← Global News Podcast
Global News Podcast
Venezuelans' anger over slow earthquake response
00:28:54
Tens of thousands missing under rubble in Venezuela as hopes of finding survivors fade
Loading summary
Transcript113 lines
- [00:00]
Will Grant
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
- [00:06]
Advertisement Voice
Take the leash off your laptop with the processor that gives you long battery life. Work on the go. Jump between back to back calls. Stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil. Get maximum performance even when unplugged. Finally, the freedom to move across the room or across the world is here. Snapdragon, that's how how many streaming subscriptions do you have? Is it the same for your business? Avoid it by having all your business on one platform. Try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's odoo.com
- [00:47]
Will Grant
this
- [00:47]
Alex Ritson
is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and at 15 hours GMT on Monday 29th June, these are our main stories. The Venezuelan earthquake death toll climbs as anger grows over the slow response by the authorities. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo worsens with 47 new infections and 12 deaths on Saturday alone. Britain's Prime Minister in waiting, Andy Burnham, sets out his plans for running the uk. Also in this podcast, British the main
- [01:24]
Katy Louver
fear is that we will see towns and villages which are half empty. If only half the population is left in a village, the infrastructure suffers.
- [01:32]
Alex Ritson
Germany's population crisis in the east
- [01:38]
Katya Salamo
we
- [01:38]
Alex Ritson
begin in Venezuela, where more international support has been pledged for disaster response efforts in the wake of last week's massive earthquakes. The Netherlands says it's sending a naval vessel to the country with emergency supplies or While China has promised almost $15 million in assistance. Almost 1,500 people are now known to have died and tens of thousands more are still believed to be missing. While international rescue teams are undertaking large scale searches for survivors with equipment and sniffer dogs, anger has been growing against Venezuela's government for what people say is a lack of action. Our senior international correspondent Ola Guerin is in a northern coastal town which is badly hit.
- [02:22]
Ola Guerin
Daybreak in Katia Lamar, the heart of the disaster zone. But where is the response? We reach the area easily. State agencies seemed in no rush. Inside a shredded building, a faithful friend still waits. Relatives looking on. These women know their sister is under the rubble. For the newly homeless, time to face another day. Wilmer lost eight of his loved ones. Most are still entombed by their homes.
- [03:02]
Wilmer (Local Resident)
We have only recovered three. This is what hurts the most, that we won't have the chance to give them a proper burial as they deserve. On top of everything, the government decided to close the streets, making it harder to bring help. Yesterday we waited from 6am to 4pm to get a permission to come here. We wasted hours.
- [03:29]
Ola Guerin
Local people are here waiting as they have been for days and for nights, hoping that the bodies of their loved ones will be found on top of this mound of rubble. There are some more residents from the area. One man has located the body of his father beneath all of that crushed wreckage, but he has no way, nothing except his own hands to try to recover the body. What's really striking here is not just the scale of the destruction, but the complete lack of any large scale organized official assistance. There's no sign of the state here. People tell us they've gone through the pain of losing their loved ones and now they have to try to rescue them themselves. And in the midst of all this, a newborn baby boy, Gael Garcia, tended by his grandmother lady, on a mattress in the dirt. His mum Eliana delivered him on the street 11 hours after the quest. Lady has had no word from her other daughter, Angelus and her three children. And nearby, 79 year old Yvonne gives us a warm welcome as she waits patiently for help to come. How do you think about what the government has done or failed to do since all of this happened?
- [05:03]
Local Resident (Unnamed)
Listen to me. I don't like to make comments that I know might have consequences later. I survived and I am still here, all by the will of God. But I am surprised that our governor hasn't shown his face around here. It's been five days now.
- [05:25]
Ola Guerin
This afternoon, a few members of Venezuela's National Guard appeared with precious little help. But for this young boy, help came in time. Today, rescue workers gently carrying his weakened body, prized from under the ground, recovered with him his father. The two had been buried alive since Thursday. These scenes will bring hope to many desperate families here, but miracles are few.
- [06:02]
Alex Ritson
Ola Geren, the BBC's Will Grant is in Caracas and told me about wider search and rescue efforts.
