Global News Podcast - Spacecraft attempts closest-ever approach to Sun

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

The probe is plunging into the sun's outer atmosphere, amid brutal temperatures. Also; the UN warns that famine is spreading in Sudan, with Darfur among the worst affected regions.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Join me, Tim Hewlett, as I travel to both countries to ask whether a fiercely contested history can ever be laid to rest. Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and at 14hours GMT on Tuesday 24th December these are our main stories. A NASA spacecraft tries to fly closer to the sun than any previous man-made object. The UN warns that famine is spreading across Sudan with the region of Darfur among the worst affected. And hundreds of people demonstrating Christian areas of the Syrian capital Damascus over the burning of a Christmas tree. Also in this podcast... I read something like 30% of the island have

power back and only 27% have water back. A rare glimpse into life on the island of Mayotte in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido. Never has man, or a man-made object, got so close to the sun. Flying at almost 700,000 kilometres an hour, NASA's Parker solar probe is right now soaring through the sun's outer atmosphere, battling scorching temperatures and extreme radiation in the process. NASA's head of science, Dr Nicola Fox, says it's all to improve humanity's understanding of our great star. We've never been able to sort of explain some of these mysteries, things like why is the corona that hazy atmosphere that you see during these mysteries, things like why is the corona,

that hazy atmosphere that you see during a total solar eclipse, why is that roughly 300 times hotter than the visible surface of the sun? Why does this atmosphere get super energized so much so that it can break away from the pull of a huge magnetic star and bathe all of the planets? It carves out a protective bubble for us. And as we're looking for planets in other solar systems that could actually, you know, harbour life, we need to understand how our star works so that we can know what kind of stars we're looking for in other galaxies

as we search for more and more exoplanets. At its closest, the NASA probe will be 6.2 million kilometres from the Sun's surface. Seems far away but in space terms it's closer than you might think, as I heard from Dr Jennifer Millard, an astronomer at Fifth Star Labs based in the UK. It's extraordinarily close. In fact, it'll be the closest we've ever gotten to the surface of the sun. And this probe will be flying through the sun's outer atmosphere. So we will quite literally be touching the sun. That's how close it's getting. And I know that that does sound a great distance, you know, over six million kilometers,

but it's only about five solar diameters or about 16 Earth-Moon distances, it's much, much closer than Mercury's orbit. So yeah, very close indeed. My understanding of the Sun is that it is very, very, very, very hot. How can something get that close and not just be obliterated, not just melt? Great question. And yes, the surface of the sun is about 6000 degrees Celsius and then the outer atmosphere, the corona that this probe is flying through, well that's actually millions of degrees but because the particles are so few up there it won't actually heat up and you'll vaporise a spacecraft. What we're really concerned about is that 6000 degrees surface. So the cooling system on this craft is astonishing.

It's kept cool. So the instruments operate at about room temperature by just four and a half inches of carbon foam. And then a cooling system that uses just about four litres of water. And the outside of that shield is also painted white to help reflect away as much radiation as possible. But that's it. White paint, foam and water. It's amazing, isn't it? And I understand that the scientists who are monitoring this from the ground are going to lose contact with it for a few hours. And they are going to be nerve-wracking hours because they may not make contact again if it goes wrong. Yeah. It's a few days really. So the

craft sent out what we call a beacon tone on the 22nd of December to say right I'm off I'll see you on the other side hopefully and then that's it because while it's this close to the Sun we can't communicate with the spacecraft. It has to do everything autonomously. So it has four different systems on board to keep it pointing in the right direction because we really don't want those instruments accidentally pointing at the sun because they will be fried and it will be broken. And then it's going to take a few days for it to complete its mission. And then the 27th, roughly, is when we're expecting a second beacon tone

and that'll be the spacecraft saying, I've made it, I've done it, I've survived. And then it's going to take a few weeks to get all the data downloaded. Astronomer Dr Jennifer Millard. It's been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Now according to a report by the United Nations the number of people affected by famine in Sudan is getting bigger. It says famine conditions have been confirmed in five areas and five more are expected by May because of the ongoing civil war between the army and the paramilitary group, the RSF. On Monday, the Sudanese government announced it was suspending its participation in the global hunger monitoring system.

