Global News Podcast - Strikes continue hours before Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

President Biden has welcomed a US and French-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said the deal showed that peace was possible.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. You are actually radioactive and everything alive is unexpected elements from the BBC World Service. Search for unexpected elements 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 Wednesday, the 27th of November, these are our main stories. President Biden has announced a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to begin on Wednesday. In the final hours before the deal comes into force, both sides

have been attacking each other. Police in Brazil have accused former President Jair Bolsonaro of having direct control over a coup plot and full knowledge of a plan to assassinate his rival, the current president Lula da Silva. An oil refinery in Nigeria, which has been closed for several years, has resumed operations, aiming to ease a chronic fuel crisis. Also in this podcast... They're very popular because they're escapism TV. They can watch a woman fall in love with a man who they perceive has a lot going for him.

He's rich and powerful and he owns his own business. But the guidelines are changing for China's micro dramas. Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been at war for more than 13 months, a conflict that began on October 8th last year when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in support of the Hamas attack on Israel. Israel responded with airstrikes into Lebanon followed by a land incursion about two months ago. More than three and a half thousand people have been killed in Lebanon, dozens of people have been killed in Israel and hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in a TV address on Tuesday evening. A security correspondent Frank Gardner is in Jerusalem. The deal is approved. The ceasefire is set to begin. But will it hold? Because the key test will be in its implementation. Over the next 60 days, Israel is due to pull its army out of Lebanon and Hezbollah must

withdraw to north of the Lutani River. At the same time, supposedly filling the vacuum, will be Lebanon's national army and the UN peacekeepers known as UNIFIL, all monitored by a committee of five nations overseen by the deal's sponsor, the United States. But the Lebanese army has always been much weaker than Hezbollah, and UNIFIL has failed to prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Net Netanyahu said that Israel reserved the right to intervene again in Lebanon militarily if it thought the deal was being broken. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack.

If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack." But many Israelis living in the north of Lebanon close to the border have their doubts. Some, like David Azoulay, the head of Matullah's town council, fear that Hezbollah is still a threat. I think this arrangement is very sad for the residents of the north and all citizens of Israel.

In my humble opinion, this is a surrender agreement by the Israeli government to Hezbollah. And now the focus will return to Gaza, where some Palestinians hope this will hasten a ceasefire there too. Others fear it will now free up the Israeli army to redouble its assault on Hamas, with yet more civilian casualties to follow. fear it will now free up the Israeli army to redouble its assault on Hamas with yet more civilian casualties to follow. Frank Gardner. At the White House, President Biden had this to say. Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and state security forces will deploy and take

control of their own territory once again. Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt. And over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities. I heard more from our correspondent in Washington, Rowan Bridge, and suggested to him that President Biden sounded quite upbeat that this deal could work. I think what you have to understand is that the sun is literally here in Washington and figuratively setting on the Biden White House. And for him, this is a big foreign policy win,

especially at a time when attention is moving away from the White House here and towards Donald Trump and his home in Mar-a-Lago. And it's something that also draws attention to Biden that isn't about the whispers in the Democratic Party about whether he costs them the 2024 election. I think they're optimistic about this deal because they've got everyone to sign up. You know, President Biden has said the French and the Americans have worked to ensure the deal is implemented, but there is still fears that this could yet fail. And indeed, if you listen to the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, he said that there's considerable work lies ahead to ensure that the agreement does indeed endure.

I mean, of course, you mentioned President Trump or President-elect Trump. If the ceasefire does hold for 60 days, it will be Donald Trump who will then take over and have to try to get a deal in Gaza too. Yeah, that's right. I mean, they have briefed out that the incoming administration is supportive of this deal that's been done today. And the Trump transition team has made it clear that they believe they have a strong national security team coming in and they have a commitment to peace in the Middle East.

Now, the current administration, Joe Biden's administration, clearly hopes that this is going to create a sort of momentum towards tackling the situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East. But I think the problem is that, you know, this has been an intractable situation for decades and so whatever the Americans do, there are problems on all sides and everyone knows that trying to tackle the wider Middle East situation is a very difficult one for whoever is in the White House, frankly. What do you think it tells us about the relationship now between the US and Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu?

