Global News Podcast: Azerbaijan announces ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Live's Less Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service bringing you extraordinary

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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Janet Jalil and at 13 hours GMT on Wednesday the 20th of September these are our main stories.

The Government of Azerbaijan has announced a ceasefire with ethnic Armenians in the contested

territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Parliament in Iran has passed a law that could see women

jailed for up to 10 years for failing to adhere to Islamic dress rules. Most of the Spanish

women's football team have agreed to end their boycott in return for reforms.

Another word for today, I may already have been this thunder-plumped. I think a lot of

us will be thunder-plumped today.

The author who is going back centuries to show how words have the power to make people

happy.

We begin this podcast in a fragile region long contested by Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Just a day after it launched a military operation in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,

Azerbaijan has now halted the fighting. This comes after the separatist forces in the Enkle,

which is mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, agreed to a ceasefire. The separatists say

more than 30 people, including children, have been killed in a day of conflict in which

they were outmanned and outgunned. The ceasefire put forward by Russian peacekeepers will see

local fighters disarmed and talks between both sides on how to integrate the territory

into Azerbaijan. A special envoy to the Azeri president, Elchin Amoebekov, confirmed the

fighting was over in an interview with the BBC.

There is an end to the fighting. I can confirm to you because that was the agreement from

both sides that in case we receive the agreement of the Armenian separatists to lay arms and

to produce their own statement, then of course we will reciprocate. Both agreements have been

reached with the facilitation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which is on the spot.

Since they are the only ones who have presence on the ground and who have been in constant touch

since the start of these measures since yesterday, I think they have to be counted on

for the implementation part. Meanwhile, the European Union says it's monitoring the situation.

Luke Pierre de Vigne is with the European External Action Service.

Literally a few minutes before walking into this room, we heard that allegedly, this was

announced by some media, a ceasefire would take place between Karabaki de facto authorities and

Azeri remains to be seen what is going to come next.

So, is this a victory for Azerbaijan? Reyhan Dmitri is our correspondent in the region.

It increasingly looks like it is a victory for Azerbaijan and it looks like a complete surrender

by the ethnic Armenian leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh. Interestingly, since we last spoke,

Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia, he made a statement and he said that Armenia was not

part of the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement and also he said that it was not clear to Armenia

why the Armenian armed forces are being mentioned in the ceasefire because the last Armenian military

left Nagorno-Karabakh, he said, in August 2021 and also Pashinyan said that now, of course,

it will be the obligation and responsibility of Russian peacekeepers to ensure the safety of

ethnic Armenians. Meanwhile, since the ceasefire that was announced at 1300 local time, we are

hearing from the journalists on the ground that the sound of gunfire had stopped, but it is really

not that clear what's happening to the civilian population. So, some reports are saying that

people are still hesitant to leave their bomb shelters and basements because it's not clear

what's happening to them. I've seen some photographs and videos showing a lot of people, like hundreds

of people, as much as we can judge by those pictures, gathering in the regional airport,

which hasn't been functioning ever actually, but they are there and I suppose in the hope of being

evacuated from Nagorno-Karabakh. And you talked about this statement that Russian peacekeepers,

when they have to ensure the safety of Armenians in the enclaves, there's only about 2000 Russian

peacekeepers, more than 100,000 Armenians, very uncertain future for them. Very uncertain future

and probably like for a lot of Armenians it is just their worst nightmare now because for a lot of

them it's unimaginable to be part of Azerbaijan because, you know, they've been fighting, they've

been at war for many decades, but where to go it is also not clear, but I think a lot will depend

on what will come out of the talks that are scheduled for tomorrow between the ethnic Armenians

and Azerbaijan in the Azerbaijani town where the safety and security of Karabakh Armenians will be

on the agenda. Rehan Dimitri, since widespread protests erupted across Iran a year ago sparked

by the death and police custody of Masa Amini, many women have refused to cover their hair.

Now just days after many Iranians marked the anniversary of Masa Amini's death, lawmakers

in Iran have passed a bill that could see women being jailed for up to 10 years if they continue

to defy the Iranian regime's draconian dress code. Our Middle East analyst Mike Thompson told us more.

It's called the Hijab and Chastity Bill and it was passed by a big majority in the parliament there.

