Global News Podcast - Israeli government approves Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal

Episode Date: January 18, 2025

Israel’s cabinet has given its final approval to a Gaza ceasefire deal, despite some ministers’ opposition. It will begin on Sunday with a hostage-for-prisoner exchange. Also: The US Supreme Court upholds a ban on TikTok.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. There's a divide in American politics between those who think democracy is in peril and those who think it's already been subverted, hollowed out from the inside. As President Trump returns to the White House, we go through the looking glass into a world where nothing is as it seems. The coming storm from BBC Radio 4. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and in the early hours of Saturday the 18th of January these are

our main stories. The Israeli cabinet has voted to approve a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The Chinese social media platform TikTok is to be banned from Sunday. So watch the reaction from influencers. And to the US government, I'm never forgetting you for this. And I'm never going to trust you ever again because you just, like that, took away millions of people's income and livelihood. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is to be held indoors because of the cold.

Also in this podcast, police officers in Malaysia are being told to slim down or not be promoted and the Italian orchestra reviving unusual instruments from a century ago. The Israeli cabinet has voted to approve a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the first hostages will be released as early as Sunday. The deal has three stages, with the latter phases aiming to bring a permanent end to the conflict. Some Israeli ministers had threatened to quit if the ceasefire was approved, saying it rewarded Hamas. From Jerusalem, here's our Middle East correspondent, Lucy Williamson. The ceasefire deal has now passed the final hurdle in Israel's political process and is set to begin on Sunday with the first

in a series of prisoner exchanges. Two ministers from far-right parties in the coalition voted against the deal but the promise of bringing home 33 Israeli hostages won over many others in the cabinet, like Culture Minister Mickey Zoha. We came here to vote forward to the deal to bring back our hostages. It's a very hard decision, but we decided to support it because it's very important to us to see all of our children, men and women back home. We hope that in the future we will be able to finish the job in Gaza. This is something that we want to do, but now we want to bring our people back home. While the three-stage structure of this deal has reassured some politicians, it has caused

division and anxiety amongst some of the hostage families. Some fearing that their relatives will be abandoned in Gaza after the first phase is done. Others beginning to imagine that their relatives might come home. Daniel Lifschitz's grandfather Oded is one of those due to be released. A lot of stress, some anxiety when things are changing. It's hard, it's complicated, but I receive it with the blessing and with love because that's the moment we've been waiting for and I really hope it's a start of a new era for us. Israel says three hostages are expected to be released on Sunday, the first day

of the ceasefire, with more small groups freed at regular intervals over the next six weeks. It's also named the first group of Palestinians, due to be freed from Israeli jails in return. The deal that hung for so long on politics and logistics, now peopled with names and faces. Lucy Williamson. As the deal was discussed in Jerusalem, the fighting continued on the ground in Gaza. Hamas officials say more than 100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes

since the deal was first announced on Wednesday. From Jerusalem, our correspondent Fargal Kean reports. The people of Gaza know how suddenly the living can become the dead. It happens in the split second of a bomb blast, a bullet striking a vital organ, the collapse of a building on its inhabitants. This is what the experience of the last 15 months of war has taught them. So they are clear that in the hours and minutes that are left before the ceasefire, fear will accompany hope.

Israeli attacks have killed dozens since the announcement of the peace deal on Wednesday. Civil defence teams have been busy digging the dead and wounded out of ruined buildings. Issa Hani Qaizat is seven years old and was caught in an Israeli strike on a school where refugees were sheltering. His father Hani described the child's injuries. refugees were sheltering. His father Hani described the child's injuries. I went running and found my son. While I was holding him, after the intensity of the blow, he didn't tell me anything and then he fainted. I carried him and found that he was injured. As it has throughout the war, Israel says it's targeting Hamas and not civilians. There is growing international pressure to mount a major aid surge into Gaza once the ceasefire takes effect.

90% of Gaza's 2.1 million people are displaced. Nearly 2 million now depend on aid. Criminal gangs hijack aid trucks. The local infrastructure has been shattered. For aid to arrive, Gaza must be opened up and made secure for those delivering the aid and those waiting for it. Fergal Keen. More than 170 million TikTok users in the US look set to lose access to the social media platform, one of the most popular short-form video apps in the world and a major part of the multi-billion dollar influencer economy.

It follows a decision by the US Supreme Court to uphold a law signed by President Biden banning the Chinese-owned app over concerns about data collection. This was some of the reaction from users in New York. A lot of small businesses, such as myself, like I use it as like a marketing tool. So when people are, I think, like restricted to express or share whatever they want, that's when people want to speak up against it. It's really bad for us. I know small businesses that they grew up thanks to TikTok.

