Global News Podcast: Putin critic Navalny handed further jail term

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I'm Valerie Sanderson and in the early hours of Saturday the 5th of August these are our main

stories. A court in Russia has sentenced the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny to a

further lengthy term behind bars in one of the country's toughest prisons. West African states

have agreed a plan for potential military intervention to restore democracy to Niger.

A wildfire in the Iranian capital sets off explosions outside the Evan prison.

Also in this podcast at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland,

the one woman show with an audience of one. I knew it was preview week, I knew it was going to be

hard, all just came out afterwards and that's when I had a cry. Keep listening for a happy ending.

We begin in Russia where the country's most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny who's

been imprisoned at a remote penal colony since 2021 has been found guilty of extremism charges

and had his prison sentence extended to 19 years. It's understood he'll now be taken to one of

Russia's highest security prisons to be subjected to a special regime likely to include longer periods

of solitary confinement. Friday's court proceedings were held at the prison in Melikovo from where

our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg sent us this report. For this court case the phrase behind

closed doors feels like an understatement. Alexei Navalny was tried in the high security prison

in which he's currently incarcerated. The proceedings were closed to the press and the public

but for the verdict we were allowed in to penal colony number six.

Journalists crammed into a small room dubbed the press centre to watch on a video screen. We weren't

allowed into the makeshift courtroom itself the prison hall where the Kremlin's most vocal critic

and Russia's most famous prisoner was pronounced guilty yet again this time on extremism charges.

Although due to the poor quality and intermittent audio being pumped into the press room it wasn't

initially clear to journalists here just how long the new prison sentence was. Alexei Navalny and his

supporters insist he is a political prisoner. A charismatic protest leader and anti-corruption

crusader Mr Navalny fell foul of the Kremlin long ago. In recent years he's been the only

opposition leader in Russia capable of bringing large numbers of people especially young Russians

onto the streets nationwide in anti-government protests. In 2020 in Siberia he was poisoned

with a nerve agent and airlifted to Germany. He claims the Kremlin had tried to kill him.

The Russian authorities denied. On his return to Russia in 2021 he was arrested and jailed.

Ever since it's been trial after trial prison sentence after prison sentence.

Steve Rosenberg well in a statement posted on Facebook Alexei Navalny urged Russians to keep

up the fight. He said you are being forced to surrender your Russia without a fight to a gang

of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who seize power. Do not lose the will to resist. A spokesman

for the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk said the sentence imposed had been

based on weak charges. Mr Turk noted that the 19 year sentence was based on vague and overly

broad charges of extremism and followed a closed trial on the premises of the prison

where Mr Navalny is already serving two other sentences amounting to 11 and a half years.

And he called on Russian authorities to take measures to respect their human rights obligations

by immediately ceasing violations of Mr Navalny's human rights and releasing him.

And the secretary general supports the human rights high commissioner on this.

Vladimir Ashokov is executive director of the Foundation Against Corruption founded by Mr Navalny

and now based in the UK. And he gave Julian Marshall his reaction to the sentence.

It was expected in today's oppressive environment that Putin has created.

Today's sentence is the next step in persecution of Navalny.

His first sentence was given to him actually 10 years ago in the summer of 2013. And then

in 2020 it was followed by a assassination attempt and incarceration after he returned

to Russia in January 2021. And now this ridiculous sentence.

What do you know about his physical and his mental health? Because he's in for a tough time,

isn't he? Yes, he is in for a tough time. But the last two and a half years were not walking

the park either. He is in harsh conditions of Russian prison and prison authorities make it

a point to make life difficult in prison for Navalny through various means. But nevertheless,

Navalny sends from his prison cell the message of truth, the message of encouragement for

Russians. And in his last words just a few days ago, he was encouraging Russians to do

whatever little they can to confront this war and this dictatorship.

In those comments earlier this week, he said the purpose would be to frighten Russians

with this lengthy prison sentence. Will that be the case?

