Solar eclipse visible across large parts of Europe

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. The U.S. has long been suspected of trying to sway elections in other countries. But is something more brazen going on these days? I'm Asma Khalid, and I'm one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Brazil has accused the U.S. of meddling in its upcoming vote. The U.S. has dismissed the allegation. But how do these claims fit into the long legacy of American electoral interventions? Check out The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:40Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesby. On the programme today, we're going to be hearing from the West Bank, from Ukraine and from Tennessee. But first, shortly before we came on air, NewsHour took a field trip. Like millions of people across Western Europe this evening, we're hoping to witness a rare total eclipse of the sun. We've come to the tallest building we can find, the Nest Bar in the Treehouse Hotel, which is conveniently right next door to the BBC. We're on the 16th floor on a balcony overlooking the city. We haven't actually got the right glasses to view the eclipse safely, so we've fashioned a pinhole camera out of the contents of the recycling bin, but it seems to be working very nicely.

1:28There's a great deal of excitement here, lots of people enjoying a drink and of course that celebratory feeling is totally different from how our ancestors would have felt to be viewing a total eclipse. They saw it with a great deal of suspicion, even fear, a sense of dread, bad omens were looming and I guess that's understandable because it is getting rather eerie, a kind of a gloom which is a bit odd actually, a little bit creepy. But we're here, we're going to watch it and enjoy it with everybody. Here, enjoy to have a look through these glasses. The special glasses, is that alright? Yeah, please.

2:06Oh, thank you so much. Oh, okay, that's very kind of you. You can have a look through my pinhole camera if you like. Oh, wow, oh, that's brilliant. Oh, that makes all the difference. That is utterly beautiful. Okay, so through these glasses, the sun is like a lovely orangey crescent. and you can see the moon coming over the front of it. That is really, really special. It's very nearly over entirely, and it's getting dark, and I think it's getting a bit cooler as well, which is actually quite welcome because it's so hot today. But I think we'd better get back to the studio, shouldn't we? Do the rest of the programme.

2:46And luckily, we made it back in time. We'll be hearing from other eclipse watchers in a moment. First, though, let's catch up with our science reporter, Georgina Rannard, who watched the event in Burgos, northern Spain, one of those areas which got a total eclipse of the sun. This is my first total solar eclipse and Burgos in northern Spain is one of the best places to watch it. The path of totality sweeps right over this region and crucially it's cloud-free. We're gathered on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere really, the dried yellow plains below me and mountains and towering wind turbines in the distance, but nothing to block our view and I've just heard some gasps and oohs so I think first contact is beginning I'm about to put my glasses on so I'll see the first bite taken out of the sun as the moon passes between earth and the sun casting a shadow on our planet here we go I'm putting them on going to look up oh wow you can actually see really see it's obviously my glasses are completely dark on the on the perimeter and then I can see this tiny tiny disc and the first tiny bite is edging into it and we've just got another hour of this to wait until we get that final moment of totality one minute 40 seconds of a total solar eclipse and i cannot wait you'll feel the temperature dropping totality is almost here they always say you get goosebumps but i really did i really feel

4:14is it safe can we take them off now yes i think so oh wow so around the sun i can see this glowing disc bright white behind it with beams coming out of it i can see the sun's corona its outer edge really glowing and on the far left people are singing behind me. Georgina Ranard there in Burgos, northern Spain and we got through to her after the event and I asked her, was it all worth it? I mean, absolutely. People always have said, I mean I always thought a partial eclipse, a total eclipse, how different can they be? I have to tell you Rebecca, I know you didn't see the full one but it is totally different.

4:59I was like looking up and it was almost the sun looked like an alien entity in the sky. obviously at totality you can take off your solar glasses it's safe to do that and it was this huge glowing orb really and around the edges you could see flares coming out and then on the on the very edge this bailey's bead this kind of diamond ring effect and around me people started crying singing someone was singing hallelujah and you know you feel all these goosebumps and i have to say i didn't quite expect it to be so emotional but it really was goodness well i think you should talk Talk us through the astronomy a little bit, Georgina.

