Global News Podcast - Ukraine to present 'victory plan' to US

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said their incursion into Russia's Kursk region is part of a "victory plan" that he will present to the White House. Also: have Swiss scientists made a chocolate breakthrough?

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss and in the early hours of Wednesday the 28th of August, these are our main stories. Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine's expanding incursion into Russia's

Kursk region is part of a victory plan that he'll soon present to President Biden. Israeli commandos have freed one of the hostages held in Gaza. Our correspondent in Jerusalem gives us the details. And US officials say a tanker that's ablaze in the Red Sea appears to be leaking oil after it was attacked by Houthi fighters. Also in this podcast... I think you could compare it to maple syrup. Yeah, this you could put on your toast. This is very sweet. We visit a laboratory in Switzerland where they're working on a new way to make chocolate. It was perhaps a surprising day for Volodymyr Zelensky to talk about victory.

Ukraine had suffered a second night of drone and missile attacks, while Russian troops in the Donbass continued to move closer to capturing the strategically important town of Povrozhk. But on the positive side for Ukraine, there is, of course, the fact that their forces still occupy a chunk of Russian territory. And what President Zelensky said was that this would form the key part of a victory plan he wants to put to the United States. The operation in the Kursk region is a part of the plan about which I'll be talking with President Biden. The main point of this plan is to force Russia to end the war. And I really want it to end on fair terms for Ukraine. If the plan is accepted and delivered, which is also very important, then we believe that our main aims will be reached.

Earlier, Mr. Zelensky's military chief, Oleksandr Sirsky, said Ukraine now controlled 100 settlements in Kursk. Our reporter Nick Beek is in the Sumy region, close to the border, and has been hearing more about what the Ukrainians hope to achieve through their incursion. Today, the Ukrainians said that they've continued to take more land, that in that time they captured around 600 Russian prisoners of war, and all the indications we've seen over the past couple of days that in that time they captured around 600 Russian prisoners of war. And all the indications we've seen over the past couple of days is that they've got absolutely no intention of giving up this territory. Russia says there will be a response to this.

It's unclear whether what we've seen in the last couple of days or so constitutes this response or whether there is more punishment to come, to use the word that Vladimir Putin has been using. As for President Zelensky, today he's been talking about a victory plan. more punishment to come, to use the word that Vladimir Putin has been using. As for President Zelensky, today he's been talking about a victory plan. He says he wants to take this to the United States. He wants to present it to President Biden. And he says the aim here is really to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position so that Russia can be brought to the negotiating table.

The problem is if you listen to the Kremlin, if you listen to President Putin, he's saying at the moment there is simply nothing to talk about. Big, big. There's one aspect of this conflict which the whole world is now being urged to talk about, or at least care about. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned there's a risk of an incident at a nuclear power plant close to where the fighting's being taken place in Russia's Kursk region. Rafal Grossi visited the plant following Russian claims that it's been attacked by Ukrainian forces. Our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg reports.

War is bad enough, but a nuclear power plant in a war zone. That is a potential disaster. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, visited Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant, less than 30 miles from the fighting. Three weeks ago, thousands of Ukrainian troops had broken through the border into Kursk region and had begun seizing territory. Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to attack the power plant with drones. Without attributing responsibility, Rafael Grossi confirmed there had been what he called activity near the facility. I was informed about the impact of drones. I shown, some of the remnants of those and signs of the impact they had. Like Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear accident, which had no protective dome, neither does the Kursk plant. That makes it very exposed. According to the picture painted by Moscow, only one country right now is a threat

to nuclear safety, and that is Ukraine. But it's a picture that omits a key detail. In the last two and a half years, only one country has invaded its neighbour and seized a nuclear power station, and that is Russia. Its army occupied the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in 2022. Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine traded accusations over a fire there at a cooling tower. President Zelensky has accused Russia of using the plant to blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe and the world. That report by Steve Rosenberg. We still don't know how the Israeli military managed to free another hostage from captivity in Gaza. A spokesman would only say it was a complex

