Ed Sheeran speaks out on Gaza

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0:30Listen to Choiceology at schwab.com slash podcast or wherever you listen. Odoo, providing tools for businesses across industries into one fully integrated platform. Whatever your business needs, Odoo is committed to providing it. Learn more at odoo.com. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatton and in the early hours of Sunday the 20th of September these are our main stories. Ed Sheeran calls the situation in Gaza catastrophic at his first concert since the rapper McLemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over pro-Palestinian comments. Children in Gaza returned to damaged schools for their first formal schooling after nearly three years of war.

1:20And the Houthis in Yemen say they've launched missiles and drones at targets in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh. Also in this podcast, how missing Y chromosomes could be an early warning sign of cancer. And it becomes a larger meditation, I hope, about time and the mysteries of being alive and faith. A documentary filmmaker interviews the world's oldest people.

1:50Ed Sheeran's been in the spotlight since the rapper McLemore was dropped from his tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks. All of the British singer's supporting acts, including his band, withdrew from the tour in solidarity and ticket prices fell dramatically. But Ed Sheeran pushed ahead and at a solo concert in Philadelphia, he addressed the controversy for the first time. I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.

2:27But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel and at the No Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, of children's lives. The systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times and listening and learning because I do not know enough.

3:14There was a notable police presence at the stadium in Philadelphia as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside. We need more people like Macklemore and like other artists who have a voice, who have a public platform to be able to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation. I'm in solidarity with the Palestinian people. I certainly know as a black man in America how it feels to be oppressed. And genocide is wrong. And people have to have the courage from all walks of life to stand up and speak out against it. Our correspondent Carl Nassman spoke to me from outside the venue.

3:48We were in some of the first rows of the concert tonight and everybody was waiting to hear how Ed Sheeran, whether Ed Sheeran would address the controversy of the past few days and weeks on his tour. And it was really the first thing he did. He walked out on stage by himself and he starts to talk everyone through what he's been thinking. And you could hear the room went silent. The stadium was really wrapped and paying attention to every word he said. And it seemed to go down very well. I think a lot of people were relieved that he came out, spoke what would have been on his mind, and especially addressing the situation in the Middle East, addressing the situation with the rapper Macklemore being dropped from his tour.

4:29And I should say, the biggest, I think, applause and reaction to this speech was when he said that he was determined to continue his tour. He wanted to come tonight and play for all these fans, even though he said he had no backing band, he had no warm-up backs, but he was committed to continuing this tour because he said he was there really to perform for his tens of thousands of fans tonight. So Ed Sheeran was standing alone on stage. We were expecting a very stripped-back show. What was it like? Yeah, it was, I think, one of those kinds of shows that really demonstrate how talented Ed Sheeran is as an artist.

5:06He was just there with him and his guitar, and he was using one of these loop machines where he can play a few chords, record that, play another few chords, record a bit of vocalization, and he loops it and he loops it, and he's able to make that into this rich, amazing backing track that he then would perform, I think, maybe his first five or six songs that way. And then in the middle of the concert, there was a bit of a surprise. he said he had about three days to come up with a backing band that could make it to Philadelphia, that could learn the songs he wanted to perform, because he really emphasized he didn't want this concert to change too much for the people that paid to get into the venue.

5:42And he was able to dig up some friends of his that could play the drums, play the fiddle, play the guitar, and really be there to create this amazing atmosphere. So it was really a fun night. And there was actually this one emotional moment midway through the concert where he said, hey, I don't know if you've been looking recently at social media, but there's been a lot of chatter about me and about this concert. I was worried, he said, about the way that I might be received here by you. And that was when the entire stadium erupted into applause for, you know, really to support Ed Sheeran in that moment.

6:17And I think that kind of shows you, I think there have been some doubts about Ed Sheeran, maybe, you know, the way that he handled this and he admitted that he made mistakes. But clearly he really had the support of that stadium tonight. So, Carl, what's your sense of this now? Will this statement on stage have made any difference? Will this issue go away for Ed Sheeran? I think we'll have to see how it plays out, especially next week, because he will be performing in Gillette Stadium, the owner of which, Robert Kraft, was reportedly one of the biggest factors in trying to get Macklemore dropped from this tour.

6:51So I think it will be interesting to see next week how he's received there, which is a stadium just outside of Boston. But overall, this may have put some of the doubts to bed. I think he might have said just enough to keep himself kind of above the issue of the war in Gaza. But I think those comments probably strong enough for those who might have wanted him to come out with a stronger stance when this whole controversy first started. Carl Nassman in Philadelphia. Let's focus now on what's happening inside Gaza. For the first time since the Hamas attacks on Israel sparked the devastating war, half a million children in Gaza are returning to formal education with the start of the academic school year.

7:33That's happening even though the UN says 97 % of schools in the Palestinian territory are damaged or destroyed. Jacob Evans reports.

7:45The first day back at school can be a nerve-wracking moment. For young Mawayyad Abu Mustafa, it's a feeling of excitement instead.

