In short
Global News Podcast - Episode Summary
Episode Title President Trump oversees agreement between Thailand and Cambodia
Episode Description In this episode, the Global News Podcast covers a range of breaking news stories, including President Trump's involvement in the ASEAN summit, Hurricane Melissa, protests in Spain, the New York mayoral elections, and various other global occurrences.
Key Discussions
- Trump's Role in ASEAN Summit
- President Trump attends the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.
- Oversees the signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to normalize relations post-border conflict.
- The agreement includes:
- Ceasefire declaration.
- Release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war.
- Deployment of ASEAN observers to monitor peace.
- Trump emphasizes his role as a peacemaker, claiming to have saved millions of lives.
- Hurricane Melissa
- Hurricane Melissa, categorized as a Category 3 storm, threatens Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic with winds up to 170 km/h.
- Reports of rising death tolls and destruction from previous storms, especially in Haiti and Cuba, both grappling with crises.
- Anniversary of Valencia Floods
- Commemoration of the floods in Valencia that killed over 200 people.
- Tens of thousands protested against government responses to the disaster.
- Residents express ongoing anger and feelings of abandonment by authorities.
- New York Mayoral Elections
- Early voting begins, highlighting the rift within the Democratic Party.
- Candidates:
- Zohran Mamdani: Democratic socialist, aims for progressive reforms.
- Andrew Cuomo: Former governor, emphasizes his experience.
- Curtis Sliwa: Republican, focuses on safety.
- Issues include the war in the Middle East, migration, living costs, and safety.
- Chess Community Controversy
- The death of Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky leads to tensions in the chess community.
- Accusations of bullying directed towards former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.
- Kramnik defends himself amidst calls for disciplinary action from the World Chess Federation.
- Chinese Embassy Controversy
- Debate over the construction of a new Chinese embassy in London, raising national security concerns.
- Local residents express fears about the implications of the embassy's location and activities.
- Japanese Film Release Delayed
- A horror film about bear attacks delayed due to rising real-life incidents of bear attacks in Japan, with nine fatalities reported this year.
- The film aims to address the issue of wildlife encroachment due to habitat loss.
Key Takeaways
- Global Diplomacy: Trump's engagement signifies a strategic approach to U.S. relations within Southeast Asia, despite mixed reactions and underlying regional tensions.
- Natural Disasters: The impact of climate change on hurricane severity and frequency is a growing concern, particularly for vulnerable Caribbean nations.
- Local Governance: The Valencia floods highlight ongoing dissatisfaction with disaster management and government accountability.
- Political Landscape: The New York mayoral race serves as an indicator of shifting political dynamics within the Democratic Party and broader U.S. politics.
- Cultural Conflicts: The chess community's response to Naroditsky's death illustrates the complex interactions between mental health, competition, and public perception in sports.
- Security and Sovereignty: The Chinese embassy issue underscores the delicate balance between diplomatic relations and national security considerations.
- Cinematic Reflection: The decision to delay the film in light of real-world events emphasizes the responsibility of media creators to react sensitively to contemporary issues.
Closing Remarks The Global News Podcast continues to provide critical insights into current affairs and their implications across various domains, from politics to environmental issues. The episode highlights significant international events and their local impacts, fostering a better understanding of global interconnectivity.
Contact Information: For comments on the podcast, send an email to [globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk](mailto:globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk) or find them on social media using the hashtag #GlobalNewsPod.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
0:30Find out more at polandyourplacetogrow.com. Every day, millions of customers engage with AI agents like me. We work round the clock and have the facts at our fingertips. We're fast and effective, but incredibly patient. And we're built on Sierra, the leading AI-powered customer experience platform. No hold music, just answers and action. Visit sierra.ai to learn more. That's sierra.ai.
1:27Thailand and Cambodia. Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba brace for what could be the strongest hurricane to tear through the Caribbean in decades. Tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Valencia in Spain one year on from the deadly floods. Also in this podcast, early voting begins in the New York mayoral elections and the Japanese horror film that has been pulled from cinemas for now because it's too close to life.
