Global News Podcast - Russia and West agree prisoner swap

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

The US says journalist Evan Gershkovich part of prisoner exchange agreed with Russia. Germany and three other European countries included in deal. Also: funeral for Hamas leader killed in Iran.

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 Thanks for watching. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Thanks for downloading the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Chris Barrow and at 13 hours GMT on Thursday 1st August, these are our main stories.

As we record this podcast, we're getting details of a major prisoner exchange between the US and Russia. Thousands of mourners in Iran have attended the funeral procession for the assassinated Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. And demonstrations have been taking place in several Nigerian cities against the high cost of living. Also in the podcast. All governments need to be uncomfortable with this while we change. Because as it is, unless we start changing the way we work, we will never close those gaps. Australia struggles to improve the lives of indigenous communities.

Just before we started recording this podcast, the Biden administration in the United States announced a prisoner exchange with Russia. A senior US administration official confirmed that it expected to soon secure the release of three American citizens imprisoned in Russia. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is following the story. If we're talking about what's officially confirmed, then we can say that the White House has confirmed that three American citizens will be released by Russia

and will be heading home to the United States. Now, those are extremely high profile names. You've been mentioning them. Evan Gershkovich, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal. Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, a man who was in Russia on holiday back in 2018 when he was arrested and accused and then convicted of espionage. And Alsu Kurmacheva, who is again a journalist who was arrested. She's a dual national. She was arrested when she was visiting family back in Russia. So three US citizens.

We have now had it confirmed from the White House. The Biden administration has said they have agreed to a prisoner exchange with Russia, which will involve these three American citizens. For the moment, as far as I know, that's all that's been officially confirmed by anyone. But as you say, this has come as the first official announcement after days of swirling rumours, all sorts of speculation, some information, some facts, a lot of people with fingers very, very firmly crossed, a lot of people too scared to speculate because they were the relatives

and they are the relatives of people who have been mentioned as part of what we believe could be a very large prisoner swap with Russia that doesn't just involve these three American citizens who were in Russia, in Russian jails, but also a number of Russian political prisoners who have been named. Now, we're waiting for confirmation of that, but certainly there are increasing signs that also Russian political prisoners will be released as part of this unprecedented prisoner exchange with the United States. We've not seen anything like this in modern Russia. It is really quite extraordinary what we're seeing unfold now. And in terms of the rumour and the speculation in the past few days, Sarah, what has added to that? Because some of these prisoners we know sort of mysteriously went off the grid. Well, that's how it started. Yeah. There are many, many political prisoners

in Russia as a result of the increasing political repression in recent years in Vladimir Putin's Russia, many political opponents, and particularly since the beginning of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, people who have criticised the war in Ukraine have faced very serious criminal charges, up to and including treason. Vladimir Karamazov, who's a political opponent of Vladimir Putin, was arrested, first of all, on a lesser charge, but has been serving a 25-year prison sentence for treason

for condemning the war on Ukraine. There are others. An artist, Sasha Skotchilenko, has also been rumoured to be part of a looming prisoner exchange. She's an artist who went to a supermarket and changed some of the price tags on the shelves there, took off the price tags and put on stickers, again, criticising the war in Ukraine. off the price tags and put on stickers, again,

criticising the war in Ukraine. Now, these people and many others are in prison serving long terms. And they essentially, they disappeared from the prison system. Their relatives or lawyers couldn't find them, couldn't confirm their whereabouts. And rumours then began to swirl that something big was happening. We had been expecting a prisoner swap involving the American citizens or at least two of them for some time. We know that negotiations have been ongoing for months and months but the involvement of Russian political prisoners as well is something that we haven't seen before

and it is something that until just a few days ago was quite hard to imagine. Sarah Rainsford there talking to Lucy Hockings. Tens of thousands of Iranians have gathered for the funeral procession of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a strike in Tehran on Wednesday. Large crowds followed the coffin, which was taken to Freedom Square. The Hamas leader is due to be buried later in Qatar. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for carrying out the killing.

