Russian drone attacks kill 16 in Ukrainian shopping centre

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1:36This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and in the early hours of Saturday the 22nd of August, these are our main stories. A Russian drone attack on a shopping centre in central Ukraine has killed at least 16 people and injured 130. Donald Trump wins the latest round of a legal battle over his plans to build a huge White House ballroom. The Netherlands has fined the US tech company Uber hundreds of millions of dollars, one of the largest ever penalties issued under Europe's technology privacy rules. Also in this podcast, the United Nations says the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the deadliest in the country's history and it is growing exponentially.

2:27The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France and the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response. And a collection of handwritten notes by the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi has been sold at auction.

2:48It's not known what the strategic value of a Ukrainian shopping centre was to the Russian military, which used drones to attack the building, killing at least 16 people. But it's in Krivirii in central Ukraine, which is President Zelensky's hometown. In his nightly address, he condemned the attack. A rescue operation is currently underway. This is an absolute atrocity committed by the Russians. They're nothing but beasts. We will definitely respond. It's crucial that we have everything we need to protect lives. It's important that the world doesn't remain silent about all of this. This Russian war must come to an end and the world must help us achieve that.

3:30The authorities said that around 130 people were wounded, more than 20 of them children. Svetlana worked at a store in the shopping centre. I thought my earbuds had burst in my ear. Then mirrors started falling. I went out, thought it was all over, and started walking back and forth. Then I saw my friend who was covered in blood. I took a bottle of water. He was moving on his own, but had lots of shrapnel wounds. I laid him down and an ambulance arrived and took him away. I got the latest from our Ukraine correspondent, Dan Johnson. The search and rescue operations are still ongoing there, we're told, and so the death toll keeps rising.

4:12The number of wounded has been increasing, more than 100 people who were hurt in this, as well as those killed. It looks like a classic example of the worst kind of double-tap attack, as it is called. We've had footage from the scene verified, which shows the first drone hitting the shopping centre, an explosion and a fire. And then President Zelensky said it was half an hour later that a second drone hit the center once the first emergency responders were there trying to treat those who'd already been wounded. The video of that shows another what appears to be a Shahhead jet-powered drone diving from the sky towards the center.

4:57You can actually hear Ukrainian soldiers or air defense units trying to shoot it down with machine gun fire, but they were unsuccessful. So that second drone has hit, causing more deaths and more injuries. The president, who is actually from Krivi Reade, the city where this happened, said this was a cynical attack and that he's been talking to the UN secretary general. I think that was a call that was set up anyway, but he's used the opportunity to highlight what he said was the Russian targeting of civilians in such a clear and cynical way. Trying to shoot a drone like this down with machine guns doesn't sound ideal.

5:40I mean, are there better ways and does Kiev have the technology that it needs? Air defences across Ukraine have been overstretched, particularly in terms of incoming missiles. The record in shooting down drones had been better. We know an air raid alert had gone out in Krivirii, the city where the shopping centre was. There's actually been an investigation launched, the regional head of government has said, into why that centre was still open and some of the stores were open despite the air raid alert. That's an indication of how relaxed some Ukrainians have become because after four and a half years of hearing those sirens, not everybody reacts as suddenly as perhaps they would have at the start of this.

6:22But this is a jet-powered drone, we understand, at least that second one that we've been able to see on video. That is a relatively new innovation from the Russians. They've taken the old propeller-powered, motor-powered Shahid, which was relatively slow-moving. They've put a jet engine on that instead, which means it moves much faster and is much harder to shoot down. and by the time they're effectively firing at it with a machine gun from the back of a 4x4, that is really a last desperate effort to try to bring down a drone to save people. But by that point, it was already heading for its target and there was very little chance of actually stopping it doing the further damage that was inflicted.

7:02Dan Johnson in Keeve. Donald Trump has won the latest round in an ongoing legal battle over his plans to rebuild the entire east wing of the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court says work can temporarily resume on a massive 8 ,400-square-meter ballroom, a key part of the president's plans to extensively reshape the U.S. Capitol. The decision allows judges more time to weigh up an emergency appeal by the Trump administration after a lower court ruling demanded a halt to construction by Friday. Oliver Conway asked our White House reporter, Bernd DeBoosman, for his assessment of the latest ruling.

7:39What the action is known, it's called an administrative stay, and it really gives the justices time to consider the administration's broader request to let work continue on the ballroom. But President Trump will certainly be very pleased. In recent days, he's really been framing this not only as a ballroom as it was initially envisioned when it was announced last year, but more as a national security complex that he says is kind of vital to protect presidents and their families and important guests in the future. From where I'm sitting just outside the White House, I can see the two massive cranes over what used to be the East Room of the White House.

