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Global News Podcast
Former US president Jimmy Carter dies
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Carter went on to become an international statesman and human rights campaigner
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This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk. World of Secrets is where untold stories are exposed. And in this new series we investigate the dark side of the wellness industry, following the story of a woman who joined a yoga school only to uncover a world she never expected. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this. Where the hope of spiritual breakthroughs leaves people vulnerable to exploitation. You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realise. World of Secrets the Bad Guru Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts. If you're a facilities manager at a university, you know students rely on the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, dinner and the occasional late night snack. So when a dishwasher breaks down and dirty plates pile up, the mess hall can turn messy in the blink of an eye. Enter Grainger. With over a million industrial grade products and fast delivery, the product you need now is never far away. So you can turn that dishwasher back into a lean, clean washing machine. Call clickranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Danny Cox and in the early hours of Monday 30th December, these are our main stories. The former US President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. South Korea begins a period of mourning for victims of its worst ear disaster. Also in this podcast, the man who stood beside me and said Ukraine is a sovereign independent nation state which will make its own decisions is now the man who says that it is not and that it's got to be wiped off the face of the earth. We look back on 25 years of Vladimir Putin's leadership of Russia. The former American President Jimmy Carter has died. He was 100 years old. He was the longest living president in U.S. history. A Democrat, he was the 39th president of the United States and spent four years in the White House from 1977 to 1981. He went on to gain an international reputation for his work in promoting promoting human rights. The BBC's Sarah Smith looks back at his life as a candidate. As a president. I'll never tell a lie. That was the essence of Jimmy Carter. People may have questioned his ability, but not his honesty, sincerity and passion that propelled a peanut farmer to the presidency. He was born in the deep south, in Plains, Georgia. James Earl Carter cut short a promising naval career to return home after the death of his father. He turned the family business around, making peanuts Made Jimmy Carter rich. Then came the lure of politics. He served two terms in the state Senate and one as Georgia's governor before bringing his faith based politics to Washington and a run for the presidency. My name is Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president. He campaigned on a pledge to bind America's wounds after Watergate and Vietnam. I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear. It was a presidency that would be marked by one foreign policy high marred by other lows. 1978. He persuaded Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat to sign the Camp David peace Accord. It was his finest hour. It's still America's most significant peacemaking in the Middle East. At home, he was an early environmental pioneer, preserving huge tracts of land in Alaska, even installing solar panels at the White House and an ardent feminist. He encouraged his wife to set up and run her own office in the White House, appointed women to his administration and declared women's rights are the fight of my life. But an energy crisis saw long lines at the pumps while inflation was rising sharply and his administration seemed listless, ill equipped to cope. Worse would follow with the Iranian revolution and the interminable hostage crisis that followed. At the US embassy in Tehran, 52Americans were being held. The Commander in Chief seemed out of his depth. A botched rescue attempt left eight Americans dead. Against that backdrop, there was no way he was going to win re election in the event. His loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980 was crushing. But Jimmy Carter was not about to disappear quietly into a gilded corporate post presidential life. He brought his prodigious energy to human rights issues, setting up the Carter center in Atlanta, campaigning across the world for democracy and justice constantly at his side. His wife Rosalind Rosan and I decided to start the Carter center with very slight glimmer of hope about what it might be. But it has far exceeded our expectations and has given us a very fruitful and exciting and unpredictable and challenging and adventurous, I would say a gratifying life. 22 years after leaving office, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Morning everybody. In Plains, Georgia. He carried on leading Bible study classes. Only when he was past 90 would he tell a news conference with his trademark humour, dignity and humility and without a shred of self pity that cancer had spread to his brain. I