operation carried out by commandos, while a group that campaigns on behalf of the hostages said it was miraculous. But given that Qaid Farhan al-Qadi had been held for nearly 11 months and that he was apparently rescued from an underground tunnel, the 52-year-old father is reportedly in pretty robust condition. Mr al-Qadi is a Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel and had been working as a guard at a warehouse when he was abducted by Hamas during the attacks on the 7th of October. Our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson has this report. After 326 days as a hostage, Farhan al-Qadi walked off an Israeli military helicopter back into his life. A Bedouin father of 11, kidnapped from the kibbutz where he worked

as a security guard, from a tunnel in Gaza to Israel's Soroka hospital in a couple of hours. His family racing the last few meters to greet him. Among them his brother Hatem Al-Kadi. It's difficult to explain how it feels. It's better than having a newborn. We thank God and we thank everyone and hope to see him healthy. We're very happy, very happy. Photographs released by the hospital show him thin and pale, but staff said the 52-year-old was in a good and stable condition. Reports in local media that Mr Al-Qadi had managed to escape without help from Israeli forces were denied by the army. Its spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said special

forces had extracted him from the tunnel and that many others still remained in captivity. There are still 108 hostages whose families are still waiting to hear news that their loved ones are home, and they should know that we will not rest, we will not rest until we fulfill our mission to bring all our hostages back home. Last week, Israel brought back the bodies of six other hostages. The funeral of one, Chaim Perry, was held in Israel today. The joy of one family and the grief of another, a trickle of hostages returning as a ceasefire deal remains stubbornly out of reach. That report by Lucy Williamson in Jerusalem.

The Pentagon says a tanker in the Red Sea, which was recently attacked by Houthi fighters, is still on fire and now appears to be leaking oil. The Greek-flagged Sunian has been ablaze off the coast of Yemen. From Washington, here's our State Department correspondent Tom Bateman. The tanker was attacked by Houthi militants as it transited the Red Sea last week. It is a Greek-flagged vessel called the MV Sunian. Its 25-strong crew were rescued by a European naval ship which, it it said destroyed a drone attack vessel nearby.

The oil tanker was later attacked again. The Houthis posted a video purportedly showing them setting it on fire. The Pentagon now says the tanker appears to be leaking oil, and the tugs sent to salvage it were also threatened. The Sunian is carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, posing an environmental hazard, say shipping officials. If a major spill occurs, it has the potential to be among the largest from a ship in recorded history. The Arambek Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea for 10 months, in solidarity with Palestinians facing

Israel's military assault in Gaza. They have reportedly sunk two ships and killed at least three crew in that time. Tom Bateman. A truck driver in Pakistan was among a group of people who were all apparently killed by the Baloch Liberation Army, which has claimed responsibility for a string of murderous attacks. But it seems this one saw one fortunate man improbably survive, as Olivia Noon reports. Munir Ahmed was driving with colleagues in a convoy of trucks. Armed men on the highway stopped the vehicles before ordering them out and shooting them. Mr Ahmed, who is from the Punjab, was later picked up by rescuers,

along with other lifeless bodies, before they were transported to a hospital. At the hospital, medical staff discovered that he was still alive. They say he had been hit by five bullets in the arm and back, but was in a stable condition. Speaking from the hospital, Mr Ahmed said he and the other men had been left for dead, with men's bodies thrown into a stream. Olivia Noon. Donald Trump might be forgiven for thinking he was legally home and dry,

at least as far as those allegations that he'd tried to overturn the 2020 election result. After all, the Supreme Court ruled former presidents were partially immune to criminal prosecution. But it seems prosecutors do still think he is vulnerable. They found a way round the Supreme Court ruling, and they think they've issued a revised indictment that will nail Donald Trump. But then, as our North America correspondent John Sudworth explained, Mr Trump continues to insist he was right all along. Well, Donald Trump has, of course, never stopped repeating the claim made completely without foundation that he won the 2020 election, the falsehood that Joe Biden won essentially as a result of voter fraud. And there can be little doubt that Mr Trump attempted to cling to power.

