--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
--:-- Host: 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.
--:-- Host: The McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the internet for a snack. Snack wrap is back. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.
--:-- Host: The 13th of November. These are our main stories. President Trump has signed a bill to end the 43-day shutdown of government after it was passed by the US House of Representatives.
--:-- Host: The White House says emails released from the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were selectively leaked by Democrats to create a false narrative about President Trump.
--:-- Host: Also in this podcast, prosecutors in Milan investigate allegations that wealthy Italians took part in so-called sniper safaris during the Bosnian War of the 90s.
--:-- Host: And a mass ejection of energy and particles from the sun means a spectacular light show may be visible in many parts of the world.
--:-- Host: When it's particularly strong, it can travel even further away from the poles, can be easily visible to the naked eye, even if you're not necessarily at a dark site.
--:-- Host: And it's just gorgeous, like such a show. It's spectacular.
--:-- Host: We start in the United States, where after 43 days, the longest ever U.S. government shutdown is coming to an end.
--:-- Host: The House was back in session on Wednesday for the first time in weeks, and it narrowly approved a Senate bill that will provide the necessary funding to reopen government.
--:-- Host: On this vote, the yeas are 222, the nays are 209. The bill is passed. The motion is adopted.
--:-- Host: Signing the bill into law, President Trump blamed the Democratic Party for what he called the madness of the past 43 days.
--:-- President Trump: I just want to tell you the country has never been in better shape. We went through this short-term disaster with the Democrats because they thought it would be good politically.
--:-- President Trump: And it's an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again. Thank you.
--:-- Host: Democrats had been refusing to reopen government unless the president agreed to extend health insurance subsidies.
--:-- Host: But as with the Senate earlier this week, several Democrats broke ranks to help vote the bill through.
--:-- Host: When the gavel came down, Congress members could be seen hugging and shaking hands with many Republicans sporting big smiles.
--:-- Host: Our reporter Anna Feige walked alongside the politicians as they returned to their offices after the vote.
--:-- Anna Feige: I just walked through the tunnels of the Capitol and you could just see the relief on everybody's faces.
--:-- Anna Feige: It's been a long 43 days. A lot of Americans have felt a lot of pain from this shutdown.
--:-- Anna Feige: And we've seen both everyday Americans impacted, but also members of Congress here who are trying to battle internally on, do we play the political card or do we play the people card?
--:-- Anna Feige: And so we saw those six Democrats, like you said, say we need to reopen the government. That's first and foremost our priority.
--:-- Anna Feige: We're going to go ahead and side with the Republicans this evening.
--:-- Anna Feige: And just explain what sort of an impact this has had on ordinary Americans after a record shutdown.
--:-- Anna Feige: Yeah, there's few parts of the American life that haven't been touched by the shutdown at this point.
--:-- Anna Feige: We have some 42 million Americans who are dependent on a food assistance program called SNAP, who have gone without that funding since the end of October.
--:-- Anna Feige: It's caused record car lines at food banks across this country because people don't have a way to feed themselves without this without this funding.
--:-- Anna Feige: In addition, we're seeing fewer air traffic controllers show up for work at airports, which is hindering how quickly and efficiently flights can land and take off, which is causing massive airport delays for those who are traveling.
--:-- Anna Feige: On top of that, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have gone without paychecks since the government shut down on October 1st, you know, who are just trying to pay their bills.
--:-- Anna Feige: And those are just a few of the ways. There's many, many more.
--:-- Anna Feige: So what happens next? Is it a return to normality for people or will this take some time because of some of the issues you just mentioned?
--:-- Anna Feige: Yeah, unfortunately, this is going to take a little bit of time. The longer the shutdown goes, the harder it is to kind of turn back some of these impacts.
--:-- Anna Feige: This is bureaucracy after all. So, you know, we do need to be a little bit patient here.
--:-- Anna Feige: The flights are one of those ones where we will have to wait a few days before we have a regular schedule at airports across the country.
--:-- Anna Feige: And just briefly before you go, where are American people on this? Are they looking towards Democrats, Republicans in terms of the blame game?
--:-- Anna Feige: Really depends on the day or the hour of the day, even when you ask everyday Americans how they're feeling about this.
