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[00:00]
Paul Moss
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
[00:07]
Commercial Announcer
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[01:09]
Paul Moss
This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss and at 04:30 GMT on Monday 15th December, these are our main stories. Australia's Prime Minister has promised to crack down on anti Semitism after Sunday's deadly attack on a Jewish festival in Sydney. Chile's new far right President elect Jose Antonio Cast has promised to restore respect for the law after winning Sunday's runoff. And one of Hong Kong's leading pro democracy activists, Jimmy Lai, has been convicted after a high profile trial. Also in this podcast, the US envoy on the Russia Ukraine conflict says there's been progress during talks in Berlin with President Zelensky and it is thrilling to be alive.
[01:57]
Helen Mirren
It's great. Life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.
[02:02]
Paul Moss
The British actress Helen Mirren talks about life in Italy and saving olive trees at the age of 80. Condemnation continues to mount in the wake of the Bondi beach shooting in Australia. Politicians around the world perhaps struggling to find adjectives to describe the cold blooded murder of 15 people, which police say was carried out by a father and his son. Pure evil was what the Prime Minister Antonio Albanese called it. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it horrific. But others suggested the killings were all too predictable because anti Semitism, they said, had gone unchecked. That subject of anti Semitism was addressed by, among others, the New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
[02:49]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
There is no tolerance for racism or Jewish hatred in New South Wales or Australia and we need to be clear and unambiguous that we will fight it Everywhere we see it, it is toxic, it is cancerous within a community. And as you can see from last night, it leads to devastating, devastating implications for the people of our country.
[03:09]
Paul Moss
It's two years since Australian police launched what they called Operation Shelter that explicitly aimed to deal with issues of public safety in the country, which might be sparked by the conflict in Gaza. Speaking on Sunday, the New South Wales Police Commissioner, Malanyon said Operation Shelter would now be stepped up. We will make sure that we are.
[03:29]
Dr. Josh Roos
Highly visible at places of worship, places that are known to be frequented by the Jewish community, but very much in.
[03:35]
Paul Moss
Those suburbs where we know that we.
[03:37]
Dr. Josh Roos
Have a large Jewish population.
[03:39]
Paul Moss
But for some, this is all too late. Among those who've already assigned blame for the shooting is the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he'd written to his Australian counterpart in August telling Anthony Albanese that recognizing a Palestinian state would encourage anti Semitism. He claimed the Bondi beach shooting was a consequence of that decision. And there were similar sentiments expressed by Levi Wolf, Rabbi of the Central Synagogue in Sydney. He too seemed to complain that the government had been too tolerant of prejudice.
[04:12]
Danny Vincent
Inevitably, when anti Semitism goes unchecked, these are things that happen. And we are now seeing the dreaded inevitable result of anti Semitism doing exactly what it has done to our people just a generation ago.
[04:33]
Paul Moss
Rabbi Wolff was also one of the many Australians who said they'd already taken precautions out of fear of an attack. Schools, for example, discouraging pupils from wearing anything which identified them as Jewish. And the Sydney based journalist Amy Leibovitz said she had specifically avoided going to the Bondi beach event out of fear of what might happen. A week prior, I was having a.
[04:57]
Ione Wells
Conversation with my mum. We normally attend the open Hanukkah festivities.
[05:03]
Paul Moss
There's one in my local area in.
[05:05]
Helen Mirren
The North Shore, there's also one in Bondi.
[05:09]
Ione Wells
It happens every year.
[05:10]
Paul Moss
And we were discussing, do we go, do we not go?
[05:13]
Ione Wells
And I said to my mum, we.
[05:14]
Paul Moss
Shouldn'T be going because there's a high.
[05:16]
Ione Wells
Risk of terrorism, that something could happen. So we actually changed our plans out.
[05:24]
Paul Moss
Of fear of what could happen.
[05:27]
Ione Wells
And it just felt so frustrating and.
[05:31]
Paul Moss
Upsetting that this is the outcome. So could the attack have been predicted and indeed prevented? My colleague Steven Nolan has been discussing this issue with Dr. Josh Roos. He's a politics professor at Deakin University in the Australian state of Victoria and, and says threats against Jews have been growing and from different sources in recent weeks.
[05:54]
Dr. Josh Roos
There's been significant targeting of the Jewish community from the extreme right, neo Nazis. And there's been a prevalent and existing threat from jihadist elements within Muslim communities as well. Particularly since October 7, the increase in anti Semitism in Australia has been exponential. This has played out in a number of ways. It's been through the protests. People have a right to protest against the war in Gaza, of course. However, wrapped up in that has been significant targeting of Australian Jewish communities and in particular targeting of local Jews in terms of shops. We've seen the Iranian ambassador expelled here in Australia due to their involvement in targeting synagogues, as well as a number of other threats on a daily basis to Jewish communities. And that has been to some extent not dealt with adequately by the Australian government. Whilst they've appointed an anti Semitism envoy, for example, they haven't implemented any of the findings from the envoy. There's been a refusal to countenance the severity of the threat and it's been framed in some quarters as Jewish Australians whinging and making a mountain out of a molehill that this isn't as bad as they're saying. And we clearly know now that it is.
[07:02]
Paul Moss
Do you expect many other cells to be active in Australia?
[07:09]
Dr. Josh Roos
This has been ongoing for a prolonged period of time. Australia, 10 to 15 years ago during the Islamic State produced more foreign fighters per head than any other Western country. This isn't an issue with the Muslim community, but it is an issue with radicalised elements, particularly young second and third generation Australian Muslims, who are unfortunately able to be radicalised online, but also through current events. To that extent, this has been an ongoing issue and unfortunately authorities have to balance this with what's going on with the extreme right. We have a significant neo Nazi threat now in Australia with many of these movements, individuals targeting Jewish communities for threats online and abuse and harassment. And so Australia's Jewish communities are being effectively wedged between neo Nazis and Salafi jihadists, on the other hand. And keeping an eye on that threat from the Australian government level is not only incredibly resource intensive, but deeply challenging.
[08:03]
Paul Moss
And you mentioned that the Australian government hasn't done enough. What more should they have done before now?
[08:10]
Dr. Josh Roos
The Australian government has attempted to play this off as another form of racism. For example, in appointing the anti Semitism envoy when Australians were communicating their challenges and the rapid increase in the hostility that they were facing, they felt a need to balance this out by appointing, for example, an Islamophobia envoy that when the anti Semitism envoy has released findings, they've failed to engage adequately with what that actually meant and to actually implement.
[08:37]
Paul Moss
Those findings Dr. John Roose in the aftermath of the attack, police have provided more information about the shooters. The the father was foreign born and arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa. He legally owned several guns and was a member of a shooting club. He died at the scene. His 24 year old Australian born son is in custody. What's become clear is the sheer scale of the shooting and the fear it caused not just among those attending the Hanukkah event, but hundreds of others nearby sent running for their lives.
[09:10]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
At the time I was just on my sofa, I just heard sound like fireworks going off and it was multiple, multiple going off. So I sort of opened the blind to see what was going on and I just saw an older lady get shot and she was on the floor, saw an older guy get shot, very badly injured on the left hand side. And I just saw a bunch of people screaming, running towards me. I didn't know what was going on. They were just shouting, you know, get cover, get cover. So I ran to my front door, put the lock on and then ran to my bedroom, put the blinds down and just took cover in my wardrobe. I was out at the restaurant over there and I was just serving some, I think I was taking away some dishes but I was nearby the front and you know, I heard these shots go off and the whole shop just like stood up and we all just ran into the back exit. Everyone was pushing everyone, there was no semblance and we just ran in through.
[09:52]
Paul Moss
For the latest on the situation in Sydney, I spoke to our correspondent Phil Mercer who described a beach scene almost unrecognizable from its normal appearance and mood.
[10:03]
Phil Mercer
I'm stood on a grassy bank overlooking Bondi Pavilion which is ordinarily a hub for the community. Today it is a makeshift memorial for the victims of the Sydney shooting on Sunday. Flowers are arriving every single minute by people coming down to pay their respects and to have a brief moment of thought and calm in this sea of chaos that erupted here. It is beyond this particular bit of park, very quiet. Bondi beach mostly has been shut down by the police and as you would imagine just a short walk away, the crime scene is still being poured over by forensic officers and there is a very heavy police presence here as well.
[10:50]
Paul Moss
Phil, We've heard there people blaming the Australian government for supposedly not doing enough to tackle anti Semitism. And also this intervention from the Israeli Prime Minister claiming the attacks could be linked to Australia recognizing Palestine as a state of the. I wonder how you think that's going to go down in Australia?
[11:08]
Phil Mercer