think I would have been as blessed as any human being in the world having become the President of the United States of America and the work of the Carter center and everything's been a blessing for me. So I'm Thankful. That seemed like the final chapter. But it wasn't. Jimmy Carter carried on his work in the United States and around the world, busy trying to make a difference right up to the end. His long term political ally, President Biden visited the Carters modest bungalow, paying tribute to a visionary man of unimpeachable integrity who became America's longest lived president. Sarah Smith and I heard more about the life and the presidency of Jimmy Carter from our correspondent in Washington, Rowan Bridge. Well, we've seen tributes come in from some of Jimmy Carter's successors, starting with Joe Biden, of course, the current President saying that America had lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian, with his compassion and moral clarity. Joe Biden said he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and always advocate for the least amongst us. And also Bill Clinton has paid tribute saying, giving thanks for Jimmy Carter's good long life, as he put it, saying how he worked tirelessly for a better and fairer world. And indeed the Empire State Building is to be lit up in red, white and blue, the colors of the American flag, to honor, as they put it, the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter as well. A good long life, reaching the age of 100. But his health had been failing and this didn't really come as too much of a surprise. No, I mean he went into hospice care February, so the beginning really of last year, he had cancer. And so we knew that he was in hospice care and obviously that was sort of end of life care. But obviously a significant figure in American history. You know, one of the most significant figures of the 20th century for American politics, given his legacy both at home and abroad. So a major moment for America today, politics, very divisive around the world. But did he enter politics at, I don't know, maybe a simpler age? I'm not sure it was a simpler age. I mean, he came into office in the wake of the sort of fallout of Watergate and Gerald Ford pardoning Richard Nixon over alleged criminal activities that had gone on through the White House. It was not a straightforward time when Jimmy Carter came to power. But if you look at what he achieved on the foreign policy front, for example, you know, the Camp David accords, the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt have stood the test of time and perhaps are his biggest foreign policy success that he's achieved, you know, in something that helped to shape the Middle east and has done ever since. So that clearly was a significant triumph. But he also had failures, perhaps the most Obvious being the Iranian hostage crisis following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, when Americans were held hostage there. And there was a failed rescue attempt which left eight American servicemen dead. And that really was really damaging to Jimmy Carter and his reelection effort. And he lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan. But in some ways, he's a man ahead of his time. You know, this is somebody who put solar panels on the White house in the 1970s, a move that today would not seem extraordinary, but at the time, you know, was really ahead of its time in terms of his concern about the environment. He expanded the protection of wildlife in Alaska. You know, so he took measures which today would not be seen as out of of the ordinary in some ways, but we're quite progressive, very progressive for the time. The 39th president of the US how will he be remembered? Like all presidents, their legacy gets sort of picked over and reviewed constantly. And I think he will be remembered, I think as much for his sort of post presidency life as for his presidential career. If you look at that tribute that Joe Biden paid, a lot of what he was talking about there, his work about advancing civil and human rights, promoting fair elections, housing the homeless, this was all stuff that Jimmy Carter did post presidency. He set up the Carter foundation because he still wanted to be involved in public life after leaving the office. He still felt he had more to do and more to give. And that in some ways has become a sort of model for certain for presidents post being in office. You know, if you look at the work, some of the work that's been done by the Clinton foundation, you know, President Obama has his Obama foundation, both of those have clearly been modeled on what Jimmy Carter did. He was the first one to really look at that. How could you work in the public sphere outside of the presidency? And he certainly had a massive impact there, as he says, working with homeless people, helping to eradicate disease, his work around promoting peace. He was involved in the negotiations over the end of the war in Bosnia. He went to North Korea to negotiate with them on behalf of the Clinton administration. You know, he had a significant role in American life. Rowan Bridge in Washington. South Korea has started seven days of mourning after the country's worst ever aviation disaster. On Sunday, a Jeju airplane