2:00If President Trump has more or less neglected summits of the Southeast Asian nations, he's made sure to attend the one currently taking place in Malaysia. As usual, ASEAN brings together leaders from the Southeast Asian bloc, along with partners, including China and the US. And there, Mr Trump has been overseeing the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, one of the conflicts he's keen to say he's solved. Here's a little of what he had to say. Now these gentlemen are about to sign what we're calling the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, good name. Both countries are agreeing to cease all hostilities and work to build good neighborly relationships, which they've already started.
2:4618 Cambodian prisoners of war will be released and under this agreement observers from ASEAN countries including Malaysia will be deployed to make sure that the peace prevails and endures. I have no doubt that it will. Mr Trump will also be meeting leaders such as Brazil's Lula de Silva and has even suggested a second face-to-face meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. And here's what Mr Trump had to say earlier about a potential deal with China's President Xi. I think a complete deal. I want our farmers to be taken care of, and he wants things also. We're going to be talking about fentanyl, of course.
3:28Fentanyl is killing a lot of people. A lot of people. It comes from China. And we'll be talking about that. We'll be talking about a lot of things. I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal. So what's happened at the summit so far? It's a question I asked the BBC's Jonathan Head, who's in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. It's the Trump show. I mean, you know, Mr Trump is always a great salesman. You know, his speech was long, full of superlatives, and part of a claim, this great claim he makes to be a great peacemaker. So he was really bigging up this deal, talking about saving millions of lives, about these two countries, you know, being at daggers drawn until he intervened.
4:11I mean, it was classic Trump. And he was the centrist, of course. Remember, this ceremony was specifically requested by Donald Trump as a condition for even coming to Malaysia. It's not part of the original ASEAN schedule. Thailand and Cambodia, frankly, are still at daggers drawn. What they've actually signed is some very technical agreements on how to start demilitarising their border. Nothing to do with resolving the border dispute. And as the Thai government spokesman said to us, This is just the very start of a process. But Mr Trump wanted a grand peace ceremony, and they gave him one. This entire region is extremely dependent on exports to the US.
4:51They've been massively disrupted by Trump's tariff war. They need to get on his good side, and he wanted a grand ceremony. He got it, and, I mean, it was in some ways almost comedy gold. He's such a great performer, Donald Trump, when it comes to selling himself and selling what he's doing, and he just hogs the limelight. I mean, perhaps the best moment was when his host, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, cracked a joke that might not go down very well with Donald Trump because Mr Anwar referred to his time having spent time in prison, which he did, of course, as an effective political prisoner, and then said to Donald Trump, you nearly went there too.
5:24We've yet to see what President Trump's reaction to that was. But the fact that these countries are humoring him, well, he would say it as proof that his strategy of tariffs, to force them to do what he wants are working. I think it does. I mean, it works certainly in terms of getting them to concentrate their minds and to make progress. Even the Thais, who are far more reluctant about this whole thing, about internationalising their dispute, said, look, there's no question Donald Trump has sped up the process of us beginning the talks with Cambodia on how we can demilitarise. It's just, it's going to be a very difficult process, as all these peace agreements that Donald Trump is brokering are going to be, you know, that you get them started, but actually making them work in practice is very, very difficult.
6:08But, you know, Mr Trump, as we know, is on this campaign to be seen as a peacemaker. We assume he's still pushing for a Nobel Prize next year. The Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet, was very early in nominating him for the Nobel Prize. The Cambodians actually wanted him involved in this. And, you know, with the power the US has with its markets, the tariffs are a very powerful source of leverage, and particularly in this region, because they're so dependent on exports, they kind of have to humour him. I don't think they mind too much. I think having Donald Trump here, having the Americans here, burnishes this regional summit and makes it seem more important.
6:42So everyone was willing to go along with this. The BBC's Jonathan Head. Life-threatening and catastrophic. Words being used to describe Hurricane Melissa, which is bearing down on Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It's been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane and winds of up to 170 kilometres an hour are forecast. For these tourists at Jamaica Airport, it's time to head home. We arrived on the 20th of October. Obviously there was no indications that there was a storm coming. We have spent since Thursday trying to figure out where and what, but it wasn't until about an hour ago that we got a notification to say that we were going home?