And this ban is going to affect not only small businesses but big corporations as well, politicians as well, because TikTok is like a community, right? And this affects everybody. Our correspondent in Washington, Noma Iqbal, told me more about the ruling and what it means. It's not surprising, first of all, the Supreme Court has decided that it won't rescue TikTok, that it stands with this bipartisan law that

was signed by President Biden last year, which said that TikTok has to either sell off to a US company or face being banned. And it's important to also note that it'll be Donald Trump's administration who implements this because this will come into force on Sunday, a day before Donald Trump takes office. Now, he has done a U-turn on TikTok because previously he was the one who got the ball rolling on the whole thing.

He wanted it banned, but he realized how successful it was for him for the 2020 for presidential campaign. And he's changed his mind. Now, in terms of what he does to rescue it, we don't know yet, but he has said that he wants to find a way of making sure that TikTok can still be available for the millions of American users. Now, TikTok has already been banned in countries like India and banned on government devices in countries like Canada, France and indeed here in the UK. So why such concern over it? Well, lawmakers say because China owns the algorithm, they can use it to spy on Americans.

There isn't actually direct evidence of that. There is, however, evidence of the other concern, according to some academic studies, and that is TikTok is promoting Chinese government views, it's spreading propaganda. And so they want to get rid of it in that respect, or they want a US company to own it. I mean, even earlier this week, Donald Trump's incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that China is America's biggest threat. And remember, this law that was passed has overwhelming bipartisan support.

It's as bipartisan as you can get in contemporary Washington. It's not going to be possible for Donald Trump to reverse that law. He may decide that we're not going to enforce the law. I don't know how that would work. Apple, Google, Oracle, all these platforms might not want to take the risk. I think the best bet will probably be to try and get a US company to buy it. Now there are lots of US companies that want to buy it. Elon Musk, the owner of X and Donald Trump's right-hand man, has expressed interest but TikTok has said that it will not sell to a US company.

Nourmeh Iqbal in Washington. Following today's ruling questions and I've been asked about what could possibly replace TikTok, especially in China, where the platform was founded. With her assessment, here's our China media analyst, Kerry Allen. This is an online influencer called Tim Storm singing about a Chinese social media app. It's been given the unofficial name Red Note. It's been around since 2013 and has often been thought of as China's answer to Instagram. It's also moved to allowing users to post videos. Chinese state media have

been talking about a trend of America-based TikTok refugees moving over to Red Note in anticipation of a US government ban being imposed on TikTok this Sunday. Media say they hope incoming President Trump can save it and have suggested that he's become quite a fan of the platform himself. But Chinese media say that if the ban does go ahead, RedRedNote may be the place to be. The American government ban an app because they think it's like Chinese and it's bad but then all the Americans they go to another Chinese app. We have nothing like this in America. We are the third world country. The more I scroll in Red Note, the more I truly believe we are so far behind.

Newspapers have been reporting that Americans who've moved to Red Note have enjoyed learning basic Chinese and speaking to people in China. There have been some dramatic reports of Americans being moved to tears by the friendly Chinese people they have spoken to. Chinese audiences have also seen Americans talk about how a TikTok ban imposed by the US government will be a clampdown on freedom of speech and would make the US is guilty of what it often accuses China of, censorship. And so a lot is hinging on whether the ban will go ahead in China's eyes. It could either signal a new era of China and the US coming together

or another four years of mutual distress. Kerry Allen, coming up in the Global News Podcast, would you listen to an orchestra that sounds like this? There's a divide in American politics between those who think democracy is in peril and those who think it's already been subverted, hollowed out from the inside. As President Trump returns to the White House, we go through the looking glass, into a world where nothing is as it seems. The coming storm from BBC Radio 4. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office on Monday, January 20th, but the second time round his inauguration ceremony will be held indoors because of a forecast of record cold weather. From Washington, our senior North American correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue, tell me more. It's going to be very frigid on Monday. We're expecting temperatures of minus 6 Celsius and with the wind chill could be even minus 12 or beyond. So that is really very cold and of course these things go on for a long time. There's a lot of standing around, a lot of people standing around and there could be easily some sort of medical

situation. So it's not the first time it's ever happened. It did happen back in 85 for Ronald Reagan's second inaugural. So it's not the first time it's ever happened. It did happen back in 85 for Ronald Reagan's second inaugural. So it does happen occasionally and that's one of the facts of life of January in Washington. So what form will it take? So it'll be inside the Capitol building where the swearing-in will take place. He'll also give his inaugural address at that point as well. But he is also having a sort of rally afterwards instead of having people on the national mall which would

normally happen. He's invited them to an indoor arena where they normally play ice hockey in Chinatown in DC and that will hold 20,000. So it won't be the hundreds of thousands of people that Donald Trump told us would be showing up but it will be something that he can go to afterwards when he's actually the president. And what about special guests, because we understand, for example, that the former first lady Michelle Obama will not be there. Yeah, that's right, and she wasn't there also at Jimmy Carter's funeral last week where I was.

