First trip to China by a British PM in eight years

Summary

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Global News Podcast, BBC World Service

Episode Title: First trip to China by a British PM in eight years
Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Valerie Sanderson

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on significant current global events, with a major focus on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's historic visit to China—the first such trip by a UK leader since 2018. Key segments also include the return of the last Israeli hostage's remains from Gaza, the groundbreaking appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, updates on an outbreak of the Nipah virus in India, environmental conservation efforts in England, a high-profile legal case in France, and a record-breaking child snooker prodigy.

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1. Keir Starmer's Diplomatic Visit to China

(Main Segment: 00:42–06:31)

Key Points

• Prime Minister's Aim: Keir Starmer aims to enhance UK-China relations, focusing on trade ties and cultural engagement.
• Significance: The trip is the first by a British PM in eight years and comes amid domestic controversies over security concerns linked to the new Chinese embassy in London.
• Delegation: Starmer brings an “excellent delegation” representing business, culture, arts, and sports.
  Quote: “We are resolute about being outward looking, about taking opportunities, building relationships, having confidence globally.” — Keir Starmer [01:02]
• Chinese Reception: A ceremonial welcome signals the occasion’s importance, and China's leaders express willingness to deepen mutual trust and cooperation with the UK.
• China’s Perspective: China hopes to leverage the visit to showcase its international relationships and strategic diplomatic maneuvering, especially as the UK is seen as a key US ally.
• Geopolitical Context: The timing is sensitive as US-Canada and China-Canada trade tensions flare, and China seeks to “bring a key US ally a little bit closer.” Quote: “This is Beijing really playing the long game, using trade to kind of gain influence, gain standing in the world.” — Laura Bicker, BBC Correspondent [04:18]

Discussion: Trade vs. Security

• Trade Opportunities: Topics likely include renewable energy technologies and the UK’s ambition to import electric vehicles.
• Security Concerns: Starmer must balance economic opportunities with caution over Chinese commercial dominance and national security.
• Learning from Others: Canada’s recent rapprochement with China, led by PM Mark Carney, is cited as a cautionary but optimistic example.

Notable Moments

• Visual Diplomacy: Chinese state media highlights images of Starmer engaging with President Xi for symbolic impact [03:33].
• Underlying Risks: Caution urged against “dumping” (overwhelming imports) and loss of industrial sovereignty.

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2. Developments in Israel and Gaza

(Segment: 07:11–10:16)

Key Points

• Return of Remains: The last Israeli hostage’s body, Rankvili, is ceremonially returned, marking the end of a painful national chapter. Quote: “We come to respect and share honor to the soldier Rangville who sacrificed his life to protect Israeli civilians.” — Mourners [07:11]
• Peace Plan Implications: The event is pivotal for the US-brokered Gaza peace plan, particularly regarding reopening the Rafah border crossing.
• Israel’s Conditions: PM Netanyahu reiterates that demilitarization and no foreign (Turkish or Qatari) peacekeepers are preconditions for reconstruction [09:00].
• Palestinian Hardship: Conditions in Gaza remain dire, with cold weather, tented living, and a meningitis outbreak among children.

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3. First Female Archbishop of Canterbury

(Segment: 10:16–13:18)

Key Points

• Historic Appointment: Dame Sarah Mullally is confirmed as the 106th, and first female, Archbishop of Canterbury—spiritual leader to 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
• Mixed Reactions: While support is widespread, Mullally acknowledges some theological resistance to women in leadership within the Church. Quote: “What I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are and in a sense find some way in which we can at least have partnership together in that way.” — Dame Sarah Mullally [11:03]
• Church Tensions: The Church, while increasingly progressive, allows dissent on women's ordination, highlighting ongoing internal and global tensions.

