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per month. Floats Culture and that Mint mobile.com. This

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is the Global News Podcast from the BBC

1:21

World Service. I'm

1:25

Janet Jalil. And in the early hours of Thursday,

1:27

the 9th of May, these are our main stories.

1:30

The United States says it's reviewing other

1:32

weapons deliveries to Israel after it paused

1:35

one shipment of arms as it tries

1:37

to stave off any major Israeli offensive

1:39

on Rafa in the Gaza Strip. EU

1:42

ambassadors have reached an agreement to

1:44

use the profits from frozen Russian

1:47

assets to fund weapons for Ukraine.

1:50

Flood rescue efforts in the southern

1:52

Brazilian city of Puerto Allegra have

1:54

been suspended because of more torrential

1:56

rain and strong winds. Also

2:00

in this podcast, orangutan

2:06

diplomacy. Malaysia says it's going to

2:08

start giving some of the critically

2:10

endangered animals as gifts to major

2:13

buyers of its palm oil. US

2:20

officials have signaled to Israel that more

2:22

arms shipments could be delayed if

2:24

the Israeli military pushes ahead with a

2:26

full ground offensive in the southern

2:28

Gaza city of Rafa, where more than

2:31

a million Palestinians have sought refuge from

2:33

the fighting. The US

2:35

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on

2:37

Wednesday that the Biden administration had

2:39

paused the supply of thousands of

2:42

large powerful bombs to Israel over

2:44

concerns that it was about to

2:46

launch a major offensive in Rafa,

2:49

a move the US strongly opposes.

2:52

Mr. Austin told a Senate hearing it was

2:54

still weighing up whether to withhold

2:57

other shipments. Our commitment

2:59

to Israel's security

3:01

is ironclad, as you get

3:03

seen from the very beginning.

3:06

We have flowed billions

3:09

of dollars of security assistance at

3:11

a very rapid pace into Israel.

3:15

And so we're going to continue to do

3:17

what's necessary to ensure that Israel has the

3:19

means to defend itself. But

3:21

that said, we are currently

3:23

reviewing some near term security

3:25

assistance shipments in

3:28

the context of unfolding events

3:30

in Rafa. Israel's

3:32

chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel

3:35

Hagari, denied there was a rift

3:37

with Washington. The

3:40

aid is unprecedented. The operational

3:42

partnership is significant. When

3:44

there are disputes and there are, they are being

3:47

resolved in closed rooms in a matter of fact

3:49

way. I spoke to our

3:51

US State Department correspondent Tom Bateman. So how

3:53

big a deal is this announcement by

3:55

the US? It's a big deal and

3:57

it's unusual. I mean, you have to go back a good deal.

4:00

40 years plus to find the last

4:03

time that anything was done like this

4:05

and at least sort of publicly presented.

4:07

This was said to have been done

4:10

last week that a consignment of air

4:12

drop munitions largely consisting of

4:14

these 2,000 pound bombs,

4:16

these are massive bombs that

4:19

are among the most powerful and

4:21

destructive munitions that western

4:23

militaries have. They are capable really

4:25

of wiping out virtually entire neighbourhoods

4:27

but multiple buildings at the same

4:29

time. Israel's argument for

4:31

using these kinds of things is that it

4:34

has to strike at Hamas below and

4:36

above ground, but they have been widely criticised

4:38

or their use has been widely criticised by

4:40

human rights groups in that

4:42

they've been used frequently in Gaza. So

4:44

the Americans have picked these specifically and

4:47

referenced the fact the way they've been used by the

4:49

Israelis in the past in Gaza

4:51

and then saying as part of the

4:53

US position which is that they don't

4:56

want to see a full-scale invasion of

4:58

the city of Rafa by the Israelis.

5:00

That's why they've put a pause as

5:03

they put it on a shipment of

5:05

one consignment but have said at the

5:07

same time today that they are also

5:09

reviewing further weapons shipments.

5:11

So this is all meant

5:14

as a shot across

5:16

the bowels of Benjamin Netanyahu by the

5:18

administration to try and prevent or stave

5:20

off a full-scale invasion of

5:23

Rafa. So the big question now

5:25

is will Israel pay attention?