Well, we've just heard a press conference a few meters away from two senior members of the local Jewish community and they were saying that this is a day that they've been dreading and this was their nightmares coming true because of this wave of anti Semitism that has swept across Australia since The attacks on 7 October and the start of Israel's war in Gaza. And there is criticism in certain quarters that the Australian government has not done enough to try to turn back that tide of anti Semitism.
[11:39]
Paul Moss
Has there been any reaction to those allegations or is it too soon? I mean particularly I was thinking of what the Israeli Prime Minister had to say, apparently directly blaming, it seemed the.
[11:49]
Phil Mercer
Australian Prime Minister, yes, Anthony Albanese has sidestepped that particular issue, indicating that it's far too early to get involved in that sort of politics. But certainly Australia's response to anti Semitism will come under greater scrutiny. Mr. Albanese has said in the last 24 hours that his government has taken the issue of attacks on synagogues, on cars, on restaurants very seriously. But of course what happened here will draw once again intense scrutiny on the government's recognition of the Palestinian state and also its response to antisemitism.
[12:24]
Paul Moss
We've told that the older of the two suspects was a licensed gun holder. And what strikes me is that Australia is often praised for having very tight gun control laws, tight restrictions on who gets to own a gun. And presumably there's now going to be questions raised about whether those laws really work.
[12:41]
Phil Mercer
Well, we heard from the New South Wales state Premier, a man called Chris Minns, and he is suggesting that those gun laws could well be revisited. This is Australia's worst mass shooting for almost 30 years. In 1996, 35 people died at a place called Port Arthur on the island state of Tasmania. That prompted sweeping gun control measures. And once again, with an atrocity like this, in a place like this, at a political situation like this, you'd have to say that further scrutiny of Australia's gun control measures will be an inevitable consequence of this.
[13:15]
Paul Moss
Phil Mercer in Sydney. And since I spoke to Phil, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese has said he will pursue tougher gun laws. The choice in Chile could not have been more stark. When voters went to the polls on Sunday, they had two candidates for president. On the one hand, a communist, on the other, a man usually described as far right. Jose Antonio Cast is the son of a German Nazi party member and he's expressed admiration for Augusto Pinochet, the country's one time dictator. He's promised to crack down on crime and deport illegal immigrants. And that apparently has paid dividends at the ballot box, giving him victory by what seems to be an unexpectedly high margin. The Communist Party candidate, Jennet Hara was quick to concede.
[14:03]
Ione Wells
I want to tell you all that today democracy has spoken loud and clear. I contacted the President elect, Jose Antonio Cast, to wish him successful for the good of Chile and all the people living in our country.
[14:14]
Paul Moss
In a victory speech in Santiago, Mr. Cass set out his priorities for office. We are going to restore the rule of law. We are going to restore respect for the law in all regions without exception, without privileges, no political privileges, no administrative privileges, no judicial privileges, because it is the citizens we must serve, not those who hold positions of power. Our South America correspondent, Ione Wells, has been following the election and she gave me this update from the Chilean capital, Santiago.
[14:53]
Ione Wells
It's very clear at this point that Jose Antonio Cast is going to be Chile's next president. He won decisively with more than 58% of the vote in his third attempt at running for president. Earlier, I was in a crowd of his supporters where they had gathered to watch the results come in Santiago. Many of them draped in Chile flags, some wearing red caps saying make Chile great again. They were cheering and chanting when that result came through. Some of them told me that they had been waiting for this moment for years. Given his previous attempts to run for president, it is now very clear that he is going to be inaugurated as the next President on the 11th of March next year. He has set that as a deadline in his rallies throughout this election campaign for irregular migrants to leave the country if they ever want the chance to get back in again. He has made it very clear that his top priority now that he has been elected president is to crack down on what he sees as a rise in irregular migration, but also on crime and general security issues in the country too.
[15:58]
Paul Moss
It's only four years since Chile voted for the previous president, Gabriel Boric, and he campaigned on a pretty left wing ticket. High taxes for the rich, focus on environmental issues. Now the country's voted for someone described as far right. I mean, what has changed?
[16:13]
Ione Wells
I think it's a really interesting question and there are different factors behind this. Some see the so called sort of fall in Borich's popularity as being due to some early mistakes. He tried, for example, to introduce a new constitution. It was rejected by voters in 2022. Some of the public perceived the new constitution as too radical and that damaged. I think some of the government's sort of Political. Political capital as well. Then there was the emergence of this increasing concern about security issues in the country. Chile is still one of the safest and more stable countries in the region, but there has been a growing perception of crime, particularly organized crime. Growing. Immigration has risen in the country since 2017, and certainly right wing candidates like Jose Antonio Cast capitalized on that. They made this link blaming immigration for rising crime, even though some studies suggest that actually foreigners in Chile on average commit fewer crimes than Chileans. But certainly this became an issue that really, I think a lot of voters were very incensed by really going into this campaign. Gabriel Boris did introduce some sweeping new measures, particularly welfare measures. He raised the minimum wage. He made pensions more generous. He introduced free health care for some of the poorest Chileans, shortened the working weeks. So there were various policies that he did manage to pass through. But I think one thing that was clear on this election campaign was some voters didn't feel like the current government was serving them well enough. They wanted to see change. And for them, Cass represented that.
[17:40]
Paul Moss
Now he has, as I said, won by a wide margin. But that still leaves an awful lot of people who voted for a Communist and a country which I guess seems to be very polarized.
[17:49]
Ione Wells
That's right. And I think what was interesting, speaking to some voters at the ballot boxes, some of them were saying that they felt quite disenfranchised by what they saw as quite an extreme choice. They didn't like the far right rhetoric of Jose Antonio Cass, but also didn't particularly like the idea of someone who is a member of the Communist Party. Even if she had tried to position herself more to the centre left in recent months as she tried to appeal to a wider audience. I think that did leave a lot of voters feeling quite disenfranchised and feeling like they had to vote for whichever they saw as the sort of better of two options they didn't particularly like. But I think you're right to suggest that there will be polarization now going forward, particularly when it comes to the issue of migration, with critics saying that it needs to be reduced. Supporters, though, saying that migration is absolutely crucial for Chile's workforce.
[18:36]
Paul Moss
Ione Wells in Santiago. And we have some breaking news that's come in just as we record this podcast. Police in Los Angeles say they're investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found at the home of the film director and actor Rob Reiner. The two victims have not been formally identified, but Reiner's family say that he and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner are dead Reiners, known for directing such classic films as When Harry Met Sally, the Princess Bride, and this Is Spinal Tap. The BBC will have more on this story as it develops. You can visit our website@bbcnews.com for updates still to come on the Global News Podcast.
[19:19]
Professor Bill Baker
It's really one of the natural wonders of the world after decades, suddenly produces what we would call the largest inflorescent flower bearing structure in the plant kingdom.
[19:30]
Paul Moss
The giant palm tree in Brazil that only blooms once in its lifetime.
[19:41]
Ione Wells
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[20:03]
Katya Adler
You're going to get results and then.
[20:05]
Ione Wells
You just go out and live your life. Meaningful Beauty Confidence is beautiful. Learn more@meaningful beauty.com.
[20:15]
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Eyewitness / Interviewer
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Ione Wells
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Eyewitness / Interviewer
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[21:44]
Paul Moss
Owning a home is full of surprises. Some wonderful, some not so much. And when something breaks, it can feel like the whole day unravels. That's why HomeServe exists. For as little as $4.99 a month, you'll always have someone to call, a trusted professional ready to help, bringing peace of mind to four and a half million homeowners nationwide. For plans starting at just $4.99 a month, go to HomeServe.com that's HomeServe.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply on covered repairs. The verdict of the Hong Kong court was hardly a surprise, but still a desperate blow for Jimmy Lai and indeed for his many supporters. The newspaper publisher and later pro democracy activist has been accused of sedition and colluding with foreign forces, all in breach of the territory's harsh National Security Law. Of those who have been prosecuted under these laws, few have ever been acquitted. The judge in this case said there was no doubt that Jimmy Lai harbored hatred for China and was a national threat. Our correspondent Danny Vincent was in court for the verdict.
[22:52]
Danny Vincent
Jimmy Lai has been seen as one of the most outspoken critics of the Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese authorities for many years. When the National Security Law was introduced in 2020, Jimmy Liah was quickly arrested. He was detained and he's been in prison ever since. Now, the authorities accused him and have now charged him of colluding with foreigners and an act of sedition when it comes to colluding with foreigners. The judge went through many of Jimmy Lai's WhatsApp messages, messages with one of his colleagues where he attempted to organize meetings with U.S. officials in America. Now, according to the judge, according to the rule of the court, Jimmy Ly meeting with these officials has been part of the evidence that they've used to find him guilty of colluding with foreigners.