8:14Last week, the administration's attorneys said that the work was about 65 percent done. And since then, reporters have been seen and hearing very much work continue, sometimes for much of the day, 20 hours a day in some instances. So it's very much a work in progress, even as this whole legal battle has been playing out in the U.S. court system. And is it an issue that American voters actually care about? I think many Americans that are kind of purists in the sense that they think that these historical sites should be kept in place, they certainly bought the argument in the initial lawsuit that this process requires a more formal review process with public comment invited.

8:58On the other hand, many of the president's supporters certainly are supportive of the ballroom being built, especially now that it's been framed from a security perspective, especially given that there have been multiple attempts on President Trump's life. And does this suggest that the ballroom will ultimately get completed? The fact remains that the East Room of the White House is gone and much of this project is already built. Whether or not it continues, the fact is the White House has already been transformed for the future and I see very little possibility of it going back to the way it was.

9:33Bernd de Boosman and in the last few hours, President Trump has said he's grateful for the Supreme Court's decision. The Netherlands has fined the US tech company Uber$966 million in what amounts to one of the largest ever penalties issued under Europe's technology privacy rules. The Dutch regulator says the ride-hailing group used automated systems to deactivate driver accounts without giving them adequate warning. It's the latest huge fine issued by European regulators who've imposed billions of dollars in penalties on US tech companies due to privacy, competition and digital market rules. The BBC's Pete Ross has been investigating the story.

10:15This particular case began with complaints from drivers in France and relates to events between 2020 and 2022. Uber temporarily suspended the accounts of some drivers when its systems concluded, without human intervention or oversight, that drivers were guilty of fraud. Now, when we say fraud, examples of that could be drivers taking a longer route than was necessary, so in order to inflate fares, or so-called ghost rides that involve drivers accepting a trip, then sitting still without moving. The motivation being that whoever's hailed that ride would get frustrated, cancel, and then the rider gets a cash payment without actually having to do any work, or perhaps crucially, using any gas.

11:01Now, Uber says that under the automated detection system, suspensions for those suspected of these sorts of scams were usually brief. However, the Dutch regulator says that drivers caught by this system who also had a low rating found themselves permanently locked out by computer. And that's in a breach of his rules. Essentially, Uber drivers would perhaps open up their account to find that they could no longer access it. It means that they couldn't go out and earn a living. And that contravenes these GDPR, these European General Data Protection Regulation rules, which essentially say amongst many of them that say that automatically deciding or computers automatically deciding making decisions that would impinge on someone's employment is against their rules.

11:46Now, Uber disputes that this happened and it's going to appeal this latest fine. Yeah, it's an enormous fine and an interesting case. But Uber is far from the only big US tech company to fall foul of European regulators. Yeah, absolutely. Some of the biggest players in the tech game, Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon, they all face multiple fines, all of them being appealed. The biggest of which back in 2023, privacy violations under Ireland's Data Protection Commission. Meta, the company responsible for Facebook, amongst other things, Instagram as well, of course, hit with a$1.3 billion fine and the US group is currently appealing that penalty too.

12:29And one person briefly who's not happy about these fines, Donald Trump. Yeah, Donald Trump's administration has frequently clashed with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, the GDPR. It says that it impacts the American tech industry from being able to thrive and recently he wrote on his Truth Social network that the United States of America is not a piggy bank for Europe, nor will it be allowed. Pete Ross. Argentina won few friends with their post-match antics at the World Cup, unfurling a banner after beating England in the semi-final and then lashing out when they lost to Spain in the final.

13:09Now, football's world governing body FIFA has fined Argentina a total of$321 ,000 for breaches of discipline and handed out lengthy suspensions to several players. The details from our sports presenter, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee have taken their time with this case and they've come down hard, it has to be said, because there are two separate issues here. Firstly, the Falklands banner, which the Argentina players carried after the World Cup semi-final when they won over England. And the second one is the fight and the racist comments after the final against Spain.

13:45Well, let's look at the banner first of all, which Argentine players brought out after beating England in Atlanta. The banner said the Malvinas are Argentinas, which is obviously politically very sensitive, controversial and incendiary, particularly, of course, following the conflict there in 1982, during which many lives were lost from both sides. So the banner clearly breached FIFA's rules, which say no teams, individual or spectator, are allowed to use a FIFA sporting event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature. And it's also not the first time Argentina have been in trouble over Falkland banners.