5:28

Will it hold back from

5:30

a major offensive on Rafa?

5:32

It's pretty bad they're already though isn't it? Well

5:36

I think that's a really interesting question. It goes

5:38

to the heart of you know where the decision-making

5:40

is being made you know in the Israeli government.

5:43

Of course Prime Minister Netanyahu as

5:45

we've heard repeatedly that he said that even

5:47

if there is a ceasefire agreement or not

5:49

they will still go into Rafa. He says

5:51

to eliminate the final battalions of Hamas that

5:54

they say are entrenched there. I think

5:56

it's been interesting hearing the response of the sort of

5:58

military level in Israel to the today, which has been

6:00

largely to sort of play this down, to talk

6:03

about, you know, well, there are differences among allies

6:05

and that's the way it goes. The

6:07

Israelis know, first of all, they didn't make

6:09

much difference on the ground because they have

6:11

the munitions they would need, they think, to

6:13

carry out a full-scale invasion of

6:16

Rafa. So there's that practical point, which

6:18

is a very significant one. But in

6:20

terms of the wider politics

6:22

of this, yes, it is the White House

6:25

trying to put more pressure on the

6:27

Netanyahu government. I mean, I do think

6:29

that sort of privately, you know, among

6:31

American officials, there is a belief that

6:34

the Israeli government is relatively dysfunctional in

6:36

terms of its decision-making because

6:38

you have Mr. Netanyahu on the one hand beholden

6:41

to his far-right ministers

6:44

in his government who are effectively keeping him

6:47

in power. He needs their support in the

6:49

Israeli parliament to keep going. On

6:51

the other hand, there are members of the Israeli

6:53

War Cabinet like Benny Gantz, the former chief

6:55

of the staff, head of the Israeli

6:57

army, who are much, you

6:59

know, appear to be much more concerned about

7:02

the relationship with the Americans and

7:04

what this means in terms of having this

7:06

kind of schism. So I

7:08

think that the pressures are growing. The way

7:10

out for everybody, of course, is

7:13

a ceasefire agreement. And that's why fundamentally,

7:15

I think, the Biden administration is just

7:17

doing everything it can to push them

7:19

over the line. Tom

7:21

Bateman in Washington. And shortly after we spoke

7:23

to Tom and as we were about to

7:25

record this podcast, President Biden said

7:27

that he would not supply weapons that

7:30

Israel could use to launch an

7:32

all-out assault on Rafah. In

7:34

an interview with CNN, he said civilians

7:36

in Gaza have been killed as a

7:38

consequence of those bombs the US had

7:41

sent to Israel and that while America

7:43

would continue to give Israel the weapons

7:45

it needs to defend itself, he would

7:47

not send bombs or artillery shells that

7:49

could be used against innocent Palestinians.

7:53

Well, despite the US concerns about

7:55

Rafah, Israeli forces are continuing to

7:57

bomb areas in and around the

7:59

overcrowded City. Aid agencies say the

8:01

humanitarian situation there is deteriorating. Medical

8:04

staff at one hospital were forced

8:06

to evacuate, along with their patients,

8:08

and the World Health Organization says

8:10

others will soon run out of

8:12

fuel as aid is not going

8:15

into Gaza after the closure of

8:17

two key border crossings, despite Israel

8:19

saying one of them has now been reopened.

8:22

Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports

8:24

from Jerusalem. Health military

8:26

operation in eastern Rafah is in

8:28

full swing and it's making its

8:30

allies, notably the United States, deeply

8:32

concerned. Officially, it's been framed

8:35

as a limited operation, so

8:37

not the full-scale ground offensive Washington

8:39

said it opposed, but there

8:41

are still reports of civilian deaths. Seven members

8:43

of one family were killed in an airstrike,

8:46

and aid agencies are warning of a

8:48

disastrous disruption to getting aid into the

8:51

territory. Head of the

8:53

World Health Organization Tedros Kebre-Yezos warns

8:55

that humanitarian operations risk grinding to

8:57

a halt. We only

9:00

have enough fuel to run health

9:02

services in the south

9:04

for three more days. WHO

9:07

has prepositioned some

9:09

supplies in warehouses and hospitals,

9:12

but without more aid flowing

9:14

into Gaza, we cannot sustain

9:17

our life-saving support to hospitals.