[23:44]
Paul Moss
Now, as you mentioned, Jimmy Lai has already been in jail, I think it's five years so far. And he's reported to be in poor health. How did he look in court?
[23:54]
Danny Vincent
Well, Jimmy Lai has been reported to be in poor health. His family members have raised many concerns. They've said that when they've met him, his fingernails have fallen off. They've also spoken about the poor condition of his skin. We know that he has diabetes and also has had a heart condition. So there have been many concerns about his health. In court today, Jimmy Lai was in relatively high spirits. He was smiling. He also waved to his family. Many Hong Kong residents lined up through the night to try to get to court to see this verdict. Jimmy Lai's been in prison for many years. The trial officially started two years ago, but he's been detained for five years. It's now possible that he could face life in prison. Sentencing is to follow. But what we know today is that Jimmy Lai is guilty of all the charges.
[24:49]
Paul Moss
And the verdict came just a day after Hong Kong's last pro democracy political party shut down under duress from China. They said, I just wonder where that leaves the pro democracy movement in Hong Kong.
[25:01]
Danny Vincent
Well, critics say that the pro democracy movement has been decimated by the National Security Law. Many of the opposition leaders have been detained, many have fled, many young people that took part in the protests. Many of those people have left Hong Kong. Many people have faced imprisonment. So critics will say that the democracy movement has been essentially destroyed by the National Security Law. The authorities wouldn't agree. They would say Hong Kong is still a free and open society. But today, many people in Hong Kong seeing Jimmy Lai is now guilty. They might question otherwise.
[25:38]
Paul Moss
Danny Vincent. When it comes to the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump has complained that European politicians spend too much time just talking. But in fact, his own emissaries have also spent plenty of time talking to the parties in this conflict. The latest talking took place in Berlin on Sunday when the US Envoy, Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, met with Ukraine's President Zelensky. As so often in the past, the US Delegation insisted that progress had been made. Europe editor Katya Adler is in Berlin and says the US Certainly wants that to be the case.
[26:15]
Katya Adler
Donald Trump is getting really impatient. His administration recently published its National Security Strategy, where it prioritizes stabilizing U.S. relations with Moscow. So ideally, Donald Trump really wants an end to all of this. But Ukraine is refusing to roll over. Vladimir Zelensky here in Berlin today said, yeah, he's willing to compromise on some things. He's no longer insisting on NATO membership as part of the peace deal, but he is insisting on getting cast iron security guarantees from his allies, including the US to make sure that Russia doesn't invade again. Now, talks here with US Negotiators were so intense that we're told they're going to roll over into tomorrow morning. And I tell you who else is coming here tomorrow. And that is a big list of big European names. Emmanuel Macron, France sir, Keir Starmer, the Danish, the Swedish, the Dutch prime ministers. I'm told the the Polish prime Minister, NATO Secretary General. All of them to hold Vladimir Zelensky's hand? No, it's because they are convinced this isn't just about Ukrainian sovereignty going forward. It's about the future security of Europe. The host of this meeting, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, says this is a Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and against the rest of Europe. These European leaders are worried that if there is a peace deal that's too soft on Russia, then Vladimir Putin will come back for more. And while this diplomatic ping pong continues, of course, so does the war on the ground in Ukraine, claiming more and more lives.
[27:43]
Paul Moss
Katja Adler in Berlin. There's a new site in Rio de Janeiro that's pulling in the crowds. A giant palm tree. What's so special, you may ask? Well, this particular species is native to southern India and Sri Lanka and was replanted in the Brazilian city 60 years ago. And all these decades later, the tree is for the first time producing flowers. Professor Bill Baker is an expert on palms at Kew Botanic Gardens in London and explained why this tree and indeed its sudden transformation into bloom is so special.
[28:17]
Professor Bill Baker
It's really one of the natural wonders of the world. It is an absolutely immensely enormous palm tree. It has a trunk that can be almost a meter wide and it shoots up a stem of about 25 meters with a crown of massive fan shaped leaves. Each of those leaves is about 5 meters in diameter. And then it has this astonishing flowering strategy whereby after decades of just growing trunk and leaves, it suddenly switches over to reproduction and produces what we would call the largest inflorescence or the largest flower bearing structure in the plant kingdom. And it does it just once. So it's a fatal effort. We think it's a strategy probably to deal with the fact that it grows in relatively disturbed environments. So by producing massive amounts of flower and then seeds all in one explosive effort, you have a higher chance of colonizing these disturbed environments in which it lives. The really amazing thing about it is that when it's in full flower, we think the whole thing contains as many as 24 million flowers. It's absolutely mind boggling.
[29:29]
Paul Moss
Palm tree expert Professor Bill Baker. In her six decade long career, the British actor Dame Helen Mirren has won many top awards, an Oscar, Golden Globes, five Emmys and a Tony Award for roles too numerous to mention. But you probably haven't seen or heard her like this before unless you live in Italy. In that 2021 video, she appeared with an Italian comedian encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid. It was filmed at her farmhouse in Salento in the southernmost Italian region of Puglia. She spent a good part of the last 18 years there, becoming part of the local community and campaigning to save the local olive groves, which are suffering from a rare virus. She told my colleague Julian Wariker why she got involved in this work.
[30:33]
Helen Mirren
When we arrived in Cilento, it was the most wonderful green environment filled with young and ancient olive groves. And we first heard of this virus that was attacking trees in olive groves down near Gallipoli. And it was a perfect storm, in a way. They're not big olive growing families in southern Cilento. They're all small local farmers. They didn't know what was happening. There were many conspiracy theories flying around about what it was and why it was happening. So my husband and I and a small group of people started a little organization called Save the Olives, just really to disseminate information. But what we do now is we raise funds to find new species of trees that are resistant to zillella and produce great olive oil. And parallel with that, we graft the ancient trees to try and save them for the future.
[31:36]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
People will hear the passion that you have for the cause. I wonder how much it feeds into the passion that you have now for that part of Italy. I mean, as you say, you've had a home there now for many years. How much do you feel this because of the fact that that part of Italy has become so important to you in recent times?
[31:54]
Helen Mirren
We have been welcomed by that community. We feel very connected to the community. Of course, we will always be foreigners, and I will always be La Trice. You know, that's where La Triche lives. But parallel with that comes a great level of acceptance.
[32:12]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
And while we have the opportunity I was keen to ask you about, I mean, you're very busy at the moment. I read a list of things that you're in, and one that caught my eye, and I know you've spoken about it, and certainly Kate Winslet has, because it's. Her project is Goodbye, June. And according to everything I've read on that subject, you've broken one of your rules about the kinds of part you will play. I read you had two rules, that you wouldn't play someone with dementia and you wouldn't play someone who was dying and. But you've broken rule number two with Goodbye, June. Is that a fair assessment?
[32:44]
Helen Mirren
It is a fair assessment. I mean, there are great roles. You think of Anthony Hopkins in the Father, for example. I mean, what an amazing piece of work that was. And, you know, don't get me Wrong. I'll go anywhere and do anything for a good role. But this was very much my appreciation of and my love for and my respect for Kate. Working with her, I could see she had the director's chops, so to speak.
[33:09]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
I mean, she said it's not a film actually about dying, it's a film about living. And people have tended to find it quite uplifting. I wonder if you saw it like that as you were making it.
[33:17]
Helen Mirren
Very much. It's about the dynamics and the problems and the challenges and the love of family.
[33:24]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
You've talked about aging and I was rather struck by your use of the word thrilling. I've got an article from Corriere della Serra in front of me from July when you were quoted as saying how thrilling it is to be 80. And I've heard many adjectives alongside the figure of 80. Not very often thrilling. And I wonder where the thrill came from.
[33:43]
Helen Mirren
Yes, well, no, I mean it is thrilling to be alive. It's great, you know, it's a part of the long journey through one's life and so of course it's exciting. I mean, I was just in America in a self driving car. I can't tell you how exciting that was. It's like mind blowing. I'm so glad I lived to witness that, you know. You know, there's also terrible tragedies that one witnesses and difficulties. But life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.
[34:17]
Paul Moss
Actress Helen Mirren speaking to Julian Warwicker. And that's all from us for now, but there'll 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 globalpodcastbc co.uk this edition was mixed by Hannah Montgomery and the producers were Peter Goffin and Nikki Verico. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Paul Moss. Until next time. Goodbye.
[34:55]
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Summary7 min read

