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Global News Podcast
US military targets Islamic State group in Nigeria
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Nigeria says it's carried out a joint operation with the US against "terrorists"
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President Trump says US forces have carried out a powerful and deadly strike on the Islamic State group in Nigeria. Volodymyr Zelensky says he's had a long conversation with US Envoys to find new ways to end the war against Russia. The former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro has endorsed his son Flavio's bid for the presidency in 2026. Also in this podcast, I have a plan for the people of my country, for my country. An emotional return after 17 years in political exile. But what will Bangladesh look like if Tarek Raghman wins power. First since he returned to the White House at the start of the year? President Trump has launched attacks against Iran and built up US military presence in the Pacific and Caribbean seas, striking alleged Venezuelan drug smuggling boats as part of efforts to force the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, to stand down. He's now entered a hotspot in Africa. Nigeria. Mr. Trump said that US airstrikes targeted the Islamic State group in the northwest of the country, killing multiple IS members. He also said that he. He did so because the group, which he described as terrorist scum, had persecuted innocent Christians. Nigeria's Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tugar, gave his reaction to the BBC. What I can confirm is a joint operation between Nigeria and the US that has targeted terrorists. It has nothing to do with a particular religion. It is, as far as we're concerned, targeting terrorists that have been attacking Nigerians, period. I heard more from the BBC's David Waddell. These attacks were launched by US Africa Command. It revealed it conducted a strike in Sokoto State. Crucially, the attack was launched in coordination with Nigerian authorities and it follows a pledge by President Trump last month to send troops, as he put it, guns a blazing, if Christians continue to be killed. The Nigerian government says Christians aren't being explicitly targeted and monitoring groups there say that roughly equal numbers of Christians. But it's a big concern for President Trump and it's a big security issue for the Nigerian government. It's most unusual for the US to be involved in military action in this part of Africa. Why? And why now? Because these attacks have been happening recently and because they had the authority, I suppose, from the Nigerian government, the coordination with Nigerian authorities to do this. Boko Haram and Islamic State have both been attacking Christian communities. But sectarian violence is a wider issue and has been for. There is, however, widespread banditry, including mass abductions, theft of livestock, village raids. It's a major internal security crisis for the Nigerian government, a big headache which it wants to put a lid on this ongoing crisis. President Trump came to power promising not to get involved in foreign wars, but he's bombed Iran, he's seizing ships off Venezuela, now he's attacking Nigeria. Why is he being drawn into foreign conflicts? Well, he is also a very activist president. He's not afraid to stir things up, as we've seen from this year'. In July, the US bombed some Iranian uranium enrichment facilities in his first term. There was a targeted killing of IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi in 2019 and General Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force, in 2020. So he's not afraid of limited military action. It is true that he campaigned as a peacemaker, as one who he wanted to stop wars. He said he clearly feels that he needs to do that and wield a big stick. David Waddell as the latest US And Ukraine backed peace plan arrived in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken again to Washington and put out a message hailing new ideas to end the war. Today we spoke for almost an hour with the US Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and it was a truly good conversation. We discussed good ideas in terms of formats, meeting and timing on how to bring real peace closer. But we still need to work on some sensitive issues and the coming weeks may be intensive. President Zelensky once again thanked the United States and said that he'd passed along Christmas greetings to the entire Trump family. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said it's analyzing the 20 point peace plan brought back from the US by a Russian envoy. Despite what Mr. Zelensky called an active day for diplomacy, fighting is continuing on the ground. There have been reported drone attacks on both sides of the border and our Kyiv correspondent James Waterhouse has this assessment of the US Led efforts to end the war. Donald Trump has since said he wasn't being serious or literal when he claimed he'd end the war in Ukraine on day one of his return to office. The fact is, on day 339 of his second presidential term, Russia's invasion is no less attritional and an end is seemingly no closer. The US Led peace efforts nevertheless are continuing, with senior American representatives meeting their Ukrainian and Russian counterparts separately in either Florida, Europe, Moscow, but not Kyiv. A once 28 point peace plan has now morphed into one with 20. But the key