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4. Environmental Conservation on England's Coast

(Segment: 13:18–20:16)

Key Points

• Habitat Protection: In Essex, old coal barges are repurposed to protect salt marshes at Northie Island from rising sea levels, forming new habitats for threatened birds.
• Climate Adaptation: The project is an innovative response to land erosion due to climate change. Quote: “If we did nothing and we didn’t intervene and we didn’t look at coastal adaptation, almost all of that would be lost over the next hundred years.” — Matt Wilson, National Trust [18:02]
• Sustainability: The effort is a form of large-scale recycling using both disused vessels and dredged sediment.

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5. Nipah Virus Outbreak in India

(Segment: 14:23–16:55)

Key Points

• Health Risk: Two confirmed cases of the deadly Nipah virus prompt regional health surveillance increases.
• Symptoms/Spread: The virus causes severe fever and neurological and respiratory symptoms, with a high fatality rate but limited threat if properly contained.
• Expert Reassurance: Past outbreaks in India have been “rapidly contained,” and there is no need for international alarm at this stage. Quote: “I think this situation is not one that should cause undue concern or alarm to people outside of this one area in India where the outbreak has occurred.” — Dr. Swapnil Parikh [15:55]

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6. French Politician Convicted for Attempted Assault

(Segment: 20:23–23:23)

Key Points

• Case Details: Former French senator Joel Guerriot is sentenced to four years in jail for drugging MP Sandrine Rosso with intent to sexually assault her.
• High-Profile Scandal: The case follows other high-profile prosecutions and reflects shifting attitudes about sexual violence and accountability in France. Quote: “It was always going to be a major scandal... sex, drugs and two prominent politicians.” — Paul Moss, BBC [22:23]

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7. Child Snooker Prodigy Breaks World Records

(Segment: 23:23–26:24)

Key Points

• Record Achievement: Jude Owens, age 2, becomes the youngest person to perform two official snooker trick shots—a double pot and a pullback shot.
• Public Reaction: The feat amazes both snooker enthusiasts and laypeople. Quote: “This is a 2 year old child clambering onto a stool and then almost lying down on the table... to perform these shots, which we ourselves would find very difficult.” — Pete Ross, BBC [25:09]
• Other Child Prodigies: The segment highlights the breadth of youthful talent across various disciplines.

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• Keir Starmer optimistic on China visit:
  “We are resolute about being outward looking, about taking opportunities, building relationships, having confidence globally.” [01:02]
• Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:
  “China stands ready to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust with the UK.” [02:53]
• Laura Bicker on China’s strategy:
  “This is Beijing really playing the long game, using trade to kind of gain influence, gain standing in the world.” [04:18]
• Sarah Mullally on her appointment:
  “What I hope to do is to... provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are...” [11:03]
• Dr. Parikh on Nipah outbreak:
  “This situation is not one that should cause undue concern or alarm to people outside of this one area in India where the outbreak has occurred.” [15:55]
• Pete Ross on snooker prodigy Jude Owens:
  “This is a 2 year old child clambering onto a stool and then almost lying down on the table... to perform these shots, which we ourselves would find very difficult.” [25:09]

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Additional Noteworthy Segments

• Climate change adaptation is highlighted through inventive conservation on the Essex coast.
• France’s changing social attitudes toward prosecuting sexual assault, with increasing accountability for prominent figures.
• Celebration of exceptional young talent, with focus on world record holders in multiple fields.

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This episode offers a comprehensive overview of evolving global dynamics—diplomatic, societal, environmental, and cultural—each delivered with factual clarity and direct expert insight characteristic of the BBC World Service.

Transcript

[Audiobook Narrator]

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Are you ready to embark on a journey of self discovery? Ride along with a father and son across America's 1960s northwest in this BBC full cast dramatization of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig. This is a powerful examination of how we live and a breathtaking meditation on how to live better. Evil spirit insane from a world without life or death. He has come to take Chris Start listening to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance available to purchase wherever you get your audiobooks.

[Valerie Sanderson]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and at 1545 hours GMT on Wednesday 28 January these are our main stories. For the first time in eight years, our a British Prime Minister is in China So what's the aim of Keir Starmer's visit?

