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1:19

This is the Global News Podcast from

1:21

the BBC World Service. I'm

1:24

Valerie Sanderson, and in the early hours

1:26

of Friday, the 26th of April, these

1:28

are our main stories. The

1:30

US Supreme Court judges appear skeptical

1:33

of Donald Trump's claim that he

1:35

should have immunity from prosecution for

1:37

actions he took while president. The

1:40

Supreme Court has never been asked this

1:42

question. They've never been asked it because

1:44

no previous president has been accused of

1:47

criminal behavior like this. President

1:49

Macron of France warns of the

1:51

huge challenges faced by Europe over

1:53

its security. We

1:58

Must be clear about the fact that Europe today

2:00

is a there's more to pick a tie to

2:02

this day that the questions of peace and war

2:04

or being played out on our continent. A

2:07

transitional council is sworn into

2:09

lead patients and restore order

2:11

after the prime minister resigns.

2:15

Awesome! His podcast New York

2:18

Top Court overturned. Is one

2:20

of the same mogul Harvey Weinstein

2:22

convictions too. Late and. Local

2:29

in Arabic makes it's debut

2:31

in Saudi Arabia. The.

2:36

Us Supreme Court has heard arguments

2:38

on whether Donald Trump has a

2:40

former president is immune from criminal

2:42

prosecution of rats carried out while

2:45

he was in. The White Has

2:47

the courts nine justices focus on

2:49

actions Mister Trump took to sign

2:51

Retain Pass after losing the Twenty

2:54

Twenty election to Joe Biden. The

2:56

former President is facing dozens of

2:58

criminal charges in four cases, including

3:00

an ongoing trial related to his

3:02

business records which is taking place

3:05

in New York. Will heal

3:07

more on that trial shortly. But

3:09

first I'll saw Washington correspondent Geico

3:11

Donahue what's been happening at the

3:14

Supreme Court in The Castle. Really?

3:16

What is that? The half of

3:18

this is the question. does a

3:21

present have immunity from prosecution for

3:23

their official at a doctor's what's

3:25

Donald Trump's lawyer? The all during

3:27

the Special counsel has been looking

3:29

into those efforts overturn a twenty

3:32

twenty election, argues that is not

3:34

the case or they've been going

3:36

back and forth of various constitutional

3:38

provisions and patron and conviction priests

3:40

A criminal case for the President's

3:43

be immune from prosecution for everything

3:45

or just for. Some of the

3:47

things he does. So the nine justices now Valerie

3:49

will go away and to sit in their opinion.

3:51

and they could be a couple of months before

3:54

we hear back from them. And what could

3:56

this mean for Donald Trump? Is he was

3:58

to get his way. I'd neighborhood. Three with

4:00

him that he has henson immunity from

4:02

criminal prosecution. I mean says it says

4:05

the other criminal case against him with

4:07

fall straight away the Florida Documents case

4:09

way was accused of taking stuff from

4:12

the White House's and obstructing investigators. Even

4:14

the State case in Georgia which again

4:16

is about five overturned the election result

4:18

that if the Supreme court has ruled

4:21

that the not really wouldn't be able

4:23

to proceed it's also a lot of

4:25

his problems would evaporate. I think what

4:28

we saw that today is an indication.

4:30

Even from some of those more

4:32

conservative justices that they don't really

4:34

mind is to agree with that

4:36

idea of hopefully immunity. What they

4:38

might do is they took some

4:41

things in this indictment against you.

4:43

you should answer for a, but

4:45

that would introduce some new delays

4:47

to the original. trial process has

4:49

already been held up, and the

4:51

probability of this getting to trial

4:53

before November is increasingly unlikely. And

4:55

of course, we're Donald Trump to

4:58

win in November. Salary and. His

5:00

case was still hanging over him and to simply

5:02

tell his Justice Department of drop it and what.

5:04

Does it mean to intense assessing

5:06

A precedent for us? Not only

5:09

Donald Trump little suffer. Future presidents

5:11

philosophy point here because the sprinkles

5:13

never been asked. this question: Does

5:15

a president have immunity from criminal

5:17

prosecution and of of an austere

5:19

because no previous president has been

5:22

accused of criminal behavior like this.