9:20

Israel says it has reopened the crucial

9:22

cargo crossing point at Karim Shalom. After

9:24

a Hamas rocket attack, there killed four of

9:27

its soldiers on Sunday. UN

9:29

aid workers said today nothing was getting through, though,

9:31

due to fighting on the Gaza side of the

9:33

border. The other main crossing

9:35

point at Rafah, on the border with

9:37

Egypt, remains closed after Israeli forces seized

9:40

control of it, saying it was

9:42

being used as a base by Hamas. Rafah

9:44

is home to more than a million people, most

9:47

of them already displaced from other

9:49

parts of Gaza, crammed into a

9:51

densely crowded area. And meanwhile, in

9:53

Cairo, mediation efforts continue to find

9:55

a formula for a ceasefire that

9:57

satisfies both Hamas and Israel. date

10:00

there is no sign of a breakthrough. Frank

10:03

Gardner. Rwanda has been making

10:05

international headlines after striking a deal with

10:07

Britain to take in some of its

10:09

asylum seekers. The UK government

10:11

insists Rwanda under its longtime ruler

10:13

Paul Kagame is safe. A

10:15

claim that's disputed by human rights groups which

10:18

say opponents of Mr. Kagame

10:20

have suffered abusive prosecutions, enforced

10:22

disappearances or even died

10:25

in suspicious circumstances. Now a

10:27

Rwandan activist and critic of the president has

10:29

said she intends to run against him in

10:31

July's election. Diane Rigara has

10:33

barred from standing in 2017 and then imprisoned

10:37

for tax evasion and inciting

10:39

insurrection. Charges she was

10:41

then cleared of which she says

10:43

were politically motivated. I asked

10:45

our Africa regional editor Will Ross why

10:48

given all this she's decided to run again.

10:51

She hasn't given away much

10:53

information at the moment about the

10:55

motivation behind throwing her

10:57

hat in the ring for

11:00

July's election. She's just stated

11:02

on social media that she

11:04

is going to run for

11:06

president. We have to wait now and see if her

11:10

name will be accepted by the

11:12

authorities. She as you say she

11:14

has been

11:16

in prison before on several charges

11:19

but she was cleared of

11:21

those charges so on that count she ought

11:23

to be able to run but it's

11:25

a very intriguing case

11:27

the whole Diane Rigara case. She was

11:30

blocked from running in 2017 so we've

11:32

got no idea

11:35

how many people would vote for her but

11:38

the whole family her whole family has

11:40

had a terrible rift with the administration

11:44

in Kigali

11:46

ever since Diane

11:48

Rigara's father died in 2015. Now the

11:50

family believe that he was killed with

11:57

the hand of the authorities but the government there

11:59

says it was a it was a traffic

12:01

accident. And looking at previous

12:03

elections, a lot of observers will say she

12:05

pretty much doesn't have any chance of winning,

12:08

but this election in July

12:10

I think will be different from previous ones

12:12

in that there'll be much more international attention

12:15

paid to it because of the British

12:17

government's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

12:20

Well yes, possibly. I mean the spotlight

12:22

has been on Rwanda because it's been

12:24

in the news so much, although not

12:27

so much of a focus on domestic

12:29

issues in Rwanda. But as

12:31

you mentioned, you know, she and

12:34

everyone else will have no chance of winning. In

12:36

the last election in 2017, Paul Kagame got nearly

12:38

99% of the votes. So many rights

12:45

groups point to the oppression in the

12:47

country, the fact that criticism is not allowed,

12:50

any challenge that comes up

12:52

to the government is crushed,

12:54

sometimes pretty brutally. The government

12:56

denies any human rights atrocities,

12:59

but I think it'd be fair to say that

13:02

Rwanda has its own kind of version of democracy.