- [06:09]
Will Grant
It's hard to get a complete picture because, you know, it is so many states along that northern coastline. But what I can say is in Caracas, the neighborhoods that have been damaged are in very, very poor state. There are buildings down to the tune of about 150, 50 across the capital. But it's also the degree to which those that haven't been brought down completely have been so cracked and damaged that they're going to be uninhabitable. And then you think about places like where I've been over the weekend, Catia Lamar and La Guaira State, where the devastation is genuinely hard to describe. You walk down certain streets or you drive down certain parts of the town, and there are more buildings completely collapsed than they are still standing. And there are teams working on them. But then you realize they're not necessarily official rescuers or teams sent from abroad. They're just neighbors with pickaxe and hands. I spoke to one man who was a mechanic from Caracas and figured he could help, so got on a motorbike and head his way down there. So that's the sort of picture of what's going on. And people are well aware that they're probably basically looking to pull out bodies at this stage rather than find any more survivors.
- [07:22]
Alex Ritson
What about the more organized rescue efforts? Because there are teams coming in from over.
- [07:27]
Claire Balding
Yes.
- [07:28]
Will Grant
And their support has been hugely appreciated by the Venezuelan people and the families. I think that the basic score, though, is there simply hasn't been enough of it. And that people who are desperately waiting, not just for their family members to be fine, but for the buildings where they know their family members were to be properly searched, that they feel that no attention has been turned onto their buildings and that they've been left on their own. And that, I think, is the biggest frustration. That frustration is beginning to turn into much clearer anger towards the government. But I think there is also a recognition that the scale of this disaster is one that would be a challenge for any nation, particularly in Latin America. And for Venezuela that's been through so much in recent years, it is a Herculean task.
- [08:13]
Alex Ritson
Yes, because we're told the death toll officially is what, 1500 people approaching, but there are tens of thousands of people believed to be missing.
- [08:24]
Will Grant
That's right. I'm at a hospital in Caracas at the moment. There was just quite a sizeable aftershock, and apparently the children in the pediatric ward began to scream, saying, it's happening again. It's happening again. You can imagine the trauma there. And on the walls of this hospital are the names of the missing. So, of course, those who are inside the hospitals, particularly the ones who've been reunited with their families, really are the lucky ones. And that picture that I tried to paint for you in Cat de Lamar is really just how bad and difficult things are for so many in Venezuela.
- [08:59]
Alex Ritson
It's no surprise that there's been earthquakes in Venezuela. Why weren't the buildings constructed in a way that they didn't fall down?
- [09:10]
Will Grant
Well, there are earthquakes in Venezuela, and obviously a lot of the buildings have been built to code. But over the years, for. For whatever reason it may be lack of infrastructure, lack of investment, poor building codes in the first place, or simply corruption to sort of cut corners. There are sways of the country that are simply not up to building code. That's true across Latin America. Mexico, which I know very well and where I live is a country that has improved its building codes over time to bring it up to earthquake code. All the schools, for example, are going through that experience now. But Venezuela lags behind in that regard has been made abundantly clear by this event.
- [09:52]
Alex Ritson
The BBC's World Grant in Venezuela containing the Ebola outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo remains a huge crisis for the country and the rest of Africa. According to the latest official figures, 47 new infections and 12 deaths were recorded in the DRC on Saturday alone. The the outbreak was declared last month with more than 1200 confirmed cases and 360 deaths. Earlier I spoke to the BBC's Emery Macumino, who's in the capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, and he told me more about the figures.
- [10:27]
Emery Macumino
They haven't reached a plateau where they will stabilize the cases of new infections and death before expecting a decrease in numbers. And this is in the seventh week into the response where authorities are still catching up with the Ebola virus that has been spreading. They are coping with movement restrictions and also a change in their way of practicing a send off of a loved one. And these restrictions have been even extended to Kinshasa where authorities have actually banned any protest or any sort of rally just to prevent the spread of the virus.
- [11:09]
Alex Ritson
But despite the restrictions, the geographic area where the disease is now killing people is just getting bigger and bigger.
- [11:18]
Emery Macumino
Yes, unfortunately, when you take North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, we are speaking of 15 million people in that area and within the three provinces. We started here with three health zones affected by the virus. But now within the seven weeks here, it has increased from three to 35 health districts now that have notified cases of Ebola.
- [11:45]
Alex Ritson
Should people outside the DRC be concerned?
