Global News Podcast - Syria's president meets the Iranian FM as he tries to marshal support against a rebel offensive

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

The Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has described help from Iran and Russia as "vital" in the fight against a surprise rebel offensive. Also: did Louis the XV really keep a rhinoceros at the palace of Versailles?

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. So a neutron star is kind of about the size of Chicago. 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. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles and in the early hours of Monday the 2nd of December these are our main stories. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has appeared in Damascus alongside the Iranian Foreign Minister as he tries to marshal support from allies against a surprise rebel offensive.

The UN is pausing aid deliveries into hunger-stricken Gaza because of convoys being looted. Protests are continuing in Georgia despite the Prime Minister appearing to row back on his unpopular pledge to suspend EU accession efforts. Also in this podcast, the last 12 months have seen a significant increase in its use on social media and particularly on TikTok. So what is the word of the year that we hope you'd never use to describe BBC journalism? We begin in Syria. The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has met the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Damascus welcoming support against a rebel offensive that's taken large parts of his country. Mr. Assad said allies help was vital for confronting what he called terrorists. The president hasn't been seen until now despite the rebels sweeping northern

Syria last week. His other ally, Russia, has been aiding his air force to carry out intensive air strikes on rebel-held forces in Idlib and Hama provinces. The Syrian defence ministry said dozens of fighters had been killed. Monitors say civilian casualties have also been reported, including in Aleppo, which has fallen to the rebels. Our correspondent Barbara Pletasha reports. Rescue workers emerge from the wreckage of a crushed building. Through a curtain of dust, you can see they're carrying two small children to safety. This video posted by the Syrian civil defense group, the White Helmets, shows the aftermath

of airstrikes on the rebel stronghold of Idlib, southwest of Aleppo. The regime is fighting back after losing that city in a surprise rebel offensive, a devastating blow. Thousands of people have sought refuge in camps for the displaced, their lives upended by this sudden escalation in Syria's war. We have come here with only the clothes on our backs, says this man. God willing, we will be victorious over Bashar al-Assad's regime and return to our area safely. It's not clear if the insurgents can hold on to the territory captured.

But they have exposed the weakness of President Assad's rule and his dependence on foreign forces to prop it up. Russia and Iran, whose foreign minister has arrived in Damascus promising support. Barbara Platt-Asher, the British Foreign Ministry has said that the Syrian president's regime had created the conditions for the current escalation. Our international editor Jeremy Bowen has been considering why the conflict there has suddenly reignited. Throughout the long years of war after 2011 Bashar al-Assad's rule survived because he was

prepared to break Syria to save the regime he'd inherited from his father and because Russia, Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah intervened on his side against rebel groups that ranged from the jihadist extremists of Islamic State to militias supported by the US and the rich Gulf monarchies. Now Iran is reeling from severe blows inflicted by Israel with US support on its security in the Middle East. Its ally, Hezbollah, which used to send its best men to fight for the Assad regime in Syria, has been crippled by Israeli attacks.

Russia has launched airstrikes in the last few days against the rebel offensive in Syria, but its military power is almost entirely needed to fight the war in Ukraine. It is too soon to write the Assad regime off. It has a core of genuine support. Some Syrians see it as the least bad option, better than the jihadists who came to dominate the rebellion. But if other anti-Assad groups, and there are many, rise up, his regime will once again be in mortal danger. Jeremy Bowen. for over a year, the United Nations has said the amount of aid getting into Gaza

has only been able to meet a tiny fraction of the needs of the people there. Now it says it's pausing aid deliveries to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south because of growing insecurity with lorries being looted. The crossing is the main way of delivering aid to more than two million people in Gaza. The main UN body responsible for Gaza is UNRWA. Its senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge described what's been happening. Our understanding is these

criminal activities and these are criminal gangs. We are not permitted by the Israeli authorities to have a permanent base at the border crossing. So our knowledge in itself is quite limited. A lot of these situations, a lot of these incidents happen through the night, a lot happen on the aid convoys. It's very difficult for us to know exactly who is involved at all times, but our understanding is, you know, as the desperation and the criminality has increased since May since the Raffa Crossing was closed these families in the area are making it more and more difficult and preventing the safe access for the aid to reach the people and the intended population. I heard more from our correspondent in Jerusalem Nick Beek. Well the UN is saying