--:-- Anna Feige: I think since this weekend, when the eight Senate Democrats agreed to negotiate and agreed to try to find a way to reopen the government, we are seeing this labeled more clearly as a Democrat shutdown.
--:-- Anna Feige: So, you know, the Democrats are going to have to deal with that in the coming weeks and months, how they survive this politically.
--:-- Host: Anna Fagy reporting from Capitol Hill.
--:-- Host: The news that the government shutdown was due to end was overshadowed on Wednesday by the release of documents from the Epstein files.
--:-- Host: Donald Trump has been facing questions about his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
--:-- Host: And as you may have heard on our previous podcast, Democrats on a congressional oversight committee released three emails written by Epstein which mention Mr Trump.
--:-- Host: Republicans on that same committee later released more than 20,000 pages of documents.
--:-- Robert Garcia: Donald Trump is a president and he campaigned on releasing all the Epstein files. Obsessed about it. His vice president obsessed about it.
--:-- Robert Garcia: And now the White House is involved in a massive cover-up and we want to know why won't they release the files.
--:-- Robert Garcia: All of this can get solved right now if they release all the files.
--:-- Host: In the emails, Epstein writes that Mr Trump quote, knew about the girls and that he'd spent hours with one of Epstein's victims at Epstein's house.
--:-- Host: That victim was reportedly Virginia Dufresne, who died by taking her own life earlier this year.
--:-- Host: The White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said the email show President Trump did nothing wrong and that Ms. Dufresne had maintained that she'd never seen Mr. Trump do anything inappropriate.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: This is truly a manufactured hoax by the Democrat Party for now they're talking about it all of a sudden because President Trump is in the Oval Office.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: But when Joe Biden was sitting in there, the Democrats never brought this up. This wasn't an issue that they cared about because they actually don't care about the victims in these cases.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: They care about trying to score political points against President Trump.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: And it is not a coincidence that the Democrats leaked these emails to the fake news this morning, ahead of Republicans reopening the government.
--:-- Host: Our chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue reports.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: Donald Trump has never denied being an acquaintance of Jeffrey Epstein but has always said he knew nothing about the trafficking and abuse of young women breaking off their relationship years ago.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: But in a fresh batch of around 20 documents that have now been released by a congressional committee, Epstein appears to suggest Donald Trump knew more than he's acknowledged.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: In an email exchange from April 2011, three years after Epstein had pled guilty to soliciting prostitution and been put on the Sex Offenders Register, Epstein wrote to his close friend Ghislaine Maxwell, I want you to realise that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: Virginia spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: The Virginia referred to is Virginia Dufresne, who took her own life earlier this year and who accused the now former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of having sex with her three times when she was as young as 17.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied those allegations.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: Maxwell, who is serving 20 years for trafficking women, replied to the email, I have been thinking about that.
--:-- Gary O'Donoghue: Maxwell, who has recently had her attempts to overturn her conviction rejected by the Supreme Court, is believed to have asked the President to commute her sentence.
--:-- Host: Democrats on the Congressional Committee looking into Epstein's crimes say they raise fresh questions about what Donald Trump knew and when he knew it.
--:-- Host: The new trove of emails also contains one exchange between Epstein and the author Michael Wolff from 2019, just six months before Epstein was arrested.
--:-- Host: In an apparent reference to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, the email says, Trump said he asked me to resign, never remember, ever.
--:-- Host: Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.
--:-- Host: And in another exchange from 2015, again between Epstein and Wolff, as Donald Trump was about to take part in a debate during the Republican presidential primary, I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you, either on air or in scrum afterwards.
--:-- Host: Epstein asked Wolff what he thinks Donald Trump should say if they could craft a response.
--:-- Host: If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the House, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency.
--:-- Host: CNN says, in fact, Donald Trump wasn't asked about Epstein on that occasion.
--:-- Host: Democrats, with the support of a handful of Republicans, have prepared legislation to force the Department of Justice to release all the Epstein files, something the administration has resisted.
--:-- Host: But with many of President Trump's supporters in the country furious at that decision, it's clear this issue isn't going away.