- [11:48]
Emery Macumino
Well, according to the World Health Organization and also the Africa center for Disease and Prevention, they are saying that the risk of further spread is high in the country and also in 11 other countries. Here in the Central Africa and East Africa region, that risk of cross border is still very high, but it is low when it comes to global spread or transmission. But these are things which are evolving. Last Wednesday we saw that France notified a case of Ebola from Kinshasa here. So authorities are vigilant and they are trying to contain at least the disease in the three provinces and not have it spread to additional provinces.
- [12:37]
Alex Ritson
Emery Macumino here in Britain we've had six prime ministers in the last 10 years. The man who's widely expected to be the seventh, Andy Burnham, has been setting out his plans to be Prime Minister. A week after the incumbent from the governing Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said that he would resign. Mr. Burnham is currently the only candidate to replace him. He pledged to take power from the centre and put it in the hands of people and places that he said could use it best. Even the prime minister's residence, 10 Downing street would see a partial move from London to the north of England.
- [13:14]
Rob Watson
Number 10 north will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain.
- [13:21]
It will be the conduit through which
- [13:23]
we redistribute power and resources across the uk.
- [13:27]
It will coordinate all parts of government
- [13:29]
at national and local level to agree a long term economic strategy and help
- [13:34]
Alex Ritson
all places set new growth ambitions. Our political correspondent Rob Watson told me more about number 10 North.
- [13:41]
Rob Watson
Well we now know, don't we Alex, what Andy Burnham's big idea is? How is he going to be different from Keir Starmer? It's the idea of devolution power from Westminster to all parts of the country and it's an interesting one because Britain is one of the most centralized states in the whole of the developed world. So the idea is, and he says it's based on his experience in Manchester, that if you really want growth you need to kind of devolve the power down to local government, to local businesses, local people and get cracking. And so the idea of the, the number 10 of the north which will be based in Manchester is to force that through, to make sure that power and resour are indeed taken from where I'm sitting here in Westminster.
- [14:25]
Alex Ritson
Haven't other leaders promised similar ideas though before?
- [14:29]
Rob Watson
They have indeed Alex. And it's interesting when I was listening to him, I was remembering sitting in Manchester myself listening to David Cameron. Anyone remember him in 2015 saying that it was incredibly important after their election victory that the wealth of the southeast of England needed to be spread to places like Manchester. And no doubt everybody will remember Boris Johnson. Anyone remember him? Mayor of London, his big plan after breakfast that Britain needed to be levelled up. So yes, these sort of promises have been made before and that's why it's going to be all about delivery for Mr. Burnham. Maybe that's one reason why Alex, he said this was a 10 year plan to tell everyone to be patient.
- [15:06]
Alex Ritson
What are the financial markets going to make of it all?
- [15:09]
Rob Watson
Well, the financial markets will be pleased that he said he was going to live within the existing fiscal rules set by the current Labour government that he's taking over from, which is basically, you know, not to be increasing the major taxes or borrowing or spending, but I think more broadly the markets and private sector more generally would want to know, you know, as a person of the center left, does Mr. Burnham get it as they would see that what industry, what you really need for growth in Britain is not just sort of things like devolution, but essentially to make it easier, cheaper for businesses to set up in Britain and to invest here from overseas.
- [15:44]
Alex Ritson
And is this going to tackle the real problems that Britain faces?
- [15:49]
Rob Watson
Well, I guess the answer to that is, Alex, that it would if it works. Right? I mean his, his promise at the end was what was it? To bring growth to every postcode and hope to heart. It's, you know, that's what we'll be looking at over the next two, three, four, or as Mr. Burnham would like, ten years. Alex.
- [16:03]
Alex Ritson
And briefly, his colleagues. Any reaction?
- [16:05]
Rob Watson
Well, they, you know, they love it. They love the hopeful message that, you know, hope in every heart, giving a more sort of joyful picture of Britain and, and the idea that people all over the country and their representatives can take back control and, you know, that sort of stuff goes down well. But again, you know, it's details delivery.
