Global News Podcast - Israel to cut electricity in Gaza

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

Israel has ordered all of Gaza's electricity supply to be cut off in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages. Also: Canada announces new leader amid trade war with Trump, and the 3D printed house.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart, from the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is The Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles and in the early hours of Sunday the 9th of March these are our main stories. Israel cuts off power to put pressure on Hamas to

return all the remaining hostages. We get reaction. In Syria the struggle to stop the growing violence against members of the Alawite community. Canada announces Mark Carney as Justin Trudeau's replacement as Prime Minister and why the far-right frontrunner in Romania's presidential vote has been banned from standing in the election. Also in this podcast A handsome man in tails, in his arms, a beautiful lady in evening dress. Prateste, tinge, roger. You've got it. We look back at the work and life of the South African apartheid era playwright Athal Fugard.

We start this podcast in Syria, where there are growing fears amongst the minority Alawite community about their safety. It comes after four days in which government forces have clashed with supporters of former President Assad. Hundreds of civilians are reported to have been killed. One woman, Heba, spoke to the BBC from Baniyas, one of the towns worst affected by this week's violence. They came and attacked our neighbourhood. Our neighbours were killed, including children. They came and they took everything, gold, everything. And for the last three days, we've had no water, no power.

We had to use batteries, whatever we could to stay connected. I got an update from our Middle East correspondent in Damascus, Lina Sinjab. Clashes are still ongoing between remnants of the Assad regime and the official security forces. The number of civilians is believed to have reached nearly 800 civilians from the Alawite communities who have been killed, while you know the number of fighters between the official army and security and remnants of the Assad regime is believed to reach like 500 so far. We cannot independently verify these figures because it shows that there are still fierce battles ongoing in the

coastal sides of Syria. Now as you say the worst of the battles are taking place in that part of Syria but how do people in general and people specifically from the Alawite community, feel where you are in other parts of Syria? Well, there has been a protest here in Damascus today in solidarity of the victims from both sides but also to condemn the killing, to condemn sectarian violence and to send a message to especially the Alawites community that people are standing with them and to the families of the soldiers who've been killed unlawfully by remnants of the Assad regime

that they're standing with them. We've seen the interim president, Ahmad al-Sharah, in the morning calling for national unity in the evening, announcing formation of a committee formed from judges, lawyers, and army officers to investigate the killing, to hold people accountable and have a judicial system to go. And also just a short while ago, he addressed the nation to stress that the new government will not allow any disturbance to the country, that he reassured all Syrians would be protected under this new government. And especially he addressed that he will not tolerate anyone

who violates any orders and attacks civilians and that there will be a committee to protect as well the civil peace in the country, especially in the coastal areas to protect minorities there. So from what he's saying he says he's willing to do all that, is he able to do all that, does he have full control? Well it seems that he's trying his best. There are challenges on the ground, especially from those fighters who committed the killing, the foreign fighters who are still inside Syria and affiliated to some of the troops that are working for him. And so that's going to be the big

challenge for him at the moment to control these groups and bring things back to order. Lina Sinjab, staying in the Middle East and Israel says it's cutting off electricity to the Gaza Strip. Israel's Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, says he's told the Israeli Electric Corporation to stop supplying the territory. I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip with immediate effect. We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and to ensure that

Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after that. John Donerson is our correspondent in Jerusalem. He told us why Israel has taken this latest decision. Basically the aim is to ratchet up pressure on Hamas. Israel cut off most of the mains electricity supply to Gaza early on in the war. But Mr Cohen has now ordered it to be stopped completely. Now that will primarily affect the operation of desalination plants which are crucial for providing clean water. Mr Cohen said he had not ruled out cutting off water supplies completely too. Now after the blocking of all humanitarian aid last week by the Israeli government, the aim as I, is to ratchet up pressure on Hamas,

although it will add to accusations that Israel is committing war crimes. And of course it comes at a very sensitive time with stage two of the siege fire agreement being discussed in Doha. Yes, if not stage two, then an extension of stage one. Those talks are due to resume in Qatar tomorrow between Israel and Hamas. Now Israel is demanding the release of all the remaining hostages, living and dead. We think there are around 24 still alive.

