Global News Podcast - Trump overturns convictions for hundreds of rioters

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

The president pardons those who took part in the storming of the Capitol in 2021. Also; a deadly fire kills dozens of people in Turkey and why filmmakers are heading to Saudi Arabia.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection, written and presented by bestselling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of modernity. Busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance. Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever.

Somewhere, when we weren't looking, it's like busyness became a way of life. Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audio books. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and at 1400 Hours GMT on Tuesday the 21st of January these are our main stories. He's back in the White House and not wasting time.

I'm going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people. Donald Trump overturns the jail terms for hundreds of his supporters who stormed the Capitol four years ago. We look at what he's already done after just hours in office. So what impact could a second Trump term have on climate change, international trade and global security? Also in this podcast, a deadly fire in Turkey kills dozens of people. Israel

launches a lethal anti-terrorism raid in the West Bank and... This is original stones from the street where the prisoners were going with the wooden shoes. Eighty years on from the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, we discover the troubling history of one Polish village. The rest of the world has been reacting to President Trump's return to the White House and the slew of decisions already changing the relationship of the US with other countries and global institutions. The World Health Organisation has asked Mr Trump to reconsider his plan

to pull the US out and this widespread concern over the exit of America from the Paris climate agreement. We'll have more on that shortly. At home there's been condemnation of his decision to pardon those convicted of the January the 6th attack on the US Capitol back in 2021. The US Capitol Police Chief has questioned what message it sends to police officers. But Mr Trump made his views clear in the first hours of his presidency. And you know tonight I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages pardons to get them out. And as soon as I leave I'm going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people.

Mr Trump had warned he'd be a dictator from day one. So I asked our correspondent in Washington, Caroline Hawley, if there's any surprise at the speed and wide range of the decisions he's made in his first hours back in the White House. This is exactly what he promised. He said he would have head spinning, he truly has. He spoke yesterday of a tide of change that was coming. It's felt like a tsunami. It's been hard to catch up with over the last few hours.

He said, as you said, that he would be dictator for a day. So a lot happened in the first hours of his presidency. It is only just becoming light here in Washington. So his first full day in office has not yet begun. But everything from those pardons of his supporters who were arrested for storming the US Capitol. I mean, that's obviously a huge thing here. Then the sweeping away essentially of Joe Biden's legacy, rescinding 78 measures brought in by him on energy, on diversity and inclusion, withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement, which he did before, of course, but this comes after the hottest year on record.

And then on immigration, I mean, that plays very, very well to his base because many people, many of his supporters are concerned about illegal immigration, in fact, the most of the population, according to the polls. But then we have to remember as well that more than 50% of the population didn't actually vote for him, even though he won the popular vote. And for them what's happened over the last few hours is deeply alarming. Has there been much condemnation so far? Well, there's been condemnation of the pardons from the former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who said it was shameful. There has been concerned expressed about for

example the decision to pull the US out of the World Health Organization. The World Health Organization saying that it is worried by that the US was a founder of it, it's a key funder. Certainly many many people around the world will be concerned and I think China has expressed concern about the US pulling out of the climate change agreement. Donald Trump was yesterday saying, drill, baby, drill. We've got to kind of unlock the liquid gold underneath our feet. And with that, we'll make the economy great again.

Now, that plays well to his supporters, but that causes a lot of alarm around the world. And then the other thing to say is just he spoke so much yesterday and that's in stark contrast to Joe Biden who fairly rarely kind of spoken certainly not off the cuff. So armies of fact checkers in newsrooms right across the country are trying to keep up with what he said. Are there any breaks on what President Trump can do? Well, one of the most controversial things he wanted to do is to deny citizenship to children born in the US of illegal immigrants. That's called birthright citizenship. And there, that is enshrined in the Constitution.

So there are breaks. You know, there will be legal fights over some of what he said. But the issue is that he has both houses, so he does have many of the levers of power, but certainly we would expect some of what he's done and said to be challenged in the courts. Caroline Hawley in Washington. President Trump has declared a national energy emergency. One of his first executive orders is to revoke

a ban imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden on new offshore oil and gas development along most of the country's coastlines, although it's still unclear whether he'll legally be able to do this. In another order, Mr Trump has started the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement. So how will this affect the rest of the world? I asked Nevin Singh Khadka, the BBC's environment correspondent. He's also said that the US's oil and gas now will go all over the world. So that means it's not just a US story. It is about what will happen in other parts of the world. Not just because the US will be sending it elsewhere, but also because other major emitters like China

or India or others, what will they do? Will they unify and say, oh, we need to be more careful about emissions now, or will they follow suit? But the initial signals we're getting is, they might do something like that. For example, China's oil production and gas production going up,

they are struggling to bring down coal even, coal, the dirtiest of fuels. India has openly announced that their coal production will definitely go up and they're also looking into oil and gas. As if all this was not enough, the prelude to this, just a few days before the Trump's declaration of energy emergency, major US banks, they made this exodus from this net zero banking alliance, which was a major thing. And now we're seeing reports that even European banks are considering their membership in this alliance.

