Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. Selling a little or a lot.
Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real-life store stage, all the way to the did-we-just-hit-a-million-orders stage, Shopify's there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers, make your business a better place to start,
This summer, Instacart presents famous summer flavors coming to your front door.
or pool or hotel. Your grocery delivery has arrived, sir. That was faster than room service. No violins in the lobby? Seriously? Anyway, sit back, relax, and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. Starring your favorite snacks, drinks, and more. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Rated H for hungry audiences. Offer valid for a limited time. Minimum $10 per order. Excludes restaurants. Additional terms and fees apply.
You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Thursday, the 18th of July. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff calls on Joe Biden to abandon his re-election campaign. But is there anything that could persuade the president to step down? If there is some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem, that problem. As we record this podcast, President Biden has just tested positive for COVID.
Also in the podcast, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh promises justice for six students killed during protests. The Caribbean island of Carriacou struggles to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
truly heartbreaking. 98% of properties of homes, infrastructure has either been destroyed or damaged on an island of just 10,000 people. And... It turns off the interleukin-11 signal. So when you turn off interleukin-11, you turn off their ageing switches. Have scientists found the secret to extending life?
In the days after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the Democratic effort to replace Joe Biden as their presidential candidates went quiet. Now, though, the campaign appears to have resumed in earnest, with Congressman Adam Schiff becoming one of the most senior Democrats yet to call on the president to stand aside. Mr Biden resumed campaigning a few days ago and continues to insist he is the best person to take on Donald Trump. However,
However, in an interview with the black media outlet BET, he has said for the first time that if he was found to be ill, he could step down. If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem, that problem. But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate. And look, when I originally ran, I said I was going to be a transitional candidate.
And I thought that I'd be able to move from this, just pass it on to someone else. But I didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. And quite frankly, I think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.
And I think I've demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country. But there's more to do, and I'm reluctant to walk away from that. His comment about stepping down is in marked contrast to the interview with ABC News earlier this month when he said only the Lord Almighty would get him to leave the race. Our correspondent, Nomia Iqbal, is in Milwaukee where the Republicans are holding their national convention. I asked her first what she made of what Joe Biden had said.
Well, it's a crack in his armour, isn't it? It's the first time that we have got an insight into how he's feeling about this pressure on him to step aside. It had gone away for a while following that assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Donald Trump became the focus again. But now there is this renewed pressure. I think Adam Schiff coming out is very significant.
But it does show that Joe Biden recognises that there might be a situation in which he could step aside. But it was a big if. At the end of the day, he's saying he'll only step aside if there are extraordinary circumstances which force him to do so.
And I'm just seeing reports that President Biden has cancelled his speech in Las Vegas because he has tested positive for Covid. Numerous reports of that coming in. That's going to make it obviously much harder for him to campaign and win over his doubters. I think it will also concern people as well because Covid is something that people forget that that's still happening.
exists. He's had COVID before and he's been fine. But I think given his age, given his fragility, given that there are already these huge questions about his health, it will just add even more to the concern that people have regarding him. Now we can hear the hubbub of the Republican National Convention behind you. Day three today, we'll see Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, making his primetime debut with a big speech in a few hours time. And here he is joking about it a little earlier.
I joke with the president that, you know, I'm very excited about this evening and I don't plan to screw it up. But if I do, it's too late. He made the pick, right? It's official now. So, Nomiya, what should we expect from J.D. Vance as he introduces himself to the American public?
It's really funny he made that comment because Donald Trump is very much known for getting rid of members of his staff if he doesn't agree with them. So I'm sure if J.D. Vance suddenly stepped out of line, Donald Trump might change his mind. But let's see. So right now I'm in the convention center.
There are thousands of delegates who are here, thousands of members of the Republican Party. I'm actually sat in the seating area behind where Donald Trump and his family will be sat later tonight to watch J.D. Vance give his speech. Big moment for him. He's only been in politics for just two years as a senator for Ohio. He's a young guy, 39 years of age. And, of course, so much has been said, hasn't it, about Trump?
how once upon a time he was a Trump hater, now he's a Trump loyalist. It'll be interesting to see if he refers to any of that because he constantly gets asked about it. I think we will see him fully aligned with the Trump agenda, the hardline policies, and also that we might hear something about him in regards to foreign policy. But what we'll see is a complete and utter dedication to Donald Trump. You know,
J.D. Vance has sensed where the Trump voters are and he's made a power play for them because I think J.D. Vance is now being seen as the heir apparent to Donald Trump. Noamir Iqbal at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Eric Trump has spoken out in defence of the US Secret Service following the assassination attempt on his father. The agency is facing criticism over the security failings that allowed the attack to happen. The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security has launched an investigation. Our North America editor, Sarah Smith, reports. The head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheetle, is facing growing calls for her to be sacked as questions mount about how a gunman came so close to killing former President Trump.
