Global News Podcast - Thailand's new Prime Minister: Business tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

The new Thai leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, has pledged to work his hardest to address the country’s economic crisis. The political conservative becomes the third prime minister in two years, thanks to the support of the largest opposition party. The vote was held a week after the former prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was dismissed by the constitutional court - dealing a blow to the influence of her powerful family. Also: Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, resigns following an investigation into her taxes; and solving the mystery of the winged bronze lion - a new study sheds light on the orgins of one of Venice's most iconic monuments. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm John Sudworth, and we're recording this at 13 hours GMT on Friday the 5th of September. Thailand's Parliament picks business tycoon, a new tin-chanwirakun, to be the next Prime Minister, the country's third in two years. In a major blow for the British government, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raina resigns, following an investigation into her taxes. Moscow says any Western troops, in Ukraine would be a legitimate target. Also in this podcast, solving the mystery of the winged bronze lion.

What we know for sure is that the style of the lion is certainly Chinese and the chemistry of the copper used is certainly from China. A new study sheds light on the origins of one of Venice's most iconic monuments. After a turbulent week in Thai politics, the country has a new Prime Minister. The construction tycoon, Anutin Chanwirakun, secured enough votes in Parliament to become Thailand's leader the third in two years. His predecessor, Paitong Tan Shinawat, was dismissed by the Constitutional Court over an ethics breach. And just hours before the parliamentary vote, her father and former leader, Taxin Shinawatt, abruptly left the country for Dubai. Thailand's new leader comfortably defeated the candidate of the Shinawot family's once dominant ruling party.

But how did he do it? A question for our South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head. In order to get the number of votes, to get a majority in Parliament, to get the Prime Minister's job, he's had to seek the support of the most reformist party in Parliament in Thailand. That's also the largest party, the People's Party. He's got more than double the number of seats Mr. Anitin has. and they are an ideological opposite ends of the spectrum. Mr. Anitin is a great dealmaker.

He's generally viewed as very transactional, very flexible, but his party is very conservative, it's staunchly royalist, and in the past has really disliked and shown a lot of animosity towards the Reformers' People's Party. So this is very much a marriage of convenience. Now, the reformists have only backed him on condition that he calls an election very quickly within four months, that he doesn't attempt really to have any ambitions in government,

essentially saying you've got to be a caretaker government. He's agreed to those conditions. I'll be fascinated to see if he sticks to them. He's a very wily operator, and I'm sure he's got some idea about how he might wriggle out of them and last a bit longer. As you say, there's this promise to call an election. Thailand's been through this long period now of political turbulence.

What is the public mood after this latest political crisis? It's pretty weary, John, and pretty disillusioned. I mean, only two years ago, there was enormous, enthusiasm in the then election for the reformist party. They did unexpectedly well. People really believed there was a groundswell of public opinion wanting change. This is a country that seems very stuck. You know, its economy is not growing anymore. It's aging. There are huge issues inside it in terms of inequality. I think people want a change. But every time reformists get into a position of power, these unelected bodies, deeply conservative, like the constitutional court, and there are

many others, intervene and are able to sack Prime Ministers and dissolve parties on quite trivial matters, and they've been doing it. The problem is you can have another election in Thailand, and maybe Mr. Anitin can put it off for a while, but there'll have to be another one, certainly by 2027. And we expect the same pattern to be repeated. Young people and many others will vote for change, but conservative forces in Thailand, arranged around the monarchy, are incredibly powerful, and they usually find an effective way to block them. It's a country of political dynasty, a few bigger than the Shinaw? What happens to them now? Fascinating. I mean, the Shinawatt name has hungover Thai politics for a quarter of a century. Taxing Shinawat,

brash, ambitious, controversial, came back from exile. Just a couple of years ago, he's had his party in government again. He seemed like the comeback kid. But I think this time round, the reputation is damaged. They've failed to deliver anything meaningful for the people. A lot of controversy is still swirling around him. He's actually left the country again just before this vote for the new Prime Minister. Some are wondering because he does have outstanding cases against him whether he will come back or whether he goes back into exile again. Jonathan, haired in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Next to more political turbulence here in the UK, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rainer has resigned following an investigation into the

payment of the incorrect amount of tax on a seaside flat in southern England. She was also the housing secretary. Earlier this week, she admitted to underpaying by 10,000, tens of thousands of dollars, which she said was because of incorrect legal advice. I took an expert council advice on all of my affairs to ensure that everything was done proper. And that expert council said that the advice that I received was inaccurate because of the trust. And also contacted HMRC to say that there is additional tax owing on this and that I'm prepared to pay that. That admission was met with calls from the opposition for her to be sacked. And just before we recorded this podcast, the government's independent advisor published his assessment.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Keir Stama, he said Mazreina had acted with integrity, but had failed to meet the highest possible standards of proper conduct. More on this from our UK political correspondent, Rob Watson. It is a grim moment for Secere Stama, for his government and for the governing Labour Party. On three fronts, really, John. I mean, on the first case, a year ago when Labor won the general election in this country after 14 years of Conservative government, they said, we're going to be different. We're not going to have slees, we're not going to have scandals, we're not going to have drama, we're not going to have emotion. Well, this violates that pledge.