I heard more from our Africa regional editor, Richard Kagoi, who's monitoring the situation from the Kenyan capital Nairobi. This report helps us understand the prevailing food insecurity situation in Sudan and specifically affecting those who have been internally displaced as a result of the 20-month conflict that's been ongoing. So currently we're looking at about 24.6 million people desperately needing aid and looking at four camps which have been affected in North Dapur and South Kodofan state and also 17 other areas have been identified that are at risk of farming and five more would likely slip into farming in the next

five months. So, casting a very dire situation in Sudan. Yeah, the numbers are staggering and now the government of Sudan suspending its involvement in the monitoring system and with humanitarian aid groups. Absolutely, yes. So the Sudanese Agriculture Minister sent a note to diplomats and this particular committee indicating that they feel the findings of this report are not quite accurate of the situation on the ground simply because it says that the committee they doubt its ability to actually collect data from areas that are controlled by the paramilitary rapid support forces also saying that the report did not take

into account the malnutrition data in the past couple of months especially the cultivation that took place during the summer rainy season and that's really their bone of contention. So how much food aid is actually getting in and finding its way to where it should be? You would say there's been significant progress that that has been made in that regard since both parties agreed to lift a blockade on humanitarian access. And that's been happening for the past about four months.

And this has really helped to alleviate what would have been a very desperate and a very difficult crisis situation in Sudan. So that's happened. But they feel that it's not really enough, that much needs to be done in terms of protecting even aid workers because there have been incidences where they have been attacked and that's a major concern. Richard Kigoy. Nativity celebrations in Bethlehem have been scaled back for the second year in a row as war continues in the Middle East. There is no Christmas tree in Manger Square

outside the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the site of the birthplace of Jesus. But Dr Bernard Cibela, who's a retired professor of sociology at Bethlehem University, says people are still holding their own private festivities. Despite the public disappearance of the celebrations, there is still Christmas being celebrated within families, within churches, and joy is there. The message is that we should really work for peace. We should stop this war. I got the latest from our reporter, Emir Nader, who's in Bethlehem. I'm looking out over Manger Square now, just in front of the 1700 year old church of the

Nativity where usually at this time of the year, at this time of the day, there'd be marching bands, children playing, there'd be a tree set up, but all I can see is dignitaries and we've been walking around, the hotels are empty, there's no pilgrims from abroad as usual, no tourists taking part. And that's because what's on the mind of many of the people here, many of the Palestinian Christians here are their brothers and cousins and family members in the other Palestinian territory in Gaza where war rages on. Now the head of the Catholic Church here who will be presiding over the mass tonight just

returned, he was able to get to Gaza and he gave a ceremony there to the Palestinian Christians and said he wanted to reassure them. He said we will rebuild Gaza, the war will end and the world is with you. He said that Gaza is destroyed but the people aren't. So very present on the minds of Palestinian Christians is the fact that the war continues. Over 45,000 Palestinians have been killed and everyone is just hoping for a ceasefire deal to be reached as soon as possible. What is the latest on that? Because there were talks in Qatar and a few days ago people seemed quite optimistic something might be about to happen. Yes, I mean there has been a slight subtle shift in the tone that we are perceiving.

As you said, in recent days, there have been positive signals coming out of these talks with mention of a ceasefire deal could be reached in days, and that really got people's hopes up. But now Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a speech to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament yesterday, in which he said progress is being made, and at the same time, he was being jeered by opposition leaders who accused him of trying to undermine the

negotiations by giving interviews to press and issuing new conditions there. One of the sticking points appears to be that the Israeli side is now asking for a full list of names and status of all of the hostages there while Hamas is saying they need a period of ceasefire to reconnect and make contact with the captors of those hostages there. So yes, hopes are still high but there are beginning to get sort of mixed signals and worries that you know will this deal be able to be reached before the inauguration of President Trump at the end of January? In Ukraine, Russian forces are continuing to advance in the eastern region of the country.

They're now within a few kilometres of Pokrovsk. With its railway line, the city has been a key military hub for Ukraine, but also has cultural significance as the birthplace of a well-known Christmas carol, as the BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale reports. SINGING The discord of a well-known Christmas Carol and a shattered city. But this is where the composer of this tune, Mikhail Leontovich, once lived in the early 1900s.

