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Global News Podcast
US air crash: 64 feared dead
00:30:28
A passenger jet collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac river in Washington
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- [00:00]
Oliver Berkman
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
- [00:06]
Nomi Iqbal
Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection written and presented by best selling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance.
- [00:23]
Oliver Conway
Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever. Somewhere when we weren't looking, looking. It's like busyness became a way of life.
- [00:34]
Nomi Iqbal
Start listening to Oliver Epidemics of Modern Life available to purchase wherever you get your audiobooks.
- [00:43]
Oliver Conway
You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 14 hours GMT on Thursday 30 January, a US military helicopter has collided with a passenger plane above the Potomac river in Washington. More than 60 people are feared dead. Eight hostages, including three Israelis, have been freed in Gaza, but Israel has suspended the release of 110 Palestinians in exchange and a warning that the fighting in Congo could reignite ethnic tensions seen during the Rwandan genocide. Also in this podcast, the Brazilian film that's making history. Reagan National Airport sits just across the river from Washington D.C. a seven minute drive from the White House and right next to the Pentagon. Being so close to the US Capitol, it is very busy. In fact, it has the single busiest Runway in the country. But as we record this podcast, it remains closed. After a military helicopter collided with a passenger jet coming into land just before 9:00 last night, the moment was recorded by Air traffic Control. Webcam footage from the nearby Kennedy center showed a huge explosion at the moment of impact. Both the plane and the helicopter then plunged into the icy waters of the Potomac below. In the past few hours, the authorities have been giving an update. John Donnelly is a Fire and Emergency Medical Services chief.
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John Donnelly
These responders found extremely frigid conditions. They found heavy wind, they found ice on the water and they operated all night in those conditions. Despite all those efforts, we are now.
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Oliver Conway
At a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there.
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John Donnelly
Are any survivors from this accident and.
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Oliver Conway
We have recovered 27 people from the.
- [02:54]
John Donnelly
Plane and one from the helicopter. And we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones.
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Oliver Conway
Well, shortly before we came into the studio, our North America correspondent, Nomia Iqbal gave me an update from the airport.
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Nomi Iqbal
Investigators are Obviously starting to look into exactly why the Black Hawk and the passenger flight collided. I'm not able to get too close to the scene, but I can make out just across the way on the Potomac river what is happening, happening. You can see the red flashes of the emergency crew that are there. Obviously this is now a recovery operation, not a rescue one. The plane is essentially in three parts, sitting in waist high frigid water. You can also see on some of the photos that are emerging just the, the sort of the top of the chopper that is in the water as well. As you mentioned here, the main Runway here is the busiest in the country. It's thought to like handle 90% of the airport's flights due to the space. And here it's quite normal, especially in D.C. you know, we're not far, as you mentioned, from D to see civilian aircraft and military aircraft in the sky at the same time. But investigators are saying that there were no sort of unusual travel patterns here that the American airline flight and the military helicopter were doing. You know, there was nothing unusual about their practices. They have located the two aircrafts. As I mentioned, the fuselage of American Airlines craft was inverted. It's located in three different sections, as I mentioned. But yes, we're very much at the early stages in terms of finding out exactly what happened.
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Oliver Conway
Now, the plane had 64 passengers and crew on board. It was flying from Wichita in Kansas. And we're hearing that there were a number of people involved in the figure skating community on board.
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Nomi Iqbal
That's correct. There has been an update. There was Russian Americans. There has been a statement from the Kremlin, just to mention also the families of these people are inside the terminal. This flight was just minutes from landing on the Runway and people were here waiting for that flight to arrive. I mean, it's just pretty unfathomable, the tragedy of it. And they are, of course, waiting to find out exactly what's happened to their loved ones.
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Oliver Conway
And briefly, what do you make of Donald Trump's post on his social media site saying this is a bad situation and it should have been prevented?
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Nomi Iqbal
Yeah, Donald Trump is already sort of speculating, I would say, about this for the president. This is, I would say, one of the first big crises of his administration. And it's a new administration finding its feet. His transport secretary, Sean Duffy, was only sworn in yesterday. It's the first week for his new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth as well. And so there will be pressure on the administration to get to the bottom of exactly what's happened.
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Oliver Conway
Nomi Iqbal In Washington, the recording of air traffic control revealed that shortly before the crash, the helicopter crew were asked if they had the American Airlines passenger jet in sight. There was no clear response. So what might have happened? Jeffrey Thomas is an aviation consultant.