--:-- Host: Gary O'Donoghue in Washington.
--:-- Host: To discuss the significance of these new emails, James Copnall spoke to the lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented 27 of Mr. Epstein's victims.
--:-- Gloria Allred: It's a small clue as to what might be found in the Epstein files.
--:-- Gloria Allred: All the polls in the United States show that the public, Republicans, Democrats, independents, would like to have transparency.
--:-- Gloria Allred: So we'll find out what's in those files. It may just take longer than is absolutely necessary.
--:-- Gloria Allred: And that's hard on victims. They know their own truth, but they'd like to know the entire truth.
--:-- Gloria Allred: In terms of what was released, what did you learn?
--:-- Gloria Allred: It's interesting because Ms. Maxwell, who was interviewed by the Deputy Attorney General, she said that she did not recall that Trump was ever at Epstein's house.
--:-- Gloria Allred: But today we see an email from Jeffrey Epstein that suggests that Mr. Trump, then Mr. Trump, not President Trump, was at his house for hours, apparently, or according to the email, with Virginia Gufra, whose name was provided by the White House, although the word victim was redacted in the original release.
--:-- Gloria Allred: So some people say that's an inconsistency, but not really because she's saying Ms. Maxwell.
--:-- Gloria Allred: She doesn't recall, which doesn't mean that Mr. Trump was there or wasn't there.
--:-- Gloria Allred: Of course, she has her own motives.
--:-- Gloria Allred: She would like to be pardoned by the president.
--:-- Gloria Allred: And President Trump, of course, has always rejected any wrongdoing in this matter.
--:-- Gloria Allred: What do you think we're likely to see next?
--:-- Gloria Allred: Well, I think the likely next developments are there's going to be a vote.
--:-- Gloria Allred: It's called a discharge petition in the House of Representatives to try to get a floor vote on release of the Epstein files.
--:-- Gloria Allred: So it would be good for the public to see all of the emails and all of the files.
--:-- Gloria Allred: And it shouldn't be for the White House or the Congress or anyone else to decide what's relevant or not.
--:-- Host: G7 foreign ministers have wrapped up a meeting in Canada where they discussed ways to increase pressure on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Host: In a joint statement, the ministers called for an immediate ceasefire while voicing what they called unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.
--:-- Host: The group also condemned escalating violence in Sudan.
--:-- Host: Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for international action to halt the flow of weapons to Sudan's paramilitary rapid support forces.
--:-- Marco Rubio: They're committing acts of sexual violence and atrocities, just horrifying atrocities against women, children, innocent civilians of the most horrific kind.
--:-- Marco Rubio: The one thing that I think was most shocking to us is that they anticipated receiving thousands of refugees and they didn't.
--:-- Marco Rubio: So obviously these aren't people that are happy living there after a year of siege against the city.
--:-- Marco Rubio: There's a reason why they didn't come out.
--:-- Marco Rubio: And we fear that the reason why they didn't come out is because they're dead or because they're so sick and so famished.
--:-- Host: Our U.S. State Department correspondent Tom Bateman traveled with Marco Rubio to the G7 meeting and told me more about those comments.
--:-- Tom Bateman: In terms of Sudan, just to deal with that first, this was probably the most outspoken I've heard Marco Rubio when it comes to the actions of the RSF.
--:-- Tom Bateman: And of course, this was directly related to what's happened in the city of El Fasha.
--:-- Tom Bateman: He described these as atrocities.
--:-- Tom Bateman: You know, I pushed him on the scale of it and you heard him talk about their fear that thousands of people could be either dead or too malnourished to move because of that.
--:-- Tom Bateman: And he came close, really, to criticising the United Arab Emirates, although he didn't name them.
--:-- Tom Bateman: But he talked about countries that were suspected of indirectly arming the RSF, something the United Arab Emirates has always denied.
--:-- Tom Bateman: But he talked about the fact that through other African countries, there were weapons going to the RSF.
--:-- Tom Bateman: And he, in no uncertain terms, said it had to stop.
--:-- Tom Bateman: So I think you're seeing the Americans start to push a bit more on this.