5:24

So this is really brand new

5:26

legal territory and that's why I

5:28

don't They're gonna come back with

5:30

a judgment on this in any

5:32

rush. Can you Donahue in

5:35

Washington? Any old Donald Trump

5:37

was back in court accused

5:39

of falsifying business license stemming

5:41

from hush money payments to

5:43

the porn sites Dani Daniels

5:45

during his campaign for the

5:47

Presidency Back and Twenty Sixteen.

5:49

Prosecutors allege the payments were

5:51

part of a broader scheme

5:53

to kill negative media stories

5:55

about Mister Trump. The tabloid

5:57

publisher David Petraeus was testifying

5:59

again. I heard from Ah New

6:01

York Correspondent nother to have. Under.

6:03

Questioning by the prosecution, he really

6:06

started to kind of outline more

6:08

of this alleged catch and kill

6:10

scheme where his tabloid The National

6:12

Enquirer thought stories that were negative

6:14

for Donald Trump's campaign and made

6:16

sure that they never saw the

6:18

light of day and he said

6:20

that happened with a former Playboy

6:22

model parent and approval. He says

6:24

when he learned of her story

6:27

a he atoll Donald Trump of

6:29

Michael Cohen about it, they drafted

6:31

him, had pay her a one

6:33

hundred. And Fifty Thousand Dollars. And they

6:35

said Michael Cohen the Boss and take

6:38

care of it. He will pay you

6:40

back for that That David Packers said

6:42

when he spoke with his legal counsel,

6:44

The National Enquirer. They did have legal

6:47

concerns about him being reimbursed by Michael

6:49

Cohen and Donald Trump about it violating

6:51

campaign finance laws, and ultimately, he told

6:54

Michael Cohen the deal's off, I don't

6:56

want the money so he was never

6:58

reimburse and that kind of set the

7:01

scene for when right before the Twenty

7:03

Sixteen election. Stormy Daniels was

7:05

shopping her story to outlets. David

7:07

Pecker also alerted Donald Trump to

7:09

that he says and Michael Cohen.

7:12

and he says that he refused

7:14

to buy her story, but told

7:16

Michael Cohen that he should do

7:18

it that the boss Donald Trump

7:20

would want him to. And this

7:23

was what a broader strategy to

7:25

kill negative media stories about Donald

7:27

Trump. That's right. And

7:29

what you have is the prosecution

7:31

trying to paint that has a

7:34

criminal conspiracy to influence the election

7:36

which violated election laws. And then

7:38

they allege that Donald Trump falsified

7:40

his corporate records so high the

7:42

true nature of those payments. What

7:44

we heard the defense start to

7:47

do and they're questioning was poke

7:49

holes in the prosecution story. They

7:51

ask, see that pack or the

7:53

Stand you know what is the

7:55

standard operating procedure for you as.

7:58

A tabloid to purchase. The

8:00

press stories and David Packers said

8:02

yes and he said he had

8:04

done that for the likes of

8:06

Arnold Schwarzenegger, John F. Kennedy, Jr,

8:08

Tiger Woods, and even a well

8:10

known democrat Rom Emanuel, Barack Obama,

8:12

Chief of Staff Net Taoufik. It

8:14

was a landmark case in Twinkie

8:16

Twenty, the rape conviction in New

8:18

York. The film producer Harvey Weinstein,

8:20

was hailed as a victory for

8:22

the need to movement against sexual

8:24

abuse and harassment, and he was

8:26

sentenced to twenty three years in

8:28

prison, but now an appeals. Court

8:30

in New York has overturned that

8:32

judgment, saying Harvey Weinstein good don't

8:35

get a fair trial. At the

8:37

time, dozens of women came forward

8:39

to accuse the ones powerful studio

8:41

boss behind Oscar winning films like

8:44

Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love.

8:46

The New York Appeals Court said

8:49

the judge involved in the trial

8:51

had could wishes egregious errors by

8:53

allowing users who are not part

8:55

of the complaint to testify. This

8:57

one seems. lawyer Asa Adela said

8:59

the legal rulings was a great

9:01

day for America. The law

9:03

was not applied of fairly sorry Weiss

9:06

do And what court of appeals the

9:08

highest court in a great state and

9:10

the greatest country said today is that

9:12

yes no one is above the law

9:15

where no one is a below the

9:17

law either. Ashley Judd,

9:19

an actor he says she was

9:21

sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, responded

9:23

to the new wanted to See

9:25

Days an act of institutional betrayal.

