--:-- Asma Khalid: This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. See it differently when you stream the best of British TV with BritBox. Watch with a free trial today.
--:-- Asma Khalid: America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Tristan Redman: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story.
--:-- Tristan Redman: Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Asma Khalid: The Pakistani Taliban take responsibility. We speak to one of the joint winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize for his work on metal organic frameworks. But what are they precisely?
--:-- Asma Khalid: Also in this podcast... A golden milestone. Gold smashes through $4,000 for the first time. The price of gold has hit a record high of more than $4,000 an ounce. We hear why the price of gold is surging.
--:-- Tristan Redman: We start with the ongoing indirect peace talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Now in their third day, the talks between Israel and Hamas are examining President Trump's 20-point peace plan.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Two of Donald Trump's key aides, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are in Egypt to join the negotiations. It's the closest both sides have come to a deal since the war began two years ago.
--:-- Asma Khalid: After those two years of war, the UN estimates more than 90% of homes have been damaged or destroyed with hundreds of thousands of people displaced.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Hamas have been significantly reduced as a fighting force, but not eliminated. As they wait for developments in President Trump's peace plan, what are Palestinians in Gaza and beyond hoping for?
--:-- Asma Khalid: Israel doesn't allow international journalists, including the BBC, into Gaza. So our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, sent this report from Jerusalem.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: Two years of war and more than 67,000 mostly civilians killed by Israel, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, means two million Gazans are following the talks in Egypt, hoping desperately for a ceasefire.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: This is Suhed, displaced from his home, like most Gazans. He says, we've been under this brutal occupation for nearly two years. We're praying for a ceasefire and for success in the negotiations.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: People are fed up with this. They are tired of war. This is Najoud, also displaced. She says, I follow the news closely. I tell myself there's progress. Be optimistic. Then when night comes, we have nothing more than increased shelling on the tents of displaced people in the areas they claim are safe.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: On the streets, Hamas is trying to show it's still in charge. A fortnight ago, it carried out a public execution of men it said had collaborated with Israel. They were kicked over and moments later shot dead.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: Hamas wants to keep some weapons, fearing revenge attacks. From Jerusalem, I reached a human rights activist in Gaza, Khalil Abu Shamala.
--:-- Khalil Abu Shamala: He accepts Hamas still has a significant following, but he's had enough.
--:-- Khalil Abu Shamala: So tell me, do you think Hamas is finished?
--:-- Khalil Abu Shamala: I think that it is too late. This is my point of view. It is too late for Hamas to renew or to call people or to ask people to accept them again.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: But what about the West Bank, where Jewish settlers attack Palestinians almost every day?
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: The West Bank, the biggest part of the land the UK and others recognize as Palestine, is not mentioned in the Trump peace plan, raising Palestinian suspicions.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: Just outside Jerusalem, Israel has authorized a major expansion of Jewish settlements, illegal under international law.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: Its prime minister says this land is ours. The Israeli government is very open about why it wants to build on these hills, to stop the creation of a viable and independent Palestine.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: Donald Trump says that he can bring peace to the entire Middle East. The talks in Egypt are not going to do that. They can potentially, if they overcome a lot of obstacles, be an endgame for the war in Gaza.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: But the overall conflict will continue. With Gaza in ruins, Israel wants to declare victory after the talks in Egypt. Hamas wants to survive somehow and rebuild itself. That sounds like an impossible circle to square.
--:-- Jeremy Bowen: President Trump's plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.
--:-- Jan Egerland: I'm the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He explained what needs to happen on the humanitarian front if any peace deal is agreed.
--:-- Jan Egerland: Point seven and eight of the Trump plan really basically says the flow of aid and the rehabilitation of services and infrastructure necessary for people to survive should start immediately.
--:-- Jan Egerland: We've come with a list of concrete ideas that we've submitted to a number of governments that are involved in all of this, from the Norwegian Refugee Council, citing on how the border crossings need to be opened, how they need to be monitored, how the Astot harbour can be used, how the direct line from Jordan and from Egypt can be used, how we can rotate aid workers, how we can get in the flow of the most necessary aid.
--:-- Jan Egerland: All of that has been also submitted. I hope that will be part of what will be agreed today in Cairo, because we have been held out from supplying the starving in Gaza since March.