Multiple investigations have been launched and Ms Cheadle will be questioned in front of two congressional hearings next week. One focus is likely to be her comments in an interview with ABC News that health and safety was a factor in the security lapse.
The snipers were not stationed on the roof used by the gunman because it was sloped. That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside. There's been praise for the agents closest to Donald Trump who rushed him off the stage after the shooting, including from his son, Eric.
Security around the former president had actually been increased as recent intelligence suggested there was an Iranian plot to assassinate him.
Conservatives have been attacking Ms Cheadle for being too focused on increasing diversity and inclusion within the Secret Service at the expense of effective security. She had pledged to increase to 30% the number of female recruits, while right-wing politicians and commentators are saying women shouldn't serve in the Secret Service at all and attacking the female agents closest to Mr Trump at the time of the shooting.
Despite ups and downs between the world's two biggest economies, the US and China have maintained communications over issues like arms control. However, on Wednesday, China announced it is suspending its involvement in nuclear arms control talks in protest at American weapons sales to Taiwan. The US said it regretted the Chinese decision. Here's the US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
China has chosen to follow Russia's lead in asserting that engagement on arms control can't proceed when there are other challenges in the bilateral relationship. We think this approach undermines strategic stability. It increases the risk of arms race dynamics.
We have made efforts to bolster the defense of our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, and we will continue to make those efforts in the face of Chinese threats to their security. Our Beijing correspondent Stephen McDonald told us more about China's announcement.
Well, it's all being blamed on, as you say, US weapons sales to Taiwan, to the democratically governed island, which Beijing claims is its own, but effectively operates as an independent entity. You know, they're saying the US is supplying these weapons, but I had a look at the actual weapons that they're talking about. And more recently, they just seem to be, I say just, are
spare parts for fighter jets, millions of dollars worth, but spare parts for fighter jets. And that's been enough for Beijing to say, well, we're pulling out of all nuclear non-proliferation talks with the US for the time being. So back to times of high tension, it would seem. The Chinese government will remember last time there was a Trump administration. It was
really, when it comes to dialogue between these two governments that we are slanging matches, both sides throwing barbs at one another, whether it be COVID or trade or what have you.
The Chinese government's sort of already preparing their economy for not being able to sell as much stuff into the US. But the big bonus from Beijing, in terms of their point of view, is the chaos, the sort of perceived damage that Donald Trump will do in the West more generally. They think a Trump presidency means division in the West and it makes this country, China, seem like a sea of stability and more appealing for other countries. So in that sense, you know, they might think, well, bring it on.
Stephen McDonnell in Beijing. Thousands of people across the Caribbean are still struggling to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which pummeled the region two weeks ago. One of the worst affected areas was the island of Carriacou, just off the coast of mainland Grenada. The UN's Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Steele, is from Grenada and has returned to Carriacou where his own family were badly affected. He spoke to Rebecca Kesby.
Karakor is my home. That's where my family live. And just seeing the violent devastation of this storm, the twisted, mangled, flattened remains of people's homes and vegetation, infrastructure is truly heartbreaking. 98% of people
properties of homes, infrastructure has either been destroyed or damaged on an island of just 10,000 people. Just going village to village, those that are able to are sheltering in the remains of the homes, if not in the remains of family, friends who have taken them in. But there's still hundreds of
people on island that are currently sheltering in schools, community centres. The rains continue to pour in the middle of the rainy season. People without shelter are under tarpaulins. This population is going to be left on their own to figure out how they build back better. And it
cannot happen without the necessary international support and for the process that I am part of to work. This was an unprecedented storm. It happened early in the season and there's every chance that there could be more hurricanes. This storm...
