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Global News Podcast
Trump awarded Fifa peace prize at World Cup draw
00:26:21
Football federation honours US president at ceremony to pick groups for 2026 tournament
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- [00:00]
John Murray
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
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Celia Hatton
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Celia Hatton
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
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I'm Celia Hatton and in the early hours of Saturday, December 6th, these are our main stories. The world's most popular sport goes to Washington. Donald Trump presides over the Men's World cup draw at an offbeat event that tried to mix sports with politics.
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John Murray
There's nothing bigger than the biggest event in the world's biggest sport and he wants to be front and center of that.
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Celia Hatton
Colombia signs a landmark peace deal with its largest drug gang and our correspondent travels to northern Italy to speak with women migrants trying to start new lives in Europe.
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Also in this podcast, a woman who's wanted for allegedly trafficking tiger parts is arrested in India AFTER AFTER 10 years on the run.
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We're going to start with an event in Washington, D.C. that on the face of it, was focused on sport but managed to mix in politics and entertainment, too. It's the draw for next year's Men's World cup starting next June in the U.S. mexico and Canada. The draw was meant to focus on allocating the 48 qualifying teams into groups to set out how the tournament will proceed. But it was an entertainment event too. The more than two hour spectacle was hosted by the Hollywood actor Kevin Hart and supermodel Heidi Klum and featured a long list of celebrities and sporting greats. Donald Trump was the one winning all the accolades and was presented with the Newly created FIFA Peace Prize. At the ceremony, the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said he was handing over the giant golden trophy and medal of on behalf of football fans worldwide.
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John Murray
We see images of war all over the world and like everyone, we suffer for every child that dies. We cry with every mother that loses someone she loves. And we want to see hope, we want to see unity.
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Celia Hatton
The Peace Prize has been criticized by human rights groups. They're questioning the decision making process that allowed the US President to receive the award. But after all that, the draw for the tournament, our football correspondent John Murray was at the ceremony and he described it for us.
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John Murray
We had the longest draw for a World cup that we've ever had before. It was due to be two hours. In fact, it lasted significantly longer than two hours and it was, in fact, it was 87 minutes before the draw proper actually began. So there was a lot of celebrities, there was a lot of Razzamataz, there was a lot of Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, and all rounded off by the Village People with ymca.
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Celia Hatton
All right, well, let's talk about the main reason all this was taking place, the football. What were the key matchups from the draw?
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John Murray
I think if you're looking for the toughest group that was drawn together, I think you would probably go for France's group. And France in a group with Senegal, they are not to be underestimated. Norway are in that group, which were the team that no one wanted because they are on the up and up. They're on the rise and they could easily make an impact at this World Cup. With Manchester City's Erling Haaland front and center of it, having scored 16 goals, the record goalscorer in this qualifying campaign. And the other team in there will come from the playoffs, but that will be Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname. That's a challenging group and that will not be straightforward for France.
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Celia Hatton
The tournament is set to be the biggest ever. It's taking place across three countries with games being played in 16 different cities. What kinds of issues could this raise?
- [05:17]
John Murray
It is such a contrast to the last World cup in Qatar, where none of the venues that were used for that World cup were more than 35 miles away from each other. For this one, the longest distance between stadiums is almost 3,000 miles. So there is the issue of traveling. There are the issue of what time the matches kick off, what time of day. Because the temperatures, unlike Washington today, the temperatures next summer in many parts of the country and in many parts of the host venues will be absolutely sweltering. Whether that is high temperatures or whether that is heat and humidity. So that is something that has to be contended with. There's the possibility of thunderstorms, storms as well, and matches having to be suspended or perhaps delayed. And also throw into all of that as well the pictures that are being used for some of the matches at some of the venues. They will need extra work to make sure that they're in the right condition. So you'll hear a lot about this over the coming months before we get to the start of the World cup next June.
- [06:21]
Celia Hatton
Our football correspondent, John Murray. Well, Tariq Panja is a sports correspondent at the New York Times. He explained to us earlier why Donald Trump had taken such an interest in football.
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John Murray
It's enthusiasm for attention. That's something Donald Trump has been very good at from when he first challenged to become the US President before his first term, throughout that first term. And here we are. He knows where the cameras are. He knows where the attention can be garnered. And he realizes there's nothing bigger than the biggest event in the world's biggest sport. And he wants to be front and center of that. And he's made that clear both during the, the bid for the World Cup. He was President then in 2018 when the US got got the hosting rights in Mexico and Canada. And he will be the president when the final takes place in New Jersey on July 19th. As one FIFA official said to me this week, this will be the Donald Trump show. And that's what it felt like. There was this hastily arranged FIFA peace prize. This wasn't discussed at all two months ago. The board was not told about this at all. Senior FIFA officials, some of them, only found out about it a day before it was to be announced. Announced. And the fact it was going to be awarded to surprise, surprise, you know, the winner in, in Washington at this event where Donald Trump was going to be was all choreographed for this one man. There's nothing bigger than being front and center of the biggest event in the biggest sport in the world. And that's what the World cup is. And he is. He's right there. And Jann Infantino has made his bed as well by allowing himself firmly with Donald Trump. And therein lies a risk to him, actually. FIFA has very strict rules on political neutrality. And some of the ways in which Gian Infantino has gone about his relationship with Donald Trump might be skirting his own regulations when it comes to FIFA.