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Jeffrey Thomas
These sorts of things don't happen in the United States anymore. I mean, America has the safest airline system in the world. There are literally tens of thousands of flights every day. Mid air collisions were supposed to be something in the past before the technology enabled aircraft to talk, to electronically talk to each other and warn pilots of an impending collision. That's a system called tcas, which is Traffic Collision Avoidance System. It saved literally tens of thousands of lives over the last 20 or so 30 years. An amazing bit of technology. All commercial aircraft are fitted with it and most military aircraft are fitted with it. And basically how the system works is that signal that, the transponder signal that goes out to air traffic control and is picked up by all these flight radar apps that we've all got on our phones. The aircraft send those signals out. So what the aircraft also have is a receiver which also picks up that signal. And the computers compare the two signals, you know, what am I doing and what's he doing or she doing? And they alert the pilots of an impending collision and tell them what to do to climb or to descend, and they give the opposite advice to the other aircraft. So technically it should never have happened. It's absolutely perplexing and terribly tragic.
- [07:24]
Oliver Conway
Aviation consultant Jeffrey Thomas. Eight more hostages, three Israelis and five Thai farm workers have been freed from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The Israelis have now suspended the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners due to be freed. In return, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of what he called unimaginable cruelty after chaotic scenes at the release of seven of the captives in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Well, the handover of the seven took place near the now destroyed childhood home of the dead Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The two Israelis were civilian woman Abel Yehud and eight year old man Ghardi Moses. They were reported to be being held by Islamic Jihad, not Hamas. Earlier, Hamas had freed the final female Israeli soldier it was holding, Agam Burger. She stood on a stage holding a certificate and waving before being driven away by the Red Cross. Our correspondent Nick Beak in Tel Aviv told me first about what happened in Khan Yunis.
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Nick Beak
There were really, really chaotic scenes and they were witnessed by people here in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. On the big screen they could watch it And I think people looked on with anger and real desp, because what happened was there was an initial first hostage release in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip, which went pretty much according to plan. But then with the freeing of abel Yehud, a 29 year old civilian, it was absolute pandemonium because she was paraded around. There was a crowd surrounded by hundreds of masked and armed men. And there's been really a chorus of condemnation, starting with the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying this is completely unacceptable. You've got government ministers as well as far right politicians saying that this shows why Hamas must be destroyed forever. So it really did change a public mood, certainly in this spot, and it might well have done for a lot of people across the country. And what we're hearing is, yes, the delay of the Palestinian prisoners, some 110 of them today, has now been delayed as a consequence, according to the Israeli government.
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Oliver Conway
Yeah. Now, Hamas were criticized after the very first hostage handover of this ceasefire deal. They then moved to a more orderly handover with the four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday. Again, they did the same today with that one soldier. Is it a different group involved in the handover in Khan Younis? Because the others were said to be being held by Islamic Jihad?
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Nick Beak
Yes, I think you're right. And I think this could well be a key explanation for the chaos that ensued. It was the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group that was holding Abel Yehud and also Gadi Moses, an 80 year old. He was also released today. And so you had, as we were watching these scenes, almost moments of disagreement between men in the green of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad fighters in yellow and black. There didn't seem to be any coordination. We've heard for the past 15 months how a breakdown in communication or uneasy communication between the militant groups has really led to a vacuum of information about the fate of some of the hostages. And today I think you could suggest that this led to what we saw. It was a complete contrast from the choreography of Saturday when the four female soldiers who were released were taken up onto a stage. They were waving, they were smiling. Of course, we don't know what they were really thinking, but it was very carefully choreographed today. It was not. It was the opposite of that. Huge crowds and it looked like there could have been a crush at one moment.
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Oliver Conway
Nick Peak in Tel Aviv and Reuters is reporting that Hamas has said it has been informed by the Red Cross that Israel will release Palestinian prisoners later in the day. And later in this podcast, we will return to Gaza and Look at the implications of Israel's ban on the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees. But first, Brazil is perhaps best known for its football, carnival and beaches. But now it's making waves in the world of cinema. I'm Still Here is breaking box office records and has become the first film in Portuguese to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. The historical political drama is based on a real story and is touching raw nerves for Brazilians at home and abroad. As Tom Brook reports.
