Europe condemns Russian ‘escalation’ in the West, and other top news stories | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast [music]. from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul. Moss and on Tuesday the 2nd of September. as European leaders condemn Russia for. an attack on Germany. We'll speak to our. diplomatic correspondent in Kiev. >> We got mysterious parcels exploding in. warehouses. You've got cyber attacks, information campaigns. Where are they. coming from? That's the space in which. Russia is accused of operating. Our. Southeast Asia correspondent is in. Thailand where thousands of US sailors. are walking on dry land for the first.

time in months. >> I would think their commanders probably. judged that Pacia, it's a big city now, was probably suitable for the the entire. crew to be able to just decompress, do. whatever they want to do, go to bars, drink with within a few limits. And. we'll hear from the US as the man. accused of murdering the American. conservative activist Charlie Kirk. pleads not guilty. Also in this podcast, the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua. Wong faces a possible life prison.

sentence and a simple test for bladder. cancer could save thousands of lives. [music]. Europeans are faced with a hard truth. The head of the EU said this is the new. normal. Ursula Vanderelion was speaking. after Russia was blamed for an attempted. attack on a German airport last month. when a drone full of explosives was. found near a Ukrainian cargo plane in. Leipz. Manson was joined at a news.

conference by the NATO secretary general. Mark Rutter with a similar message and a. similarly grim warning. Russia has grown. increasingly reckless as they continue. their terrible war against Ukraine. We have seen more drones and missiles. crossing into our airspace along our. eastern flank, creating increased risk. And we have also seen an increase in. malign activities, targeting our. territory directly.

>> But amidst all the protesting, what are. Western European leaders actually going. to do? A question I put to our. diplomatic correspondent James Landale. He's in Kiev. >> I think initially what they're trying to. do is to be more explicit in trying to. attribute responsibility to Russia for. alleged actions against Western. countries. The so-called hybrid war, one. of the key defining characteristics is. that a lot of the actions are. unattributable. That it's unclear who.

was responsible. Was it a Russian proxy? Was it um you know we got mysterious. parcels exploding in warehouses you've. got cyber attacks information campaigns. where are they coming from that's the. space in which Russia is accused of. operating and I think what we're seeing. is a clear attempt with Germany and now. the EU and NATO waiting in behind it is. to say well on this case the Leipig the. attack the alleged attack on on Leipig. airport they are trying to attribute. responsibility by saying look there is. clear evidence that Russia was behind.

this essentially to try and impose. greater cost on Russia to try and deter. future attacks. >> But what are they actually going to do? I mean, yes, attributing it to Russia, not mincing their words or beating. around the bush. But is there any action. that they promise they'll actually take. now? >> Well, look, I mean, the short in the. short term, there will be, you know, diplomatic maneuverings. You know, various Russian ambassadors will be. summoned. I think relations between. Germany and uh Russia will deteriorate. There'll be a pulling back. There'll be, you know, any kind of, you know, cultural connections. They might be.

damaged by it. But in the longer term, I. think the interesting question is. whether or not any European nations use. this to try and galvanize greater. support for Ukraine. Because at the. moment, so for example, there is more. talk about having another look at. whether or not European nations can use. all those frozen Russian assets that are. trapped largely in Belgian financial. institutions. Can they get a greater. unity within Europe to use those to. exploit that money to support Ukraine.

here and the government here? The moment. beforehand, Europe's been pretty divided. on that. So, I think it'll be. interesting to see in coming days how. various European nations use this this. greater unity against Russia to actually. have policy decisions as a result. >> The ship has arrived in port. Its crew. are finally walking on dry land once. again after a record 250 days at sea. The US aircraft carrier, the Abraham. Lincoln, is in Thailand. It was serving.

as part of the US force attacking Iran. But the carrier's everlengthening. deployment became a political issue. itself with reports that sailors weren't. getting the most basic supplies like. soap and toothpaste. There apparently. wasn't even enough food on board. For. some sailors, it was all apparently too. much. According to Natalie Oliveio, the. Pentagon correspondent for the Military. Times. >> There have been several reports of. sailors attempting to jump overboard. Some for alleged suicide attempts,

others for alleged cries for help, so to. speak. So, you're looking at people who. have been inside the interior parts of. the ship for nearly 9 months straight. The Navy's own plan, it says that every. 36 months only eight months should be. spent deployed out at sea so that. everything can stay on course. But with. the USS Gerald R. Ford and now the USS. Abraham Lincoln, those deployments are.