14:16In 2014, ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, their players displayed the same slogan before a friendly match. Now then, FIFA only fined them$27 ,000. But we don't know how much of this fine is for the banner because of the$321 ,000 fine, which is what FIFA have given to the Argentina FA. It also relates to the Argentina players' behaviour after the final against Spain, when they'd comfortably won the match and a fight broke out on the pitch. Now, FIFA deemed that the Argentina Football Association broke rules relating to team misconduct, discrimination, racist and discriminatory chance and gestures by its supporters.

14:54And lastly, failing to keep order and security. So I think this is where most of the fines have come from. Now,$100 ,000 of that$321 ,000 are suspended. But interestingly, FIFA are insisting that about a third of the overall fine must be invested into a plan to combat discrimination. So they're trying to do something good with this punishment that they're giving out to the AFA. And as well as that, Argentina will only be allowed 50 % capacity for their next two home matches, although one of those matches is suspended. So you would imagine that if Argentina behave for the first game, then they will be allowed a full contingent of fans for the second.

15:31But the strongest punishment is actually for the players themselves, with lengthy international bans handed out to five of the Argentine players, including Leandro Paredes, who will have to sit out the next 10 Argentina matches and a fine of$90 ,000. Now, 10 matches is a very long time for a 32-year-old footballer. Spain's Gabby has also been given a one-match ban and a$30 ,000 fine. So strong punishment from FIFA. Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes. still to come in this podcast it can be quite challenging to deal with such a large patient she's 15 foot and weighs just under 50 kilos a cancer treatment normally used on humans has been used to successfully remove a tumor on a snake for the first time

16:24this is the global news podcast The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was only confirmed in May, but it's already the deadliest in the country's history and the second worst ever in the world. More than 2 ,500 people have died, half of those in the past 20 days. And the United Nations says the outbreak is now growing exponentially. Julian Harnies is the UN's senior Ebola coordinator. The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France. And the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response. And all of this is happening in an area which has had three decades of conflict and is generating huge humanitarian needs.

17:10The conflict which has been going on in various forms since 1999 has displaced a million people in its area. The law and order is undermined and the basic social services, particularly health, have been fragmented. The operating conditions are brutal. I heard more from our global affairs reporter, Richard Kagoy, who's covering the story from Nairobi. We've been seeing an increasing number of people who have been infected, which is now slightly over 5 ,000. And the disease has been detected in six provinces across eastern DRC, especially in regions that do border neighbouring countries within the eastern and central Africa region.

17:52So basically the rate of transmission, the pace is a major concern because it has outpaced the response by health workers. Yeah, why is it spreading so fast? Part of the reason it's because this outbreak is taking place within a region that has not got a very significant presence of the government there. So what happens is that this very not so developed infrastructure to support the health crisis. So if you're talking about facilities that can be used for diagnosis and also the number of health workers, it's a very expansive region, which is quite underdeveloped. And so even transportation is really a huge challenge.

18:33Also the banking system, it's become very difficult to actually process wages for the health workers in that region. That's why we saw some of them really going on strike about two, three weeks ago. But then, of course, there is the perception amongst the local communities who still think that Ebola is a conspiracy. So we're seeing a lot of members of the communities really not going to treatment centres, some of them only going when they're critically ill. And some of them have actually even been attacking ambulances, health workers. And that's really complicated the response and not also just the fact that there's an armed conflict that is taking place in that region.

19:09So the multiplicity of factors that have really made it so difficult to contain this outbreak. And has there been any progress in terms of vaccine to prevent people getting it in the first place or treatments for those who do have it? Yes, there has been quite some bit of progress that has been made on that end. So currently, we have vaccines that are candidates for trials which have been ongoing for the past one month. And just on Thursday, the World Health Organization helped to approve the release of about 70 ,000 doses. About 20 of those doses will be used for clinical trials, later stage clinical trials, phase three.

19:48And about 50 will be used just to support health workers, just to reinforce the response. Based on the WHO's assessment and projections, it looks like possibly we might have an approved vaccine maybe in about six months or so. Richard Kagoy. A collection of handwritten notes by the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi has been sold at auction for$1.7 million. The sale in Mumbai sets a new record, as Joanna Keane explains. This isn't the first time items belonging to Mahatma Gandhi have gone on sale. Six years ago, a pair of his distinctive round spectacles were found sticking halfway out of the letterbox of an auction house in the west of England.

