Global News Podcast - Hamas leader Haniyah killed in Tehran

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

Hamas says its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has been killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital. Iran vows revenge. Also, Kamala Harris takes her campaign fight to the crucial state of Georgia, and don't underestimate the memory of a goldfish.

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. 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 Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Welcome to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Chris Barrow and at 13 GMT on Wednesday the 31st of July, these are our main stories. Hamas says its political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran.

Iran vows revenge. Kamala Harris takes the fight against Donald Trump to the crucial state of Georgia. And small but important, a rise in interest rates in Japan. Also in the podcast, how Indonesia wants to wean young people off cigarettes. And... It kind of gives us an excuse to treat them poorly because, you know, if we have a low opinion of their intelligence, then, you know, perhaps we can abuse them and get away with it.

Are goldfish memories really that bad? But first... We start with sounds from Tehran University this morning as demonstrators marched holding photographs of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader who was killed in the city after what Hamas has said was an Israeli strike on the house where he was staying just hours after attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president. These Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah condemned the killing. Frankly, the news was shocking for all Palestinian people at home and abroad. It was a cowardly operation and another crime to add to the occupation's record

of assassinations of resistance fighters, mujahideen and leaders of the Palestinian people. There will be a response. There will be a strong response and also a response from Lebanon. There will also be a reaction to the crime in Lebanon yesterday. Today we are facing a disaster with the assassination of the martyr, Commander Ismail Henia. Israel hasn't taken responsibility for the killing, but the defence minister,

Yoav Galant, said Israel is not seeking to escalate war, but is prepared to handle all scenarios. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has stressed the importance of continuing discussions on a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. We've been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza, but also to prevent the conflict from spreading. Whether it's in the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it's the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it's Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it. And I'm not going to speculate on what impact any one event might have on that. I asked Saeed Shahata of BBC Arabic for more details. The information we have only from Hamas, a statement saying a raid against the residence of Mr Haniyeh in Tehran ended to kill him.

So they accused Israel for the killing or assassination, according to their statement. Israel's response said they don't comment on media reports. So this is the situation. But there is nothing more except, like, the fear of the reactions of Hezbollah, of Iran, Houthi in Yemen, and some other radical militant group like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, they might capitalize on this occasion to get more support for their cause and do something.

So it might be some targets outside Israel. And the hope is the reaction from Iran and Hezbollah and the others will not be massive for the Israel to react. This case will be escalating for unwanted and all-out war between Hezbollah and Iran from one side and Israel from other side. I just mentioned a couple of the countries who have reacted so far, the US, Antony Blinken. We've heard some comments from Yoav Galant there, but what are other countries saying, presumably to try and de-escalate this situation? I thought the reaction is on the escalation side, because, for example, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Guide of the Iranian Revolution, said that revenge for the assassination of

Haneia is a duty on Iran. So it is on the escalating side. The Prime Minister of Qatar says the assassination and escalation will put a question. How can you conduct a negotiation while one side kills the other side of the negotiation? So it is implicitly accusing Israel of doing that and this will affect. So while Mr. Blinken saying it might not affect this fire, this fire will go on. But I don't think so, because from Jordan to Egypt to Qatar to Turkey to China to Russia, all of them saying what happened will end to escalation, to chaos in the region. So there is fear from the statement from these countries.

There is something wrong happened, and no one wants the war. Iran doesn't like the war. Israel doesn't like the war. Because Iran cannot do that because they have economic problems inside. They have many problems. Israel also cannot fight on different fronts. Even Mr. Garland said they are ready for all scenarios supported by the United States, but I don't think

they can fight on different fronts. So in reality, they cannot do like an all-out war, but their reaction will be a reaction, will be some military action from Hezbollah and Iran. It's not going to be, there is no reaction from there. And for example, the Musa Abmarzouk, one of the members of the political bureau, which