Hamas wants Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza and it wants crucially a permanent end to the war as well as the release of more Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails. Now under the original agreement back in January that was basically phase two, that was what was meant to happen in phase two. Israel is now saying that that original deal is not acceptable and it wants all the hostages to be freed without a permanent guarantee that the war is over or a guarantee that all its forces will be withdrawn.

John Donnison. Canada's Liberal Party has announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's successor will be Mark Carney, a Canadian economist and banker. He won with a landslide win of 85.9% of the votes. In first place, the next Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. He will be sworn in next week as both party chief and head of the country's government. The major shakeup is all happening in the midst of a trade war with the United States that has the potential to cripple the Canadian economy. In his final speech as Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau addressed the threat directly. And now, as Canadians face from our neighbour an existential challenge, an economic crisis. Canadians are showing exactly what we are made of. Our North America correspondent John Sudworth was at the announcement in Ottawa and tell

me more about Mark Carney. Former governor of the Bank of Canada and of course former governor of the Bank of England. The extraordinary thing about him is he is a man, despite that wealth of leadership and economic experience, he is a man with no real political experience. He has never held a cabinet position, he has never even been elected as an MP. But given the headwinds blowing from Canada's neighbour on the other side of its southern border, both economic and political, with the trade war that's been launched, the threats of annexation coming from President Trump.

He's got extraordinary economic credentials, impeccable for arguing the case against tariffs with Donald Trump. Has he got the political heft though, do you think? Well, he's untested. And that is the gamble that this party is taking. He looks like a safe pair of hands. He certainly has the political experience. He will be able to claim in the election campaign proper when it begins, a huge amount of experience in crisis management. He helped steer the Canadian economy through the headwinds

of the global financial crisis. He helped steer the British economy through the economic headwinds that flowed from Brexit. He can use all of that, of course, to his advantage. The lack of experience, you could argue, allows him to distance himself from the outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He is not intimately

associated with the past nine years of his government But on the other hand you have to ask the question This is a man who is pretty untried and untested and although there are signs that the Liberal Party is Dramatically closing the huge polling gap that had opened up at the end of last year between them and their conservative opponents. That gap still remains open. John Sudworth. The independent candidate Carlin Gheorghescu was the winner of the first round in Romania's presidential election last November but before the second round could be held the Constitutional Court annulled the election saying that Russian influence

on social media had affected the outcome. Well a new election was scheduled for May and again Mr. Giogescu led in the polls. But now Romania's central electoral bureau has banned him from standing in the election rerun. Earlier I asked our correspondent Nick Nick Thorpe, what the reason for banning him was. They didn't specifically give a reason, but clearly he was put on trial, or rather he was accused of challenging

or attempting to overthrow the constitutional order. He was actually briefly detained by police some 10 days ago on that charge, attempting to overthrow the constitutional order of being a member or initiating a fascist or neo-fascist organisation. And that was combined with a series of police raids on alleged supporters of Mr. Gheorghescu across Romania during the course of those raids. Gold bullion was found, gold bars were found, grenades, grenade launchers and large amounts

of money. So these were people basically who have been photographed with Mr. Gheorgheescu over the years or over recent months who were alleged to be supporters of his campaign, but altogether, I mean his own supporters who the following weekend came out in their tens of thousands on the streets of Bucharest say that these are trumped up charges, that these are reheated charges from last year, and that this is just an attempt by what they call the deep state in Romania or the mainstream establishment in Romania to try to prevent his candidacy, which of course has now happened with this ruling from the

Central Electoral Bureau. And what happens now? Can he fight this decision in the court? He can fight it because interestingly the decision came from the Central Electoral Bureau rather than from the Constitutional Court and last November after he won the first round of the elections on the 24th of November that he was effectively that electoral victory was annulled by the Constitutional Court. Now he does have the option of, and

I'm sure he will take that, of turning to the constitutional court to try and overturn that decision. But I think many people in Romania, certainly his own supporters, that's why so many came out a couple of weekends ago in his support, they saw this coming really. Nick Thorpe. The South African playwright and director Athol Fugard, whose work included the plays Sizwe Bansi Is Dead and The Island and the novel Tsozi has died at the age of 92. A long-time critic of apartheid, Fugard was known for his activism as well as his art. Vincent Dowd looks back at his career. Internationally Athol Fugard was the South African playwright who put apartheid on stage.