Nick that the situation in Gaza is bleak, that in terms of hunger, it's a situation that's deepening rapidly in the words of the head of UNRWA today, and that lots of families face a very difficult few weeks, to put it mildly. We saw some footage today that was filmed in Hanyounis, so right in the south of Gaza,

you saw a group of small girls, they were holding up empty pans, they were crying out for food. There was one boy who was sort of scraping his fingers around the base of a cooking pot, but there was nothing left in it and there were mothers saying that they get to the soup kitchen at six in the morning to try and beat the crowds, but one woman said she didn't get any food today and so that weight had been in vain. So that is what people are saying on the ground. The UN is echoing that but at the same time they're saying the situation in terms of security is so difficult there that too many or certainly a very large number of their trucks are being looted and

so they're suspending deliveries for now. So what would a temporary suspension achieve? Because the situation, as you're saying, within Gaza is largely lawless, the gangs have taken over. What would a temporary suspension achieve? Well, the UN say that they can't really explain when they'll resume, only that the security situation needs to improve. The Israelis have been saying that if you

look at all of the aid that's given out there's not just this one crossing, although it's a really key one, they point to other places, they say there are other international charities operating that they're liaising with and they make the point once again that it's a question of Hamas stealing food, some of the supplies that are coming in. And the Israelis have also repeatedly warned against or certainly rejected these warnings we've heard about a possible famine. The Israeli government and other organizations within Israel

saying that if you look at it, Garsans do have enough food, but it's not properly distributed. So that's been the response from the Israeli government today but certainly a lot of aid agencies for months now have been warning about a very dire situation when it comes to food. Nick Beek. Next to Lebanon people are still returning to their homes as a ceasefire with Israel which began on Wednesday largely holds. Amid widespread destruction has Bola supporters remain defiant, saying that they have been the victors from the war with Israel, which lasted for more than a year.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people attended a vigil in Beirut to commemorate the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed two months ago. Our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bheka reports. As they return home, they also bury their dead, fighters celebrated here as heroes of the resistance. Hezbollah flags, too many to count, are flown high, proudly, at this funeral in the village of Marrakeh. This is more than a funeral. This is a show of strength and support for Hezbollah.

And whoever thinks they will go away, well, from what we're seeing here, this is unlikely to happen. The group has been weakened by Israel. Some say humiliated, but it hasn't been destroyed. Reem Mohammed Zayoun was watching the procession go by. You say that this is victory, but how can it be victory with so much destruction and suffering? I think to be free from Israel's people, this is alone a victory to me because they killed many people in Lebanon.

How do you see Hezbollah now? Weakened, stronger? Strong, they're still strong. Whenever God is with us, we are strong. I'm very satisfied with God's will and what God wants for us. If there is defiance, there's also desolation. Street after street we visited, almost nothing was left untouched by the war. Destroyed homes and businesses, lost memories. We find Kamel, who's only 18.

He's searching through the rubble with his bare hands, trying to save whatever he can find. All my memories are here, house of my grandpa. I don't have anything right now. No problem. We do memory again. No problem. You're going to rebuild? Yes, no problem. So this is the city? Yes, yes, we're going. At all times we had to be guided by Hispolar Minders, a sign they're still very much in control here. They took us on a tour of Tire's city centre to see the destruction caused by weeks of

Israeli airstrikes. Yasser Qassem was cleaning up his shop. I lived the war here. We were opening for the first days, then it was so difficult to still open, then we closed everything, we got out of the city and today we are back. Then it was so difficult to still open then we closed everything We got out of the city and today we are back and what is gonna happen next? Looking for friends for families for neighbors for our beloved. Yeah, do you know anyone who's been killed? Many yeah, we lost many friends. Look around. This is not there that we know.

We've also been taken to this water pumping station, which used to serve 30,000 homes. Now it's also destroyed. And joining this tour organized by Hezbollah is one of its MPs, Hossein Jashy. The Zionist enemy is resourceful and supported by the U.S. Their aim was to destroy the resistance and create a new Middle East. The fact that the enemy failed to achieve the targets they set means that we are victorious. This narrative will be embraced by Hezbollah followers, but will find no support elsewhere.

4,000 people across the country have been killed and more than 16,000 injured. With so much death and destruction, is this really a victory? Hugo Bachega reporting from Lebanon. Now have a listen to this, there is much acclaim for this new cinema release. The Pope is dead. The throne is vacant. The conclave begins now. We're about to choose the most famous man in the world. And one and a quarter billion souls watching.