7:28We were on vacation for like four days and we decided to wait it out and not cut the vacation because we just hoped the weather would change. It didn't change and they switched our flight four times and so now we're just hoping that they don't switch the flight again. Three people have already been killed in Haiti in bad weather. I asked our Central America correspondent, Will Grant, to explain how bad the hurricane could be. The potential for Hurricane Melissa to hit Jamaica very, very hard is clearly there. So the islanders are obviously bracing themselves for a serious impact. Obviously, the beginnings of that are being felt not just in Jamaica, but also neighbouring Haiti and Cuba.
8:12The eastern tip of Cuba, the southwestern tip of Haiti have already felt the rains and the high winds beginning to start. But the potential for this to be, as you say, one of the biggest storms to hit Jamaica on record is certainly there. Just how bad could this be and how prepared is the island? And I noticed you mentioned Haiti. I mean, Haiti is not a place that needs any more bad luck. No, it isn't. Nor, in fact, is Cuba. Both of those islands in different ways are going through major crises. Certainly in the Cuban example, it's already suffering from sometimes nationwide blackouts, major food shortages.
8:48So the idea of power being cut off to the eastern tip of the island for several days is very, very concerning to residents there. And of course, when there are so many blackouts, getting information to people is difficult in the first place. In the Haitian example, as you say, it is in the grip of its biggest security and humanitarian crisis, probably the biggest humanitarian crisis in the Americas. And the absolute last thing it needs is a category four or five hurricane smashing into part of the island of Hispaniola. So there are serious dangers there. In terms of Jamaica, people are, of course, experienced, not just in Jamaica, across the Caribbean.
9:25People are very experienced with hurricanes. But sometimes there is a limit to what can be done. Obviously, the authorities are setting up storm shelters. They are getting the word out. People are quite literally battening down the hatches, putting up boarding over businesses and homes and so on. But when nations are as impoverished as some of these places we're talking about, again, particularly Haiti, there is a limit to what some people can do. Yeah, these predictions of it being the worst in 40 years, it does feel as though we're using this kind of language on an even more regular basis now.
10:02The magnitude and frequency of these storms has been increasing year on year. It's becoming noticeably more complex across the Caribbean. And the argument of some of the small island nations is that they are bearing the brunt of climate change, that they are actually the smallest contributors to carbon emissions, but they receive the rising sea levels, the worst hurricanes, the more intense and more frequent tropical storms. Will Grant. Let's go now to the Spanish city of Valencia.
10:39We're on the week of the anniversary of the floods that killed more than 200 people. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets to protest about the way the disaster was handled by the authorities. Vicente Carbonero was among the protesters. He's the secretary of the Association of Flood Survivors. My colleague Paul Henley asked him if people were still angry. Still very angry here in the region, you know. We still feel like abandoned for that day. You've been having a monthly protest ever since the flood. Are things growing? Well, the first one was the biggest one, we have to say.
11:16And today's, I would say, is one of the biggest since one year ago. Maybe the second or the third one. What do you hope to achieve? What do you want to happen? Well, Carlos Mazón, who is right now is the local maximum representation for local government. We want him to go away. That's it. As simple as that. He's not very empathic with the people and he should be on chief of the situation. And he's lying every time and he's not representing Valencian people at all. Tell me of your experience in these floods. You were caught by surprise in your home, weren't you? Yes, I was at home, no warnings.
11:56And all of a sudden, the water level was rising and rising and rising. And it was quite scary, of course. The water was rising and rising. what happened you had to move upstairs yes of course yeah hopefully i have upstairs you know at home but a lot of people they haven't so i was lucky i could go to the upstairs to the first floor but it was scary that you saw that the level water level was raising and raising not not stopping and at the end it was quite a scary situation 230 people died that time that during those floods. What is being done, if anything, now to make sure there aren't more deaths?
12:35There is reconstruction plans. They started to work with that. Still it's like maybe five, six years to achieve that. So we are still scared. The last month we had a red warning for heavy rains again and of course people are scared in general because nothing has been done yet. You say you feel abandoned by the government. How so? For the three, four briefest days, nobody came. Nobody from institutions, nobody. Only volunteers, citizens like us from Valencia, from everywhere in Spain, everywhere in Europe, they came to help us, but not the institutions. We're really very hungry with that. Totally abandoned.
