Global News Podcast - Walz attacks Trump in first rally as US vice president Democratic nominee

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Tim Walz told a rally in Philadelphia that Republican contenders in November's presidential election are " weird as hell". Also: Hamas names Yahya Sinwar as new overall leader, and Philippe Petit is to mark 50 years since his Twin Towers high-wire walk.

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 Andrew Peach and in the early hours of Wednesday the 7th of August, these are our main stories.

The US Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, have kicked off their campaign for November's election at a rally in Philadelphia. The Nobel Prize winner, Mohamed Younis, has been named as the leader of Bangladesh's new interim government. The man who Israel says was the architect of the October 7th attacks, Yair Sinwa, has become the new political leader of Hamas, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran. Also in this podcast... The basic plan was very simple.

I knew there was going to be a team in each tower. 50 years ago, the French high-wire artist Philippe Petit walked using a cable strung illegally between the twin towers in New York. To commemorate that, he's doing another performance rather closer to the ground. Let's begin in the US city of Philadelphia. At an election rally attended by thousands of people, the US vice president and now presidential nominee,

Kamala Harris, appeared with her newly selected running mate, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walls. The Democratic presidential candidate announced her choice earlier on Tuesday. Tim Walls is known for his progressive policies and his plain speaking. He's made an impact on social media in recent weeks by labelling former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, as weird. The Trump campaign has immediately dismissed Mr. Walls as a dangerously liberal extremist. And a few minutes after appearing on the podium, Kamala Harris outlined her experience,

including her role as courtroom prosecutor, repeating an earlier mantra regarding Donald Trump. So in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who scammed consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say... I know Donald Trump's type.

And this was the first we heard from her new running mate, Tim Walls. Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us. First of all, he doesn't know the first thing about service. He doesn't have time for it because he's too busy serving himself. Again and again and again, Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand. He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division. And that's to say nothing of his record as president. Tim Wall speaking in Philadelphia. The Kamala Harris campaign hopes this Midwesterner will appeal to an independent and conservative-minded voter.

This from our international editor, Jeremy Bowen. Breaking news. Vice President Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Until a few weeks ago, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota was barely known to voters outside his own state. He burst onto the national scene in a series of highly effective appearances on cable news channels. Well, it's true. These guys are just weird. And, you know, they're running for He-Man Women Haters Club or something.

That's what they go at. That's not what people are interested in. Calling the Republicans weird is a tag that seems to have hit home. These guys are just weird. That's what they are. Governor Walz trades politically on being an authentic product of America's heartland. He grew up in a small town, served in the National Guard for more than 20 years, and was a high school teacher and football coach before he went into politics. At 60, he's around the same age as Kamala Harris. All that helped him rise above his better-known rivals. Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, was a favorite. She needs to win his state, but Mr. Shapiro's strong support for Israel might have been a vote loser elsewhere.

Donald Trump and the Republicans are trying to frame Vice President Harris as a dangerous liberal from California. Tim Walz will be a rubber stamp for Kamala's dangerously liberal agenda. In a taste of what's already a bitter, close campaign, the Republicans are accusing Mr. Walz of faking his heartland credentials. Mr. Trump posted that the would-be vice president would unleash hell on earth. Kamala Harris has transformed the Democratic campaign since she replaced Joe Biden as candidate for president,

up in the polls and raising millions of dollars. Selecting Governor Tim Walz helped sustain a sense of momentum and the touring key states this week. The U.S. presidential race turns on a handful of states that swing between the two main parties. The Democrats must hope that Mr. Walz will appeal to working class white voters who've turned towards Donald Trump and the Republicans. But in the end, the record shows that Americans vote for the presidential candidate, not the vice president. Our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, will be the new head of its political bureau. He succeeds Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran, last week. Mr Sinwar tops Israel's most wanted list. It accuses him of authorising the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 were taken hostage. Our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams has more from Jerusalem. This is clearly a gesture of total defiance from Hamas. They have effectively said to the world and to Israel in particular,