A trailer from the film Conclave dramatises the tense days leading up to the election of a new pope in the Vatican. It tells the story of the backroom conspiracies and papal intrigue in order to find the right man. There are twists turns and paranoia. Fit for a political thriller it's adapted from Robert Harris's best-selling 2016 novel. Julian Warwicker spoke to the film's director Edward Berger and asked him what drew him to matters relating to the Vatican. The main reason is that I felt it was a great setting, an unexpected setting for a political thriller. I felt like we could represent all the arguments that go on all over the world at the moment

in politics, in business, in economics, in the church, within this Vatican setting which people haven't seen before so much because it all takes place behind closed doors. It's a mysterious world and I wanted to peek behind it. That's one of the striking things about it in terms of how it looks, the fact that everything feels enclosed and claustrophobic and quite gloomy and that adds to the intrigue, doesn't it? Oh yes, absolutely. I wanted to, you know, the movie is called Conclave and conclave means the cardinals shut the doors and not supposed to speak to the outside world. So I really wanted to create that feeling of claustrophobia, of paranoia, the walls

have years. There was a great director in the 70s called Alan Pakula and he made movies like All the President's Men or Parallax View, great political thrillers. And I felt this was my opportunity to make a movie like that, to show these arguing cardinals lost in the world of the big Vatican, of these big architecture and being shut inside of it so that by the end when you as the audience and the cardinals leave that setting you almost feel free liberated you know finally the sun shines again you can step outside. The cast is strikingly stellar we're

going to hear a clip which illustrates that, I think. Let's hear this first and then we can talk about the voices we hear. Father Bellini. Aldo. Am I the last? Not quite. How are you? Oh, well, you know, fairly dreadful. Have you seen the papers? Apparently it's already decided it's to be me.

And I happen to agree with them. What if I don't want it? No sane man would want the papers seen. Some of our colleagues seem to want it. What if I know in my heart that I am not worthy? You are more worthy than any of us. Well, then tell your supporters not to vote for you, to pass the chalice.

And let it go to him? I could never live with myself. Stanley Tucci, Rafe Fiennes, tell us about the characters that they are portraying. Rafe plays the Dean of the College of Cardinals, means in the beginning of the movie, I think I can say as much, the Pope dies. So we have to elect these cardinals, all cardinals from all over the world come to Rome to elect this new pope and Rafe is the person organizing it. And Bellini represents sort of the liberal, his best friend, but also the liberal.

I mean, you know, there's a big fight within the church as within politics between liberals and conservatives or populists and reformists. And Bellini represents the liberal reformist angle. I'm struck by that analogy you make because while this is about selecting a pope you clearly see it in broader terms that it's telling a political story that could apply to so many other situations. Oh yes, I think it could have played in Washington DC within a boardroom, within the BBC. Just imagine the CEO leaves the post and you

need a new replacement and people are going to get out their daggers and stab each other in the back to get that post and that's exactly what happens in the Vatican in our movie at least. That would never happen. No of course not. I want to play one other clip because Isabella Rossellini has a smaller role but a significant role in the film as well. Let's have a listen to this. Well good afternoon sister. I would like to speak to the nun who dropped her tray just now. She's safe with me. I'm dealing with the situation. I'm sure you are Sister Agnes but I must see her myself.

I hardly think a drop tray should concern the Dean of the College of Cardinals. Even so. The welfare of the sister is my responsibility. And this conclave is mine. College of Cardinals. Even so, I... The welfare of the sister is my responsibility. And this conclave is mine. What's the significance of the Sister Agnes character? Within the Catholic Church, we all know it's the oldest patriarchy in the world, so women are relegated to the 30th back row.

They don't have a voice, and Isabella doesn't have one. She's the nun who organizes the... so that the procedure, this election will go smoothly. But of course, you know, a woman like Isabella Rossellini who won't keep her mouth shut, she will have eyes and ears and comment and look at the things and have her own thoughts about it and she will open her mouth and say what's wrong with this, with these proceedings. Edward Berger, the director of the film Conclave.

Still to come. It's estimated since about 1950, we've produced nine billion tonnes, and only about 10% of that recycled. A lot of it is ending up in the marine environment. Can the world ever come together to fight plastic pollution? Unexpected Elements is the show that revels in the constantly unexpected wonder of the universe. These are some of the most beautiful cells that I have ever met and every one of them

you have a lifetime of puzzles to figure out. And it's also the show that revels in the unexpected things that scientists get up to. You want to know what molecules these blobs are made from. So the first thing that you do is you touch them, you smell them. If you're a little bit courageous, you taste them. You taste them! Unexpected Elements from the BBC World Service. Search for Unexpected Elements wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobachidze, has told the BBC his government hasn't suspended European Union accession talks contradicting comments he made on Thursday. The original remarks prompted demonstrations and clashes involving protesters who fear the country is moving closer to Moscow. The Prime Minister was speaking to our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg who's in the capital Tbilisi. Days ago, Georgia's Prime Minister announced he was suspending accession talks with the European Union until the end of 2028. In a country where the aspiration of EU membership is enshrined in the constitution, his announcement sparked the large street protests we're seeing now. But when I asked

Prime Minister Kobahice if he could understand the sense of public anger, his response was, I never said that. So we have not suspended anything related to the European integration. It's just a lie. And there are the opposition leaders, there are the media outlets linked with the opposition, who are just lying to these people. But you suspended this until 2028. No, it's not true. It's not true. He's on camera though, having said it, and the European Union heard him say it.