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Oliver Berkman
The film I'm Still Here is set in Brazil in the 1970s, when the country was living under a military dictatorship. At the center of this story, based on real events, is Onisi Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, whose seemingly joyous family life is changed forever when her husband Rubens, a former leftist congressman, disappears after he is apprehended by the military. In Brazil, the film has been a big box office success. Success. And it's brought the country its first ever Oscar Best Picture nomination for a film in Portuguese, as well as nominations for Best International Feature and for Fernanda Torres for Best Actress. It's a big shot in the arm for Brazilian cinema. One reason why the film is eliciting such passion in Brazil is because it's touching on the years of military dictatorship, when many democratic rights were suspended. Rodrigo Brandao is a Brazilian filmmaker.
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John Donnelly
This is really about a topic that people are talking about on the streets right now. What is the value of democracy? Should we fight for democracy in Brazil? And so this is really on the news every day in Brazil. So I think this film really captures that and it's offering everyone an opportunity to talk about it and to sort of debate it.
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Oliver Berkman
The film was launched at the Venice Film Festival last year, where top Brazilian filmmaker Walter Sallows explained how he was moved to tell a story of Onisi Paiva's response to her husband's forced, violent disappearance.
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Oliver Conway
It was an extraordinary story of a family enduring an act of violence and.
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Oliver Berkman
With a woman redefining herself in the middle of it.
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Oliver Conway
I fell in love with that woman.
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Oliver Berkman
That woman is Onisi Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, who's now a strong Oscar contender. But the actor's chances of winning may have been weakened because a comedy sketch from 20 years ago in which she appeared in blackface recently resurfaced. She has apologized, stating that when she performed the sketch, the racist history of blackface hadn't yet entered mainstream consciousness in Brazil. Torres maintains that in I'm Still Here, she tried to stay truthful to her character, who prevailed in the wake of her husband's disappearance to emerge as an activist for the rights of indigenous people.
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John Donnelly
That's what we tried, I think, to be faithful to this woman that believed that the way to fight against dictatorship and authoritarianism was through education and justice.
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Oliver Berkman
The film is shining a light on a dark chapter in Brazilian history where hundreds went missing under a right wing dictatorship. Although it wasn't his plan, director Walter Salas claims his film has relevance to other countries where far right groups have gained ground. When it's happening in so many different places, I feel the anguish of the times we live in and I think.
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Oliver Conway
It'S important to talk about it.
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Oliver Berkman
Quite apart from its political themes, the film is important to Brazilians for sentimental reasons. The film's leading lady, Fernanda Torres, appears in a picture which also features a performance from Fernanda Montenegro, her 95 year old mother. 25 years ago she was nominated for best actress at the Oscars but lost to Gwyneth Paltrow. So now the country is rooting for her daughter to make history and finally bring home the Oscars gold to Brazil.
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Oliver Conway
Tom Brook reporting. And still to come on the global news podcast, a lot of up and down I think would be amazing.
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Jurgen Jensehaugen
A lot of fast corners.
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Oliver Conway
That is always what I like.
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Jeffrey Thomas
If there's one thing I'll look forward.
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Suhan Kim
To if we ever race, here will.
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Oliver Conway
Be the overtaking opportunities is Formula One returning to Africa. Foreign M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are tightening their grip on the city of Goma and reportedly taking more territory in the east. The armed group which the UN says is supported by Rwanda, is advancing south towards another major city, Bukavu. Efforts to end the fighting are in disarray with the Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi refusing to attend talks in Kenya. In a televised address on Wednesday night, he was defiant. Rwanda's defence forces in support of their M23 puppets are continuing their terrorist enterprise on our soil, sowing terror and desolation among our populations. I share your pain and indignation at these barbaric attacks. These acts are not only an attack on the Republic, but an affront to the history and dignity of our people in these difficult times. I call on you to be resilient and above all to resist the Congolese president. The UN force in Congo has warned that the fighting risks reigniting ethnic tensions dating back to the rwandan genocide in 1994 and before. Jason Stearns is a former UN investigator. He spoke to my colleague James Koppnell.
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John Donnelly
M23 by most estimates are somewhere between 8 and 12,000 troops, about half Rwandan, half M23 fighters. And while they have good equipment and are very well trained, the Congolese army has 120 or 130,000 troops and so 10 times as much. They also have a military budget of a billion dollars. For many years, the Congolese army has lacked training, lacked investment. But I think more importantly than that, the Congolese army has purposely been kept fragmented and far from the capital. The primary goal of the Congolese elites has been to keep them actually not very efficient for fear of a coup. And I think that weakness is coming back to haunt them.