9:28

And our institutions betrays survivors

9:30

of male sexual violence and

9:32

we need to work within

9:34

and without. The systems to

9:36

start causing what is known. As

9:38

institutional courage to make sure that

9:41

women and all people work in

9:43

environments that are free from harassment

9:45

and sexual violence, The Farmers So

9:48

Mogul remains in prison. Having been

9:50

separate a convicted of rape in

9:52

Los Angeles, A correspondent normally itself

9:55

has this assessment of the ruling.

9:58

Sahabi. Why thing can make sense? What is? was

10:00

almost this foundational case of the

10:02

hashtag me to movement one of

10:04

the most important social movements in

10:06

modern American history Where

10:08

people spoke out against sexual violence

10:10

and sexual assault his conviction was

10:13

seen as a huge moment a

10:15

huge victory for those Women

10:17

who had come forward in the trial and

10:19

for it now to have this stunning reversal

10:21

is also seen as this moment of loss

10:24

For many of them. We are

10:26

getting reaction coming through the lawyer

10:29

representing Harvey Weinstein victims Has

10:31

called today's decision a major step back in

10:33

holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence Mr.

10:36

Douglas wigdall the lawyer goes on

10:38

to say that courts routinely admit

10:40

evidence of other uncharged acts where

10:43

they assist juries and Understanding issues

10:45

concerning the intent so almost that

10:47

rejecting the argument made by the

10:49

majority of the judges At

10:51

the course of appeals it was a four-three

10:54

decision. They essentially said he didn't get a

10:56

fair trial He still has

10:58

a sentence to serve in California

11:00

It's up to the Manhattan district attorney

11:02

to now decide is there going to

11:04

be another trial You do have many

11:06

women who will now decide whether they

11:08

want to give evidence again Whether this

11:10

trial can even take place again. It's

11:13

worth mentioning that the time the trial

11:15

was happening There were these concerns being

11:17

raised at the time whether it was legally

11:19

sound whether it would result in a conviction

11:21

And if it did would there be a

11:23

reversal? So we don't know as I say

11:25

exactly what the decision will be by the

11:28

New York district attorney Nomia

11:30

Iqbal the French president

11:32

Emmanuel Macron has made an impassioned

11:35

plea to European leaders warning the

11:37

EU faces an Existential

11:39

threat if it doesn't react to

11:41

the changing world order The

11:44

president says Europe needs to increase

11:46

its spending on defense and become

11:48

more self-sufficient Mr.

11:50

Macron was speaking ahead of EU elections

11:52

in June in which his party is

11:55

pulling well behind the far right From

11:58

Paris our correspondent Yusuko compiled

12:00

this report. The risk of

12:03

a tragedy was relegated. This

12:06

was the French president ringing the alarm

12:09

bell, raising things he's raised before, but

12:12

speaking now in a language clearly designed to

12:14

leave his audience worried, even scared, about

12:17

the changing state of the world and

12:19

Europe's lack of preparedness for what lies

12:21

ahead. Time and again, the

12:23

president used the word naivety to

12:25

describe the European mindset. He said that

12:28

for too long the EU had acted

12:30

like an adolescent, looking for protection from

12:32

others. But now it had to prove

12:34

that it was grown up, because the

12:37

world had suddenly become more dangerous. We

12:41

must realize that our Europe today

12:44

is mortal. It could die. And

12:46

that depends entirely on our choices.

12:49

But these choices must be made now.

12:52

A paradigm shift in the

12:54

state of Europe's world. Russia's

12:56

open hostility. China's ruthless competition.

12:58

America's disengagement. All this meant

13:01

that Europe had to take

13:03

massive decisions and start fighting

13:05

for its own interests. It

13:08

meant rearming. It meant where

13:10

necessary economic protection for European

13:12

industries and farmers. And it

13:14

meant jolting European people out

13:16

of their despondency and self-deprecation.

13:19

President Macron's vision of the European

13:21

predicament was unsettling, as he meant

13:23

it to be. Hugh Schofield.

13:26

Researchers in India and the UK have found that

13:29

a relatively new artificial sweetener has

13:31

some worrying effects on

13:33

cells and bacteria in the human gut.

13:36

Called neotame, it's related to

13:38

the better-known aspartame and

13:40

it's been approved for use in more than 35 countries since

13:43

2010. The

13:46

sweetener is most often used in cakes,

13:48

soft drinks and chewing gum and

13:50

is listed on ingredient labels as E961.

13:54

The senior author of the study is Dr. Havavi

13:56

Chichka, an associate professor

13:58

in biomedical science. sciences at Anglia

14:01

Ruskin University here in the UK.