20:29They were bought by an American collector for$350 ,000. But this latest auction in Mumbai has fetched a record sum for an Indian historical document. Perhaps it's because these handwritten notes offer a personal insight into the political leader's thinking during the decade in which India gained independence from British rule. The notes were written by the man known as the father of the nation over a period of two years, between 1944 and 1946, to a close associate and freedom fighter, Arnand T. Hingorani. Mahatma Gandhi offers personal guidance, saying, non-violence is not a negative state of harmlessness, but a positive state of love.

21:09Truth, he says, is not merely a concept to study, but a living reality. There are also reflections on grief and self-restraint. The collection was later compiled into a book called A Thought for the Day. The identity of the buyer hasn't been revealed, but the auction house says the notes will remain in India. Although the messages were the highlight of the sale, dozens of personal items went under the hammer, including manuscripts, photographs and Mahatma Gandhi's portable spinning wheel, alongside two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning. Joanna Keane. A python has become the first snake to be given a cancer treatment normally used on humans.

21:50The four-metre-long reptile, named after the actress Jodie Foster, was given electrochemotherapy to remove a tumour at Chester Zoo here in the UK. The BBC's Helena Burke has the details. Two decades ago, a young python arrived at Chester Zoo with the letters JF on her paperwork. While officially the initials mean juvenile female, zookeepers decided it should instead represent the snake's new moniker. and so she was named Jodie Foster. Years later, zookeepers noticed that Jodie was eating less and wasn't her usual snaky self. The keeper team noticed that she was starting to get a little bit of a lump on her lip.

22:32So we removed that lump, but unfortunately when we sent off the tests, we found that it was a cancerous lesion. Charlotte Bentley, a veterinarian at the zoo, says that although the cancer was removed successfully, 12 months later, it grew back on Jodie's jaw. So we decided to go a little bit to the drawing board of what we were going to do. And that's when we came up with the idea of doing a surgery and combining it with electrochemotherapy to give her the best outcome. Electrochemotherapy has been used to treat human cancer patients since the 90s. It combines a low dose of chemotherapy with short, intense electrical shocks on the tumour site to help the medicine enter the cancer cells and kill them.

23:16The veterinary team had to use two operating tables to fit Jodie's long body. But aside from that, Dr Bentley says the surgery works mostly the same as it does for humans. It can be quite challenging to deal with such a large patient. She's 15 foot and weighs just under 50 kilos. We have to use anaesthesia to get her completely still and to look in her mouth. But actually from that point onwards the technique is very similar. So it's all about making sure that the drugs and the electrodes are placed in the affected tissue and by sending those little pulses, no matter whether it's a dog, a snake or a person, the treatment should work the same way.

23:58The team hopes the surgery will encourage other vets to try the technique on a wider variety of animals. Electric chemotherapy has been done on other mammals and also there's been a few cases in birds. From what we could see, this is the first time it's been done on any reptile. So hopefully it means that it's kind of expanding its use a little bit further and we can even start thinking further afield with our amphibians or even fish patients in the future. And as for Jodie Foster the python, she's now cancer-free and back to her usual self. She has been a fantastic patient and she's gone on to make a really, really excellent recovery.

24:36She had very few side effects. We didn't see any problems with the chemotherapy and actually she's now back to her feisty character and is definitely not having any problems with her eating anymore. Charlotte Bentley from Chester Zoo, ending that report by Helena Burke. The movie industry has been through a few turbulent years. Cinema attendances in the US are down by around a third on pre-COVID levels. It's perhaps not surprising that Hollywood has been having second thoughts about some of its projects. But one of the films Warner Brothers decided to write off as a tax loss has fought back. Fans, film directors and even a US congressman have saved a movie from the scrap heap.

25:21And later this month, audiences will finally get a chance to see the much-anticipated legal drama featuring one of the stars of Looney Tunes, Wile E. Coyote, taking on that American corporate giant, the Acme Corporation. David Sillito takes up the story. My name is Sammy Birch. I'm the screenwriter of Coyote vs. Acme, which is... The comeback movie nobody thought we would actually get. Wile E. Coyote, cartoon hero. tireless, ravenous pursuer for the profoundly annoying roadrunner who is again and again let down by his mail-order purchases from the Acme Corporation. Have you been horribly injured by a product made by the Acme Corporation?

26:13He is now the star of a new movie based on a classic article about a courtroom confrontation. Ian Frazier wrote a really famous humour piece for The New Yorker entitled Coyote v. Acme, which is a straight-faced court transcript of a trial between Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Corporation. Have you ever sat a big stack of TNT on the road hoping to blow up your nemesis but the detonator itself explodes? Have you ever pulled the ripcord of your parachute and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It's not your fault. Acme is evil. And there had been, since 1990, people wanting to make this into a feature film.