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- [00:00]
Narrator/Reporter
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
- [00:06]
Asma Khalid
America is changing and so is the world.
- [00:10]
Tristan Redman
But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
- [00:18]
Asma Khalid
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, dc.
- [00:20]
Tristan Redman
I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.
- [00:25]
Asma Khalid
Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.
- [00:30]
Tristan Redman
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:38]
Oliver Conway
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 04:30 GMT on Wednesday 29th October. Gaza's Civil Defense Agency says more than 30 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. Donald Trump says the ceasefire is not at risk. The US President has now arrived in South Korea, where he's expected to meet the Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday. Hurricane Melissa has wreaked havoc on Jamaica. It's now moving towards Cuba as a Category 4 storm. Also in the podcast, dozens are killed in Brazil during a police operation in Rio. And the Public Enemy star Flavor Flav signs on to help the US bobsleigh team. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 33 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas run Civil Defense Agency and hospital officials. People were said to be missing under the rubble after homes, schools and residential blocks were hit in the north, centre and south of the territory. Israel launched the strikes after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by shooting at Israeli soldiers and not handing back hostage bodies. As our Middle east correspondent Lucy Williamson.
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Tristan Redman
Explains, Across Gaza, Israeli airstrikes showed again the fragility of America's peace and the fragility of Gaza's people, a response Israel said to a Hamas attack on its forces today. Hamas calls it a criminal bombardment that broke the ceasefire deal. But Israel says Hamas has been breaking the ceasefire for 15 days now by failing to hand over all the hostages it holds. Israel has not only waited patiently during this time, but gave Hamas an opportunity to retrieve and hand over all of our 28 deceased hostages in captivity. We are fully aware and have knowledge that Hamas can locate and retrieve the remains of our 13th 13 deceased hostages that are still in Gaza right now. Israel's military released footage of what it said were Hamas members burying a body and then unearthing it with a bulldozer. Then they appeared to re bury it in front of Red Cross staff before uncovering it again. Hamas said Israel was fabricating false pretexts to break the ceasefire. The Red Cross said its team had only observed what appeared to be the recovery of remains and that it was unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged. In Khan Younis, another body was brought out to waiting cameras and cheering crowds. But the handover has been cancelled by Hamas because of Israel's violations. It says a truce without trust counted in bombs and bodies.
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Oliver Conway
Lucy Williamson in Jerusalem as he headed to South Korea on Air Force One, the US President Donald Trump said that Israel was justified in hitting Hamas. He was asked whether the violence risked jeopardizing the ceasefire he helped broker.
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Jeremy Bowen
Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle east and they have to behave.
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Jake Kwon
They're on the rough side, but they said they would be good and if.
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Flavor Flav
They'Re good, they're going to be happy.
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Jake Kwon
And if they're happy, not good, they're going to be terminated. Their lives will be terminated.
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Oliver Conway
Our international editor, Jeremy Bowen has this assessment of the truce, now well into its third week.
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Jeremy Bowen
Ceasefires often get violated, especially in their early stages. Cracks appeared in the Gaza deal soon after it was agreed and they are getting wider. Ceasefires need a lot of political and technical support if they are to survive long enough to create a basis for a lasting absence of war. The deal pushed through by Donald Trump as well as Qatar and others, was limited. It was for a ceasefire followed by an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Whatever President Trump says, it is not a peace agreement. The Gaza ceasefire is cracking because it lacks the diplomatic scaffolding of clear agreements about how it will function. President Trump's style is to do a deal and leave his advisors to find ways to make it work. As predicted, that's proving very difficult and the longer it takes, the more the ceasefire will crumble. Two big issues among many. The proposed international stabilization force has not been created. Arab and other Muslim countries that have discussed contributing forces will not send them into an active war zone. And Hamas has said it might give up formal power but will not disarm. These are more than details, they're deal breakers.
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Oliver Conway
Jeremy Bowen in the past few hours, President Trump has arrived in South Korea for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the historic city of Jeongju. He's been addressing CEOs there, but his most high profile meeting will be with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Their first face to face talk since Mr. Trump returned to the White House and Mr. Xi's first visit to South Korea in 11 years. The main item on the agenda today will be the unresolved trade agreement between The US And South Korea. I asked our correspondent Jake Kwon, who is in Gyeongju, what we can expect from those talks.