7:55The last time I've been to school was three years ago. Now we're starting the school year. It's a year for joy, happiness and success. Gaza's health ministry says 22 ,000 children have been killed by Israel since the war began. Countless more have been injured and traumatised. Children like Mawayyad. We have lost our friends during the war. We are here alone. We don't have good clothes, we have nothing, not even good shoes. The stationery before the war was cheap, now it's expensive. We don't have notebooks or pencils and despite all this, we will learn. We will learn even in a tent. There have been some temporary learning spaces run by various agencies in the last few years.

8:33But now, by working alongside the UN, the Education Ministry has been able to open about 700 education facilities across Gaza as part of the plan to get formal schooling back underway. Pictures online show children sat on bare floors inside tents. Others show pupils sat in the remnants of schools, chalkboards peppered with gunfire. However, despite a ceasefire being implemented last year, the fighting in Gaza is not over. Om Jibril Hamida fears for her kids. We want our children to live like the other children in the world. It's a long way to school and in the past we had transport, but now there is none to ensure my son's safety.

9:11When he leaves, I ask God to keep him safe. I'm afraid because the war is not over yet and there are still people being targeted, which means my son and daughter can be hit by shrapnel on their way to school. Her fears are not without precedent. On Saturday, at least three people were reportedly killed in the latest Israeli attacks, including a 10-year-old girl who was shot. There's been no reply from Israel. Jacob Evans. Saudi Arabia is one of the richest and most powerful countries in the Middle East, and yet on Saturday, an area near the capital's international airport was hit in a drone strike.

9:45Images from Riyadh showed a black tower of smoke rising into the sky after an oil depot appeared to have been targeted. Other strikes hit the Saudi Red Sea city of Yanbo. Yemen's Houthi rebels have already claimed responsibility for those attacks, marking a major uptick in the Houthi pressure on the Saudis. The Houthis are already blockading a key Red Sea shipping route for Saudi oil and hitting Saudi oil facilities with drones and missiles. Globally, the Houthis' growing assertiveness could have an impact on the prices we all pay for oil and gas. And inside Saudi Arabia, the conflict is being felt too.

10:25Saturday's strikes marked the first time since the recent escalation that the city's residents have received an alert on their phones urging them to stay indoors. James Kamarasamy heard more from Aziz Al-Gashian from the Gulf International Forum. He's in Riyadh. I think there was an attempt by the Houthis to really strike at the airport. And, you know, many people have been discussing that there were alarms going off on their phones. And that's something that's happening here. And basically, these alarms are to make sure that we have to take some safe refuge. I think for the people in the south of Saudi and places that we would call Abha, Khamis Mashaik and Asir and Najran, these are the places that are really close to the Yemeni border, close to the Houthi stronghold.

11:10They receive it far more there. However, I think for Riyadh, the last time something like this happened was actually when the Iran-US war was still in its full swing. And so that was a few months ago. That was maybe in April. I remember it very vividly in March and Ramadan when the phones were going off. But, you know, it's rare, I think, for Saudis to have it and people here living in Riyadh. It was concerning. A sort of wake up call for the people of Riyadh that things are going in potentially in a bad direction? Before the ceasefire that happened that took place in 2022, in 2021, I remember vividly also hearing loud explosions.

11:52But, you know, since then, I think the Saudi authorities took it upon themselves to say, we have to really install alarms and early warning systems for citizens and people living here. I would say the wake up call is literally a wake up call because it did wake us up around three, four in the morning. And it just reminds everyone that there is a situation that's happening. It's also worth noting that Riyadh is actually very, very big. You know, it is a huge city. So while people may hear it in one place, they may not hear the explosions and see the remnants of these explosions in other places.

12:30So the Saudi social media, the official accounts keep indicating time and again that, you know, giving these warnings and saying, hey, there are these warnings that are happening. So I have to say there are these reminders, but it's a reminder that there is a simmering situation. Situation is under control. That's what they're trying to communicate. You're about to take a flight. How do you feel about taking a flight from Riyadh International Airport? I feel confident because I think, you know, if I was closer to the border, I would be more concerned. Moreover, I think because I am a traveler and a researcher.

13:04And so I think being stuck in airports due to conflicts, you know, something I'm kind of a little bit used to. So I think I'm a little bit apprehensive and hopefully that this won't be something more than just a delay. But in my opinion right now, I think because we are in Riyadh, we are really literally in the heart of Saudi Arabia. I'm feeling more confident than apprehensive. What about diplomacy in the region? Are the Saudi authorities speaking directly to the Iranians who back the Houthis and telling them to back off, telling them this is unacceptable? They are. And that's why the Saudi diplomatic channels and the bilateral relationship has not been severed during the war.

13:48While we have our diplomatic channels with them, we are also using and trying to leverage the diplomatic channels that we have with both China and Pakistan, our new ally, in order for them to begin to influence upon or encourage Iran to rain down the Houthis. Aziz Al-Gashian. Staying with this story, these latest attacks are likely to increase pressure on the United States to intervene more directly against the Houthis. John Sfakianakis is chief economist at the Gulf Research Center in Riyadh. He says the current escalation is clearly destabilizing the region. Well, it is damaging for everybody and nobody is spared from this.