happened very quickly, so there wasn't much time to prepare either. What kind of things are people able to do in the short term? Well, in the immediate aftermath, it's literally going village by village, just trying to clear the mass of debris. My own aunt took three days to
to cut through all of the fallen trees, debris, to get to her home before we knew she had survived. And there are many stories of that. So the initial effort of just cleaning up this apocalyptic place
scene. That in itself is a mammoth task. But that's only the first phase. You know, it's how do people, those who don't have insurance, and many don't, they simply can't afford it, how do they put back their roofs, build back their homes, build back their businesses, their livelihood? You know, we're seeing all around the world communities struck by disasters, hurricanes, cyclones, whether it's floods, whether it's through droughts.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Steele. Now, here's a story for anyone hoping for immortality, or at least a slightly longer life. Scientists in Singapore and the UK have discovered a drug that can increase the lifespan of mice by nearly a quarter. The middle-aged rodents who were treated in a lab were healthier, stronger and developed fewer cancers than the control group. Here's our medical editor Fergus Walsh.
The quest for an elixir of life has obsessed many scientists over the centuries, but usually led to a recipe for snake oil. But a team in Singapore and Imperial College London have produced impressive anti-ageing results, albeit in mice.
Writing in the journal Nature, they showed that an antibody treatment given to middle-aged laboratory mice led to them being less frail, with leaner muscle and a lower risk of cancer. Their lifespan was increased by up to 25%. The older female mice had such glossy, furry coats and a youthful appearance they were dubbed supermodel grannies by the laboratory staff.
The treatment targets a protein called interleukin-11, levels of which increase in humans as well as mice in older age.
Professor Stuart Cook, one of the researchers, explains how the antibody works. It turns off the interleukin-11 signal, which hits two or three master ageing switches within the cell. So when you turn off interleukin-11, you turn off the ageing switches and you improve the bodily function in all your organs, which are affected by age. The treatment is already being trialled for lung disease in humans –
It's far too early to say whether the same striking anti-aging benefits will result, but the researchers behind the mouse study think further human trials are warranted. Fergus Walsh. And still to come on the Global News Podcast... The Olympics for me, it was a dream when I was a child. I come from Afghanistan. I've tried my best one for everyone, and especially for women in Afghanistan.
The women cyclists representing Afghanistan at the Olympics.
Jewelry isn't a gift you give just once. It's a way to remind your loved one of a beautiful moment every time they see it. Blue Nile can help you find the gift that says how you feel and says it beautifully with expert guidance and a wide assortment of jewelry of the highest quality at the best price. Go to BlueNile.com and experience the convenience of shopping Blue Nile, the original online jeweler since 1999.
That's BlueNile.com to find the perfect jewelry gift for any occasion. BlueNile.com. Selling a little or a lot. Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real-life store stage, all the way to the did-we-just-hit-a-million-orders stage, Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers, re-branding,
With the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash broadcast. shopify.com slash broadcast.
Days after calling student protesters collaborators, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister has tried to calm tensions, thereby promising justice for six people killed during the demonstrations. Sheikh Hasina expressed her condolences and said those responsible would be punished. However, students trying to hold a funeral ceremony for their dead colleagues were dispersed by riot police throwing stun grenades. One of the students was killed in a fire in the city of Bangalore.
One of those killed on Tuesday was Abu Sayyed, the youngest of nine siblings. He'd been studying English at Begum Rokea University in Rangpur. We heard from his mother and sister. Sheikh Hasina is responsible for my son's death. I want her to be tried. I want her to be punished. So why did they kill him? He was unarmed. He just had a flag of Bangladesh in one hand.
They got him alone. They could have broken his arms or legs. Why did they kill him? I want justice for him. I want the killer to be hanged.
During her TV address, the Prime Minister also hinted that a forthcoming Supreme Court ruling would address the demands of protesters to scrap a controversial quota scheme. More than 30 million young Bangladeshis are unemployed, and the students are angry that many government jobs are reserved for the descendants of veterans from the 1971 War of Independence.
How can the government run these attacks? We've been saying since the beginning that we're general students. It's a matter of common sense that over 50% of the jobs cannot be given away to quota holders. A normal state cannot be run like this. We
I asked the BBC's Akbar Hussain in Dhaka what he made of Sheikh Hasina's speech.
It looks like she tried to calm down the protesters. But it doesn't look like that the government will back down or they will accept the quota protesters' demand. Even the protesters, they have rejected the prime minister's speech and they again announced countrywide shutdown on Thursday and they will block all roads and railways. But in the meantime, what the prime minister said, that she urged the student to go back to the classrooms immediately
And said that they should have patience because the whole thing is pending before the highest court in Bangladesh. And she believes that the protesters, they will get justice in the judicial system. At least six people had died. And she promised to have judicial investigation over the death incident.