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Celia Hatton
New York Times journalist Tariq Panja. Colombia produces more cocaine than any other country in the world and a good chunk of it is traffic to the US And Europe by the criminal organization Klunda Golfo. Now, Clandel Golfo has signed a peace agreement with Colombia's government following months of negotiations in Qatar. It's an agreement that's meant to reduce violence and crime in large parts of Colombia. Our correspondent Will Grant told me more about the deal and how it will work.
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John Murray
Specifically, I think there are things for both sides in it to some extent. The key point is that members of the Clan del Golfo will have to concentrate in three, as it were, demilitarized zones. Two of those are in the Department of Chocol, which is actually one of the poorest places in Colombia. But they'll have sort of swathes of land where they will be, as it were, corralled and gradually moved towards the demobilization starting from March next year on their side. That will also bring with it the fact that there will be no longer extradition or orders for capture of them. So in a sense, it takes the heat out of the chase, as it were, over the years, for their top leadership. On the other side, of course, this is a big step for the government of Gustavo Petro in what he calls his quest for total peace. That is making agreements with the many, many different types of armed groups, both political and criminal, that exist in Colombia.
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Celia Hatton
So what are the biggest challenges to this agreement now that it's been signed?
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John Murray
Well, in a sense, you'll kind of pick up on a lot of skepticism in the Colombian press and among Colombian people over this agreement. While it is an important step towards that concept of total peace, you have many different armed groups that it will be extremely difficult to reach all of them. In the instance of those agreements that have already been established, there is still a lot of impunity. Some of the parameters of agreements haven't been respected. It has been better for the criminals than it has for the government. It has given a sense of peace without real peace. That is the sort of key argument against it. So those really are the challenges that both the Petro government will have to overcome, and to an extent, so will the Clan de Golfo, if they are actually serious about peace. There are those who say this is much more about, as it were, washing their image, improving their image in the face of the public, particularly when it involves things like preventing the recruitment of children and adolescents into the gang.
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Celia Hatton
So how are the Colombian authorities planning to manage other gangs to stop them taking over the trafficking routes that Clan del Golfo has established?
- [11:03]
John Murray
Yeah, it's a very good question. I mean, in a sense, they already are in the process of talking to different gangs and trying to achieve this very lofty goal of total peace in Colombia. The truth of the matter, as we know on the ground, is that a vacuum is very quickly filled when it comes to drug cartels by other groups. And where you sort of knock out the importance of one, others emerge or they rearm. We saw that with the peace accords with the left wing rebel group the FARC were achieved in Havana, and that has not been entirely successful, particularly in that element of the gangs going back into drug trafficking. So it's a huge challenge.
- [11:40]
Celia Hatton
Will grant? Migration to Europe is often framed as the story of young men seeking a better life. But more women are making the journey too, often alone or with their children, and they face risks that men rarely encounter. The UN migration agency, the iom, told the BBC that many migration policies are gender unaware, failing to take into account women's specific needs. Our correspondent Sofia Betica has been to northeast Italy, a key entry point into the European Union. From the Balkans, she sent this report and a warning. It contains descriptions of sexual violence.
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I'm standing in a square outside Trieste's train station where volunteers are handing out hot plates of pasta to migrants, a lot of them women. Most of them are carrying backpacks. Later tonight, many will catch trains to try and reach France, Germany and the uk.
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The routes to Europe are notoriously dangerous, but for women, the risks are even greater. Some even carry condoms because they know they could be raped at any point.
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I can still hear the voice of my son and of all those women screaming for help. In this shelter, women and families who've just arrived sleep on small metal framed beds with nowhere else to go.
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John Murray
We have women from Nepal tonight, from Cameroon, from Kosovo.
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Celia Hatton
Katarina runs the shelter. She says many of the women here are fleeing gender based violence, abuse or harm directed at them because they are women. Yet many face the same threats again on the journey to Europe. Sometimes they don't even realize that they are victims of gender violence because for them it's normal. Does this make it harder when women seek asylum? Because it's quite difficult to explain what gender violence is.
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John Murray
Yes, it is harder because they must first grow the awareness and also sometimes they are ashamed to tell and then their request for asylum is rejected. It can take years. My name is Adebayo. Esther.