13:05

Well Ross, EU countries have

13:07

agreed to use an estimated $3

13:09

billion in profits from frozen Russian

13:11

assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.

13:14

The deal was struck by the bloc's 27 ambassadors

13:17

after a dispute about taxation

13:19

was resolved. Niki Cardwell reports.

13:22

The Russian central bank assets are

13:24

currently being held mainly in a

13:26

Belgium-based clearing house, generating more than

13:28

$3 billion a year

13:30

in interest. The financial assets

13:32

were frozen after the Russian invasion of

13:35

Ukraine in 2022, and there's been

13:37

a fierce debate about what to do with

13:39

them ever since. Moscow has

13:41

threatened the West with a severe

13:43

response and endless legal challenges if

13:46

the money is touched. Earlier

13:48

this year, the EU agreed to

13:50

use the interest generated, but many

13:52

countries were unhappy about the 25%

13:55

taxes and fees that Belgian would

13:57

collect on the money. Diplomatic thought.

14:00

or say Belgium has now agreed to

14:02

donate the taxes to Ukraine. Nikki

14:05

Cardwell, a man identified as

14:07

a Russian spy, is to be expelled from the

14:09

UK as part of a wave of new

14:11

restrictions on Russian activity. Several

14:14

diplomatic properties run from Moscow are

14:16

also being closed. The British Interior

14:18

Minister or Home Secretary, James Cleverley,

14:20

made the announcement in parliament as

14:23

our security correspondent, Gordon Carrera reports.

14:25

The package of measures is designed

14:27

to send a signal to Moscow

14:29

that its recent actions around Europe

14:32

are unacceptable. The so-called

14:34

malign activity in the UK includes

14:37

individuals arrested on national security

14:39

charges and cyber hacking. The

14:41

Home Secretary also referred to plans

14:43

for sabotage in Germany and Poland

14:45

linked to support for Ukraine and

14:48

even the jamming of GPS signals

14:50

used to guide commercial aviation. James

14:52

Cleverley outlined the government's response

14:54

in the Commons. We will

14:57

expel the Russian Defense Attache,

15:00

who is an undeclared

15:02

military intelligence officer. We

15:04

will remove diplomatic premises status

15:07

from several Russian-owned properties in the UK, including

15:10

Secok's House, a Russian-owned

15:12

property in Sussex, and the

15:15

Trade and Defence section in Highgate,

15:17

which we believe have been used

15:19

for intelligence purposes. The Russian Defense

15:21

Attache is normally a member of

15:23

the GRU, Russian Military

15:25

Intelligence, but he was one

15:27

of a small number of spies left in

15:29

place to offer a channel of communication. His

15:32

expulsion, as well as the loss of

15:34

the premises, will cause anger in Moscow.

15:37

It has promised a response. Gordon

15:39

Carrera. China has

15:42

panda diplomacy. Now, in a

15:44

controversial move, Malaysia says it's

15:46

going to introduce orangutan diplomacy.