In a statement today, the EU noted that Iraqli Kabehidze's announcement marked a shift from the policies of previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people. It strongly condemned the violence against peaceful protestors

and democratic backsliding in Georgia. In recent days, in the centre of the Georgian people. It strongly condemned the violence against peaceful protesters and democratic backsliding in Georgia. In recent days in the centre of Tbilisi, police have been using water cannon and tear gas to disperse large crowds. Some protesters have been beaten. Georgia's Prime Minister promised that such cases would be investigated but he accused Georgian opposition groups of committing violence. Steve Rosenberg in Georgia. Talks in South Korea aimed at negotiating a global deal to reduce plastic pollution have failed. The chair, Luis Valles-Valdeso, said that they would resume at a later date and that

they must build on the progress that had been made. Well, the meeting in the city of Busan was earlier delayed following fierce arguments over whether to cap the production of plastics. Some nations that produce large amounts of oil used in the manufacture of plastic have been pushing for a less stringent treaty. Nearly 200 nations attended the talks which had been taking place for two years. I spoke to our climate reporter Esme Stallard and asked her for more details on why the talks

had failed. The overall goal is to reduce plastic pollution and there's many different elements that they were discussing but crucially the real divide was around this issue of plastic production. So you had quite a big group of countries including the likes of the UK, the EU and any African nations who were saying look the only way we're going to tackle plastic pollution effectively is just cut the amount we produce. We produce far too much currently. It's estimated since about 1950 we've produced 9 billion tonnes and only about 10% of that recycled. A lot of it is ending up in the marine environment. But then you have this other group of effectively oil producing nations and a few others that said they don't want production cut. What they want is an effort to try and reduce the waste. So you're

looking at the real end stream life cycle of the plastic. And the reason they're saying that is they're saying plastic is really important for human development. You know, we use a lot of plastic in our healthcare systems and that's very much needed. I think a lot of environmental NGOs and charities are saying really the reason they're saying this is because of global efforts to try and reduce emissions. The oil sector is seeing a massive reduction in demand say from like vehicles for example. The only area left where they're going to see significant growth is in plastics. So really all they're doing is protecting their own commercial interests. So this meeting, two years of negotiations have not come up with a final deal.

But the chair of this meeting, Luis Valles Valdibiesco, was putting a bit of a brave face on it, wasn't he? While it is encouraging that portions of the text have been agreed upon, we must also recognise that a few critical issues still prevent us from reaching a comprehensive agreement. These unresolved issues remain challenging and additional time will be needed to address them effectively. So is he right there to say that progress has been made and what progress? That statement was met with some pushback from some countries who said, well, we've got a text in front of us, which has still got a lot of brackets in it, which in UN speak means we're not sure, we're not in agreement about something. Others would say what we have seen progress in is on other smaller

areas or areas, maybe there's less contention. So for example, building technical capacity, building up the scientific community that can help us with this. And in some ways, you know, two years of negotiations, I think has seen some progress. And you knew there is text on the table, which wasn't previously there. I think the concern is that you can't get any more progress. The red lines are so opposite in terms of these two groups that actually even if we go to another round, would any progress actually happen? And they are going to go to another round. They're going to try again when and where? The likelihood is it will be in Nairobi, which is where the UN environment group heads

up. When is that going to be? Sometime next year. But it's interesting because I spoke with WWF earlier, the environment charity who was an observer to these negotiations and they say, look, maybe there needs to be a real look at whether we should be doing a consensus based approach, which is to say, do we want every single country to agree or should we go to a vote? Because ultimately, the more time that passes the

more plastic is building up in the environment and actually we've now got a hundred countries nearly pushing for this kind of cut to production including many major world economies. If they get a treaty between them could that be enough to kind of shift the sector? Esmé Stalart. Belgium has become the first country to pass a law that gives sex workers the same labour rights as people in any other job. They'll be entitled to health insurance, pensions, sick days and maternity leave. Sofia Betidza reports from Brussels. This is an unprecedented effort to regulate the sex industry. Sex workers in Belgium will be able to enter official contracts with their employers, what many call pimps.