Secondly, they've become very unpopular in the year since they've been in government. And Secere Stama had made this week all about relaunching that government with the start of the parliamentary term. Well, clearly, that has been blown off course. And then briefly, the third problem that all of this raises is that there will now need to be an election within the governing party, a governing Labour Party, for a new deputy leader. And there is a chance that such an election will reveal all sorts of splits in the party and all sorts of unhappiness with the way Sekeir Stama has been running the party and the country. Who is likely in terms of the list of candidates who might replace her? Well, I mean, the list is bound to include sort of senior members of the government now. I mean, it could include people like former leader Ed Miliband.

I mean, the issue is really the nature of the contest that's going to come up, John, because the governing Labour Party is broadly split between those on the right and centre, like the Prime Minister, Sekeir Stama, and those on the left of the party who would wish it would take a much tougher line, for example, on Gaza, who would like to see more taxation of the wealthy, more government spending. And one suspects that this election of a deputy leader will throw up all of that bad blood, which, you know, given that the government is already profoundly unpopular and struggling to govern, it really will not help secure at all.

Is it possible, Rob, to calibrate just how big a scandal this is in the broad historic sweep, and she says it was an inadvertent mistake? What do you make of it? It's a very good question, John. And I think the answer is that it's not some great scandal. But it's more that this was a government that absolutely promised there's not going to be any scandal, there's not going to be any drama. they have been unable to deliver on that.

So it's that more than the scale of the money or anything else involved. Rob Watson. After his high-profile visit to Beijing, where he met the Chinese and North Korean leaders, Vladimir Putin is back in Russia at an economic forum in Vladivostok in the Far East. And he is once again asserting his claims over Ukrainian sovereignty, saying any Western soldiers deployed there would be a legitimate target for the Russian army. He was speaking a day after the French president,

Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries had committed to contributing troops or other resources to guarantee security in Ukraine after any ceasefire or peace deal with Moscow. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, spoke to Kremlin's spokesman Dmitri Peskov in Vladivostok. The main reason of the conflict was the attempt of NATO to infiltrate into Ukraine, thus endangering our country. So we consider it a danger for us, presence of international forces. or any foreign forces or NATO country forces on the soil of Ukraine next to our borders. So in our understanding, it will not help us get closer to the solution of Ukrainian culture. But why doesn't Ukraine have the right, as far as Russia is concerned,

to invite whoever it wants, whichever soldiers it wants, onto its territory? I mean, Russia is inviting North Korean troops. Then it's a danger for us. It's a real danger for us because we are an enemy of NATO. This is North Korean troops are a danger to Ukraine. This is written in NATO's documents. So we cannot afford that. And we'll do whatever is necessary to ensure our security.

Preferably, we'd like to reach our goals by diplomatic and peaceful means. When we don't have this possibilities, we'll continue a special military operation. Mr. Peskov also went on to say that despite all that, Russia is still optimistic about a diplomatic solution. For more on this, here's Steve Rosenberg in Vladivostok. Well, Russia continues to talk about diplomatic solution and that Russia is ready to talk. The reality is that when Russian officials talk about a diplomatic solution,

they mean, I think, a solution, a deal on Russia's terms. That is what Russia is pushing for. So, for example, when Vladimir Putin said today, that in theory he would be prepared to meet Volodya Zelensky, he then added in Moscow. That is a non-start. I mean, the Ukrainians have already said the president of Ukraine is not going to get on a plane and fly to Moscow for a bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin. But this is the position of Russia.

Vladimir Putin is feeling increasingly confident. He is not budging on anything at the moment. There is no ceasefire, no compromise on the question of foreign peacekeepers. as we've heard, Moscow continues to oppose the idea of any Western troops as a reassurance force in Ukraine post-war. And the Russian president came out with an extraordinary argument today. He said that, well, if there is a peace deal in Ukraine, then there'll be no need anyway for foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine because Russia will stick to the agreement.

In other words, his argument is, you can trust Russia. Well, you know, try telling Ukraine that. I don't think Ukraine trusts Russia and certainly Western leaders will be very skeptical about an argument like that. And given then the seemingly impossible nature of Moscow's condition, should we doubt, Steve, whether this is really a genuine good faith desire for peace? Is Mr Putin playing the U.S. President here? I think Vladimir Putin's greatest desire is, victory. That is what Russia is pushing for. You know, three and a half years ago, when Moscow

launched this so-called special military operation, the Russians thought that, you know, it would get, we over and done with very quickly, in a matter of weeks, that Ukraine would be forced back into Russia's orbit. And it didn't go at all according to plan. But now, three and a half years on, despite the very huge Russian casualties, there is a confidence in the Kremlin. And if they carry on and keep pushing on, that at some point they will achieve something they can present to their people as victory. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg. Venice is renowned as one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the world, filled with

stunning architecture and Renaissance masterpieces. One of its most iconic monuments is the winged bronze lion that sits atop a column overlooking the Grand Canal on St. Mark's Square, or Piazza San Marco. But much about its origins have remained shrouded in mystery, until now that is. A new study claims to shed light on where it came from, and James Copnell spoke to one of the authors, Massimo Vitale, an archaeologist at Padova University. We were very excited when we found out that the bronze with which the lion was made

had the lead isotopes of ore districts' mines from China, from the lower basin of the Yangtze River near Shanghai. So, as you say, the most iconic symbol of Venice actually was made with copper coming from China. We have no historical sources speaking about the arrival of the lion and its eventually transformation, change, or casting in Venice. And we have no notice whatsoever about the Chinese castors working in Venice at the time.

We are speaking on the mid-13 center in Venice. What we know for sure is that the style of the lion reconsidered in this light is certainly Chinese and the chemistry of the copper used is certainly from China. So the easiest solution for us is to think that it was imported, probably in pieces, and remounted in Venice with a totally different look. Yeah. Would that change then our understanding of that period of Venice's history? Sure. We have to give more substance. to the idea that there were very important contacts between the court, probably of, we think,

at least, of Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor and the Republic of Venice. It was a very, very crucial period, the church in Rome, the Pope, and the Kubilai Khan were in contact politically because the Pope wanted the Mongols to attack them in the Muslim power in the Near East. And so there was a very dense network of diplomatic intelligence contacts. We think the lion could have been sent to vanish in this context. You've made some findings, too, about the granite used from the column, which also takes us to geopolitics of the time.

We did not analyze specifically the granite of the column in this research, but one of the leading experts in Italy of marbles and precho stones says that it could come from Anatolia. So probably the columns come from Constantinople. Modern-day Istanbul, basically. Yeah, Istanbul, you know, the modern name. Yeah, and then to make the picture more complex, the lion itself has got wings.

This is not your typical lion. Exactly. We believe, actually, that the original form of the lion was a kind of chimera, a Chinese chimera, probably a tomb guardian. They made this monsters, this hybrid creature, which are partially rectiles, partially human, partially lion.

And they put them to guard the tombs of very much. important people. So originally it had wings, but when it came to Venice, the wings were changed. They were shifted from the shoulders of the monsters to the back. So the image of the lion that we know today, that we see today has the wings on the back. Massimo Vitale, an archaeologist at Padova University. Still to come in this podcast. The time of day that you eat matters. Better to eat earlier in the day because your metabolism is higher and that's due to the circadian system

or your body's internal biological clock. Why you shouldn't wait for breakfast. The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared a new outbreak of Ebola. Fifteen deaths have been reported in Kassai province with 28 suspected cases. The World Health Organization says the virus first confirmed last month has spread across two zones in the southern province.

Dr. Jean Kasea is the Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and is currently in the DRC. Since 1976, we have the first identified Ebola case. We have already 40 outbreaks out of them 16 in DRC. And the latest one that was declared yesterday by the Minister, we are suspect. expecting an index case coming from a 34-year-old woman who was pregnant, and that one was known almost around two weeks ago. And now the government is taking action with support from partners to see how to contain this outbreak, because what is wondering me as that, or General Africa, CDC,

is to see the spread in the neighboring country that could be Angola. To contain the outbreak, with need first to conduct the rapid detection, and to isolate all cases. This is why the government with support from Africa CDC, WHO, we are sending epidemiologists and other colleagues to support to detect quickly. The second one is to protect health workers. We have some health workers who passed on because they didn't have appropriate information, but also they didn't have the gloves, the masks to protect themselves.