Bukrovsk, Russia's next target. CHANTING On its deserted streets, there are few sounds or sights of Christmas, just a dusting of snow on skeletal structures... BANG ..and constant shelling. Most of its people have already fled the gas supplies being cut off And those who've refused to leave like e-horse living constant fear

You never know where the next strike may be We're living in a powder keg and it's not just more territory that's slowly being swallowed up by Russia but Ukraine's history too. This building was a music school that bore the name of the composer, Mikhail Leontovich. It is now completely empty. 13-year-old Anna Hasich first learned to play Leon Tovich's composition at that music school in Pokrovsk. Most of the world knows it as the Carol of the Bells, but in Ukraine it's Shchedryk. Like most of Pokrovsk's population, Anna's family has already fled to the relative safety of Dnipro.

When I played it at home, it seemed happy. It reminded me of winter and Christmas. Now it's more of a sad song to me because it reminds me of home and I really want to go back. It reminds me of home and I really want to go back. Angelina Rozhkova is director of Pokrov's History Museum, now displaced to Dnipro, but she's determined to keep their city alive. For the Russians, it's very important to destroy our culture and ruin everything precious to us. We believe that saving and keeping means winning. That's what we are doing.

It's hard to say you're winning when you're losing ground. But for one Ukrainian military band, Shydrykh has become a tune to inspire resistance. Here they're even taking it to They are also attuned to inspire resistance. Here they are even taking it to the trenches, using weapons, including rifles and rocket launchers, as improvised instruments. Colonel Bogdan Zadorozhny says it helps lift soldiers' spirits. It's those beats and rhythms cheer up the guys. Shadrach shows that Ukraine is a civilized nation, now at war, fighting for its identity.

For Ukraine, there is a special significance to this tune this Christmas. Russia may be able to destroy their towns and cities, but they can't erase Ukraine's separate identity towards past. Jonathan Beale with that report. Still to come. Young child called in to the operations centre and asked some questions about Santa.

And luckily, the colonel on duty responded with all the right answers for the child and directed the crew to continue to do that if more children called in and so 69 years later we're still doing it. How military experts have been tracking the movements of Santa Claus. Delve into a world of secrets. the BBC's Global Investigations podcast, breaking major news stories around the world. A BBC investigation finds that Mohammed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods, was accused of raping five members of staff.

Mohammed Al Fayed was like an apex predator. From the top of British society to the heart of global fashion brands. The former boss of clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch is accused of exploiting young men for sex. That world has eaten up and spit out a lot of young and attractive guys. Gripping Investigations, available to listen to now, with more coming soon. Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And click, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. To Syria now.

That's the sound of demonstrators marching in a neighbourhood of Damascus, chanting, we will sacrifice our souls for our cross. We were protesting after video showed the burning of a Christmas tree near the city of Hama, which surfaced on social media. There are reports of other demonstrations around the country. So what more do we know? Our Middle East correspondent, Lina Sin Sinjab is in Beirut. It seems that this is one of several incidents that happened over the past few days by people

who are hooded like masks. We know now that there were foreign fighters arrested by HTS. Yesterday they set fire on a Christmas tree but immediately HTS arrived to assure people to calm them down that they are going to be arrested. We've seen also video of an HTS arrived to assure people, to calm them down that they're going to be arrested. We've seen also video of an HTS leader holding the cross in solidarity with the Christians. So I think this is a very critical period of time because there has been robbing, there has been, you know, some people went into a church

also saying that, you know, they want to destroy it, but then HTS arrived and stopped them from doing any harm. I think there are many people who want to take advantage of the situation to destabilize the country, to make people afraid of the new leadership, especially because HTS had links with Al-Qaeda in the past, and they are, you know, seen as like the Muslim Brotherhood who want to force an Islamic rule inside Syria, something they've been denying and, you know, they've been giving assurances that they are here to protect the Syrian mosaic of different groups. But there will be, and I think there will be continuous, you know, these kind of attacks that needs more control from the new leadership, but also more awareness from the

people on the ground to know who are the perpetrators and more collaboration between the civil people and the new government to stop these attacks. Lina Sinjab. The government in Hong Kong has issued another round of arrest warrants and bounties for six activists living overseas. It's the third time the authorities have offered rewards for help capturing people alleged to have violated the city's strict national security laws. I heard more from our Asia Pacific editor, Mickey Bristow. Firstly, as you mentioned there, they've issued wanted notices for six additional activists who are abroad, and they say are betraying the country, continuing to lobby for democratic change in Hong Kong from outside of the territory.

