Global News Podcast - Blasts rock Beirut as Israel attacks Hezbollah HQ

Episode Date: September 28, 2024

Huge blasts in Beirut as Israel attacks Hezbollah HQ, reportedly targeting the group’s leader. Also: the ongoing violence in Haiti, and the man asked to leave a restaurant because his face was scaring customers.

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. Deloitte's 2024 CXO Sustainability Report reveals 92% of executives believe their company can grow while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly half are transforming their business models to address climate change, and 85% increase sustainability investments in the past year. Results show there is no retreat from sustainability efforts.

Instead, signs that climate action is moving to the heart of company strategies. Visit Deloitte.com forward slash CXO report to learn more. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step.

But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. cam8.ca. far. High-rise buildings were flattened with at least six dead. Israel says it was targeting the headquarters of Hezbollah. The fate of the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is unknown. The Israeli prime minister gave the go-ahead just moments after addressing the United Nations. Also in the podcast, at least 33 people have been killed after Hurricane Helene came ashore in Florida.

And... A couple of days ago, the biggest gang leader of Haiti threatened my life. He published two videos and attacking me personally and saying he's coming for me. How armed gangs in Haiti are targeting journalists who report on their violence. Just minutes after the Israeli Prime Minister addressed the world's top diplomatic body, the United Nations, in New York, he gave the green light to his armed forces to launch a devastating strike on Hezbollah in Lebanon. The massive blasts in the heavily populated area of southern Beirut just after 6pm local time flattened high-rise buildings

and sent huge plumes of smoke into the air. The strikes reportedly targeted the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, with an Israeli official saying his death would be a game-changer in the conflict. Lebanese media reported that he was unhurt and had been taken to a safe place, but that hasn't been confirmed. The Lebanese health ministry said six people had died and more than 90 been injured. I heard more about the strike, the biggest of the war so far,

from our correspondent in Beirut, Anna Foster. This was heard and felt right across Beirut. I was just a few kilometres away, and the sound of those seven or eight just repeated very, very loud bangs was different to anything that had been heard before in the last few days. It looks like several buildings have been razed to the ground. We're looking at pictures of rescue teams in there digging through the rubble, trying to find survivors.

What Israel say is that they were targeting Hezbollah's, essentially, headquarters, which they said that Hezbollah had deliberately located in a civilian area. And it's worth saying that this particular area, Dahir, it's called in the southern suburbs of Beirut, is a Hezbollah stronghold. It's an area that they hold. but it is a place where people live, where families with children live and go about their daily lives. Now, from what Israeli sources have been telling the media, it sounds

like they were targeting the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in some kind of decapitation effort. Do we know what's happened to him and the impact on Hezbollah? It is kind of murky because we're hearing different things from different sides, as you might expect at this stage. So Israeli media are reporting that Hassan Nasrallah, as you say, the leader of Hezbollah, was the target. Obviously, somebody that Israel were very keen to target. What we're hearing out of Iran at the same time

is something sort of very different. They're saying that he's fine and well. That was what they were saying originally. But then it also seems in some Iranian media, this idea is starting to creep in that, you know, any leader of any organisation has people who are ready to step up and take their place if they're not around anymore. But at the moment, it's just a bit too early to tell.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has tried to show that it is still a military force. It's fired rockets into Israel. Israel has hit back, so the fighting goes on. It does. I mean, what you've seen just in the last couple of hours from Hezbollah is sort of very similar to the rhythm that we've seen for the last week or so. I think the question is whether or not there is going to be a more significant response. And again, it's difficult to tell. You know, if you look at, for example, an event which happened a few weeks ago now, which was the killing of Ismail Haniyeh,

the leader of Hamas's political bureau. A huge response was expected to that, you know, possibly Iran joining in with that response. But that hasn't happened just yet. We know that these airstrikes that we've seen over the last week in the south of Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley as well, Israel say that they were designed to degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities. So they said they were targeting weapons storage, missile launch sites, although it is also important to say that civilians have been killed in those operations as well.

At least 50 children have been killed. So what can Hezbollah do next? And organisations allied with them, the Houthis, for example, in Yemen or Iran themselves, what they might consider to be a reasonable and proportionate response is something that we will wait and see. Of course, Lebanon has been through difficult times, terrible times over the past few decades. And indeed, in recent years, the economic collapse,

that huge explosion in the port. What is the mood in Beirut now? Well, you know, I'm looking out over the port, in fact, as I'm speaking to you now, over that area of the city that was so badly damaged back in 2020. And, yeah, I mean, people here in Lebanon have had an extraordinarily difficult time, series of crises, you know, whether it be electricity, lack of electricity, lack of food, political crises.