now being stretched and sailors are. being overextended past their threshold. The Abraham Lincoln has docked close to. the Thai resort of Paya, which has long. been a place where American service. members go to drink, to carouse, and. let's be honest, the town has a thriving. sex industry. The BBC's Southeast Asia. correspondent Jonathan Head is in Paya. and described the atmosphere as this new. cohort of men and women on shore leave. arrive.

>> It's as chilled as it always is in. Pacam. Look, this city absorbs so many. different kinds of people from around. the world from all ends, all kinds of. activities. They're pretty confident. that they can accommodate 5,000 US uh. sailors who are under a certain amount. of sort of regulation by their offices. There are places that they've been told. not to go. They've been told to follow, you know, the normal code of conduct. We've seen quite a lot of them around. They haven't arrive only arrived here in. the resort of the ship in the last 2 to. three hours. They're very conspicuous,

walking around, most of them carrying. quite big backpacks, looking a bit lost. Uh, but I think once we get to sundown. in a couple of hours time, this is when. the city really lights up and that's. when the fun will begin. And I I would. guess that look, this has this city has. a long history of accommodating US. military personnel. I would think their. commanders probably judged that Pacia, it's a very big city now, was probably. suitable for the the entire crew to be. able to just decompress, do whatever. they want to do, go to bars, drink with.

within a few limits um before they they. start the long trip back across the. Pacific back to their home base in San. Diego. Um and the the Thai authorities. certainly seem pretty confident that. that they can look after them, that. nothing much is going to go wrong. I. mean, this city has a reputation. It's a. there's a reputation for its sex. industry, for its loose night night. life, and quite often there's quite a. lot of crime that takes place, too. But. for all of that, I think they're. confident that this visit will go. reasonably well. And that both sides,

the the city authorities in Pacia and. the US commanders will feel that it's. worked out for them. Jonathan, I can. remember being in Patio when a US Navy. ship docked and uh the US personnel, as. you said, very distinctive with those. cropped haircuts, making use of uh how. can I put it, every amenity that the. town had to offer. What exactly have. they been limited on this time? And what. have they been told not to do? Well, the. mayor has told us there are three. streets not very far from here, just a. bit further back going off. Very famous. Soy 6, Soy 61, and Soy 7, which are.

famous for their go- go bars. And you. know, we just we've just driven down a. short while ago. It's absolutely packed. with rather scantily clad women who are. obviously plying their trade. I mean, prostitution is notionally illegal in. Thailand. It's something the police have. reminded the US crews, but in practice, we think there are probably 25 to 50,000. sex workers in this city. They're not. allowed to go to that street. Now, I. don't know how strictly they'll police. that. They can go to Patia's famous.

walking street, which is pretty racy as. well. very colorful, lots of neon. lights, all kinds of different bars and. restaurants there. It's when when that. starts up just after sundown, it's a. very very vibrant scene. Now, they've. got they've got shuttle buses going from. the ship uh to here between 5 in the. morning and then 2 in the morning. So, there are three hours they won't run. I. think the idea is that the those who are. not staying in hotels, there are two. hotels they can stay, have to take that. last 2 a.m. bus back and be back on.

board. But in general, I think most of. the city is open to them. They're not. allowed to use the cannabis shops. There. are a lot of those here now. And. offshore in the sea here, you can go. There's lots of sea sports like. paragliding and jet skiing. They're not. supposed to do that either. As I. mentioned earlier, the Abraham Lincoln. have been deployed to the Persian Gulf. as part of the US forces attacking Iran. And while that ship may have departed, the conflict there has flared up. Once. again, the US has struck targets in. southern Iran. Iran then retaliated as.

it has before by attacking American. bases in the region, this time in Jordan. and Iraq. Kuwait has said residential. buildings there have been hit by Iranian. drones, though without any injuries. resulting. Meanwhile, Iran's foreign. ministry has described a US strike on a. wedding in the south of the country as a. war crime. The Iranian Red Cresant says. shrapnel from the attack killed five. people and injured dozens more. The. Pentagon has insisted it doesn't target. civilians deliberately. I spoke about.