14:03

She told Paul Henley more about

14:05

the findings. We did one set

14:07

of experiments looking at human gut

14:09

cells that we grow in the

14:11

lab and we saw that neotame

14:13

can cause damage to those cells.

14:15

At very high concentrations that might

14:17

be a little higher than you

14:19

or I would normally see, we

14:21

did find that the neotame

14:23

caused the cells to just die, which

14:26

was very worrying. But at lower concentrations

14:28

there was also some gut damage. So

14:31

it can cause a breakdown in the barrier

14:33

that those cells form, which means we might

14:35

get more movement of bacteria

14:37

from our gut into our blood.

14:39

And that can be linked to

14:42

things like inflammation or irritable bowel

14:44

syndrome. And we looked

14:46

at the effect of neotame on two

14:48

types of bacteria that are found in

14:51

our gut microbiota. And we saw quite

14:53

worryingly the bacteria became more resistant to

14:55

antibiotics and it started to

14:57

actually invade the human gut cells so

15:00

the bacteria became more invasive and more damaging.

15:02

So we almost get a sort of double

15:04

hit from the neotame treatment. And

15:07

is it reasonable to suppose that this would

15:09

happen inside the human body as opposed to

15:11

in petri dishes? There is a good

15:14

link with the human gut cells that

15:16

might have an effect in humans. And

15:18

actually we do know from some clinical

15:20

studies that artificial sweeteners can have a

15:23

negative effect, particularly for people who have

15:25

diseases like irritable bowel syndrome. Not specifically

15:27

with neotame but with other sweeteners, they

15:29

tend to be less responsive to the

15:32

different medications that they take. Some

15:34

people really do need to avoid sugar.

15:37

Is neotame any better or worse than

15:39

other artificial sweeteners, do you know? From

15:42

our own studies and what's in the literature,

15:44

there doesn't seem to be any difference between

15:46

neotame and other sweeteners. But it is worth

15:48

noting that neotame is newer and there are

15:50

far fewer studies that have been done on

15:52

it. Is it fair to

15:54

say that you don't know if any

15:56

artificial sweetener is completely safe? In comparison

15:58

to sugar, for example? It's a

16:00

really good question. So we don't know that

16:02

yet. There are some early indications that some

16:04

of the natural sweeteners, so

16:07

things like stevia or monk fruit,

16:09

could potentially be less damaging, but

16:12

there really again is not enough research on the

16:14

topic yet. Dr. Havavi

16:16

Chishka, next to

16:18

a world premiere, an opera

16:20

in Arabic performed in Saudi

16:22

Arabia. It's

16:34

the first time Saudi Arabia has produced

16:36

a grand opera, as I heard from

16:38

our Arab affairs editor, Sebastian Asher. Singing

16:41

is, as you would hear, in a

16:43

Western opera, but it's with an Arabic

16:46

libretto written by a Saudi poet. And

16:48

the composer, who's Australian, Lee Bradshaw, was

16:50

telling me that the brief to him

16:52

was to produce a Western opera, but

16:54

with the influence of Arab and specifically

16:56

Saudi music. So we listened to lots

16:58

of music in Saudi Arabia. He found

17:00

it difficult though, because there's so many

17:02

different traditions, there's so many different tribes,

17:04

but in the end his real way

17:06

into it was the text itself, the

17:08

actual rhythm of the Arabic poetry

17:10

that gave him the vocal lines. So

17:13

it was commissioned by somebody in Saudi

17:15

Arabia? Yeah, it's part of a culture

17:17

ministry. They're building an amazing

17:19

state of the art opera house in

17:22

Dariyah, which is the old part of

17:24

Riyadh, which is being developed massively. It's

17:27

part of Saudi Arabia's push to

17:29

establish itself as a

17:31

cultural giant, particularly obviously in

17:33

the Gulf region. And

17:36

this is starting from really nowhere.

17:38

So what is it about? Is it very

17:40

much a Saudi Arabian theme? It is.