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Jake Kwon
The South Korean official has been voicing some concerns, maybe some pessimism that a deal could be reached today. It is unclear whether that is managing expectations ahead of their sit down together because it would shake up South Korean people's confidence in their leader if the President Lee Jae Myung walks away from this sit down with President Donald Trump without anything from this deal. But this is something that is very much weighing upon South Korean President. I mean, he has to reach some kind of deal. South Korea does rely on USA as a very significant market. If you think about it, the us, The Americans, they drive Hyundai cars and then they watch their favorite show on their Samsung television. And it has been a months long, very intense negotiation between these two countries. But the sticking point seems to be that the US President insist on South Korea giving up $350 billion in investment to the United States in one go upfront. And this being one fifth of South Korea's economy, gdp. And Seoul has been saying that if they were to follow this insistence, it could potentially plunge South Korea into a financial crisis.
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Oliver Conway
Now in his speech to those CEOs, he just said we are serious partners with South Korea. But it is on his way there. He said he's hoping to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the not too distant future. How will that go down in the South?
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Jake Kwon
Well, the irony here is that the meeting that is most anticipated is with a leader who is not even invited at the APEC summit. The Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. And now this has been a way for South Korea's leader Lee Ji Myong, to somewhat flatter President Donald Trump, saying that he wants him to be a peacemaker, to come to South Korea, but try to meet Kim Jong Un, have a sit down with him. Now these two leaders, Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, has not had a meeting since 2019 when their nuclear negotiation had collapsed. But since then, it seemed like President Donald Trump still wants to meet with Kim Jong Un. He has been saying in recent days when he was prompted by the reporters, that he is enthusiastic, he would love to meet him, and that he could even think about lifting some of these sanctions that had been throttling North Korea's economy. So there is enough reason here for North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un to meet with Donald Trump. I mean, it could serve as a way for Kim Jong Un to solidify he's hold of the nuclear bombs. And there has been a lot of speculation that President Trump could swing by to the border in the north and have a sit down, a quick photo op with Kim Jong Un. But we won't know until the end of this meeting, until President Trump actually leaves the Korean peninsula.
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Oliver Conway
Let's take a brief look ahead to Thursday. Those talks with Xi Jinping of China. Can the two men resolve their differences?
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Jake Kwon
Well, this is the biggest question of the APEC summit. I mean, the biggest meeting between leaders. I mean, there are 21 countries being represented here. But really the meeting that is most anticipated is with Trump and Xi Jinping. And they have been locked in this intense negotiation and it is now culminating to this question, can the two biggest economies in the world resolve their differences and end the trade war? And Mr. Trump and Chinese officials, they have been meeting and they have been really putting a positive note. So I think there is a lot of good feeling and we'll just have to see until tomorrow.
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Oliver Conway
Jae Kwon in Yeongju in South Korea. Hundreds of people in Jamaica are spending the night in shelters after Hurricane Melissa pummeled the Caribbean island with powerful winds and heavy rain.
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Tristan Redman
The storm was like coming off and if you look at it, it would be like we get in some dangerous thing and it just divert and shift and take it to most of the countryside.
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Oliver Conway
And you know our motto for many other people where I want. So we're really sorry, really, who get damaged. But trust me, it's not no chore. Residents in the capital, Kingston. The government has formally declared Jamaica a disaster area, though the extent of the damage is not yet known. The latest from Will Grant.
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Narrator/Reporter
Hurricane Melissa, officially the most powerful storm ever to hit Jamaica, has now passed over the island, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The authorities are trying to establish a full picture of the impact, but with power cut off to much of the country, information remains patchy. The minister helping to lead the disaster response, Desmond MacKenzie, said that St Elizabeth in western Jamaica received the brunt of the storm.
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Oliver Conway
Jamaica has gone through what I can call one of its worst period. Our infrastructure has been severely compromised. St. Elizabeth is the breadbasket of the country, and that has taken a beating. The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.
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Narrator/Reporter
Once day breaks on the island, the extent of the damage beyond those initial reports will start to become clearer. However, the main airport in the capital, Kingston, may remain closed for another day before aid flights can begin to land. Meanwhile, Hurricane Melissa has continued north, affecting eastern Cuba and western Haiti, with both nations in the middle of complex economic and humanitarian crises. This vast storm could cause further catastrophic damage and loss of life in Caribbean countries particularly ill equipped to cope.
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Oliver Conway
Will Grant. Still to come on the Global News.
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Jimmy Wales
Podcast, it is a community and a system that's based on trust. Obviously, Wikipedia is very trusting and lets anybody come and join us and help us. We've become pretty well trusted and I.
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Oliver Conway
Think that's kind of cool how Wikipedia has survived and thrived.
- [12:09]
Asma Khalid
America is changing and so is the world.
- [12:13]
Tristan Redman
But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
- [12:21]
Asma Khalid
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.
- [12:24]
Tristan Redman
Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global story.
- [12:28]
Asma Khalid
Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.
- [12:33]
Tristan Redman
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [12:43]
Oliver Conway
At least 60 people have been killed and 81 arrested during a massive drugs raid in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The operation against the Red Command gang is the largest ever in Rio state. As we heard from Mimi Swaby.