The reward or the bounty is one million Hong Kong dollars. That's about $130,000 US dollars. It's also, the authorities in Hong Kong have also taken extra measures against people they've also issued bounties for. Previously there's now a total of 19 people. What they've also done is cancel the passports for seven people they've already issued wanted posters for and they've also issued measures against to try and crack down on anyone helping these people abroad, on the finances of these people in Hong Kong and other measures including for example canceling the professional qualifications for some of these people in Hong Kong and other measures including for example cancelling the professional qualifications for some of these people who the Hong Kong authorities say have undermined national security.

So how likely is it that these people, the targets of these warrants, will end up being sent back? Not very likely. These people live in countries outside of China, outside of Hong Kong. They live in Canada, the United States and Britain primarily, where they're allowed and encouraged really just to continue their pro-democracy work in Hong Kong. It's unlikely that any of these nations are going to send them back to Hong Kong or China to face any kind of charge because these countries and the people engaged in this kind of activity simply believe that it's ordinary democratic activity the kind of thing that you can do in in open and free societies it's only in

Hong Kong which they they do narrowly define these activities of undermining national security as I said elsewhere it just be considered ordinary political discourse and to and fro. So they're not going to be sent back. So briefly, why are the authorities doing this? It's a good question. Why are they doing it if they're not going to get back? It's partly because they want to continue to essentially tell the population that already

that still lives in Hong Kong, that national security and cracking down on rights and freedoms as they've done over the last four years is still very important. It's about publicity as much as anything. They know they're not going to get these people back but they don't want anyone in Hong Kong now to be tempted to kind of engage in pro-democracy activity. Mickey Bristow. Two crew members are missing in the Mediterranean Sea after a Russian cargo ship sank. The Foreign Ministry said the Ursa Major went down in international waters between Spain

and Algeria after an onboard explosion. I spoke to the defence analyst Jonathan Marcus. Well, I think it raises all sorts of questions about the maintenance, the seamanship, the safety procedures of much of Russia's merchant fleet. This particular vessel, the Ursa Major, is a general cargo vessel. It's been a mainstay of the shuttle operations between Russia and the Russian port of Tartus in Syria, where the Russians have a small naval base. So it looks as though we're told there was an explosion in the engine room. It may well have turned around, tried to get back home, and obviously,

as you say, it's gone down in international waters between Spain and Algeria. Luckily, most of the crew were taken off, but sadly a couple of them, I think, were probably lost. And there are reports, not reports we've been able to verify, but there are reports out there suggesting it may have been carrying Russian military equipment. Yes, it's not sure that I think it was carrying Russian military equipment. I mean, obviously it looked as though it was inbound towards Tartus, so the Russians wouldn't accept it. What it did have on board, on the deck that you can clearly see in video images, are two

large crawler cranes. And some speculation is that these cranes were being taken to Tartus, where they could have been put on the quayside and helped to load heavy Russian equipment onto the vessel. Because something we do know for sure is that this ship was on an international sanctions list. Yes it was. It was owned by a company called Oberon Logistika, which we believe is owned itself by the Russian Ministry of Defence. So it was sanctioned on those grounds alone because of broad sanctions relating to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Of course, the broader problem with the so-called Russian shadow fleet, as it's known, the

Grey Fleet, the Black Fleet, as some people call it, this is actually an attempt to evade sanctions on Russia's oil exports. Jonathan Marcus, when Cyclone Cheadle hit the Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte a week ago, there were fears that thousands may have died. It was the most powerful storm to strike Mayotte in at least 90 years. It's still not clear what the final fatality figure might be, but the French Prime Minister, Francois Bayroux, said deaths would be in the dozens, not thousands, dismissing the higher figure as alarmist. France, which owns the territory, has come in the dozens, not thousands, dismissing the higher figure as alarmist. France, which owns the territory, has come in for criticism for not responding quickly enough.