17:42

And what's interesting too, that it's a

17:44

Saudi Arabian theme, but again, maybe five

17:46

to 10 years ago, you wouldn't have

17:48

done this. It's a pre-Islamic story of

17:50

a woman who had the gift of

17:53

prophecy, but like Cassandra, a Greek legend,

17:55

was never believed. So she tells her

17:57

tribespeople that there's danger coming and they

17:59

don't listen. and it all ends

18:01

tragically. And the main role is

18:03

played by a British singer. Yes,

18:05

Sarah Connolly. She was

18:08

telling me that she had sleepless nights

18:10

about singing in Arabic, the sounds that

18:12

she was making. And she

18:14

said this slightly, shame face, but she said this

18:16

helped her, that one of the

18:18

sounds, a very specific Arabic sound, very guttural,

18:21

that she thought of Kermit the Frog in

18:23

the Muppets, and that helped her to do

18:25

it. They do have a Saudi Arabian opera

18:27

thing in it, and they do have Saudi

18:29

performers. I don't know specifically

18:31

why they didn't give the main role to

18:33

Saudi opera singer. This is very much an

18:35

evolving art form in Saudi Arabia, so it's very

18:37

limited in the number of people who would be

18:40

able to do it. I mean,

18:42

interestingly, Lee Bradshaw, when I asked him

18:44

why he did this, there are issues

18:46

obviously over performing sport, culture, entertainment in

18:48

Saudi Arabia, human rights, etc. And what

18:51

he said was that the hundreds of

18:53

Saudis who came to audition as acrobats,

18:55

as musicians, as dancers, that the way

18:57

that they told him that they never

19:00

thought in their lives they'd be able

19:02

to do something like that in Saudi

19:04

Arabia, that was something that really, really struck

19:06

him. Sebastian Osher. Still

19:11

to come on the Global News Podcast. We

19:13

both are always on the street, on the tube. So

19:16

I'm always surprised if someone says, can I

19:18

get something here? Please.

19:27

In the turn of the multi-million

19:29

record selling duo, the Pet Shop

19:32

Boys. The

19:41

transitional council set up to take over

19:43

power in Haiti and organise elections has

19:45

been sworn in. The body

19:48

is also tasked with the unenviable

19:50

job of restoring order to Haiti,

19:52

which is suffering from a wave

19:54

of deadly gang violence that's killed

19:56

thousands and caused many to flee

19:58

the capital Port-au-Prince. In

20:01

a speech during the ceremony, the new

20:03

interim prime minister, Michel-Patrick Boivre, said it

20:05

was an important moment. Haiti,

20:09

our country, is at a crossroad

20:11

in the search for solutions to

20:14

overcome this multidimensional political crisis, the

20:18

consequences of which are detrimental to

20:20

the population, to property, and both

20:22

public and private infrastructure. Our

20:28

correspondent in the region, Will Grant,

20:30

told me more about the Thursday's

20:32

developments, starting with the swearing-in ceremony,

20:34

which didn't go quite according to

20:36

plan. With more than 80%

20:39

of the capital port-au-prince in hands of the

20:41

gangs, there was gunfire and violence near the

20:43

national palace where it was due to take

20:45

place, forcing a last-minute change

20:47

to the prime minister's office. It

20:50

does, on paper at least, and in

20:52

practice of course, move things on, but

20:54

of course there's no sense, I think,

20:56

in which Haiti is pulled out of

20:59

its political malaise. And what

21:01

do you think the council's first actions

21:03

will be regarding the powerful gangs in

21:05

Haiti? I mean, how can they tackle them? That's

21:07

really the issue, isn't it? Because until

21:09

you tackle the gangs, you can't really

21:11

begin to bring any sense of normality

21:13

to the streets and get the aid

21:15

in that's so desperately needed. The airport

21:17

remains closed after all these weeks and

21:19

months, which I think is

21:21

one of the gangs' key bargaining chips,

21:23

to be honest, that they can keep

21:25

this airport closed, force it closed through

21:27

violence, and refuse to back down. So

21:30

I think whether or not it's through

21:32

engagement or through concerted conflict, they do

21:34

need to reach some kind of situation

21:37

with the gangs in order for aid

21:39

to start coming in. Do you think

21:41

they'll need the help of, say,

21:43

an armed international peacekeeping force? Certainly

21:46

that's the vision of the US

21:48

State Department, of the other member

21:50

states of Caracom, that this would

21:52

have the backing of a police

21:54

force, international police force, primarily led

21:56

by Kenyan officers. That doesn't

21:58

seem to be getting off the ground for the... time being.