Global News Podcast — Anger in Australia after 'evil' Hanukkah shooting

BBC World Service | Host: Paul Moss | December 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of the Global News Podcast opens with a focus on the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia, described as an act of "pure evil" by political leaders. The episode explores the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, government responses, and broader concerns about public safety and gun laws. It then moves on to significant international stories, including Chile’s presidential election, the conviction of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, and diplomatic developments regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The podcast concludes with lighter segments on a rare botanical event in Brazil and an interview with Dame Helen Mirren about her passion projects in Italy.

Major Segment: Sydney Hanukkah Shooting and Rising Antisemitism

The Attack and Political Condemnation

Opening Coverage (01:08–02:49):
Paul Moss details the shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney during a Jewish Hanukkah festival, which left 15 dead, carried out by a father and son. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "pure evil," and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described it as "horrific."
- Quote:
  "Pure evil was what the Prime Minister Antonio Albanese called it." — Paul Moss (02:17)
Addressing Antisemitism:
Chris Minns, New South Wales Premier, makes strong statements against antisemitism:
- Quote:
  “There is no tolerance for racism or Jewish hatred in New South Wales or Australia and we need to be clear and unambiguous that we will fight it. Everywhere we see it, it is toxic, it is cancerous within a community. And as you can see from last night, it leads to devastating, devastating implications for the people of our country.” — Chris Minns (02:49)

Security Response and Community Impact

Operation Shelter
NSW Police Commissioner announces an escalation of “Operation Shelter” for safety at places with large Jewish populations.
Quote:
“Highly visible at places of worship, places that are known to be frequented by the Jewish community…” — NSW Police Commissioner, paraphrased by Paul Moss/Dr. Josh Roos (03:28)
Community Fear and Preemptive Actions (04:33–05:24):
Jewish community members reveal precautions taken due to rising threats; journalist Amy Leibovitz avoided the Bondi event out of fear.
- Quote:
  "We shouldn't be going because there's a high risk of terrorism, that something could happen… so we actually changed our plans out of fear of what could happen." — Amy Leibovitz (05:12)

Analysis of Rising Threats (05:27–08:37)

Expert Context:
Dr. Josh Roos, Deakin University, outlines two main sources threatening the Jewish community:
1. The extreme right (neo-Nazis)
2. Radicalized jihadist elements, especially post-7 October Israel-Gaza events.
- Critiques government's slow and insufficient response:
  - Quote:
    “There’s been a refusal to countenance the severity of the threat… it’s been framed in some quarters as Jewish Australians whinging and making a mountain out of a molehill…” — Dr. Josh Roos (06:42)
Call for Action:
Dr. Roos believes the government has balanced antisemitism concerns with Islamophobia too cautiously, failing to follow up on recommendations from their own anti-Semitism envoy.
(08:09–08:37)

Eyewitness Accounts and Atmosphere in Sydney (09:09–10:02)

Eyewitnesses reflect on their terror during the attack:
- Quote:
  “I just saw an older lady get shot and she was on the floor, saw an older guy get shot, very badly injured…” — Anonymous resident (09:09)
Phil Mercer, BBC correspondent, describes Bondi Beach as closed off and transformed into a makeshift memorial.
- Quote:
  “…Flowers are arriving every single minute by people coming down to pay their respects and to have a brief moment of thought and calm in this sea of chaos that erupted here.” — Phil Mercer (10:02)

Political and Policy Implications

Blame and International Reactions (10:50–12:24):
- Israeli PM Netanyahu directly links the attack to Australia's recognition of the Palestinian state, a view sidestepped by PM Albanese for being premature (11:49).
- Gun laws scrutinized; calls for tightening already strict regulations as the older attacker legally owned firearms (12:24).
  - Quote:
    “This is Australia’s worst mass shooting for almost 30 years… further scrutiny of Australia’s gun control measures will be an inevitable consequence of this.” — Phil Mercer (12:40)
PM Albanese’s Response:
- Declares intention to pursue tougher gun laws (13:15).