The question has always been, was that attempt criminal? Now, the Justice Department clearly thinks it was. It brought charges against him in 2023. But Mr Trump is a man, of course, with deep pockets. The case has run into all sorts of delay and challenges against it, not least the challenge that was taken right to the very pinnacle of the US legal system, to the Supreme Court, where Mr Trump enjoys a conservative supermajority, three of those justices appointed during his time in office. And they issued the landmark ruling a few months ago that said Mr Trump enjoys broad immunity from prosecution,

particularly for acts related to his official business. Many people said that this shattered the existing precedent that nobody was above the law. But there you are. The prosecutors have had to go away, reconsider the indictment, and they have now removed parts of it that relate to Mr Trump's official instructions. So, for example, where perhaps before they included examples of him instructing government lawyers, those bits have now come out. And the conspiracy that they're charging him with involves only him and private actors, his own private lawyers, for example. The charges remain the same,

essentially that Mr Trump attempted to obstruct and defraud the American voters as a whole in their right to see the results of that election respected. But what we should really point out, of course, are two things here. Firstly, it's very unlikely that this case will now be heard before the election, so you might say it's all academic. But because we're unlikely to hear it before the election, in some ways it raises the stakes. Because, of course, if Mr Trump loses in November,

well, then he almost certainly is going to face this new revised indictment. If he wins, he'll be able to tell the Justice Department to put a stop to it. John Sudworth. Still to come... We spent our entire lives working, caring for our children, giving them the best. We didn't have time to travel. We also didn't have the money to do it as well before. So why not do it now? With a growing number of older people in India,

we hear how companies are hoping to cash to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Imagine escaping from a tyrannical regime, finding refuge abroad, and then being told that you're

going to be forcibly returned there. That is the current fate of the Belarusian writer and filmmaker Andrei Ganyot. Four years ago, he took part in protests against the country's autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, and also helped record critical statements from prominent athletes. Like many dissident figures, Gignot fled abroad. But a court in Serbia is now considering whether to extradite him back to Belarus. It was originally Interpol that issued an arrest warrant. Belarus said they wanted him for tax evasion. Interpol's now dropped the request, yet the extradition attempt is going ahead. As our Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford explains,

that might be because Mr Gignot's activities touched a particular raw nerve for the Belarusian president. We now know that he is the man behind a very prominent campaign uniting very well-known athletes in Belarus against what they describe as the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko. This was after the mass protests in 2020 against a rigged presidential election. Huge crowds on the streets. And Mr. Gniot, Andrei Gniot, was involved in those opposition protests. And then he went on to take part in this campaign involving prominent athletes. So he filmed them. He has also told me that he was central to getting a major ice hockey tournament relocated.

It should have been in Belarus. He got it moved to another country. And that would have, he is sure, angered Alexander Lukashenko, who's a massive ice hockey fan and who wanted this prestigious event. The initial request to arrest Mr. Gnjot came from Interpol, the international police organization, but they've now dropped it. Why is Serbia apparently considering extraditing him to Belarus, given that most European countries have criticised Alexander Lukashenko's regime and its record of locking up political dissidents? I think that's a very big and open question. And it's exactly what the lawyers for Mr Gnjot have been pointing out and have been fighting. I mean, on paper, the reason is that Serbia and Belarus have an extradition

agreement. And so on paper, Serbia is continuing with a process, a normal legal process as far as it's concerned. Once Mr. Gniot was arrested, they continued with the consideration of the request from Belarus to extradite him. But of course, they're coming under huge pressure. There's been pressure not just from the lawyers, but also from dozens of European filmmakers and artists, including Nobel laureates, who issued an open letter, signed an open letter just on the eve of this final court hearing, urging the Serbian authorities not to extradite Mr. Gniot and pointing out that he has very real concerns that in prison in Belarus, he would face torture. And he's concerned, he's told me, that he would also face potentially the death penalty for some of his political activism.