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Oliver Conway
Now, would you assess then as M23's objectives? Now they've taken Goma, is it to take control of further areas of the east? Is it to have a more settled control over Goma, setting up a civilian administration? What are they likely to do next, do you think?
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John Donnelly
Well, I think they are very much setting up administration wherever they go. They're burning administrative records, they're setting up their own parallel administration, they're gathering taxes, they're issuing birth certificates. So it does seem that they have a long term objective of ministering this territory. And I think they're going to be doing the same in Goma. I think that their objectives evolve as they move along. If you'd asked me, and even them 23 declarations several weeks ago, they weren't talking about overthrowing government. They were talking about protecting the Tutsi population and so on and so forth. Now, since the fall of Goma, their pronouncements have become much more ambitious. They're talking openly about marching all the way to Kinshasa, overthrowing the government. There was an interview given by Rwanda's regional representative, the person who used to be the ambassador in Kinshasa yesterday. And even he said that the M23's ambitions are to either overthrow the Congolese government or to push so far that they can get into a power sharing agreement with the Congolese guard.
- [18:59]
Oliver Conway
Do you assess that as possible? I mean, there's precedent, of course, in the DRC for rebels coming from the east and sweeping the whole way through the country. But in the current context, is that possible? Is that likely?
- [19:09]
John Donnelly
Well, I think there's a few things you need to look out for. The first one is the reaction of the international community. Yesterday the UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, had, I think, a very stern phone call with Rwanda that really changed the tone in the UK Rwanda relationship, where he said that a billion dollar of aid is now up in the air because of Rwanda's actions in the drc, Germany's reviewing its aid package. This is all very new. Up until now not a single donor had even mentioned the possibility of AIDS cuts to Rwanda, which is a very aid dependent country. If the west really wants to turn on the screws on Rwanda, they can turn the screws on. The question is what is their reaction going to be. The other thing is Rwanda has about half of its troops now either deployed in the DRC or in peacekeeping missions. If they push much further into the Congo, I think even Rwanda that has a very professional, efficient army will be strained, its supply chains will be strained. It's going to be difficult for it to do what it did in 1996 because in 1996 they had the support of Uganda, Angola, Ethiopia at the time. And so things have changed.
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Oliver Conway
Jason Cerns, former UN investigator in Congo returning to the Middle east now and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees. UNRWA is expected to stop work today after being banned by the Israeli Parliament. A small number of the agencies workers were sacked after being accused of involvement in the October 7 massacre. The UN says UNRWA's work is irreplaceable and that barring it, will hurt the most vulnerable. The Peace Research Institute Oslo has just published a report on the possible consequences of the ban. Its author Jurgen Jensehaugen has been speaking to our Geneva correspondent Imogen.
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Jurgen Jensehaugen
Folks, UNRWA is what we call the backbone of the humanitarian operation, meaning that they don't only bring in aid themselves, they are really the operation which all other humanitarian actors depend on. Whether that's deconfliction, that is coordination with the Israeli army for security purposes, maintaining storehouses, securing distribution centers. UNRWA has 5,000 staff members working on aid and healthcare in the Gaza Strip whilst other comparable organizations have a handful, a couple of hundred at most. So all the other agencies really depend on unrwa. The paradox here is that the ceasefire allows for more aid to come in which is good and necessary. The operation for distribution is being picked apart. At the same time the other UN.
- [21:29]
Nomi Iqbal
Agencies have said there is no Plan B, we cannot step in. Wouldn't it been better to come up with a Plan B?
- [21:35]
Jurgen Jensehaugen
The UN's official position is there cannot be a Plan B because they cannot accept the legality of the law. The expulsion of the UN agency is illegal and by stating that they are working on a Plan B is a de facto acceptance of illegal law. The other part of it is really that the laws were passed with a 90 day timeline and that simply isn't Enough, if we think about this logistically, if we put aside the principal stance, what we heard when we interviewed people with a lot of humanitarian experience is that transforming the type of operation that UNRWA has in that kind of environment, to do it properly takes two to three years. And here we have 90 days. The flip side of the coin is given that UNRWA will be banned, wouldn't it be better to scramble as much as possible within those 90 days to make sure that at least something was there and there there's really a catch 22, the tension between the principal stance and the humanitarian imperative. And the UN apparatus really loses out either way. If they go all in on the principal stance, they're not adequately prepared. And the humanitarian stance. If they go all in on the humanitarian stance, they're undermining themselves in a principled sense, which then opens for other actors in other conflicts and other contexts to also think about expelling the un.