--:-- Tom Bateman: And just to deal with the issue of Ukraine that you mentioned, you know, I mean, he was very outspoken once again in terms of Russia's long range strikes into Ukraine and said that as far as he was concerned, it was clear Russia wasn't interested in peace.
--:-- Tom Bateman: What was said about the other main global conflict in Gaza?
--:-- Tom Bateman: Yeah, I mean, I asked him about Gaza because we're still at this position where the Americans have been trying to circulate a resolution to try and get through the United Nations Security Council to establish what President Trump wants which is this so International Stabilisation Force which would be a military force made up of probably forces from Arab and Muslim countries that would go in and effectively be a peacekeeper, but may have to deal with the issue of disarmament of Hamas.
--:-- Tom Bateman: And we don't know these details, so I pushed him on that about what exactly would be the role of the international stabilization force.
--:-- Marco Rubio: If you really want to see a huge uptick, not just in humanitarian assistance, but redevelopment, you're going to need to have security.
--:-- Marco Rubio: And that can't be Hamas.
--:-- Marco Rubio: So there'll have to be a force that provides just basic everyday security.
--:-- Marco Rubio: That's as much as anything else with the stabilization forces role is to stabilize.
--:-- Marco Rubio: As far as demilitarization is concerned, that's a commitment Hamas made.
--:-- Marco Rubio: That's a commitment all of our partners on this deal made.
--:-- Marco Rubio: And we expect those countries, and they are, will at the appropriate time, including now, bring about pressure, you know, on Hamas to live up to that commitment.
--:-- Host: Still to come on this episode, drones, a key weapon on the battlefield, how making and thwarting them has become big business.
--:-- Host: I just wanted to help my country, help military. I helped them with different stuff.
--:-- Host: At that moment I realized all the requests were for drones.
--:-- Erin Andrews: So when the pressure's on, you remember the people who helped you get this far, whose knowledge guided you and whose care kept you grounded.
--:-- Erin Andrews: For me, it was my dad, my mentor, who believed in me when I was just getting started in journalism.
--:-- Erin Andrews: A real-life example that showed me when you work with someone who knows a lot and cares even more, you're unstoppable.
--:-- Host: At Truist, that's exactly how they approach banking.
--:-- Host: Truist, leaders in banking, unwavering in care.
--:-- Host: See what knowledge and care can do for you at truest.com slash unstoppable.
--:-- Host: Truist, member FDIC, leading based on top 10 commercial bank.
--:-- Host: The McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap, Spicy snack wrap? You broke the internet for a snack. Snack wrap is back.
--:-- Mario Lopez: From all with Mario Lopez daily podcast, Toyota is moving toward a more sustainable future by giving you the freedom to choose from a full lineup of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, regular gas, and 100% electric vehicles.
--:-- Mario Lopez: So, pick from stylish cars like the Camry, Corolla, and Prius, as well as efficient and spacious SUVs like the RAV4 and Grand Highlander, all backed by Toyota's reputation for reliability.
--:-- Mario Lopez: In fact, for 2025, Toyota is the best resale value brand for the fifth year in a row, according to Kelley Blue Books, KBB.com.
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--:-- Mario Lopez: With Toyota, you got more choices and less compromise.
--:-- Mario Lopez: Visit BuyAToyota.com for a great deal on an efficient Toyota today.
--:-- Host: Vehicle's projected resale value is specific to the 2025 model year. For more info, visit Kelley Blue Books, kbb.com, Toyota.
--:-- Host: Let's go places.
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--:-- Host: The 1990 civil war in Bosnia following the breakup of Yugoslavia was notorious for its extreme violence.
--:-- Host: One of the most enduring images was the siege of Sarajevo, where civilians braved Serbian sniper fire coming from the hills around the Bosnian capital.
--:-- Host: For years, claims have also persisted that organized tours of Italian tourists joined those Serbian snipers in the killing of innocent civilians.
--:-- Host: But evidence has been elusive.
--:-- Host: Now the public prosecutor office in Milan has opened an investigation.