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Asma Khalid
Operation Containment started in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the Alemao and Pena regions of Rio de Janeiro. They're northern suburbs, they are favela areas on the hillside. And it's a large operation, like you said, the largest in the state's history. It's made up about two and a half thousand security personnel who entered the districts to try and contain the gang. And this is a group, a criminal group has been expanding their presence in this district. When security forces entered, there were fierce clashes between the the Red Command group and these personnel. We've seen lots of gunfire, multiple civilians being caught in that gunfire, as well as cars being set ablaze and drones detonating bombs in response to security personnel entering. It's been very violent scenes. Locals have likened it to a war zone in the area. Many roads are still closed and it has a heavy security presence in these districts. There has been thick plumes of smoke in multiple areas. Now, this is a joint operation by police, both civil police and military police. So very highly trained, trained and equipped people. Police officers have been killed and others have, like I said, civilians been caught in. There was a story of a man who got shot in the back by a stray bullet when he was trying to hide in his home. So very violent, very chaotic scenes with many locals scared to go outside. There have been health and education services have like changed their daily routines as well as bus routes having veered off to try and avoid this escalating violence in something that isn't uncommon in Brazil. But this scale of a anti gang raid really has been quite rattling in the community.
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Oliver Conway
Mimi Swaby it is a year since flash floods hit Spain, claiming the lives of 237 people, almost all in the Valencia region. A memorial service will be held there later, with the king and Prime Minister among those due to attend. But there are expected to be protests as well, with many people still angry over how the crisis was handled. Our correspondent Guy Hedgeko is in Valencia.
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Tristan Redman
Mi marido yo muy felites.
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Narrator/Reporter
Toni Garcia shows me photos of her husband Miguel and daughter Sara, their only child. A year ago, when flash floods struck their hometown of Benetuser, Miguel and Sara went down to the basement garage beneath their house to move the family car. Toni never saw them alive again.
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Oliver Conway
The military scuba divers who found the.
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Jake Kwon
Bodies of my husband and daughter said.
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Oliver Conway
They had managed to get out of.
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Tristan Redman
The car and they were together holding each other. They didn't reach the garage door because it was so much water, so many meters deep water and mud.
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Narrator/Reporter
The floods killed 229 people in the eastern Valencia region. Another eight died in neighboring regions. For Toni Garcia and many others, October 29, 2024 is a date that marks unimaginable tragedy. But it's also the cause of anger. Polls show that a vast majority of people here think that the weather event was grossly mishandled by the Valencia regional government, led by the conservative Carlos Mathon. His administration didn't issue an emergency warning to Valencian's phones until late in the evening on the day of the floods, by which time many people had died. He had a nearly four hour lunch in a restaurant that day and was absent from emergency meetings until the evening. This is the latest in a series of protests that have taken place over the last year, all demanding the resignation of Carlos Maton. These protesters are chanting for him to be thrown in prison. But he refuses to step down, insisting that the tragedy was not his fault last October, and instead it was the fault of the central government and of state institutions like the National Weather Agency. Reconstruction work continues in Pai Porta, the town that was worst affected by the floods. 56 local people were killed and hundreds of buildings damaged or destroyed. Towns like this one are now better prepared. A month ago, torrential rain struck again, but this time an alert was issued in good time across the region and there were no deaths. A local band rehearses for upcoming festivities. A year on, from the worst natural disaster in Spain for a generation, the Mood across the Valencia region may be one of sadness and anger, but there's also optimism for a better future.
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Oliver Conway
A report from Valencia by our correspondent Guy Hetchko. Wikipedia is viewed 11 billion times a month, and not just by me. That's just the English language version as well. Written and moderated by volunteers. It was founded in 2001 as an online encyclopedia with trust at its core. And that's the focus of a new book by the Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales called the Seven Rules of Trust. Sean Lay asked Jimmy why he's still convinced that crowdsourcing is the best way to go for Wikipedia.
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Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia has been around now for almost 25 years, and every day we see, you know, lovely, nice people coming together and writing about all kinds of topics, everything under the sun and beyond. It is a community and a system that's based on trust. Obviously, Wikipedia is very trusting and lets anybody come and join us and help us through our work, which is never perfect, but we're always plugging away, trying to make it better. We've become pretty well trusted and I think that's kind of cool.
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Jake Kwon
How do you deal with bad actors?
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Jimmy Wales
So with Wikipedia, it turns out only a very small number of people are bad actors. I mean, some people are a little bit annoying and some people need to learn. We don't have that big of a problem with it. But other, obviously we do have to deal with it. So, you know, if you're misbehaving in Wikipedia, hopefully you get a very nice warning first that says, hey, you know, what are you doing? Knock it off. You know, that's not okay. But then you can get blocked, you can get banned. But, you know, most people are pretty decent and just are like, oh, I'm just trying to help.