5:35Why is this happening and how rare are total solar eclipses? So it's really rare for us. We've seen it in Europe. It's the first in 27 years. There is another one next year in Egypt. Those sounds are just some of the locals walking past me. A lot of locals gathered on the hilltop here to watch this as well because it is a really rare moment for us. They do happen often, but you have to be in the right place on the planet to see it. it has to be daylight and that path of totality has to sweep across your region. And of course, it happens when the moon gets between the sun and the earth and casts that shadow right across.

6:14There are, of course, solar eclipse chasers who make their way around the globe trying to find the next one. But for us who often stay at home, it is really unusual to see one. And I think in Europe, that's why we've had this amazing enthusiasm and build-up to it and people running out of solar glasses. Yeah. And as you say, I mean, it has been quite emotional for many people, but at least we understand what's happening now. In the past, people didn't really know, did they? And that gave way to lots of myth and folklore. Apparently in China, they thought it was some sort of dragon trying to swallow or eat the sun.

6:49In African tradition, some thought the sun and the moon were fighting. I mean, there's a long history of human explanation for these things. absolutely and I have to say today the thing that I really loved was that feeling of connection to millennia of people before us who have done exactly the same thing as we did they will have looked up in the sky and seen this glowing disc and this thing you know we the sun gives us life we're quite we're a bit complacent about it and suddenly to see this change we know what it is now so it's not scary and it's something to look forward to but you're completely right thousands or even hundreds of years ago, it would have been really scary.

7:28And you see in all sorts of history books, people talking about the mythology of it. And it used to be an omen for a bad harvest or something bad to come. So I think we're lucky now that we understand it and it's something to look forward to. That's the BBC's science reporter Georgina Ranard there in northern Spain. Well, Annie Javanrudi is normally a resident in the UK, but she's currently on holiday near Valencia in Spain. She's been watching the eclipse with her family and she recorded the moment for us. We're about a minute from totality. It's absolutely unbelievable. About ten minutes ago, you could feel the pressure.

8:06It's like being just before a thunderstorm. And there is the tiniest slither now. I'm sat on the beach, absolutely packed. There's just everybody. And I don't know if you can hear, but there's cheering and there's all sorts going on. And it's just about to disappear now. i mean we've got everything from tiny children to grandmas and everything in between and it is going and it is going and it's gone we are in darkness can't believe this oh my goodness i've taken my glasses off and it is absolutely unbelievable i've never seen anything like it my children are screaming take a picture take a picture of my father and oh wow oh wow this I honestly it's like night time it is absolutely unbelievable and I'm looking around the beach and everybody's just there's people in the sea and you think how amazing would that be and wow there are no other words than that it is just amazing and we're looking at my backs to the sea and there's like the hills and that's where the sun is, well the sun isn't yeah it is quite amazing and fantastic and I'm just looking, everybody's just like gazing and cheering and I think there's some parties going on but it's absolutely amazing Annie Javanroudi and thank you to her for sending us that we managed to catch up with Annie a little bit later on and she told me more about what it was like it was absolutely unbelievable I couldn't have been listening about it all this week and everything, but I didn't think it would be so just out of this world.

9:58Nothing could prepare you for it. And is it true that you arranged a holiday with the family at the last minute just to see this eclipse? Yes. We knew we were going on holiday, but I basically had some dates and that was it. and then last week I was listening to something on the radio and I thought, oh, we could go watch the eclipse. So we did. And what did the children make of it, your teenagers? I said, do you fancy this? And like they do, so I went, hmm, suppose so. And I said, but this will be the last one I see in my lifetime. I said, and the next time we have a full eclipse in the UK, I said, you'll be in your 70s.

10:37I said, possibly with grandchildren of your own. So don't you think this would be quite cool? At which point they all went, oh yeah, that sounds really good. And apparently it was. Ani Javanrudi there in Valencia, Spain. Next we're going to Iceland because Solvi Gümansson is the manager of Visit Westfjords in Iceland. He's been working with the government to prepare for this event and gave us more details of what it was like there. I live in a small fishing village in the northwesternmost part of Iceland and there's a lot of gatherings around me. One just above the town in Bólafjall. I didn't join that one because I did decide I wanted to do this with my family and my friends, all alone right below a burklift, just above town.