this to our Middle East correspondent. Yilan Neell in Jerusalem. She says that. the latest round of fighting could mark. a return to allout hostilities. >> At the moment, it looks like that pause. that lasted about a month in open. warfare between US and Iran has is over. Um this looks like a serious military. escalation. The Iranians saying that. they also attacked the United Arab. Emirates already. We've been hearing um. that Jordan, Bahrain, uh northern Iraq, Kuwait had all reported Iranian attacks.

in response to the latest US attacks on. Iran. Um of course those countries are. all US allies in the region and they. have US military bases there. Now there. are reports coming from the Iranian. Revolutionary Guard that four of its. personnel were killed in the latest US. strikes. That's after uh local officials. and the Iranian Red Cresant had said.

there are about a dozen people who were. killed in the south of the country. including those who were at this wedding. and as the US has been saying that it. was targeting military assets. It was. targeting um also air defenses and radar. capabilities. The Iranian media reports. have really been emphasizing how there. were also civilian targets that were hit. and they include a fish meal factory, a. civilian airport and this house um in.

Korak in the in the south of Iran close. to the straight of Hormuz u where people. were killed including this child at the. wedding. Now from both sides, what we're. seeing are stronger attacks um than. we're seeing even at the weekend when we. had that first exchange of fire in a. month and more widespread attacks coming. from Iran in retaliation too with lots. of strong rhetoric. >> We have previously seen the United.

States and Iran exchanging attacks and. yet negotiations continuing. Is that. happening now, do you think, or is this. a sign that we're back to full-scale. conflict with no prospect of any kind of. peace agreement? >> Well, interestingly, Pakistan, which has. been such a key mediator between the US. and Irvan, it has come out saying it. remains engaged on talks to end the. conflict. Um, it remains positive that. the two sides will return to dialogue. But the message coming from President.

Trump when he was talking uh to Fox News. was really that he was not trying to. push Iran to go back to the negotiation. table. He said that I think an agreement. with them is not worth the paper it's. written on. And writing on Truth Social, his platform on social media, he said, "When are the Iranian people going to. rise up and fight?" Um as though he is. looking back to an uprising in Iran, the. prospects of of possible regime change. When there was the Iranian president.

Masud Peshkan speaking ahead of the. latest US attacks on Iran, um he did say. that Thran was ready to return to that. memorandum of understanding that was. signed in June between the US and uh. Thran. Um of course that fell apart. quite quickly, but he said that um Iran. was ready to go back to that if. Washington would follow suit. Every year. nearly a quarter of a million people. worldwide die from cancer of the. bladder. But it's a disease which can be.

treated and indeed sometimes cured if it. is caught in time. Now an athome urine. test has been developed which according. to a new study could spot more than nine. in 10 bladder cancer cases. A medical. editor Fergus Walsh told me how it. works. When you think about it, um the. bladder, um when you have cancer, uh in. the bladder wall, then sometimes cells. will break off a fragment off and be. shed into the urine. And what this test.

does, it looks for something like 450. genetic mutations across 23 genes which. are associated strongly with bladder. cancer and it tests for those. Now the. contrast is that the standard the gold. standard way of diagnosing bladder. cancer is through what's called as a. cystoscopy where a camera and. instruments uh go up through the urethra. uh and examine the bladder um and that.

can be uncomfortable uh some people even. turn it down and this would be a. noninvasive way of testing for bow. cancer. So what happens now? I think. there's going to be a larger survey um. that's going to be conducted. Is that. right? >> Yeah. So this is research um which has. been going on for over a decade at the. University of Birmingham funded by. Cancer Research UK. Um it's then been.

commercialized through a company called. Nonicus in in Birmingham. Um it's still. at um in some ways the research stage. Some hospitals um in England are already. using it um but they're not using it um. as a replacement for the gold standard. cystoscopy. They're using it alongside. at the moment. But um if this um new. trial um which is being conducted now, if that comes out positively, then it.

could spare a lot of people, thousands. of people um these invasive tests. Still. to come in this podcast, Ariana Grande. makes an emotional exit from her tour. after announcing she will step back from. public life. Thank you for all of your. effort that you put into making this so. special. All of your messages and your. costumes and your wardrobe, your makeup. is just so beautiful. [music]. It has been almost a year since the.