It's been an enormously difficult time. And certainly anybody you speak to here doesn't feel strong enough, frankly, to face a war at the moment. But right now, you know, even though a ceasefire is being talked about two days ago, this is the opposite of that. And it's hard to see how any kind of de-escalation can be achieved. Anna Foster in Beirut. Well, as we record this podcast, Israel has been carrying out new airstrikes on what it said were weapon sites in southern Beirut

after ordering residents of specific buildings to leave. They also attacked the city of Tyre. France said the attacks must be halted while the Iranian president said Israel was to blame for a blatant war crime. Joe Biden has expressed concern about an escalation and directed the Pentagon to adjust US force posture in the Middle East as necessary. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said it was a precarious moment for the Middle East and the world, and called once again for a truce.

It is a legitimate and important objective for Israel to, again, create an environment in which people can get back to their homes. The question is, what's the best way to do that? What is the most effective, sustainable way to do that? We believe, and many other countries who joined us in putting out a call for a ceasefire for 21 days, believe that the best way to do that is through diplomacy, through a ceasefire and then reaching an agreement. Antony Blinken speaking at the United Nations in New York.

Well, earlier on Friday, there was a walkout by some diplomats as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, prepared to address the General Assembly there. Order, please. Mr Netanyahu was then cheered by his supporters in the chamber as he promised to continue attacking both Hezbollah and Hamas and making no reference to any ceasefire discussions. He accused the UN itself of being an anti-Semitic swamp and

called on other countries to help fight what he said was a common enemy, Iran. Will your nation stand with Israel? Will you stand with democracy and peace? Or will you stand with Iran, a brutal dictatorship that subjugates its own people, exports terrorism across the globe? For too long, the world has appeased Iran. It turns a blind eye to its internal repression. It turns a blind eye to its external aggression. Well, that appeasement must end. And that appeasement must end now. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner gave us his assessment of Mr Netanyahu's speech. Benjamin Netanyahu is right at the top of his rhetorical form. He is a very accomplished

orator. I don't know how much that speech he wrote, but he certainly delivered it with gusto. But he's only telling a part of the story here. Let's not forget that the curse of October the 7th, as he put it, the disastrous day for Israel last year when they got raided by Hamas in that barbaric and sadistic raid. That happened on his watch. So there is a lot of antipathy towards him in Israel for letting Israel's guard down at that point. He made no mention of this speech and the fact that Israel carried out an airstrike in April, on April 1st, on a diplomatic mission, the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed 12 people, and that's what triggered the Iranian response. Yes, Israel wants peace, and Israel has been unfairly attacked in many cases,

and it is under constant threat for a lot of people. But Benjamin Netanyahu is seen by many, including in the US State Department, as an obstacle to the ultimate settling of the Palestine-Israeli question, namely giving the Palestinians a state of their own. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner. Other news now, and at least 33 people have died in the United States after Hurricane Helene crashed ashore in Florida late on Thursday night local time. Helene, which had been a Category 4 storm, has now been downgraded to a tropical depression.

But Georgia and the Carolinas are still under flood alerts. Dave Malkoff from our US partner CBS News reported from Atlanta, Georgia, while standing in water up to his waist. Where the storm came on shore was 270 miles. CBS News reported from Atlanta, Georgia, while standing in water up to his waist. Where the storm came on shore was 270 miles from where I am standing right now. This is Atlanta. It's in North Georgia, the state above Florida. That shows how widespread, fast-moving and strong Helene actually was. This is an apartment complex,

this car completely underwater. There's a couple of them that are underwater all the way up to the rooftop. But there are lots of people who are in these apartments back here. Dave Malkoff of CBS News in Atlanta, Georgia. Every month, people in Brazil who are on social benefits spend half a billion dollars in gambling, most on football and other sporting bets. Now the government is considering blocking those who receive such payments from spending the money in online gambling. So how big an issue is it?