15:53

The plan is to send these

15:55

critically endangered animals to any country

15:57

that buys large amounts of Malaysian

15:59

palm oil. It's found in

16:01

many of the products that we eat and

16:03

use, and critics say that the forests where

16:06

orangutans live are being chopped down to make

16:08

way for palm oil plantations. But

16:10

Malaysia says giving orangutans as

16:13

gifts to nations that buy

16:15

its palm oil will prove

16:17

its commitment to conservation and

16:19

biodiversity. Our Asia Pacific editor,

16:21

Miki Bristow, told us more. This

16:23

was a statement made, a statement

16:26

about the plan given by the

16:28

Plantations and Commodities Minister. He

16:30

gave general outlines, so for example, the

16:33

broad idea that orangutans will be given

16:35

to nations, major nations

16:37

of which trade with Malaysia for

16:39

palm oil, talking about countries

16:41

like India, countries in the European Union

16:43

and China. But he didn't say exactly

16:45

where these orangutans would come from, whether

16:47

they would be taken from the wild

16:50

or ones already in captivity, when they

16:52

would be given, what the terms

16:54

of giving them would be,

16:56

any details like that. He just essentially

16:58

outlined the plan and explained why

17:01

they were doing it. And essentially what he said

17:03

Malaysia wanted to do was

17:05

show that as well as developing

17:07

its economy and palm oil plantations

17:09

in particular, the GUM was

17:12

also concerned about preserving natural habitats

17:14

and the places where

17:16

orangutans live. And orangutans have become

17:18

a real symbol of man's battle

17:21

against nature. So he believes this

17:23

is a way for people

17:25

to understand that Malaysia series about protecting

17:28

them. I think a lot of people

17:30

will struggle to understand the logic of that because

17:33

he's talking about sending

17:35

orangutans abroad, possibly being

17:37

separated from their families

17:39

to other countries where they'll

17:41

be kept in zoos. What are

17:43

wildlife groups saying about this? Yeah,

17:47

I mean, that's exactly right. It

17:49

does seem slightly illogical. In fact,

17:51

wildlife groups, WWF have already come

17:53

out and spoken about this and

17:55

he said essentially that it would

17:57

be better to keep orangutans in...

18:00

And the places where they live and

18:02

protect their natural habitats, protect the London

18:04

forest where they live, mostly on the

18:06

island of Borneo, which is divided mostly

18:09

between Indonesia and

18:12

Malaysia, better to keep them there

18:14

rather than sending them off as

18:16

gifts elsewhere. So from a conservation

18:18

point of view, there doesn't seem

18:20

to be a lot of logic

18:23

in this. But of course, there is

18:25

a political motive. And the

18:27

minister who announced his plan, he

18:30

mentioned the fact that China does this

18:32

kind of thing with pandas. They

18:35

act as a kind of soft

18:37

power ambassador for China all

18:39

over the world. China sends a panda

18:41

to a zoo in another country. People

18:43

flock there. They have a slightly warmer

18:45

feeling about China. And

18:47

he hopes that sending these orangutans

18:49

abroad will have a similar reason.

18:51

So it seems it's more political

18:54

than anything to do with conservation.

18:57

Mickey Bristow, still

19:01

to come? I looked at it and

19:03

it clearly marked down one edge. I

19:06

thought at first it was some kind of calendar. So

19:09

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linkedin.com/people today. Welcome

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back to the Global News Podcast. Let's

20:32

turn now to the devastating floods in

20:34

Brazil. Rescue efforts in

20:36

the city of Porto Alegre, which is

20:38

experiencing the worst flooding in its history,

20:40

have been suspended because of torrential rains

20:43

and strong winds. At least

20:45

100 people are known to have died in the

20:47

floods and landslides across the state of Rio Grande

20:49

de Sol, and at least 150,000 have been forced

20:51

to leave their homes. The

20:54

governor of the state has announced the deployment of an

20:57

extra 1,000 police and security

20:59

officers to stop looting and crime

21:01

in badly affected areas, and it

21:03

has called for more help from

21:05

the central government. Fabian,

21:07

who lives in Santa Maria City,

21:09

says assistance is desperately needed. We

21:12

had in 10 days an amount

21:14

of 500 millimetres of rain, and

21:17

that amount of water was expected

21:20

in two months. We

21:22

had roads, bridges and

21:25

houses, countless of houses,

21:28

thousands of houses destroyed by the

21:30

water. Long story short,

21:32

we are facing a post-war scenario.

21:36

BBC Brazil's Leandro Prazerez is in

21:38

the capital of Brasilia. He explained

21:40

to James Reynolds why the authorities have

21:42

warned people not to return to some of

21:44

the worst affected areas. They've also

21:47

been told to stay away from the Lagoa

21:49

dos Patos, which is the biggest lagoon in

21:51

South America. There is a fear

21:53

that this massive amount of water is

21:55

going down the river and is going

21:57

to affect the city around the country.