22:00

Again, it's been weeks and months in

22:02

the pipeline without actually coming to fruition. Of

22:04

course, certain stability was needed at the

22:06

top and I think the hope is

22:08

within the transitional council that that will now

22:11

allow for certain security steps to be

22:13

taken. But of course, you speak to

22:15

people on the streets of Haiti as

22:17

I did earlier this year and they don't

22:19

really have any sense of optimism about

22:21

this transitional council being able to affect

22:23

any meaningful change, at least in the

22:25

short term. And how desperate is

22:27

the situation there now? I mean,

22:29

it's horrific. You just need to look at

22:31

the language being used by the international bodies

22:34

on the ground. Catastrophic, cataclysmic, it is that

22:36

bad. You've got 100,000 people who

22:39

have moved to the safer cities.

22:41

You've got extreme malnutrition, particularly among

22:43

the youngest. So yeah, it's a

22:45

dire situation and one that's not

22:47

getting better quickly. Will

22:49

Grant. The world anti-doping

22:52

agency WADA has ordered an

22:54

independent review into its handling

22:56

of a doping case against

22:58

Chinese swimmers. More from our

23:00

Asia Pacific editor, Celia Hatton. Last

23:02

week, WADA and the Chinese anti-doping

23:04

authorities confirmed a story dating back

23:07

to 2021 that

23:09

was unveiled in investigative reports admitting

23:12

that 23 of China's top

23:14

swimmers were secretly allowed to

23:17

continue competing after testing positive

23:19

for a performance enhancing drug.

23:22

WADA says at the time it

23:24

accepted Beijing's explanation that the swimmers

23:26

had unwittingly ingested the drug at

23:29

a swim meet. Several

23:31

of the swimmers won medals at the

23:33

Tokyo Olympics that year, including gold. Following

23:36

intense global criticism, a Swiss prosecutor,

23:39

Eric Kotei, will lead the investigation

23:41

into the incident and will be

23:43

asked to submit findings within two

23:45

months before some of the same

23:48

Chinese swimmers are set to compete

23:50

at the Paris Games. WADA

23:53

says it will also send a

23:55

compliance audit team to China to

23:57

assess its anti-doping program. The

24:01

city of Dubai in the United Arab

24:04

Emirates is synonymous with scorching heat and

24:06

the desert. But last

24:08

week it made headlines when

24:10

exceptionally heavy rains caused major

24:12

floods that killed several people,

24:14

caused widespread disruption and left

24:16

many thousands of passengers stranded

24:18

in the main airport. Now

24:21

a group of climate scientists has said the

24:24

rainfall was most likely made worse by man-made

24:27

climate change. Our

24:29

climate editor Justin Rowlett has been looking at

24:31

the study by the World Weather

24:33

Attribution Initiative. A year and a

24:35

half of rain in 24 hours in a

24:37

city that very rarely sees any rain

24:39

at all. I mean it will go

24:42

months without a drop of rain. So

24:44

the infrastructure to channel that water away

24:46

from essential infrastructure from homes just isn't

24:48

there and that's why we saw those

24:50

incredible pictures of flooding. The floods poured

24:52

into the buildings, damaged infrastructure. There were

24:54

some amazing pictures for example of the

24:56

airport where the runway was covered in

24:59

water and you could see jet planes

25:01

blowing, great clouds of water up as

25:03

they tried to manoeuvre around the airport.

25:05

So this study that we got published

25:07

today says that analysing the data they

25:10

find the storm was made between 10

25:12

and 40% more intense because of climate

25:14

change. Now that is a huge range

25:17

and reflects a deep and profound underlying

25:19

uncertainty because again these rainstorms

25:21

are so rare. They don't have lots

25:23

of data to compare how big big

25:26

storms are because big storms don't happen

25:28

very often. But what they are saying

25:30

is the underlying trend of

25:32

the warming globe increasing the

25:35

intensity of rainstorms. They said that underlying trend

25:37

is very clear. I mean it shows that

25:39

our world is changing in a really profound

25:42

way. We're in the, we had 10 months

25:44

that were the record hottest months ever recorded

25:46

for that time of year and that shows

25:48

us the hottest year ever last year. The

25:51

sea temperatures around the world are the hottest

25:53

they've ever been at the moment and all

25:55

of this should be profoundly worrying for us

25:57

because it signifies the degree to which world

26:00

is changing. Just in Rolat. Police

26:03

in Europe have arrested nine citizens

26:05

from Georgia after a series of

26:07

raids across Europe aimed at combating

26:09

the theft of rare books and

26:12

their replacement with fakes. It's

26:14

thought that over the last couple

26:16

of years thieves posing as researchers

26:18

have examined and even photographed books

26:21

held in national libraries, returning weeks

26:23

later to replace them with almost

26:25

perfect replicas. The

26:27

French international news agency,

26:29

AFP's Magda Padchokrek, has

26:31

been closely covering the story

26:33

and Chomle asked her just how the

26:35

thieves pulled off what is now being

26:38

called the Pushkin print. The

26:40

thieves were using fake identities

26:42

to pose as researchers and

26:44

get access to priceless Russian

26:48

19th century books by

26:51

standout names as Alexander

26:53

Pushkin or Nikolai Gogol.