--:-- Ezio Gavazzini: This is a story, if you like. Some people call it an urban myth, but the journalist who has been investigating it here in Italy believes he has evidence to substantiate what is a tale, essentially a shocking tale, about civilians, citizens of Italy and other countries traveling to the hillside around Sarajevo in the early 1990s during the Bosnian War and paying to kill civilians inside Sarajevo.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: This is a story, if you like. Some people call it an urban myth, but the journalist who has been investigating it here in Italy believes he has evidence to substantiate what is a tale, essentially a shocking tale, about civilians, citizens of Italy and other countries traveling to the hillside around Sarajevo in the early 1990s during the Bosnian War and paying to kill civilians inside Sarajevo.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: Now, the claims have been made before in a film in particular.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: There was a documentary film two or three years ago that came out, but they had also been reported back in the 1990s by an Italian newspaper.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: And the journalist who has now submitted this official complaint and essentially initiated the legal process, he read those reports back then, he then saw the documentary, and then he began digging for himself.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: And he says what he's now done is to submit a kind of dossier of what he says is evidence that does stand up the claims that these weekend safaris, these sniper safaris as they've become known, actually did take place.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: A part of this appears to be based on testimony from a Bosnian military intelligence officer.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: Do we know more about what that person has alleged?
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: The intelligence officer, former intelligence officer, is claiming that groups of people were being smuggled into the hillside around Sarajevo, that they were using minivans, they were masquerading as people on humanitarian missions.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: But in actual fact, they were bribing their way through checkpoints.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: It was all highly organised, he alleges, and they were making their way then to the hillside where Serbian militia were based and that they were paying what is claimed to have been huge amounts of money to kill Bosnian civilians in Sarajevo down below.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: These are shocking allegations and the sources are difficult really to verify.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: But certainly the important point, I suppose, about all of this is that Italian prosecutors are now trying to do exactly that.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: The legal complaint has been submitted to the public prosecutor's office in Milan.
--:-- Sarah Rainsford: They're now looking to see whether there are any suspects that they can identify and then potentially question and pursue legal charges.
--:-- Host: Drones have become a key weapon on the battlefield, especially in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
--:-- Host: And making the aircrafts and the technology to thwart them has become a lucrative business, as our reporter Gideon Long has been finding out.
--:-- Gideon Long: In a clearing in a forest in Ukraine, a soldier sends a drone high into the air.
--:-- Gideon Long: It's a small device, maybe 30 centimetres across, with rotor blades on each corner.
--:-- Gideon Long: A standard commercial drone the kind of thing you might use to take aerial footage at your wedding or birthday party
--:-- Gideon Long: But strap a bomb to it and it becomes a deadly weapon
--:-- Gideon Long: The Russians and Ukrainians have used them to devastating effect
--:-- Gideon Long: Before Russia full invasion in 2022 there were just a handful of companies in Ukraine making drones.
--:-- Gideon Long: Now there are hundreds.
--:-- Stacey Petijon: This has been the first full-blown drone war.
--:-- Stacey Petijon: In Ukraine, you found that there are a million small startups.
--:-- Stacey Petijon: There are a ton of mom-and-pop shops where people are making drones and assembling them in their apartments, in their garages, and donating them to the forces in addition to established industries.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: Before the war, she was a floral artist with a flower shop in Kyiv.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: But after 2022, she set up a company called ClinDrones.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: It was just an obvious decision for me.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: I just wanted to help my country, help my people and military.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: I helped them with different stuff.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: And at that moment, I realised that all the requests were for drones.
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: And where do you get the parts for the drones from?
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: Do you have to buy them in, the frames? Or are you producing them yourselves using 3D printers?
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: Where do you get the parts?
--:-- Ksenia Kalmas: Some of the parts, like cameras, unfortunately we have to buy from China, but most of them are bought in Ukraine and produced in Ukraine.
--:-- Host: The growth in drone technology has also spawned its antithesis, a counter-drone industry.
--:-- Host: Because for every drone launched in anger on the battlefield, there's usually someone trying to jam its radio signal or shoot it down.
--:-- Host: DroneShield is an Australian company that specialises in anti-drone technology.
--:-- Host: Since Russia's invasion, its share price has soared 2,600%.
--:-- Host: So what are the likely next developments in drone warfare?