was headed by Mr. Haniyeh, said it is a coward action, will not be passed without any reaction from Hamas. So all of Hamas, Hezbollah and others, there is a tendency to revenge from that. But all the hope that will not be like massive for an all out war to be happen, just not be good for everyone. Saeed Shahata from BBC Arabic. So who was Ismail Haniyeh? My colleague Amal Rajan has been speaking to our international editor Jeremy Bowen about the Hamas leader. been targeted by Israel since October 7th, sons and grandchildren who were traveling with them killed by the Israelis. Now, what is interesting about this? Well, many things, but Haniyeh was not a figure that lived in hiding like the leaders of the military wing, and I think the Israelis are frustrated they have not hit, they haven't managed to get to Yahya Sinwa who's the Hamas commander in Gaza and the mastermind of the 7th of October so you know assuming it was Israel who killed him

I can't see who else it might be and they haven't commented as yet as I speak to you anyway why are they doing it now when they must have had some chances in the past? Now, it was not politically possible for them to kill him in Qatar. Killing him in Iran, though, does send a message about Israel's reach, a message that no one is safe. One other thing, the Americans are saying repeatedly, and not just the Americans, the British as well and others, Israeli allies are saying to them, try not to escalate what's going on in the Middle East. Hania was involved in the ceasefire and hostage release talks, so this is not going to make those

any easier. He was essentially a guest of the Iranians, and he was under their protection, and an Iranian security guard was killed as well, apparently, in this assassination. We don't have any details as yet about how it happened. I think the Iranians will have to ponder hard about how they do respond, if they do. I imagine they might, in some particular way, because you'll remember that they responded after there was an Israeli raid on their embassy compound in Damascus, killing senior officials a few months ago,

and then they responded with an attack on Israel. So will they want to do something like that again? That was quite a telegraphed attack. People knew it was coming, as if they had to do it, but they didn't want to escalate things too much. I don't think the Iranians want a more intense war in the region at the moment. And I think perhaps because of that knowledge, the Israelis feel that they can push harder. But of course, Israel now finds itself really engaged in active military combat on multiple fronts to the east to the north. And the question is,

do they have sufficient resources, military resources? And do they have sufficient international support to sustain military combat on multiple fronts? Yeah, multiple fronts, that attack in Beirut, killing, they say, it's not confirmed as yet, top Hezbollah commander. And don't forget, not that many days ago, there was a big raid as well in Yemen against the Houthis. So the Israelis are extremely active at the moment in terms of military resources. They are a very powerful country. And most importantly, they have the United States behind them, who have since the 7th of October, done a massive airlift of munitions and weapons and the things that the Israelis require. So I think they have that capacity. However, it's a deeply divided, unhappy country.

You saw those scenes the other day when there were, if you like, almost vigilante attacks on Israeli army bases to try to pull out soldiers who had been accused of torturing, sexual assault, the rape of a prisoner. And there were mobs who were led by members of parliament who were trying to get them out. So on the home front, there's a lot of division and unhappiness and these massive challenges around the region and Israel seemingly pushing hard against its enemy. So this is, you know, yet another delicate and dangerous moment. Jeremy Bowen. Ever since Joe Biden announced that he wouldn't be running for president in the US election in November, his vice president Kamala Harris has become the party's frontrunner to replace him.

Well, last night she brought her campaign to Georgia, saying the path to the White House runs right through this state. Nearly a third of the population in Georgia is black, and historically Democrats there have depended heavily on strong turnout among them. Our North America correspondent, Neda Tawfiq, was at the rally and sent this report. A show of political force, with the spotlight on the crucial role this battleground state of Georgia will play in November's election. Hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo became the latest celebrities to endorse Kamala Harris as she looks to become the first female president of the United States. Excitement continues to build for her, with thousands of people filling the stadium in Atlanta to see her. She's hope, you know, and the enthusiasm that we feel, it's like 2008 all over

again. 2008 Barack Obama. Absolutely. I see it on TikTok. I see it on Instagram. I see my classmates post things, my friends post things. Kamala Harris told the crowd that her path to the White House runs through their state and that she was fighting for the future and for their freedoms. The freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government kill her. This crowd was incredibly energetic during Kamala Harris's speech, interrupting her several times to clap and chant.