you killed our former leader, Ismail Haniyeh, a man who was your chief interlocutor, a man who you were effectively, if not directly, but indirectly negotiating with. You decided to kill him. Well, this is what you get instead. The man who you accuse, almost certainly with good reason, for being the mastermind behind what happened on October 7th last year. It is hard to see how Hamas could have chosen a more or made a more defiant move than to appoint Yahya Sinwar, a kind of legendary figure among his followers, a man who has stayed, as far as we know, has stayed in the Gaza Strip

throughout the entire 10 months of this war, a man who was glimpsed only briefly in some footage which the Israelis released some months ago, in which you effectively see the back of him as he was moving through one of those famous tunnels in Gaza. A man who most people believe will never leave the Gaza Strip, will never abandon his fighters, who will perhaps fight to the very end. That is the man now in charge of Hamas. And, you know, what happens to negotiations as a result of this? Well,

Ismail Hania is gone. The negotiations were difficult enough, even while he was there as an intermediary, because all messages had to go via him and then through a kind of complicated route through either through the Qataris or the Egyptians, and then very, very slowly and indirectly into the Gaza Strip, almost certainly messages carried by hand, until they reached Yahya Sinwa, and it was up to him then to decide what the response was, and often the response took some time to emerge. All of that will remain extremely difficult,

but I think, as I said at the beginning, the chief message here is defiance. Paul Adams in Jerusalem. The Israeli military has confirmed deploying fighter jets to hit what it called a military structure used by Hezbollah in the southern Lebanese town of Maifudun. The Lebanese authorities said six people had been killed in the strike. Shortly afterwards, Hezbollah launched a drone attack

on an Israeli military facility on the country's northern coast. Nineteen Israelis were injured. In a televised speech, the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said the attack wasn't in response to Israel's killing of a senior commander from the group last week. He said retaliation for that attack was yet to come. From Beirut, here's our correspondent, Hugo Beshega. Hassan Nasrallah spoke for an hour and a half. From Beirut, here's our correspondent Hugo Bechega. could not be seen as any other attack. There are concerns that this retaliation could lead to a wider conflict with Israel. Many countries have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately,

but there is no sense of panic here. Next to Denmark, and a Polish man accused of punching the Danish Prime Minister has gone on trial in Copenhagen. The 39-year-old, who can't be named because of reporting restrictions, has pleaded not guilty to the alleged assault which took place in June. Adrienne Murray reports from Copenhagen. Dressed in jeans and a colourful t-shirt, the 39-year-old defendant confirmed that he had seen and recognised the Danish Prime Minister, but denied putting a hand on her. The man, who has lived in Denmark for five years,

is accused of punching Medda Fredriksson's shoulder as she walked through a square in central Copenhagen. When questioned, he denied responsibility, telling the court he couldn't recall the incident. Henrik Carl Nielsen is the defendant's lawyer. Yeah, well, he remembers he met the prime minister in central Copenhagen, and actually what happened, he doesn't remember because he was drunk. Mrs. Friedrichsen has not testified. However, a friend she was meeting for a coffee

and two security guards gave evidence during the hearing. One bodyguard told the court that the prime minister had been knocked off balance. The friend said Friedrichsen had been really shaken. According to the prime minister's office at the time, Friedrichsen, who's 46, was left with a minor whiplash injury and had to cancel engagements. The alleged attack occurred on the eve of the European elections and followed a spate of assaults against other politicians. Counts having decent exposure and fraud were also heard by the court

relating to earlier separate incidents. The two-day trial wraps up on Wednesday. If found guilty, the accused could face a prison sentence, deportation and a six-year entry ban. Adrienne Murray in Denmark. Still to come... I lost three stone in the end. I haven't been on any medication now for about a year and a half. A new way to reverse type 2 diabetes. 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. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus has been named

as the leader of an interim government in Bangladesh a day after the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted. His name was proposed by the leaders of the student movement that led the nationwide anti-government protests. Here's Anbarasan Ethirajan. The announcement was made following talks between the Bangladeshi President Mohamed Shahabuddin and student leaders who played a key role in the weeks of protests that toppled Sheikh Hasina. Mr Yunus, who is 84, has faced numerous legal cases this year, which he said were politically motivated. Earlier, his office told the BBC that he had accepted the request from the student leaders to be part of the interim administration.

The Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, is now reported to be largely calm, but there have been reports of looting and killing across the country. As we said, it's being reported that the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after resigning, fled to neighbouring India. Bangladesh was born after a war in 1971 with Pakistan and was supported by India. So is there a political risk for India the longer Sheikh Hasina stays there? Krupa Padhi spoke to Riva Ganguly Das, India's former high commissioner to Bangladesh. Given our proximity, given the largeness of our relationship, given the intensity of our relationship,

it would not be in anybody's interest for her to have a prolonged stay in India. As you've touched on there, the government of Mr. Modi has good ties with the government of Hasina Sheikh. I wonder how that might impact a rapport with any future government of Bangladesh. I mean, we share a 4000 plus kilometre border with Bangladesh with more than 30 checkposts through which people and goods move on a daily basis. There is intense movement of people. Thousands from Bangladesh come to India for medical treatment. Besides which, there is very intense trade.

So we have to keep on doing business with Bangladesh. It is true that Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Modi demonstrated enormous political will and resolved some of the most outstanding issues that have dogged the relationship in the past. But if you look at the history of, you know, Indo-Bangladesh relations, starting from the liberation, and then you had long years of military dictatorship, which were difficult period for Indo-Bangladesh relation. So the relationship has always survived no matter who's in power and it has to survive for the people and the peace and prosperity of

the region. That said, we are in a politically uncertain time right now in Bangladesh and India borders Bangladesh, as you pointed out, to the west, to the north and to the east. And I understand that India has stepped up border security. Are you therefore concerned about refugees coming into India? Oh, certainly. I think that is a very big concern. People who feel insecurity in their own country in Bangladesh might try to flee because we've seen scenes of violence and anarchy, which is absolutely unprecedented. I mean, yesterday, the photographs which have come out of the videos which have come out of Bangladesh are absolutely horrifying. Riva Ganguly Das, India's former high commissioner to Bangladesh.

It's estimated that almost half a billion people around the world live with type 2 diabetes, and those numbers are on the rise. It's usually a lifelong condition. Its ongoing treatment is a huge cost to governments everywhere. In the UK, a new way has been found to reverse it, as Alfie Habershon reports. We live in a time where the market is flooded with ways to get us in better shape. All of the greens into our diet that we need to have a healthy gut microbiome and a healthy body and with Huel's Daily Greens product. If eligible you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. Ask your health care provider today about once weekly Ozempic. And yet it seems to be harder than ever. Obesity has doubled since 1990 and half of the world's population is

predicted to be overweight by 2035 which can of course lead to type 2 diabetes where the level of sugar in the blood becomes too high. This makes it a very expensive disease which needs daily medication for life and can lead to serious health consequences like heart disease, strokes or nerve damage. Here in the UK one in every £10 spent by the government on health goes to the management of diabetes, but that may be about to change. It takes people with fairly recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes and it puts them onto an intensive lifestyle interventional programme, the first three months of which are what we call total diet replacements. That's Professor

Jonathan Vallabji of the state-funded National Health Service proposing a new liquid diet of soups and shakes. It allows people or supports people to lose considerable amounts of weight. So at the end of the 12 months, the average weight loss is 10 kilograms. That's a stone and a half. Now that is sufficient weight loss to permit around a third of participants to actually put the type 2 diabetes into remission. And what that means is that people can return to normal blood sugar levels

without the need for medication. The other piece of good news is that the regime only needs to be kept up for three months. The bad news is that it's a measly 900 calories a day. It was very difficult to start with, but the more you went on and with the encouragement with the team that supported you and everything it was brilliant because I lost three stone in the end. It's completely a remission. I haven't been on any medication now for about a year and a half. And she was one of the more determined ones. The scientists admit that of the many thousands that were invited,