It's to be trialled for three years so they're going to evaluate how successful it is and it's

all going to be part of the continuing crackdown. There's been morality, police patrols reintroduced

on the streets, surveillance cameras and the closure of non-compliant businesses. A big water

park in Meshad earlier this month for instance that was closed down because a lot of customers

weren't covering their hair and some women are even being subjected to court mandated therapy.

So there's all these measures that the authorities are saying they are taking but they clearly don't

feel that they're enough so they're introducing this bill but how is this likely to go down

with women who have continued to defy these dress rules despite all these pressures being

brought in them? Well so far there's no sign that women have been wilting in the face of this

crackdown that's been going on for some time. We've seen many, particularly in places like Tehran,

the big cities, openly flouting the headscarf rule. There've been pop songs celebrating not wearing

a headscarf and many well-known actresses and actors talking about how this should be ignored.

So it seems hard to understand really how this is going to impact other than it may

even encourage more women rather less to flout the rules because of the anger over this infringement

of what many feel to be their right. And it's not going to be good news for Iran's international

reputation either? No well you're at the moment we have the Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi

at the UN General Assembly in New York and he's meeting with various heads of state,

he's also meeting with US politicians, international organizations and some American journalists.

All of this I think is to try and give a softer image to his country, what acceptable image,

but things like this are not going to help but we've had demonstrations outside the building

against him, mainly exiled Iranians calling for him to be in court rather than at the UN assembly

and you get the feeling that this is only going to lead to even more of those.

Mike Thompson, the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has warned that evil cannot be trusted

and that a nuclear armed Russia must be stopped from pushing the world to the final war in a

passionate speech to over a hundred leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. Later today

Ukraine's wartime president will address a special session of the UN Security Council

the first time he'll have done so in person. Ned Adolfik reports.

Attention was always going to be high on President Vladimir Zelensky during this,

his first visit to the UN General Assembly since the war in Ukraine began.

On the agenda a round of press interviews and key meetings with his counterparts

who have an outright condemned Russia for its invasion such as South Africa's Cyril Ramosa.

The wartime president has focused his efforts here and indeed his address to the General Assembly

on making his case that the war in his homeland is a grave threat to all nations.

And the goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people,

our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order.

Many seats in the General Assembly Hall may become empty. Empty if Russia succeeds with its

treachery and aggression. While many members of the UN want the focus to be on peace talks,

Western leaders maintain that it must not come at the expense of Ukraine's sovereignty.

On Wednesday President Zelensky will attend a special meeting of the Security Council

where he plans to lay out details of his peace formula.

Well the war in Ukraine is not the only focus here. I'm standing in the UN plaza outside of

the General Assembly building where there are several displays listing out each of the 17

sustainable development goals including climate action, no poverty and good health.

And the UN has gone to great lengths this year to put the emphasis squarely on these issues,

one's important to the global south.

Leaders are arriving at this high level week off the back of the hottest summer on record.

On behalf of the General Assembly I have the honor to welcome his Excellency Joseph R. Biden.

Among those alarmed by the climate crisis was President Joe Biden,

who told those assembled that it was an existential threat to all of humanity.

Record-breaking heat waves in the United States and China,

wildfires ravaging North America and Southern Europe, a fifth year of drought in the Horn of

Africa, tragic, tragic flooding in Libya. My heart goes out to the people of Libya that's killed

thousands, thousands of people. Together these snapshots tell an urgent story of what awaits us

if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world.

The Secretary General Antonio Guterres says actions are falling abysmally short.

He will be holding a Climate Ambition Summit Wednesday,

where only first movers and doers will be allowed to speak.

And with global divisions deepening and sometimes paralyzing international cooperation,

the Secretary General told the Assembly it was time to reform the organization he leads

and the financial system to better reflect today's realities.

I have no illusions. Reforms are a question of power.

And I know there are many competing interests and agendas.

But the alternative to reform is not the status quo.

The alternative to reform is further fragmentation. It is reform or rapture.

Among those in agreement, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Security Council has ceased to be the guarantor of world security and has become

a battleground for the political strategies of only five countries.

The UN may be losing some of its power, but with so many challenges facing the globe,

it is still the one place where all nations of the world can come together and talk.

Netotorfic. Many global news podcast listeners around the world may be experiencing the

Mubble Fubbles today or be about to be thunder-plumped.