Israel hasn't directly commented, but on Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the country had delivered crushing blows to its enemies in recent days, including the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon hours before this Tehran strike. I spoke to Nafisa Kahavad from the BBC's Persian service, and she told me that Iran has vowed revenge for Haniyeh's assassination. The prayer ceremony was led by Iran's supreme leader,

which shows that they wanted to show how important Haniyeh was for Iran. A large number of largely pro-government people have gathered in Tehran and there are other ceremonies will be held throughout. Today there is three days of the national mourning declared by the government. We've also heard that Iran's supreme leader has ordered direct retaliation, perhaps maybe waiting for these three days of mourning first, but what could that retaliation be? What your sources are saying, a lot of scenarios are on the table. It is not clear that if it will be a coordinated operation by different groups allied with Iran, which they are vowing for their revenge as well, such as Houthis in Yemen,

Iraqi Shia paramilitary groups allied with Iran, and also Hezbollah, which has lost a high-ranked commander. But we have seen in April that when Iran's consulate in Damascus was bombed, Iran fired a massive number of drones and missiles toward Israel. And such scenario is on the table according to sources that are talking to us. As Ismail Haniyeh's funeral procession was being held, Israel announced that it had confirmed the death of the Hamas military chief Mohammed Daif in a strike in Gaza last month. He's widely believed to have been a main planner of the October 7th attacks. The Israeli army also released a video of the strike on July 13th on a compound in the Han Yunis area. I asked our correspondent in Jerusalem, Yolan Nel, about the killings.

Fingers are being widely pointed at Israel. Of course, it's made no secret of the fact that it wants to go after the leaders of Hamas since the 7th of October attacks. It sees all of the leaders of Hamas as being responsible for those unprecedented attacks on Israel. But I have to say it is quite typical that Israel declines to comment on targeted killings that take place elsewhere in the region. We get this stock response from the Israeli military that it doesn't comment on reports in the foreign media. These kinds of killings, this one particularly audacious and daring, it seems, often attributed to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. Of course, there would be some risk of compromising any operatives on the ground as a result of acknowledging these

strikes. Israel often, you know, with other strikes that we know in retrospect is carried out, it's perhaps confirmed things. Sometimes in Syria, for example, at the time it's carried them out, it doesn't confirm them. And on the Hamas side, they haven't confirmed Mohammed Dave's death yet either. So it's both sides not confirming? Yes, that's right. Although when it comes to Mohamed Daif's death, I mean, it was interesting timing, of course, on top of the news of the other killings in recent days. But the Israeli military saying that it has gathered intelligence here. In the past, there have been several assassination attempts on Mohamed Daif. And previously, Israel had thought that he was killed on one occasion in particular,

only for him to resurface. We know that there has been an Israeli army presence in Khan Yunus where it carried out this strike targeting the longtime military leader of Hamas just two weeks ago. And so it could be sort of assumed that it has managed to get some kind of intelligence from the ground. I mean, just to kind of put that in perspective, Mohammed Daif was this very shadowy figure. He rarely spoke. He never appeared in public. But he is really seen as being an extremely important figure over the past three decades in the ranks of Hamas, somebody who's believed to have continued to direct military operations

from the tunnels, the back streets of Gaza. I mean, the tunnel network is something that he himself is seen as having developed, really having built up to the bomb-making expertise of Hamas in Gaza. Just briefly, Yolande, there have been these two strikes in two days and this confirmation of Mohammed Dey's death from one side at least. Surely that raises concerns about this becoming a wider conflict. Of course, and we've had international diplomats really sort of underlining that,

that emergency session at the UN Security Council. The US top diplomat, Antony Blinken, saying that what is really needed is a ceasefire in Gaza. That remains its diplomatic priority. But regional mediators see Ismail Haniyeh's killing as a major setback. Yolan Nel, and if you want to hear more about the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

and the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, our fellow BBC World Service podcast, The Global Story, has just published an episode featuring our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, and our Middle East correspondent, Hugo Beshega. You can find that wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And the first long-awaited American-made F-16 fighter jets have reportedly arrived in Ukraine.