And she said that whoever is responsible for that, they will be punished. It's an attempt on the part of the government to tame the protesters. But I don't think any major changes of the government policy shift. Yeah, particularly as we saw police clamp down on that attempt to hold a funeral for those six students. When Prime Minister, she was addressing the nation in television...
At the same time, hundreds of riot police, they entered the university campuses across the country and they used excessive force, tear shells, rubber bullets to drive them out from university campuses. So what the protesters, they're saying, they describe it as a double standard on the part of government.
when the Prime Minister is urging calm, but at the same time, police is using excessive force in different university campuses. And what do you make of the divisions we're seeing actually on campus with students forcing out those who support the government? The student wing of the pro-ruling party is...
They attacked the ordinary students and the ordinary students, they took to the streets and they vowed to resist the pro-ruling party student wing.
And in different campuses, ordinary students, anti-courter protesters, they actually fought the counterattack on the pro-Ruling Party student wing activists and students and drove them out of the campus. So they said that, you know, they hid back because they were beaten earlier. Yeah, I mean, given the divisions between these two groups of students, as well as the protesters' distrust of what the prime minister is saying, where does it all go from here? Very difficult to predict exactly.
It looks like the government will not back down. And on the other hand, the anti-quota protesters, they say that they will continue their protest until their demands are met.
The protesters, they will block roads, railways and highways, everything. So we'll have to wait to see how the police will react to that countrywide shutdown programme. Akbar Hussain in Dhaka. When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan nearly three years ago, women lost many of their rights, including access to sport.
That prompted questions about how the nation would be represented at the Olympics, with calls for Afghanistan to be banned. However, a special Afghan gender equal team will be at the Games in Paris. Firouz Rahimi has spoken exclusively to two Afghan women competitors at their training camp in Switzerland.
In the shadow of the looming Swiss Alps, Yildiz and Freba Hashemi dig deep and pedal even harder to hurl their bikes through the drizzling rain. It is the culmination of both a long and difficult personal journey and political wrangles over whether the country would be allowed to compete at the Games following the Taliban's takeover.
Training at the state-of-the-art facility in Switzerland is very different from where they grew up in Faria, a remote and conservative province in northern Afghanistan. There, the sisters taught themselves to cycle and had to wear disguises when competing in their first races. They dreamed of one day competing at the Olympics even as people, angry at seeing women riding bicycles, threw stones at them.
In 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, they placed huge restrictions on women's rights. Fearing for their future, the sisters used their contacts in the cycling community to flee the country.
Fariba told me how much going to Paris 2024 will mean to them in the light of their country's recent troubled history. When you go to Olympics, would you be thinking about Afghan women? Of course, always I'm thinking about Afghan women. The situation is now, it's so different in Afghanistan and everything is closed for the women. I hope they open everything for the women.
In Paris, Yildiz Anfreba will be part of a special gender equal Afghan Olympic team made up of three men and three women. Fazl Ahmad Fazli, the president of the Afghan Cycling Federation, who like the sisters now lives in Switzerland, helped to negotiate their place at the Games. We are the people which never give up and we keep on striving just to make this possible.
There was many discussions, there was many requests. And the day when we heard this confirmation, that joy was just, I cannot describe how happy I was and how excited I was. The decision to send this team ended months of uncertainty over whether the Taliban would be allowed to send a male-only team to the Games. The International Olympic Committee now say no Taliban officials will be allowed at the Paris Olympics.
For Fariba, taking part in the Games will fulfil a lifelong ambition. The Olympics for me, it was a dream when I was a child. I come from Afghanistan. I've tried my best for everyone, especially for women in Afghanistan. Despite the challenges that lie ahead, they are determined to make their presence felt at the Olympics in front of the world. For them, this is about far more than just sport. Feroz Rahimi reporting.
Researchers have found that a cheap drug prescribed as a blood thinner can be used as a cheap antidote for cobra venom. The discovery was made by scientists based in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the UK, as we heard from our health correspondent Dominic Hughes.
It's a team of scientists from around the world, but led by the University of Sydney and also the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. They have been looking at how venom from snakes actually attacks cells and tissues and bones.
And they concentrated on the venom of spitting cobras, which cause the most bites in areas of Africa, but particularly also in India. And they worked out the way that the venom actually gains access to human tissue. And they found that if they use this drug called heparin, that mimics what the venom would do when it finds itself attacking tissue. And instead of attacking the tissue, it sort of attacks the heparin. So it binds itself to the heparin.
heparin and is also neutralised by the heparin if there's enough heparin there. Now, heparin is this blood thinning drug that is very cheap, really widely available and has been used safely for years and years and years. So it's got a very strong safety record.