These terms are centuries old and they've been put together by author Susie Dent in her new

book for children, Roots of Happiness, celebrating the joy to be found in the use of different words.

She spoke to my colleague, Nick Robinson.

The Mubble Fubbles is a rather cuddly way of saying that you're feeling a little bit blue

and melancholy. I think just saying it cheers you up a little bit.

And they obviously had them young in the 17th century.

And a Giggleburg presumably is what it seems to be, which is someone to smile on the face.

Someone who is consistently smiling. And of course, for adults, we would probably

introduce a bit of cynicism and say they completely can ruin your day.

Somebody who never stops smiling, particularly first thing in the morning.

But for children, hopefully it's a really happy thing.

And do you think positive language, never mind positive emotions and thoughts,

that just positive words, can make a difference to how we all feel?

I really do actually. So in the course of my sort of dictionary work,

I just noticed how much our language tends to focus on the bad, sad and seamy side of life.

And there is a lot of research actually showing that by having the words to describe happy feelings,

we can feel that happiness directly. So, you know, obviously words have incredible power.

Something called emotional granularity is what psychologists are calling it.

And it's all about having vocabulary to articulate how you feel.

And that in turn can actually allow you to harness those emotions, which is incredible.

So give us some more words that we might use today.

What about a word for describing the fact that we feel good that someone else is happy?

This is one of my absolute favourites. Yes, this is confalicity.

And confalicity is almost the opposite of Schadenfreude, which we all know from German.

And it is joy in someone else's happiness. It's completely altruistic.

We just feel their happiness and a joyful for them, which is lovely.

Another word for today, thunder-plumped. I think a lot of us will be thunder-plumped today.

This is to be soaked to the skin in seconds from a very heavy downpour.

But if you're enjoying the warmth of the sun on a winter's day,

there's a word for that, isn't it? And you don't need German.

Usually you do need German for complicated concepts all summed up in a single word.

It's true. It's like Lego, isn't it? But yes, there is a word for this as well.

I'm on a mission to bring this one back, as are some weather forecasters.

Actually, it's apricity, the warmth of the sun on your back on a chilly winter's day.

Lovely word. That was Susie Dent.

Still to come?

However, former in an opera was able to turn the tables on a critic who was rude about her appearance.

Our planet's climate is changing. We are in the midst of a climate crisis.

The climate question speaks to those hit the hardest.

The problems caused by deforestation in the environment are huge.

We're in big trouble and ask what we can do to soften the impact for the future.

We do have the means to do something about this. Try and reduce or allow to fossil fuels.

Welcome back to the Global News Podcast. Will they or won't they?

That was a question hanging over the Spanish women's football team,

whose players had refused to take part in international matches.

This was partly in response to their World Cup-winning teammate,

Jenny Emoso, being given an unwanted kiss on the lips by the Football Federation's then-President

Luis Rubiales. Now reforms have been promised and most of the players have agreed to end their

boycott. Victor Frankos, the president of the National Sports Council, welcomed the breakthrough.

I think the good news you can share with people is that 21 players have showed their

desire to remain. I have to be honest, the players are experiencing a complicated moment,

not less so than everyone else in this negotiation. And I think it's good news to be able to say

the Spanish women's team will play with guarantees and hopefully victories these next two games.

I asked our reporter in Madrid, Guy Hedco, what these promised reforms were.

We don't know exactly. We don't know the exact measures that the Spanish Football

Federation will take or that it has promised to players. What we do know is that they seem to

have accepted these measures and the Federation has promised to take what is called deep and

immediate initiatives. And what we understand is that those could include personnel changes

at the top of the Federation. There is a feeling that there are still people high up in the Federation

who are allies of Luis Rubiales, the man who kissed Jenny Emoso on the lips, triggering

this whole crisis, who are still in their places. And also the players wanted systemic

change as well. They wanted changes to the way that the women's football is run. So what we've

heard today is Sports Minister Miquel Iseta said that he thinks that by Friday, that's the day when

the Spanish team is going to play against Sweden, there will be changes in place. So it could be

that we see some personnel changes at the very least. And one big issue is pay. Yes, that's

right. There has been a lot of dispute over pay for women footballers and there has actually been a

strike in the separate, but a strike in the women's league. There was a strike going on

for club players as well. But the feeling seems to be that a major issue is the way that Spanish

football is run for women and that there are long standing issues. And whether it's sort of direct

treatment by certain individuals, or the more more sort of broader issues of how women's football

is handled. And you have to take into account that this is a World Cup winning team now. So

in a sense, they do have a much stronger hand to play. So when they go on strike, people are going

to sit up and notice. And that is what has happened. We had this tremendous stalemate,

which looked like it might stretch out and cause severe problems for Spanish football. And that

has finally come to an end, it seems. Guy Hedgeko in Spain. Now it's that time of year when students

are starting to head back to university. But just how far would you travel for your academic pursuits?