While Kiev has not officially commented, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed their arrival. At least 60 planes are expected to have arrived from Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Here's our Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse. It's not yet known exactly how many F-16s have been delivered, but until now Kiev has had to punch above its weight with a small fleet of Soviet-era planes to combat Russia's invasion. These powerful fighter jets will be a welcome addition too, as they're equipped with a cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles. F-16s in Ukraine,

another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible, were the words of Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabriela Slansbergis in an online post. An unnamed US official has also confirmed the delivery had been completed. Ukrainian pilots and ground staff have been trained by Western allies for months. F-16s mark another step change in Western support, but it's acknowledged they won't solve all of Ukraine's battlefield problems. James Waterhouse, now to Nigeria. That's demonstrators in the southwestern city of Ikeja chanting the slogan End Bad Governance as they protest against economic hardship. There's a large police presence in the capital, Abuja, and in other big cities.

The organisers had called for millions to come out to express their anger. But I asked our correspondent in Lagos, Simi Jalawesho, whether there were actually more police than demonstrators there. That would have been accurate earlier on today, but more protesters have come out. People along the streets have just joined them in the protests as well. Probably still not as many as the organisers would have expected or hoped for, but still quite a large presence.

And just briefly, what are the protesters actually hoping for? Obviously to tackle the issue overall, but there are some specifics that they're asking for. Yes, there are two specific things that the protesters are protesting against. Bad governance. They say the government is full of corrupt officials. Even during this

march, as we were walking down to this area, people were shouting the word ole, which means thief. The second thing that they are protesting against is the economic hardship that they say many Nigerians are facing. One person told me, we did not dethrone a military dictatorship to put a civilian dictatorship into power. Now, Nigeria's inflation has passed 34 percent. The price of food, goods, fuel has even tripled over the last year. And they are saying that the government has not done enough to mitigate the hardship that people are feeling, especially as most of the issues are as a result of government policies that were implemented over the last year. Calls for a fuel subsidy as well.

It's a ten-day-long protest, isn't it? So it seems like it's really being taken seriously by the protesters. Yes, yes, as I mentioned, the protesters who are here are passionate. They are asking for the fuel subsidy to be reinstated. The president had removed it last year, saying that it was costing too much and taking too much of the public budget. But they are saying that more needs to be done to relieve the hardship that they are feeling. They are also hoping the government will put in place policies

that would help the local currency increase in value again, as the Naira has plunged over the last year. But what they are saying is that they are hungry. I've heard a few people shout that we are hungry, we are hungry, we are hungry. And that's what they are protesting about. Simi Chalau's show in Lagos. Still to come. One day take us off the train. Many immigration officers abuses us and demand bribes from us. How Mexico is clamping down on illegal immigration.

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 Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. New laws that aim to govern the use of artificial intelligence have come into force in the European Union. The AI Act bans some uses of

the technology altogether, as well as requiring greater transparency for the makers of chatbots. It also imposes rules on high-risk systems like those used in medicine. Chris Vallance reports. The rapid development of AI has sparked efforts across the world to regulate the tech, but the EU lays claim to having the first comprehensive AI legislation. Though enforced today, it will take two years for the Act to apply in full. First will come bans on uses of AI judged to pose an unacceptable risk, for example in police systems designed to predict if someone will commit a crime. These will come into force in six months' time. Some critics argue the bloc's growing body of tech regulation could stifle innovation, noting that some firms have

chosen not to roll out their latest systems in the EU. But officials point out that most AIs pose a minimal risk and may be used freely under the law. Chris Vallance. Australia is struggling to improve the lives of its indigenous communities, according to a new government report. The findings show increases in the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being imprisoned, taking their own lives and losing children to out-of-home care. Last year, Australians rejected a motion to recognise the indigenous population in the Constitution in a referendum. Catherine Liddle, from a group which represents Aboriginal children and their families, said there was an urgent need to address the inequality.