Now, this will send a very, very difficult message all around. Contrast this with what we heard and we saw during COP28 in UAE when that climate conference ended with a very significant declaration that the world will transition away from fossil fields. Last year, Baku, they stopped short of saying that and now we are all seeing this. And of course, Mr. Trump has already started the process, hasn't he he of withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement. What will that mean? So again you see if all these other countries, other major emitters let's say you know if they say okay the US is out so now we'll have to actually be more proactive and bolster our carbon reductions then maybe you know it might be a different story but again will that happen? Navin Singh Khadka. Mr. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio,

his top diplomat, is already confirmed in office and the appointment of his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is likely to be Robert Stamped soon. The president says he wants them to use American might to pursue US interests around the globe. Robert Wilkie was the veteran secretary in President Trump's first administration and now leads his transition team in the Pentagon. Mr. Wilkie explained to the BBC's Justin Webb what he thinks should happen next. We need to produce artillery shells, we need to produce precision guided munitions, we need more boats in the shipyards being built that also includes nuclear submarines and we need more boats in the shipyards being built. That also includes nuclear submarines.

And we need more aircraft coming off of the assembly line. Those are the things that we've neglected. So for our allies in NATO, I know the president will be asking them to do more. What should happen now? What will happen, do you think, with Ukraine? I do think that the president will make the first call to Putin. And it'll probably go something along the lines of, if you don't stop, we'll give Zelensky everything he needs. The call going to Zelensky will probably be along the lines of, you haven't done enough

to fully protect your country in the sense that You're not calling to the colors the largest segment of your population You're leaving out the male population of your country who provide the the muscle and the strength What if Putin says do you know what I've taken the call we've had the conversation What if Putin says, you know what, I've taken the call, we've had the conversation, but I'm going to carry on? That is going to be something that Putin will have to think very, very strategically about. And I'll tell you why, because one of those executive orders that is being signed as we speak will unleash American energy power.

The spigots will be open. The flow of liquefied natural gas to Europe will begin. That will bankrupt the Russian economy. He's not going to be able to prosper. Do you believe that Donald Trump has a unified theory of how he approaches the outside world? He has an instinctive view of America's role in the world and if you look at the way he acted in his first term, it was based on actually a traditional notion of American deterrence. You build up power in a threatened area. You tell the bad actors, do not move. If they do, you punish them.

Robert Wilkie. Other news now. The Turkish authorities say a fire at a ski resort hotel has killed at least 66 people and injured 51 others. The blaze broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in northwestern Turkey's Bollü area. The fire comes at the start of a two-week school holiday in Turkey when many families go on a skiing holiday. Emre Temel from BBC Turkish gave me the latest. Fifty-one people are injured. One of them are still at the intensive care. There have been 234 guests at the hotel. We also know that 17 wounded people were released from the hospital and the fire is controlled after 10 hours. We still don't know the cause

of the fire. Investigators are trying to find out the cause of the fire. It broke out overnight around 3.30 a.m. at an hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bulu province in northwestern Turkey. Bulu governor said the fire erupted as the restaurant section at the fourth floor and spread the upper floors. It seems that it rapidly engulfed the 12-story building due to the wooden cladding on its exterior and Turkish Justice Ministry immediately launched a probe. They are expected to investigate the exact reason for the fire and any possible negligence by the hotel administration.

And what do we know about the people who were there? Because this is a very popular time, isn't it, for families to ski? Yes, the tragedy happened during the school semester break when the hotels in the region are packed. Initial death toll was announced at 10 and Turkish officials said two of them lost their lives because they panicked and jumped out of the hotel. But when they revised the death toll, they didn't tell how many of them lost their lives because of a panic mood and how many of them were children.

And there were terrible pictures, footage showed people trying to escape from the hotel by tying the sheets and hanging them from the windows during the fire and Turkish authorities issued a broadcast ban over the incident. Emirate Hemel. Still to come in this podcast. Being part of such a program inspired me to continue sharing Saudi stories with the world. Huge boxing bouts of Football World Cup and now the Saudi authorities are welcoming movie stars and filmmakers.

But there are strict conditions. a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection, written and presented by bestselling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of modernity. Busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity, and the decline of nuance. Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever. Somewhere when we weren't looking it's like busyness became a way of life. Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audio books.