Yeah, I mean the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden has always been a somewhat fractious and strained one at times. And I think, you know, what Israel has got is what it wanted in terms of the ability to strike back if it feels its security is threatened. And I think, you know, that has been a crucial element in terms of getting the Netanyahu government on side on this. And clearly the Americans have been pressing, cajoling, trying to force this deal through because they wanted this to happen. But also I think it's an important foreign policy triumph for Joe Biden and something that can be a sort of capstone for the end

of his presidency. Rowan Bridge in Washington. Well, throughout the day, as the region waited for the ceasefire announcement, Israel carried out a barrage of airstrikes on the capital Beirut and across southern Lebanon. Katrina Perry spoke to the BBC's correspondent Hugo Baccega, who's in Beirut. It was a dramatic day of a major escalation of Israeli attacks on Beirut, as there was this wait for this announcement of this ceasefire. The war here didn't really stop, and Israel carried out the most intense attacks on Beirut in this conflict.

There was a wave of huge airstrikes targeting Dahr here, which is the area here in Beirut that is essentially controlled by Hezbollah. And central Beirut also came under attack. A building not really far from our position here completely collapsed. Seven people were killed. We tried to get to the location of that attack a few hours ago, but we couldn't get there because of new evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military. We were actually there when an attack

happened. There was chaos, there was panic, people trying to flee, seeking safety. So I think this gives you an idea of the tense few hours here in Beirut as a result of these massive attacks happening here in the city. Now we still have a few hours before this ceasefire comes into effect at four o'clock local time, two in the morning GMT. There's obviously the fear that both sides could intensify attacks in the hours before this ceasefire but now it is a quiet night here in Beirut. A drone, an Israeli drone that was flying overhead has now left the city. And again, the hope here is that this could bring an end

to this conflict that has brought so much devastation and suffering to this country. And on that point, Hugo, more broadly, what has the response been like to this ceasefire plan? Is there confidence in it succeeding? I think one of the key points here is about implementation. So the Lebanese military will deploy 5,000 soldiers to the south of the country. I think there will be some international help to boost the Lebanese military.

And there will be this committee, international committee, to monitor the implementation of the deal. This is a group, a five-country group that will be led by the Americans and what the Israelis are saying and we heard that from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in that speech that he gave on television that Israel retains the right to attack Lebanon if there is any violation of the deal from Hezbollah and this has been guaranteed by the Americans. Hugo Bachega in Beirut. Miri Aysen is a former colonel in the Israeli Defence Forces and is currently a senior fellow

at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism at Reichman University in Israel. Tim Frank spoke to her just after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made his case for the ceasefire. Was she convinced? Hezbollah, the terror army, is degraded. It has not disappeared. And at this stage, to go to a ceasefire, for me as an Israeli means that we can stop the ground fighting, we can stop the attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon with what are the additional

civilian casualties, which are always horrible. And hopefully for the first time since October 7th, 2023, over 417 days, Hezbollah won't be attacking us inside Israel. What do you say to those within Israel and not just from the from the far right, but also, I mean, for example example people like Benny Gantz one of the opposition leaders saying the Israeli military needs to do more. I never know what doing more means when former minister Gantz said that I thought to myself how do you define things like that and I think that right now when Israel is feeling that what we have done is both expose the Hezbollah

threat and I don't know how much Benny Gantz understands as far as I'm concerned, the importance of having shown what that threat is, of showing the tens of thousands of capabilities of weapons of different types of missiles, ground missiles, anti-tank missiles. I'm going to agree and say that at the end Hezbollah will have capabilities and we are leaving them without destroying them. But I think that at this stage when the international community is on board, is in behind this, that that is a very important element that needs to be taken into account. Miri Aysen, a former Colonel in the Israel Defense Forces.