- [22:50]
Nomi Iqbal
But a lot of people in Israel would point to the possible involvement of UNRWA workers, possible connection to the October 7th attack, and say, we cannot work with this organization.
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Jurgen Jensehaugen
Those allegations are extremely serious. And I think it's very clear if you look at this objectively, that once UNRWA were told that some of their staff might have been involved, they took steps immediately. They fired all those accused even before they had seen the evidence. They started investigating it and they asked Israel for concrete evidence. And there's been quite a lack of Israeli evidence. UNRWA has received lists of names, but when they've asked for follow up proof, the evidence has very often been lacking. One has to remember that in Gaza, UNRWA employees 13,000 people. UNRWA's official line here is that they have zero tolerance, but they acknowledge that it's not zero risk. And here is another paradox. Whoever is going to take over an operation employing thousands of local Palestinians in Gaza, it's not completely unlikely that individuals representing a military faction might sneak in. Everything must be done to ensure that that doesn't happen. But I think the best approach would be, okay, let's work together to have stronger vetting processes, let's share intelligence so we can ensure.
- [24:05]
Oliver Conway
Jense Haugen from the peace research really.
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Jurgen Jensehaugen
Undermines the stability that one says one wants to achieve in Gaza, because education, functioning, humanitarian processes, development on the ground, working, healthcare, that's the kind of thing that fights extremism. The type of war we've seen in Gaza over the past 15 months, that does not fight extremism.
- [24:27]
Oliver Conway
Jurgen Jensehaugen of The Peace Research Institute, Oslo talking to Imogen folks Next to some new technology that it's hoped could one day revolutionize food production, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US has created robotic insects that could help artificially pollinate crops in the same way bees do. Now, Suhan Kim is the researcher behind the project. He told Tony Livesey More about the invention.
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Suhan Kim
We are actually trying to make the world's smallest drone. Our robot is the size around like 4 centimeter by 4 centimeter and then the weight is less than a single grammar. So using that robot, we can do multiple different things that can't be achieved through commercial drones right now, such as artificial pollination. And actually we are taking totally different approach from commercial drones right now. So drones are using electromagnetic motors and propellers, but we are actually getting inspired from nature, starting from creating very small but power dense artificial muscle. So muscle weighs around 8.1 gram. And then we are attaching flapping wing structures, something we can see from the nature, so that we can flip the wing and then generate the thrust so we can fly and then do some tasks.
- [25:40]
Oliver Conway
How far are you off actually this.
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Jeffrey Thomas
Being a thing, Suhan, rather than a.
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Suhan Kim
Research project, technologically, we still have several things left to make it commercialized. So right now our drone is attached to external wires. So external wires are sourcing the power from huge devices externally. So we will have to develop a small battery and small circuits and then small sensors, cameras and stuff so that we can make everything on board and then have our robot fly autonomously in the air. So we are really pushing hard to get there, hopefully within like five years.
- [26:15]
Jeffrey Thomas
Yeah. What else do you have in mind for this creation, these robotic insects?
- [26:19]
Suhan Kim
We are thinking of some tasks that require the robot going into very clustered area or very narrow area or doing very delicate test process. So the other thing we're thinking of is something like turbine inspection. Think of turbines in the airplane. It's very complicated structure that the larger drones can't really go in. And then the other thing is like if they fail inside the turbine, it will cause huge damage to the airplane. So those things are something that we envision that the small drones can do way much better than the larger drones.
- [26:53]
Oliver Conway
Suhan Kim from mit. Now, I can't quite understand the attraction myself, but motor racing, specifically Formula one, is hugely popular around around the world. But one region that misses out is Africa. It hasn't held a race since 1993, but now there's a bid to bring F1 back to the continent. It's being made by Rwanda Kelvin Kimarthi reports.
- [27:18]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Nestled among its famous thousand hills, Rwanda's capital, Kigali boasts a unique setting for a potential African Formula One Grand Prix. The country is hoping to become a new playground for the world's best Formula One drivers, many of whom are already analyzing the potential challenges Rwanda could offer drivers like Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and first Landon Oris.
- [27:43]
Jurgen Jensehaugen
It's natural around here. If you go for a cycle or for a run, it's tough. I think, for racing, it'll be a perfect place to have a circuit. So I'm excited.