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Celia Hatton
Esther from Nigeria was sleeping in the streets of Lagos. When a woman promised her a new life in Europe, she didn't hesitate. She'd always dreamed of living in the uk.
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John Murray
When I get to Libya, then I was. I was locked up in the room where she brought a man. The person had sex with me with force. I was still a virgin.
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Celia Hatton
So you were basically detained and forced to have sex with men?
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John Murray
Yes, for four months. That's what they do in Libya.
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Celia Hatton
Esther managed to escape and reached Europe by boat. Other women are making the journey on foot along the so called.
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And that's just as dangerous.
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Nina left Kosovo with her sister.
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Even though we were up in the mountains, in the dark, you could hear the screams. Women like my sister were crying, begging for help. It was harrowing. The men would come with a torch, shine it in someone's face, pick who they wanted, take them further into the forest, and then do whatever they wanted to us.
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I asked Nina why she chose to face such danger to leave Kosovo. I had no other choice but to escape. My boyfriend was violent. He wanted me to become a prostitute and give him the money. This is very common in Kosovo. People think life is good here, but if you are a woman, you have no rights, no voice. It's terrible.
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John Murray
Terrible.
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Celia Hatton
Dance classes like this are helping women find their place in Italian life. But critics say Europe's asylum system needs a complete rethink to recognize women's unique vulnerabilities and respond to the reality of more and more making the journey. Sophia Betisa in Italy.
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John Murray
Still to come, his exact words were, you've got a horrible disease. We don't have homosexuals in this school. You will be expelled immediately unless you agree we can cure you of your disease.
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Celia Hatton
We'll hear how hundreds of people were subjected to electric shock treatment at government run hospitals in Britain in the 1960s and 70s in a bid to change their sexuality.
- [16:52]
John Murray
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Celia Hatton
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John Murray
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- [18:56]
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- [19:30]
Celia Hatton
There's been a breakthrough in a major animal trafficking case in India. A woman who's wanted for allegedly trafficking tiger parts has been arrested in a remote village in northern India's Sikkim state. Young Chen Lachungpa, who's also known as the Ghost because of her ability to cross borders undetected, was detained after months of surveillance in sub zero conditions along the India China border. Our global affairs reporter Ambarasan Atarajan has.
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John Murray
More Wildlife officials describe the arrest of Yangchen La Chungpa as a major breakthrough in the battle against poaching in India. It's rare for a woman to be arrested in connection with the illegal trade of animal body parts. She is accused of playing a critical role in building trafficking corridors from India to Nepal, Tibet and China for tiger parts and pangolin scales. Ms. Youngchen is on Interpol's most wanted list. Figures show that more than a hundred tigers were killed by poachers in the past three years in India. The animals body parts are in demand in China, where they have been used in traditional medicine. Police have been looking for Ms. Youngchen for several years after officials seized five tiger skins and seven sacks of bones in neighboring Nepal. And it was suspected that the consignment was about to be smuggled into Tibet. DNA analysis showed one of the tiger hides belonged to an animal from a tiger reserve in central India. She was apprehended on suspicion in 2017, but she disappeared after getting an interim bail.
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Celia Hatton
And Barasen Atarajan reporting to the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan now where a shaky ceasefire has been in place. But officials from both sides say fighting's broken out there again. Our global affairs reporter Sanjay Dasgupta told.
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John Murray
Me more details are still sketchy. The spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, Zabi Ullah Mujahid, has posted on x.com accusing Pakistan of launching an attack in the Spin Boldak district. Just across the border lies Chaman in Pakistan and the spokesperson for the Pakistani prime minister. He has posted on social media that as a result of unprovoked firing by Afghan troops on Chaman, there were clashes. Predictably, both sides, as you can see, are blaming each other. What is interesting to note is that this has happened on what is known as the Spin Boldak Chaman border. It is one of the most important commercial crossing points and a very important point, border point, which is used by tens of thousands every day for travel and trade.
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Celia Hatton
There was supposed to be a fragile ceasefire in place after fierce clashes in October. So what's the state of that?
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John Murray
There was a ceasefire in place, a fragile one, as you say. The clashes in October were deadly. Dozens left dead on either side. They agreed a ceasefire a few days ago. There was the latest round of peace talks between the two neighbors in Saudi Arabia, which ended without a breakthrough. Significantly, this clash comes literally two, three days after that. What is at the heart of the dispute is the fact that the Pakistanis routinely accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militants who Islamabad says launch attacks inside Pakistan and carry out suicide bombings. Now, if the Afghan Taliban deny this, they point out that they should not be held responsible for what goes on across the border on Pakistani soil.
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Celia Hatton
Sanjay Dasgupta, the BBC understands that The British government will investigate the historical use of electric shock treatment, or ECT in state hospitals run by Britain's National Health Service, which aimed to change people's sexuality. A BBC investigation found that at least 250 people were subjected to the therapy in the 1960s and 70s. Survivors say they were referred by their school, church or a court and have told of their lasting physical and psychological pain. You might find. This report from Hayley Hassell contains distressing details. Aversion therapy was a painful procedure involving.