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

We are resolute about being outward looking, about taking opportunities, building relationships, having confidence globally and it is in our national.

[Audiobook Narrator]

Interest to engage with China.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Israel's president, speaking at the funeral of the last hostage to be returned from Gaza, says his country can begin to heal. The first female Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans, is confirmed as at his ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Also in this podcast, the snooker player who's broken records at the tender age of 2, The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in China for a three day visit to boost trade ties. It's the first trip by a British prime minister since 2018, but comes amid controversy back home where his government is facing criticism for approving a new Chinese Embassy in London despite security concerns about its size and its location. But as the plane came into land, Sir Keer sounded optimistic about the visit as he took to the aircraft's Tano system.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

This is the first Prime Minister trip.

[Dr. Swapnil Parikh]

To China in eight years and we've.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Got an excellent delegation on board from.

[Dr. Swapnil Parikh]

Business, culture, art, sport and we're going.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

To unlock opportunities for our country. Sit back, enjoy the rest of the flight. I'll be bringing the plane in.

[Valerie Sanderson]

When he stepped off the plane, a young girl handed him a bunch of flowers. Welcome to China.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Thank you so much.

[Laura Bicker]

My name is Huya Chen.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Ahead of the visit, this was the message from the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

During the visit, China's leaders will hold talks and meetings with him to have an in depth discussion, exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern. Prime Minister Starmer will also visit Shanghai. China stands ready to take this visit as an Opportunity to enhance political mutual trust with the uk Deepen practical cooperation, jointly open a new chapter in the sound and stable development of China UK relations.

[Valerie Sanderson]

But after China and Canada agreed a deal to lower levies on certain trade, President Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs. So could closer British Chinese ties have an effect on the so called special relationship between the UK and us? Our correspondent Laura Bicker explained to Emma Barnett why this is a significant visit for Beijing as well as for Downing Street.

[Laura Bicker]

They see London as a key financial heartland, one with prestige, one with heritage. So there will be some kind of deal, I think, to be done. China believes the UK is just far too close to the United States. They believe that London simply follows Washington when it comes to making foreign policy. So for them, this will be about trying to kind of bring a key US ally a little bit closer. You'll see them show on state media images of the British Prime Minister touring the Forbidden City shaking hands with Xi Jinping. So for them, it's about showing the world. Here we are shaking hands with the United Kingdom that has a close relationship with the United States. Here he is in Beijing. Here he is doing deals while Donald Trump's continuing to threaten trade tariffs. This is Beijing really playing the long game, using trade to kind of gain influence, gain standing in the world.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

In terms of the play from the Prime Minister, has he got the ability to maneuver well, do you think?

[Laura Bicker]

It's really interesting for me sitting here in Beijing watching all the debates around what's happening between China and the eu, I think when it comes to blazing a path, we heard about Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister. Now, this was a country, Canada was a country with the worst relationship in the Western world with China. And now they've made a comeback. And when he was here, way before his speech in Davos, Mark Carney held a 40 minute, quite frank press conference, all questions asked. And he said there, this is because there's a new world order and we have to be part of it. So in many ways, Mark Carney has blazed the trail for. But I think what I would say is China correspondent and this debate between trade and security and which one and how do you guard between each one? I live this life, you know, every single time I go out, I'm watched. We know that we're surveyed. We know that security is a constant concern. We know that our phones might always not work. And then on the other side, as we travel around China, I can see what this country can do. It can build thousands of kilometers of train track. It can in one year it can, you know, really a renewable superpower which is key for the United Kingdom as it tries to kind of build more renewables in the likes of solar panels and wind turbines. And also it's keen to import electric vehicles. The real trap for Sir Keir Sarma will be to ensure that where we've seen with others is that when it comes to doing trade with China, put in some ard rails because what others have seen is when they do trade, they the fear is that China then sells far too much, dumps far too much. And I think when I've spoken to business leaders here, they've said, look, it's not just about perhaps China selling US EVs, it's about making EVs in the UK. So I think those are the kind of things we'll be watching for in the next few days.