13:19Vicente Carbonero in Valencia. Now, if there was one prisoner the British government wouldn't have wanted mistakenly released its Hadush Kabatu, an Ethiopian migrant sex offender, jailed in September for 12 months. He'd sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Essex while staying at public expense in a hotel, sparking protests outside, and a growing sense the government hadn't got to grips with migrant issues in Britain. Kabatu was due to be sent to an immigration centre ahead of his planned deportation. Instead, on Friday, he was accidentally set free with money to help him and is still on the run, a turn of events which was quite extraordinary, as I suggested to our political correspondent Rob Watson.
14:09The real problem for the government of Sir Keir Starmer, the relatively new Labour government, is that this incident really plays into a wider sense that the British people have, and you might say it was fair or not fair, Alex, and that this is a country where nothing works properly, You know, whether it's the prison system in this case, whether it's transport, whatever it is, the sort of sense that Britain is broken, because in releasing a prisoner who should have actually been sent for deportation, someone who was at the centre of all this sort of angry row in Britain about people who have arrived here on small boats, someone who'd been accused of and found guilty of sexual assault charges.
14:50I mean, you just couldn't make this stuff up. Yeah, of all the prisoners that could have been accidentally released, it is hard to think of one that could have created more of a headache for the British government. It would be hard to disagree with you, Alex, absolutely, because, again, if one thinks back to the summer and to the protests that were outside the hotel, just outside of London, where this man who had claimed asylum was staying when people in the area found out that he'd been arrested for sexual assault charges. And that then sparked off protests outside other hotels up and down the country, housing people who were trying to claim asylum.
15:33And the idea that it is this person, given all the focus, given all the anger that there is from voters on people coming in small boats, the idea that they are housed at great expenses in hotels, again, is just profoundly uncomfortable for the government. But more than the government, the entire system, the prison system, the justice system, you name it, everybody is feeling, everyone in the system is feeling low. And a total gift for the government's likely main challenger, the far-right Reform Party. Absolutely. The populist right-of-centre Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, is already making hay.
16:14I mean, it was Mr Farage who had drawn attention to these hotels holding asylum seekers. And Nigel Farage has said that this just shows that Britain is broken. And from the former governing Conservative Party, their leader has said that the level of incompetence on display here beggars belief. So a political field day for the government's opponents, everyone taking a swipe, everyone getting into that narrative that somehow that sense of crisis around the Starmer government, the sense that it just can't get anything right. Rob Watson. Still to come on the Global News Podcast.
17:02Why the release of a Japanese film about a man eating bear has been delayed.
17:19of foreign affairs. Looking for the perfect place to grow your business? For over 30 years, Poland has been a launchpad for innovation at the heart of Europe, powered by world-class research and ambitious young talent. From bold startups to established powerhouses, Poland offers the momentum, resources and reliability you need to take your business further. Poland, where businesses don't just grow, they're built to last. Find out more at polandyourplacetogrow.com. this advertisement feature is paid and presented by poland's ministry of foreign affairs when you're thinking about where to scale your business think poland as one of europe's fastest growing economies with a large talent pool it's the ideal place for your business to grow
18:05my name is tomareno i'm the ceo of iliad group iliad is the number five telecom operator in Europe. When we expanded into Poland in 2020, we knew it would be a successful venture. Since then, we have invested over 4.5 billion euros in the Polish economy and become the country's leading mobile operator with Play. Here, we have access to over a million graduates with skilled professionals across IT, software, tech, engineering, and manufacturing. And on top of that, we benefit from favorable business regulations in order to support telecommunication network deployment in order to push digitalization in the public sector.
18:51We also have direct access to global markets. I like to think of it as the Silicon Valley of Europe. Poland has a culture of innovation and that drives business forward. Poland embraces technology early. Digitalization is progressing rapidly in both the public and private sectors. And that's why we are here, to innovate, to invest, to grow together. Global brands and rising scale-ups alike choose Poland as their base for smart, long-term growth. Poland, the place where scale-ups become standouts.
