Trump's military action threat alarms Nigeria

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If 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. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

0:47I'm Janet Jalil and at five hours GMT on Monday the 3rd of November, these are our main stories. Donald Trump says he won't rule out airstrikes or deploying American troops to protect Christians in Nigeria, who he claims, without proof, are being slaughtered by Islamist extremists. Delays increase at American airports as the US government shutdown enters its second month. Also in this podcast... We won the World Cup for the first time in history and I feel really good about it. And the stadium was completely full and the environment, it was too good. Indians celebrate after their team win the Women's Cricket World Cup for the first time.

1:34Donald Trump was re-elected president on a pledge to bring peace and end US involvement in foreign conflicts. But now, a day after threatening military action against Nigeria over what he says, without proof, is the mass slaughter of Christians by Islamist extremists. He has doubled down on that threat. He told reporters on Air Force One that the US could send troops to Nigeria or carry out airstrikes there. They're killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria. And they have other countries very bad also. You know that part of the world very men. They're killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers.

2:16We're not going to allow that to happen. The US president's words have caused great alarm in the vast African nation, which has a Muslim majority north and a Christian majority south. Nigeria denies that Christians are being targeted more than any other group. It's tried to play down Mr. Trump's threats by saying it would welcome US help in fighting Islamist insurgents, but that America must respect its sovereignty. Daniel Bowala is an advisor to the Nigerian president. If it is a joint action with the Nigerian government then that's fine because Nigeria is a territorial country right it's a sovereign country and I don't think diplomatically it would be right to invade a country without collaboration with that country especially if that country is your partner in the fight against insurgency.

3:03Where you see that kind of intervention is where there is an intelligence assessment that And that country is in fact the one fueling the crisis for which the Americans want to intervene. This is not the case with Nigeria. Our Africa analyst David Bamford told me more about Mr Trump's comments. In Air Force One, he was telling reporters that he did not rule out sending troops to Nigeria or carrying out airstrikes to protect what he said Christians who were being killed in large numbers by the Islamist insurgents. He wasn't very specific about when or how that might happen or whether he really means this, but it would be a quite significant thing if he was to actually send ground troops into Nigeria.

3:46And the Nigerians are saying that this is not true, that Christians are not being targeted any more than any other group. So what is behind this? Why is Donald Trump saying these things? For months now, the evangelical groups in the US have been coming up with this idea that the Islamist insurgents are killing large numbers of Christians in Nigeria. This has been egged up by the Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, who's talked about imposing some faith-based security in Africa, Senator Ted Cruz, groups like Open Doors, which have been calling for American intervention. But the problem is that Nigerian politics is a very complicated thing, and the Nigerians are saying that it's not Islamist insurgents that are particularly killing Christians.

4:34The Islamist insurgents in northern Nigeria are killing all sorts of communities and there are only a very tiny number of Christians who actually live in northern Nigeria. And so it's a very difficult balancing act for the Nigerians because they're trying to say that they welcome any US help, but that they shouldn't infringe their sovereignty. As you say, they are acknowledging they have a problem with Islamist insurgents, but just not Islamist insurgents, particularly targeting Christians. It is true that the Nigerians themselves, the Nigerian military, have been totally incapable of dealing with the Islamist insurgents in northern Nigeria.

5:11And they've been saying that actually they would potentially welcome some American help in dealing with that issue. The problem is that what President Trump is talking about, the Christians, that's just not happening there. There is a different battle going on in central Nigeria, and that involves bandits attacking local communities. And as it happens, the bandits, they're Fulanis who happen to be Muslims who have cattle, and they're attacking pastoralist farmers who happen to be Christians. But that's an argument about water shortages. It's nothing to do with religion or Islamist insurgency. David Bamford.

5:51The lives of millions of Americans are increasingly being disrupted by the US government shutdown, which began more than a month ago after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree a funding bill. But despite the hardship caused to federal employees or people who rely on food aid, both sides in Congress continue to dig in their heels. Chantal Manuel from Sarasota in Florida is one of more than 42 million Americans whose access to food stamps is at risk. I think that crime rates will probably go up because, I mean, what are you going to do? Let your child starve? No. I doubt it. I wouldn't. I don't feel like they would make the decisions that they're making if it affected them the way it affects us.

6:36If they were the ones that was going to be affected by how they got to eat that night or whatever, then they would not be making these decisions. Then there are the government employees who aren't getting paid. These federal workers spoke to us at a food bank in Washington last week. It's been a huge hassle. This upcoming month is going to be a struggle for us. That extra food makes a difference more than you realize. I do have a daughter at home. She's a year old. She's eating real food. She's not on formula. I still go into the office, not get paid. Feels like slavery. The uncertainty is a lot in regards to families.

