Global News Podcast - Germany tightens border controls in immigration clampdown

Episode Date: September 9, 2024

Berlin argues that tightening border controls will combat cross-border crime. Also: Catherine, the Princess of Wales, says she's finished chemotherapy, and James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, has died.

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. Life and death were two very realistic co-existing 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. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free.

Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles, and in the early hours of Tuesday 10th September, these are our main stories. Germany tightens border controls in an immigration clampdown. Catherine, Princess of Wales,

says she's completed chemotherapy treatment. James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, has died. Also in this podcast, Bali's governor proposes a two-year ban on building new tourist hotels. And with the Midwest front and center of the US presidential contest, what does it mean to be a Midwesterner? When you say you're a Midwesterner, it really means something here in the States. That genuine ethic, and you've been raised with it, you've been raised to work hard, you're not given anything, and I think that means a lot. Germany says it's introducing strict new controls

at all its land borders to combat illegal migration and counter the threat of Islamist extremism. The country's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said the measures would come into force next week. She announced the move at a news conference in Berlin. This will further limit irregular migration and protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terror and serious crime. We are doing everything in order to better protect the people of our country against this.

That includes the far-reaching measures I am taking now. To find out what lies behind the new approach, I've been talking to our correspondent in Berlin, Damon Beginnis. Germany already has controls at many of its borders, so particularly eastern and southern borders such as Poland, Czechia, Switzerland. And what they've done so far is it's generally spot checks. So it's likely that is going to happen in this case as well now at all borders. It's not something that travellers or commuters will necessarily notice. What they might notice is some cars are being flagged down or in trains they might see some border guards talking to some passengers

and asking to show their documents and their passports. But apart from that, it's probably not going to make a massive impact on most people's lives. There is a political context to this, isn't there? The political context is this ferocious debate about migration we've got going on right now. So the move comes after a fatal stabbing in the town of Zorlingen in August. Three people died there.

The suspect is allegedly a Syrian asylum seeker who came to Germany, whose application for asylum was rejected. He was supposed to be deported. He wasn't. And this man is accused of being an Islamist extremist. So on the back of that, this sparked off a huge debate about migration and asylum seekers whose application have been rejected not being deported when they should be. But it's also about the elections. We've had last week key regional elections in Eastern Germany where the far-right AFD did very well.

Then in less than a week, there's another key election also in Eastern Germany in Brandenburg where the far-right is also suspected to do very well. And the three governing coalition parties have done very badly. So they're in a mode of panic now, because all of a sudden, all of mainstream parties in Germany, with the exception of the Greens, but all the others, are really trying to talk tough on migration, because they think that's the way to undermine the AFD. Critics would say that's not correct. You know, you have a lot of NGO groups, refugee rights groups. The church has now come out today saying these measures are dangerous and inhumane. But certainly mainstream politics has suddenly shifted into this quite harsh rhetoric about migrants and refugees.

What's this going to mean for the unity of this three party coalition in power at the moment? It's difficult to say because I think right now the mood and the debate is sort of at fever pitch. So what you have right now in Germany, you have quite a shrill debate among centrist politicians who are suddenly talking very tough on migration to an extent that we haven't really seen in Germany for a long time. I think also we're seeing a governing party, the centre-left Social Democrats, the Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party, in a political meltdown. So they're reacting. Also, it seems to be a mode of panic. And this is not going to help the government because we've got three parties pulling in three different directions on this.

You've got the Liberals who are talking even tougher on migration. They want even tougher border checks. And then you have the Greens that don't agree with any of this at all. So one of the reasons why this government is not doing well with voters is because they've been arguing a lot and pulling in three different directions. And this issue is only going to increase that feeling of disunity within the government. Damien McGuinness in Berlin. The European Union needs more than $800 billion of extra investment every year and major reform or it's at risk of decline. That is the stark assessment spelled out in a report by Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central