- [16:21]
Alex Ritson
Rob Watson. A fossil which has been ignored for 40 years has turned out to be the first dinosaur bone ever found in Antarctica. The specimen belongs to the British Antarctic Survey based in the English city of Cambridge. It's now been identified by experts from the Natural History Museum in London. As our science editor Rebecca Morell explains,
- [16:44]
Rebecca Morell
the 10 centimetre wide fossil was unearthed during an expedition to James Ross island four decades ago. Its discovery was recorded in a field notebook with a tiny sketch of the fossil and a note saying vertebra from a large reptile. But that was as far as the identification went until the fossil was spotted amongst the thousands of specimens stored at the British Antarctic Survey. Its distinctive shape revealed it was part of the tail of a titanosaur, the largest dinosaurs ever to roam the earth. It dates to 82 million years ago, when Antarctica was very different to how it is today. It would have been covered in lush forest, providing ample food for this four legged, long necked dinosaur. Professor Paul Barrett, a palaeontologist from the Natural History Museum, helped to identify the bone.
- [17:29]
Paul Barrett
So it's significant in being the first dinosaur that was found on the continent. We know that these are really big animals, they required lots of food, so at least we know that there's a lot of things there that are growing for them to feed on. They're animals that also find their way into New Zealand and Australia, so it helps helps link those land masses together with the sorts of dinosaurs that are around on them at this time and shows that an area that we now think is really uninhabitable was once actually very habitable and had this huge cast of characters living on it.
- [17:55]
Rebecca Morell
The scientists think the dinosaur this fossil came from was about 7 meters long, which is small for a titanosaur, suggesting it was a young animal or even a dwarf species.
- [18:05]
Alex Ritson
Rebecca Morell still to come in this
- [18:10]
Serena Williams
podcast, I definitely have a lot of experience on my side and I have a lot of championship where I don't feel the pressure to to do anything.
- [18:18]
Alex Ritson
As Wimbledon gets underway, we speak to a returning champion, Serena Williams, who's making her singles come back.
- [18:34]
Advertisement Voice
Take the leash off your laptop with the processor that gives you long battery life. Work on the go. Jump between back to back calls. Stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil. Get maximum performance even when unplugged. Finally, the freedom to move across the room or across the world is here. Snapdragon that's how this is the story
- [19:02]
Grainger Advertisement Voice
of the One As a maintenance engineer at a beverage manufacturing plant, he starts his day knowing every line is ready to run because Grainger delivers the industrial grade products he needs needs to keep mixers, conveyors, and packaging equipment moving. With Grainger's vast selection of bearings, belts and motors, he keeps operations running smoothly so nothing grinds to a halt. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [20:01]
Claire Balding
Psst.
- [20:02]
Jessica Parker
I have a secret that's about to
- [20:03]
Grainger Advertisement Voice
seriously upgrade your downtime. Mistplay is always running these massive sweepstakes. From major cash prizes to top brand bundles to thousands of dollars in gift cards for Amazon, Visa, Target, and more. You just play your favorite mobile games, earn points, and you cash out those points for entries. Mistplay is 100% free. No deposit, no subscription, no hidden fees. Download Mistplay today and start winning.
- [20:34]
Alex Ritson
This is the global news podcast. In Germany, large parts of the country's east are forecast to see their population drop over the coming decades, as deaths in the country outpace births. And at the same time, immigration levels are falling. But why is Germany's former communist east so affected? Our Berlin correspondent, Jessica Parker reports.
- [20:59]
Jessica Parker
I'm in the town of oscarsleben in the state of Sachsen Anhalt. Of the five states that were once part of Germany's communist east, this one has seen the most drastic population drop, around a 26% fall since 1990. We're here to meet a guy who came back to his hometown after years away. Jan Niklaus, you were born in 1989.
- [21:22]
Jan Niklaus
Yes.
- [21:23]
Jessica Parker
So when the Berlin Wall fell.
- [21:24]
Jan Niklaus
Yes.
- [21:25]
Jessica Parker
A Wendekind.
- [21:25]
Jan Niklaus
A Wendekind, yes.
- [21:27]
Jessica Parker
Turning point child, as it were. You were obviously a baby in 1989. But growing up here, what did you see? Change in the local area.
- [21:36]
Jan Niklaus
There was a big change because obviously lots of people left after the reunification. People needed to look for new jobs, for new opportunities. And obviously lots of people left because the opportunities were in the West.
- [21:52]
Alex Ritson
This is the middle of the checkpoint. The police are making no attempt to stop people.
- [21:56]
Rob Watson
The gates have been thrown open.