7:14We're coming up on the holiday season. Also not getting paid are air traffic controllers. Because they're essential workers, they're expected to come in regardless. But many have been calling in sick, with some saying that they've had to get second jobs. This has meant widespread delays at airports. And the Transport Secretary, Sean Duffy, told CBS News that they will keep cutting flights rather than compromising safety. We're already stressed in that we don't have enough controllers in our system. And this shutdown, when we have staffing triggers where they're not coming in because they're funding their families and food on their tables, that makes it more difficult because we're already short.

7:53They're making decisions to feed their families. I'm not going to fire air traffic controllers. I have loved them and supported them as they're trying to go through this process. And it's challenging for them. They need support. They need money. They need a paycheck. Our North America correspondent, Peter Bowes, told us more about the deadlock. On Friday, the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, said nearly half of the 30 busiest U.S. airports faced shortages of air traffic controllers. The cities of Nashville, Dallas, Denver, Austin particularly badly hit Newark Airport today just in the last few hours, facing delays, passengers facing delays of about two hours.

8:32That's one of the worst affected areas. That's the airport that serves the New York area. The impact has been patchy, though, over the last few days. I flew from Los Angeles to Washington last Friday, didn't experience any problems, although that may have been because it was Halloween and some people were taking the day off. But generally speaking, and the FAA expanded on this in its statement, saying that after 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are under immense stress and fatigue. And it does seem inevitable that more of them will be calling in sick as the days go on. And Peter, I mentioned in the introduction, people are missing their food stamps as a result of this government shutdown.

9:12Which other areas are affecting people's everyday life? Well, that's one of the key areas, the food stamps issues, the fact that the assistance programme is now devoid of funding, but also more generally on health care. The beginning of November marks the beginning of the sign-up process for health care under the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. the government deadlock over whether to extend health subsidies which is really at the heart of the dispute and why Congress is deadlocked at the moment but the uncertainty over that means that as people are contemplating and considering signing up for healthcare over the coming months they're realising that it's going to cost them so much more although that isn't certain because this dispute involving the Republicans and the Democrats who are deadlocked hasn't been resolved yet.

10:03And Peter, is there any sign that either side is going to back down with regards to that? No sign at the moment, but clearly someone will have to back down. I think just as they were a month ago, both sides are blaming each other. The Republicans are still insisting on what they're calling a clean funding measure with no strings attached. So in other words, no extra issues. The deadlines, the Democrats want to extend those healthcare subsidies. They're due to expire at the end of the year. And they're sticking to their guns on that. And what about the voters? Who are they blaming for this? Does it really go along party lines?

10:41I think generally speaking, it does go along party lines. Opinions polls do suggest that more Republicans are getting the blame, and that includes the president than Democrats. Although what I've sensed over the last few days is that when these issues begin to affect individuals, I think some people have sailed through the last month and haven't really felt the effect, but now it's beginning to hit home with more people, and that is focusing people's minds in terms of who they blame. Peter Bowes, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, has told the BBC that five months on, he's still struggling to come to terms with the disaster.

11:19In June, a flight to London from Ahmedabad crashed within seconds of taking off. All but one of the 242 people on board were killed, along with 19 victims on the ground. While Visvash Kumar Ramesh did survive, he's still grieving for his brother who was on the same flight. He's been speaking to Navtej Johal in his home city, Leicester, in England.

11:49A man walks away from a plane crash that has killed everyone else on board. Onlookers are stunned. How Visvash Kumar Ramesh survived is a question no one, not even he, can really seem to answer. It is miracle, isn't it? What can I say there? I'm only one survivor. An AI India flight heading for Gatwick has crashed moments after taking off. Things are still smoking around us. It's really hard to breathe here right now. The Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad in June killed 241 crew and passengers and 19 victims on the ground. Sat just a few seats away from Visvash Kumar was his brother Ajay, who also died.

12:38In the aftermath, Visvash Kumar was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He's now returned to his home in Leicester. Thank you. You ready? The BBC and other media were invited to the home of one of his advisers for his first interviews in the UK. The two advisers sat next to him and a documentary crew were also present. Visash Kumar, thank you for speaking to us. During our interview, there were questions he couldn't answer. When did you realise, when you were on that flight, that something was wrong? It is very painful for me to explain that happened still. I can't say anything about that now.

13:25Do you feel like you are the luckiest man alive? Yes. It is Mary Galini. Is that difficult? Because on the one hand you say you believe you are the luckiest man alive. on the other hand... I'm lucky as a man, but also I lost everything. I lost my brother.

13:49My brother is my backbone. What have the last few months been like for you and for your family? I don't like to talk with anyone else. I just sit in my room and alone. My wife, my son, I'm not talking with anyone. I just like to alone in my house. Visvash Kumar says he's also struggling with his physical injuries and hasn't been able to work or drive. One of his advisors, Sanjeev Patel, a community leader in Leicester, says they want to put pressure on Air India to provide more compensation to meet his immediate needs. What we want to do is speak to Air India and not somebody down the chain who's processing paperwork so they can understand the real impact and put in real support for this family that's suffering.