Her entry into the race has given Democrats here a newfound swagger. It seemed like the peach state was out of reach with Joe Biden as the nominee, but they believe now it is back in play as long as Black voters turn out to the polls. In the last election, President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to take this state since 1992. Still, he won by fewer than 12,000 votes, making Georgia the state with his narrowest margin of victory in 2020. On this beautiful sunny day here in Midtown Atlanta, people are out and about shopping and eating.

And speaking to them, you know, there are some encouraging signs for Kamala Harris's campaign. But it's also clear that she has a lot of work to do with voters in order to secure a win in this state. Kenneth White says if Joe Biden stayed in the race, he planned to sit out the election. I probably wouldn't have voted at all. Yeah, but now that, you know, she's up and running, I'm going to get out and vote for sure. How energized are you now that she's in the race?

On a scale of one to ten, I would say a nine. Pretty energized. Yeah, pretty energized. Why? It's different. It's refreshing. It's something new for the country. It's something that we genuinely need. But Corvin Duckworth isn't as swayed. No, I haven't made up my mind yet.

Right now, I don't really have a plan to vote. I feel like we've had people of my descent in office who haven't done much for us, even local and presidential level, not really feeling like politicians really have people's best interests. And Radhika Patel, an Indian woman who has a son of Black and South Asian descent, just like Harris, isn't focused on her background, but rather her policies. I'm less concerned about if they are Indian, black, white, Chinese, Hispanic, Mexican. It doesn't matter. Their policy is kind of far left. It's in great opposition to what I believe just as my personal values and my personal morals.

I believe in male and female. I believe in a healthy economy. I believe in healthy family. And I just think that she is not in line. And in a sign that Republicans are taking notice of the shift in the race, the Trump vans campaign just announced they will be holding a rally at the same venue on Saturday. Neda Tawfiq in Atlanta. The Japanese central bank has announced its latest interest rate decision. And for a country which has grappled with economic stagnation for many years, any movement, however small, is big news. Our business correspondent Mariko Oi has more on the story.

Japan's rates have been near zero for so long. They were the pioneer in cutting rates to zero. They even went negative. They exited that negative rate policy back in March. And today, they've raised rates to 0.25%. So it's not that high. Even if you are living in Japan, it's still very, very low. They also announced that it will shrink its massive portfolio of assets

that they bought over many years of monetary stimulus. So basically, they are trying to return to monetary policy, you know, something closer to global norms. Mariko Oi. Still to come on the podcast, after years of conflict, a ceasefire deal has been agreed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. 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. To Venezuela, where the country's main opposition leader, Maria Karina Machado, is facing the threat of arrest following the disputed result of Sunday's presidential election. President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner. The opposition say they're sure the election was stolen, with their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, they claim, winning 70% of the vote. Thousands gathered peacefully in the capital Caracas on Tuesday

in contrast to violent clashes which marred protests the day before. At least 11 people have died and more than 700 protesters arrested, including two opposition leaders. Our correspondent Ione Wells has more details from central Caracas. Protests have continued. People weren't deterred by the violence that broke out the day after the election. Thousands and thousands of people gathered in the city centre again to protest against President Maduro and his claim to victory. It was a relatively peaceful protest on the whole. Many people I spoke to there were

saying that they were there to defend democracy. They believed that the election had been a fraud. Some, though, did say that they felt the only way this would end was if the military and the police decided to join them, the opposition, against the government. So far, the military police have been very loyal to the government. They've been hitting back at some protesters around the city, in some cases firing tear gas and rubber bullets, where some of those protests have escalated. Now, there was also a gathering of protesters of pro-Maduro supporters in another part of the city. Some of them said that the opposition's claims that this election was a fraud are untrue and that they haven't been proved. The opposition say that they have receipts from a majority now of the electronic voting machines in the election

and they argue that these receipts prove that they, not President Maduro, won the election. The government, though, has accused them of instigating a coup, backed, in their words, by US imperialism. Ione Wells. Instability and violence in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. But now there appears to have been a major breakthrough.

The foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda have agreed to a ceasefire. More from Richard Hamilton. The talks have been held in Rwanda, the Angolan capital, in the presidential palace because they were mediated by President João Lourenço. They come as a humanitarian truce between the Congolese army and the rebel group, the M23, who was due to expire on the 3rd of August. So it's not immediately clear if this ceasefire extends that truce or whether it has a wider scope.

So we do have to be a bit cautious, and previous agreements have collapsed. But if it holds, this could be a massive deal. Rwanda in the past has denied supporting the M23. But the United Nations has in a report said that Kigali funded the group. And Rwandan forces have also been accused of operating inside the DR Congo alongside the rebels. Now this all goes back to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when Hutu militia escaped across the border into the DR Congo, which was then Zaire. Rwanda, in turn, armed militias to use them as a buffer to protect the Tutsi population and to avoid a repeat of the genocide. The M23 was created in 2012,

and it re-emerged in 2021. They took the provincial capital Goma in the past and at the moment control nearby towns. So tens of thousands have been killed and up to half a million displaced in the last few years. So a massive potential deal that's already been welcomed by Belgium, the former colonial power. Richard Hamilton. And South Africa is the latest country to welcome remote workers, also known as digital nomads. It's introduced a special visa to make it easier for people to work in the country, which allows those earning more than $18,000 to stay for up to three years.

For example, with one of these visas, I could go and live in South Africa but work remotely for a company back here in the UK. Well, Cape Town is one of the most popular destinations, but locals aren't happy. They say foreign workers are driving up prices. Mo Ali reports. I've come to the popular V&A waterfront in Cape Town. It's a place called Design Studio 17, an open plan office space, large desk areas where digital nomads actually have office space to do their work. And one of the digital nomads here today is Oscar Murphy from Ireland. For me, Cape Town is probably the most beautiful

place in the world. It's a city that has unparalleled access to nature. Food is amazing. The people are super friendly and open. Murphy is one of thousands of digital nomads who spend part of their year working in Cape Town. The new digital visa, which was approved by government in May, allows for workers to initially remain in the country for a year. Those who stay for more than six months must pay local income taxes, but an exemption is available to those staying for shorter periods. And people earning more than around $18,000 will be able to work legally in the country for a period of up to three years. But while Murphy and his fellow digital nomads are having a great time in Cape Town,

many locals have complained on social media platforms about the rising cost of rent and food, and even a change in culture. One of the aggrieved Capetonians is Azimashli Diobeni, a digital content creator. I don't think I could pay for rent currently, but all of my friends that are paying for rent are currently struggling to find good places. Cape Town's rental costs are the highest in the country. The average rent is around $540 a month, and prices rose by just under 4% between 2022 and 2023,

according to the South African property site Payprop. It's difficult to move even in Cape Town because once your lease ends, then your landlord will drive up the price because they can, and there is going to be someone who's going to come from maybe America looking to live for six months or a year, and they will pay the whole rent up front. While Diobeni says something needs to be done to prevent locals from being disadvantaged by favourable foreign currency, James Foss, the city council's executive member for economic development,

believes digital nomads are good for economic growth in Cape Town. We have been pushing for the digital nomad visa precisely because it will be a boon to our local economy and jobs. But as a city government with our tourism partners, we want to champion responsible tourism. While the debate about affordable rents and the rising prices in restaurants goes on, the digital nomads continue to arrive in South Africa in big numbers as they go in search of the perfect blend of work and play. Mo Ali there. Indonesia is going to introduce strict new laws on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in an effort to reduce smoking rates and to prevent young people from

taking up the habit. Cigarettes are easy to buy individually and are very cheap. Our Asia-Pacific regional editor Celia Hatton told us more. Indonesia is one of only six countries in the world where smoking rates are rising. And they're not just rising, they're exploding. They're up 40% since the year 2000. And it's really a gendered thing in Indonesia. So 70% of men in Indonesia smoke.