I think Russian authorities do feel the need to frighten people and a regime that doles out

such ridiculous sentences. I mean, 19 years is more than many murderers get and Navalny gets it

just for words and for being a political force. I don't think such a regime is quite confident

in their legitimacy and in their stability. So indeed, they have a feeling that they need to

frighten people. Do you think, though, that Mr Navalny still has the support in Russia that he

once had and particularly at a time of war? Well, it's difficult to put a number on the

levels of his support. You know, in today's environment when people are afraid to talk

to pollsters, people get fines and are arrested often by doing a single person picket with a

blank piece of paper. We can judge by objective factors. If we take 2013, the mayoral elections,

Navalny, despite all the obstacles, he got almost to the runoff round against the incumbent

mayor with 28% of votes versus 50%. So I think since then, an average Russian would only feel

more disillusioned with the regime, which have seen the standards of living stagnating or deteriorating,

familiar international brands live in the country, international travel restricted. And

for the last year and a half, a constant stream of coffins coming to Russian homes from the

battlefields of Ukraine. Vladimir Ashokov, Executive Director of the Foundation Against Corruption,

founded by Alexei Navalny. Well, meanwhile, in the war on Ukraine, a Russian navy ship has

been towed into harbour after what Kiev says was a strike by one of its sea drones. The vessel,

a large landing ship capable of carrying battle tanks, was listing heavily and appeared to be

low in the water. It was struck off the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk hundreds of kilometers from

Ukrainian controlled territory. Ukrainian security agency says it used a surface marine drone armed

with nearly half a tonne of explosives. Russia said it had repelled a drone attack.

From Kiev, our Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse reports. In waters dominated by Russia,

Ukraine relies on stealth when it comes to striking Russian targets in the Black Sea in

Sivozov. In footage sent to the BBC by sources in Ukraine's security service, an onboard camera

captures the moment a sea drone moves towards a Russian warship in Novorossiysk. The video breaks

up at the point of impact when it's designed to detonate. Pictures taken in daylight, which

had been verified, suggest the damage was heavy, with the vessel leaning towards the side and

being towed to shore. The Novorossiysk port is a major export hub for Russia and an important

naval base for its Black Sea fleet. It's not clear how much harm it will cause Moscow,

but Ukraine's allies have always been nervous about this war spilling beyond its borders.

So, has that stance relaxed? From what senior presidential advisor Mahailo Pudoliak says,

it seems so. It is clear that it is impossible to win the war if you are not actively attacking.

You can't just watch it happen. We are at war. Our partners have already realized it is not just

a small conflict. War is war. It is necessary to destroy the capabilities of the other side.

Ukraine has promised more sea drone attacks and hopes they will put Russia off

from flexing its muscles on the Black Sea. It's clearly trying to counterpunch where it can,

but with Ukrainian ports being pummeled by Russian drones for the last fortnight,

this isn't tip for tat. James Waterhouse in Kiev. In the early days of the invasion of Ukraine,

experts were surprised how poorly the Russian Army's electronic warfare units performed.

But nearly 18 months later, they are causing significant problems for Ukraine's counteroffensive.

In this so-called invisible war, Russian systems can affect even the most sophisticated weapons

that Ukraine has received from Western allies and NATO countries. The BBC's Abdelil Abderasalov reports.

The Ukrainian soldiers' focus is deeply concentrated on watching blue ways on a computer screen.

Occasionally, he drops down something on a piece of paper.

Then, he picks up a radio and reads out coordinates of Russian artillery positions.

This scene in a damned basement could be from a movie. And it's probably not a coincidence

that the soldier's call sign is Alain Delon, like the famous French film star of the 1970s.

Alain is a member of an electronic intelligence unit. His job is to monitor emissions,

signals used by drones, air defense systems, multiple rocket launchers and other weapons.

He says that Russian forces constantly hunt down units like his.

Their mission is part of a hidden confrontation called electronic warfare.

Most modern weapons have electronic devices that use radio waves,

microwaves, infrared and other frequencies to send or receive data.

That makes them vulnerable to detection and suppression.

Alain and his team climb on the roof of an abandoned house and set up an antenna.

His unit's work helps to build a picture of the battlefield.

Colonel Ivan Pavlenko, chief of electronic warfare department of Ukraine's General Staff.

If I see a number of radios in the same place, I understand that it's a common post.

If I see that something changed or some radios begin to move ahead,

I understand that maybe it would be a counter-offensive or offensive.

After a poor performance at the beginning of his full-scale invasion,

Russian electronic warfare systems today are significantly slowing down Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute,

believes that changes in the dynamics and location of the war are the reasons for that.

Russia has deployed, for example, ZYDL, which is their GPS jammer.

They've deployed those every few dozen miles along the front.

And then Russian communication jammers are deployed at even greater numbers

than their GPS jammers.

So you're talking about hundreds of jammers right along the front lines to jam the radio

communications that Ukrainians depend on to coordinate this counter-offensive.

Russia has significantly improved its capabilities to jam satellite links like GPS,

and that is already hurting Ukraine a lot,

because most modern weapons they receive from NATO countries use a GPS signal for navigation.

When suppressed, even high precision missiles and rockets can miss their target.