Last week, the BBC heard recorded testimony from a local businesswoman, Ruhaina Kamardin, who lives on the west of the island. Here in Mayotte, everything is devastated. Landscapes, houses, trees, everything is destroyed. Now that the cyclone has passed, we have no service in some parts of the island. We have no running water, no electricity. We know we're facing really hard times of hunger coming ahead of us because we really have no trees that can give food for the next six months if not the next year. Well, today, Ruhayna Kamardin spoke to us again, thanks to a satellite internet service

provided by a local businessman to help people affected by the disaster. My colleague Rob Young asked her how things were going. Well, people have organised all around the island and those who are fortunate enough to have power back and to have the ability to get a connection from Starlink are generous enough to open their doors to people who need connection to communicate with the outer world. That's the satellite internet service which is owned by Elon Musk isn't it? So what is it like now in terms of the other services we heard you telling us about what you didn't have in that clip from a week ago, what is back on?

Well, water is starting to come back, now we have water like for eight hours every other day. Service is back for some operators but not for everybody and it's very very unstable. Power is back in some parts of the island but many many cables are lying on the floor because of the trees that have fallen down on them. So it takes time to rebuild, to reconnect everything and so there's much solidarity because people move and you can charge your phone at the neighbors if they have power. It's becoming easier, but it's very, very – I think I read something like 30% of the island have power back and only 27% have water back. So it's very slow.

What are people who don't have water doing? Well, they go to the rivers in some parts of the island. They have to drive for kilometers, like 20, 30 kilometers to find them because there are places where you can get water because all year long, we don't have water every day. There are places where you can get water if you didn't have time to collect water in your house prior to it being cut, if I can say it like that. So people move, they drive kilometers

to get some water to bring back home or they go to rivers, which is very unsafe. They do whatever they can to get water, but it's very, very, very complicated. And how is your home? Did it survive the cyclone? Well, I'm lucky enough because my home did survive. I lost the rooftop, but I still have a home and we're organizing to have it repaired. So I think I'm among the lucky ones.

Ruhaina Kamardin. For many children at this time of year it's become a tradition to follow the progress of Father Christmas around the world using a tracker provided by the North American aerospace organization NORAD. It monitors Santa's departure from the North Pole on his mission to deliver presents to those who've been good. But how does it actually work? Sophie Williams caught up with the team behind the tracker. This is the heart of the North American Aerospace Defence Command phone room. But today they're tracking a certain man in red. So, Santa is heading for India. Norad's Santa tracker, as it's known, has been keeping children up to date with Santa's

whereabouts for almost 70 years. By calling the hotline or checking the tracker website, children can see his current location and make sure they're tucked in bed for his arrival. But according to Colonel Mark Lachapelle, the tradition started by accident. Yes, so 69 years ago a misprint in a local newspaper really caused the start of what we know today as Norah Trach Santa. A young child called in to the operations centre and asked some questions about Santa and luckily the Colonel on duty responded with all the right answers for the child and directed the crew to continue to do that if more children called in and so 69 years later we're still

doing it. We use a combination of radar satellites and then of course we use our fighter aircraft to escort him through our airspace. Through all those systems together we're able to watch him make sure he's safe and sound going around the world. More than 400,000 people call the NORAD phone line every year. They ask a lot about the reindeer and they ask what their Christmas gifts are gonna be. Kind of have to tell them Santa doesn't tell us but you know a lot of really good questions that are sometimes very hard to answer. Colonel Lachapelle has been taking part for eight years now and has seen the operation

grow. The NORAD tracker now operates in a number of languages including Korean, Chinese, German, Italian and Spanish. Sophie Williams with that report and you can check whether Santa is near your house. Just Google Santa tracker. And that's all from us for now but there'll be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Sid Dondon and the producer was Richard Hamilton. The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Alex Ritzen. Happy Christmas and until next time, goodbye. Delve into a world of secrets, the BBC's Global Investigations podcast, breaking major news stories around the world. A BBC investigation finds that Mohammed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods, was accused of raping five members of staff. Mohammed Al Fayed was like an apex predator. From the top of British society to the heart of global fashion brands. The former boss of clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch is accused of exploiting young men for sex.

That world has eaten up and spit out a lot of young and attractive guys. Gripping Investigations, available to listen to now, with more coming soon. Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts, and click, follow, or subscribe so you never miss an episode.