Sometimes though he did it in unexpected ways. Well, who must look happy not like hard work? Romance. What's romance? Love story with a happy ending. A handsome man in tails, in his arms, a beautiful lady in evening dress. Predestined, ginger Rogers. You've got it. Master Harold and the Boys, Fugard's best-known play, is set in 1950 in the eastern Cape province where Fugard had grown up.

Athol Fugard dramatised how badly, as a boy, he'd treated black servants. Yet the play also contains comedy and ballroom dancing. Athol Fugard dramatised how badly, as a boy, he'd treated black servants. Yet the play also contains comedy and ballroom dancing. His mother had been an Afrikaner, his father was of English descent. In his 30s, Fugard became his country's best-known playwright. He set up theatre groups in Cape Town and Johannesburg. His plays, usually premiered abroad, included statements after an arrest under the Immorality Act and Sizway Bansi is Dead, developed jointly with actors John Carney and Winston and Schona.

He lived partly in California, but mainly in South Africa's Eastern Cape, an area he loved all his life. I've often thought about what fascinates me about the Eastern Cape and the nearest I've come to understanding something of my fascination with it is that I have a very, very strong sense of myself as a regional writer. I feel happiest when I am rooted in the specifics of the one place and the one time that I know. Fugard won many awards. In the apartheid era, the South African government saw him as a nuisance, but most of the time tolerated him. From the 1990s, he wrote less about politics.

But in his middle years, his best plays won Athol Fugard a reputation around the world. Vincent Dowd. Still to come in this podcast. We built the largest tower crane that is a robot and that got us to be able to build the whole walls of the house. Then what did we take in the best case scenario? Eight months. It took us about four weeks actually. One man's answer to a housing crisis. 3D print one. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world.

From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart. From the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to the Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Immigrants are a solution, not a problem. That is the position taken by the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Sin Long. The influential politician says that immigration is vital for the city-state's continued existence, adding that the locals simply have not had enough children and migrants were needed to keep the economy growing. Our Asia-Pacific regional editor, Mickey Bristow, has more details. Speaking at an event to welcome new citizens, Mr Long said Singapore needed

migrants to keep the economy growing because not enough babies were being born. He said newcomers energise the economy by bringing new ideas, different experiences and global connections. The ability of the United States to draw top talent from across the world was one of its big advantages, he said. Immigration is essential, even existential, for Singapore's survival. We need new citizens to top up our numbers and to keep our economy growing. But it is not just about numbers. It is also about new citizens bringing with you something extra that is vital.

Enriching our society and invigorating our economy in ways beyond what numbers can show. Nearly one third of Singapore's population of 6 million are foreign workers. Most do not have the privileges of citizenship, they can't stay forever, and the lower paid sometimes complain of poor treatment. But still, Mr Long's welcoming words contrast with the criticism of migrants being expressed in the United States and Europe. Mickey Bristow. It was less than a year ago that there were violent street protests on the streets of

Nairobi. Thousands of young Kenyans even broke into the parliamentary compound, setting some of it on fire as MPs cowered inside. When the protesters got their way in the end, the government cancelled plans to raise taxes. Now President William Ruto seems to have sparked further anger with those struggling to make ends meet. He donated around $150,000 to a church close to Nairobi. Hundreds of people have clashed with police as they tried to get inside the building. I got more from our Africa regional editor, Will Ross.

There was a demonstration by protesters who wanted to kind of take it over and there was a confrontation with the police who fired tear gas and it wasn't a huge number of people but there is a level of anger let's say at the idea of the president giving large sums of money to churches given the high cost of living and everything but basically that the protesters were chased away from this particular church in Nairobi. And William Ruto has just done the same thing again today with another donation. Yeah, just as that criticism was going on and the tear gas was flying around on the streets outside the church in Nairobi, he pledged to give a further, it's roughly $155,000 to a church in Eldoret, but he gave a speech at that church