Other news now. Police in Brazil have accused the former President Jair Bolsonaro of plotting to keep power after he lost the last election two years ago. The police report said a coup plan failed because the heads of the army and air force refused to back it. Warren Bull reports. This police report stretches to 900 pages and has just been made public in full. It says that evidence gathered from telephone calls and meetings at a presidential residence showed that Jair Bolsonaro had full knowledge of a plan to assassinate his leftist rival,

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected president in October 2022. The report says Mr Bolsonaro, a former military officer, was responsible for drawing up a draft of a decree for the coup and a plan to abolish the democratic rule of law. Mr Bolsonaro says the allegations against him are politically motivated. Warren Bull. The United Nations says nearly a quarter of the 40 million people living with AIDS across the world still don't have access to treatment. In its annual report, the UN AIDS agency

says this latest finding is impeding its goal of eradicating the disease by 2030. Last year 630,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses and 1.3 million people acquired HIV. The UN says criminalisation and the stigmatisation of marginalised communities is obstructing access to life-saving HIV services. Our correspondent Imogen Fuchs is in Geneva, the headquarters of the UN, and she told me more about who's most at risk of being infected with HIV AIDS. Particular concern for the UN at the moment is young women in sub-Saharan Africa where they see lack of education,

lack of support for reproductive health is driving up HIV infections. And there, young women aged 15 to 24 in 22 African countries're three times more likely to be HIV positive than young men of the same age. So that is a worry. So although we saw new infections globally at their lowest level since the 1980s, in a number of countries around the world, infections are still rising. Well as I understand it, the UN says it's still rising in 28 countries and this is despite the fact that safe and effective medicines are available. So why aren't people getting them?

Although we have really good and have for years had effective medicines, it's not just a question of money. it is, as we said earlier about young women, lack of the information and support they need. Women who are the victims, for example, of sexual violence are often stigmatized. They are then frightened to seek treatment. And another big issue is in countries which have criminalized same-sex relations. There people who are gay who might need the health support are also frightened to seek it and there again the figures are stark.

In countries which have criminalised same-sex relations, levels of HIV infection are five times as high as in countries where same-sex relations are legal. So it's interesting that the report today from the UN focuses not just on figures and access to medicine, it focuses on human rights and says if you don't respect the rights of women to their reproductive health, if you don't respect the rights of people to have same-sex relationships and to have access to healthcare, then you will continue to have HIV AIDS. So the road to ending this pandemic is through human rights.

That's the message of the UN today. Image in folks. Still to come... If you don't eat too much, and so long as you exercise both the brain and the body, you should keep them young. The world's oldest living man, John Tinswood, from Lancashire in northern northern England has died at the age of 112. Science is done by people who constantly expect the unexpected. That thing that we couldn't figure out, we figured it out. But now you're like, OK, this is like a whole other can of worms. Unexpected elements brings you the most unexpected bits.

At the origin of the lightning discharge, we have a temperature which is even higher than the surface of the sun. Unexpected Elements from the BBC World Service. It's not Jurassic Park, is it? It's Cretaceous Park. All of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park came from the Cretaceous period. Search for unexpected elements wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Sudan has given the United Nations permission to establish supply hubs

and to use three airports to improve the delivery of much needed humanitarian aid to famine-stricken areas of the country. The move comes after days of talks in Port Sudan. The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023, resulting in widespread acute hunger and disease. Meanwhile, food trucks organised by the World Food Programme have started arriving in places at risk of famine, such as the Zamzam camp in the Darfur region. Nanny Kinsley is the WFP Sudan spokesperson. People were lined up on the side of the road cheering as these trucks rolled in. They tell

me that people in the camp are resorting to extreme measures to survive because food is so scarce. Families are eating crushed peanut shells which are usually used as animal fodder. Our Chief International Correspondent, Lise Doucette, is travelling with the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator Tom Fletcher and sent us this report from Port Sudan. Sudan, wracked by war for more than a year, is now described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. 25 million Sudanese, half of the population, need food aid to survive. Famine has already been declared in one community. Many others are said to be on the brink of

starvation. Delivering life-saving assistance has been the biggest challenge for aid agencies who need to cross borders and cross lines between areas controlled by the Sudanese army and those of the rival paramilitary rapid support forces. The UN's new humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says three more airports and new supply hubs will allow the UN to reach more people more quickly. But delivering assistance will continue to be

dangerous and difficult as the warring sides saw no sign of giving up their brutal fight. But this decision, reached after days of high-level meetings with the UN's most senior aid official, will save lives.