Noteworthy & Human Interest Stories

Botanical Marvel in Brazil (27:43–29:29)

A giant palm tree in Rio de Janeiro blooms for the first time in 60 years, producing nearly 24 million flowers.
- Quote:
  “It’s really one of the natural wonders of the world… when it’s in full flower, we think the whole thing contains as many as 24 million flowers.” — Professor Bill Baker (28:16)

Helen Mirren: Life, Community, and Aging

Saving Italian Olive Groves (30:33–31:35):
- Dame Helen Mirren explains her work supporting local farmers facing a devastating olive tree virus.
  - Quote:
    “We started a little organization called Save the Olives, just really to disseminate information… we graft the ancient trees to try and save them for the future.” — Helen Mirren (30:33)
Living in Italy and Aging with Thrill (31:53–34:17):
- Mirren discusses her connection to the Italian community and breaking her on-screen role rules for Kate Winslet’s “Goodbye June.”
- Expresses a distinct view on being 80:
  - Quote:
    “Yes, well, no, I mean it is thrilling to be alive. It’s great… Life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.” — Helen Mirren (33:43)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment Description | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------|------------| | Sydney Hanukkah shooting summary | 01:08–03:35| | Anti-Semitism response; Chris Minns | 02:49 | | Community impact and precautions | 04:33–05:24| | Dr. Josh Roos analysis | 05:54–08:37| | Eyewitness accounts, Sydney | 09:09 | | Phil Mercer’s on-the-ground report | 10:02 | | Gun law debate and PM’s stance | 12:24–13:15| | Chile election outcome and context | 14:02–17:49| | Jimmy Lai’s verdict, health, and effect | 22:52–25:38| | Ukraine peace talks | 25:38–27:43| | Rio palm tree blooms | 27:43–29:29| | Helen Mirren interview | 30:33–34:17|

Memorable Quotes

Paul Moss (on the shooting):
“Politicians around the world perhaps struggling to find adjectives to describe the cold blooded murder…” (02:06)
Chris Minns (NSW Premier):
“We will fight it. Everywhere we see it, it is toxic, it is cancerous within a community.” (02:49)
Amy Leibovitz (Jewish journalist):
“We shouldn’t be going because there’s a high risk of terrorism, that something could happen…” (05:12)
Dr. Josh Roos:
“…this has been an ongoing issue and unfortunately authorities have to balance this with what's going on with the extreme right…” (07:08)
Ione Wells (Chile election):
“Many of them draped in Chile flags, some wearing red caps saying make Chile great again.” (14:52)
Helen Mirren:
“It is thrilling to be alive… Life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.” (33:43)

Summary

This episode offers in-depth coverage of the aftermath and social ripples of the Sydney Hanukkah shooting, with a critical look at government and community responses to growing antisemitism in Australia. It swiftly examines how such events intersect with international affairs—highlighting political divides in Chile, pro-democracy struggles in Hong Kong, and war-ending efforts in Ukraine—before closing with uplifting stories about nature and personal meaning from Dame Helen Mirren. The tone is serious, investigative, and at moments, gently reflective.