It's thought to be a way that men kind of express their masculinity, while only two percent of women do. And you're totally right. It's really big among young people. So before around a third of Indonesian children try smoking before they turn 10. So it's a massive problem in Indonesia. And the new regulations, what exactly are they trying to do? Because you can buy cigarettes individually, I believe. Yeah, well, you can, but that's going to change. So you can buy a cigarette in Indonesia for as little as 12 cents. So that's going to change. You have to start buying them in packs.

That's also a way to collect more taxes, I think. But also the smoking age is going to go up from 18 to 21. Although, as I've just said, you know, most Indonesian children, many Indonesian children try smoking before 10. So we're not quite sure about how these are going to be enforced. But they are going to try to stop vendors from selling cigarettes near schools or they're going to clamp down on advertising. But you're totally right. Critics have a lot of questions about whether these new rules are actually going to be enforced. I just wonder as well, if you bring in lots of new rules that already, you know, the existing situation is not being enforced anyway,

you know, will it drive it underground perhaps? Because, you know, if you're going to make it stricter and people still want to do it, there's always the chance that there's a sort of a black market for this kind of thing. The truth is that there's basically the Indonesian government is fighting with itself. So you have the Ministry of Health, which is really starting to confront a huge explosion in cancer rates and lung conditions because smoking rates are so high. Ninety four million people are smoking inside Indonesia. But then you also have this really powerful tobacco industry, which is saying, look, we bring in billions in taxes and also we employ around more than 600,000 people. Now, the WHO, the World Health Organization, says what you need to do is just charge more taxes.

So they recommend that if you buy a pack of cigarettes around the world, three quarters of the cost of that pack should go towards taxes. In Indonesia, it's around half the cost of a pack of cigarettes. So they say, look, you really need to start bringing in more money in taxes, more than just the billions you already bring in, because you're going to have just an explosion in healthcare problems going forward. Celia Hatton. Now, the old saying, you have a memory like a goldfish, is usually used as an insult, implying that someone has a pretty terrible memory. But new research suggests that having the memory of a goldfish might be a good thing, as Anna Aslam explains. Many people believe goldfish can only remember the past three seconds, but that sounds fishy to scientists. They argue all species need to have good memories to find food, breed and survive in the wild. In his latest experiment, Professor Cullen Brown found that

rainbowfish can spot a hole in a net to escape and recall where it is nearly a year later. They learnt really, really quickly. And by the end of four or five trials, they would basically be swimming calmly in front of the net. And about halfway down the aquarium, they would literally do a U-turn and swim directly through the hole. About 11 months later, I put them back in the same apparatus and tested them again. And they continued at the pace that they'd left off. It was incredible. It's not the first experiment to suggest fish have good memories,

although we seem to keep forgetting. Professor Brown described the idea of a three-second memory as nuts. It kind of gives us an excuse to treat them poorly because, you know, if we have a low opinion of their intelligence, then, you know, perhaps we can abuse them and get away with it. Past experiments have found that zebrafish can recognize their own faces in reflections, and African cichlids can remember things for 12 days. Other species hunt together, protect each other from predators, return to breeding grounds after years away at sea

and clean other fish in exchange for not being eaten. And the humble goldfish is no exception. It's been found they can escape mazes, learn tricks, make friends, accurately estimate distances and one study even taught them how to drive a car, which they managed to do better than some humans at rush hour. Probably better than me. I think I can just about remember that was Anna Aslam. That's all from us for now. There will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later on. If

you'd like to comment though on this podcast and the topics that we cover, do send us an email. Our address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. We love hearing from you. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Jack Wilfan. The producer was Oliver Berlau. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Chris Barrow. Until next time, goodbye.

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