19:40If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the Apartment Bombs. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
20:37BBC's population correspondent Stephanie Hegarty travelled to the Peruvian Amazon where the Mashco Piro live, one of the largest of these isolated groups, to meet those fighting to protect their uncontacted neighbours. Thomas Añez de Santos is warning his neighbours he's here. He's planting in a clearing in the dense Peruvian rainforest, trying to avoid a tense encounter, like what happened last week. One man was standing right there, aiming an arrow at me. I don't know how long I was standing there. I started to run. His neighbours are the Mashkapiro, nomadic hunter-gatherer people who've cut themselves off from the rest of the world for over a century.
21:23An elder in a small fishing village of Nuevo Ciania, Thomas has been living side by side with the Mashkapiro for decades, but he rarely saw them. In this video, three Mashcapiro people are calling across the river to Thomas' village. They're the largest known group still living in voluntary isolation. They rely on the forest for everything they need to survive, hunting with long bows and arrows and gathering plants and fruit. There are up to a thousand Mashcapiro living here in an area the size of Ireland. The Peruvian government has a policy of no contact to protect the Mashkapira from disease and exploitation.
22:05But this part of the forest is not a protected area. Logging companies operate here. And the Mashkapira are coming to this village more and more. You hear it every morning, the logging machines. We ask for the logging to be further away, but it's coming closer. The machines run day and night. And those in the forest, our brothers, how do they feel? We're used to the noise, but they've never heard it. and they're watching the forest destroyed. It's a very different story on another side of Mashcopiro territory, where the forest is protected. Here there's a government control post on the wide Manu River, which was set up in 2015 after interaction between the Mashcopiro and local villages led to several killings.
22:52As the head of the control post, Antonio Trigoso Hidalgo's job is to stop that happening again.
23:01On Monday they started coming out. We were having breakfast and they started shouting brother they said we need plantains, cassava, sugarcane, cloves. I shouted back okay wait three days and come back. When they ask the agents give the mashupira some crops to stop them raiding nearby villages. Over the 10 years he's worked here Antonio has learned a little about the people he calls his brothers.
23:33What I understand now is that they stay in one area for a while, they set up a camp and the whole family gathers. Once they've hunted everything around the place, they move to another site, they rebuild their camp again. It's believed the Mashqapira's ancestors fled into the jungle in the late 19th century to escape widespread massacres by so-called rubber barons, that they became nomads to stay safe. They speak an antiquated dialect of the indigenous Yine language, which the agents who are also Yine have been able to learn. There are about 41 people that Antonio sees regularly.
24:13The chief is a stern man called Kamatolo, or Honeybee. He never smiles. Another leader, Kotko, or Vulture, is a joker. He laughs a lot. and makes fun of the agents. But any time the agents ask about life in the forest, the Mashcopiro shut the conversation down.
24:37Once I asked how they light fires with wood. They told me, you have wood, you already know. I insisted and they said, you already have everything, why do you want to know? They don't want to show how they do it. and they don't want to teach them how to do it. The Mashqopira are well protected here for now. But this is what the people of Nueva Oceania would like to see for their own Mashqopira neighbours and for their forest.
25:08As indigenous people, we have the duty and the right to stand up ourselves. They need to be free like us. We know they lived very peacefully for years and now their forests are being finished off, destroyed.
25:26That report by the BBC's population correspondent Stephanie Hegarty. It's a city election that has captured the attention of the world. In New York, early voting has begun as residents weigh up who should be their next mayor. But the issues at the centre of the election go beyond the local, revealing deep divides at the heart of American politics, as the newsroom's Isabella Jewell explains. It is for many pundits a possible bellwether for the future of the Democratic Party. Not only are the two frontrunners of the New York mayoral race registered members of the same party, but the contest has also seen the discussion of issues normally reserved for presidential debates.
Read the full transcript
26:09The war in the Middle East and migration have been key points of contention, as well as more local issues like living costs and safety. Voters now face a stark choice between candidates who offer drastically different politics and experience. Leading the polls is the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. He describes himself as a democratic socialist, and if elected, he would become the city's youngest mayor in a century, as well as New York's first Muslim mayor. But he has weathered anti-Muslim rhetoric throughout the contest, Here's what he said about it on TikTok as voting got underway. I will not change who I am.
26:48I will not change how I eat. I will not change the faith that I am proud to belong to. But there is one thing I will change. I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light. Mamdani has captured the imagination of younger voters with his use of social media, pop culture and shareable videos and is calling for rent freezes and the creation of publicly owned grocery stores to address rising food prices. His closest rival in the race is the former New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, who's running as an independent candidate after losing the Democratic primary. Cuomo has criticised Mamdani for his condemnation of Israel's war in Gaza and is appealing to voters to pick him because of his political experience.