14:42He is at the moment a number on a spreadsheet. His other advisor, Rad Seeger, a former lawyer, says the airline have so far treated him appallingly. Three times we have issued an invitation to them to come and sit with us collaboratively and work together to try and help Viswash Kumar and his family through this ordeal. three times they've either ignored us or turned us down. In a statement, Air India, which is owned by Tatar Group, said, we are deeply conscious of our responsibility to provide Mr Ramesh with support. Care for him, and indeed all families affected by the tragedy, remains our absolute priority.

15:22Senior leaders from across Tatar Group continue to visit families to express their deepest condolences. An offer has been made to Mr Ramesh's representatives to arrange such a meeting. Visvash Kumar was led away by one of his advisers for a rest before his next interview. This man, whose miraculous escape amid a horrifying tragedy fascinated the world, is still counting the cost of survival. That report by Navtej Johal. It's not the White House, but being mayor of New York is one of the highest profile jobs in US politics. And this year's race has got even more attention than usual because a candidate who at the start of the year was a complete unknown has surged to the top of the polls.

16:11Now America is waiting to see whether Zoran Mamdani can beat the veteran Democrat, the former governor, Andrew Cuomo, to become the city's first Muslim mayor and the youngest in over a century. Curtis Lewa is their Republican rival. Sunday was the last day of early voting before the highly anticipated election day on Tuesday. Stephanie Prentiss reports. New York is America's biggest city and witnessing its biggest race in recent history. Not the marathon, but the sprint to become mayor of a metropolitan area with an economy bigger than two trillion dollars. The frontrunner in the polls is the Democrat Zahran Mamdani, notable for his age, 34, his potential to be the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and the speed at which he's gone from an unknown city council member to running against seasoned politicians decades his senior.

17:11He's used social media to amass an army of campaign volunteers. His campaign has galvanized younger voters. And his major pledges are crowd pleasers. We are going to freeze the rent for more than two million rent-stabilised tenants. We are going to eliminate the fare on every single bus line. And we are going to create universal childcare at no cost to parents. Andrew Cuomo is running as an independent and lost to Mr Mamdani in the Democratic primary. Yeah, it sounds good. Flying buses, free food. It is all untrue. There is no Santa Claus. He's also reminded voters in a city with a significant Jewish population of his rival's pro-Palestinian stance and comments around Israel during a debate, seen as a major misstep by some.

18:05And just yes or no, do you believe in a Jewish state of Israel? I believe Israel has the right to exist. As a Jewish state? As a state with equal rights. He won't say it has a right to exist. Andrew Cuomo has the big money behind him and is running on an experience ticket, including 10 years as governor of New York. But his experience did involve resigning in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. He's always denied wrongdoing. I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn't fully appreciate. The Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, is the most fiscally conservative and law and order candidate of the three.

18:56He's polling last, but is expected to create problems for Andrew Cuomo by splitting votes. I think he's terrible. He's a communist. We know where President Trump stands. The last thing we need is a communist. He's warned that if Zahra Mamdani wins, he may withhold federal funds. Frank Murano is a Republican councilman for Staten Island in New York, working on Curtis Sliwa's campaign. We asked him if that would be fair. Curtis's view, and certainly my view, is that federal funding decisions shouldn't punish citizens for who they voted for. If New York shows, it can govern itself responsibly and funding follows.

19:35Whatever follows, after Tuesday, the outcome is being watched as a signal of broader party dynamics in the US ahead of next year's midterm elections. That report by Stephanie Prentiss. Still to come in this podcast. People don't come to the Maldives because they are able to smoke. They come for the beaches, they come for the sea, they come for the sun. As the Maldives becomes the only country to bring in a generational smoking ban, could the move hurt its lucrative tourist industry?

20:14If 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.

20:53You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Let's turn now to the shaky, fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with a group saying it's returned the remains of three more hostages from Gaza. The Israeli military said it received the coffins from the Red Cross. If the remains are confirmed to be the three dead hostages, that would mean eight more still remain in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of being too slow to return the bodies of the dead, but Hamas has pointed out that it's extremely difficult to retrieve bodies from underneath the huge piles of rubble in Gaza. Sebastian Usher in Jerusalem gave us this update.

21:32Hamas has handed over three more bodies to the Red Cross, which it says belong to deceased Israeli hostages. They are now with the Israeli army. There will be a forensic examination to see if they are the bodies of hostages. It hasn't always been the case. If it turns out that they are, then the numbers of dead hostages to be returned will go down to eight. The Israeli authorities believe that Hamas has been drawing this process out, that it could have recovered the bodies and handed them over more quickly. But certainly the fact that they continue to be given back to the Israeli army does give a sense that there is some continuing momentum over this.