Bank. He's calling on the bloc to develop a more coordinated industrial policy to stop the EU falling way behind the United States and China. Our Europe regional editor, Danny Eberhard, has more details. The EU, the Draghi report says, needs urgent and radical change if it's to compete in an era in which it can no longer count on rapid growth in global trade. Mario Draghi spelled out the magnitude of the situation. We have to understand we are becoming ever smaller relative to the challenges we face. For the first

time since the Cold War, we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation and the reason for a unified response and never being so compelling. Those challenges include a workforce projected to shrink, high energy prices, increasing protectionism restricting access to foreign markets, difficulties securing supplies of key raw materials, and a need for greater defence spending in a less secure world. Productivity, the report argues, is key. It labelled it an existential challenge, as unless it improves, the damage to Europe's economy will mean the bloc will have to compromise some of its fundamental values, things such as equity and social inclusion. Productivity in the EU, it says, is lagging behind the US, partly as the

bloc is comparatively weak in emerging technologies that will drive future growth. Only four of the world's top 50 tech companies, Mr Draghi said, were European. Unprecedented levels of annual investment are needed, it says, nearly 5% of GDP across the bloc, several times that of the Marshall Plan that followed the Second World War. The EU also needs to streamline decision-making and regulation. That's easier said than done in a bloc of 27 countries led by governments of a wide range of political persuasions. The Draghi report says the union must harness innovation, especially in the tech sector, including artificial intelligence, building a better environment to allow startups to expand and stay within Europe rather than be tempted to relocate to the US where there's ready venture capital and less regulation. And it cited defence, both production and procurement,

as a sector that would benefit hugely from better coordination. It's currently badly fragmented. The report also backs decarbonising the economy, one of the European Commission's central aims. This, it says, is not just for the planet, but because it also offers a possible competitive advantage. Danny Eberhard. Six months after she revealed that she had cancer, Catherine, Princess of Wales, says she's finished her course of chemotherapy. She's released a video which was shot in the

English county of Norfolk over the summer, where she was staying with her husband, Prince William, the son of King Charles, and their children. Palace officials have indicated that it isn't possible at this stage to say whether the princess is free from the disease, but they say she will return to what they call a light schedule of public engagements in the coming months. Our Royal Correspondent Daniela Ralph reports. The announcement from Kensington Palace marks the end of this phase of the Princess of Wales' cancer treatment. The palace has been careful with its words. She's not been described as cancer-free, but instead is said to be on a long journey to a full recovery. The news came via a film produced by Kensington Palace. Glossy and polished,

it is narrated by the princess. This is Catherine in her own words, describing the challenge over the past nine months of dealing with cancer. The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant. And we've had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown. It is unusual to see footage of the royal family this intimate and personal. The film shows the Prince of Wales kissing his wife. We see them walking and playing with their three children on the North Norfolk coast over the summer as the princess reflects on how cancer has changed her. This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life,

which so many of us often take for granted, of simply loving and being loved. The princess's return to public life will be careful, with a light schedule being planned that is likely to include Remembrance Sunday and events closer to Christmas. Daniela Ralph. In Kenya, fleets of high-tech drones are delivering HIV drugs and testing kits to rural areas,

and they're dropping their goods at places young people go, such as concerts and football matches. It's part of an innovative project funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation to tackle a rise in the percentage of new HIV infections among young people. Myra Anubi went to Western Kenya to see it in action. Launching hit 977 in 3, 2, 1. From a launch pad just outside the city of Kisumu, a fixed-wing drone is fired into the sky carrying a cargo of HIV drugs and testing kits. Flying at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, they can deliver the drugs to remote areas quickly and accurately.

Sharon Omoja is in charge of flight operations for the drone delivery company, Zipline. Most of the areas we serve, they have challenges like floods. So whenever it floods, it's very hard to get to the health facilities. And also we have the other challenge of the poor road networks. So that's where the drone comes in because it can be able to bypass all those challenges. To find out where a lot of these drones are taking their packages, I took a ride on some bumpy roads to a rural part of the country. The project is targeting young people, so the drones are taking HIV supplies to places where they're likely to go, such as sporty beds. So we've made it to a village called Nyakoko, and as you can hear,

it's buzzing everywhere. It's an open field. There's a football tournament with girls and young boys playing. But over to my right is a white tent, and this is a mobile health clinic. We are having an outreach activity. We are targeting adolescents and youths with reproductive health services and HIV services. This is Joel Abor, one of the nurses. He explained why young people prefer this to a formal health care facility. It could be stigma.

They feel that I'm going to a facility. Maybe a neighbor will see me. We are in an African society. We've got our cultural beliefs. We've got our religious beliefs. Probably that one could be acting as a barrier to them seeking health services as a facility. So we are running out of trust condoms, we are running out of self-test kits. When supplies start to run down, Joel can order new ones from Zipline on his phone,

and they're delivered in less than an hour. And our dropping point should be in the field, around where boys are playing. The drone drops a small parachute with a red box attached. It floats to the ground and Joel goes over to check he's got what he orders. A curious crowd of young people have gathered to watch the drama. So these are the self-testing kits and they are saying they know how to use them. I'm asking him if he knows why it's important to test yourself. To prevent from HIV, to know your status, they say.