returning from Bangkok Carrying 181 people skidded off the Runway at Mo an airport and collided with a wall, killing nearly everyone on board. Two members of the flight crew survived. Our correspondent Gene McKenzie sent this report from the airport. So forceful was this crash, the body of the plane splintered into Small fragments that cover the ground. Here. The charred tail is the only part of the aircraft still intact. A video of the crash shows the plane land on the Runway at speed, without its landing gear down. It skids along the tarmac on its belly, overshoots the Runway, crashes into the perimeter wall and explodes. The passengers had no chance of surviving. The fire service told the bereaved families who had camped out in the terminal building. Only two flight attendants sat at the back of the plane could be saved. All day, rescue workers and forensic teams gathered the bodies from the wreckage and the surrounding fields until finally, after dark, they'd all been recovered. But it's taking a while to identify them. Every so often, someone in the terminal stands to read out a few more names, and their families cry out and crumple in pain. This man, Man Ki Soo, had two great nephews on the plane. The youngest had just taken his university entrance examination. He tells me their father had taken them as a treat. It was the first time they'd ever been abroad. I can't believe the entire family has disappeared, he says. My heart aches so much. The flight was operated by Jeju Air, Korea's most popular budget airline, which flies people all across Asia. Earlier, its chief executive expressed his deep regret. I want to sincerely apologize to all those who've lost their lives. It's hard to predict the cause, and we must wait for the results of the investigation, he said. It's thought the pilot couldn't activate the plane's landing gear. And there are reports that a bird entered one of the engines, causing it to catch fire. But proper answers will take time. The black box is severely damaged. The families tonight will sleep at the airport as they wait for more information. Gene McKenzie at MU an airport. And as Gene was saying, it's early days in terms of investigating what went wrong with the Jeju airplane. But to get more of an understanding, we spoke to Geoffrey Thomas, who's the editor of Daily Airline News. It appears as though this aircraft has suffered multiple failures due to a series of bird strikes. We know that the control tower issued an alert to the aircraft just prior to landing of birds in the area, typically mallards. One minute later, the air crew declared a mayday. There is vision of one bird strike on one of the engines. Ground observers have said there were three explosions. The crew then declared a mayday. The air traffic controllers then told them to approach the Runway from the other direction. So they went to the north and then came down towards the south. But at 900ft above the ground, the transponder which is the device that provides all the air traffic control data to air traffic control about the aircraft, its speed, altitude, etc. Ceased. Now, typically that does not happen. What that indicates is that there's been electrical failures in the aircraft. We can only speculate that possibly there were multiple electrical failures if the transponder failed, and this may have caused a cascading series of problems for the crew, and they weren't able to lower the undercarriage, nor possibly did they have time to manually crank it down, because it could well have been they had multiple engine failures, not just one. Jeffrey Thomas A presidential inauguration is often a moment of celebration, but not in Georgia. Protests are continuing to break out as thousands flood the streets of the Capitol and clash with police over the election of Mikhail Kaveleshvili of the Georgia Dream Party. A former football player, he's known for his anti Western stance and for aligning with Russian values. Meanwhile, the outgoing president, Salome Zorabashvili, has refused to step down. Our correspondent in the region is Reyhan Dmitry. We have seen continuous protests for over 30 days, despite the inauguration, despite the fact that Salome Zurabishvili is now the ex president. She earlier said that she won't be stepping down as the president, but on Sunday morning she left the presidential palace and said that her legitimacy is not linked to the building. And those who are protesting now, they consider Salomez Rabishili still their president. And what now for Salome Zorabashvili? She says she's going to fight on, but realistically, what is she hoping for? Is there a route back for her? I think it's a big question. Can we refer to her as the ex president? Technically, yes, she is the ex president. However, we see that some of George's Western partners, some of the politicians in the United States, who have invited Salomezer Abishvili, by the way, to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump in January. January. They have stated publicly that she remains the only legitimate president of Georgia. And this whole struggle that we've seen so far, it is all about one demand that people including Salomez Rabishvili, have been reiterating over and over again. They're demanding new elections. They're saying that this is the