[Valerie Sanderson]

And Laura Bicker joins us on our YouTube channel to tell us more about the ties between the UK and China. To find it, you can go on YouTube, search for BBC News, click on the logo, then choose Podcasts and Global News Podcast. There's a new story available every weekday in Israel. The body of Rankvili, the last remaining hostage held in Gaza has been carried to its final rest. People lined the street along the route of a convoy of vehicles carrying the coffin. This man who watched with his son explained why he'd chosen to be there.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

We come to respect and share honor to the soldier Rangville who sacrificed his life to protect Israeli civilians.

[Audiobook Narrator]

Even then he was wounded.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

He still fight to the last bullet. Then he was kidnapped to Gaza. Finally he came to his country, to his family to bury him.

[Valerie Sanderson]

In his eulogy the ceremony, President Isaac Herzog said Israel could slowly begin healing as a nation on following the aftermath of The Hamas led October 7th attack in 2023. The retrieval of Rangville's remains marks a key point in the U S led peace plan for Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt could only be reopened once the return of all hostages, living and dead, had been completed. It's not clear when the crossing will open. It's been mostly closed since 2024 when Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side. Our Middle east correspondent Yolan Nel is in Jerusalem and gave us her assessment of what this day means.

[Yolande Nell]

I think this is really an end of a painful chapter for Israelis. What we've seen Israeli police holding a ceremony. You can see them all saluting this fallen elite police officer, 24 year old ran Gavili then The convoy setting off from Shura military base, which is south of Tel Aviv. Crowds of people waving Israeli flags standing out on the street. The Gavili family had invited them to stand along the route as the convoy passes through their home in southern Israel. The president, he has said that this is, you know, closing the circle for Israel, the return of this final hostage's body.

[Valerie Sanderson]

And what about the opening of the Rafah crossing? What have you heard about that? Because it's a key requirement, isn't it, under President Trump's plan to end the Gaza war?

[Yolande Nell]

That's right. We still haven't had an official announcement about opening, but lots of indications from well informed sources that it could be as soon as today or tomorrow. But it's not exactly clear at the moment. Moment. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did address this when he spoke at a news conference last night. He said that this would still be a limited opening, that people, not cargo, would be going through, and that he said, the focus as far as Israel is concerned as it progresses to the next phase of the peace plan was about disarming Hamas and destroying its remaining tunnels in Gaza. He made this point once again that there would be no reconstruction in the Gaza Strip without demilitarization of Hamas. Reiterated too, there'd be no Turkish or Qatari forces in the international stabilization force that's expected to be set up under President Trump's peace plan. But really for Palestinians, they're very much looking for sort of developments, hoping for improvements in the second phase of the ceasefire. At the moment, the weather is extremely cold, people still living in tents, and we've been hearing from one of the main hospitals in the south, the Gaza Strip, that they have seen an outbreak of the severe bacterial kind of meningitis among children. One child has died already and they're treating several more cases, we're told.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Yolande nell, next to St Paul's Cathedral in London, Where, on an historic day for Anglicans worldwide, the first woman to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has been confirmed in the post.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

I, Sarah Elizabeth Mullally, elected Archbishop of Canterbury to so affirm and accordingly declare my belief in the faith which is revealed in the Scriptures.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Dame Sarah Mullally becomes the spiritual leader of around 85 million people in the Christian community, which is spread across 160 countries. This was her reply when asked about the reaction from church communities to her appointment.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

I've received a lot of support across the Anglican Communion, but I recognise there are those that find my appointment difficult and the sense for me that I have always understood that some people may find my appointment as a woman difficult in the church. And what I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are and in a sense find some way in which we can at least have partnership together in that way.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Our religion editor, Ali McBould, told us more about what her appointment means for the church and and for its followers.