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John Murray
Patients having straps fastened to their arms.
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Celia Hatton
And legs and being given electric shocks.
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John Murray
Often for more than an hour at a time every week over a 6 to 12 month period to try to change their sexuality. The idea was to associate the pain with their sexual preferences.
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Celia Hatton
This happened in at least 10 hospitals.
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John Murray
To at least 250 people between 1963 and 1973. Gay men, lesbians and transgender people were all subjected to the therapy. Some patients were bribed or threatened with.
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Celia Hatton
Being expelled from school or losing their.
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John Murray
Jobs to coerce them into changing their sexuality. Jeremy, who lives in the north west.
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Celia Hatton
Of England, was at school when his teacher discovered he had feelings for another boy.
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John Murray
His exact words were, you've got a horrible disease. We don't have homosexuals in this school. You will be expelled immediately unless you agree we can cure you of your disease. And I sat on this chair and he fastened a strap around my left hand and I did the same with my right hand, played with a switch and I got a pain in my arm here and he said, did it hurt? And I said yes. And he said good. It's meant to. Most of the doctors who carried out this so called treatment are in their 80s or 90s or are no longer alive. But I managed to track down one who took part.
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Celia Hatton
Jim was just a trainee there and he asked to meet a woman, Pauline.
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John Murray
Who endured 20 sessions of electric shocks at Crumpsall Hospital in Manchester when she was 19. I'm here to firstly apologize above of all of those of us who were involved back in those days. Psychology was going through a very strange period at that time. We thought we could change everybody. Looking back, I think shame is, is not an inappropriate word. I'm ashamed that we were doing that unreservedly. Sorry. Thank you for that apology. First of all, let me say I completely accept it because I do understand what it was like then.
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Celia Hatton
The shock therapies at Crumpsall Hospital were trials overseen by academics at Manchester University.
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John Murray
It has expressed regret saying the attitudes behind the experiments were widely held at the time but are now considered unethical and harmful. The BBC understands the government will now investigate the historical use of electric shock therapy. The Equalities minister, Olivia Bailey, condemned the practice as utterly appalling and pledged a full ban on conversion practices.
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Celia Hatton
That report by Hayley Hassell well, few architects were as famous as Frank Gehry, who's died at the age of 96. Born in Canada, Gary moved to the United States to study architecture when he was a teenager and he continued working into his 90s. One of his most famous buildings, the Guggenheim Art Museum in Bilbao in northern Spain. Its innovative use of stone, glass and thousands of sheets of titanium that can change colors from silver to gold created the Bilbao effect, the introduction of fresh buildings with stunning architecture that revamped rundown cities. Vincent Dowd looks back on Frank Gehry's career.
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John Murray
When Frank Gehry took a bow at the opening of the Walt Disney Concert hall in Los Angeles in 2003, as the architect, he was as much a star as any performer. Yet there had been bitter rows about cost overruns and construction delays. But Frank Gehry was always tough minded. He said he designed a good building which worked well. I did not set out to do a landmark work. People ask me now what would you like to do now that you can do anything? I look blank because just forget about that. Take what comes your way. Do the best with it. Something good will happen and it has. Frank Gehry had been born in Toronto as Frank Goldberg. When he was a teenager, his family, far from wealthy, moved to California. He worked as a truck driver, but going to night school started to build a career. He studied city planning at Harvard, but left the course. Early travel helped persuade Gary his vocation was architecture. I went to Europe shocked to find the great architectural history denied us in school. In the early 50s, I got to Paris. The first thing I saw was Notre Dame. And I was really angry at my teachers. I said, look at this. And underlying my work is a big chunk of inspiration from that. Gary was in his late 60s before he joined the ranks of the so called starchitects. In 1997, the Guggenheim Commission in Spain made his name around the world. He clad the museum in elegantly curved, thin titanium panels. It made Bilbao much more of a center for tourism. The Disney Concert hall in LA showed Gehry's appreciation of the beauty of steel. At an age when most Americans have retired, Frank Gehry became one of the world's best known architects.
- [29:22]
Celia Hatton
Vincent Doudt on the life of Frank Gehry who's died at the age of 96.
- [29:30]
And that's all from us for now. But there will 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@BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global newspod. This edition was mixed by Zabihula Kurush and produced by Stephen Jensen and Wendy Urquhart. The editor is Karen Martin Hatton. I'm Celia Hatton. Until next time, Goodbye.
- [30:11]
Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary.
- [30:23]
John Murray
Needs, but they've just got it all.
- [30:25]
Celia Hatton
So farewell, Omi So long, you strange soggy.
- [30:29]
John Murray
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