- [21:58]
Jessica Parker
There was euphoria when the Berlin Wall
- [22:00]
Alex Ritson
fell to take a look at a West, in some cases their first look.
- [22:04]
Jessica Parker
But for the east, it would also lead to a huge sense of loss. Many firms suddenly exposed to capitalism struggled or collapsed. There was an exodus west birth rates in the east plunged. They later picked up, but remain low as part of a wider trend.
- [22:22]
Jan Niklaus
So we were really happy to get a place in the kindergarten.
- [22:26]
Jessica Parker
It's something Jan Niklaus is noticing now.
- [22:29]
Jan Niklaus
Our kindergarten asks us if we know other families with children. So actually in the newspaper there are now articles where kindergartens need children.
- [22:38]
Jessica Parker
So what specifically are you doing to try and get people into Oscesleben?
- [22:41]
Jan Niklaus
I want to bring this topic back on the kitchen tables that people start talking about demographic change more. We have to talk to everyone to come back.
- [22:55]
Jessica Parker
We're driving past forests and fields, and it's across large parts of the more rural east where further big population falls are forecast. Regions that have seen way less immigration than the big cities or the West. And when it comes to those who left after the Wall fell, there's something else that's important to understand.
- [23:17]
Katya Salamo
The second wave of out migration peaked around 2005.
- [23:20]
Jessica Parker
Dr. Katya Salamo is a sociologist.
- [23:23]
Katya Salamo
It was highly selective young people, highly educated people, and especially women, were more likely to leave.
- [23:30]
Jessica Parker
But the women that left, they left ages ago. I mean, there must be new women now. There must be new women.
- [23:36]
Serena Williams
Exactly.
- [23:37]
Katya Salamo
So if you look at the current marriage population, the 18 to 40 year olds, you will see that in the older age group of that population you still have this imbalance. But the children that were never born continue to be amiss and they will also not have children. So is it this is how population decline works. It gets worse and worse and worse.
- [24:04]
Jessica Parker
A campaign video by the far right's Alternativa for Deutschland Sachsen Anhalt may be the epicenter of a political earthquake in upcoming elections, the AfD has a real shot at winning power.
- [24:18]
Katya Salamo
Research shows that electoral support for third parties, including the fda, tends to be higher. In the regions most affected by population decline and its consequences, there's a strong sense of loss and stagnation. Accordingly, as we know from surveys, along with the feeling of not receiving a fair share of what society has to
- [24:36]
Jessica Parker
offer, there are initiatives to try and pull people to the east. Katie Louver runs one of them from Halberstadt, a town nestled near the Harz Mountains. She works to promote the area and match people with jobs.
- [24:52]
Katy Louver
The main fear is that we will see towns and villages which are half empty. If only half the population is left in a village, the infrastructure suffers. We already see school closures in many parts of the region and I think we have to fight against that to maintain a certain quality of life in our rural areas.
- [25:10]
Alex Ritson
Katy Louver ending that report by Jessica Parker the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed for calm ahead of planned anti immigration protests on T Tuesday. He says while people have the right to demonstrate, intimidation and violence will not be tolerated. Richard Kegoy reports.
- [25:30]
Rob Watson
In his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans to protest peacefully, warning that freedom comes with responsibility. He acknowledged public concerns about illegal immigration, saying the government would respond with effective action. Police are preparing a nationwide security operation after anti migrant groups said 30 June as the unofficial deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave. Fearing violence, thousands of migrants from neighboring countries are camping outside their consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and at transit centers in Durban waiting to be repatriated. Nearly 300 Nigerians are expected to leave on Monday evening.
- [26:05]
Alex Ritson
Richard Kagoi As China's influence in the Pacific grows, other countries in the region are watching warily and trying to strengthen their positions. To that end, Australia and Vanuatu have signed a sweeping economic and security agreement that bars any foreign military base on The Pacific island nation Australia correspondent Katie Watson told me more.
- [26:29]
Katie Watson
It was meant to have been signed nearly 10 months ago, but at the signing ceremony last September, Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Jotham Napat pulled out, citing concerns about sovereignty. So this agreement, it's a watered down version of the original. It still sets out that critical infrastructure in Vanuatu won't become militarised and in exchange, Australia will provide greater economic support. Now, there have been concern previously raised about China's funding of a wharf in Vanuatu's Luganville, which is the second largest city. My understanding is that this kind of new, slightly watered down agreement won't veto any foreign investment in certain infrastructure projects. But yes, when it comes to foreign military bases, this basically gives, you know, Australia a much stronger position as the country's most important security and policing partner.