22:00

is living right now. It's estimated that

22:02

1.4 million people were

22:04

affected by the foot and at

22:06

least 6,000 people are now in

22:09

shelters. What is the central government

22:11

saying where you are? Well what

22:13

the central government is trying to say

22:15

right now is that the central government

22:18

is taking all measures in

22:20

order to help the local state. It's

22:22

important to note that Brazil, the federation,

22:24

so the central government helps

22:27

the local government in Rio

22:29

Grande do Sú. So

22:31

the military has been taking place,

22:33

there are flights transporting

22:35

water, food and support equipment.

22:38

What else are people saying?

22:40

People are mostly concerned right now

22:42

with the impact in the short

22:44

term and also in the long

22:46

term. In the short term there

22:49

is also this concern of violence.

22:51

A few days ago the people

22:53

who were helping authorities in the

22:55

rasping operation started to report crimes

22:57

such as robbery and even stealing

22:59

of jet skis. Since then local

23:02

and federal authorities are

23:04

trying to reinforce security in the

23:06

most affected areas. The other major

23:08

concern is with food, water

23:11

and health. It's important to note

23:13

that all this water might be

23:15

contaminated somehow and there are concerns

23:17

over the impact of these foods

23:20

in the health of the population

23:22

and it's also, it's unknown the

23:24

number of people who have lost

23:26

their lives during this strategy. Leandro

23:30

Prasares in Brasilia. The

23:32

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Hungary

23:34

on the third and final leg of his

23:36

visit to Europe. Before that he was in

23:39

Serbia where he was greeted warmly by President

23:41

Aleksandor Vucic and he was also given a

23:43

red carpet welcome in France despite concerns that

23:46

China might be on the brink of a

23:48

trade war with the EU. Unlike

23:50

other EU nations and like

23:52

Serbia the Hungarian government has

23:55

welcomed deepening economic ties with

23:57

China while maintaining friendly relations

23:59

with Moscow. From Budapest, Nick

24:01

Thore sent this report. Nick

24:30

Thore. For

24:57

more on President Xi's visit to Budapest

24:59

and its financial implications, Ed Butler spoke

25:01

to Zoltán Pogátze, a Hungarian political economist

25:04

and lecturer at the University of West

25:06

Hungary. Ed Butler. Most of

25:08

the Western world has been taking part

25:10

in this process of decoupling from China.

25:13

Hungary has chosen a very different path. I think

25:16

Hungary in recent years has

25:18

very consciously opted out of

25:20

this decoupling process and has

25:22

continued to even intensify

25:24

its economic relationship and political

25:27

relationship with China. China

25:29

is a major investor in

25:31

Hungary and Hungary is trying

25:33

to be a supporter to

25:35

China, but the relationship is

25:37

at the moment rather one-sided. It's

25:40

mostly Chinese investments and

25:42

Chinese exports to Hungary.

25:45

And in recent years, this

25:47

has basically taken a leap

25:49

forward with very massive investments

25:52

in the automotive sector, in

25:55

electric vehicles and in

25:57

battery production. Something

26:00

like I was seeing loans

26:02

up to $100 billion worth

26:04

coming to Hungary from China in the

26:06

last 20 years or so, it seems

26:09

like a very large number compared to other

26:12

Central European countries. I mean, what

26:14

is the factory that's being planned

26:17

that we know is to be

26:19

built making EVs, Chinese EVs in

26:21

Hungary? Actually, we are talking

26:23

about more than one factory. BYD

26:26

has already announced that they will

26:28

be building a plant in the

26:30

southern Hungarian city of Seged, CATL,

26:34

which is a major

26:36

battery producer. It

26:38

will be the biggest plant making batteries

26:41

in all of Europe. This will be

26:43

in Debrecen, which is in east Hungary.