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Narrator/Reporter
But you know, that's not the thing.
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Jake Kwon
That most people worry about. They worry about the conscious attempts to.
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Jeremy Bowen
Introduce perspective, bias, whatever else you want.
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Jake Kwon
To call it to entries.
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Jeremy Bowen
Sure, you deal with that.
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Jimmy Wales
I mean, you know, we have a lot of rules around reliable sources. So that's a really important piece of things, is like, where's your source? You know, we have a community that is very committed to the idea of neutrality. Are we perfect at it? No, I would say we're not perfect at it. All you can do is try. If you give up on trying because it's impossible to be perfect, you'll never get anywhere.
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Jeremy Bowen
Let's talk about the overall theme of your book and the overall theme of.
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Jake Kwon
What Wikipedia exists for, which is trust. You put it in that such a.
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Jeremy Bowen
Simple sounding word and Yet a word.
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Jake Kwon
That has come to be under attack.
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Oliver Conway
In so many ways, predating social media.
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Tristan Redman
We know what the challenge is.
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Oliver Conway
What are the potential solutions?
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Jimmy Wales
I think one of the things that I would focus on in the media, for example, is neutrality as being quite important. Again, another element would be transparency. At least at Wikipedia we put these banners at the top that say the neutrality of this article has been disputed. Right. That's not something you normally see. I, I always joke sometimes I wish the New York Times would run something like that. You know, a little note at the top that says we actually had a big fight in the newsroom. We weren't, you know, not everybody was on board with the story. We think it's valuable enough to run, but just a little warning sign. Some people thought this wasn't good enough. Oh, that's actually interesting. I actually trust you more that you've shown your work a little bit rather than pretend that everything is the gospel truth. I mean, I think we're going through a particular swing of the pendulum that's, you know, pretty bad at the moment. But the public is like, we really do want trustworthy politicians who thoughtfully disagree about political matters. And that's fine. And I hope to encourage people to say, you know, actually you should care like if you say, you know, well, I know he's a lying scoundrel, but he's my lying scoundrel. That's going to bite you. It's going to bite all of us, so don't do that.
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Oliver Conway
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talking to the BBC's Sean Lay. Coaches, physios, nutritionists. Many people are involved in helping athletes achieve sporting success. But how important is it to have a good hype man? Well, the US bobsleigh and skeleton team have signed a very high profile hype man for the Winter Olympics next year. The co founder of Public Enemy, Flavor Flavor. So where did the rapper get a taste for bobsleigh or bobsled as it's known in the us? Isabella Jewell has been finding out.
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Asma Khalid
For Flavor Flav, age is just a number. Not many 66 year olds would dive head first down an icy track on a skeleton bobsled, but that's exactly what he did.
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Flavor Flav
Yeah boy, I am an adrenaline junk, you know what I'm saying? And I, and I, and I've always been a daredevil all my life. And I love going fast, I love, I love heights, you know, and the whole nine. So a guy like me, when I seen that skeleton, I said, you know what, I gotta do this, I gotta do This. I want to do this so bad. Went up to the sixth curve and oh, my goodness, the ride down was so smooth, so great. And I hit 68 miles per hour.
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Asma Khalid
The rapper is a renowned sports fanatic. In Paris at the 2024 Olympics, he cheered on the USA Women's Water Polo team. And in the past, he's given financial support to American athletes. Now, though, he's swapping swimwear for a racing helmet.
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Flavor Flav
A few months back, I met a young lady that on the bobsled team. I told her I would love to come up and see the bobsled team, talk to the bobsled team. Next thing you know, here I am on my way up to Utah to go meet the bobsled team. And I said, you know what? Why don't I sponsor the team?
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Asma Khalid
And after a couple of days with the team in Utah trying out skeleton and bobsled himself, it seems he caught the hype.
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Flavor Flav
That was exciting fun right there, you know what I'm saying? And honestly, for my first time, really going down from that height and getting ready to go that fast, I had to go on that down that mountain with the signature yeah, boy. And I held it.
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Oliver Conway
Flavor Flav ending that report by Isabella Jewel. And that is all from us for now. But the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. If you want to comment on the podcast or anything in it, send an email to globalpodcastbc.co.uk. this edition was mixed by Martin Williams and produced by Niki Varico. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.
- [24:46]
Asma Khalid
America is changing and so is the world.
- [24:50]
Tristan Redman
But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
- [24:58]
Asma Khalid
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.
- [25:01]
Tristan Redman
Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.
- [25:05]
Asma Khalid
Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.
- [25:10]
Tristan Redman
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.