questions of territorial concessions and in the words of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, what the US Will do if Russia invades again remain unanswered. There is talk of the freezing of the front lines, which are currently being eroded through costly Russian assaults. Where the Ukrainians fight to keep hold of frontline cities like Prokrovsk, Kostantinivka and Kupiansk, they are being reduced to rubble. Regardless, it is why Ukraine believes Russia is merely playing for time with these negotiations devoid of progress, and why Moscow is yet to climb down from its continued maximalist demands in return for a pause in fighting. Now he's currently serving a 27 year prison sentence in Brazil for plotting a coup and is forbidden for standing for public office. But that's not prevented the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro from endorsing his son Flavio to effectively stand in for him in next year's elections. Speaking outside the hospital where Mr. Bolsonaro is receiving medical treatment, Flavio Bolsonaro said he wanted to consolidate his father's conservative legacy. I asked our Latin America Online editor, Vanessa Bush Luta to tell us a little bit more about the son of the former president. Blavio is the oldest son of Jair Bolsonaro and he is a senator. And there had been rumors that he may run instead of his father. His father has been banned from standing for public office. And of course he's also been convicted for plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 election against his left wing rival, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva. And like I said, been rumors that Flavio would be the one to stand in for his father. Although there had been many people who had backing a regional governor who they say is more experienced than Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. But Thursday it transpired that Jair Bolsonaro had in fact thrown his weight behind his son. That was revealed in a letter that was handwritten by Jair Bolsonaro and read out by his son Flavio, who went to hospital where his father was being treated for a hernia. How popular is Flavio in the country? There are many people who back him Thursday, see him as having his father's ear. And Jair Bolsonaro still has the support of many people. And Flavio said that he would continue the political project that his father launched. And so many people see him as exactly that, somebody who can stand in for his father and do exactly what his father wants. What will this endorsement do for Flavio? It has really given him more gravitas because the regional governor had the backing of a wider tranche of Brazilian society, I would argue. But having that clear endorsement, it has to be said that Flavio had already announced that he would run earlier this month. But back then it wasn't very clear whether his father approved of this idea or whether it was just Flavio launching his political career in that way. But now having that firm endorsement will definitely get him more of the hardcore Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro supporters. And for those to really throw their weight behind Flavio. All the talk today is about Flavio. Who will he be up against? He will be up against the incumbent, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, originally President Lula, when he was elected three years ago, had said that this would be his last term in office. But he has since changed his mind and said that he will run again. Vanessa Bush looter to Bangladesh next, where it's a huge moment for the country's future. Last year, massive protests saw the then Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina ousted. She's now living in exile in India and has been sentenced to death. Now the man hoping to take power has returned to Bangladesh after he was in exile in London for 17 years. Cheering crowds lined the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to welcome Tarek Rahman home ahead of the general election scheduled for February. Among his supporters was this activist. It's impossible to put into words the feeling of seeing him in person after a long 17 years. We are overwhelmed with emotion. You can see everyone has come out to the field with placards, banners and caps. The criminal investigations that forced Mr. Ruckman from Bangladesh were dropped after Sheikh Hasina fled the country. The BBC's South Asia specialist and Barasan Eti Rajan told my colleague will chalk more about the significance of Mr. Rahman's return. There is a political turmoil in Bangladesh for the last 14 months and during the interim government's period. So people are hoping that return of Tariq Rahman would fill this political vacuum. Why? Because his party is the biggest political party at the moment. The country is going through a rise in religious extremism, mob violence, and also worsening relations with India. Now, in the elections in February, the party is expected to win, and that's why he's considered a frontrunner. So when he landed in Dhaka, there were hundreds of thousands of people holding placards, flowers, waiting for him for the last 17 years. So it's a big political moment for his supporters as well as for him. And that's why during his address, he got very emotional, talking to people. I have a plan for the people of my country, for my country. The main address focused on bringing peace to the country because just divided. He wanted to bring the country together, people from all