[Ali McBould]

It is a significant moment. The 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, but the first that is a woman. We heard that she had been elected in October. I mean, the established position of the Church of England since the 1990s is that women could become priests. From the mid-90s, they could be ordained as priests. From about 10 years ago, from 2014, the Church of England decided that women could also become bishops. But what the church has also allowed is, I suppose, official dissent. It still allows male bishops not to ordain women. So even at home, there are those who believe that Sarah Mullally, some colleagues, bishop colleagues of hers, believe that she should never have been ordained as a priest. And then you look at the wider Anglican Communion, the sort of commonwealth of Anglican churches around the world, and there are some of those who've threatened to split from the Anglican Communion over what they had previously, in some cases threatened to leave the communion even when women were ordained as priests. And now certainly there are those who are very uncomfortable, to say the least, that a woman is leading the Anglican Communion. So as well as all of the problems that archbishops of Canterbury have had in the past in holding together people of different theological viewpoints, Dame Sarah Mullally will have the added layer of pressure. Having the fact that there are colleagues, peers and those in churches around the world who theologically don't believe that she should be in that position at all.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Ali McBull still to come in this.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Podcast, we have around 90 hectares of salt marsh on and around the island. And if we did nothing and we didn't intervene and we didn't look at coastal adaptation, almost all of that would be lost over the next time you did.

[Valerie Sanderson]

How a project in England is using sunken barges to protect habitats at risk from rising sea levels.

[Audiobook Trailer Voice]

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[Audiobook Narrator]

Evil spirit, insane From a world without.

[Audiobook Trailer Voice]

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[Valerie Sanderson]

Several countries in Asia have begun tightening health surveillance and screening at airports after two cases of a highly contagious and deadly disease were confirmed in the Indian state of West Bengal. The Nipah virus mainly spreads from animals to humans, but can also be passed on through close person to person contact. There's currently no vaccine to treat infected people, but the authorities in West Bengal say all necessary public health measures are in place to contain the virus. Dr. Swapnil Parikh is a specialist in infectious diseases based in Mumbai.

[Dr. Swapnil Parikh]

The Nipah virus occurs when bats or the secretions from bats or sometimes pigs come into contact with human beings. And it presents as a severe fever, a neurological condition and a respiratory condition. And it carries a very high fatality rate. So typically patients will have an acute onset of fever with very severe muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, a severe headache, and it can progress rapidly for them to develop seizures, loss of consciousness and altered mental state. On the respiratory side, they can develop a severe respiratory condition known as ards. It can often start with a cough, breathlessness, or even just a sore throat. When it has the respiratory manifestations, it's more infectious from person to person. And those who survive, they can have prolonged neurological sequelae or sometimes even have a relapse later on. This is not the first time India has dealt with Nipah. There have been several small outbreaks and India has managed to contain them very rapidly. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India has reported two cases, two confirmed cases, and they have gone ahead and traced over 190 seconds contacts who they are monitoring. So I think this situation is not one that should cause undue concern or alarm to people outside of this one area in India where the outbreak has occurred. Of course, it's always useful for countries to be aware and for them to take necessary precautions when people from these areas are traveling in like screen people who are sick with Nepal, it's been more reassuring people that it's not something that they need to be concerned concerned about right now if they're not traveling to those parts. We kind of have to be sympathetic that people do have this response after Covid. And you know, honestly, as a healthcare worker who lived through Covid, I experience this myself sometimes, so it's easy to empathize with that feeling.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Dr. Swapnil Parrot on the east coast of England, three old barges which once transported coal and other industrial materials have been sunk to build a man made island for threatened birds. Conservationists say the structure in an estuary should give endangered species somewhere safe to perch and to rest and to help reduce the erosion of the salt marsh habitat, which is at risk from rising sea levels. Our environmental correspondent Jonah Fisher reports.

[Jonah Fisher]

It's low tide and I'm crossing a causeway in the Blackwater Estuary with Matt Wilson from the National Trust. Northie island is off limits to visitors during the winter months, but we've been given special permission to come and take a look at a rare habitat that's under threat.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

So we have curlew and dunlin, but also blacktail, godwin, red shank. Some lapwing have gone past.