in which he sort of said that he acknowledges that this is a controversial issue, but he then quoted passages from the Bible calling it a personal donation, basically went on to say that he's not going to stop giving these donations because it's good to create these churches and to help them build and he's sort of suggesting that the churches are using that money to help the poor people in the community. And yet, given the context that we've been talking about, these protests and violent protests at times last year that took place, it is quite incendiary isn't it that the feeling at the moment amongst people who are struggling to make ends meet. There is a section of society that feels that way. I mean we've got to bear in mind that

a huge number of people attend churches in Kenya. We're talking about possibly sort of 80% Christian and And although the Constitution provides for the separation of church and state politics, successive presidents have done the same thing. And going back really to Daniel Arup Moy's time when he handed over money and lots of political speeches were made in churches, that's really continued through the other presidents we've had right up until now. But as you say, I think with the kind of economic challenges and the fact that he came to power, Mr Ruto came to power sort of saying, I'm a hustler, I'm one of you,

I'm going to help you, the poor, I'm not from a political dynasty. He then raised the taxes, people have really been clobbered in the pocket, people are struggling to get jobs and they see him dishing out money. It does for some leave a sour taste. Will Ross. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in a hundred people in Gaza has a life-changing injury because of the conflict with Israel. It's difficult to leave the territory to get medical treatment, but a team of Jordanian medics has been able to enter Gaza and fit war victims with cutting-edge prosthetics. Our Middle East correspondent Yulana Nel has this report.

In a few months, Lieutenant Abdullah Hamidah and his team have seen some 300 patients, fitting each of them with a life-changing prosthetic limb. He's working out of a van at the field hospital that's been specially kitted out. And this fast manufacturing really is something groundbreaking, a world first. Lieutenant Hameda tells me the new technology is having a huge impact on every person he fits. You can't do anything without giving him his life back. Restoring Hope is being funded by a national Jordanian charity. And when the war in Gaza was still raging, Ahmed Kalub, a father in his twenties, came into a tent in Restoring Hope's mobile clinic in Gaza for a check-up with

clinician Lieutenant Hameda. He tells me that the prosthetic which he had fitted a few weeks ago has changed his life. I was struggling to go up and down. Thank God once I got the prosthetic I started slowly returning to my normal life. I can now dress myself, go wherever I want. Nothing can stop me now. The key to it all is a cone made of a special plastic which can be remoulded at high temperatures. This looks a bit like an industrial hairdryer.

And that's exactly what this is. This is a heat gun which allows us to heat up plastics and manipulate plastics in conventional prosthetics. But we've taken it and created a way of allowing it to heat up our cone. American Prosperist Alex De Hinton leaves the plastic cone in a makeshift cylindrical oven and goes back to his patient.

He is a local man called Hossam. Within about 15 minutes, Alex has fitted pads on Hossam's leg stump 15 minutes Alex has fitted pads on Hossam's leg stump and now the cone is ready. So now our plastic is the perfect temperature to be able to mold it directly on his limb. It cuts beautifully when this material is warm it cuts almost like butter. He says this technique is much more efficient than what he would have done in the past. There's no plaster casting, no hazardous chemicals.

Alex works for Amparo, the company that developed the new prosthetics, and he's helped train the Jordanian medics now using them in Gaza. The whole setup is very mobile, and there's another useful, special feature of this plastic. It can be remoulded up to five times. So as someone starts to shrink down, starts to get more active again, their leg starts to change. If it changes to a degree where they need a whole new socket, they can come in within about half an hour, this socket can be heated and remoulded onto their leg. Fast forward another 45 minutes with Hossam and...

So this is the moment of truth? Yeah, this is. Pull it off? There we go. Can I feel the material? It's hard now. That is amazing. Once it's finished. We've effectively recreated the shape of his limb in a hard socket.

And with some on-the-spot adjustments and a foot part attached to a plate built into the socket, before you know it, Hossam is putting on his left trainer and he's walking, taking great strides. That was Yalan now reporting for People Fixing the World and you can hear the full program wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This week it was announced that female tennis players on the WTA Tour will get paid maternity leave for the first time. It will enable more than 320 players to take up to 12 months off whilst they have a baby. The money is coming in part at least from Saudi Arabia's public investment fund, a partner of the WTA tour. But that's raised concerns in some quarters about sports washing, the use of the country's huge wealth to improve its image abroad

while changing little at home. James Menendez has been speaking to the former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, who's been pushing for the maternity leave as a member of the Players Council. She took time off in 2016 to have her son. Everybody is super happy, super excited. I feel like this has been the most positive news I have seen of any other initiative we've ever done. And what do you think the big picture here is for players?