Loading summary

Transcript79 lines

[00:00]
Paul Moss
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
[00:07]
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[01:09]
Paul Moss
This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss and at 04:30 GMT on Monday 15th December, these are our main stories. Australia's Prime Minister has promised to crack down on anti Semitism after Sunday's deadly attack on a Jewish festival in Sydney. Chile's new far right President elect Jose Antonio Cast has promised to restore respect for the law after winning Sunday's runoff. And one of Hong Kong's leading pro democracy activists, Jimmy Lai, has been convicted after a high profile trial. Also in this podcast, the US envoy on the Russia Ukraine conflict says there's been progress during talks in Berlin with President Zelensky and it is thrilling to be alive.
[01:57]
Helen Mirren
It's great. Life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.
[02:02]
Paul Moss
The British actress Helen Mirren talks about life in Italy and saving olive trees at the age of 80. Condemnation continues to mount in the wake of the Bondi beach shooting in Australia. Politicians around the world perhaps struggling to find adjectives to describe the cold blooded murder of 15 people, which police say was carried out by a father and his son. Pure evil was what the Prime Minister Antonio Albanese called it. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it horrific. But others suggested the killings were all too predictable because anti Semitism, they said, had gone unchecked. That subject of anti Semitism was addressed by, among others, the New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
[02:49]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
There is no tolerance for racism or Jewish hatred in New South Wales or Australia and we need to be clear and unambiguous that we will fight it Everywhere we see it, it is toxic, it is cancerous within a community. And as you can see from last night, it leads to devastating, devastating implications for the people of our country.
[03:09]
Paul Moss
It's two years since Australian police launched what they called Operation Shelter that explicitly aimed to deal with issues of public safety in the country, which might be sparked by the conflict in Gaza. Speaking on Sunday, the New South Wales Police Commissioner, Malanyon said Operation Shelter would now be stepped up. We will make sure that we are.
[03:29]
Dr. Josh Roos
Highly visible at places of worship, places that are known to be frequented by the Jewish community, but very much in.
[03:35]
Paul Moss
Those suburbs where we know that we.
[03:37]
Dr. Josh Roos
Have a large Jewish population.
[03:39]
Paul Moss
But for some, this is all too late. Among those who've already assigned blame for the shooting is the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he'd written to his Australian counterpart in August telling Anthony Albanese that recognizing a Palestinian state would encourage anti Semitism. He claimed the Bondi beach shooting was a consequence of that decision. And there were similar sentiments expressed by Levi Wolf, Rabbi of the Central Synagogue in Sydney. He too seemed to complain that the government had been too tolerant of prejudice.
[04:12]
Danny Vincent
Inevitably, when anti Semitism goes unchecked, these are things that happen. And we are now seeing the dreaded inevitable result of anti Semitism doing exactly what it has done to our people just a generation ago.
[04:33]
Paul Moss
Rabbi Wolff was also one of the many Australians who said they'd already taken precautions out of fear of an attack. Schools, for example, discouraging pupils from wearing anything which identified them as Jewish. And the Sydney based journalist Amy Leibovitz said she had specifically avoided going to the Bondi beach event out of fear of what might happen. A week prior, I was having a.
[04:57]
Ione Wells
Conversation with my mum. We normally attend the open Hanukkah festivities.
[05:03]
Paul Moss
There's one in my local area in.
[05:05]
Helen Mirren
The North Shore, there's also one in Bondi.
[05:09]
Ione Wells
It happens every year.
[05:10]
Paul Moss
And we were discussing, do we go, do we not go?
[05:13]
Ione Wells
And I said to my mum, we.
[05:14]
Paul Moss
Shouldn'T be going because there's a high.
[05:16]
Ione Wells
Risk of terrorism, that something could happen. So we actually changed our plans out.
[05:24]
Paul Moss
Of fear of what could happen.
[05:27]
Ione Wells
And it just felt so frustrating and.
[05:31]
Paul Moss
Upsetting that this is the outcome. So could the attack have been predicted and indeed prevented? My colleague Steven Nolan has been discussing this issue with Dr. Josh Roos. He's a politics professor at Deakin University in the Australian state of Victoria and, and says threats against Jews have been growing and from different sources in recent weeks.
[05:54]
Dr. Josh Roos
There's been significant targeting of the Jewish community from the extreme right, neo Nazis. And there's been a prevalent and existing threat from jihadist elements within Muslim communities as well. Particularly since October 7, the increase in anti Semitism in Australia has been exponential. This has played out in a number of ways. It's been through the protests. People have a right to protest against the war in Gaza, of course. However, wrapped up in that has been significant targeting of Australian Jewish communities and in particular targeting of local Jews in terms of shops. We've seen the Iranian ambassador expelled here in Australia due to their involvement in targeting synagogues, as well as a number of other threats on a daily basis to Jewish communities. And that has been to some extent not dealt with adequately by the Australian government. Whilst they've appointed an anti Semitism envoy, for example, they haven't implemented any of the findings from the envoy. There's been a refusal to countenance the severity of the threat and it's been framed in some quarters as Jewish Australians whinging and making a mountain out of a molehill that this isn't as bad as they're saying. And we clearly know now that it is.
[07:02]
Paul Moss
Do you expect many other cells to be active in Australia?
[07:09]
Dr. Josh Roos
This has been ongoing for a prolonged period of time. Australia, 10 to 15 years ago during the Islamic State produced more foreign fighters per head than any other Western country. This isn't an issue with the Muslim community, but it is an issue with radicalised elements, particularly young second and third generation Australian Muslims, who are unfortunately able to be radicalised online, but also through current events. To that extent, this has been an ongoing issue and unfortunately authorities have to balance this with what's going on with the extreme right. We have a significant neo Nazi threat now in Australia with many of these movements, individuals targeting Jewish communities for threats online and abuse and harassment. And so Australia's Jewish communities are being effectively wedged between neo Nazis and Salafi jihadists, on the other hand. And keeping an eye on that threat from the Australian government level is not only incredibly resource intensive, but deeply challenging.
[08:03]
Paul Moss
And you mentioned that the Australian government hasn't done enough. What more should they have done before now?
[08:10]
Dr. Josh Roos
The Australian government has attempted to play this off as another form of racism. For example, in appointing the anti Semitism envoy when Australians were communicating their challenges and the rapid increase in the hostility that they were facing, they felt a need to balance this out by appointing, for example, an Islamophobia envoy that when the anti Semitism envoy has released findings, they've failed to engage adequately with what that actually meant and to actually implement.
[08:37]
Paul Moss
Those findings Dr. John Roose in the aftermath of the attack, police have provided more information about the shooters. The the father was foreign born and arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa. He legally owned several guns and was a member of a shooting club. He died at the scene. His 24 year old Australian born son is in custody. What's become clear is the sheer scale of the shooting and the fear it caused not just among those attending the Hanukkah event, but hundreds of others nearby sent running for their lives.
[09:10]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
At the time I was just on my sofa, I just heard sound like fireworks going off and it was multiple, multiple going off. So I sort of opened the blind to see what was going on and I just saw an older lady get shot and she was on the floor, saw an older guy get shot, very badly injured on the left hand side. And I just saw a bunch of people screaming, running towards me. I didn't know what was going on. They were just shouting, you know, get cover, get cover. So I ran to my front door, put the lock on and then ran to my bedroom, put the blinds down and just took cover in my wardrobe. I was out at the restaurant over there and I was just serving some, I think I was taking away some dishes but I was nearby the front and you know, I heard these shots go off and the whole shop just like stood up and we all just ran into the back exit. Everyone was pushing everyone, there was no semblance and we just ran in through.
[09:52]
Paul Moss
For the latest on the situation in Sydney, I spoke to our correspondent Phil Mercer who described a beach scene almost unrecognizable from its normal appearance and mood.
[10:03]
Phil Mercer
I'm stood on a grassy bank overlooking Bondi Pavilion which is ordinarily a hub for the community. Today it is a makeshift memorial for the victims of the Sydney shooting on Sunday. Flowers are arriving every single minute by people coming down to pay their respects and to have a brief moment of thought and calm in this sea of chaos that erupted here. It is beyond this particular bit of park, very quiet. Bondi beach mostly has been shut down by the police and as you would imagine just a short walk away, the crime scene is still being poured over by forensic officers and there is a very heavy police presence here as well.
[10:50]
Paul Moss
Phil, We've heard there people blaming the Australian government for supposedly not doing enough to tackle anti Semitism. And also this intervention from the Israeli Prime Minister claiming the attacks could be linked to Australia recognizing Palestine as a state of the. I wonder how you think that's going to go down in Australia?
[11:08]
Phil Mercer
Well, we've just heard a press conference a few meters away from two senior members of the local Jewish community and they were saying that this is a day that they've been dreading and this was their nightmares coming true because of this wave of anti Semitism that has swept across Australia since The attacks on 7 October and the start of Israel's war in Gaza. And there is criticism in certain quarters that the Australian government has not done enough to try to turn back that tide of anti Semitism.
[11:39]
Paul Moss
Has there been any reaction to those allegations or is it too soon? I mean particularly I was thinking of what the Israeli Prime Minister had to say, apparently directly blaming, it seemed the.
[11:49]
Phil Mercer
Australian Prime Minister, yes, Anthony Albanese has sidestepped that particular issue, indicating that it's far too early to get involved in that sort of politics. But certainly Australia's response to anti Semitism will come under greater scrutiny. Mr. Albanese has said in the last 24 hours that his government has taken the issue of attacks on synagogues, on cars, on restaurants very seriously. But of course what happened here will draw once again intense scrutiny on the government's recognition of the Palestinian state and also its response to antisemitism.
[12:24]
Paul Moss
We've told that the older of the two suspects was a licensed gun holder. And what strikes me is that Australia is often praised for having very tight gun control laws, tight restrictions on who gets to own a gun. And presumably there's now going to be questions raised about whether those laws really work.
[12:41]
Phil Mercer
Well, we heard from the New South Wales state Premier, a man called Chris Minns, and he is suggesting that those gun laws could well be revisited. This is Australia's worst mass shooting for almost 30 years. In 1996, 35 people died at a place called Port Arthur on the island state of Tasmania. That prompted sweeping gun control measures. And once again, with an atrocity like this, in a place like this, at a political situation like this, you'd have to say that further scrutiny of Australia's gun control measures will be an inevitable consequence of this.
[13:15]
Paul Moss
Phil Mercer in Sydney. And since I spoke to Phil, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese has said he will pursue tougher gun laws. The choice in Chile could not have been more stark. When voters went to the polls on Sunday, they had two candidates for president. On the one hand, a communist, on the other, a man usually described as far right. Jose Antonio Cast is the son of a German Nazi party member and he's expressed admiration for Augusto Pinochet, the country's one time dictator. He's promised to crack down on crime and deport illegal immigrants. And that apparently has paid dividends at the ballot box, giving him victory by what seems to be an unexpectedly high margin. The Communist Party candidate, Jennet Hara was quick to concede.
[14:03]
Ione Wells
I want to tell you all that today democracy has spoken loud and clear. I contacted the President elect, Jose Antonio Cast, to wish him successful for the good of Chile and all the people living in our country.
[14:14]
Paul Moss
In a victory speech in Santiago, Mr. Cass set out his priorities for office. We are going to restore the rule of law. We are going to restore respect for the law in all regions without exception, without privileges, no political privileges, no administrative privileges, no judicial privileges, because it is the citizens we must serve, not those who hold positions of power. Our South America correspondent, Ione Wells, has been following the election and she gave me this update from the Chilean capital, Santiago.
[14:53]
Ione Wells
It's very clear at this point that Jose Antonio Cast is going to be Chile's next president. He won decisively with more than 58% of the vote in his third attempt at running for president. Earlier, I was in a crowd of his supporters where they had gathered to watch the results come in Santiago. Many of them draped in Chile flags, some wearing red caps saying make Chile great again. They were cheering and chanting when that result came through. Some of them told me that they had been waiting for this moment for years. Given his previous attempts to run for president, it is now very clear that he is going to be inaugurated as the next President on the 11th of March next year. He has set that as a deadline in his rallies throughout this election campaign for irregular migrants to leave the country if they ever want the chance to get back in again. He has made it very clear that his top priority now that he has been elected president is to crack down on what he sees as a rise in irregular migration, but also on crime and general security issues in the country too.
[15:58]
Paul Moss
It's only four years since Chile voted for the previous president, Gabriel Boric, and he campaigned on a pretty left wing ticket. High taxes for the rich, focus on environmental issues. Now the country's voted for someone described as far right. I mean, what has changed?