14:32The UAE in the past was attacked. Qatar, we've seen Kuwait, and of course, Saudi Arabia now. And of course, something has to be done. And here we need to have both the Gulf countries supporting Saudi Arabia, but also the US needs to step in and needs to take a more active role as it has distance itself, because it's critical for oil prices and the freedom of navigation, which is so important. Now we have both straits under some kind of closure and it's quite difficult to get product oil out. That is quite critical because it is four to five percent of global oil that we're seeing being taken off and there is no additional five percent or five million barrels being taken back in by any of the countries.

15:19And oil is at one hundred and three, one hundred and four dollars a barrel, it could easily go 130, 140 if it is not addressed. The U.S. has to step in. John Svakianakis in Riyadh. As men get older, many of them start seeing a gradual loss of the Y chromosome in some of their body tissue. Until a few years ago, it was thought that this was a harmless side effect of aging. But new research suggests that this process can increase the risk of cancer. American scientists have found evidence that Y chromosome loss was greatest in the areas around tumours. Mark Jobling is professor of genetics at England's Leicester University.

16:00He told us more about the study. The Y chromosome is sex determining. So what that means is when an embryo is developing, if it has a Y chromosome, then it will become a male. And if it doesn't, then it will become a female. When cells divide, they have to carry out a kind complex dance of the chromosomes to make sure that the two daughter cells inherit the right numbers of chromosomes. And sometimes that goes wrong, and it goes increasingly wrong as we age. The Y chromosome is actually the smallest chromosome we have, and that may make it more vulnerable to this kind of problem. So in the general population, about 40 % of men over 70 show this phenomenon.

16:43It's not all the cells in the body that lose the Y chromosome. it's a proportion and that proportion will vary. That loss is associated with a wide range of cancers, not just male specific cancers, but these are cancers that affect both men and women. It seems that men who have loss of Y chromosome, their tumours may be differently sensitive to certain chemotherapeutic drugs and to radiotherapy. So it could be in the future that if a man has loss of Y chromosome, then he may be treated slightly differently. It's rather early days in that though. Professor Mark Jobling. Still to come in this podcast.

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19:38This is the Global News Podcast. South Africans have taken to the streets.

19:57Protesters are calling on the police to do more to deal with the country's staggering levels of femicides following the murders of nine women in eastern Johannesburg in recent months. One of the women, Elizabeth Moselihomo, was killed while out for a run. Runners organized an event to honor her and defend the right of women to run freely in a country that has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. These people explained why they were taking part. I'm scared for my life. My mother is scared. My granny, everyone, every woman in our lives, they're all thinking of this anxiousness of why are we even here?

20:33We need active policing. We need patrolling. We need visibility with police. I think as men across the country, let's call it out when we see it. Let's do our part in what I call country duty. Let's not condone these type of things and think that it doesn't affect us. It does. Janat Jalil spoke to our correspondent in Johannesburg, Pumza Falani. Some of the sentiments that you heard expressed there, in fact, I've heard repeated over the last few days in various communities. that are visited, the main thing that people are calling for, they're saying that it cannot be business as usual in South Africa.

21:09All too often they say we are in these heightened moments where there are spates of killings and there seems to be an upsurge of interest and soon that then fizzles away and very little happens in terms of prostitutions and even arrests and they're saying that that needs to change, saying that this is perhaps another moment where South Africans can rally and increase their demands on the government and the pressure that they put on officials to make sure that something changes this time. And how have the authorities been responding? Well, they've said President Cyril Ramaphosa, in reaction to the discoveries of these bodies, has assembled a specialised team that includes ministers.

21:49He's committed that those ministers will make sure that these murders are treated as a high priority issue, that all the resources that needed are channeled towards this investigation. This could be investigating officers and possibly finding prostitutes that will take on these cases when it eventually gets to that stage. But some people are skeptical. They're saying we've been here before, that it's not a matter of policies, that the policies exist. Just last year alone, this was declared a national disaster, saying that the government says all the right things, but it's the implementation that's a problem.

22:24They're saying also on the sidelines of that, these are now gender campaigners, they're saying another thing that needs to be addressed, and it can only be led at government level, are the harmful attitudes that some men in South Africa hold towards women. And they're saying that the manifestation of that violence is what we are seeing here and repeatedly whenever there are cases of sexual violence against women and in worst cases, murder. Pumse Fellani. Germany is holding two state elections this weekend. Normally, such votes don't generate much interest outside the country's borders. But that's not the case this time.

23:01This is part of the reason why.

23:10That was the scene two weeks ago in the eastern German state of Saxony and Halt, where the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, or AFD, party recorded its best-ever result, but without winning an absolute majority. Now, all eyes are on the AFD to see if it can continue its political rise in this weekend's elections. And that could further increase the pressure on Germany's highly unpopular leader, Friedrich Mertz, to stand aside for someone who can revive the fortunes of his once-dominant CDU party, especially if the CDU fails to reach the minimum 5 % threshold in one of the states. Jessica Parker is our Berlin correspondent.