walks of life, all ethnic and religious groups. And second, he was also talking about how to revive the economy. So it was basically giving confidence, sending out a clear message to his supporters and all those who are watching Bangladesh from outside. You talk about a message of peace, though, and as we've heard, welcomed home by some as a hero. But he himself has faced through his career huge allegations of corruption, crime, cronyism, political violence. So how do his supporters level that? Well, he had a difficult past during the previous administration of Bangladesh Nationalist Party when his mother, Behem Khaled Aziya, another towering political personality, was the prime minister. He was accused of corruption and money laundering. That was between 2001 and 06 and when the military backed caretaker government took over in 2007, there was investigation, he was put in jail and various cases were filed against him. Now after Sheikh Hasina took over in 2008, these cases continued and he was given jail sentences of varying length. After the uprising, all these cases have been dropped or he was acquitted and he always maintained that there was all political persecution. So his supporters also believe that it was Ms. Hasina who was carrying out this political vendetta against him. And given that there is a lack of leadership, Ms. Hassina is in exile in India, so there is a real expectation among supporters that he can unify the nation and Barasan Etirajan still to come in this podcast, there's a man standing in the darkness. In his right hand he's got a black plastic bag with all his worldly possessions and the left hand a frozen chicken. 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For the first time in more than 30 years, the Pope reinstated a Christmas Day Papal Mass, having already celebrated midnight Mass. In today's homily, he talked of Jesus birth, showing that God chose to live among the Most vulnerable. How can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to the rain, wind and cold, and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent? Or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities. He followed mass with a drive about to greet crowds, before appearing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to deliver a message very much focused on ending hostilities, mentioning, as he did, numerous conflicts around the world, including Ukraine and the Middle East. But far beyond that, too, very much in keeping with a theme of building bridges that's been the cornerstone of his papacy so far. At St. Paul's Cathedral, Dame Sarah Mullally has led her final Christmas service ahead of being installed as Archbishop of Canterbury in the spring. The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory. She talked very directly about some of the most divisive issues in the country today. Many feel the weight of economic pressure. Some feel pushed to the margins. Our national conversations about immigration continue to divide us, when our common humanity should unite us. In Bethlehem itself, Christmas celebrations have returned after having been cancelled for the past two years because of war. Huge problems remain for Palestinians there, but prayers were said for a Christmas of light. Ali Maqboul. Along with Christian leaders, King Charles also delivered his annual Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Our senior Royal correspondent, Daniela Ralph, was listening. Kindness, compassion and hope were recurring themes in this year's Christmas Message from the King. He delivered the speech from the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey the second year running. He's opted for a location outside of a royal residence. In a year that has marked the 80th anniversary of VE and VJ Day. The King said there was much to learn from the wartime generation. The courage and sacrifice of our servicemen and women and the way communities came together in the face of such great challenge carry a timeless message for us all. These are the values which have shaped our country and the Commonwealth. As we hear of division both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight. The King spoke of getting to know your neighbours, of respecting one another. He paid tribute to what he called displays of spontaneous bravery, referencing the Manchester Synagogue and Bondi beach attacks. And he stressed the power of unity over conflict. As I meet people of different faiths, I find it enormously encouraging to hear how much we have in common. A shared longing for peace and a deep respect for all life. If we can find time in our journey through life to think on these virtues, we could all make the future more hopeful. And that message of hope also came from the Songs for Ukraine chorus who ended the king's annual message. Many of the choir were displaced when Russia invaded. It was a symbolic show of support from a king who has not wavered in his backing of the Ukrainian community. Daniela Ralph with that report. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge killed millions of people in Cambodia. In the first few years after their fall, it looked like the country could become a fully functioning democracy. But over the last decade, people's rights there have been severely eroded by the long serving former Prime Minister Han Sen and the man who followed him two years ago, his son Han Manette. A recent UN report said Cambodia have been taken over by a clique. Opposition voices have been crushed, but Cambodians outside the country are still agitating for change. As Mickey Bristow reports, Musa Kaur was once a government minister in Cambodia and then a senior opposition figure. She fled the Southeast Asian country eight years ago with a small, hastily packed suitcase after a tip off that she was about to be arrested. But she's not given up on politics. She's president of the Khmer Movement for Democracy, a US registered organization that connects the estimated 2 million Cambodians who live abroad to push for political change back home. She recently visited London to meet Cambodians living in Britain. It is important that we are active because we can express ourselves. In Cambodia, you cannot have any command against the regime or you'll be in jail. So expressing, talking, hoping, dreaming out loud on social media, but with a message for change of hope for this generation. She also visited the UK's parliament and posted a commentary about her trip on social media to promote the idea that people with different political views can exist in the same system. We have to go back to Cambodia and build this type of multi party democracy where opposition can live and work, can fight with the ruling party and then win. You win today. Next day will be my turn to govern the country and that not happening in Cambodia. The Khmer Movement for Democracy says the 1993 election in Cambodia was the country's first and last fully democratic vote. A recent UN report criticized the human rights situation in Cambodia under Hun Manet, although of course he defends his government's record. The UN said a new law to revoke the citizenship of exiles was clearly intended to intimidate dissidents abroad. People like Musa Koa. She's undeterred. You know, the Cambodian people survived genocide, survived many years of armed conflicts, survived poverty. It's a life that we don't take for granted. It is this struggle that will bring us together and help us rebuild Cambodia, a Cambodia that our children can be proud of. Musa Koi is convinced that she can help make Cambodia more free, although she's aware that not everyone shares her optimism. Mickey Bristow Switzerland wasn't invaded by Nazi Germany during the Second World War and remained neutral. But that wasn't an easy position to maintain. While it helped the Allies, it was also a haven for gold and art looted by the Nazis and sold weapons. A new exhibition called called Top Secret Espionage and Resistance in Switzerland and Europe in Morge on Lake Geneva sheds light on its wartime past. Our correspondent Imogen Foulkes paid a visit. I invite you to discover the fascinating world of espionage during the Second World War. Follow museum curator Gudrun Berger through a door disguised as a bookcase and you're transported back to Switzerland. In 1940, as this small neutral country watched its neighbors violently subsumed into the Third Reich, Hitler's plans for the Swiss are on display here. We have part of a plan, invasion plan of Switzerland. Most well known is Tannenbaum, of course. But there were four other plans at least they had to survive. So on one side, they had to make economic concessions to the Third Reich. Because they were small country, they needed coal for the industry, they needed to stabilize their currency. They also needed to make sure that they weren't perceived as the enemy. At the same time they were aligning with the Allies. So while the Swiss provided Germany with useful banking arrangements, including looking after looted golden art, they also offered the Allies a safe place from which to run spy rings right across occupied Europe. Escape devices were very popular. There are exhibits here that would make James Bond's queue proud. Tiny compasses embedded in cuff licks, exploding pens, maps disguised as playing cards, propaganda leaflets designed to demoralize the German people. All them printed right here in Switzerland. The Swiss, as historian Jussi Hanimaki explains, knew all about it. The Swiss know what's going on, but the Swiss don't necessarily tell everything to the Americans or the Brits or the French or whoever might be interested. Keeping that knowledge or sharing that knowledge when it seems useful is also part of this espionage game that in which Switzerland is a place where there's a nest of spies from almost everywhere. This is a transmitter concealed in a typewriter and it transmitted information via Morse code. There was a Soviet network around Lake Geneva and they received some very crucial information about Wehrmacht positions from Berlin which was sent from Geneva to Moscow. And these informations were so important that it gave the Russian Red army some strategic advantage advantages during the battle of Stalingrad. The Swiss police shut down that spy ring and seized the transmitter, but not before the crucial information had been sent and the Germans defeated at Stalingrad. After the war, Winston Churchill described the Swiss as being largely on our side throughout the cold war and up to today, Spies do operate in Switzerland. For you see, Hanimaki, it's less about choosing sides and more about accommodating all of them in the hope of self preservation. You know, leave us alone politically and you can take advantage of our neutral position, whether it's for spies, whether it's for some kind of a special trade relationship, you name it. It's not necessarily a very moral idea, of course, but then again, statecraft. And where does the line between