Where we've been able to transfer service delivery, the statistics look different. The gap is closing. We need to be moving at a completely different rate. All governments need to be uncomfortable with this while we change, because as it is, unless we start changing the way we work, we will never close those gaps. Our correspondent in Sydney, Phil Mercer, told us more about this report. This is the annual report by the Productivity Commission. This is the government's welfare advisory agency, and it shows that suicide, child protection and incarceration rates in Australia's First Nations communities are getting worse. Now, the commission has found that just five of the 19 measures of disadvantage are on track to meet Australian government targets by 2031.

Now, this is all part of efforts to close the gap in socioeconomic factors that continue to divide indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. And why is more progress not being made on this front? When you speak to Aboriginal health experts, they fear that these trends will continue to get worse. And when you look at the mountain, the avalanche of disadvantage that many indigenous people in this country suffer, these are complex and deep-seated problems. Aboriginal leaders often say that many date back to European colonisation in Australia in the 18th century.

Now, indigenous people complain that they're often not consulted about the policies and the decisions that affect them. Other indigenous people complain of institutional racism. So I think the key factor here is really a lack of indigenous control over problems in their own communities. I'm guessing there's been quite a lot of reaction from indigenous communities. I was reading that some leaders say that this is outrageous. Yes, and it's a similar view shared by the Minister for Indigenous Australians. She is a woman called Malindiri McCarthy. She said that parts of the report were deeply troubling.

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said it was very clear that territory, state and federal governments in Australia had not done well enough in the past. Now, this is all part of the closing the gap strategy. This was introduced back in 2008, and I think many people in this country do see that the key factor is a lack of indigenous control over their own affairs. constitution and also to set up a First Nations body or voice to advise governments was defeated in a referendum last year. Phil Mercer. Migration across the US-Mexico border is one of the key issues in the US election campaign. Earlier this year, President Biden issued an executive order allowing border patrol agents to deport people who'd crossed into the US illegally back to Mexico without processing their requests for asylum. And Mexico's clamping down too. The outgoing administration of President Andres Manuel López Obrador has tripled the number of undocumented migrants it's stopped in the last year. Our correspondent Will Grant reports from

the Mexican state of Veracruz. For almost 30 years, a group of women in eastern Mexico called Las Patronas have carried out the same simple humanitarian gesture towards the migrants who pass through their village. Countless thousands of migrants have thundered past sitting on the roofs of a freight train known as La Bestia, or The Beast, en route to the US border. As the train approaches, Las Patronas stand by the tracks, holding out bags of rice, beans, tortillas, tinned tuna and water they've prepared, which the migrants grab as they flash by.

In recent months, the women of Las Patronas say, the trains have been noticeably emptier, sometimes without any migrants on them at all. They say it reflects just how dangerous and difficult the journey through Mexico has become. I've come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refuse to do, take the necessary steps to secure our border. Mexico and the United States are at a pivotal point in their relationship. In June, President Biden issued an executive order under which border officials can quickly

remove migrants entering the U.S. illegally without processing their asylum requests. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are now heading full steam into an election campaign in which undocumented immigration is a key issue. Meanwhile, Mexico has just made history, electing its first female president in Claudia Sheinbaum. The founder of Las Patronas, Norma Romero, is sceptical that having a woman at the helm will make any difference in reducing the widespread abuse of migrants in the country. I never put my faith in politics. Rather, I believe in ordinary people who bring about change and who have different ways of thinking. Sadly, politics hasn't improved since, well, as long as I can remember. Really, there's never been any change that has brought a benefit

to migrants. Guadalupe from El Salvador is traveling with her 17-year-old daughter on their third attempt to cross Mexico. She says she won't travel on La Bestia again, having twice been taken off the freight train by immigration officers. They hit a lot of people who were with us and others. They gave electric shocks with tasers. When they take us off the train, many immigration officers abuse us and demand bribes from us. Sometimes we have enough money and can pass. This time we didn't, and they sent us back to the border with Guatemala. While the Mexican government tries to avoid outright deportations, it has kept migrants from the U.S.'s door via a form of internal removal, that is sending them back to towns on the border with Guatemala.