[Jonah Fisher]

We're inside a dark bird hide looking out at the salt marsh. Wading birds love them. The cycle of flooding at high tide, followed by a drying out when the water recedes, creates a nutrient rich feeding ground.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

We have around 90 hectares of salt marsh on and around the island, and if we did nothing and we didn't intervene and we didn't look at coastal adaptation, almost all of that would be lost over the next hundred years.

[Jonah Fisher]

North east salt marshes are being eaten away by the sea. It's not a new problem. But with climate change bringing rising sea levels, the search for solutions is becoming increasingly desperate.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

We have a real problem with erosion in the salt marsh here.

[Jonah Fisher]

Katie Gilchrist is the National Trust's Coastal Projects manager for the Midlands and East England.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

You want to allow the tide in these plants and this habitat needs the sea to come in every day. It needs to get that sort of salty water, so we don't want to block it off entirely, but we needed to think of a way to just slow it all down.

[Jonah Fisher]

The National Trust decided to make use of old rusty barges known as lighters. They were once a common sight transporting coal and other goods along the River Thames.

[Audiobook Narrator]

So what's happening here is that the three barges are being filled up with.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Sediment that's been dredged from the estuary to hold them in place.

[Audiobook Narrator]

The hope is that these barges will both protect Northie island and also create an entirely new island here for seabirds to use.

[Jonah Fisher]

The dredging and filling operation can only take place at high tide. As Noddy Carney, who's leading the operation, explains, once the barges are full and.

[Audiobook Narrator]

Buried, then there'll be stones put on top. So one, it acts as your breakwater.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

And two, the birds will nest in it.

[Audiobook Narrator]

So there are already birds using the.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Barges sitting in there?

[Audiobook Narrator]

Yeah. When the tide's out?

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jonah Fisher]

Back in the salt marsh. I put it to Katie Gilchrist that dumping rusty old barges in the estuary doesn't feel like a very natural solution.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

The whole point of the project is to work with nature to manage the impacts of climate change. But we do want to make use of the materials and resources that we have available to us.

[Audiobook Narrator]

So this is really recycling on a massive scale?

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

Absolutely, yes, it's recycling, making use of the barges, making use of that mud that needs to be dredged for navigation purposes and yes, helping us with our habitat management.

[Jonah Fisher]

With warmer, wetter winters on the way, all of us, not just the birds, will have to learn to adapt to the realities of man made climate change.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Jonah Fisher In France, a former senator has been sentenced to four years in jail after drugging a female lawmaker with the intention of sexually assaulting her. Global affairs reporter Paul Moss told me more about the case.

[Audiobook Narrator]

This concerns 68 year old Joel Guerrero, who was a member of France's upper house, the Senate and from the center right party, the Horizon Party, which is part of France's ruling alliance. Now, in November 2023, an MP, Sandrine Rosso, went to his flat. Apparently they were going to celebrate his re election. She says he served her champagne, which she noticed tasted strange, but she says he was very keen for her to keep drinking. She then felt nausea, suffered heart palpitations, she says left the flat and went to a hospital where they tested her and found a high level of MDMA in her blood. That's the active ingredient in the drug which is commonly known as ecstasy. And she told the court this week that she is certain that if she hadn't left Mr. Gerrio's flat, she's sure he was going to sexually assault her.

[Valerie Sanderson]

And what is Joel Garriott's defense?

[Audiobook Narrator]

Well, he never denied that this happened and indeed has been very apologetic, but insisted it was what he called in this rather strange phrase, a handling mistake. He says a friend had brought him the MDMA because he was feeling depressed and he put it in a glass with the intention of mixing it with some liquid and drinking it, but then decided not to. He says then the next day he accidentally poured Ms. Rosso's champagne into that same glass and that's how she ended up drinking it. Perhaps not surprisingly, the court did not believe that story and they found him guilty in mitigation. His lawyer said that he never actually made a physical attempt to sexually assault Ms. Rosso and also described him as a man who devoted part of his life to the functioning of French democracy. But despite that they gave him a four year sentence.