I asked our America's regional editor, Leonardo Rocha. It's huge and it's very embarrassing for the government I asked our America's regional editor, Leonardo Rocha. spending their money on betting companies. There are about 3,000 of them in Brazil. And another aspect of that is these benefits that they normally go to the women in the family, to the mothers. So it's like child benefits. And most of the people addicted are women. And it's targeting women who are poor in society using state government money to go to very profitable companies. Online gambling is quite a new thing in Brazil but you were saying it's taken off quite spectacularly. It's amazing everywhere

you look for example the last time I looked at 15 of the 20 I think now 18 of the 20 teams in the top football division are sponsored by betting companies. You have music events. The Volleyball Federation is sponsored by betting companies. They're everywhere. They're also involved now with crime because it's being used by money laundering. There's some scandals that have happened with famous singers and politicians. It's quite overwhelming. And that's since regulation of betting was done a year ago. So two previous governments and the current government, left-wing government, are involved in that. The government thought it was a good idea to balance the books

and now they are in that situation, which is very embarrassing. Yeah, I mean, how will this latest measure work? Is it even possible to stop people using their money in any way they want? They'll try to use like what's equivalent of the social security number of people who get the benefits and block them. There's another problem in Brazil that you have this immediate transfer from bank to bank that people use on their mobile phones, the pioneering system in Brazil called PIC.

So people do it all the time. They can do it on the spot. And we all know that online gambling is highly addictive. People at home, they're doing that. And when you see the evidence, it's really shocking and it's a concern for the government. I don't know if it's going to work. America's regional editor, Leonardo Rocha. And still to come on the Global News Podcast. I don't go up to a person in a wheelchair and I don't ask them, why are you in a wheelchair? Somebody with a facial difference is no different to that. I'd like this experience to educate people about what it might

be like to live with a facial difference and let's all be a bit kinder to each other. The man asked to leave a restaurant because his face was scaring other customers, now campaigning to educate people about his condition. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference.

It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. Deloitte's 2024 CXO Sustainability Report reveals 92% of executives believe their company can grow while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly half are transforming their business models to address climate change. And 85% increase sustainability investments in the past year. Results show there is no retreat from sustainability efforts. Instead, signs that climate action is moving to the heart of company strategies.

Visit Deloitte.com forward slash CXO report to learn more. On Thursday, it looked as if Vladimir Zelensky would head home from his trip to America without seeing Donald Trump. The former US president has been critical of the Ukrainian leader, while Republicans in Congress are furious over Mr Zelensky's visit to a key swing state with senior Democrats in tow. But in the end, Mr Trump relented and confirmed he would meet the wartime president after all. So how did their talks go at Trump Tower? This was what the former US president had to say.

We're leading in the polls, so we'll see how it all works out. Hopefully it'll work out, but if it does, we're going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled. It has to end. At some point, it has to end. This country has gone through hell like few countries have ever, like it's happened anywhere. Nobody's to end at some point. It has to end. This country has gone through hell like few countries have ever, like it's happened anywhere. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. It's a terrible situation. For his part, President Zelensky explained why it was important for him to meet both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. After November, we don't know who is on the

American side, who will be the president. But we understand that until November, we can't stop Putin. We have to do it. We will try on the battlefield with our heroic soldiers. But we understand that after November, we have to decide. And we hope that the strengths of the United States will be very strong. And we count on it. That's why I decided to meet with both candidates. Our correspondent in New York, Neda Tawfiq, covered the talks for us.

So did she observe anything new in Mr Trump's approach to Ukraine? Well, we still didn't get any details about how he expects to end the war. He said that he wants to see a fair deal and that it would happen at the right time. But he reiterated that the war should stop. And when he was asked and pushed on kind of what was fair, he said it was too early to say that. The dynamic between the two men was interesting, too, because Donald Trump said he was honored to have President Zelensky there

and he said they had a good relationship. But he also put in that he had a great relationship with President Putin as well, to which Zelensky kind of jumped in and said, I hope we have more good relations between us. So certainly for President Zelensky, it was a victory just to have the meeting, but not really clear what concrete ideas President Trump had. It seems like the two still have different ideas. Yeah, I was going to ask if the two men had patched up their differences, but it sounds like they made a little bit of progress, but perhaps not gone all the way. There was some tension before this meeting, even questions about whether it was going to even happen. Donald Trump was very upset when President Zelensky visited an ammunitions factory in the

battleground state of Pennsylvania. He kind of saw that as him wanting to help Kamala Harris win the presidential election and even called him the greatest salesman in history who leaves with, you know, billions of dollars every time he leaves the United States. And I was actually at a press conference at Trump Tower yesterday when they actually asked Donald Trump, you know, why did you decide to essentially change your mind and meet with him? But it seems like Donald Trump agreed that this was an important meeting to have. And it seems like they both are patched up. He said that Zelensky was a man of steel for how he handled a call years ago, which led to Trump's impeachment in the House.