Well, one student from Guinea in West Africa made it his goal to study at a prestigious

institution in Egypt, but didn't have the money to get there. So he decided on a less

conventional mode of transport for such a long journey. Yusuf Taha reports.

To pursue his dream, Mamadou Safayou Barry set off on his bicycle to Egypt,

a journey of over 8,000 kilometers. He rode through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and

Niger. Four months into his arduous journey, Mr. Barry ended up in Chad. There, good Samaritans

paid for him to fly the rest of the way to Cairo. His story earned him a meeting with the

Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies. Dr. Nahla Saidi praised him for his determination

and offered him a place on the Faculty's Islamic Studies course, with a full scholarship,

along with a set of books to help him learn Arabic. Mr. Barry said he's overjoyed to be

studying at the prestigious university, which made his journey worthwhile. He pointed out that

people in Guinea look up to Al-Azhar at the highest authority of Sunni Islam, and are always proud

when their children graduate from one of its faculties. Dr. Saidi, who is also the advisor

for expatriate students, said that Al-Azhar offers its courses and unlimited support to its students,

including foreign ones, and tries to make their life easier. Mr. Barry extended his thanks to

the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, to Egypt and its people, who welcomed him with open arms.

Yusuf Taha. Just a couple of years ago, Britain was championing itself as a global leader

in battling climate change, as it hosted a summit in which it tried to rally countries to do more

to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But now the British Prime Minister has confirmed that there

is going to be a significant change in the government's net zero policies. As we record

this podcast, he's due to make an announcement in the next couple of hours. This comes after

the BBC revealed on Tuesday that Mr. Sunnak was considering watering down some of his pledges,

including delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Several big car makers,

including Ford, which have invested heavily in producing electric vehicles, warned that any

delay would damage businesses and confuse buyers. But the Interior Minister, Sorella Braverman,

insists that this is not the case. Fundamentally, we're not going to save the planet by bankrupting

the British people. The costs of achieving some of these arbitrary targets has to be taken into

account. These goals are just that goals, not straight jackets. And we need to ensure that we

do it and we work towards those goals in a sustainable way, in a mature way, in a pragmatic way.

I asked our political correspondent, Rob Watson, what exactly Mr. Sunnak might be planning?

I think in broad terms, what he's been considering, as you suggested, is a sort of watering down

anti-climate change policies, such as, for example, one would be the last moment you could buy a petrol

car. And what's what it's about, do we think? It's two things. So he would argue that this is the

slogan is, you know, you don't save the planet by bankrupting the British economy. But I don't think

there's any doubt that the second thing is that this is just intensely political. And the view

at Westminster is this is a sort of pretty desperate piece of action by a Prime Minister and a party

very long way behind in the opinion polls, essentially looking for one of those classic

dividing lines in politics, which we see all over the Western world and the sort of dividing line.

He's looking at us this idea that, you know, he would be on the side of ordinary motorists

and homeowners against sort of unreasonable, unrealistic climate zealots. And I think probably

one of the things that sparked this, if people listening remember, is the by-election

in West London, where the Conservatives held on in part because of their opposition to the

extension of a low emission zone there in that part of London. This is at a time when the government

is really struggling to win popular support. It's got very low ratings in the opinion polls.

But there is a danger that this could backfire because many people in Britain, as elsewhere,

are extremely concerned about climate change, including with the Mr. Sunak's own party.

You have hit the proverbial nail on the hedge in that. I mean, there are plenty of

Conservative Party activists and MPs who are going to welcome this. But the danger is that this is

one of those blatantly, I mean, absolutely blatantly populist policies that could prove

fantastically, even catastrophically unpopular. Because polling does suggest that, yes, while

people are a bit nervous about the price tag attached to some climate change policies,

people really do care, many of them, passionately about what they see going on in Britain and around

the world's climate. So it is an intensely, an intensely risky and very political move.