[16:13]
Ione Wells
I think it's a really interesting question and there are different factors behind this. Some see the so called sort of fall in Borich's popularity as being due to some early mistakes. He tried, for example, to introduce a new constitution. It was rejected by voters in 2022. Some of the public perceived the new constitution as too radical and that damaged. I think some of the government's sort of Political. Political capital as well. Then there was the emergence of this increasing concern about security issues in the country. Chile is still one of the safest and more stable countries in the region, but there has been a growing perception of crime, particularly organized crime. Growing. Immigration has risen in the country since 2017, and certainly right wing candidates like Jose Antonio Cast capitalized on that. They made this link blaming immigration for rising crime, even though some studies suggest that actually foreigners in Chile on average commit fewer crimes than Chileans. But certainly this became an issue that really, I think a lot of voters were very incensed by really going into this campaign. Gabriel Boris did introduce some sweeping new measures, particularly welfare measures. He raised the minimum wage. He made pensions more generous. He introduced free health care for some of the poorest Chileans, shortened the working weeks. So there were various policies that he did manage to pass through. But I think one thing that was clear on this election campaign was some voters didn't feel like the current government was serving them well enough. They wanted to see change. And for them, Cass represented that.
[17:40]
Paul Moss
Now he has, as I said, won by a wide margin. But that still leaves an awful lot of people who voted for a Communist and a country which I guess seems to be very polarized.
[17:49]
Ione Wells
That's right. And I think what was interesting, speaking to some voters at the ballot boxes, some of them were saying that they felt quite disenfranchised by what they saw as quite an extreme choice. They didn't like the far right rhetoric of Jose Antonio Cass, but also didn't particularly like the idea of someone who is a member of the Communist Party. Even if she had tried to position herself more to the centre left in recent months as she tried to appeal to a wider audience. I think that did leave a lot of voters feeling quite disenfranchised and feeling like they had to vote for whichever they saw as the sort of better of two options they didn't particularly like. But I think you're right to suggest that there will be polarization now going forward, particularly when it comes to the issue of migration, with critics saying that it needs to be reduced. Supporters, though, saying that migration is absolutely crucial for Chile's workforce.
[18:36]
Paul Moss
Ione Wells in Santiago. And we have some breaking news that's come in just as we record this podcast. Police in Los Angeles say they're investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found at the home of the film director and actor Rob Reiner. The two victims have not been formally identified, but Reiner's family say that he and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner are dead Reiners, known for directing such classic films as When Harry Met Sally, the Princess Bride, and this Is Spinal Tap. The BBC will have more on this story as it develops. You can visit our website@bbcnews.com for updates still to come on the Global News Podcast.
[19:19]
Professor Bill Baker
It's really one of the natural wonders of the world after decades, suddenly produces what we would call the largest inflorescent flower bearing structure in the plant kingdom.
[19:30]
Paul Moss
The giant palm tree in Brazil that only blooms once in its lifetime.
[19:41]
Ione Wells
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[20:05]
Ione Wells
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[20:15]
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Paul Moss
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[22:52]
Danny Vincent
Jimmy Lai has been seen as one of the most outspoken critics of the Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese authorities for many years. When the National Security Law was introduced in 2020, Jimmy Liah was quickly arrested. He was detained and he's been in prison ever since. Now, the authorities accused him and have now charged him of colluding with foreigners and an act of sedition when it comes to colluding with foreigners. The judge went through many of Jimmy Lai's WhatsApp messages, messages with one of his colleagues where he attempted to organize meetings with U.S. officials in America. Now, according to the judge, according to the rule of the court, Jimmy Ly meeting with these officials has been part of the evidence that they've used to find him guilty of colluding with foreigners.
[23:44]
Paul Moss
Now, as you mentioned, Jimmy Lai has already been in jail, I think it's five years so far. And he's reported to be in poor health. How did he look in court?
[23:54]
Danny Vincent
Well, Jimmy Lai has been reported to be in poor health. His family members have raised many concerns. They've said that when they've met him, his fingernails have fallen off. They've also spoken about the poor condition of his skin. We know that he has diabetes and also has had a heart condition. So there have been many concerns about his health. In court today, Jimmy Lai was in relatively high spirits. He was smiling. He also waved to his family. Many Hong Kong residents lined up through the night to try to get to court to see this verdict. Jimmy Lai's been in prison for many years. The trial officially started two years ago, but he's been detained for five years. It's now possible that he could face life in prison. Sentencing is to follow. But what we know today is that Jimmy Lai is guilty of all the charges.
[24:49]
Paul Moss
And the verdict came just a day after Hong Kong's last pro democracy political party shut down under duress from China. They said, I just wonder where that leaves the pro democracy movement in Hong Kong.
[25:01]
Danny Vincent
Well, critics say that the pro democracy movement has been decimated by the National Security Law. Many of the opposition leaders have been detained, many have fled, many young people that took part in the protests. Many of those people have left Hong Kong. Many people have faced imprisonment. So critics will say that the democracy movement has been essentially destroyed by the National Security Law. The authorities wouldn't agree. They would say Hong Kong is still a free and open society. But today, many people in Hong Kong seeing Jimmy Lai is now guilty. They might question otherwise.
[25:38]
Paul Moss
Danny Vincent. When it comes to the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump has complained that European politicians spend too much time just talking. But in fact, his own emissaries have also spent plenty of time talking to the parties in this conflict. The latest talking took place in Berlin on Sunday when the US Envoy, Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, met with Ukraine's President Zelensky. As so often in the past, the US Delegation insisted that progress had been made. Europe editor Katya Adler is in Berlin and says the US Certainly wants that to be the case.
[26:15]
Katya Adler
Donald Trump is getting really impatient. His administration recently published its National Security Strategy, where it prioritizes stabilizing U.S. relations with Moscow. So ideally, Donald Trump really wants an end to all of this. But Ukraine is refusing to roll over. Vladimir Zelensky here in Berlin today said, yeah, he's willing to compromise on some things. He's no longer insisting on NATO membership as part of the peace deal, but he is insisting on getting cast iron security guarantees from his allies, including the US to make sure that Russia doesn't invade again. Now, talks here with US Negotiators were so intense that we're told they're going to roll over into tomorrow morning. And I tell you who else is coming here tomorrow. And that is a big list of big European names. Emmanuel Macron, France sir, Keir Starmer, the Danish, the Swedish, the Dutch prime ministers. I'm told the the Polish prime Minister, NATO Secretary General. All of them to hold Vladimir Zelensky's hand? No, it's because they are convinced this isn't just about Ukrainian sovereignty going forward. It's about the future security of Europe. The host of this meeting, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, says this is a Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and against the rest of Europe. These European leaders are worried that if there is a peace deal that's too soft on Russia, then Vladimir Putin will come back for more. And while this diplomatic ping pong continues, of course, so does the war on the ground in Ukraine, claiming more and more lives.
[27:43]
Paul Moss
Katja Adler in Berlin. There's a new site in Rio de Janeiro that's pulling in the crowds. A giant palm tree. What's so special, you may ask? Well, this particular species is native to southern India and Sri Lanka and was replanted in the Brazilian city 60 years ago. And all these decades later, the tree is for the first time producing flowers. Professor Bill Baker is an expert on palms at Kew Botanic Gardens in London and explained why this tree and indeed its sudden transformation into bloom is so special.
[28:17]
Professor Bill Baker
It's really one of the natural wonders of the world. It is an absolutely immensely enormous palm tree. It has a trunk that can be almost a meter wide and it shoots up a stem of about 25 meters with a crown of massive fan shaped leaves. Each of those leaves is about 5 meters in diameter. And then it has this astonishing flowering strategy whereby after decades of just growing trunk and leaves, it suddenly switches over to reproduction and produces what we would call the largest inflorescence or the largest flower bearing structure in the plant kingdom. And it does it just once. So it's a fatal effort. We think it's a strategy probably to deal with the fact that it grows in relatively disturbed environments. So by producing massive amounts of flower and then seeds all in one explosive effort, you have a higher chance of colonizing these disturbed environments in which it lives. The really amazing thing about it is that when it's in full flower, we think the whole thing contains as many as 24 million flowers. It's absolutely mind boggling.
[29:29]
Paul Moss
Palm tree expert Professor Bill Baker. In her six decade long career, the British actor Dame Helen Mirren has won many top awards, an Oscar, Golden Globes, five Emmys and a Tony Award for roles too numerous to mention. But you probably haven't seen or heard her like this before unless you live in Italy. In that 2021 video, she appeared with an Italian comedian encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid. It was filmed at her farmhouse in Salento in the southernmost Italian region of Puglia. She spent a good part of the last 18 years there, becoming part of the local community and campaigning to save the local olive groves, which are suffering from a rare virus. She told my colleague Julian Wariker why she got involved in this work.
[30:33]
Helen Mirren
When we arrived in Cilento, it was the most wonderful green environment filled with young and ancient olive groves. And we first heard of this virus that was attacking trees in olive groves down near Gallipoli. And it was a perfect storm, in a way. They're not big olive growing families in southern Cilento. They're all small local farmers. They didn't know what was happening. There were many conspiracy theories flying around about what it was and why it was happening. So my husband and I and a small group of people started a little organization called Save the Olives, just really to disseminate information. But what we do now is we raise funds to find new species of trees that are resistant to zillella and produce great olive oil. And parallel with that, we graft the ancient trees to try and save them for the future.
[31:36]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
People will hear the passion that you have for the cause. I wonder how much it feeds into the passion that you have now for that part of Italy. I mean, as you say, you've had a home there now for many years. How much do you feel this because of the fact that that part of Italy has become so important to you in recent times?
[31:54]
Helen Mirren
We have been welcomed by that community. We feel very connected to the community. Of course, we will always be foreigners, and I will always be La Trice. You know, that's where La Triche lives. But parallel with that comes a great level of acceptance.
[32:12]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
And while we have the opportunity I was keen to ask you about, I mean, you're very busy at the moment. I read a list of things that you're in, and one that caught my eye, and I know you've spoken about it, and certainly Kate Winslet has, because it's. Her project is Goodbye, June. And according to everything I've read on that subject, you've broken one of your rules about the kinds of part you will play. I read you had two rules, that you wouldn't play someone with dementia and you wouldn't play someone who was dying and. But you've broken rule number two with Goodbye, June. Is that a fair assessment?
[32:44]
Helen Mirren
It is a fair assessment. I mean, there are great roles. You think of Anthony Hopkins in the Father, for example. I mean, what an amazing piece of work that was. And, you know, don't get me Wrong. I'll go anywhere and do anything for a good role. But this was very much my appreciation of and my love for and my respect for Kate. Working with her, I could see she had the director's chops, so to speak.
[33:09]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
I mean, she said it's not a film actually about dying, it's a film about living. And people have tended to find it quite uplifting. I wonder if you saw it like that as you were making it.
[33:17]
Helen Mirren
Very much. It's about the dynamics and the problems and the challenges and the love of family.
[33:24]
Eyewitness / Interviewer
You've talked about aging and I was rather struck by your use of the word thrilling. I've got an article from Corriere della Serra in front of me from July when you were quoted as saying how thrilling it is to be 80. And I've heard many adjectives alongside the figure of 80. Not very often thrilling. And I wonder where the thrill came from.
[33:43]
Helen Mirren
Yes, well, no, I mean it is thrilling to be alive. It's great, you know, it's a part of the long journey through one's life and so of course it's exciting. I mean, I was just in America in a self driving car. I can't tell you how exciting that was. It's like mind blowing. I'm so glad I lived to witness that, you know. You know, there's also terrible tragedies that one witnesses and difficulties. But life is to be lived as long as you possibly can, it seems to me.
[34:17]
Paul Moss
Actress Helen Mirren speaking to Julian Warwicker. And that's all from us for now, but there'll 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 globalpodcastbc co.uk this edition was mixed by Hannah Montgomery and the producers were Peter Goffin and Nikki Verico. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Paul Moss. Until next time. Goodbye.
[34:55]
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Anger in Australia after 'evil' Hanukkah shooting