[Valerie Sanderson]

And Paul, how is this case being seen in France? Because, I mean, it's the second high profile case of this kind, isn't it?

[Jonah Fisher]

Indeed.

[Audiobook Narrator]

I mean, it was always going to be a major scandal. I mean, it's got all the ingredients, hasn't it, with sex, drugs and two prominent politicians. But yes, it comes just a year after the infamous case of Giselle Pellico, who listeners probably remember her, her husband drugged her over many years and encouraged dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious. And in fact Sandrine Rosso, the MP in this case, the one who had her drinks spiked, she's teamed up with Gisele Pellico's daughter Caroline to raise awareness of the issue. Now those cases are extreme, but in fact, I think this is a country, France, where attitudes in general are changing. I mean, we've seen a series of prosecutions of various famous figures, particularly from the French film industry, most notably Gerard Depardier, who was found guilty last year of two counts of assaulting women on a film set. There was a feeling that in the past women may not have felt confident about coming forward, but that the mood is changing. The prosecutions will take place and as has happened this week, men will be found guilty.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Paul Moss. And finally, a two year old has become the holder of two Guinness World Records by becoming the youngest person to perform a pair of trick shots in snooker. This is how he was introduced at one of the games last year.

[Keir Starmer / Various Interviewees]

His bedtime is 6:15. He's a huge Man United fan. Remember the name, remember the face. Here he comes at the tender age of two, it's Jude Owens.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Well, Jude Owens successfully performed what's called a snooker double pot and a few weeks later a pullback shot, making him officially the youngest person ever to perform both. I got more about this remarkable feat from someone who knows a lot more about it than I do. Not difficult, I have to say, the newsroom's resident snooker expert, Pete Ross.

[Pete Ross]

I might know much more about snooker, but I don't think I could perform them with the aplomb that young Jude Owens from Manchester in the north of England has performed these tricks when he successfully completed the second of them, it was in October last year, where learning about it today because like any record, regardless of your age, it takes some time to assess them. But when he completed them, he was just 2 years and 302 days old. Now I don't know about you, Val, but at that age my hand, eye coordination, I mean, I could barely throw and catch a ball, let alone clamber atop a massive table several times my size, to perform these. You know, what I would say is our very tricky shots, whether you and I could even perform them. Now, had we a snooker table in the studio with us, I think we'd find them quite difficult.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Absolutely. And we can see photographs of him actually doing that, can't we? On our [e-mail] it is quite extraordinary. I mean, he's two.

[Pete Ross]

He's two. I mean, to give you a sort of sense, before you rush to the website, I mean the size of the snooker table, it's over 3 meters long. This is a 2 year old child clambering onto a stool and then almost lying down on the table again, as I said, to perform these shots, which we ourselves would find very difficult. Now, you mentioned the double pot and a pool bank shot. Essentially what that is. Instead of just shooting the ball directly into the pocket, you're hitting the ball off a cushion, the side of the table and then into a pocket. It's not an easy thing to do.

[Valerie Sanderson]

We should say though, he's a prodigious talent on the snooker table, but he's not alone in achieving a world record at such a tender age.

[Pete Ross]

No, absolutely not. There are lots of prodigies that are prodigious at many other things. A couple of examples from you, the youngest taekwonder instructor, how old do you think they are? Well, seven years and 270 days from India. They're also the youngest chess grandmaster, a little bit older. Getting a bit longer in the tooth. 12 years and 4 months that Abhimanye Mishra from the USA. But beating them all is ace Liam Ankra, who apparently is the youngest artist ever to make a sale at just one year and 152 days old.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Pete Ross there on Youthful Prodigies. And that's it from us for now. But there'll be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbbc.co.uk you can also find us on X@ BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global newspod. This edition was mixed by Nick Randall. The producers were Stephanie Tillotson and Stephanie Zach. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, Bye bye.

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