Dumped 1,500 kilometers away from the U.S. border, the strategy saps many migrants of the funds and energy they need to keep going. If we don't hide or run faster than the immigration agents and avoid them, then our journey ends there and we are sent all the way back to the start. As another train approaches, las patronas scramble down to the tracks again with their supplies. Whoever wins in the US, and whatever their relationship with President-elect Shane Bowne over migration, as long as the train keeps coming, Las Patronas have no plans to stop offering the migrants a meal, a drink, and a little human kindness on their journey.

Will Grant there. Now, if you're planning on taking a flight with Korean Air, you might notice that something will be missing from your menu soon, a cup of instant noodles. The airlines announced it will stop serving them to economy class passengers for safety reasons. I heard more from the BBC's Jason Lee. Korean Air is the South Korea's flight carrier and it said it will stop serving these popular instant cup noodles

or cup lamian in Korean it's known, for economy class passengers because from later this month because there's an increased risk of turbulence. Now the airline says the number of turbulence occurrences had doubled since 2019 and we don't have the exact figure but experts also say that climate change is to blame for more severe turbulence. It said alongside other factors, including narrow aisles and passengers sitting closely, meant that burn accidents were more likely. So it wants to prevent such accidents from happening on board. Now, economy class passengers will instead be

offered sandwiches, corn dogs, pizza and other snacks that don't contain hot soup as a replacement. One thing to note, however, is that business and first-class flyers will be able to continue enjoying this treat because, because here, it's the reason why the noodles are brought individually to these passengers and they're served in a ceramic bowl instead of a paper container so the airline says there's less risk of spillage. I understand. I'm guessing there's been a bit of reaction to this. Passengers maybe not happy if they're in economy, or maybe they are happy. Well, yes, it's been mixed in South Korean social media. This spicy snack has

long been a passenger favourite. And it's sort of a comfort food, if you like. I remember eating them on board, and it was something like I really look forward to. They are tasty. They are so tasty. They're spicy, they're hot. It just really hits the spot. So one social media user questioned, you know, why they're still serving coffee or tea and ramens are no longer included. Jason Lee there.

Now let's return to one of our top stories, the funeral of the assassinated political chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. He was killed in a strike in the Iranian capital on Wednesday. Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing, which came just hours after Israel targeted and killed a Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukr, in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut. So with concerns of a wider regional war, my colleague Emma Barnett got this assessment from our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.

I think at the moment that European diplomats, American diplomats are trying to use as much pressure as they have any influence that they have, firstly on Iran and also on Hezbollah, which is a very difficult thing because they regard that organisation as a terrorist group, but they're trying to get the message out that what needs to happen now, if Iran is going to respond, is something that is symbolic, which is not going to push the region into an even worse situation, perhaps an all-out war. But, you know, that is very, very difficult. Don't forget, the Americans tried to get Israel to keep its response to the killings in the Golan Heights Limited to the battlefields, perhaps of South Lebanon. But

I mean, that didn't work. And the two assassinations showed that. And then the impact on a potential ceasefire to try and still keep that in mind when it comes to Gaza. Listening to Netanyahu yesterday, he didn't sound like there was any backing down on any front at this point. I think Netanyahu has been giving regular indications that a ceasefire is a very low priority for him because his definition of a ceasefire is total victory over Hamas. He says that. He said in his speech yesterday, he said that the steps that they have taken brings total victory closer. Now, there are plenty of people, including many friends of Israel, who listen to that with massive skepticism and

disbelief. It's now virtually 10 months since the Hamas attacks out of Gaza into Israel, and the Middle East is more complicated, more violent than the chances of a ceasefire, particularly since Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated political leader of Hamas, was one of the people taking part in the talks. I think that they are as distant as they've been for a while, and all the American hopes of trying to build up the idea of an imminent ceasefire, I think that now has very, very quickly receded. The thoughts of Jeremy Bowen. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later on.

If you'd like to comment on this podcast and the topics that we cover, please send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X, we're at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Daniel Fox and the producer was Richard Hamilton. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Chris Barrow. Until next time, thanks for listening. Goodbye. 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.