That is why both sides are on the hunt for each other's electronic warfare systems.

The unit's position is compromised, so they need to change their location.

The key in electronic warfare is being invisible to your enemy.

That report by Abdul Jalil Abdul Asilov.

Countries from the West African regional body Ekoas say they've now agreed on a plan for

possible military intervention in Niger, if the military, who sees power there,

don't restore the country's president.

The organization had earlier set a deadline of Sunday to reinstate Mohammed Bazoum.

Ekoas Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security,

Abdel Fatah Musa, says this operation is being coordinated at the highest level.

Ekoas is not going to tell the coup-flotter when and where we are going to strike.

That is an operational decision that will be taken by the

heads of state who are going to be like the commanders in chief of this operation.

Ekoas is also attempting to mediate. A delegation visited Niger on Thursday,

but failed to meet the coup leader or the deposed president.

Correspondents say military intervention would be logistically extremely difficult

and risky, as it could cause further destabilization in a region already badly hit

by jihadist insurgencies.

The government in Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region

in the north of the country, after days of clashes between national defense force soldiers

and local militias.

The Prime Minister's office says constitutional order there is under threat.

Telecommunication links have been cut, making it hard to verify details.

Our Africa regional editor Will Ross told us more.

There's a great deal of unhappiness in Amhara because during the two-year Tigray war,

the Amhara backed the government. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed got a lot of support from Amhara people

who took up guns and went to fight against the Tigrayans.

But after that, as part of the kind of let's make up and find peace, there was an agreement

or at least a decision was taken to get all the guns off the Tigrayans and to get the guns off

the Amhara who were part of basically a state backed security force.

And they felt, well, you take away all our guns now after we've helped you.

We're then going to be very vulnerable to attacks, not only from Tigrayans if they choose to attack

us, but also there are land disputes with the Aromo. So there's a lot of things going on here,

but the Amhara feel very badly let down by the government. And so right across parts of the

Amhara region now in the small villages, there are these local militias who are basically

causing chaos and trying to make the state look ungovernable, it seems.

And those are the Fano?

Those are the Fano. So they are people who know the terrain very well, difficult for outside troops

to come and defeat them. It doesn't look as though they're trying to capture large towns,

but they did for a few hours, they managed to seize the airport just outside Lalibela town.

Today, we understand that flights have been canceled to at least three towns across the

Amhara regions. That gives you an idea of the sort of chaos they're causing, even if they don't

have the wherewithal to hold on to the key strategic towns and cities.

And do you think the Ethiopian government's attitude is that this will have to be sorted

out through talking? Certainly, that was the initial call from the president of the Amhara

region. He said, we're open to dialogue, we want dialogue. But within 24 hours of saying that,

he sent out an appeal to the federal government and said, this is spiralling out of control,

we need extra measures, please help. And then we got this state of emergency.

But as some people have pointed out, one of the problems we'll be with dialogue is who on

earth do you talk to, you've got hundreds and hundreds of tiny kind of neighborhood,

almost vigilante groups that have sprung up. They don't have an overall leadership. So it

might be very difficult to solve this through dialogue. Will Ross. Now to Iran and a wildfire

caused by high temperatures, a set of explosions outside Tehran's notorious Evan prison. The

blaze has now been brought under control. Here's Mike Thompson. Iranian state media say the blaze,

which began in grassland, detonated landmines in a security zone around the jail. The facility is

the main site for holding political prisoners, as well as foreigners and dissidents who took

part in recent nationwide protests. A fire there last October ripped through a section of the jail,

killing at least eight people. It's been a week of scorching weather in Iran with temperatures

topping 50 degrees Celsius. Mike Thompson. Still to come. A century ago, there were as many as one

million mating pairs of the small black and white bird on the coasts of southern Africa.

But now the number of African penguins has dropped significantly. So will a fishing

ban help stop their decline? From the passion of the fans. Yes, what did you think of the match

though? The match was amazing. It was so nice to see so many Nigerians coming up to the atmosphere

of the competition. The game, the crowd, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing. I am now a

converted New Zealand fan. World football at the Women's World Cup is the podcast from the BBC World

Service, capturing all the excitement of the tournament here in Australia and New Zealand.

Listen now by searching for world football wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Welcome back to the Global News podcast. Negotiations are continuing in the Colombian

capital Bogota over whether Nicolas Petro, the son of President Gustavo Petro,

should be placed under house arrest or held in prison. This is after he admitted channeling

money from a drug trafficker to his father's presidential campaign last year. President Petro

says he knew nothing about the illegal activity and ordered a police inquiry last March. I got

more from our Latin America correspondent Luis Fajardo. Nicolas Petro is accused of having taken

money from a convicted criminal who once served the sentence for drug trafficking. And moreover,

he says that part of the money he took during the presidential campaign of 2022

actually ended up as campaign funds, which of course is a criminal offence.