And if you know your status, why is that a good thing? Exactly, yeah. Once they know their status, they can plan their lives. For other high-risk groups, such as the transgender community, this sort of outreach can also be a lifeline. Latoya Johnston works for an organization called Transuri. Youth need youthful engagement. You want to go and do the HIV testing in spaces that are friendly,

that are also youth-focused. Right now, if you come here and people are kicking football and there is also the dance and things like that, people will come in without even thinking that they are going to go for testing. Zipline estimates that they've reached more than 80,000 young people in the year and a half that the project has been going, and more than 4,000 have now started taking preventative drugs. Myra Anubi reporting, and you can find out more about the project in this week's edition of

People Fixing the World on the BBC World Service. The American actor known for one of cinema's most distinctive voices, James Earl Jones, has died. He was 93. James Earl Jones started acting in Broadway, taking on theatre roles including King Lear and Othello. But he became famous as the voice of the evil Darth Vader in the Star Wars films. Vincent Dowd reports. James Earl Jones grew up on his grandparents' farm in Michigan. A sympathetic teacher helped him conquer a severe speech

defect. Acting allowed him to escape his early lack of self-confidence. I was mute until I was about 14 because I'm a stutterer. I still am a stutterer. And when I learned how to work around that stutter, I learned the great beauty in those who could speak. There were countless screen credits, but from 1977, it was a voice-only role which brought him fame throughout the English-speaking world. In Star Wars, producer George Lucas knew he needed to dub in an imposing voice for the Jedi-gone-bad Darth Vader. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father. He told many other screen parts, including a voice-only appearance in The Lion King. For years, James Earl Jones was the voice of news channel CNN, but his defining role was as the voice of one of the, but his defining role was as the voice

of one of the greatest bad guys in cinema history. Vincent Dowd on James Earl Jones, who's died. Coming up, we hear from the double amputee who climbed Kilimanjaro just two years after her injury. The whole landscape is bathed in this otherworldly pink glow and I was completely overcome with emotion and literally burst into tears. 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.

If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Cleanup efforts are underway in northern Vietnam following a weekend of devastation caused by Super Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year.

More than 60 people are reported to have been killed. Ella Bicknell has this report. After devastating parts of China's high-end province and the Philippines, on Saturday, Yagi made landfall in Vietnam, bringing winds of up to 200 kilometres an hour. Flash flooding and landslides followed. One alone is reported to have buried 17 people. On Monday, a bridge over the Red River in Fudo province collapsed, plunging several vehicles into the water below. 13 people are still missing. These people survived.

A dashcam in their car recorded what happened. The vehicle was seconds away from reaching the bridge. Nguyen Minh Hai was riding a motorbike. He says he's lucky to still be alive. I was so scared when I fell down. I feel like I've just escaped death. I can't swim and I thought I was going to die. In neighbouring Yen Binh province,

houses were left submerged under more than a meter of water. And 200 kilometers to the east, the coastal city of Hai Phong, factories were destroyed, including the walls of a plant owned by South Korean electronics giant LG. Manufacturing in Vietnam is an essential link in the supply chain for some of the world's biggest companies. Hai Phong's too many citizens are just coming to terms with the devastation. Neighbours rally together to pull trees off the street, and shopkeeper Bi Wen-chu has spent the day sweeping floodwater off his porch. The damage done to this community is extremely severe. Most of our roof was blown away and the

ceiling caved in. It may take three to four years for this place to look the same again because the damage is so terrible. Vietnam's weather agency downgraded the storm on Sunday but it's warned of an ongoing risk of flooding and landslides. Millions of people are still without power and authorities say it's one of the worst storms to have hit the country in more than 30 years. Ella Bicknell reporting. America's Midwest is sometimes derided as flyover country but it may hold the key to the outcome of November's presidential election. It's home to two crucial swing states, Wisconsin and Michigan, and both vice presidential nominees, the Democrat governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the Ohio senator, Republican J.D. Vance,

both with similarly folksy tones, but two very different visions. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, their family, their community, and their country with their whole hearts. But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America's ruling class in Washington. Now, I grew up in Butte, Nebraska. Growing up in a small town like that, you learn how to take care of each other. That family down the road, they may not think like you do, but they're your neighbours. And you look out for them and they look out for you.