morality and immorality lie? That's. That's the question. Imogen. Folks, with that report. Finally, a Christmas story of generosity and compassion. It was just before the festive season in Wales, in Britain 50 years ago, when newlyweds Rob and Diane Parsons, preparing for their first Christmas together in Cardiff, answered an unexpected knock at the door. Standing outside was Ronnie Lockwood, who was homeless. They invited him in, and he never left. He lived with them for nearly half a century. Rob has written a book about that remarkable Christmas encounter. A knock at the door. Lewis Fawn Jones spoke to him. Dan and I had not been married long. We didn't have kids of our own. And I think it's a carol singer. And I go, then there's a man standing in the darkness. In his right hand, he's got a black plastic bag with all his worldly possessions. And he left down a frozen chicken. And I half recognized him. Used to come to little Sunday school when we were kids. He spent all his life in a care home. And he said to me, don't you recognize me? I said, it's Ronnie, isn't it? And I said, what's with the frozen chicken? He said, somebody gave it to me for Christmas. I said, well, coming in, I'm sure Dan will cook if you want. And the intention was he'd have a meal with us. And that meal turned into 45 years. Just tell us, how does that happen? Well, it was really my wife. She was incredible. At the end of the meal, she ushered me into another room, and she said, what are we going to do? And I said, what do you mean? She said, well, it's Christmas. He can't sleep rough tonight. I'll clear out the guest room. And I went into him. By now we'd settled him in front of the television, and I Said, ronnie, would you like to stay with us tonight? And he said, fine. And then he stayed with us over Christmas, And Diane hurriedly wrapped some presents for him in a row family table. Some of our family were there for Christmas. He opened his presents and he cried. He never had a family Christmas. And then afterwards, our church at a homeless center. And we went to ask them some advice. And they said, well, to get an address, he needs a job. To get a job, he needs an address. That's the catch 22 that most homeless people are in. And Dan said, why don't we have him with us for a month or two? Why don't you get a job? And it just went on. He never, ever left. In truth, we came to love him. He's been there longer than our kids. He was there before them, and he was there after they'd gone with kids of their own. That's absolutely remarkable. And just tell us, what did he do when he was with you? Well, he got a job as a dustman, and I was a lawyer, and I used to drop him off at the dust yard. So I went into the law practice, and I'd get home at night sometimes, and he'd be smiling, and I'd say, ronnie, every night I get home, you giggle. And what amuses you so much? He said, rob, when you drop me off, the other men say, who's having you to work in the fancy car? And I say, well, it's my solicitor. But he was a dustman for 29 years, and he paid his taxes. He helped in a homeless center, he worked in church putting the chairs out. He had dignity. And I gather there was one time when you thought, well, maybe it's time for him to move into a place of his own. And you asked him and you broached it. Just talk us how that went. Yeah, well, Diane said to me one day, well, darling, she said, we got a big house, but we've only got one bathroom. Katie was about 10 years old. She had. Katie's growing up to a young woman. I think it may be time for Bonnie to find a little place, still be part of our family, still come to us for meals. And I was dispatched to go up to his room and break the news to him. And I was about to tell him when Diane burst into the room and she said, have you? And I said, no. And. And she dragged me downstairs and sat in a chair and burst into tears. And she said, we can't do it. I can't do it. And I don't know whether he'd overheard us talking about the possibility of his leaving. But a couple of nights later, he knocked on our door and he came in and he said a phrase that was a hangover from his time in the care home. He said, I haven't done a bad thing. I said, that's right, Ronnie, what is it? He said, we three are firm friends, aren't we? I said, yes, Ronnie, we three are firm friends and we'll be together forever. And honestly, his question hung in the air for far too long and I looked across at Diane and bless her heart, she gave me the slightest of nods and I said, yes, Ronnie, we'll be together forever. He died five years ago in Covid. So we were Rob Parsons on his remarkable friendship with Ronnie Lockwood. And that's all from us for now. But there'll be a new edition of the Global News podcast. Let's 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 XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Holly Smith. The producers were Daniel Mann and Mickey Bristow. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Danny Cox. Until next time. Goodbye. Do you know what employees say is their number one perk at work? Extra pto? Nope. Gym memberships? Guess again. It's free lunch. And what's the best way to order food for work? EasyCater, a food tool built for the modern workplace with online ordering from a huge variety of restaurants for any group size. Tools to meet dietary needs, needs and stay on budget, employee meal programs and more, all on one platform. So perk up your workplace with EasyCator. Order now@easycator.com.