And what about his father, the president's role in all this? Did he know about it?

That is the crucial question that many people in Colombia are asking. President Petro has denied

any wrongdoing. He has also said that he respects what the judiciary might decide about his son,

but he says he has nothing to do with it. It certainly has created already a huge political

crisis for President Petro, perhaps the biggest corruption scandal in decades in Colombia,

where a lot of people have criticized him, particularly because of what he stood for

when he ran for president. Again, he was the first ever left-wing president of Colombia,

and he had run explicitly on a campaign against corruption. And now a lot of people are accusing,

of course, his government of not having lived up to this ideal and this hope, and this is creating

a very big political crisis, which many people are afraid that will cause many problems in his

intentions to implement a very ambitious social reform agenda. Now they think he might be forced

to spend the rest of his presidential term defending himself from these attacks.

And what is his son saying about these accusations?

Nicolás Petro again has said that he personally received these funds. He has already confessed

to authorities. He entered a plea bargain deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to give

more information about corruption in the campaign in exchange for leniency. Again,

the very damaging remark he says is that part of this money, not only he kept for himself,

but he also had it entered campaign funds. And in that sense, he would have contaminated,

I guess, the presidential campaign that elected Petro.

And where is Nicolás Petro now?

Nicolás Petro is attending judiciary proceedings in the capital in Bogota.

And later today, judges are expected to decide if they grant him the benefit of house arrest instead

of being directly sent to a jail. If he is convicted, he would face many years in jail.

Luis Fajardo. Now to South Korea and thousands of children attending the World Scout Jamboree

there have been moved to hotels because of a heat wave in the country. Temperatures soared to 35

degrees Celsius at the campsite near the southwestern town of Boone this week,

leading to hundreds of young people requiring medical attention for heat-related illnesses.

The authorities are facing criticism for failing to prepare adequately for the international event.

Our sole correspondent, Jean McKenzie reports.

40,000 scouts from around the world descended on a plot of reclaimed land

to camp for two weeks during a blazing heat wave.

A lack of shade and air conditioning have been blamed for hundreds of teenagers

needing medical attention. There have been complaints about the facilities,

the food and the access to water. Some have saved for years for this once in a lifetime

experience, leaving parents angry and concerned. One parent, Peter Naaldrett, said South Korean

officials weren't prepared for the event. Obviously they knew that there were 47,000

young people coming from all over the world and there have been issues with sanitation,

there have been issues with not getting enough drinking water, just basics really like not

having enough food. The government here has been hastily trying to turn things around,

promising to send air-conditioned buses and medical staff.

In China there's been a break in the storms that have caused widespread flooding and extensive

damage, leaving at least 21 people dead, according to the authorities,

and more than a million people evacuated from their homes.

The decision was taken to try and take pressure off the capital Beijing by diverting the water.

As our China media analyst Kerry Allen explains, that led to neighbouring areas paying the price.

It's absolutely devastating. There have been many reports over the last week talking about how Beijing

and neighbouring Hebei province have seen some of the worst flooding in decades. So a report today,

the Shinhua news agency says that the Haihe River base in which encompasses these two regions has

seen the worst flooding since 1963. And the water depth is around two metres deep and there have

been attempts to try and offset this by releasing water into surrounding regions, largely regions

outside of Beijing in Hebei province. And this had devastating consequences and there's no sign that

the water is going to subside anytime soon, it could take at least a month to do so.

So they diverted the water away from the capital. What happened?

In Hebei province, there has been flooding in particularly a city called Zhuozhou.

And it has led to more than a million people have been relocated in Hebei province. And it has led

to a lot of frustration, but also a lot of fear because there are elderly populations in these

regions. And a lot of the media that I've seen over the last few days that has dominated

Chinese national broadcasters and in newspapers has been small children and also the elderly being

rescued from these cities that weren't badly affected by the flooding and then suddenly

saw their houses destroyed. And yet we have certainly one person in authority proudly declaring

that the province of Hebei would act as a moat to protect Beijing. What's been the reaction to that?