Tim Walsh and before him, J.D. Vance. Another Midwestern state is Missouri and my colleague James Menendez has visited a rodeo there in the town of Defiance about an hour out of St. Louis. He went to hear what Midwesterners are really like and what they want from their politicians. We drink soda, not pop. We have pork steaks, toasted raviolis. We live in Missouri, not Missouri. I've got to ask you about toasted raviolis, because they're not really toasted. They're deep fried, aren't they?

Only in Missouri, buddy. We have a really strong root of values and morals. And you have a tendency to see like a sense of community more, I think, in the Midwest. And I think a lot of people still yearn for that. Days gone by, simple life, neighbors looking out for each other. And it's just that sense of like, we're all in this together. And in cities, you don't have that. I think we're good people. At least for me. I know I try to find the good in everybody. Polite, there's no reason to be mean or rude. I mean, there's just, life's too short.

The cowboy hats and boots feel like a world away from St. Louis, but the link is the man who's put on the rodeo, Billy Bush, one of the heirs to the Budweiser beer fortune. The family brewery, now sold off, is still in the city, and the family name is everywhere. But Billy prefers life out here in the country. It's a great place to grow up. It's where my great-grandfather landed when he came over from Europe.

He saw the business along the Mississippi River. It's where our roots are, and it's where my family built an incredible business, you know, a beer dynasty, if you will. A world-famous business, Budweiser Beer, of course. How do you feel? We're coming up to an election in November. The Midwest is front and center of this campaign for both parties.

Both the vice presidential candidates are from the Midwest. I mean, is it gratifying that people are paying attention to the Midwest? Because often people say that they feel a bit forgotten by whether it's Washington or people on the coast, LA, New York. I mean, is that fair? I think the Midwest, it's very important for the candidates this year. And every state is going to be very important. Missouri's a red state. Yeah, nothing's going to change here, is it? I don't think anything's going to change here. You know, we have conservative values here. The values of hard work and faith are born here in the Midwest, really are. Can we

talk a bit about immigration? It's a big topic in this election. I mean, your family story, of course, is one of immigration in the 19th century from Germany. And your forefathers saw the potential, as you say, of this land. What does that have to tell us about what's happening today? Well, you know, there's nothing wrong with immigrants. That's what this country was founded on. It's just how immigrants come into our country. Are they coming in legally or are they coming in illegally? Illegal immigration seems to be giving all immigrants a bad name these days, and it shouldn't be that way. But unfortunately, with the borders being left open,

as they have been under the current administration, the immigrants, now all immigrants seem to have suffered from it. I hope that changes. I hope we get back to the basics of the way we used to do things and vet these people before they come in the United States to make sure they're here to work and not cause problems in our country. We Lord knows we have enough of that already. And it's Donald Trump, then the man to do that. I think for sure he's he's the man to do that.

I think, you know, his policies on immigration, on the economy, on our world affairs, Crime in the streets and other things have been really good for America. I think we need him back in the Oval Office to run this country again. On the issue of immigration, it's worth saying that Missouri desperately needs more people to come and work here. St. Louis in particular is one of the fastest shrinking cities in the country. But in a red state, solidly Republican, that's not a message you're likely to hear in the run-up to the election. James Menendez reporting from St. Louis, Missouri. With its pristine beaches and party atmosphere, the Indonesian island of Bali is popular with budget backpackers

and tourists enjoying luxury resorts. But too many visitors has become a cause of concern for the island's acting governor, who's proposing a two year ban on building new hotels, villas and nightclubs. This follows a crackdown earlier this year on bad behaviour by some Western tourists. I heard more from our Asia-Pacific regional editor, Celia Hatton, who's visited the island. I have more from our Asia-Pacific regional editor, Celia Hatton, who's visited the island. I have been to Bali. It was quite quiet when I was there. It is not that way now. And officials are saying, and locals alike, and even tourists who go there and are paying increasingly eye-watering prices

for the right to stay there, are really worried because Bali is an island. So that means it has limited space, limited resources, and it's dealing with over-tourism. That's when the number of visitors exceed capacity. So, Nick, if we go back to 2021, the height of COVID, there were only 51 foreign tourists visiting the island that year. In the first six months of this year, we've already had almost 3 million tourists. That's huge. But I mean, the island itself? Yeah, well, there's a population of 4.4 million people on the island. But you know, the people who run it, the acting governor and others are saying, look, we just need to put a hold on more development, no more luxury