27:34Also in the mix is the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, whose central message is that he'll make New York safer. It builds on his colourful history as the founder of the volunteer group Guardian Angels in the 1970s, whose members would patrol the New York metro in red berets, performing citizens' arrests on those committing violent crimes. Isabella Jewell. For the chess community, the death of Grand Master Daniel Naroditsky last week was a tragedy. But the fallout in the days since has been ugly. A former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, who was publicly accused of bullying Naroditsky, has now hit back, saying he's the victim of an unbelievable campaign of hatred and denigration.
28:20Will Chalk has the story. With hundreds of thousands of followers across YouTube and Twitch, American Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky was clearly passionate, not just about the game, but about teaching and helping others. We've got a King's Indian. OK, so we are facing a Fianchetto variation. But in his final stream, two days before he was found dead, he was obviously distressed. I know. Just give me a few more games and then I'll go to sleep. Daniel Naroditsky's family said his death was unexpected, but didn't reveal the cause. Many of his fans, though, were quick to point out that his distress had been building for a while and blamed the accusations of fellow chess player Vladimir Kramnik, The Russian former world champion had repeatedly accused Naroditsky of cheating in online matches without offering any proof.
29:10Naroditsky denied cheating and, in an interview last year, said the allegations were part of a sustained, evil and absolutely unhinged attempt to destroy his life. It's a topic he came back to in his final stream. Ever since the Kramnik stuff, I feel like if I started doing well, people assumed the worst of intentions. After Naroditsky's death, some of the biggest names in chess came out in support of him. World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura said Kramnik could rot in hell. Arguably the game's biggest star, Magnus Carlsen, talked about the feud on one of his own streams. I thought the way he was going after Naroditsky was horrible.
29:53On Wednesday, the World Chess Federation said it had launched disciplinary proceedings against Vladimir Kramnik over his comments both before and after Naroditsky's death. Now we've had a response from Kramnik himself. In a statement via his attorney, the 50-year-old said he was the victim, claiming there'd been an unbelievable campaign of hatred against him. He said he'd filed a criminal complaint after serious threats and unprecedented attacks on his personality and that of his loved ones. It looks then like this is far from over. Often in sport, grief can bring rivals together. But when it comes to the death of Daniel Naroditsky and the world of chess, it looks like the divisions are only getting deeper.
30:39Will Chalk. Britain's relationship with China is an important but sensitive one. The big challenge, how to balance growing concerns about national security with the opportunities of dealing with the world's second largest economy. A political row is brewing over whether to allow a new Chinese mega-embassy to be built in London near the world-famous Tower Bridge. Beijing warned last week of potential consequences after the British government announced another delay before it decides whether or not to give the controversial project the go-ahead. The Chinese bought the site seven years ago, but its plans have led to concerns, with some rooms blanked out for so-called security reasons.
31:24Jamie Kumarasamy's report begins at the housing estate on the site where the Residence Association's Mark Nygate has been leading local efforts to stop the embassy being built.
31:41So this is the North Car Park. Our flats are here, there's 100 flats. Over this side is going to be an embassy house where the staff are going to be living. They're going to convert that into 230 flats. All this will have residents in there. watching us and thinking what they're up to. So we're about how many metres? That's eight and a half metres. Are we standing then on Chinese land at the moment? Yeah, they own this land. I think when they move in, they will see that we're right opposite. They're not going to want that. Down the line, they won't want us here. How would you feel about having to move out?
32:12That would wreck my life because I'm now 65. I'd have to move out of London. I've been in London all my life. So that's very difficult and very worrying.
32:26While one Londoner is worried about being exiled, a Hongkonger who's been exiled here has been leading protests against the embassy. Carmen Lau is a pro-democracy activist who fled to this country. When she came into the BBC, she told me about finding out she had a bounty of nearly£100 ,000 on her head. After there was a bounty placed on me, I was constantly feeling unsafe. And it is not just a sentiment or a feeling because just outside of the street, I was followed by someone. Just now? Yeah. Just as you came here to see us? Yeah. And there has been letters sent to my neighbours here encouraging them to bounty on me.