Palestinian officials say six people have been killed in Jenin after Israel launched what it called a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank city. The raid came hours after mass Jewish settlers launched attacks on two West Bank Palestinian villages. A little earlier, President Trump had lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied territory. Our Middle East correspondent, Yulia Nell, is in Jerusalem. This is expected to be a large-scale Israeli military operation, just a short statement

that's been put out so far by the security forces saying this is a counter-terrorism operation that has begun. Analysts saying that large numbers of troops, including special forces, are now operating in the city and we have seen social media videos of Israeli military vehicles in the heart of the city. This is a quite a volatile place in the north of the West Bank and this is where in recent weeks we have had Palestinian security forces really conducting a weeks-long operation there to try to reassert control over the city which is seen as a stronghold of armed militant groups. Now, Yalan, why did President Trump decide to lift those sanctions on Israeli settlers and what message does this send?

Well, this is a major reversal of a policy action by the Biden administration, which came amid growing international frustration about Israel's failure to rein in rising settler violence and it has been welcomed by the far-right pro-settler minister Bezalel Smotrich in a statement that he has just put out and it is seen by you know settlers as being a positive sign but of course that the Palestinian Authority has been quick to condemn this and I also spoke to the mayor of a town in the north of the West Bank which just last night saw a rampage by masked men from nearby settlements it seems and 21

people at least Palestinian medics say have been injured in confrontations with many Palestinian homes, many Palestinian vehicles having been set on fire. You can see that in video circulating in these two Palestinian villages. The mayor there told me in Al-Funduk that this seemed to be a green light for settlers to carry out more violent attacks against Palestinians. And just quickly, can you give us the latest on the prisoner release? Yeah, so the latest we've had is from Hamas in a statement saying that this next exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners is expected to go ahead on Saturday.

That should be four Israeli women hostages being released. I have to say that that is in the background of a lot of the tensions that have been going on in the West Bank because we know that settlers are angry about the idea of a sort of large-scale Palestinian prisoner release under the hostage deal. There has been messages circulating on social media telling people to block entrances to villages and that kind of thing as a result. There's also a lot of nervousness among Israelis and Palestinians

about whether ultimately this deal will hold with discussions due to start in two weeks time on an end to the war and bringing what is actually the majority of the remaining Israeli hostages home. And President Trump didn't allay fears when he was asked about whether they still be implemented on all stages. He said in the Oval Office last night, I am not confident talking to reporters. Yolande Neal speaking there to Leanna Byrne.

Two Americans held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been exchanged for an Afghan serving a life sentence in the United States on drug trafficking and terrorism charges. A statement from the Taliban government in Kabul announced the agreement which was concluded just before President Biden's term in office ended. The news emerged after Ryan Corbett and William Wallace-McKenty were freed in exchange for Khan Mohammad. Our Chief International correspondent Lisa Set reports. This deal was done just before Joe Biden handed over power to Donald Trump. The family of Ryan Corbett thanked both administrations as well as Qatar for what they described as its vital role. Mr. Corbett had lived

in Afghanistan for many years with his family and was detained by the Taliban when he returned on a business trip. There are few details about Mr. McEntee, whose family have asked for privacy. The swap also involved Khan Mohammed, who was taken captive on the battlefield in Afghanistan during the US's military engagement. The Taliban called the exchange the result of long and fruitful negotiations and said they hoped it would help to normalise relations. Since they took power in 2021, they have not been formally recognised by any government. This step won't change relations between Kabul and Washington, but more negotiations may follow. Two other Americans are still in Afghanistan, and the Taliban are seeking the release of an Afghan

who is one of the remaining prisoners at the US's Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Just before he took office, President Trump threatened to cut aid to Afghanistan unless the Taliban return the military equipment they seized after the US pullout. Leise Doucet. In just a few years, Saudi Arabia has gone from a kingdom where cinemas were banned to a rising star in the film industry. The BBC's Emily Wither has been to a film festival in Jeddah to hear from the Saudis reveling in newfound freedoms and foreign filmmakers lured in by cash incentives. But some are questioning how best to do business in a place with a poor record on human rights.

I've come to an event being hosted by the industry magazine Screen International. They're announcing their Arab Stars of Tomorrow. Opening up the Kingdom and cinemas here in 2018 was all part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS's Grand Vision 2030, to diversify the economy away from oil and expand the kingdom's cultural soft power through sports and entertainment. And we have Maria Bahwari. Wearing a bright purple off-the-shoulder dress, Saudi actress Maria Bahwari has just been named one to watch. This year, she performed

in the first Saudi film to make it to Cannes, one of the world's most prestigious film gatherings. Being part of such a programme inspired me to continue sharing Saudi stories with the world and the presence of Saudi talent on the global stage. For so many years there wasn't Saudi talent on the global stage like there is now. How does it feel to be representing women as well? Five years ago this was an impossible dream for Saudi women. My name is Ben Dalton. I'm Senior Reporter for UK International at Screen International. There are international American European filmmakers

who are starting to engage with the country. Guy Ritchie is an example, is shooting films here. Will Smith has spoken about, you know, how he wants to work here and then down to the attendees at the festival. Several of them have said they would like to work here. There are still many people who don't feel that same way and who have perhaps concerns that are very legitimate. Walking through the exhibition hall,

I can see stands for film distributors, sales agents, and what's really caught my eye is what's next to it, Saudi popcorn topped with za'atar and pomegranate molasses. Here with her own stand is Saudi producer Rasha Elmam. One of the main messages we always try to get across is that Saudi is not just a desert. There's so much landscape and diversity. We would like to invite everyone to come to Saudi to see it, scout, make a film here. What kind of films will be able to access these new funding streams?

Will they have to reflect certain values? Are there going to be certain rules around who can get investment here? There are a few red lines that are not allowed to be shot in Saudi, like nudity, sexual scenes, and everyone who comes in, they get the full brief about it. But you can also shoot in Saudi, not for Saudi, because you can use a soundstage and shoot a flat in London." MBS had signalled in his Vision 2030 an intent to rewrite the Kingdom's script. The subplot, though, has always been marred by allegations of a disregard for human rights

and a harsh crackdown on dissent. The kingdom tightly controls speech and remains one of the world's most prolific executioners. Much of the cash being pumped into the entertainment industry comes directly from the state's Public Investment Fund, also known as PIF. Human Rights Watch have raised concerns about that fund in a new report. I spoke to one of the authors, Joey Shea. We found that the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's nearly trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, has facilitated human rights abuses and has benefited from human rights abuses. We also documented how Mohammed bin Salman himself has near unilateral control over what is a

trillion dollars in Saudi public wealth. That report by Emily Wither and you can hear more by searching for Business Daily wherever you get your BBC podcasts. 80 years ago in January 1945, Soviet forces liberated the biggest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. But just a week before that, death marches took place when SS guards forced tens of thousands of prisoners further west, away from the advancing Red Army. Amit Liberwitz lost some members of her family in the Holocaust, and she's visited a Polish village which has only just discovered its own troubling history.

We are standing now directly on the stone which belongs to the street. In Bojkow's main square by a large Catholic Church the local school teacher Szysztof Kruszynski is pointing to the cobblestones we're standing on. We collected the old stone and we put on this square, but we didn't know before that this is the silent witness of the death march. With Soviet troops fast approaching the extermination camp, Ashwitz-Birkenau, SS guards forced tens of thousands of prisoners out of the camp onto what became known as the death marches. One of them passed through this village.

This is original stones from the street where the prisoners were going with the wooden shoes. And the people for sure from the village not only watched the death march but they heard this terrible sound. And yet for decades the story of the death march here was unknown to the residents of this Polish village Bojków. One of those who revealed this history is a German woman, Cornelia Steele. She says I knew all my life that there were these death marches because my mother was five years old

when she saw the death marches of the Auschwitz inmates and she remembers the clacking of the of the wooden shoes. Cornelia was born 20 years after the war. She has spent years unearthing her own family's history during the war and what happened here. What we know is that these death marches, people that were too weak to walk, that collapsed, were directly shot. That people that needed to go pee and had to go into the snow in order to urinate were shot. The next day the streets were lined

with corpses and the farmers were covering these corpses with straw from the fields and then basically disposed of the corpses. So why has it taken a German woman to tell today's Polish inhabitants of Bojków about their history? Well, because until 1945, this village used to be in Germany and was the proud German village of Schönwald. Cornelia's family used to live in Schönwald, but days after the death march, like others, her family escaped further west, terrified of the advancing Soviet troops and took their history with them. Now, 80 years later, thanks to the rediscovery of this history, the victims of the death march passing through the village are at last

being commemorated with a new memorial inside the Catholic cemetery. It's important in general to know of things that happened, of people that were killed, inhumanely treated, tortured. And if we look away, it's like we're doing this a second time. This place is for everybody. The Jewish can come and put the stone. The Catholic can come and put the candle. The other people can put the flower. And you can hear more from Amy Leibowitz on assignment.

And that's it from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. on assignment. And why might a President Trump administration leave the World Health Organisation? Please send us your questions or voice notes. The email address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Paul Mason. The producer was David Lewis. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye bye.

Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by. And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation. It felt a really safe and welcoming space. After the yoga classes I felt amazing. But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker. A journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders. I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.

World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed. In this new series, we're confronting the dark side of the wellness industry, where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations. You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realize. And it's like this the secret that's there, I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me, was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this

and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice. And for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future. To bring us into the light and almost alchemize some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power. World of Secrets, Season 6, The Bad Guru. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.