Rupert Wingfield Hayes sent us this report from the
heart of the Quake Zone on the southeast of the island in a high Valley gorge in the eastern
mountains of Taiwan a survivor of yesterday's Quake is winched aboard a rescue helicopter down
below a six-man search team is hauling a stretcher through the undergrowth on it a lifeless body
the huge rescue effort in the mountains here in eastern Taiwan is Relentless and exhausting but a
steady stream of survivors have been emerging all day
they're being brought to this dressing
station to have their injuries assessed by teams of paramedics here I met a Singaporean
couple exhausted and traumatized by what they had been through it's your worst nightmare coming
true it's like they show in the movies you never think you're going to experience it that way we
were in the tunnel when it happened we felt the Earth tremble and we just held on to each other
for I don't know how long until it passed and so we stayed there overnight uh t
he night was a
terrible terrible ordeal with aftershocks and Tremors and rocks falling every few minutes
the shock today has been just how many people are still stranded in the mountain valleys along
the coast here partly that's because Mobile phone coverage is being restored and so those trapped
have begun texting relatives and calling for help that should make finding them easier but
it's still going to take time and so as many as 700 people are spending a second night in the
mountains i
n what conditions we do not know but very probably hungry exhausted and no doubt scared
Rupert Winfield Hayes tennis is the latest sport to see a major event hosted in Saudi Arabia with
the women's tennis Association finals set to take place there for the next 3 years there'll be a
record prize pot of just over $15 million for the lucky winner but critics argue it's a significant
step backwards for the sport and for women in general our Arab Affairs analyst Sebastian Asher
told me more abou
t Saudi Arabia's meteoric rise as a major host of sport we've seen this happen
with golf we've seen this happen with Formula 1 and we've seen it most notably with football
and now we're seeing it with tennis the kind of money is going to be the highest that's been
paid so far more than $15 million and obviously that is very attractive for these organizations
these associations that when it comes down to it they're fueled by cash but this is controversial
isn't it it's already controversial
because of Saudi Arabia's treatment of women I mean it was
a very very traditional Muslim Society where women's rights in the way that the West sees
it are nowhere near what women expect in the west and what obviously most of the women who
play tennis from the countries that they come from would expect there have been changes there's
no doubt about that in Saudi Arabia women are now very much part of a Workforce the morality police
which used to roam the streets and keep men and women apart
they're long gone many women that
I've spoken to in Saudi Arabia are very positive about the changes and feel they can operate pretty
much on the same level if not higher in some cases than men that doesn't take away from the fact that
there are still rights but women don't have there was a time when women really couldn't do things
without the say so legally of a male relative that is changing it hasn't changed enough and there
are women's rights activists from Saudi Arabia and outside who
've been pushing very hard for that
and some of those people have been imprisoned or remain in prison for what they are espousing it's
not as black and white a situation as it's often painted but certainly in terms of having a women's
competition there there are still big issues tennis icons Martina n alova Chris ever they've
both come out and said they don't think this should happen they have I mean they've said that
essentially what they as Pioneers getting the same rights for women in te
rms of the money in terms of
the way that women's tennis is regarded as the men they feel that taking the women's tenant now to
Saudi Arabia is in contravention of that battle that they fought for so long and Martina n over
herself being a woman who had a long period when she was coming out as gay when she looks at Saudi
araban c seees a country where homosexuality is still a criminal offense believes that this is not
the time to take the crown jewel of women's tennis there there's no doubt
about that Sebastian aser
Argentina is facing a shortage of inset repellent just before Deni fever season is about to begin
it's thought this year could be one of the worst for the spread of the disease due to global
warming allowing the mosquitoes which spread the virus to thrive more details from our South
America correspondent I onlyi Wells a vaccine for Deni has been developed but while its roll out
is still in its early stages most people still rely on preventative measures to avoid t
he virus
in Argentina this is proving a problem as the country faces a serious shortage of repellents
residents report that it is almost impossible to buy it with many supermarkets and pharmacies
displaying no repellent signs in the few places where it is still available especially online
resale prices are astronomical the government has attributed the problem to a bottleneck and
say it will be corrected in the in the coming days though sources at one of the production
companies told the B
BC that shortages were due to a forecasting error many citizens particularly
in Buenos Ires are fearful at a time when cases have increased by 2,00% compared to the equivalent
period in last year's Deni season IO New Wales A 62-year-old man in the United States who received
a kidney from a genetically modified Pig just over two weeks ago has been discharged from hospital
Richard slamman is the first patient to under go the groundbreaking operation surgeons at
Massachusetts General Hospital
say the implanted kidney is functioning well and the patient no
longer requires dialysis Richard San's previously transplanted human kidney began to fail last year
his doctor Winfred William gave this update on his patient and the lifechanging procedure to
the BBC's Tim Franks Professor slamman is doing fantastically well and we are quite thrilled at
the progress he's made he's in great spirits the team is in great spirits too obviously his
Vital Signs his temperature and the kind of kidney
chemistries that we monitor daily are all
meeting their targets yeah and I mean clearly you have broken new ground with this transplant how
are you hoping to monitor him to ensure that he is well but also that this transplantation is a
continued success we have an intense program of monitoring as you can imagine he has two visits
a week for the first month and then thereafter if he's continued to be stable he'll be seen at least
once weekly until we are absolutely sure he's completely stab
le as he's being discharged he will
be seen twice weekly in clinics I don't want you to breach any patient physician confidentiality
but has he talked to you at all about the sort of the life he is hoping to lead now if this
transplant continues to be successful the sorts of things he's hoping to do that he couldn't
he is just looking forward to getting back to his usual daily activities enjoying his good
health really enjoying this new opportunity for enormously increased quality of life t
he dividend
we're hoping for is that this will continue to function well for a good period of time and we're
confident that we're getting there and I suppose it's worth emphasizing that there are vast numbers
of people who are waiting for organ transplants and in particular kidney transplants and that
the demand is far outstripping Supply at the moment that's exactly right in the United States
they're currently 90 to 100,000 patients in need of a a kidney transplant this is a huge imbalance
in terms of supply and demand it's an unmet Health need the use of a pig to human transplant may be
a very robust solution you will also be aware that there are people who say obviously they wish Mr
slamman all the very best and as has often being
Comments