Neda Tawfiq in New York. And just a reminder that we're doing a special Q&A podcast on the US presidential election in a couple of weeks' time. So if you have a question you'd like to put to our AmeriCast colleagues in Washington, then please send us an email to globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk or tweet us at globalnewspod. And thanks to those who have already sent in voice notes. Three months after the deployment of 400 Kenyan police officials to Haiti, gang violence there continues to plague the lives of those in the Caribbean nation.

A report by the UN Rights Office has highlighted the scale of the problems in Haiti. More than 3,500 people have been killed since the start of this year and the gangs who control much of the capital have been recruiting large numbers of children. So what is life like for ordinary Haitians? Julian Marshall spoke to Widlaw Merancor, editor-in-chief at the local news organisation Aibo Post. As a journalist first, I'm facing threats that are specific to my field. For instance, a couple of days ago, back on Wednesday, the biggest gang leader of Haiti, Barbecue, threatened my life. He published two videos about me questioning my reporting and attacking me personally and saying he's coming for me. So right now I am concerned. I have concerns for my own safety.

And I also have concerns for the safety of my team here working for Ayibu Post locally. But on a more broad and general level, the gangs are extremely vicious in Haiti. Back, let's say, more than two months ago, when the Kenyan force arrived in Haiti, people had high hopes that they would fight effectively against the gangs. But today we are not seeing important results with regard to how they are tackling the gangs. It's quite the opposite. Kidnapping is making a comeback. The force is complaining of a lack of resources, a lack of personnel, because there are about 400 in the country. Their mission is supposed to be, you know, helping the Haiti security forces to fight the gangs. However, they have yet to register any substantial victory against the gangs. And it's a problem for Port-au-Prince.

It's also a problem for places outside of the capital. You have places like Artebonite, for instance, which is a very important place in terms of agriculture in Haiti, where the gang problem skyrocketed in the past months. You have other places that were usually not really touched by the gang violence problem, but you're seeing more and more gang members leaving the Haiti capital and going to places outside of Port-au-Prince to sow chaos and violence and destruction. A new report accuses these armed gangs of using sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations. Does that sound familiar to you? Absolutely.

When gang members come to your neighbourhood, generally, you know, virtually every aspect of life is affected by such presence. They burn down houses of people. They force folks to leave their homes. They rape women in sometimes systematic ways. And they assassinate people. It's a very brutal situation. And because actually the force is seen as ineffective, we are seeing them becoming more present. For instance, a couple of days ago,

we have reported that there were shootings, bagging members close to the army's offices, which is actually close to the Haiti National Palace. So they are not just controlling more territories. They are not just attacking places that they did not attack before, but they feel so at ease that they can, you know, try to attack other state institutions in a context where you still have this Kenyan force in the country. And it's another indication of the ineffect still have this Kenyan force in the country. And it's another indication of the ineffectiveness of the Kenyan force.

Widlow Marancourt, a journalist in Haiti. Here in the UK, three climate activists have carried out a repeat protest by throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh paintings. The action at the National Gallery in London came shortly after two of their fellow Just Stop Oil campaigners were sentenced to prison for doing almost exactly the same thing two years ago. In a video posted on X, the three protesters can be seen throwing orange-coloured liquid over two sunflower paintings, one of which was attacked back in 2022. You will be held accountable for our actions today. 2022. The trio took off their coats to reveal Just Stop Oil t-shirts and sat down in front of the soup-covered canvases. One of the protesters asked the crowd when will fossil fuel executives and politicians be held accountable for the damage they're imposing on every living thing?

Our correspondent Divya Talwar has more details. The National Gallery confirmed that three people had been arrested but that the paintings were undamaged. Just an hour before, hundreds more Just Stop oil supporters had gathered outside Southwark Crown Court as Judge Christopher Hare sentenced 22-year-old Anna Holland and 23-year-old Phoebe Plummer. The pair had targeted another of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings with two tins of Heinz tomato soup in October 2022. While no harm was done to the

painting due to its glass cover, the antique Italian frame was damaged. Plummer told the court she made her choices and that she was happy with them. The judge described their actions as idiotic. Divya Talwar. 3D printers have been used to create all kinds of things, toys, furniture, even cars. But our next story is about a device that works on a bigger scale. It's set to build the world's first 3D-printed hotel. Stephanie Zachrisson has the details. In the sandy desert of western Texas, on the outskirts of the small city of Marfa, a new set of buildings is taking shape. Carved walls browning as they dry in the heat are being piped out by a robotic arm

that's attached to the almost five meter tall 3D printer. As it's layering thick lines of the cement-based mixture to create the walls, it doesn't look too different from piping icing on a cake. Jason Ballard, the founder of the printing company Icon, wears dark glasses and a wide-brimmed hat to protect him from the scorching sun as he walks into one of the future bedrooms, a circular room, and explains the idea behind the project. You know, the base mixture, it's a little bit secret, so I won't give you all the formula, so to speak, but we've restricted ourselves to a list of globally and ubiquitously available materials so that we can do this all over the world and do it affordably all over the world. So no exotic materials, no super expensive materials.