--:-- Host: At the moment, many drones have to be guided to their targets by an operator, an actual human being with a remote control panel standing within range of the drone and therefore often in danger.
--:-- Host: But Stacey Pettyjohn at the Center for a New American Security says that will evolve.
--:-- Stacey Pettyjohn: I do think there are going to be further changes in the future as autonomy advances.
--:-- Stacey Pettyjohn: That's going to be the next real shift.
--:-- Host: In the meantime, back in Kyiv, former floral artist Ksenia Kalmus says she will continue to assemble small, cheap drones for use on the front line.
--:-- Gideon Long: Gideon Long in Ukraine.
--:-- Host: The northern and southern lights, also known as Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, are among the world's most breathtaking natural sites.
--:-- Host: Normally, to catch a glimpse of these colourful swirls in the night sky, you have to get close to the North or South Pole.
--:-- Host: But right now, thanks to a mass ejection of energy and particles from the sun, the auroras can be seen far beyond their usual range.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: The sun is a kind of active environment, and particularly on the surface and just below the surface, there's a process that's known as convection, which is the exact same process that happens in your pasta pot when you're boiling water and the hot water moves upward.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: But of course, in the sun, it's these charged particles because it's so hot, it's a plasma.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And that creates this magnetic field that's very complex, very large scale.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And every so often, it kind of burps material out into its environment.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And some of those are energetic enough and big enough that they can travel through the solar system and reach the Earth.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: Our magnetic field actually absorbs and deflects most of it, but some of it gets funneled to the poles, both the North and the South Pole.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And then we see the interactions of those very energetic charged particles with the atmosphere.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And that's what causes all of the colours that we see.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And when it's particularly strong, it can travel even further away from the poles.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And that's when it really makes the news, because it can be easily visible to the naked eye, even if you're not necessarily at a dark site.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And it's just gorgeous, like such a show. It's spectacular.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: So we call that phenomenon, don't we, in this part of the globe.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: In Europe, we talk about the northern lights.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: Is it something that will be experienced globally?
--:-- Brooke Simmons: So we'll see it somewhere around the poles.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And it's certainly there's a southern lights as well, the aurora australis, and that's also predicted to happen.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: Where you tend to see the aurora is kind of a ring.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: It's like a donut shape around the pole.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And how big that ring is depends on how big the storm has been.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And this one's pretty big.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: So the ring will be pretty far south compared to where it usually is.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: It looks like it might get up to Australia, like Sydney and Perth, for example, might get some.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: New Zealand then is probably going to get some.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: And I was looking at what happened last night and it looked like maybe you'd be able to see it from South Africa if you look toward the south and maybe from the very southern tip of South America.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: In the northern hemisphere, I certainly would expect Canada, Alaska, the northern parts of the US, very northern parts, and parts of Russia I would expect in Scandinavia, of course.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: So it can be a spectacular light show north and south.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: But there's also a potential downside, isn't there, from these kinds of solar eruptions?
--:-- Brooke Simmons: I mean, we've experienced it in quite a significant way, what, a couple of hundred years ago, and that was in a time before modern society, industrialisation and all the things that make us potentially more vulnerable.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: The event that you're talking about is called the Carrington event.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: It was so big it has a name.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: We didn't have a power grid, but we did have a telegraph grid at the time.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: Funnily enough, the ratings don't even really have a separate category for storms that big.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: So this one is the same rating as that one was, but they're nowhere near the same.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: It's not dangerous, this storm.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: But that event 175 years ago or so, there are reports of telegraph operators on the ground getting electric shocks and that it caused fires in the telegraph network.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: You can imagine what that would do to a modern power grid.
--:-- Brooke Simmons: It would not be good.
--:-- Host: Professor Brooke Simmons of Lancaster University speaking to Sean Lay.
--:-- Host: And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast a little later.
--:-- Host: If you want to comment on this episode or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.
--:-- Host: The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk and you can also find us on X at BBC World Service and you can use the hashtag GlobalNewsPod.
--:-- Host: This edition was mixed by Chris Ablakwa and the producers were Marion Straughan and Stephen Jensen.
--:-- Host: The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Ankur Desai.
--:-- Host: Until next time, goodbye.
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