- [27:50]
Oliver Conway
A lot of up and down I think would be amazing. A lot of fast corners. That is always what I like. If there's one thing I will look.
- [27:56]
Suhan Kim
Forward to if we ever race, here will be the overtaking opportunities.
- [28:00]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Rwanda's bid centers on a brand new facility with a track designed by former Formula One driver Alexander Woos. The cost of hosting a Grand Prix from scratch varies depending on many factors, but one estimate puts it at over $270 million. That excludes an annual race promotion fee of up to $50 million and an annual maintenance fee of 18 million. Christian Gakwaya is president of the Rwanda Automobile Club, the organization in charge of the country's motorsport activities, which is leading Rwanda's F1 bid.
- [28:34]
Jurgen Jensehaugen
I can't comment on the budget, but I believe what it will cost, it.
- [28:38]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Will have to be done, and it.
- [28:39]
Jurgen Jensehaugen
Has to be really done up to the standards.
- [28:42]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Why not use that money to help people?
- [28:44]
Jurgen Jensehaugen
Why not use it to develop something good for the people? People?
- [28:46]
Oliver Conway
Because it's for the same people.
- [28:48]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Rwanda is used to hosting F1 stars. In December 2024, the sports governing body, the FIA, held its annual awards bash in Kigali, the first time it's been in Africa. So why are Formula One bosses so interested in Rwanda? A question for Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA president.
- [29:08]
John Donnelly
Rwanda is not new to sport and also to functions and exhibit.
- [29:12]
Oliver Conway
So you have the president of the.
- [29:14]
John Donnelly
Country, Mr. Paul Kiami, is supportive. Africa deserves an event here of Formula One and Rwanda, it's the best place.
- [29:21]
Kelvin Kimarthi
It's certainly true that Rwanda has invested in sport, staging events like the basketball Africa League. This year, it will host cycling's road race world championships. But Rwanda's government has been accused of investing in sport to enhance its global image and mask what one organization describes as an abysmal track record on human rights, a strategy labeled by critics as sportswashing. Louise Madge is the Central Africa director from the Human Rights Watch.
- [29:49]
Suhan Kim
Rwanda has major flaws with due process which violate its own internal laws, regional standards or international standards. By completely ignoring its due diligence process, the F1 is allowing Rwanda to really sports wash this reputation.
- [30:05]
Kelvin Kimarthi
These are accusations the Rwandan government and its international sports partners have dismissed. As Rwanda's Chief Tourism Officer Irene Morero has been telling us, it's just a distraction from actually acknowledging the amazing and.
- [30:19]
Oliver Conway
Outstanding achievements that this country has made.
- [30:22]
Kelvin Kimarthi
Whether it's Rwanda's scenic hills or the history of Kyalami, it's clear some will be left unhappy. But for Motorsport fans, Formula 1 is moving closer to a return to Africa.
- [30:33]
Oliver Conway
And that report by Calvin Kimarthy and that is all from us for now. But the Global News podcast will be back very soon. Soon. If you want to comment on the pod or anything in it, send an email to globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on XBCWorldService and use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Mark Pickett and produced by Alfie Havisham. Our Editor's Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time. Goodbye.
- [31:13]
Nomi Iqbal
Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection written and presented by best selling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance.
- [31:30]
Oliver Conway
Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of actual activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever. Somewhere when we weren't looking. It's like busyness became a way of life.
- [31:42]
Nomi Iqbal
Start listening to Oliver. Epidemics of modern life available to purchase wherever you get your audiobooks.
- [31:51]
Oliver Conway
Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by. And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation. It felt a really safe and welcoming space after the yoga classes. I felt amazing. But soon that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker. A journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders. I don't have my passport. I don't have my phone. I don't have my bank cards. I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave. World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed.
- [32:43]
Oliver Berkman
In this new series, we're confronting the.
- [32:45]
Oliver Conway
Dark side of the wellness industry, where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations.
- [32:52]
Nomi Iqbal
You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realize.
- [33:01]
Oliver Conway
And it's like this.
- [33:02]
Nomi Iqbal
The secret that's there.
- [33:04]
Oliver Conway
I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me, was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice and for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future.
- [33:46]
Nomi Iqbal
To bring it into the light and almost alchemize some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power.
- [33:57]
Oliver Conway
World of secrets.
- [33:58]
Oliver Berkman
Season 6 the Bad Guru Listen, wherever.
- [34:02]
Oliver Conway
You get your podcasts.