only hundreds made it to the end. But it does mean those with diabetes who want to avoid medication will now have a choice. And given the cost it can save in the long run, it will be offered to people in the UK completely free of charge. Tuesday was day 11 of the Paris Olympic Games and our reporter Paul Serres told me about an exciting 1500 metres. An incredible night

of drama at the Stade de France, Andrew. The upset of the night and maybe of the athletics programme at the Games saw the battle, the much hyped battle between Great Britain's Josh Kerr and the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen won by neither. Gold went to

Cole Hocker in the men's 1,500 metres. There was more success on the track for the US with gold for Gabby Thomas in the women's 200 metres. Winfried Javi won the women's steeplechase. The Canadian Cameron Rogers won Olympic gold to add to the World Championship gold she won last year in the women's hammer. And Militiades Tentolu of Greece retained his men's long jump gold medal from the Tokyo Games. Now there's been some controversy around the boxing pool with two athletes who are disqualified

from the World Boxing Championships in New Delhi performing pretty well in fact one getting to the gold medal match. That's right yeah one of those boxers you mentioned Andrew Iman Khalif of Algeria won her semi-final against Jan Jayem Suwana Feng of Thailand earlier on day 11 and will now fight for gold. Khalif and Taiwan's Lin Yu Ting were disqualified from last year's championships over questions about their gender eligibility. Finally an Olympic first on day 11 what happened? Yeah the legendary Cuban wrestler Michael Lopez won a fifth consecutive gold medal in the heaviest Greco-Roman weight division. That's the first time it's ever happened in the Olympics.

Our sports reporter Paul Sarris. Fifty years ago, the French high wire artist Philippe Petit walked across a cable that had been strung illegally between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Early in the morning, he crossed between the towers eight times, a quarter of a mile or more than 400 meters above the ground. At one point, he laid down on the cable. He even danced on it. And when Philippe Petit finally reached the ground, he was arrested by angry police officers. A documentary film, Man on Wire, was released in 2008. The basic plan was very simple. I knew there was going to be a team in each tower. We had ID cards.

Fear was in the air. I assumed that we were all going to be arrested. If I die, what a beautiful death. Everybody was spellbound in the watching of it. I figured I was watching something that somebody else would never see again in the world. This week, Philippe Petit, who's 74, will mark the anniversary with a more sedentary high wire crossing from one side of the nave to the other of the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine in New York. Julian Marshall spoke to him and asked what he remembered about the Twin Towers high wire crossing.

I remember everything as if it were yesterday. The height was terrifying but I had preparation for that. I had been working on different high wires, not as high, and I was not afraid because I was so excited. I had planned this adventure for months and months and months. So I was more joyful and impatient than I was afraid. You said you'd prepared it for months. I mean, what you were doing was illegal. So that must have involved quite a lot of subterfuge. Yes, I sometimes related to a bank robbery. They call it a coup. I had to learn about the Twin Towers.

I had to learn about the security in the Twin Towers. I had to find an engineering way to pass and anchor my cable. And that took months and months. And then the rest is history or legend, as they say. And all the time you were playing cat and mouse with the New York police. When I came to New York to prepare for the Twin Towers coup, I literally spent four months almost every day disguising myself like a construction worker or an architect or a journalist.

And I went to the top and I took pictures and I measured and I interviewed the workers. So all that was what I call my spy work. How did you actually attach the high wire to both towers? So I had to first create a link between the two towers and that was done by my friend Jean-Louis who shot an arrow with a bow from the north to the south tower and then we pass heavier and heavier cords and ropes until we could pull directly the heavy steel cable. The high wire walker Philippe Petit. And that's all from us for now. There'll be a new edition of Global News later. If you'd like to comment on this edition, drop us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This

edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producer was liam mccheffrey the editor is karen martin i'm andrew peach thanks for listening and until next time goodbye 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 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 or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.