11:24And how much of it did you see there in Iceland? So it started out really good. Of course, it gets pretty cloudy in Iceland. And by the looks of it, it was looking really great for the first half an hour. We saw the partial eclipse, but at the exact moment of totality, it got cloudy. So I didn't see the sun, but I experienced everything around me though. It still goes dark though, doesn't it? Even if there is a cloud. It was surreal. It was like the shortest night of my life. The colors around me changed. And the reason why we hiked up to the bird cliff is to listen to the birds that got completely quiet.

12:17Everything got quiet. Everything got dark. My younger son shouted, but we haven't had dinner yet. but then one and a half minute later everything got bright again you started hearing the birds singing well shouting in at the bird cliff and and and it was a surreal moment definitely one of the most strangest night of my life at least it's very weird isn't it as you say the birds go quiet the animals know that there's something going on and i mentioned um how people in the old days used to think of it in China and Africa. But in Norse kind of times, the Vikings thought giant wolves apparently were chasing the sun and the moon across the sky.

13:08I don't know whether you saw any of that in Iceland. I didn't see that and we didn't have Ragnarök. But you know, there's another eclipse in Iceland in 160 years maybe will happen then. Solvi Guzman there speaking to us from North West Iceland. And if you missed it, there are loads of pictures, really good ones, on the BBC website, which you can access wherever you are in the world.

13:37Coming up in about 20 minutes, Israeli settlers are continuing to trap two Palestinian families in their homes in the occupied West Bank after clashing earlier with Israeli security forces. We'll hear from our correspondent in Israel who spent the day in the area. First thing this morning, the Israeli military went in and they did make an effort to disperse the settlers. They dismantled one of their tents. But by the time we got there, the settlers were back. This has been going on for four days now. And despite the Israeli army being present, They've not managed to do anything about it. And we've just had a statement from the Israeli military actually saying that they're going to send reinforcements in.

14:20One other headline this hour, the head of the World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could become the worst in history.

14:36This is Rebecca Kesby with NewsHour live from the BBC. Next to Kyiv, where reports have emerged that Ukraine is stopping their intense campaign of drone strikes on oil tankers in the strategically important port of Novorossiysk after receiving a phone call at the end of July from US President, Vice President I should say, J.D. Vance. It seems Washington is worried that the attacks are adversely affecting the global oil markets and specifically US companies which use the Caspian Pipeline Consortium or CPC terminal at the Novorossiysk port. Christopher Miller broke this story for the Financial Times.

15:16He's their Ukraine correspondent and gave us the details from Kiev. So I spoke with several senior Ukrainian officials and my FT colleagues spoke with US officials who all told us that on a phone call on July 31st, J.D. Vance requested to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, that the president ask his Ukrainian drone forces to stop striking the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in the Russian port of Novorossysk, a terminal that carries crude pipes from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea ports there. And this phone call took place just three days after Zelensky had visited the White House, where he met Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

16:00And they spoke about ways to try to bring the war to an end. And Zelensky asked for greater support in terms of American military assistance. So, I mean, how has this gone down with the Ukrainians? I mean, do they feel rather hemmed in by this request from the Americans? They do, but it's not the first time that the Americans have made this request. They actually requested first back earlier this year. They told the then Ukrainian ambassador to Washington, Olga Steffanichina, that they wanted the Ukrainians to stop striking the CPC terminal in Novorossiysk. And she received a formal warning from the U.S.

16:42State Department, which she passed on to Kiev. And so it's sort of been a point of contention for many months, but it's really come to a head, you know, several months after the U.S.'s war with Iran, you know, as it drags on because the Strait of Hormuz that's closed and it's had a big impact, right, on oil prices around the world. Well, now you've got this other pipeline that's being attacked as part of the Russian-Ukrainian war. And so the Americans are interested in seeing the price of oil drop and to see more oil on the global market. And so they've been asking the Ukrainians now for a while to stop it.