You don't think that the idea he's wanted for tax evasion stands up at all? The amount of money that's being talked about is some 300,000 euros. And in his final statement, Andrei Gniot pointed out that he would have to be making millions in order to owe that much in back tax. And he said that he wouldn't be flying around the world looking for little jobs in Serbia if he was that rich and if he was that much of a criminal. He said he'd be in casinos. He wouldn't be in a prison in Serbia. So he's adamant that this is political. And certainly, I think we just need to remember the context, the fact that there are hundreds of political prisoners still behind bars in Belarus, and that some of the most prominent names amongst them, including a Nobel laureate,

Alex Bielacki, he was also detained initially for tax evasion before a number of other charges were pressed against him. So it is normal practice for Belarus, which does go after political opponents of Alexander Lukashenko. Our East Europe correspondent, Sarah Rainsford. Even by the standards of jihadi violence, the atrocity which took place in Burkina Faso over the weekend was particularly shocking. Residents in the town of Barca Logo had been warned that an attack might be on the way and were ordered to dig trenches for protection. It looks like the attack came while they were doing so. Photographs from the scene show bodies scattered everywhere, many of them still with shovels in their hands. At least

200 people are thought to have been killed and the West African nation is now rated as one of the worst in the world for Islamist violence. I spoke to our Africa regional editor, Will Ross, and asked him why. It's just been getting worse and worse now for pretty much a decade. 2015 is when it kind of spread out of Mali and spread into Burkina Faso. The authorities have used tactics which some people just think haven't worked at all. Basically, over the last few years, they've decided to arm communities and have asked for volunteers to come forward. They're given very limited amount of training and given a gun. So what we've seen over the last few months are loads of attacks that seem to target these volunteer forces.

And it's not just JNIM, there's also Islamic State linked groups. So you've got multiple groups moving highly mobile across these borders. And at the same time, there's been this sort of political upheaval going on with the whole anti-French movement by the leaders in the Sahel countries, booting out the French troops, in the case of Mali, kicking out thousands of UN troops as well, and in their place saying to Russia, come and help us out. Yeah, I was going to ask about Russia, because the group that was called the Wagner Group, now known as the Africa Corps, they are active supposedly in Burkina Faso. This incident suggests they're a long way from managing to defeat the jihadists they were supposed to be taking on. Exactly. We don't get

very clear ideas of exactly what they're up to. But I've seen, you know, some people posting saying, you know, where were these Russian forces when Bar Salogo was attacked? We've seen in recent months photos of Russian troops in Burkina Faso, a group called the Bear Brigade, who are a Russian private military company, all really part of this Afrika, former Wagner group, but we got no real idea of the numbers involved and how engaged they really are in taking on the jihadist groups head on. In recent weeks, we've had some heavy losses by Wagner and by all the militaries in these three countries. And considering they were seized by military men, saying the civilians had failed to deal with the insecurity. It does at the moment, especially in Burkina Faso, it does look as though things are getting to a kind of position where you're wondering really what the future of the country is,

when nearly half of the country seems to be falling into the hands of these jihadist fighters. You're kind of seeing the state slowly just being eaten away at. And it's bound to be growing frustration in the military with the number of deaths. And it wouldn't be a surprise if there were sort of more upheavals in the military. Will Ross, it's a population problem suffered by many countries. But when your country has the world's biggest population, the problem can be very big indeed. India will soon have 1.5 billion people. But at the same time, Indians are now having fewer children. So that means a growing number of older people, supported by a relatively smaller number of working age young people. Some in India, however, are trying to see the over-60s not as a burden but an opportunity, with companies

hoping to cash in on the so-called silver economy. The BBC's Arunade Makkaji has this report. In their 60s and on the road, this group of over a dozen old couples have travelled more than a thousand kilometres away from their home in Maharashtra in western India. With one aim, checking things off their bucket lists. Travelling on a specially curated tour for senior citizens, the couples are visiting the city of Jaipur. Moving at a comfortable pace, stopping for photographs, taking in the sights and sounds of the city.