26:47

And there is a suspicion that

26:49

Great Wall Motors, which is

26:51

another electric vehicle maker, will

26:53

announce during the visit of

26:55

President Xi Jinping to Hungary

26:57

yet another plant, which will

26:59

be in Péch, which is

27:02

in southwestern Hungary. I mean, it's

27:04

amazing, isn't it? All of these

27:06

plants, that's all the Hungarian foreign

27:09

minister was castigating journalists for reporting

27:11

on this deal, the potential deal,

27:13

that's the Great Wall car

27:15

company deal, because the speculation

27:17

was against national interest. But

27:19

I think there is this wider

27:21

context to this, isn't there, that

27:24

as you say, whilst Hungary is

27:26

allowing or inviting all of this

27:28

huge investment and car making, which

27:30

must be great, I suppose, for

27:32

Hungarian jobs and so on, it's

27:34

happening at a time when the rest of

27:37

the EU seems to be pushing against the

27:40

influx of Chinese electric

27:42

vehicles. On the

27:44

Chinese side, the interest is definitely

27:47

in manufacturing cars within

27:49

the EU. So if you export

27:51

cars, electric vehicles from China to

27:53

the European Union, you face the

27:55

threats of having to pay huge

27:58

customs due to the EU. which

28:00

the EU is about to

28:02

introduce because of the competitive

28:04

advantage of Chinese electric cars

28:06

and the generous state subsidies

28:09

by the Chinese state. But

28:11

if you move some of

28:13

this production into the European

28:15

Union, Hungary being a member

28:17

state of the EU, your

28:19

production in Hungary actually counts

28:21

as European production from the

28:23

internal market, and therefore you're

28:25

not facing any customs, duties

28:27

or quotas, which of course

28:29

is basically a circumvention

28:31

of the protectionist policies of

28:33

the EU. Zoltán

28:35

Porgatza, a Hungarian political

28:38

economist. The pharmaceutical

28:40

giant AstraZeneca says it's withdrawing

28:42

its COVID-19 vaccine worldwide.

28:44

A statement from the company said

28:46

the decision was purely commercial as

28:48

a jab had been overtaken by

28:50

updated vaccines targeting new variants of

28:52

the virus. However, there

28:55

have been concerns about rare side

28:57

effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine. James

28:59

Venendez spoke to our health correspondent

29:02

Sophie Hutchinson. So is

29:04

AstraZeneca right to say its vaccine

29:06

is out of date? Many

29:08

things have happened along the way. If you cast your

29:10

mind back to 2020 when

29:12

our only protection from COVID-19

29:15

was social distancing, and then

29:17

you come to the autumn

29:20

of 2020, and suddenly you've

29:22

got these first vaccines and AstraZeneca was

29:24

one of them. Now since then many

29:27

things have happened along the road, including

29:29

the fact that many of us are

29:31

now immune to COVID-19. And

29:35

what the company is saying today is that

29:37

it hasn't tweaked its vaccine. It hasn't, it

29:39

isn't up to date with the new variants that

29:41

have come along. And so it is

29:44

less useful in the world. There is less

29:46

demand for it. It wants to therefore wind

29:49

it down. And it says also that there's a

29:51

surplus of other vaccines. In other words, if

29:53

people haven't got immunity, there's other places

29:55

to go, right? Well, that's it really.

29:58

The Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna. a

30:00

vaccine are still very much used in the

30:02

world. But what happened was

30:04

that AstraZeneca was hailed as being a

30:06

vaccine for the world when it was

30:08

brought in in that autumn of 2020.

30:12

It was made in record time, 10 months

30:14

instead of 10 years. It was cheaper than

30:16

the others. It was easier to store it.

30:18

It didn't have to be stored at such

30:20

low temperatures. And it's estimated to have

30:23

saved 6.5 million

30:25

lives just here in the UK in its

30:27

first year. So it was

30:29

hailed as a phenomenal success. But

30:31

although it was so for most

30:34

people, there is this tiny minority

30:36

of people who suffer extremely serious

30:38

side effects. Yes. So

30:40

this is blood clots caused by the

30:42

vaccine. That's right. Extremely rare.

30:44

And it seems to occur

30:46

in younger adults, particularly in

30:48

men. And so in 2021,

30:51

the European Union got extremely

30:53

concerned about this very small

30:56

number of cases where patients

30:58

had suffered terrible side effects

31:00

and died. And then in

31:03

the UK in April, 2021,

31:06

it was banned for adults under a

31:08

certain age and eventually under the age

31:10

of 40 adults were not given the

31:12

AstraZeneca vaccine in the end. It is linked to

31:15

73 deaths in the

31:17

UK, but to put that in context, out of

31:19

nearly 50 million doses. So

31:21

you can see that these are extremely

31:23

rare side effects, but if

31:25

they happen to you, they can threaten

31:28

your life. And there are a

31:30

number of court cases with people claiming

31:32

to have been harmed by the vaccine.