--:-- Jan Egerland: There's only been a few actors that have been allowed to continue their lifelines. We were blocked in March.
--:-- Alex Ritson: For the first time gold has topped an ounce over the past 12 months. Its price has risen by percent. A golden milestone. Gold smashes through $4,000 for the first time as the U shutdown fuels that rally.
--:-- Alex Ritson: The price of gold has hit a record high of more than $4,000 an ounce. It's been the strongest yearly performance in nearly half a century. What a momentum trade for the yellow metal.
--:-- Alex Ritson: Gold has now risen, Tom, over 20 percent. All right, so go figure, $4,000 gold. All right, We are a business show and gold is at 4,000 and I have no way of explaining it.
--:-- Alex Ritson: To discuss what's driving gold's rally, I spoke to our business correspondent, Nick Marsh in Singapore.
--:-- Nick Marsh: The cliche is that investors buy gold in times of uncertainty. And as is the case, Alex, with a lot of cliches, it's largely true.
--:-- Nick Marsh: The last time we saw a rally in the price of gold like this was in the 1970s. So during a massive energy crisis, global economic downturn, then people turn to gold as they are now.
--:-- Nick Marsh: This time around, we've got the trade tensions. We've got a president in the White House regularly lambasting the head of the American Central Bank over things like interest rates.
--:-- Nick Marsh: You've got conflicts, alliances being reshaped all around the world. So investors are looking at that political picture, that economic picture and saying, well, right now, I'd rather not put my money in stocks. shares bonds i'd rather buy gold which is traditionally seen as reliable.
--:-- Nick Marsh: What's the attraction though because it doesn't pay you anything it just sits in your bedroom or your safe or wherever you keep it it's one of those things in economics that it only really works if everyone agrees on the principle.
--:-- Nick Marsh: So gold is pretty rare it's a durable metal it's real which is very important. It's not a currency or a share of a company. So if everyone agrees that this metal has value, the commodity, which is across the board seen as being a very, very important hedge against things like inflation, so prices going up, stock market, volatility, that sort of thing.
--:-- Nick Marsh: So having gold for governments, for example, is seen as very, very important. But plenty of ordinary people, retail investors as well, they see gold as the ultimate safe haven when things are appearing uncertain.
--:-- Nick Marsh: I've heard it said by the real fans of gold that the price of gold actually doesn't change. It's the price of everything else that changes.
--:-- Nick Marsh: Yeah, I think that's a pretty astute way of putting it. It is the hedge against the volatility that all other sort of financial assets and instruments represent.
--:-- Nick Marsh: So like I say, If interest rates are low, it doesn't make as much sense to put your money in the bank or in shares. Maybe gold is an attractive proposition.
--:-- Nick Marsh: One thing that people do say about gold, though, is that you have to, because the price doesn't change, or at least it doesn't increase in value because essentially you are buying just a physical commodity, you might actually be losing money because of the price of storage.
--:-- Nick Marsh: So you have to factor in that aspect as well. So not only does the big macroeconomic picture apply, it's the smaller things as well.
--:-- Alex Ritson: There's been a bomb and gun attack on the Pakistani military during a security operation in the northwest of the country. At least 11 soldiers are dead.
--:-- Alex Ritson: A number of other casualties are reported in the resulting firefight with militants. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility, saying they ambushed the troops.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: Global affairs reporter Ambarasan Etta Rajan is following the story and gave me the latest.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: The Pakistani military says it was an intelligence-led operation because there have been clashes going on for several months between the security forces and Tehranqi Taliban or Pakistani Taliban militants who want to impose a Sharia law, Islamic Sharia law in the northwest of the country.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And they are very active in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And this time the military says that they've lost several soldiers, including senior officers.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And at the same time, the forces have also managed to repel the attack and killed several militants.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: Of course, we don't have any independent confirmation of what happened in Aurexa district where the clashes took place, but it also shows the challenges faced by the Pakistani military as there have been increasing attacks on security forces in the past year or so.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: Yeah, increasing. But how common are they? Now, since the Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, we see an increasing in the number of attacks on Pakistani security forces by Pakistani Taliban militants.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: Now, this issue has also triggered tensions between Islamabad and Kabul because Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing shelter to these militants who are having bases.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: In fact, they also carried out some attacks inside the Afghan territory a few months ago. And the Kabul, the administration there, they reject these accusations.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: Then they say we will not allow our territory to be used by anyone else. But what several independent analysts and the local reporters have been saying, what these militants are using, very sophisticated weapons.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And also for the first time, we are seeing in the past few months, drones being used by both sides.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And, you know, when the Americans left Afghanistan in 21, huge amount of arms were left in various gudons in various places.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And now the reports are suggesting that some of these American weapons have fallen into the hands of these TTP militants.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: So it is a huge security worry for Pakistan. On the one side, it is trying to establish itself as a bigger power, a military powerhouse, but also they are facing this security challenge.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: So these increases in security problems, they do coincide with the takeover of the Taliban in Afghanistan? That's what the Pakistani authorities are blaming.