resorts, nightclubs that are basically paving over what is paradise. And they're worried about the numbers coming and also the type of person coming. I mentioned that some people have been behaving quite badly. What kind of things have been going on? Well, we've been seeing a lot of issues with people who were going to Bali and aren't really paying attention to Bali's unique culture. So we've had a lot of locals who were upset by those who perhaps dress inappropriately when visiting a sacred temple. We've also had a lot of drunkenness, fights, violence, crime, tourists begging for money on the streets of Bali simply because they

run out of money, they can't get off the island. So we've had a lot of concerns about that. So not just overdevelopment, but over tourism. And this ban on building, it's a proposition from the acting governor. Is it likely to get through, do you think? I think it's getting a lot of support. In fact, one other Indonesian official was proposing a 10-year ban, saying that that's what's really needed to put a stop to things, because construction is just proceeding at such a rapid pace right now. This is a popular move, is it potentially? It seems so.

I think locals are really pushing for it as well because the things that make Bali beautiful, the rice terraces, the greenery, those things are really disappearing at a very quick rate. Celia Hatton. And finally, a British woman who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident just two years ago has just become the first female double amputee

to scale Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. Sarah de la Garde first climbed the mountain about a month before her accident, but when she slipped and fell onto train tracks and was struck first by one train and then another, she probably thought her mountain climbing days were over, but not so. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Sarah and asked her how it felt to get to the top of Kilimanjaro for a second time.

It was absolutely amazing. So you basically start from base camp at around midnight. You hike up the mountain for about seven hours. You get to the top just as day breaks. And it's absolutely incredibly beautiful. The whole landscape is bathed in this otherworldly pink glow. And of course, it's extremely difficult to be at that altitude. Breathing is very laboured. There's 49% less oxygen up there. So it really feels like you breathe with one lung. But we made it to the

top and I touched the sign and I was completely overcome with emotion and literally burst into tears. Well, yeah, I mean, it must have been such an emotional experience making it for the second time given everything you'd been through. Absolutely. So I thought it was completely impossible. The first time round it was a dream, 10 years in the making for my husband and I. We turned 40 and didn't have an opportunity to celebrate, so we thought it would be fantastic to climb up that mountain. And it was really hard the first time around. But little did I know what was awaiting afterwards. The incident, my life changing injuries,

gave me the impression that none of this would be ever possible again. Well, that must have been very difficult to try to come to terms with. But it seems as if you still in the trauma ward and then later in the rehabilitation center. And yet individuals would, my friends, my colleagues, my family would come to see me and say this. Oh, you'll be able to climb up Kilimanjaro one day. And it sounded to me like they wanted to reassure themselves at the same time. And for me, I laughed bitterly goal that over time, it motivated me at the time, but over time, it became a crazy reality. Yeah. Well, I mean, your injuries were obviously very serious. You've got two prosthetic limbs, I think an arm and a leg. And no doubt over the past two years you'd have had so much rehab and physio to try to get your fitness back. How was it climbing with your prosthetics? Was it more dangerous in any way or

did you have to take extra precautions because of that? Yes of course I had to have a whole team to support me to get up there. You can't do it on your own, for sure. And I needed to have the prosthetics fitting to the millimetre to avoid injury, overuse of my limbs, chafing, blistering. And I had two medical professionals join me up the mountain. They were looking after me extremely well. Balance is a complete danger for me now. If I lose it, I could just tumble down a mountain because both amputations are on the same side.

That adds to the difficulty for sure. And climbing Kilimanjaro for anybody is really mentally tough too, isn't it? Because you've already mentioned it's at altitude, it's very steep in parts. Do you think though that the second time maybe your mental ability was even tougher than the first time? Yes. And there was a moment where, particularly on the last day on the final ascent, where I questioned my life choices, really, where I thought, why don't I just go and relax on the beach? But at no point did I think that I reached my limit because the past two years had been so incredibly difficult. I mean, physically, yes, completely difficult, but at the same time, the mental resilience that I needed to build out, that was what helped me ultimately up to the top. Mountain climber Sarah De La Garde, who's raised more than US$13,000 for a charity called Stand,

helping amputees in conflict zones and developing countries. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was produced by Judy Frankel and mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles. And 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.ca. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can

listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News americast and the global story plus other great bbc podcasts from history to comedy to true crime all ad free simply subscribe to bbc podcast premium on apple podcasts or listen to amazon music with a prime membership spend less time on ads and more time with bbc podcasts