22:15I mean, we had two or three days ago, we had major Israeli strikes, the deadliest on Gaza since the ceasefire began. Things have quietened down to some extent since then. I think it would be far too much to say that trust is building between the two sides. But certainly if the issue of the dead hostages is resolved by the return of all of them within the coming weeks, that will go a long way towards paving the path towards the second stage of the ceasefire, which is when it becomes existential for Hamas. when the very existence of Hamas, the demands for it to disarm, the demands for it to play no further role in governance in Gaza become paramount.

22:59That's why I think there are these strong feelings, not just in Israel but outside, that they have perhaps been drawing this out to try and shore up their position in the part of Gaza where they still hold control. Sebastian Usher. As Iran grapples with its worst drought in decades, there's been a warning that drinking water could run dry in its capital in the next two weeks. The director of Tehran's water company is reported by state media to have said that a key dam that provides drinking water for the city of 10 million people currently only holds just 8 % of the water it should. In recent weeks, supplies have been cut to several neighbourhoods in a desperate bid to try to conserve water.

23:41I got more from BBC Persians environment reporter Sivash Adalan. The situation is very bad. The day zero scenario, which means the country completely or a particular city completely running out of water, has been looming since summer began. The country has seen very low rainfall compared to previous years. In the capital, it's been about 20 % less than the year before in some other parts of the country over 80 % less. The dams are running dry and the authorities have been trying to manage somehow to avert a day zero scenario. And now everyone was expecting more rain to fall as the new season began.

24:25But there hasn't been any rainfall and none is predicted to occur until towards the end of fall. And critics of the government are saying And this isn't just about a drought, however bad it is this year. It's also about government mismanagement of water resources. Yes, there's always this argument, isn't there, about how much of an environmental issue, be it water resources or deforestation and so on, is a result of climate change and global warming and low rainfall. And how much does this stand for mismanagement? Not to mention the fact climate change and low rainfalls itself can argue to be a result of mismanagement on a global scale anyway.

25:08In Iran, obviously, mismanagement on a local and national level has exacerbated the problem. A lot of Iran's lakes and seas have dried up as a result of climate change, but more so as a result of certain policies that are driven not by, you know, sustainability concerns, but rather people trying to make profits out of a particular water policy, what we call the water mafia. And it's really hard to imagine a city like Tehran with 10 million people running out of water. We've already seen some neighbourhoods having supplies temporarily cut off as the authorities try to deal with it. Yes, this has been the case all throughout summer.

25:54They've tried to bring down consumption between 10 to 15 percent and they've managed to do that throughout summer with the anticipation that rainfall will occur as we approach the autumn season but that hasn't happened yet in iran there there is no sense among the public like it was in those other cities that really the situation is bad there's a lot of misinformation a lot of disinformation going on a lot of people don't know what to believe sirvash ardlan now to a world first and the Indian Ocean Archipelago of the Maldives, which this weekend became the only country on earth with a generational smoking ban, so that anyone born after January 2007 will not be able to buy or use tobacco products anywhere on any of the islands.

26:42The measure also applies to visitors. Ahmad Afal is the vice chair of the country's National Tobacco Control Board. One argument against this type of age-related ban is that it could push young people towards unregulated and maybe even more harmful forms of smoking. Tim Franks put this question to him. We do understand people who say these particular negative aspects on this. Yes, we also do understand some countries where they have had, for example, in Bhutan, some issues initially related to such trade as well. What we feel for the Maldives though is we are a smaller country. We have an advantage in terms of controlling a lot of what we import.

27:27We have also been putting in other regulations such as smoke-free places and it's been just one year since we put a ban on all electronic cigarettes and vapes as well. I was going to ask you about that because I mean And you're not unique in banning vapes and e-cigarettes. There are a few dozen countries that do that. For a lot of countries, though, and a lot of public health specialists, they're rather unconvinced by that move because actually, clearly vaping carries some health downsides because it can be addictive. But it's also public health professionals say that it's a really important way in which you can get people to quit smoking and that its health harms are far fewer than smoking.

28:16I just wonder whether you are concerned at all that perhaps it's a move that could backfire. No, actually I'm not concerned about this particular notion. I very firmly believe this was actually a good step that is taken towards a generation of tobacco-free citizens because these new stylish gadgets are not necessarily harmless, but they are tactics of the industry to approach the younger generations to uptake an addictive process which definitely harms their health. You are a country that is incredibly reliant on tourism. I wonder if you're at all concerned that perhaps by having generational ban on smoking but also your restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes and vaping, whether that might put people off from coming to the Maldives and therefore perhaps hit your budgets?