--:-- Ambarasan Etta Rajan: And we also have to remember the ongoing insurgency in the Balochistan province. So these two areas where the security operations are going on, Pakistani security forces are taking on casualties and that should be a cause of concern for the military leaders.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Still to come in this podcast. The choice before us is very simple. We either can shy away and watch Russian threats escalate, or we meet them with unity, deterrence and resolve.
--:-- Asma Khalid: The President of the European Commission warns the EU is the target of a Russian hybrid war.
--:-- Asma Khalid: America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Asma Khalid: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Asma Khalid: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for developing entirely new materials with revolutionary properties.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Transcription by CastingWords. It's been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa from Japan, British Richard Robson, and the American Jordanian Omar Yagi.
--:-- Asma Khalid: The million prize will be shared between the three of them for developing what are known as metal-organic frameworks, which can potentially be used to capture carbon dioxide.
--:-- Asma Khalid: The Nobel Committee said the laureates had provided chemists with new opportunities for solving some of the challenges facing science.
--:-- Professor Heiner Linker: A small amount of such material can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume.
--:-- Professor Heiner Linker: This type of materials, called metal-organic frameworks, can be created with almost unlimited variations, creating unending possibilities for the greatest benefit to humankind.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Afterwards, we got through to one of the winners, was a very modest 88-year-old professor, Richard Robson, at his home in Melbourne, Australia.
--:-- James Menendez: The BBC's James Menendez began by congratulating him and asked him how he was feeling about winning the Nobel Prize.
--:-- Richard Robson: It wasn't a big surprise. Because?
--:-- Richard Robson: All sorts of sounds I've been hearing over the years. So you felt sort of slightly prepared for it, but still...
--:-- Richard Robson: Yes, slightly prepared is exactly right. Slightly prepared, but must have come as very good news.
--:-- Richard Robson: Oh, yeah. Very shattering in a way. But anyhow, yeah.
--:-- Richard Robson: Can you tell us about your work? I mean, this is, you know, for people like me who aren't chemists, tell us about the materials that you've developed over the course of your career.
--:-- Richard Robson: I've been at the University of Melbourne since 1966. and as a very young man, I took it upon myself to base my research on the idea of pre-organized units doing special things.
--:-- Richard Robson: In 1974, we got a new boss and he gave members of the department various jobs to do. My job was to build a new set of models for lecture demonstrations.
--:-- Richard Robson: So I had to sort of calculate the angles that the workshop would have to drill into these very large numbers of wooden balls.
--:-- Richard Robson: And once it was underway, it sort of became automatic. And the thought arose with this idea of pre-organization at the back of my mind, that if we used molecules in place of balls, specially designed molecules, and specially constructed metal interactions to represent the rods in the model, that maybe if you mixed these things together, they would spontaneously generate the extended three-dimensional structure that we had in mind, and that's what happened.
--:-- Richard Robson: And it was 10 years before I actually started making things with the intention of doing this, and it worked.
--:-- Richard Robson: And what are the applications then of these structures that you were designing?
--:-- Richard Robson: There's talk about binding CO2 and solving the world's atmospheric problems and so on which don't sound realistic to me but these sorts of compounds could do that sort of job on a small scale they could capture carbon dioxide i mean that's what some some think it they may be able to do but you know this is on a grand scale right you can imagine what scale you'd need to do anything significant on a world scale.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: Europe is the target of a Russian hybrid war and needs to ramp up its defences to deter future attacks.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: That was the warning from the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: She told the European Parliament that the recent series of air incursions were part of a campaign to divide EU member states and weaken their support for Ukraine.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: This requires a completely new mindset for all of us. We must be ready to leave our comfort zone.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: We need to explore new ways of doing things. And most importantly, we must deter everyone who seeks to harm our territory and our people.