Barack Obama will be there. The other two presidents who are living, including, well, the other three presidents who are living, including Joe Biden, will be there as well. There will be some senior representation from the Chinese government. And there will also be a whole clutch of tech billionaires, the Zuckerbergs, the Elon Musks, of course, of this world, and Jeff Bezos. So there'll be a lot of well-known faces there, just not Michelle Obama. Gary O'Donoghue.

During his election campaign, Donald Trump claimed he could end the war in Ukraine in a single day. His envoy to Ukraine now says the war could be ended within a hundred days of the President taking office. Almost three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia now controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine's land mass and is continuing to take more territory. Ukraine's President Zelensky has indicated that land could be given up temporarily for the sake of peace. Amid growing speculation about possible peace talks, our senior international correspondent Orla Geren reports on the mood in Ukraine. We're making our way along a bumpy rural road heading for the front line in eastern Ukraine.

And it's pitch dark. We are within range here of Russian artillery and also Russian drones. We're on our way to meet troops from a Ukrainian drone unit. The Russians are still managing to advance. We're traveling with the commander. His name is Mikhailo. Did you think the war would last this long? Honestly, no. I had hoped it would be over quickly. would last this long? Honestly, no.

I had hoped it would be over quickly. I volunteered and went to enlist in the first days of the war. I'm already tired. I've been away from my family for three years. The only thing that saves me is that I can video call them because I have an internet connection. We've come inside a disused building. We're completely in darkness apart from torchlight. The drone is being assembled.

The drone unit are working fast here. They've erected a huge antenna. It's taller than a two-storey building. And they're getting ready now to send up the drone. directed a huge antenna. It's taller than a two-story building. And they're getting ready now to send up the drone. I can hear shelling in the distance. Do you think there's any way to do a deal with Putin? Maybe, maybe not.

But he seems like a completely unstable person. And that's Putin it very gently. Commander Mihailo pilots the drone into the skies. It's fully armed with an anti-tank mine. Minutes later, he drops that. It lands just wide off an underground Russian position. I'm inside a small courtroom. There's a hearing about to get underway. The defendant has just been brought in under guard. He's 24 years old and he's a deserter from the army. His name is Serhii Nezdilov. This is a real sign of the

changing times in Ukraine. You don't see queues of young men lining the streets anymore to join up, but you do see young men in the dock accused of desertion. It's a huge problem for the Ukrainian military and for Ukraine's war effort. Sir, we're from BBC News. My name is Orla. Could I ask you, why did you leave your army unit? I did it as a sign of protest. The authorities have for a very long time been promising to set time limits for military service, but they haven't done it. We must continue to fight. We have no other choice.

But soldiers are not slaves. Everyone who has spent three years or more on the front line deserves the right to rest. But for many who go to fight, this is the homecoming. In a Kiev cathedral, a familiar agony is unfolding. A war widow, Anastasia Fedchenko, mourns her husband. She sits with her hands on her stomach. Anastasia is heavily pregnant with her first child. I am sorry my daughter will never see her father, but she will know that he was a soldier,

an officer, and that her father did everything he could to save Ukraine for her. As long as Russia exists, this war will exist. I truly fear that our children will inherit this war from us. Warbudo Anastasia Fechenko ending that report by Orla Geren in Ukraine. A Bolivian judge has issued an arrest warrant for the former president Ivo Morales after he failed to appear in court over a case alleging he sexually abused a teenage girl. Morales, who is 65, is alleged to have had a child with a teenager in 2016, which would have constituted statutory rape under the country's law. Mr Morales has always denied the allegations. With more, here's our South America correspondent, Aouni Wells.

Evo Morales was supposed to show up for a hearing on a possible retrial detention in this case, but failed to do so. That led to a judge issuing an arrest warrant. The case has fiercely divided Bolivia. Mr Morales has claimed he is a victim of what he's characterized as legal warfare by his former ally and now rival, the current president Luis Arce. The two have been in a very public dispute over who should run the party. Last year, thousands of his supporters blocked roads, leading to the Coco Growers Union headquarters where Mr. Morales is living to try block his potential arrest for statutory rape. Today, women also protested outside the courthouse with banners demanding justice and saying girls are not to be touched. Ioni Wells.

While many people start January with a healthy diet and fitness regime, or at least an attempt at one, one group of people in Malaysia are being given no choice. Police forces there have returned to work to the news that anyone wanting to advance in their career has to have a body mass index of 28 or lower after concerns over weight gain of officers. Stephanie Prentice explained what's going on. This is being called the battle of the bulge by some domestic press. It's a new rule which says officers in the Royal Malaysian Police have to keep their BMI, so that's their body

size and weight relative to their height. They've got to keep it at 28 or lower if they want to be up for promotions at work. So it seems this incentive is in response to a wider health crisis there. We know as a country Malaysia has one of the biggest obesity problems in Southeast Asia and authorities have been trying to enforce fitness standards for police since back in 2016, seemingly with little success. Now back then we had some data that said a substantial amount of officers were calling him sick, an average of 560 a day and 200 died due to heart attacks and diabetes related issues around that time. So it seems this problem hasn't been contained, they're still trying to stamp

it out. But 28, a BMI of 28 is quite high isn't it? I thought you should pick it about 25. Yes, for adults a healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. So people are saying this new target of 28 still means the officers in question could be classed as overweight. As a side point some experts also argue BMI as a health measure is flawed, some say it's designed around white European men, so critics of this have said things like a standard fitness test is a better measure. And Malaysia is not the first country to do this, is it, to address weight like this? It's not. Police in the Philippines have tried to do the same.

They now use things like push-ups, sit-ups and running to test people's health. They tried the BMI scale there and it just didn't work. And some states in India, they've actually threatened officers with things like suspensions if they're not able to slim down, work out and hit fitness targets. And actually in Assam, they asked some of the way officers there to retire a bit early. Stephanie Prentice, a famous concert venue in London, the Wigmore Hall has just hosted an unusual musical ensemble. They're called the Orchestra of Futurist Noise and Toners,

a group reviving the revolutionary style of the Italian futurist Luigi Rosolo. 111 years ago, he turned the world of music upside down with a concert in London of newly created instruments which replicate the sound of the city. The romba tori, also known as the rumbler, the gorgolia tori, known as the gurgler, and perhaps the most memorable of all, wait for it, the alalla tori, or the howler, looked as weird as they sounded. Well, Luciano Chessa is performing at the wigmore tonight and is a devotee of Rossello. He spent years reconstructing not just the sound of the maestro but his long forgotten instruments. He told Anita Anand about the first time they were heard more than a hundred years ago.

The Marinetti, the founder of futurism, had invited journalists from different parts of Europe and went and dined them and subject them to a performance of this instrument. But when the first concert took place in Milan, that was certainly a riot. We need to hear the instruments. Let me just describe what I can see. So this is one of your fabulous creations. It looks like Luciano, a box upon a box. It looks like an old speaker that may have been built in sort of the 1900s, early 1900s. You showed me if you play it in two different ways you get two different sounds. So let's start with the slow crank.

And getting faster. Getting faster. The instruments were producing noises that they would have heard more in true life and not in a concert hall. Going through life you will hear a car passing by or an airplane flying or a baby crying. I think the shock had to do with the fact that they were finding noises that they would consider trivial, but framed as serious music in a concert hall. This was really the shock. Do you know, it did get me thinking though. The design of instruments that will still perform even today, violins, basses, brass, it hasn't really changed for hundreds of years. Why do you think that is? Do you think that those designs were perfect or that people just don't want to mess with what is traditional?

That's a very, very interesting question and I think it goes to the core of this project. I think the reason why the instrument didn't change is because there is a driving repertoire that people want to hear. If you want to listen to Vivaldi's first season, you wouldn't be playing this instrument. So in a way became the default. The futures were going from the discomfort for sure, and they wanted to have a break with the past. And so Russo thought, if we want to have music that is really a break with the past, it's impossible to produce it in his mind using the instruments inherited from the tradition. But in the 20th century, when you can go to a shipyard, a construction site, when you can go to experience an airplane taking off or a train at full speed or a car and so on,

all of the sounds are much bigger. And he thinks that the amount of volume that people hear every day in their life had changed and so if you want to create surprising effect you have to measure that against what is available. You have to go big or go home. Could you just play us out with one of those fast turns on your wonderful Ule Lattori? with one of those fast turns on your wonderful ululatory. Luciano Chessa and some extraordinary instruments. And that's it 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, send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at global news pod. This edition was mixed by Nick Randell. The producer was Isabella Jewell. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, Bye bye. hollowed out from the inside. As President Trump returns to the White House, we go through the looking glass, into a world where nothing is as it seems. The coming storm from BBC Radio 4. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.