The plan here in the Texan desert is to expand El Cosmico, a remote artistic campground of vintage trailers, yurts and tents, with the addition of 43 hotel huts and 18 residential homes. Its owner, Liz Lambert, says the new technology allows for unbridled creativity when constructing them. I've never been able to build with such little constraint and such fluidity. Just the curves and the domes and the parabolas, it's a crazy way to build. Milad Basli is a science and technology lecturer at Charles Darwin University in Australia. He says the efficiency of 3D printing on an industrial scale provides a lot of possibilities, but points out there would be other consequences when swapping construction workers for a printer.

It just cuts so many of those jobs from the social point of view and the effect in the economy in terms of the local jobs, especially in remote areas, that could be one of the issues that we need to consider when we're going to 3D printing. There are already projects for building 3D printed housing in countries like Germany, Ireland and Portugal. And slightly further away, NASA's been looking at 3D printing for building human settlements on the moon. Stephanie Zachrisson. The film The Elephant Man tells the true story of John Merrick, a heavily deformed man who was mistreated because

of his appearance. That was in Victorian England. But spool forward more than 100 years and are things any different today? Well, the experience of Oliver Bromley would suggest that some attitudes remain the same. He has a genetic condition that causes non-cancerous tumours to grow on his nerves. The effect is very visible on his face. He told Anita Anand about one occasion when a restaurant asked him to leave because of complaints he was scaring customers. I've never really been as directly discriminated against as I was on that occasion. I went into the local park and I actually bawled my eyes out. I called my wife who came to my rescue, she consoled me and we worked on a plan of action going forward. And I had such huge support from the hospital staff with whom I shared the story,

as well as my wider family. So I felt very reassured after that. Did they ever apologize? I used their website contact details, firstly to complain, and then to ask for some sort of justification for why they acted in that manner. They didn't reply. So I took it to the police police who were very helpful. They came and interviewed me. They've recorded it as a hate crime. You say that you don't mind and you've

become used to children in particular sort of staring. I mean, do they ask questions? And do you mind if people say, look, actually, what has happened here? Because it is a very visible condition. No, it is. I don't go up to a person in a wheelchair and I don't ask them, why are you in a wheelchair? A person might have lost a limb. I don't ask. I think somebody with a facial difference is no different to that. I don't always think it's helpful to ask,

but it is always how am I feeling at the time. If somebody asked me and I could see that they sincerely, I'm quite a good judge of character, I have no problem answering that question. You came on public transport and you haven't let it diminish you. It is my normality. So one does get used to it. Interestingly enough, it affects my family. My wife and I mainly, and she travels with me a lot and she gets fed up with people staring, you know, she might go up to a child and say, he's different. This is the way God's made him. And we try and create a learning experience from it. You're a very gentle soul. How have you managed to stay positive and gentle

when you have gone through more than most people? I have a very strong faith. I believe God's called me to this. I have a purpose in life to share this with others. And having a supportive family, there's no substitute for that. Some people are alone, but I've just got the most amazing group of family and friends who support me. So I'm very grateful for that. And that keeps me grounded. Yeah. And if there's one sort of takeaway message that anyone listening to this should put in their top pocket. Let's all be kind to each other. This world is a horrible place,

but just make a difference in one person's life and we can change things around. I'd like this experience to educate people about what it might be like to live with a facial difference and let's all be a bit kinder to each other. Oliver Bromley, who is campaigning to tackle discrimination through education. And that's all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back at the same time tomorrow. This edition was mixed by Nick Randall and produced by Alison Davis. Our editors, Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest.

I grew up being scared of who I was. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. Deloitte's 2024 CXO Sustainability Report reveals 92% of executives believe their company can grow while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Nearly half are transforming their business models to address climate change, and 85% increase sustainability investments in the past year. Results show there is no retreat from sustainability efforts. Instead, signs that climate action is moving to the heart of company strategies. Visit Deloitte.com forward slash CXO report to learn more.