--:-- Ursula von der Leyen: The choice before us is very simple. We either can shy away and watch Russian threats escalate, or we meet them with unity, deterrence and resolve.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: While it was Russian jets that flew into Estonian airspace last month, the appearance of drones near airports in Denmark, Germany and Belgium hasn't been definitively pinned on Russia.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: But the working assumption seems to be that it's part of a broader strategy of disruption, including things like cyber attacks.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: So how should the EU respond? Is a drone war the answer, as some countries that border Russia are demanding?
--:-- Hannah Neumann: What is most important is that we send the clear signal that an attack on one of us, on an inch of European Union territory, is an attack on all of us, and that's how we will deal with it.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: Because frankly, if we don't keep up this idea, then the European project will die rather soon.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: How we can do that? A drone wall, I wouldn't call it a wall. I would call it more like a drone defence system is part of it.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: But it can't be like the whole solution. We also need to discuss cyber defence. We need to discuss air defence. We need to discuss rules of engagement, decision making structures.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: But the principle of shooting down drones that come into EU airspace, I mean, you'd go along with that.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: And in fact, just as I walked into the studio to talk to you, a report came out from your country, Germany, saying that the police would be authorised to shoot drones down.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: Is that a good idea, do you think? That's two questions.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: I mean, the first question is if there are drones in our airspace, we need to deal with that and we need to bring them down.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: That can be done by spoofing. That can be done by interfering with signals. There are different ways.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: And it also could be done by shooting them down. But that's like the last step if the other ones don't work.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: In Germany, we have this clear distinction that if we have threats inside the country, it's the police who is in. And if it's threats outside of the country, military threats at our borders, that would be the military.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: What we've seen in the past is that these drones have been launched from already inside either German waters or inside Germany.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: So usually they are not coming from Russia and flying into Germany. That's just, I mean, logistically impossible.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: So the kind of threats that we see right now are clearly originating from within Germany.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: And that's how we deal with it. I mean, we have already seen, you talked about the importance of EU unity over this.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: I mean, there have already been divisions that have been appearing with some countries that are not on the front line, as it were, you know, apparently not so keen on spending money on these sorts of defences.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: But obviously countries like the Baltics and Poland are much more keen to do so I mean isn't precisely those sorts of divisions that have emerged so quickly that Russia is trying to exploit I mean that what Putin is aiming for and we shouldn't make him the gift of falling along these lines.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: And I see over the course of recent days that there is a growing understanding that actually this is an attack on everyone, and especially when we're talking about cyber attacks, So attacks that are less localized exactly in the border regions.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: Also, the other countries will see that it could hit them very easily. And we have seen in the past that for other situations, countries in the south asked for EU solidarity that was granted to them.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: So it's like a give and take. Yes, except that people, you know, individual countries, I mean, this has obviously been the case with the EU since its inception.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: Individual countries are very quick to make their own national case, aren't they? And doing so publicly, I guess, doesn't really help in this situation, which is a very fast moving one.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: Indeed. And that's why I think we really need to change the narrative and make everyone understand that these attacks are attacks to every European Union member state's interests, economic ones, political ones, whatnot, and then in the end, come to the conclusion that it's much better to stand together.
--:-- Hannah Neumann: That's how I see my role. That's how many others see their role. And I'm telling you, we are moving ahead.
--:-- David Lewis: The Cairo comedian Bassam Youssef is back on the screens in his homeland, making his first appearance since he went into exile in the United States just over a decade ago.
--:-- David Lewis: He was forced to flee because his humour proved annoying for the country's leaders.
--:-- David Lewis: The funny man was once known for his political parodies, but he's become more well-known internationally for his stance on the war in Gaza.
--:-- David Lewis: The Newsroom's David Lewis is following the story.
--:-- David Lewis: Bassem Youssef's journey to show business was not a straight one. A qualified doctor, he made the move into comedy.
--:-- David Lewis: And at the time, there was no shortage of material. By 2011, the Arab Spring was sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa.
--:-- David Lewis: Governments were toppled and presidents fled. He was treating the wounded in Cairo's Tahrir Square as the drumbeat grew louder to oust President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's strongman at the top, for 30 years.