Rob Watson. Now, as London Fashion Week was being held this week, the Human Rights Foundation used

the occasion to project images on iconic landmarks across the city, such as Tower Bridge and the

Tate Modern Art Gallery, urging onlookers to consider the lives behind their clothes.

It says one in five cotton garments worldwide are linked to the forced labour of China's Uyghur

people who are believed to be held against their will in what the state calls re-education camps.

Claudia Bennett of the Human Rights Foundation talked about the projected images to my colleague

Victoria Uankwenda. You're seeing actual portraits of those detained in the camps,

smuggled out by a whistleblower and then sent to an NGO actually in Washington, D.C.

And then you also see big, bold letters of the human rights violations that are taking place,

such as forced sterilization, mass surveillance, inhumane treatment, torture, and also this

receipt that tells you that a £4.99 t-shirt, while it is discounted to £4.99 compared to £44.99,

what you are saving is the human rights violations and the discounts are people's lives.

And how sure then can people be that the images that they are seeing are the people who

are said to be picking the cotton in our clothes?

Since 2017, the CCP has arbitrarily detained more than one million Uyghurs in the concentration

camps. And we know that they are forced to work there, including picking cotton or making clothes

that then end up in stores all over the world. And democracies worldwide have called what is

taking place in China a genocide. And the fashion industry is complicit in this.

So the CCP that you mentioned there is the Chinese Communist Party. But then, do we know that all

the cotton that is being used in the fashion, the clothes that we wear is coming from that area?

Well, according to the coalition to end forced labor in the Uyghur region,

one in five cotton garments worldwide is linked to Uyghur forced labor. So there is a huge possibility

that anything that you are wearing, I am wearing, the person down the street is wearing, and especially

those on the runways during fashion week are wearing is linked to Uyghur forced labor.

So you said that we needed to have more transparency from the brands and the clothes that we wear,

but how can we be sure that we are taking those kind of steps to make sure that what we are wearing

is ethically sourced? We at the Human Rights Foundation have an award winning Google Chrome

extension, which is called the Uyghur forced labor checker. And when you go to a website through

that checker, it notifies you when you visit the website of a brand that is likely linked to Uyghur

forced labor, and it prompts you to reconsider your purchase. And the bottom line really is that

everyone can and should play a part in ending Uyghur forced labor. It is as simple as demanding

your favorite brands disclose not only where their products are made, but who is making them.

Claudia Bennett of the Human Rights Foundation, the Chinese Communist Party has yet to comment

on the specific claims made in this interview, but has previously denied that it's mistreating

its Uyghur population. Now, it's not often that performers get to hit back at critics who belittle

their appearance, but one actress had a light hearted but effective response to an opera critic

who said her makeup made her look like a fright. 81 year old Rose Knox Peoples was performing in

Wagner's Dust Rheingold here in London. Stephanie Prentice reports on how she cut her critic down to size.

The trailer for Death Rheingolds at the Royal Opera House in London shows the main characters

seated around a table, promising a tale of love, power and deception.

Among them, a naked Rose Knox Peoples playing Urda, the Earth Goddess. Her portrayal has been

celebrated by critics with the Times newspaper calling her extraordinary, but one critic reviewing

the depiction of the first opera in Wagner's celebrated ring cycle found her appearance

somewhat distracting. In his review for the Financial Times, he said Urda's makeup looked,

in his words, quite a fright, adding that probably goes with the territory if you've been around

since the dawn of time. This prompted the actress to write a letter to the paper,

politely explaining that actually she wasn't wearing any makeup, adding the fright look

is all naturally mine. It's not the first time that journalists have been criticised for focusing

on the appearance of female opera performers. In 2014, Tara Errott was described as dumpy,

unsightly and unappealing following her performance in De Rosin Cavalier. At the

time, singers and other journalists rushed to her defence, saying the opera should be about the singing.

You can also find us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at Global NewsPod.

This edition was mixed by Javid Ghilani, the producer was Alfie Havishan, the editor is

Karen Martin. I'm Jeanette Jaleel. Until next time, goodbye.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.