reached after days of high-level meetings with the UN's most senior aid official, will save lives. Lise Doucet. On Friday, British MPs will vote on the first stage of a bill to allow assisted dying in England and Wales. Under the proposals, terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months and have the mental capacity to make the choice would be able to seek help to end their lives if two doctors and a judge approve. Our medical editor Fergus Walsh has been investigating how the issue is dealt with in different countries. Oliver Conway asked him how many nations currently allow the practice and how their approaches differ. It's around a dozen countries but it's slightly more complicated than that, because in the US, for example, there are 10 states that allow it, all pass their own laws when it comes to assisted dying. And then in Australia, most states and territories have passed the law, so it's piecemeal. But most take a different approach to what is being proposed

in the UK. The one which is probably nearest is the system operating in Oregon and has been operating in Oregon in the United States since 1997. And they have a lot of data going back more than 25 years. And there, similarly to the UK, you'd have to be within six months of death and would have to be signed off by two doctors. The extra level of safeguard in England and Wales would be a High Court judge being involved. Throughout the US, the states that allow it, you have to self-administer the lethal medication and in Oregon about one in three patients who have prescribed it never go ahead with it and their main concerns are at end of life, loss of

autonomy and loss of dignity. Further down, some are concerned about being a burden and even financial considerations for a lower number of people among those who were polled. Now you said Oregon is most similar to the way that the UK is looking at this, What about the countries that do it differently? Dr. John B. Coulthard, Ph.D. Very different would be some countries in Europe like the Netherlands and Belgium which have the laws with the widest eligibility. So both been operating physician assisted

dying or euthanasia for more than two decades there. It can be carried out and eligibility for people with intolerable suffering, also mental illness, and both those countries allow it in certain circumstances for children facing intolerable suffering. Colombia also allows it for children in certain circumstances. In Europe, the country which often springs to mind with people is Switzerland, because Switzerland was the first country in the world way back in 1942 to legalise assisted suicide. It's also one of the few countries that allows foreigners to travel there to die. Now by the sounds of it, the UK is proposing to be on the stricter end of the scale of

countries that do allow this, but many opponents are worried that perhaps if it starts out with a small group who are able to take their own lives, later on it could be widened. Has that been seen elsewhere? Yes, opponents of this legislation would say, look at Canada. Canada legalised assisted dying back in 2016 solely for the terminally ill. That was challenged in the courts and it was extended to those with unbearable suffering from an incurable condition in 2021. And in three years time, it looks set to be opened up to people solely with mental illness.

So that would be what critics would say is the slippery slope and four in a hundred deaths in Canada are now down to what they call medical assistance in dying. But those in favour of changing the law in England and Wales would say no, look at Oregon. They've had the law since 1997. It was restricted at the start to the term leil. It remains restricted to the term leel. Fergus Walsh, the Zambian striker Barbara Banda has been named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year. She was chosen from a short list by a panel of football experts from around the world. Earlier in the year she became one of the most expensive signings in women's football when she joined the US team Orlando Pride and helped them secure their first National Women's Soccer League title. She's also the Zambian team captain.

This was her reaction shortly after being told she'd won. I'm still surprised and shocked to have this award right by my side but I deserve it because I've been consistent, I've been working so hard. The teammates have been pushing so hard for me to be where I am right now and to have this trophy. I love schooling. That shows that I love doing what I love doing. I love Zambia.

Just wearing on that t-shirt means a lot to me. A lot of young girls and boys looking up to me. Growing up in Zambia has never been easy, you know. More especially as a girl child, it's so difficult for us to get into sport like football. Parents never used to believe that women can play football, so it was a challenge for us. And my mum was not in support of it, but she came at the time to understand to say when women's football started being recognised in Zambia, that's when she came to understand and just to let me do what