only way out of this political deadlock. Because with the inauguration of Michal Kavelashvili, who is a chosen candidate by the ruling party, critics claim the ruling party has consolidated full power. There is now not a single institution in the country which critics are saying could be seen as being independent from the Ruling party Georgia has now suspended its application to join the eu. Does the election of the new president mean the country could move further away from Europe and towards Russia? Well, it is interesting today in Georgian media, one particular interview has been quite kind of widely discussed. And this interview is by a former official from the Ministry of Interior. He said that he received threats to himself and his family, so he left the country. And after leaving the country, he gave quite an extensive interview in which he said that in Georgia today all orders are coming from Moscow. These are his words. And I think it reinforces the belief of the country's opposition that this government is acting in Russia's interests. There'll be no quick establishment of any kind of democracy in Syria. Elections, if they come, will be four years away, as according to Ahmad Al Shararra, the new Islamist leader. His group HTS insists it wants to build a nation where everyone feels included. And yet the past week has already seen suspected reprisal killings of Alawites. That's the community which Syria's deposed president Bashar Al Assad belonged to. People who served in his regime's security forces have been promised a general amnesty and tens of thousands have surrendered. So do they believe that amnesty promise? Yogurt Alumaye has been speaking to them. I'm at a so called reconciliation center in the capital Damascus. This is a center where people who served in the security forces and intelligence services of the former regime can come to register themselves, to surrender their weapons if they have any, to surrender their vehicles if they were given any. Centers like these have been running in different parts of the country. In Latakia, in Tartus, in Homs, in Aleppo. In front of me I can see hundreds and hundreds of people who are pressed up against the iron gates of compound. And one by one, they do seem to be letting people in. Mohammad Ramadan has come to return the Kalashnikov he'd been assigned. His story gives an insight into why Assad's military collapsed so quickly. There was no one to give us any orders. Many of our commanders fled before us. So I thought, why should I fight and die for someone who didn't even give enough of a salary so I could feed my family. My name is Sommer Hamui. I was in the military. Where were you on the day that the regime fell? I was on my base doing my job. Okay, nobody tell us anything that the president has run away. We left us for our destiny. Every people on our bas. Leave his gun, leave his everything. We left us no money, nothing and run away. There was a lot of brutality and torture and killings under his regime. How do you feel about having been in the forces of this country when that kind of a regime was in power? Most of people don't know anything. Okay. For me, I don't know what happened on Sadnaya or any prisons. Okay. What we've heard among the crowds here is an intent to move forward. They say they are reassured by HTS provinces that they aren't here to exact revenge. But given the extent of bloodletting and brutality that was seen over 13 years of civil war in this country, is it possible to move forward so quickly and forgive? There have been a few instances of revenge killings. There isn't a confirmed number at the moment. There's also not much confirmed information about who carried out the revenge attacks. There is a lot of speculation. Some believe they were carried out by Hayat Tehrid Al Sham, hts, but they're not admitting to it. Some people believe it's other rebel factions, and there are those who believe that it could be pro Assad militia who want to create tension in the country. About three and a half hours from Damascus, we've driven through winding roads, through mountainous terrain in order to spend speak to the family of one person who was killed in a suspected revenge attack. And we're now heading to the village of Alamiriya. This village was the home of Judge Munzar Hassan. He was from the Alawite community. It is a community that Bashar Al Assad and his family belong to. The judge was killed and it's believed that it was a revenge killing because he was from the Alawite community. I'm going now to speak to his wife, Nadine Abdullah, who's told us that she wants his story to be heard. Everyone says HTS didn't commit the crime, but as the governing authority now they must find out who did it. They have to ensure protection for all of us. Hayat Tehri Rul Sham have denied they've carried out any reprisal and have promised to find the perpetrators. But after the euphoria of the regime's fall, the killings have triggered tensions. It's a delicate moment for Syria. Yogurt Olamaye. Still to come on this podcast, the boys from London traveling the world to trace their past. They're trying to find home in multiple different places. I got home in London, in Islington. I got home in Hargeysa. I even got a bit of home in Bangladesh. I feel like we're in Morocco. It's about children of immigrants coming together and telling their stories. World of Secrets is where untold stories are exposed, and in this new series we investigate the dark side of the wellness industry, following the story of a woman who joined a yoga school only to uncover a world she never expected. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this where the hope of spiritual breakthroughs leaves people vulnerable to exploitation. You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realize. World of Secrets the Bad Guru Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts Despite talks of a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, there's been no letups in Israeli attacks on the territory. On Sunday, seven people were killed in a strike on a medical facility in Gaza City. The Palestinian civil defense posted that others have been injured at the Al Wafa hospital. The IDF insists they were targeting Hamas fighters there. Our correspondent Sharmikalil reports from Jerusalem. Smoke could be seen on the upper floor of the Wafa hospital in central Gaza with its exterior wall destroyed. Footage showed chaos and a big crowd gathered at the entrance of the hospital as the body was being pulled out on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance. With sirens sounding in the hospital vicinity, the Israeli forces confirmed the strike on the hospital in Gaza City, saying the attack was on Hamas fighters who were using the building as a command and control center, adding that the building was not serving as a hospital at the time. Israel has made similar claims when the army forcibly evacuated the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in northern Gaza. The army then detained and interrogated medical staff and the hospital's director. Israel has so far not provided evidence for these claims. Shama Khalil in Jerusalem now to Croatia, where the polls have closed in the presidential election. The outspoken incumbent, Zoran Milanovic was on top of the opinion polls. Despite the election taking place at a time of biting in inflation, widespread corruption and labor shortages, our Balkans correspondent Guy Delaunay says Mr. Milanovic seems to have done a lot better than many expected. When you look at the polls ahead of the election, they were suggesting 39% for Zoran Milanovic. What he got was virtually 50%, not quite there. 50% is the crucial mark because if you take more than 50% of the vote, then you're, you're a first round winner. There's no need for a runoff. Zoran Milanovic took 49.1% of the vote, so he's not made it to a victory without a second round. But it's a crushing win because the closest challenger secured 19% of the vote. That was Dragan Primorac, who has the support of the government and the governing HDZ party. But it seems the voters have sent a very strong message about who they think should be the president for the next five years, because the two men have very different visions for the future of the country in some respects. There's been a lot of attention on Mr. Milanovic's views about NATO and the European Union. Some people suggesting he's skeptical about both things. I think it's fair to say he's taken a populist stance with regard to the participation of Croatian troops in Ukraine. I don't think that's going to be a very difficult thing for Croatia to have to handle. But I think more interestingly, in a way, it's worth remembering that Mr. Milanovic is originally the leader of a center left party, the Social Democrats. He retains their support. He comes out with a lot of populist outbursts. But when it came down to the election campaign, he was still clearly to the left of Mr. Primorac. Mr. Primarac was talking about deporting all irregular migrants. He was talking about making life very difficult for Serbia to join the European Union, making all sorts of demands bilaterally of Serbia for them to go ahead with their negotiations. Mr. Milanovic taking a much more conciliatory stance on both issues. So this centre left leader that people did see as prime minister at one point is still inside this populist quote machine that we've grown to know over the past five years. Guy Delaunay talking to my colleague Alex Ritson. New Year's Eve often brings a feeling of reflection, but for Russia, it's a pivotal moment in its history. It was 25 years ago that Vladimir Putin was named president. As the clock was counting down to the second millennium. It was a decision that took many by surprise, but perhaps even fewer could have foreseen where the country finds itself now. Our Russia editor is Steve Rosenberg. New Year's Eve 1999, a big fanfare and an even bigger surprise. Russia's President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation and hands power to his prime minister, a man called Vladimir Putin. And so it is Putin who delivers the traditional New Year greeting to the Russian people before the Kremlin bells usher in the new millennium. On leaving the Kremlin, Yeltsin's parting words to Putin were, take care of Russia. Well, how's that gone? President Putin's full scale invasion of Ukraine has had devastating consequences. Primarily for Ukraine, of course, but for Russia too. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed, many more wounded. Russian towns and cities now come under regular drone attack. Ukrainian soldiers have occupied a part of Russia's Kursk region. International sanctions are heaping pressure on Russia's economy and domestic repression has picked up apace. Over 25 years, I've seen different Putins and I'm not the only one. Lord Robertson was NATO secretary general from 1999 to 2003. So the man who stood beside me and said Ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation state which will make its own decisions about security is now the man who says that it is not a nation state and that it's got to be wiped off the face of the earth. I've often wondered whether in Putin's own mind, he thinks that he has done what Boris Yeltsin asks him to and taken care of Russia. Well, a few days ago I had a chance to find out. More than four hours into his lengthy end of year press conference, Vladimir Putin invited me to ask a question. Boris Yeltsin told you to take care of Russia, I said, but what are the significant losses in your so called special military operation in Ukraine, The Ukrainian troops in Kursk region, the sanctions, the high inflation? Do you think you've taken care of Russia? Yes, President Putin replied, and I haven't just taken care of it. We've pulled back from the edge of the abyss. He accused the west of having patronizingly patted Yeltsin on the shoulder while using Russia for its own purposes. But he, Putin was doing everything he said to ensure that Russia was an independent, sovereign state. I wonder, is this an argument he's come up with after the event to try to justify his war in Ukraine? Or does Vladimir Putin really believe this take on modern Russian history? I'm not sure, not yet. But I sense that it is a key question and the answer may well influence how this war ends and Russia's future. Steve Rosenberg. Now, do you remember your first holiday away with your friends? Well, a group of boys from London have been putting an interesting twist on theirs, racking up thousands of views and a growing online audience whilst doing so. The newsroom's Cerys Maidment reports. Whether it's soaking up the sun in Ibiza or dancing in the rain at a music festival, for many young people, your first holiday with your mate is a big deal. But one group of young guys from London have decided to do something different. Zak Hajjaj, Abu Fineen and Caillou Mia have been showing each other round their family's homelands and filming their Trips for their YouTube channel, calling themselves Kids of the Colony. The first stop on their list was Bangladesh, where Khayyam's family heralds from. According to Zak, it was a great way to start their series, Going Bangladesh Kha and brought me to his village and being like a visitor there was a great feeling. That's what Kids of Colony is about. It' bringing your own friends to your country, showing them not just the world on camera, but showing them like right there in action how it is, how, how people live. It's a great feeling. They then continent hopped to Morocco, which offered an alternative experience to their previous holiday. Morocco is a bit different to Bangladesh. It's not really your typical holiday destination. Morocco is incredibly tourist. And then finally the breakaway republic of Somaliland, where Abu was keen to show his close knit ties to the area. When it came to Somaliland, you know, it meant a little bit more to me. It was my turn like I was the host. So I'm going to the neighbourhood that my parents grew up in and I'm at a coffee shop and I'm meeting someone that knows my dad and then we can ask him, yo, can we serve tea? And a lot of that is just through the connections that we have to our ancestral lands. For their cameraman Henry, the boys have brought a burst of youth to the travel show industry. It's a younger perspective on travel and the world and you know, these guys growing up in London, I think it's such a big deal going back to their homeland and stuff and I just want to be a part of, you know, that cultural experience. But despite all this globe trotting, for Abu, this project has evoked feelings much closer to home. When we first done the Bangladesh series, it was crazy because none of us had any experience being on camera or being behind the camera. We're trying to find a home in multiple different places. I've got home in London, in Islington, I got home in, I even got a bit of home in Bangladesh, I feel like, or in Morocco. That's what it's about. It's about children of immigrants coming together and telling their stories. And this is also what they hope for their viewers, that in watching their videos, they too will be encouraged to reconnect with their roots. That was the newsroom's Carys Maidment. And you can read the full story on the BBC news website. And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News 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 you can also find us on X at globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producer was Richard Hamilton. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Danny Cox. Until next time. Goodbye. Foreign Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart from the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to the Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.