We need also to have a strong community mobilization activities for people to know what to do and what not to do. And lastly, we need to have treatment and vaccination. Dr. John Kasea of the Africa CDC. First, it was Los Angeles. Then Washington, D.C., now Chicago is in President Trump's sights, as the next place where he wants to deploy the National Guard. He claims crime is out of control in the Democrat-led city,

even though FBI data shows the murder rate falling in recent years. Democratic leaders say the White House is using law enforcement as a cover for an immigration crackdown. Tom Bateman has this report from Chicago. Well, we're driving through the south side of Chicago, and around here they call it the wild hundreds. It doesn't take long to see why. This is one of the highest crime areas of Chicago. The head quarters of the Chicago Police Department is that building. The shooting happened down there where that's life.

I meet Rob White, as he coaches young men trying to prevent them getting drawn into a nightly spiral of gun attacks and revenge. In the city where President Trump plans to send in troops, Rob says blunt force won't work. And having the militia come in, it's not going to be the answer to this problem, right? What is the answer? There is no one answer. There's no one cured that will cure our help. Low education, you've got malnutrition, you've got inadequate housing, You got living below the pipeline, you got drug abuse.

And all of these are not just things that young people are under. They are directly involved in it. The stats over the weekend, 54 shots, seven dead, as we just heard, those numbers have both gone up. We drive west, and the right-wing talk radio presses for the president's deployment fast. After L.A. and Washington, D.C., Chicago will be the third city targeted, alongside the threat of a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. This is a march by workers who are striking. They work at a steel packaging plant.

And this is almost entirely a Hispanic workforce from the local neighborhood here. They're unhappy with the company about conditions, but also want written into their contract terms that would protect them from immigration raids. In their neighborhood of Little Village, music pours from the stores and flags drape the streets as people get ready to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. But rumors swirled that the event will be a target for impending raids

by the federal immigration and customs enforcement or ICE. My name is Rosado Lamos. What are people feeling in these communities? What's the mood? Fear. A lot of them don't want to go out and come out anymore because, of it. I just think it's really unfair of how he's attacking all the immigrants for no reason. Ice raids have been continuing in other cities. The Trump administration says it is delivering

on its promised to voters for the biggest deportation exercise in history. That message goes down well in Canaryville, one of the few pro-Trump strongholds in Democrat-dominated Chicago. Tom Stacks spots us and comes out of a bar to appeal for the troops to arrive. I don't even go out at night. I'm scared to go out at night. If you do, you got to carry it in. The police, they're overworked. It's harder to do their job. At the police headquarters, Chicago's superintendent, Larry Snelling,

points out that violent crime has fallen significantly. We have 700 less shooting victims than we had the year before. People have to have a clear understanding of the National Guard and what the National Guard does. The National Guard does not have police powers. They don't have the powers of arrest. Now the leaders of this Democrat-run city and state are preparing to clash with the Trump administration, a showdown, channeling America's divisions in one city. Tom Bateman reporting. The U.S. is making a big push to help Ecuador handle its drug cartels. A great deal of cocaine is processed through the country and the violence surrounding that has greatly increased.

In a bid to deal with it all, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubin, has announced nearly $20 million in security assistance. In the capital, Kito, Mr. Rubio also told a news conference that the U.S. was designating two Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist groups. We have designated as terrorist organizations two groups that operate here in Ecuadorian territory. One is Los Lobos and the other is Los Choneros. We've designated them as foreign terrorist organizations, and that brings with it all sorts of options for the United States to work in

conjunction with the government of Ecuador in the future to stamp these groups out. So to find out more about what Mr. Rubio had to say, and Kadesai spoke to our correspondent, Luis Fajado. He said that the United States was declaring two powerful crime groups of Ecuador as terror groups that have been having a powerful impact on the security situation in Ecuador. He also suggested that the U.S. could possibly be interested in reactivating military. military bases that they used to have in Ecuador more than a decade ago for anti-drugs purposes and that had been removed after a former government, a former leftist government in Ecuador, had objected to this base, specifically a base in the port city of Manta. And Rubio floated

the possibility of conversations to reactivate this again. What's happened in Ecuador? Why does it feel, in particular in the last five years, it's become so bad over there? Ecuador is not a major drug-producing a country. A lot of the cocaine comes originally from Colombia, but criminal gangs use ports in Ecuador to export it, to smuggle it to places like Europe and North America. And in the process of gaining access to these ports and to this infrastructure, they have caused a lot of criminal activity in Ecuador. Ecuador used to be considered one of the, actually one of the safest countries in South America, and now it faces one of the highest crime rates and murder rates in the region. So a very complicated situation. That helps explain why the