They will have the right to refuse any client or any sexual act they feel uncomfortable with, and their rooms will be equipped with an alarm button. Sophie and Mel are sex workers. I think it's important to have rights like any other job because for me it's just like any other job. I think it's great. I am very proud to be a Belgium sex worker and that we are so far ahead. I have a future now. I can build my future. But critics say that the sex trade causes exploitation, abuse and trafficking worldwide, and that normalising it is dangerous.

Juliette Cromier is a volunteer who helps sex workers on the streets in Belgium. This law will lead to more people being trafficked because it opens a new market. And when you open a new market, you create demand. And what do you need to feed this demand? You need offer. You need more women. You need novelty. But campaigners for the law argue that sex work has been a profession for millennia,

and pensions, maternity leave and health insurance are basic human rights. Victoria is the president of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers. I had to work in unsafe conditions and I wanted to change that. I'm sure that the labour law will give sex workers a better life. That report was by Sophia Petitza. A new exhibition is opening at the Science Museum in London which celebrates the role science played at the Palace of Versailles in France. In the 17th and 18th centuries the royal residence of the French kings became a major hub for scientific thinking and a way for them to express their power. One of

the main attractions is said to be Louis XV's legendary rhinoceros as Paddy McGuire reports. Four hundred years ago the French King Louis XIII built a hunting lodge in the rolling countryside around the small town of Versailles just south west of Paris. His son Louis XIV, who became known as the Sun King, had much grander plans and transformed it into the palace and grounds that have since become one of the most visited places in the world. But long before the tourists, Versailles was the place where France's pre-revolutionary ruling class met, partied and did deals. It also had its own version of a zoo, the Royal Menagerie. Exotic birds and animals were collected from all over the world, a symbol of France's

global reach. And during Louis XV's reign, one of them was an Indian rhino, a present from the French governor of the settlement of Chandanagur in West Bengal. At the time, the rhinoceros was barely known in Western Europe and there followed a period of Rhino-mania. People were understandably fascinated with their massive armour-plated bodies, their stumpy legs and the horns on the end of their noses. Rhinos were painted on plates, clocks were fixed on top of them, wigs were styled in the shapes of their body

and a French Royal Naval ship was even named the Rhinoceros. So of course this huge male specimen with his dark leathery skin became the star of the court of Versailles. Jacques Cuisin is the head of conservation at the Natural History Museum in Paris and he spoke earlier to the French magazine Le Point. He made part of the journey by boat until he reached Lorient in Brittany and then a cart was built for him. He wasn't put in the main rooms in Versailles because he was too heavy but put in the menagerie. Then the revolution happened

and laws covering the confiscation of royal possessions were enforced but there was some commotion about the rhino and it died from a stab wound from a saber. It had lived for 22 years but was found dead in the pond by its enclosure in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. Its body was taken to the nascent Natural History Museum in Paris and it became one of the first and only surviving examples of taxidermy at the time. 250 years later, the Rhino has left Paris for the first time since then to become the centre of this new exhibition in London, which opens in just under two weeks' time.

Paddy McGuire. The publisher Oxford University Press has announced that its word or phrase of the year is brain rot. It won a public vote from a short list of six words and phrases which also included dynamic pricing, demure and romantasy as a genre of fiction, combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy. Lisa Mozymba reports. The first recorded use of brain rot was in 1854 in the memoir Walden, written by the American Henry David Thoreau with only a couple of further references in the 19th century. But the last 12 months have seen a significant

increase in its use on social media and particularly on TikTok. It describes the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, particularly as the result of overconsumption of material that's considered to be trivial or unchallenging, such as too much time spent scrolling on social media. The Oxford Word of the Year aims to identify a word or phrase that encapsulates a subject or issue from the past year. Previous winners include Selfie and Sudoku. Liso Mozymba. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News

podcast later on. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producer was Liam McSheffrey. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles, and until next time, goodbye. ["Unfortunately, I'm Not a Man"] Unexpected Elements is the show that revels in the constantly unexpected wonder of the universe.

These are some of the most beautiful cells that I have ever met, and every one of them you have a lifetime of puzzles to figure out. And it's also the show that revels in the unexpected things that scientists get up to. We want to know what molecules these blobs are made from. So the first thing that you do is you touch them, you smell them, and if you're a little bit courageous you taste them, you smell them. If you're a little bit courageous, you taste them. You taste them!

Unexpected Elements from the BBC World Service. Search for Unexpected Elements wherever you get your BBC podcasts.