26:56

They burrowed the books and

26:58

then pretended to work and study them

27:00

and replace them with copies. So when

27:03

you say they pretended to study them,

27:05

they were actually doing what? They

27:07

were reading them but the

27:09

library suspects when they were not

27:11

on camera, they were also taking pictures of

27:14

the books basically. And in one case I

27:16

understand that the library itself didn't even know

27:18

that the book on their shelf was a

27:20

fake until it was pointed out to them.

27:23

Indeed it took quite a long

27:25

time for the library in Warsaw

27:27

to realise that some of the

27:29

books had been replaced by fakes

27:31

because some of them prepared by

27:33

the thieves were so meticulously prepared,

27:35

the librarians and the experts had

27:37

difficulties finding out that these were

27:40

actually fakes. So it's all a bit embarrassing

27:42

for the libraries involved but I mean it

27:44

is quite an audacious crime isn't it? I

27:46

mean they seem to have been pretty kind

27:49

of shameless about it. Yes indeed.

27:52

They were but they were also well

27:54

prepared from what I gathered from the

27:56

experts. They knew where to sit in

27:58

the reading room. to not

28:01

be caught by the video surveillance.

28:03

They knew how to leave the

28:05

cover intact and replace what's

28:08

inside the book. And you yourself played a

28:10

bit of a part in helping the authorities

28:12

sort of join the dots to realise that

28:14

this wasn't just a problem in one university

28:16

in one country. That's true, because when we

28:19

first saw the somewhat dry

28:21

press release by the University of

28:23

Warsaw saying that they discovered a theft

28:26

of valuable objects, of valuable

28:28

books, we started searching for

28:30

similar cases. And then

28:32

it turned out that Estonia had already

28:35

seen something similar. Then we

28:37

saw that Latvia had also

28:39

had something similar. And

28:41

while we were investigating, the news

28:43

broke that Lithuanian University

28:46

in Vilnius also discovered

28:49

a theft of actually the same titles

28:51

by the same authors. And

28:53

linking the dots was not that difficult. It

28:55

was pretty clear from the very beginning that

28:58

these must be the same people who

29:00

were responsible. Where have the books

29:02

ended up and how did you discover that they

29:04

were actually being sold at auction? I spoke

29:06

to the expert at the University

29:08

of Warsaw, who's a Russia expert. And

29:11

he showed me screen grabs of

29:13

the auctions organised by an auction

29:15

house in Russia. And the auction

29:18

house did not care that much

29:20

to even blur the

29:22

traces of the books coming from Warsaw,

29:24

because the pictures that they had on

29:26

the website, they had stamps coming

29:28

from the University of Warsaw's library.

29:31

This was easily traceable back to Warsaw.