Does it mean that they don't have to choose between their careers and motherhood? I think so and I also would say that the stereotype of having family and being a professional athlete for women has been broken. I think it's already been broken a few years ago as we see a lot more athletes choosing the path of having a family and continue their career. So I feel like now it's just another level of comfort that we give our players to maybe have less worries about doing that step if they choose to do that. What was it like for you when you gave birth to your son Leo back in 2016, I think, you know, what was that decision like

and what was it leaving the sport temporarily like? It was shocking for sure. It was scary. We didn't even have the rules that were protecting mothers on tour. I had to take my break as an injury, which was pretty weird and I couldn't really understand and it didn't really comfort me at that time. So there were always those first steps to start the change and bring the conversation. It was also not a matter of if, it was a matter of when. And I truly believe, kind of looking back now, that the purpose of me coming back was even bigger than was just to play tennis. Because I wanted to create opportunities for other players, for other women.

Can I just get you to address the concerns that some have expressed about the source of the money for this maternity leave fund. Are you comfortable with the source of that money, given the criticism that's long been levelled at Saudi Arabia for the way it treats women? Well, I've addressed this issue and I think it's important to speak about what you know personally. I've never been to Saudi. This conversation has started about two years ago with them.

And for me, throughout this process was pretty incredible to see actually the support and eagerness to see programs like this happen and this is the first time we see this happen in sports and I think that is a huge testament to that. That was the two-time singles Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka. Amid a crisis in affordable housing in Australia, one man is 3D printing his own home. Ahmed Mahil says his new home not only cost him a lot less than a traditional build, it will be ready to move into in just five weeks. When it's finished, it will be the first 3D printed multi-story house in Australia. Chris Barrow asked Ahmed why he chose a 3D printed house. First of all I didn't have a home, I was renting. Second, the

time it takes for you to build while you're paying rent goes at least on an average for 12 months and that's just a lot of costs for someone to wait for the house being built while they are still paying rent. And then when I got quotations for how much would it cost to build this house traditionally, and we're on the numbers, it was a no-brainer. How quickly can you print a house then? Are we talking days or weeks? How long does it take? We built the largest tower crane and that is a robot and that got us to be able to build the whole walls of the house, internal, external, rather than what it would take

in the best-case scenario, eight months. It took us about four weeks actually. Oh so it's significantly faster. And what are the differences in terms of traditional build house and the printed house? Because I'm guessing you're not printing out bricks. You're printing kind of full walls in one go. Is that how it works? Yeah. Brick houses, you have to put a brick and then a frame and then a plaster.

And so it's about four to five trades and then some cladding in some cases. We replace those four or five trades with just one printer that basically will give us all the intricacies that you need in a wall. It's just precision construction. Can you use the printer multiple times or does each house design have to have its own printer? You can change the design actually while you're printing. That's the beauty of this.

And that's what makes this different from, for example, prefab solutions. This is free form. Prefab solutions, for example, you'll need to have a whole setup, a whole factory, a lot of overheads. Here is just one device. We think of it like the paper printer. You can write one essay, or you don't like it, change it to print another. It's about the code. We have walls that have air pockets that increase the thermal efficiency and also we have put some of these shapes that can diffract noise so that it's not so echoey as most concrete houses is. There are always challenges with new technologies and I'm guessing you're tackling all of them

head on but for example in Australia the extreme weather conditions can come into play in other parts of the world as well. Is a 3D printed home able to withstand some of the environmental challenges that perhaps traditionally people might think brick and mortar might be more suited to? Is it okay with strong winds for example? That's one of the biggest reasons we're using this technology as well. We're using the most resilient material and you can design it to be dealing better with wind load. The concrete we use in 3D printing is four times stronger, similar to what you use in public roads and bridges.

Impressive stuff. That was Ahmed Mahil. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later on. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service.

Use the hashtag globalnewsbot. This edition was mixed by Zabihullah Qarush and the producer was Stephanie Prentiss. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday we break down one big new story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart. From the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights

from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.