Anger in Australia after 'evil' Hanukkah shooting

Global News Podcast — Anger in Australia after 'evil' Hanukkah shooting

Episode Overview

Major Segment: Sydney Hanukkah Shooting and Rising Antisemitism

The Attack and Political Condemnation

Security Response and Community Impact

Analysis of Rising Threats (05:27–08:37)

Eyewitness Accounts and Atmosphere in Sydney (09:09–10:02)

Political and Policy Implications

Other Major International Stories

Chile’s Presidential Election: Far-Right Shift

Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai Convicted Under National Security Law

Russia-Ukraine Talks and Geopolitical Stakes

Noteworthy & Human Interest Stories

Botanical Marvel in Brazil (27:43–29:29)

Helen Mirren: Life, Community, and Aging

Timestamps for Key Segments

Memorable Quotes

Summary

Global News Podcast — Anger in Australia after 'evil' Hanukkah shooting

Episode Overview

Major Segment: Sydney Hanukkah Shooting and Rising Antisemitism

The Attack and Political Condemnation

Security Response and Community Impact

Analysis of Rising Threats (05:27–08:37)

Eyewitness Accounts and Atmosphere in Sydney (09:09–10:02)

Political and Policy Implications

Other Major International Stories

Chile’s Presidential Election: Far-Right Shift

Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai Convicted Under National Security Law

Russia-Ukraine Talks and Geopolitical Stakes

Noteworthy & Human Interest Stories

Botanical Marvel in Brazil (27:43–29:29)

Helen Mirren: Life, Community, and Aging

Timestamps for Key Segments

Memorable Quotes

Summary