17:19And there's one other reason why they've done so more insistently recently, and that is because the American companies Chevron and ExxonMobil also have stakes in this pipeline here. Just a quick one on the personalities involved and J.D. Vance in particular making this call. I mean, he's made no secret of his sort of disinterest really on what happens with the war in Ukraine. He actually once is quoted as saying, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another. I mean, how is he viewed in Ukraine? Yeah, you're right. You know, he's certainly one of the more influential people when it comes to Ukraine policy in the White House.

17:58He's also one of the most contentious. The Ukrainians are not big fans of his. Obviously, they respect him, considering his position. But he and Bologna Zelensky had words with each other. They spoke at each other and raised voices. And along with Trump, Vance accused Zelensky of trying to spark World War III in that first rather disastrous Oval Office meeting back in February of 2025. Christopher, one last question to put to you today. There's been another headline coming from Russia today. President Putin threatening to seize European ships in retaliation for EU plans to intercept vessels part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

18:40He said Moscow would be forced to respond in kind. What kind of capacity would Russia have to do that whilst fighting the war with Ukraine? And is this something that's going to worry European capitals? I think it's going to worry European capitals. I think it's also going to cause more concern and worry in the global shipping sector as well. In regards to whether Russia can do this and sort of live up to the threats, I think that is a big question. Certainly, they've got many of their resources tied up in the war. They do have some capacity to do so, but I think this is largely Vladimir Putin sort of puffing up his chest and saying that there's going to be a response.

19:20Christopher Miller from the Financial Times. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has seen a sharp decline in public enthusiasm for his presidency, with recent polling placing his approval at an historic low of just 32%. Nowhere in the US has escaped the impact of rising gas prices and wider inflation in the economy, with some polls even showing self-identified MAGA voters have begun to suffer so-called Iran war fatigue. The BBC's Sheila Flynn spent last week speaking to Trump supporters in Tennessee. It's a Thursday morning in early August. here in Kingsport, Tennessee, where we're surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains.

20:00The mist has just burned off as the sun has come out. Residents are walking their dogs, and some are gathering for coffee and bagels on the main streets of Kingsport, which has a historical southern downtown, full of old-school furniture shops and clothing stores, as well as newer boutique operations. Then again, there's also a shop selling guns and ammo at the end of the street. Support for President Trump's Make America Great Again platform is overwhelming in this mountain town, which voted for Trump by comfortable margins in all three of his elections. No one I speak to here is happy about inflation, but few lay the blame at the president's feet.

20:40I think they're doing a great job. I mean, with, you know, what he can control. Parked on his Harley Davidson outside a local cafe, I meet 53-year-old Daniel Overstreet. Whether it was the Iran war or anything else, we're not going to control those gas prices. And people can complain and fuss and everything else they want to about it. It's not going to change that. It's still going to be what it's going to be. Also stopping for his breakfast is David Carter, a bearded veteran who plays Santa Claus at Christmastime. He backs the president's involvement in the Middle East. You've seen it in history, the reason we go over there and we keep everything under control there, is we don't have it on our front doorstep.

21:23Veterans account for around 10 % of the region's population. The town is also home to the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, which churns out explosives used in Patriot missiles and other heavy weaponry for U.S. military stockpiles. David says that while he and many others in the town still back the president's goals overall, the war has certainly caused some frustration amongst the supporters. Trump said America first. and he's not put America first. He's put the war overseas first. Not all conservatives here caveated their support. Oh, Pinky, I want to bring you home with me. Outside one of Kingsport's discount stores, I meet veteran James Camper, who served eight years in the Navy, and his dog, Pinky.

22:09I think attacks need to be up a little bit more than what's being done. Honestly, I think we should turn them into a parking lot and don't worry about it anymore. In addition to the munitions plant, the city is home to a number of major factories. Employers Trump came to office promising to defend. 65-year-old Pam Robinson spent 20 years working at the local chemical plant. While she also fears the prospect of a nuclear Iran, she does think patience for the war, even here in Kingsport, has its limits. If people aren't getting killed, I think people will tolerate it a little bit longer. but they're going to say soon you need to wrap this up.