American conservative activist Charlie. Kirk was shot and killed at a university. event in Utah. A shooting that President. Trump called a dark moment for America. on Tuesday. The man accused of his. murder, 23-year-old Tyler Robinson, appeared in court where he pleaded not. guilty to the crime, as well as six. other charges in connection with the. shooting. The judge has ruled. prosecutors could seek the death penalty. at trial. Ryan McBride from the Utah. County Attorney's Office outlined the.

seriousness of the case as they see it. >> Tyler James Robinson. shot and killed Charlie Kirk. because he disagreed with him. And he did it by firing a high-powered. rifle into a group of thousands who. surrounded Charlie Kirk, literally on. all sides. Tuesday's appearance in court followed. nearly a week of legal discussions. Following all this was the CBS reporter. Jared Hill.

>> What we've been seeing over the past six. or so days uh was this pre-trial hearing. to decide one whether Tyler Robinson uh. was going to be able to face a trial in. this shooting case, in this murder case. And we saw the judge yesterday saying. yes, there was overwhelming evidence. that would point to at least the. allowance of the trial to continue. The. other question here was whether he would. face the death penalty potentially. And. uh the judge said yes. What we saw. within this was the prosecution making.

an argument that because Robinson, they. say, allegedly shot into such a large. crowd of so many people when this. shooting happened, uh that he also. endangered so many others, which then. they say resulted in why he should be. allowed to be tried uh with the death. penalty as a potential consequence in. this case. The judge said yes. What we. saw though again was this pre-trial. hearing. Uh, so this was really just the. first step to lay the groundwork to say. if this thing could even go to trial.

>> The end of prison had been in sight for. the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua. Wong. He's currently serving a near. 5-year sentence for subversion, handed. down after he and others tried to hold. an election to choose candidates for. Hong Kong's Legislative Council. Mr. Wong was due to be released next year, but he's just pleaded guilty to new. charges which could earn him a life. sentence. Our reporter Mickey Bristo. told me what these charges involved. >> He's pleaded guilty to colluding with.

foreign powers. Essentially, what that. is is that he's agreed that he tried to. persuade the United States and other. Western nations to put pressure on China. to allow more democracy in Hong Kong. This charge was brought under something. called the national security law that. was imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in. 2020. Essentially brought in to kind of. crack down on all the democracy activism. that was going on at the time and. essentially to crush it and to stop it. uh dead. So that's the charge he he. faces. As you said there in the.

introduction, the interesting bit about. this is that um he was well into a. 5-year sentence when this charge was. brought. um he was looking forward. perhaps to being released early next. year. This charge means now he could. spend a long time behind bars and I. think it's illustrative shows that the. Chinese government is in no way uh ready. to be lenient or merciful with uh any. activists in Hong Kong. >> Do we have any idea why Joshua Wong. pleaded guilty? I mean other democracy. activists have fought the charges that.

they were that were put to them. >> Yeah, he hasn't answered that directly. Neither is his lawyer. But I think it's. not too wide of the mark to suggest that. perhaps he wants the court to show some. leniency in the sentence towards him. He's only 29 years old. This sentence. carries a lifetime in prison. So he. could be well into into his old age. before he comes out unless the court. gives him a lenient sentence. In fact, his prosecutor suggested that this. perhaps was the reason for him pleading. guilty. uh prosecu uh the the defender.

uh suggested that they should give a the. judge should give a sentence of no more. than 10 years, not to give a sentence. that would crush Joshua Wong. That would. leave him with no hope of the future, no. hope of getting out of prison. It. suggested that he wanted to get out. perhaps to look after his elderly. parents. So, I think it's perhaps to get. a lenient sentence. >> Joshua Wong again in prison, other. leaders in prison, some of them in exile. from the pro-democracy movement. And I. just wondered, does that pro-democracy. movement still function in in Hong Kong?