And the idea is you flood the bite site with this drug heparin and it costs a fraction of what traditional antivenom antidotes cost. And of course, antivenom antidotes are really very snake specific. They're very specific to a particular species of snake, a very particular type of snake. But heparin seems to work for lots and lots of different types of spitting cobra.
It doesn't work for every snake type, but it does give the researchers a real insight into how they might develop other sort of antivenoms using these existing classes of drugs. Our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes.
On many days since the Hamas massacre in Israel on the 7th of October, we have reported on the war in Gaza. This week, Israel has kept up its airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, with many casualties reported. At the same time, hopes of progress in ceasefire negotiations seem to be fading, as Hamas accuses Israel of deliberately undermining the talks.
In this podcast, though, we thought we'd bring you another story from Gaza via BBC Arabic. It's about a family finding ways of making life a bit more bearable, even while being displaced by the fighting. The details from Stephanie Zachrisson.
For many Palestinians, agriculture is more than just a source of income. It's tied to a sense of pride and love of the land. For Nadja Kouda, it's always been a way of life, coming from a family of farmers in the north of Gaza. And when the war forced them to flee and seek shelter in Rafah in the south, she tried to keep a piece of home. With shortages on food, Nadja started growing vegetables by the tents they were living in.
As water supplies were scarce, she gathered the water she'd used when cooking to wash rice with. When she managed to grow some vegetables to feed the family, other people in the camp noticed her success. The neighbours were very kind. They came to ask for food.
Our neighbours began asking for radish leaves to make salads. We shared them and tomatoes with everyone. During Ramadan, we were able to enjoy arugula and radishes, high-priced vegetables that many of us displaced just couldn't afford.
Najah's endeavours inspired other displaced families to start cultivating their own vegetables, encouraging them to nurture and care for their small makeshift gardens. But as the war inched closer to Rafah, they were again told they had to move.
As I prepared to leave and dismantle the tents, I felt a deep sadness about leaving my garden. Those plants were as dear to me as my own children, as I'd cared for them so diligently. Najah took some corn seeds and wrapped them in nylon to bring them with her as her family, for a second time, had to pack up their belongings and leave.
When they arrived in Almawasi and Khan Yunis, she hoped she'd be able to plant them. But she soon realised that the soil there was full of sand, with little hope of getting anything to grow.
But determined to overcome yet another challenge, Najah got her brother and his family together and moved clay that she then mixed with the soil, a project that proved to be a success. Thankfully, our plants have started to bear fruit. Now, we have a new plant.
Now I'm looking for seeds of other vegetables, like cucumbers, to grow. Naja's determination to keep her family traditions alive, even at times of war, has created a vibrant green space between the tents, a symbol of hope. And she says that the success has strengthened the family's belief that life might one day return to normal. Stephanie Zachrisson reporting.
Finally, the remains of the largest stegosaurus ever found have smashed the world record paid for a dinosaur skeleton. Named Apex, the 150 million year old remains fetched $44.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York. James Reid reports.
There were gasps and applause in the auction house as the bids for Apex rose higher and higher. The final price was ten times more than predicted, and a third more than the previous record for a dinosaur, paid for a Tyrannosaurus rex in 2020. Measuring eight metres long, the Stegosaurus is one of the most complete skeletons ever found. It comes with dorsal plates and the spiked tail it used to defend itself from predators.
The fossil was unearthed two years ago in the US state of Colorado. The identity of the buyer has not yet been made public. In recent years, super-rich private collectors have often outbid museums to the dismay of scientists. James Reid.
And that is all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Chris Hansen and produced by Alison Davis. Our editors, Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.
Never sleep hot again with Boll & Branch's best-selling naturally cooling sheets. They feel super crisp and cool to the touch and are expertly designed for enhanced breathability so you don't overheat at night. Start getting your best night's sleep this summer with cooling sheets made with the highest quality materials. Try Boll & Branch with a 30-night worry-free guarantee.
Plus get 15% off and free shipping on your first set of sheets at bowlinbranch.com with code BUTTERY. Exclusions apply. See site for details. Selling a little or a lot.
We'll be right back.
With the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash broadcast. shopify.com slash broadcast.