President of Ecuador, Novoa, he has strongly campaigned on improving the security conditions in the country and also specifically establishing alliances with other countries, with Western countries to try to obtain help. Also, is it seen as somewhere to deport illegal migrants at the moment? One of the topics of conversation between the U.S. and Ecuador during this visit by Marco Rubio was concerning Ecuador's willingness to take deportees from the U.S. Ecuador had previously signaled that they would be willing to take in maybe even hundreds of deportees and not only Ecuadorians but people from other countries. The government of Ecuador presented this as part of the cooperation ties that they were expecting

to build with the U.S., which would also, of course, include security help for Ecuador from the U.S. And in return, Ecuador, one of the things that they were offering was this possibility of receiving deportees from the U.S. Louis Fajado. As we age, what and when we eat tends to change. But what is the impact of meal timing on our health? New research from the United States indicates that later breakfast times, in particular,

are associated with physical and mental health conditions such as depression, fatigue and oral health problems. Two experts in nutrition gave us their insights. In a moment, we'll hear from Marianella Herrera, a professor at the Central University of Venezuela. But first, Courtney Peterson from the Harvard School of Public Health. The time of day that you eat matters, where it's better to eat earlier in the day.

So again, this suggests breakfast actually is really important because we find your metabolism is higher earlier in the day, and that's due to the circadian system or your body's internal biological clock. So for instance, in most people, they have their best blood sugar control in the mid to late morning. That's going to be between maybe about 10 a.m. to noon time. So if you can eat a large breakfast in the morning and or I would even say a large lunch in the morning, your body's going to be better at metabolizing that food.

And what that means is your blood sugar levels won't spike as high. You might burn slightly more fat. You might burn slightly more calories from eating earlier in the day. Whereas if you eat most of your food later in the day, your metabolism is actually slower later in the day. So, for instance, if you ate the same bowl of ice cream in the morning, the afternoon in the evening, your blood sugar levels will spike significantly higher in the afternoon in the evening. So as much as possible, it is better to eat earlier in the day. By and large, there have been meta-analyses finding that eating early in the day does help for weight loss.

It lowers their blood pressure. And the fascinating thing is in women and even improves fertility. I have something to add to that. I'm just think how important has been historically eating an early breakfast for the workers. In ancient times, breakfast was developed, in fact, to nurture those agricultural workers that had to start very early in the morning. So they felt that with breakfast, that would be better. and they could have better and improve jobs across the day, more effective, even more alert.

Marianella Herrera, a professor at the Central University of Venezuela. And before that, Courtney Peterson from the Harvard School of Public Health. Finally, on this podcast, thrift shops, secondhand stores or charity shops, places where you can pick up items other people no longer want, can sometimes be a real treasure trove for those who know what to look for. Aaron William Connolly, a designer in New York, has gone viral on social media after making an extraordinary bargain. He told Roger hearing what happened.

I go thrifting a lot and I walk into my thrift store and I see that somebody had just donated a marble table and I thought to myself, oh, that must be a replica. Nobody's going to donate a real null table. So I walked over it to kind of check it out and then I looked underneath and I saw the null sign and I realized it was a real table. But it hadn't been priced yet. So I had to sit there and wait for the manager for like over an hour.

So what was this Norse sign you talked about? What is it? Noel's like a famous American mid-century manufacturer of furniture. So they work with a lot of like the best furniture designers and have since like the 50s. Like Noel made all like the Ray and Charles Ean stuff back in the day. So it's all like these very famous furniture designers and they manufacture their furniture. So Noel is like always a marker of like some of the best furniture you can buy. So when the guy came over, what did he, what did he charge?

aren't you for it? She's great. I'm in there all the time, so she said it was 200, but for me, and if I took it away today, I got to have it for 100. And come on, tell us how much is it actually worth? I mean, if you went into the store to buy it today, you would spend $8,000 on it. If you bought it secondhand today, like on a cherish or first dibs, it would be like probably 45 to 6,000. Gosh, so you really got a bargain, didn't you? Yeah, I'm looking at it right now. It's a beauty. Are you going to keep it? Yeah, yeah, I'm going to keep it. Now it's part of the family. I definitely like to have nice things in here. Aaron William Connolly.

And that's all 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, you can send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. This edition was mixed by Louis Griffin and produced by Tracy Gordon and Stephanie Zacherson. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm John Sudworth.

Until next time, goodbye.