For many, like Prakash and Preeti Parshakar, this is the first time they've had the chance to go on a trip like this. We spent our entire lives working, caring for our children, giving them the best. We didn't have time to travel. We also didn't have the money to do it as well before. I felt we haven't seen most of India. So why not do it now?

It's this sentiment that travel companies like Veena World felt would be a lucrative market to tap into. The company's founder, Sunila Patil, says this is a market segment that is time rich and cash rich. They don't have to wait for a vacation to travel at any point. When you think of the younger age group or the families, the first thing that happens is when school starts, you take the children's calendar and then you mark out when is it that you can travel. A senior citizens age group is such that you name it and they can travel. It's what startup senior world has also been trying to do. Rahul Gupta started the company 10 years ago, focusing primarily on helping senior citizens travel. Its initial success has now made them foray into other verticals, like making and selling special mobile phones for seniors,

devices that can be remote-operated by their children from anywhere around the world. Rahul also shows me an app his team has developed, helping the elderly connect with each other, find common hobbies and join communities. Rahul tells me why he's betting big on this segment. It has now come to a stage where it's getting attractive, the size is big, there are micro-markets emerging which are monetizable and it creates a huge opportunity. It is a blue ocean. Virtually nobody is focused

on the segment, especially in a country like India where there are far more youngsters. It's easier to target. So we think it makes for a compelling business opportunity, both from a social standpoint in terms of impact, as well as from a financial standpoint going forward. But not everyone can afford the services of companies like Veena World or Senior World. In most Indian cities and towns, you'll also see the more disadvantaged elderly population. According to the UN, 40% of the elderly in India fall among the poorest of the poor, while one-fifth have no income at all. While the government has some policies that give subsidized health care and aid to the elderly,

welfare services for them are still largely relegated to the private sector and hence not free. And many in this travelling group acknowledge that privilege. And as this batch of seniors dances to Bollywood hits at the end of their tour, can India keep pace with the needs of its ageing population? That report was by Arunade Makji. Today sees the opening ceremony for the Paralympics in the French capital, Paris. There is, of course, huge pressure on all the athletes taking part, keen to be carrying a medal back in their return luggage and bring some pride to their home country.

But One Nation's Paralympic squad are perhaps under particular pressure to raise the spirits of their fellow citizens. Ukraine is sending more than 70 competitors to the Games. Andy Swiss has been to meet some, including Danilo Chufarov, a 35-year-old visually impaired man who survived the siege in the city of Mariupol. I was ready to die. I hoped I would survive, but the probability of dying was so high that you just put up with it. How much did that period affect you both physically and mentally? Of course, I lost a few kilos, but this does not reflect my mental state after I left the city.

I believe that this trauma will stay with me forever. The last two and a half years have presented Ukraine's Paralympians with extraordinary challenges. Ukraine say 500 sports centres have been destroyed in the war. Chufarov now trains at this pool near Dnipro, where sessions are interrupted by air raid sirens. And yet last summer, he somehow won three gold medals at the World Championships in Manchester. In fact, Ukraine are one of the most successful

Paralympic nations in the world. At the Winter Games in 2022, while protesting against the invasion... Peace for Ukraine! Peace for Ukraine! ..they still finished second in the medals table. But the president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, Valery Sushkevich, says preparing for this Games finished second in the medals table. But the president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, Valery Sushkevich, says preparing for this Games has been even tougher.