- [27:21]
Alex Ritson
So what will this mean for the growing might of China?
- [27:25]
Katie Watson
Well, I mean, it certainly puts, as I said, you know, it puts Australia in this good position in Vanuatu. This is, it's a time when there's growing concern over China's influence in the Pacific region. Certainly it was back in 2022 when Beijing struck a security deal with the Solomon Islands that definitely caused a great concern here in Canberra. There are several Pacific island nations that have changed their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing in recent. So it's a bit of a tussle. Certainly it is a concern here in Australia that growing influence. But the fact that, you know, you've got this security deal in Vanuatu is going to be seen as a big win for Australia.
- [28:08]
Alex Ritson
Casey Watson, TENNIS Wimbledon started a few hours ago and a familiar face will return to the Centre Court on Tuesday. Serena Williams will make her singles comeback there after four years. She's been champion at Wimbledon 14 times, seven singles and six doubles titles, as well as one mixed doubles title. But in recent years, the 44 year old has been focusing on her family life and her daughters. The BBC's Claire Balding has been speaking to Serena Williams and asked if she felt nervous ahead of her return.
- [28:42]
Serena Williams
I felt a lot of things where I haven't felt the butterflies yet.
- [28:45]
Claire Balding
Do you think you will soon?
- [28:46]
Serena Williams
I'm sure I absolutely will, 100%. I just haven't felt it yet.
- [28:50]
Claire Balding
I would love to ask you about what Serena Williams 2026 hats that maybe Serena Williams 2000 didn't have, that maybe Serena Williams 2016 didn't have. What are the best things about being you right now?
- [29:03]
Serena Williams
Well, I have two amazing kids. I think that's the best thing that I have that I didn't have then I would have totally taken them then as well. I definitely have a lot of experience on my side and I have a lot of championships where I don't feel the pressure to. To do anything except for have fun and enjoy myself and enjoy the moment.
- [29:22]
Claire Balding
So is that what makes it most different, walking in here this year, that you can be totally free? There is nothing.
- [29:27]
Serena Williams
I don't know. I think so. I'm never a free person in general. You see me play, I don't play. I play like a maniac. So we'll see. I mean, as of now, I'm calm, but I might change in a matter of minutes. Who knows?
- [29:41]
Claire Balding
And what does success look like? What do you want it to be?
- [29:45]
Serena Williams
I think success is just walking out there. I never expected to be here. I mean, I expected to play doubles, but I didn't even expect that three, four months ago, so. So success is just enjoying myself for me and sticking to my game plan that my coach gives me.
- [30:02]
Claire Balding
Being disciplined, being disciplined.
- [30:05]
Serena Williams
So that's what I'm trying to do.
- [30:07]
Claire Balding
Have you been back in the village yet and have you got your house set up and all that?
- [30:11]
Serena Williams
Yeah, everything is back. I'm back in the house that I stayed in several years. So it's like, it's. It's been a very easy retransition. So it's like nothing too new. And at the same time, it's everything new. I don't know my way around here. I'm like, wait, what? Where am I? I couldn't get here. I was lost. But it's still fun. Change is good.
- [30:35]
Claire Balding
It's going to be a blast to see you on court again.
- [30:38]
Serena Williams
You think?
- [30:38]
Jessica Parker
I do okay.
- [30:40]
Claire Balding
But there is a bigger message here. And what do you want the big message to be?
- [30:45]
Serena Williams
That is such a big question for me right now. I don't know. I just want to. Anything is possible, I guess. But also you just. Sometimes it's good to just enjoy yourself. So that's what I'm planning to do.
- [30:58]
Alex Ritson
Serena Williams. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us@globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on X@BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Martin Baker and the producer was Daniel Mann. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time. Goodbye.
- [31:44]
Advertisement Voice
Take the leash off your laptop with the processor that gives you long battery life. Work on the go. Jump between back to back calls. Stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil. Get maximum performance even when unplugged. Finally, the freedom to move across the room or across the world is here. Snapdragon. That's how.