--:-- David Lewis: He began uploading videos to YouTube, poking fun at those clinging to power. And they blew up. Within months, his shorts were attracting millions of views.
--:-- David Lewis: He was given his own programme, Al-Burnameg, The Show. He parodied news journalists as well as Egyptian celebrities and politicians.
--:-- David Lewis: At the height of his fame, his comedy was being seen by 30 million viewers a week, a third of the population.
--:-- David Lewis: But he was stepping on toes. Later Egyptian governments arrested and threatened him. He fled to America.
--:-- David Lewis: Fast forward to 2023 and he reached a new audience as a vocal critic of the war in Gaza.
--:-- David Lewis: In an infamous appearance on Piers Morgan's show after the October 7th attacks, his sardonic tone on Israel's military action went viral.
--:-- David Lewis: He was accused of anti-Semitism after mocking Jews as the chosen people.
--:-- David Lewis: He said it again on the BBC. Promised land, promised by whom, of chosen people, chosen by whom? The God, my God, your God, whose God?
--:-- David Lewis: This is plain lies. This is satire. Why is it like when the West talks about everything, it's liberal, secular, democratic. Only when it comes to Israel, it's biblical. Why? You know, that's the problem.
--:-- David Lewis: And now he's on the telly. For four episodes, he'll appear on Kalima Akhera, The Last Word, where he'll recount his wild and often controversial times of living in the United States.
--:-- Justin Webb: Now to science and also perhaps a little religion.
--:-- Justin Webb: In the beginning, the Bible tells us, was the word meaning something, a creative force or a divine presence.
--:-- Justin Webb: Scientists generally agree that the universe sprang into existence with the Big Bang, but now a couple of researchers have suggested that we ought to look again at what caused the Big Bang in the first place.
--:-- Justin Webb: Michel Balloret is the co-author of God, the Science, the Evidence.
--:-- Michel Balloret: Our book is not a book of faith or religion. It's a book for the general public. And we just try to give elements to answer to only one question.
--:-- Michel Balloret: Our universe is a wonderful clock. behind this clock, is there a clockmaker or not? Before the watch, is there a watchmaker or not? This is a question of the philosophes.
--:-- Michel Balloret: So we don't want to answer any question of religion. We just want to show to the general public, but all the book is very exact, that today it is very difficult to keep the materialism philosophy because science is pointing out into the necessity that we have a creator God to explain the universe.
--:-- Michel Balloret: But if you look simply at the Big Bang, is it your contention that something must have created the Big Bang? In other words, nothing can come from nothingness. So there must have been something before, and that creation can only be explained by God.
--:-- Michel Balloret: Is that what you're saying? Yes, it's very important. It's not me who is saying that. It's a Greek philosopher 2,500 years ago, Parmenides.
--:-- Michel Balloret: He said it was in Latin ex nihilo nihil, which means that from nothing, nothing can come. So there is only two possibilities.
--:-- Michel Balloret: The first possibility is our universe is eternal, then the problem does not arise. Or if our universe has a beginning, then the question of the creation cannot be avoided.
--:-- Michel Balloret: But have you not hit on the issue then, that what other scientists might say is it goes through a cycle, a kind of eternal cycle of expansion and contraction.
--:-- Michel Balloret: That explains the Big Bang because universes explode and then gradually contract on themselves into a point of nothingness and then expand again.
--:-- Michel Balloret: And that has always been happening. And for us, for our minds, that is actually, I mean, literally impossible for us to comprehend, but that doesn't mean it can't be true.
--:-- Michel Balloret: It's very interesting because it has been something that people have said for a very long time, since the Big Bang until 20 years ago.
--:-- Michel Balloret: But in 2003, so it's really yesterday, three top scientists, American scientists, Good, Borden, Wilenkin, they have made the demonstration that an infinite series of Big Bang before our Big Bang is impossible because the energy, the entropy of the universe is growing and it means the disorder is growing, the energy is declining, so this is not possible anymore.
--:-- Justin Webb: And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later.
--:-- Justin Webb: If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.
--:-- Justin Webb: You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global News Pod.
--:-- Justin Webb: This edition was mixed by Jack Wilfen and the producer was David Lewis.
--:-- Justin Webb: The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.