It's terrible preparation. It's so, so, so, so difficult. It's terrible psychology, mentality and physical dangerous from the bombs every day. Many athletes have had to move abroad. Fencer Andrzej Demczuk went to Poland, where he's been training with their team. But Demczuk, who's a leg amputee, has gone back to Ukraine, where he speaks to injured soldiers about adapting to life with a prosthetic. He's even delivered Jeeps to help the war effort, driving them, he told me, with a bit of help from his fencing sword.

I have only one normal leg and three pedals. And for me, I can help with a broken epi or foil and push the clutch. And after, I can push my left leg to another two pedals, and this is a little problem. At the forthcoming Paralympics, some Russian athletes are able to compete as neutrals, just as they did at the Olympics earlier in the summer. At the Olympics, though, just 15 Russian athletes took part, while at the Paralympics, 90 have been entered to compete.

For Ukrainian swimmer Anna Honta, who had to move to Finland after the invasion, facing them will not be easy. I will try to close my emotions, but I don't know how it will go. I want to win, I want to fight for Ukraine, for my family, and I want to fight. Anna Hunter, ending that report by Andy Swiss. Now, stand back, Willy Wonka, take a back seat, Cadbury's, Nestle, Hershey's, and all the other major producers of chocolate. There is, it seems, a new way of making the world's favourite indulgence, one that could turn it into a far healthier item of confectionery

and help farmers of the all-important cocoa bean. The idea is not just to use the cocoa beans for making chocolate, but also the fruit or cocoa pod that comes with them. That would mean you don't have to add sugar anymore and it reduces waste. It was obviously a tough assignment to get someone to report on this, but fortunately Imogen folks in Switzerland agreed to do it. I've come to Choco Suisse, the association of Swiss chocolate makers,

to talk to its director, Roger Verley. I think there are very interesting proposals to use the whole cocoa fruit. And then you even don't need any sugar anymore. If you use the whole cocoa fruit, I think you can get better prices because you don't waste part of the fruit. Make chocolate without sugar? Surely not possible. In fact, back in their laboratory, Kim and Anyan are doing just that, using first the juice of the cocoa fruit.

Do you want to try some of this? Maybe the easiest is to start with the juice. So this is the juice of the cocoa fruit. Exactly. Actually, that's really nice. I mean, like pineapple, maybe not quite as acidic. The juice has like 14 sugar the juice is then concentrated down to a thick syrup yeah i think you could compare it to maple syrup yeah this you could put on your toast yeah this is very sweet and making sure nothing goes unused

the husk or endocarp is used as a thickening agent. So the endocarp is not sweet at all, and that's why it's typically left on the field, basically fertilizer or compost, which is sad. And that is why we thought, hey, maybe we can turn this into a powder and use this powder, which is rich in pectins. Without the endocarp, the chocolate would not solidify. The process is, says Anjan, a win-win for cocoa farmers and chocolate producers. You use more of what is already there, right?

So instead of fighting over who gets how much of the cake, you make the cake louder and make everybody benefit. The farmers get significantly extra income through utilizing cocopult, but also that the important industrial processing is happening in a country of origin, creating jobs, creating value that can be distributed in a country of origin. It all sounds amazing. So why haven't we always made chocolate like this? As the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding, or chocolate in this case, is in the eating. All right, so I suggest we start with this one. And I like to put it in my mouth and I don't

swallow it, just let it melt. To me, it tastes like dark chocolate. I mean, I'm a fan of dark chocolate. It's not as sweet. That report by Imogen Folks in Switzerland. And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. But just before we go, we're planning a special programme in Montreal, Canada next month at the One Young World Summit, where young people from across the world gather to share their solutions to global issues. And for that, we'd like to know what questions you would put to a group of young people setting out to change the world.

It could be about the environment, world peace, AI or any other issue. You can send us an email at globalpodcast at 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 Martin. I'm Paul Moss. Until next time, goodbye. Goodbye. AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.