29:34

Magda Pachukrek, AFP's central

29:37

Europe reporter. And

29:40

finally, the Pet Shop Boys, one of

29:42

the most influential bands to emerge from

29:44

the 1980s pop scene, are

29:46

back. The English duo, Chris

29:49

Lowe and Neil Tennant's latest album,

29:51

nonetheless, marks a return to the

29:53

lush symphonic sound of what lead

29:55

singer Tennant once called their imperial

29:57

phase. And it finds

29:59

them addressing... everything from societal change

30:02

to the inner thoughts of Donald

30:04

Trump's security detail. Our

30:06

music correspondent Mark Savage has been speaking

30:08

to Chris and Neil. It's

30:14

40 years since the Pet Shop Boys released

30:16

their debut single West End Girls. 50

30:20

million record sales later Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

30:22

had defined a new way of working for their

30:24

15th album nonetheless which was written in the middle

30:26

of lockdown. The weather was great. I mean I

30:29

know it wasn't like this you were living in

30:31

a block of flats in Birmingham but I was

30:33

in the countryside in Cairns. Chris kept sending music

30:35

through, I kept sending lyrics through to him. Sun

30:40

was shining, it felt quite euphoric

30:43

about it really. New

30:52

London Boy on the record is

30:54

kind of about your arrival in London in the

30:56

1970s. I

31:01

moved down properly at the beginning of 1973 in

31:03

the high school, I'm not a period and

31:06

me and two friends of Newcastle shared a

31:08

flat in Tottenham. Newcastle was terrifying in the

31:10

early 70s because the skinheads. Anytime I've ever

31:12

been punched in my life, actually by skinheads,

31:15

waiting for bus in New Caffords. So I

31:17

was always a bit paranoid because of that,

31:19

I probably brought that paranoia down to London

31:21

with, the skinheads will not call you a

31:24

fag. London was a bit scary at night

31:27

but we used to get all dressed up in our

31:29

glam lock finery and go out. I

31:31

had a job in the summer of 1973 in

31:33

an insurance company on the King's

31:35

Road but with white oxer bags and a

31:37

white tank top. I know as to wear

31:39

these women's shoes with

31:42

big platform heels and

31:44

gay men used to be common for

31:46

their work down the road. Did you

31:49

just get whistled as well? And that's

31:51

how you went to work and the

31:53

insurance brokers. Yeah, the guy that I

31:55

worked for was very gay.

31:57

Chris Wun Leels doing all of that. Well

32:00

you were studying architecture. Did anything

32:03

you designed ever get built? Well, it's

32:05

not much to boast about. I

32:07

did spend a lot of time working on a staircase

32:10

which did get built in Milton Keynes in

32:13

an industrial unit. I think we're going

32:15

to have to do another example. Another

32:18

of you, Tom, finds the lieutenant

32:20

imagining himself in the shoes of

32:22

one of Donald Trump's bodyguards. I

32:24

read that President Trump's official guards

32:26

didn't respect him because of his

32:28

attitude. I think the FBI and

32:30

the CIA, we dissed very early

32:32

into this presidency. They held

32:34

him in very low esteem. And yet, of course, they've got to protect

32:36

him. They've got to take the bullet from him in extreme time. Do

32:47

you ever see yourself retiring? It's not

32:49

on the agenda per se, but who

32:51

knows. The touring bit, though, I guess

32:53

a bit much, doesn't it? Could do.

32:55

It was hard work going around like in

32:58

America just before Christmas. It was fun, though,

33:00

right? Well, you see, you're remembering it differently

33:02

than you remembered it. Well, it's indispensable. The

33:05

concerts were great. I mean, it

33:07

was great, the whole thing, but

33:09

it's tiring. Like silent movie stars

33:11

in 60s Hollywood No

33:15

one knows who you are in the

33:17

H.D.A. When

33:20

you do what, do you get recognized? I'm

33:22

sentenced. We have a very

33:24

acceptable level of fame. We both are always on

33:27

the street, on the tube. So

33:29

I'm always surprised if someone says, can

33:32

I get a selfie, Neil? I've sort of forgotten I'm

33:34

me. I wish I

33:37

knew you were mine. I

33:39

wish I knew you were mine. I wish I knew you were mine.

33:42

I wish I knew you were mine. I

33:45

wish I knew you were mine. I wish

33:48

I knew you were mine. Neil Tennant ending

33:50

that report by Mark Savage and the new

33:52

album Nonetheless is released on the 26th of

33:54

April. And

33:58

that's it from us for now, be a

34:00

new edition of the Global News podcast

34:03

later. This edition was mixed by Nick

34:05

Randall. The producer was Emma Joseph. The

34:07

editor is Karen Martin. I'm

34:09

Valerie Sanderson. Until next time. Bye bye. I

34:20

knew right at that moment that my

34:22

whole life was gone. I'm going to

34:24

jail for a very, very long time.

34:26

There was no doubt about it. Lives

34:28

Less Ordinary is a podcast with astonishing

34:30

personal stories from across the globe. And

34:33

honestly even at that point of reporting to a

34:35

journalist, I don't think I really knew that that

34:37

was in itself an act of whistleblowing. Expect

34:39

the unexpected. The only future is

34:41

death here. So if we live,

34:43

we might have a chance. We

34:45

will die anyway, but we will

34:47

die trying. Lives Less Ordinary

34:49

from the BBC World Service. Find

34:51

it wherever you get your BBC

34:53

podcasts.