31:34

So all of this really goes into

31:36

the mix, I guess. Sophie

31:39

Hutchinson. Now, it's not

31:41

every day that you find an archaeological treasure in

31:43

your back garden, but that's what happened to 55

31:46

year old geography teacher Graham senior when

31:48

he was clearing weeds and stones at

31:50

his home in Coventry in the English Midlands. Not

31:54

far below the surface of the soil,

31:56

he came across a rectangular rock about 11

31:58

centimetres or four metres. inches long.

32:00

It's believed to be more than 1600 years

32:04

old and is inscribed in a

32:07

rare ancient language called Ogham, also

32:09

known as Ogham. Tim

32:11

Franks heard from the archaeologist Teresa

32:14

Gilmour from Birmingham museums and first

32:16

from Graham himself, who quite quickly

32:18

realised he'd found something very

32:20

special. I looked at it

32:22

and it clearly marked down one edge and

32:25

it was far too regular a mark for

32:27

it to have been made by an animal

32:29

or it for a curse naturally. I thought

32:32

at first it was some kind of calendar.

32:34

I think I remember sharing that with Teresa

32:36

but it turned out to be a script

32:38

called Ogham which I'd never heard of before.

32:41

At what point did people start getting

32:44

very excited? Well I get the impression

32:46

Teresa got quite excited straight away. Well

32:50

let's in that case bring Teresa

32:52

in here. Teresa

32:54

you're the expert in

32:56

all this. Tell me what your first contact

32:59

with this stone was. I

33:01

think Graham called me to start with and said

33:03

I found this rock I think it's calendar stone

33:05

and I said okay send me some photos

33:08

and when the photos came through I

33:10

saw the markings down the side and

33:12

recognised that yes they were regularly they'd

33:14

been man-made but it was of a

33:16

particular type of writing called Ogham. It's

33:18

normally Irish style but we don't get

33:20

them in the Midlands. They're normally

33:23

kind of over an island up

33:25

in Scotland down in Cornwall area.

33:27

When I thought it was Ogham

33:29

I sent it to Catherine Forsythe

33:31

up at Glasgow University, one of

33:33

the country's leading experts on

33:35

Ogham and she pretty much confirmed very

33:38

very quickly that it was definitely Ogham and

33:40

it was a very important find. And how old

33:42

do we think the stone is? We

33:45

think it's probably fifth to sixth century but

33:47

it could be as early as the fourth

33:49

century. And have you been able to

33:51

read the script? Catherine has

33:54

done a translation and she's translated

33:56

it as Mal Donkyle f

33:58

lass. So

34:00

the first part of the inscription

34:03

is actually someone's name, male dumb

34:05

cow. The second part,

34:07

the S-Laf, we're still trying to

34:09

interpret that. It might be a

34:11

location of where the person's from or it could

34:13

be their occupation. We don't know at this point

34:15

in time. Were you aware

34:17

that people from Ireland were travelling

34:20

to this part of England? Not

34:23

really. So the fantastic thing about this

34:25

is it's giving us more evidence in

34:27

our archaeological puzzle of how people did

34:29

move around the area and it's just

34:31

showing how people are moving from one

34:34

country to another, how trade is happening and

34:36

in this case, how you're getting different contacts.

34:39

Theresa Gilmore from Birmingham Museums

34:42

and teacher Graham Sr. And

34:46

that's all from us for now but there will be

34:48

a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If

34:51

you want to comment on this podcast

34:53

or the topics covered, you can send

34:55

us an email. The address is globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk.

34:58

You can also find us on x at

35:01

Global News Pod. This edition was

35:03

mixed by Caroline Driscoll, the previous edition.

35:19

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