There has been obviously a lot of criticism of this. But what happens in China is that

whenever anything happens like this and flooding is very common this time of year,

you'll see an emphasis on the positives in terms of the huge community efforts of people to come

together and to try to help. So lots of media footage very much focusing on firefighters,

relief workers, people within these communities, cooking and looking after people. So a lot of

focus on the positives rather than on the negatives. And this has been a long-running

thing in China that you'll often see this rather than criticism of the government. In fact,

on social media platforms like Weibo, it's very common to see criticism of the Communist Party be

censored. Kerry Allen. Here in Britain, a court has found a social media influencer and her mother

guilty of murdering two men who died when their car was rammed off the road. It followed a dispute

over an affair between one of the men and the mother of TikTok star Mahek Bukhari.

Naftar Shohar reports from Leicester in central England.

Mahek Bukhari wanted to be known as a social media influencer, spending much of her time on

TikTok. But it was the events in her life offline that have now made her infamous.

This is a video she didn't post online. Police bodycam footage of her and her mother's arrest

on suspicion of murder in February last year. They arrived at this point due to a three-year

relationship between her mother, 46-year-old Ansarine Bukhari and 21-year-old Sikib Hussein.

The court heard that when Bukhari broke off the affair, Sikib Hussein threatened to send

sexually explicit material of her to her husband and son if she didn't repay him money that he

claimed he'd spent on her. In response, the jury were told that the mother and daughter

hatched a plot with the help of others to seize Mr Hussein's phone containing the explicit material.

He agreed to meet them in Leicester under the belief that he'd be receiving payment.

He was driven there by his close friend Hashim Ijazuddin. But the proposed meeting quickly

became a deadly chase, with Mahek and Ansarine Bukhari and their group in two cars following

the two young men in their vehicle. On the A46 is where the crash took place. Just beforehand,

Sikib Hussein was on a 999 call telling the operator that he was being followed by people

wearing balaclavas. He says they're trying to ram us off the road. Please, I'm begging you,

I think I'm going to die. Mahek Bukhari, her mother and two others have been found guilty

of the men's murder, while three others were convicted of manslaughter. They will be sentenced

next month. South Africa says it will introduce a 10-year ban on fishing near colonies of

critically endangered African penguins. Ministers are warning that unless action is taken,

the birds could be extinct by 2035, as Theo White reports.

A century ago, there were as many as one million mating pairs of the small black and white bird

on the coasts of southern Africa. But today, it's believed this number has fallen to just 10,000.

African penguins are, like all penguins, flightless and rely on the sea for their food.

Barbara Creasy, South Africa's Environment Minister, says competition for fish is thought to be a

major contributor to their decline. It's hoped that by stopping fishing around six key locations,

the species can be brought back from the brink of extinction.

Theo White. And now to Scotland, and the Edinburgh Fringe the World's largest performance arts

festival, which has just kicked off. Thousands of shows are being performed in all sorts of venues.

For actors who are less well known, it can be hard to get noticed. So spare a thought for Georgie

Greer, who performed her one-woman show on Thursday night, with only one person in the audience.

She shared a post about it on social media, and the reaction has been overwhelming.

Georgie Greer told the BBC, what happened?

It's preview week, so I knew it would be a struggle for numbers. I had eight on the first day,

so I was like, well, that was a really good turnout, feeling, you know, optimistic, although I know

it's a marathon, not a sprint. But each time again, you get nervous. And then there was a bit of a

conversation outside of the theatre where my technician came out. And I was like, he's never

normally out here. What's he doing? And it came to be that, you know, there was just one person

there. And I was obviously quite upset, but I knew it was preview week. I knew it was going to be

hard. But I just thought, you know what, I have to get on with this. I have to treat this like a

dress rehearsal. But then I think it all just came out afterwards. And that's when I had a cry.

I didn't want to call my mum crying. So I thought the hashtag Ed Fringe community

on social media has been a really supportive place. And I thought, oh, you know, you know,

might find a couple of other people who had one person might get some words of comfort from someone

else might be able to comfort someone else who had one person. I did not expect the level of

reaction. It's been so lovely, so unexpected, so many words for what I've experienced. But yeah,

I'm just so appreciative of the support. So I've got to do it for the rest of the month,

including today. But it's put a spring in my step for sure. But of course, there's no guarantee

still of ticket sales. I love the support. But I will never know who's there until I walk into

that theater. And we'll be grateful if anyone turns up. Well, Georgie has now done her next show.

So how did it go? It went really well. There was more than one. It went really well. It was so nice

to have people smiling faces there. And I'm so grateful to each and every person who came.

Ah, that's a nice ending. Georgie Greer there. And that's it from us for now. But there'll be a

new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the

topics covered in it, send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. And you

can also find us on Twitter at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Paul Mason,

the producer was Leo McCheffrey, the editor as ever is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson, until

next time. Bye bye.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.