22:47Something needs to be done. It needs to be, something needs to be decided. Despite a few misgivings, none of the Trump voters I spoke to brought up the war unprompted. This is deep Bible Belt America, a moniker that many here embrace proudly. Christianity is often the primary driver of their voting intention. Dave and Pam again. This country strayed away from God compared to what it used to be. The first question I ask, do you believe in abortion? And usually if I get that answer, I know pretty well where I need to go on the rest of it. Even if his national support is slipping, there's little to indicate that the Republican core conservative base here looks likely to break faith with President Trump.

23:29That's the BBC's Sheila Flynn reporting from Tennessee.

23:39The U.S. has long been suspected of trying to sway elections in other countries. But is something more brazen going on these days? I'm Asma Khalid, and I'm one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Brazil has accused the U.S. of meddling in its upcoming vote. The U.S. has dismissed the allegation. But how do these claims fit into the long legacy of American electoral interventions? Check out The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

24:11Welcome back to NewsHour. The German cabinet has approved sweeping new powers for the country's domestic and foreign spy agencies. It's been warning for some time now that the country is facing a range of hybrid attacks, including in Leipzig just last week with Russia the prime suspect. So what sort of new powers will the agencies have? James Menendez has been speaking to our Berlin correspondent Jessica Parker. They could be able to manipulate, disrupt, hack the IT infrastructure of a foreign power if Germany was undergoing a cyber or disinformation attack. They could agents potentially be able to break into a residence and replace explosives with something that's harmless as part of counterintelligence operations.

25:00And in the sort of data retention sphere where Germany has had very strict privacy rules, they'll loosen those rules. So there'll be longer data retention periods, greater powers in terms of surveillance as well via telecommunications. And some people listening might be thinking, weren't they able under certain rules and thresholds to do this anyway? Well, not really. In Germany, there have been very strict guardrails and constraints on the intelligence services as a legacy of what Germans experienced at the hands of Nazi spies and as well the Stasi in East Germany. So this is about loosening restrictions that really are very historically embedded in Germany here.

25:44And of course, the plans certainly have their critics of people who think that there's overreach going on. Is this a response to the threat from Russia or is there more to it too? I think it's absolutely a response to the threat from Russia. You mentioned Leipzig last week and this bomb laden drone. Germany has been very careful not to point a finger at anybody publicly. But U.S. media have been reporting that American officials have seen links to Russia. Moscow's denied any involvement. I think you could absolutely see this where it's beginning to be seen as part of that Zeitung vendor that was announced in the wake of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, where Germany basically acknowledged that for a long time it had underinvested in its military and that it needed to be more robust in terms of security and intelligence.

26:29and its intelligence agencies are absolutely now becoming part of that Zeitung Wende. So I think that's absolutely important context here. And Germany's government says that Germany is the target of daily hybrid warfare attacks, whether that might be disinformation, whether that might be cyber attacks, whether that might even be sabotage as well. So it's saying it has to get more robust in the face of hostile actors, but it will apply in the domestic sphere as well. There are some various divisions of powers that are a bit complicated to go into between the domestic and the foreign intelligence services.

27:04But I think that absolutely is the overall context. And this sense, traditionally, Germany's intelligence services have been described as somewhat vegetarian, whilst other Western allies have been more carnivorous. And they're trying to bring them a bit more up to the standard of other Western agencies, although they are being clear that they won't be sanctioning the use of example for lethal force. That's our Berlin correspondent Jess Parker there speaking to James Menendez earlier on today.

27:40You're listening to NewsHour live from the BBC. I'm Rebecca Kesby. More now from the occupied West Bank, where for the fourth day running, two Palestinian homes close to the village of Kusra, south of Nablus, have been surrounded by illegal Israeli settlers. The families say the settlers have cut off their water and electricity and are blocking their exit from the property. Yesterday, we heard from one of those trapped, Yusuf Hassan. He told us they were short of food and his younger daughter needed medical attention. We've since heard that an ambulance has evacuated her and brought some food for the rest of the family as well.