>> Not really. And I think it's worth. reflecting about Joshua Wong and who he. is. I think of all the protests that. emerged from Hong Kong 2014, 2019, his uh teenage bespectled face appearing. on magazine covers, in newspapers, on. television documentaries, probably he. represented that movement more than. anyone. And I think the Chinese. government's decision to kind of. prosecute him. so late into the end of. one sentence shows that it's as I said. earlier that they're not lenient. As as.

far as the democracy movement um broadly. speaking is concerned, China has really. cracked down on everything. There's very. little chance of any kind of uh. outshowing of uh dissent or disagreement. with the Chinese authorities in Hong. Kong. None really whatsoever. And I. think this is just another example of. that. It was called the Eternal Sunshine. Tour. But Ariana Grande's series of. concerts, which ended on Tuesday night, were anything but eternal. On the.

contrary, the international superstar. has said she'll now take a substantial. break from performing, with some. suggesting it could be years before she. takes to the stage again, if ever. Grandandy has recently faced intense. media speculation about her health, with. some suggesting she's lost weight and. may be fatigued. In her final concert in. London, her thoughts were with her fans. >> Thank you for all of your effort that. you put into making this so special. All. of your messages and your costumes and. your wardrobe, your makeup is just so.

beautiful. I have loved every minute of. this with you all. And I just want to. make sure I express how grateful I am. Thank you. And I love you so much. [cheering]. >> She may have been grateful to fans, but. Ariana Grande hasn't denied that her. life in the spotlight is taking its. toll. although she's tended to play down. suggestions of any serious health. problems. A music correspondent Mark. Savage was at Tuesday night's concert. A. moving occasion, he says it was an. incredibly emotional night because fans.

knew that this was potentially the last. time they were going to see Ariana on. stage for for years potentially. Uh you. know, she said even before all of the. speculation about her health, she'd said. she she'd called this tour one last. harrah. uh and suggested she wanted to. spend more time concentrating on film. roles after her Oscar Oscar nominated. turn in Wicked. Uh and so this was. always going to be a bittersweet night. and the fact that she's subsequently had. to make this statement that she's. withdrawing from public appearances.

She's canled a planned theater run in. London next year. People were concerned. but also there to express their support. And you could feel that energy traveling. between the stage and uh the audience. and then right back towards Ariana. And. that's why giving that speech at the end. she did start to tear up. She said she. wanted to express her gratitude without. sobbing completely. >> The O2 I mean it's a huge venue, vast. crowds for any performer to to keep. happy. I mean were there any signs of.

those those ill health issues that had. been reported when she was on stage? Well, I mean, the only real sign that. she was um suffering at all was that she. was not performing in stilettos because. she had cut her foot. [laughter] So, you. normally she's teetering around on the. 6-in heels, sprinting up and down the. stage. Uh, and last night she was. wearing very flat boots, although often. standing on tiptoe, almost like she's in. that famous scene from Barbie where the. foot comes out of the stiletto but stays. in the same shape. Um, and I have to.

say, you know, I've seen the show a. couple of times during this tour. She is. full of energy. She bounds around the. stage with so much spirit and verve. Her. voice and her vocals are just. impeccable. She's possibly the greatest. singer of her generation. Uh, and so, you know, while there is concern about. her health and and people have commented. on her appearance, she's never said that. she's suffering from from any specific. condition. Uh and really the reason. she's decided to step back is because of.

what her publicist called the endless. ongoing scrutiny. >> Well then given that Mark briefly what. about this break? Is it going to be a. brief hiatus and then back to normal. service or do you think we are looking. at much longer maybe years till she's. seen on stage again? >> I mean I think certainly she wants to. concentrate on her film career. She's. got a film coming out in November with. Ben Stiller and Robert Dairo a sequel to. the Meet the [ __ ] franchise. Uh, and. the suggestion from her prior to the. speculation about her health was that.

she really wanted to concentrate on the. acting side of her career. She grew up. as a theater kid. Um, so it's it's hard. to say. She seemed like she was having. so much fun last night that it would be. interesting to see whether she can. resist going back onto the stage in the. future. And that is all for this edition. of the Global News podcast. If you'd. like to get in touch, our contact. details are below. I'm Paul Moss. Goodbye. >> [music].