I love to do most. Barbara Banda, who's been named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year. In 2022, despite being named in Zambia's original squad for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, Banda wasn't selected for the tournament on gender eligibility grounds. The details of that decision have never been made fully clear. And now... A clip from the Chinese micro drama Love at Second Sight. These very short form films feature stories that frequently centre around love and marriage,

or rags to riches tales, or both. The minute long episodes feature frequent plot twists and are hugely popular in China, with the industry worth an estimated five billion dollars a year. Now, the country's media regulator has introduced new guidelines for producers to avoid the films promoting social ambition through marriage, power and wealth. Our China media analyst Kerry Allen explains. They're short TV series that have a romance theme so people watch them and they know that the characters at the end are going to fall in love and they're very popular because they're escapism TV. They can watch a woman fall in love with a man who they perceive has a lot

going for him. He's rich and powerful and he owns his own business. And they are tremendously popular, aren't they? They are. The Chinese regulator said that they could have as many as half a billion views. I mean, we don't know that that's the case, but they're certainly popular online on streaming platforms because they're short, they're easy the case but they're certainly popular online on streaming platforms because they're short, they're easy to watch, they're throwaway tv that's very accessible. So tell us about these new rules issued by China's media regulator. So the National Radio and Television Administration has today said that there's a need to avoid promoting ideals in these shows that glorify marriage with powerful, wealthy individuals

or families. And they've said in particular that the idea of money worship or getting rich overnight needs to be avoided by people who are producing these low-budget series. And they've said that they are concerned that people are watching these and clinging to the idea that a successful marriage equates to being with someone who's powerful and wealthy. So how do you think these rules will change these dramas? Well I think it's important to the government to still continue promoting the idea of romance television because China has a stalling marriage rate and birth rate and it's something that

it does want to have on TV, but it might start promoting more equal relationships. So boy meets girl in college or university, stories like this. And because these are so low budget anyway, they're encouraging companies to be more creative and think about new ways that they can promote this, that as they see a more authentic to real life.

I mean, they're saying that it's very unreal in real life for the cleaner to meet the CEO of a company and fall in love. But perhaps that's what people like about it, that they don't want to watch realistic drama. Oh, absolutely. People in China today have been saying on platforms like Sina Weibo that they watch these shows to forget about real life, that actually they find society really depressing. And they don't like the idea of just having the government message constantly forced down their throat that love can happen in many shapes or forms and just holding onto that idea that, yeah, you might meet the CEO of a company or someone

who's going to change your life. It's something that there's clearly an appetite for in China. So they're going to continue watching these until the restrictions change. Kerry Allen. The world's oldest living man, John Tinswood from Lancashire in northern England has died at the age of 112. He was given the title by the Guinness World Records in April this year. John Tinswood served in the British Army's Pay Corps during the Second World War and was a lifelong Liverpool fan with the football club only having been founded just 20 years before his birth. Our correspondent Danny Savage looks back on his life. John Tenniswood was born in 1912, the year the Titanic sank. Other significant dates in his life sound extraordinary. He married his wife

Bloodwin in 1942, became a father in 1943 and retired at the age of 60 way back in 1972. Earlier this year the Guinness Book of Records acknowledged John Tyneswood as the world's oldest man. Sadly, it's a title that's inevitably not held for long and he died. In a recent interview he answered that obligatory question about the secret to a long life. If you don't eat too much and so long as you exercise both the brain and the body, you should keep them young. If you don't, they will wither. It's as simple as that. In a statement his family said he was intelligent, decisive, brave, calm in any crisis, talented at maths and a great conversationalist. John Alfred

Tinniswood insisted he was no different to anyone else, saying, you either live long or you live short and you can't do much about it. Wise words. That was Danny Savage on the life of the world's oldest living man, John Tinniswood, who's died at the grand old age of 112. 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 Caroline Driscoll. The producer was Liam

McSheffrey. The editor is Karen Martyr. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye bye. What are people around the world doing to help tackle the climate emergency? Climate shocks that we are experiencing. Trouts, floods, decimated agriculture and so on. The climate question from the BBC World Service looks for answers to those challenges posed by climate change. How can we solve this? It's all being discussed.

We only hear the bad stuff in the news, don't we? And there's loads of quiet progress. Reasons to be hopeful. Solutions exist. We just need to be able to implement them at scale. The climate question. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.