33:11They have my name, my address, my age, my height, and of course the charges they've put on me. And there's one very specific sentence in the end of the letter in red saying that if anyone could provide information or place me to the Chinese embassy, they would be granted one million Hong Kong dollar reward. That brings us to the new embassy. What are your concerns? We know that China has been actively repressing the dissidents overseas. You could see from the application by the Chinese embassy that there were a few rooms. They refused to specify what's the usage of those areas. And that's what's holding up the approval.
33:54Yeah. Because questions are being asked about that. And if we are taken into those rooms, I could only imagine tortures, nonstop interrogation, or even just locked us in and refused to release us. Here in the UK, you think that could happen? Well, technically the embassy, according to international law, is the land of that country. Well, we're back at the site of the proposed Chinese embassy and standing at the front of it, you get a real idea of its amazing location because just in front, in the rain, I can see the Tower of London and quite a few brave souls in open-top buses driving over Tower Bridge.
34:38And we've come back here to talk to Kerry Brown. He's Professor of Chinese Studies at King's College London. But he's also a former First Secretary at the British Embassy in Beijing. So we're going to talk about the importance of this location to the Chinese. This is a really great place. China, very entrepreneurial, big interest in growing wealthier and richer. This is the old Royal Mint associated with money, literally making money. So symbolically, this is a really great location for China and its aspirations in Britain and Europe. So why is it in Britain's interest for this to become the embassy?
35:10So Britain has a very underwhelming building in Beijing, a kind of really very small, pretty run-down, pretty cramped place. And I think if we don't allow this deal here to go ahead, we won't get a new embassy in Beijing. There are definitely risks, and I suppose that's what the government is considering at the moment. But I think it is important. Britain can't ignore China. and this embassy is symbolically important for China, so it figures in that whole mix. Professor Kerry Brown ending that report by the BBC's Jamie Kumarasamy. It's the time of the year when more horror films start appearing in cinemas as studios aim to capitalise on the Halloween season.
35:50But producers of a gory Japanese film about a bear attacking humans have decided to delay the release date because of a surge in real-life attacks in the country. At least nine people have been killed by bears in Japan this year, a record high. Chantal Hartle reports.
36:15A promotional video for the film shows a young man venturing deep into the woods where he encounters a ravenous bear. It's said to feature grisly scenes, including one where a person's arm is chewed off. When filming started in 2023, the producers said they wanted to highlight a growing trend of wild animals being pushed out of their natural habitat. Originally set for release this November, the film has now been postponed because of consideration for the real-life victims. There have been recent reports of bears attacking tourists, entering supermarkets and venturing near schools in the north of the country, with more than 100 people injured so far this year.
36:58Experts say the changing climate has resulted in low yields of acorns and beech nuts, two key food sources for bears, which could be driving the hungry animals into residential areas. Japan's Environment Minister has promised to introduce stronger measures, such as recruiting and training government hunters to prevent further attacks.
37:24In one region in central Japan, police and local hunters staged a mock exercise which involved chasing a man wearing a bear mask with firecrackers. The drill also covered how to safely approach the animals after they're shot or tranquilised. Chandel Hartle. And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Derek Clark and the producers were Isabella Jewell and Guy Pitt.
38:14The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.
38:26This advertisement feature is paid and presented by Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Looking for the perfect place to grow your business? For over 30 years, Poland has been a launchpad for innovation at the heart of Europe, powered by world-class research and ambitious young talent. From bold startups to established powerhouses, Poland offers the momentum, resources and reliability you need to take your business further. Poland, where businesses don't just grow, they're built to last. Find out more at polandyourplacetogrow.com
From the publisher
President Trump attends ASEAN summit in Malaysia, and oversees an agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to normalise relations after their short border conflict earlier this year. Also: Hurricane Melissa bears down on Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; the anniversary of floods that killed more than 200 people in Valencia; groups of indigenous peoples may be wiped out in the next ten years; voting for the next mayor of New York; a former world chess champion denies bullying; the release date of a Japanese film about a bear attacking humans is delayed - because of real bear attacks; and the row over a new Chinese embassy in London.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk




