Global News Podcast: UN agencies voice concern over Israel's siege of Gaza

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Hey BBC listeners, you come to the Global News podcast because you want to stay up to date on

the best of international coverage.

I'm Erica Cruz-Gavara from KQED's The Bay podcast, where we bring you the best of local news around

the Bay area.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we bring you conversations with local journalists to give

you the context and analysis that you need to make sense of what's going on in our region.

You can find The Bay wherever you get your podcasts.

You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway.

We're recording this at 13 hours GMT on Tuesday, the 10th of October.

UN agencies have expressed concern over Israel's siege of Gaza, warning it's illegal to deprive

the population of vital supplies.

Israel says it's recovered the bodies of 1,500 Hamas fighters, meaning the total death toll

has passed 3,000, and three days after the invasion began, Israel says it's finally regained

control of the territory around Gaza.

Also in the podcast...

When we consider that 9 out of 10 of our medicines come from plants, what we're potentially

staring down the barrel of is losing up to half of all of our future medicines.

A warning that 45% of the world's known flowering plants could face extinction.

The pioneering mouth guard that could help solve rugby's concussion problem and...

He was, in his own words, a man who'd be happy with a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

The modest lifestyle of the Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney, who's died at the age of 92.

Footage of the attacks in southern Israel over the weekend has already highlighted the

brutality of the Hamas gunmen.

But now we're getting more of an idea of the ferocity of the battles between the Israeli

security forces and the Palestinian fighters.

Video released by the Israeli police of an operation to rescue wounded soldiers on the

heavy fire near the kaboots of near-arm.

The Israeli military say they've now recovered the bodies of 1,500 Hamas gunmen inside Israel,

meaning the total number killed, reported from all sides, is approaching 3,300.

1,000 murdered in the initial assault on Israel, according to the Israeli embassy in the U.S.

770 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza and the further 17 in clashes with Israeli

forces in the occupied West Bank. Three days after the start of the Hamas attack,

Israel says it has now regained control of its territory.

The IDF is in full control of the region surrounding Gaza.

There were no infiltrations of terrorists overnight, as far as we know.

We have created an iron wall of tanks, helicopters, aircrafts,

and our policy is to shoot to kill anyone who approaches defense on the border.

Daniel Agari, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces,

our correspondent Dan Johnson reports now on what the latest phase of this

long-running conflict means for the people in Gaza and Israel.

Gaza pounded again by Israeli airstrikes.

Right across this land, people have, for decades, known more war than peace.

But the destruction and bloodshed is now at levels they can barely comprehend.

It's difficult to reach people in Gaza, but videos show them scrambling to find survivors,

and Palestinian voices are making it out through social media.

We will struggle, and our people will continue to fight until their homeland is restored,

says Khalil Salman, shouting from the ruins of his home.

We will sacrifice our children, he says, our homes, our blood, and our bodies.

The deaths are mounting on both sides, and the people of Gaza have been warned this is just the

beginning. Israel wants a complete siege, cutting off food, fuel, electricity, and water supplies

to more than two million. Those working to preserve life in this tiny strip of land are deeply worried.

We managed to contact Mahmoud Shalabi, who's in Gaza leading a team from medical aid for Palestinians.

Right now the situation is crazy. The frequency of bombardments and the targeting of mosques,

of markets, of houses without even warning is really horrific. I'm afraid that the worst

is yet to come. The health system is collapsing, and inside the hospitals, when I spoke to some

of the doctors at the beginning of the escalation, they told me that it's a slaughterhouse.

Bodies were all over the ground. We are expecting something worse to happen, and we are all afraid.

There is fear across Israel too. Rockets are still heading the other way,

and more bodies are being discovered. Its people don't know what's to come next either.

Those are the air raid sirens now sounding across Jerusalem. This is now happening more and more,

and it's happening right across the country. 300,000 Israeli reserve soldiers have been called up.

Moran Nunberg has just made the switch from husband and father to army medic.

You feel a bit shocked, slightly overwhelmed, as a parent have to find a way to explain to

the kids why everybody is agitated. A few personal friends who are frontline fighters,

the minute they heard of the attack, they already had a bag ready, and they were just sitting next

week ready to go. You know there is a war coming, you have a part to do, step up.

Thunderstorms now replaced the sound of rockets, even if only briefly. And there is a sense that

after so many repeated cycles of violence and failed peace plans, whatever happens next,

whatever the outcome, this will be a defining moment.

A report from Dan Johnson in Jerusalem. The Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have continued,

despite threats by Hamas to execute Israeli hostages. The UN rights chief has said civilians

must never be used as bargaining chips. UN agencies have also expressed concern over

Israel's imposition of a total siege on Gaza, saying it could amount to collective punishment

and be illegal under international law. Israel has said Hamas fighters have nowhere

to hide in the territory, but the civilian population there is also finding it difficult

to seek shelter, given how densely populated it is, and the ferocity of the air attacks,

with a thousand tons of bombs dropped already. A spokeswoman for the UN Relief Agency for

Palestinian refugees Tamara Al-Rifi spoke to Rob Young.

The airstrikes continued overnight and with them mass displacement of people who were running

for their lives, or people who were looking for somewhere safer to stay. And that somewhere safer

is mostly UNRAS schools. Our schools, the schools of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees,

received up to 137,000 internally displaced people as of last night. So 83 of our schools that

usually have classrooms and children have now become shelters where conditions are very difficult

because of the overcrowding already and because of the limited availability of clean drinking water

in addition to other supplies. So the situation is very difficult and 18 of our own buildings

have been partially damaged during the military activities of the last couple of days.

One presumes the Israelis know where your schools are.

We share the GPS of all our buildings in any conflict, so the one in Gaza and everywhere

else we work with all the parties, yes. You've got 137,000 people who are sheltering

in your 83 schools. Do you expect more people to turn to you for help, given that Israel's

Defence Minister has ordered a complete seed, which would mean that no food, fuel or water would be

allowed into Gaza? Yes, unfortunately, we expect more people to leave their homes and come to

shelter in our schools. So we expect the figure to increase, which will cause a lot of pressure on

our ability to respond to their needs. Many of our schools at UNRWA are already prepared to become

shelters as we operate in fragile contexts where conflicts can flare up at any moment.

However, it takes a lot to turn a school into an actual shelter for more than a few days. We're

talking about access to clean drinking water, which is already scarce in Gaza. We're also talking

about mobile toilets and bathrooms. And we're talking about distribution of food and bear

necessities such as mattresses and jerry cans and cleaning utensils. So this is a huge humanitarian

operation to put in place while the air strikes and the conflict itself is ongoing.

How long do you think there is food and water for? We usually have in place enough food,

water but also fuel for about 10 days. So we will now work with our UN partners through our stocks

and theirs. When Israel says it is ordering a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, is it your

understanding that would include that even the United Nations would not be allowed to resupply

its own facilities? This is subject to discussions now as the UN and the humanitarian community in

general always presumes that access of humanitarians and humanitarian supplies would be spared.

This is something that we will be looking at very seriously in the days to come.

UN Works and Relief Coordinator in Gaza, Tamara Al-Rifai.

Well, as well as launching air strikes on Gaza, there have been strong hints that Israel is

planning to mount a ground invasion. With the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel's

response would, quote, change the Middle East. Colin Clark is from the security think tank,

the Sufan Group. Rob Young asked him about the challenges of putting Israeli boots on the ground

in Gaza. Given the pressure of the videos we've seen coming out of Israel, there's going to be a

real groundswell of pressure among policymakers, among the Israeli public to do something definitive

here and to not only get the hostages back but to attempt to deal a crippling blow to Hamas.

And that's only possible if the Israelis actually go in with a large-scale ground

invasion. I think it could actually go far beyond that and become a full blown occupation again.

And how long is that likely to last? And definitely, you know, you're talking about

a densely populated area with 2 million people. Clearly, Hamas is dug in and entrenched and has

no shortage of weaponry. So, you know, you're talking about an operation that could last weeks,

if not months. And presumably, Hamas would have been preparing for the possibility of

a ground assault by Israeli forces. Exactly. Particularly, if you think about Hamas' network

of subterranean tunnels. This is something that Hamas is known for, that they would have been

preparing for for quite some time. These tunnels are likely to be booby-trapped and they present

a really, really complex operational scenario for the Israelis. And I should say, the IDF is

among the most talented and effective militaries of the world. But even for the IDF operating in

their backyard, this is going to be an immense challenge. We've talked about the airstrikes

and fighting on the ground. But you're saying they would also have to be fighting

underground in the tunnels that Hamas have been digging? Yeah, without question. And clearing

tunnels is a nightmare scenario for the soldiers that are doing it. Like the urban warfare that

takes place on the surface, it's a slow and methodical process that's going to include ground

mobile drones, what we call uncrewed ground vehicles, essentially robots, and other intelligence

assets that have to map these tunnels, identify booby traps before soldiers can be sent in there.

To clear them. So you're saying that the Israeli forces would be able to take control of Gaza,

but it would come at a high price for Israelis? And it's no guarantee. I mean, it's no fate of

complete that the Israelis could actually gain control of Gaza. It depends what other actors

jump into the fray. If there is a multi-front conflict here with Hezbollah opening up, if

things happen in the Golan Heights, if the Iranians decide to dedicate more assets, Syria

and Iranian-backed militias operating there are another issue. And then you've got Iranian proxies

throughout the region. You've got Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq. You've got the Houthis in

Yemen. There's all sorts of ways the Iranians can put pressure on Israel as Israel's attempting

to wipe out Hamas and Gaza. And as Israel attempts to eliminate Hamas as Benjamin Netanyahu has said

he intends to do, what is the impact likely to be on Gazans who are not in Hamas?

So it's going to be horrifying. The amount of civilians and the potential collateral damage

is going to be extremely hard to sit back and watch. I mean, just as one mourns for all the

innocent Israelis that have been killed over the past several days, one also must mourn for the

innocent Palestinian civilians that are likely now going to be essentially collateral damage in any

Israeli assault on Gaza. You said that Israel is likely to be occupying Gaza indefinitely. Is Israel

prepared for that? I don't know. It's not something that the Israelis would want to do, but I think

the paradigm has changed and Netanyahu feels like his back is against a wall and that this could be

the only option for him. Time will tell, but that's certainly one of the options that I would

have to imagine is being discussed in the higher reaches of the Israeli government and military

right now. Colin Clark of the Soufan Group. The United States, Israel's most important ally,

has promised aid and support, but there are complications. Extra military assistance could

be held up because the US House of Representatives isn't functioning at the moment after the vote

to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. There's also a lack of US diplomatic presence on the ground in the

Middle East. Robbie Graham is the national security reporter for Foreign Policy magazine. He spoke to

Charlotte Gallagher. It comes as part of the administration's own efforts to focus more on

China first and on Russia and Ukraine. So it's led its Middle East policy fall by the wayside a bit

and that in combination with some really unprecedented blockades on senior national security nominees by

a handful of Republican senators have left a really thin bench for Biden to respond to the crisis with.

There's no US ambassador to Israel, no US ambassador to Egypt, Amon Kuwait, no top state

department counterterrorism envoy for nearly two years, no top US aid official for the Middle

East for nearly three years. These are positions that are filled by lower ranking acting officials

who just don't have the clout, gravitas, and access to help deal with the crisis in the same

way of a seasoned, presidentially appointed ambassador. Joe Biden has pledged this aid to

Israel, but it's not simplified, is it? It's complicated. There is a tranche of money through

something called presidential drawdown authority where we can basically give some old equipment,

sitting and collecting dust to Israel. And that is a quick and easy short term solution. But again,

coming back to the political turmoil in Washington, this is really going to affect this crisis

response with no speaker of the House that Republicans can't decide on a speaker. They could

decide as soon as Wednesday, but we're really in unprecedented territory here because we need the

House side to approve the types of funding packages necessary for the United States to ship what it

needs to Israel. And it's really difficult to do without a speaker in place. There must be a lot

of frustration in Washington and wider areas as well about this pause on activity and nothing

happening. I think what's really significant is there's frustration on the Republican and

the Democratic side alike. So what you're seeing is a lot of Republican senators coming out and

saying, okay, enough is enough. We really need to get our app together. We need that House to elect a

speaker. This crisis in Israel after these really gruesome terrorist attacks are going to add a lot

of pressure to the Republican caucus to finally let the House speaker to push through a lot of

these nominees that have just been log jammed in the Senate and really try to get people out there.

But it's going to take a while. It's not like flipping a switch in American politics is always

messy. U.S. National Security reporter Robbie Graham. Remarkable stories of escape and of

rescue against the odds are continuing to emerge after the Hamas attacks, which began on Saturday.

Amir Taiborne is a diplomatic correspondent for the Haaretz newspaper. He and his family live

in a kibbutz close to the border with Gaza. He's been telling Julian Waraker about his experience.

We woke up from the sound of a whistle that signals a mortar is about to land near our home.

We were in bed. Our two daughters three years old and one year old were in the safe room in every

home in our community and other border communities. There is a room that is built of very strong

concrete and usually most families that's where you put the kids to bed at night. And so we ran

from our bedroom to the safe room where our two daughters were sleeping. We locked ourselves in

and we were not very excited about it. We are used to this. It's part of the reality of living on

the border. But while we were barricaded inside, we started hearing the noise of automatic gunfire

first in a distance and then very close and eventually right outside our window. And that's

when we realized that the Hamas terrorists were not shooting rockets at us from Gaza. This time

they were inside our community outside our window while we are barricaded with our two young daughters

inside. Did they try to get into your house at that point? Yes, they tried to get into the house.

They shot a lot of rounds into our house. Unfortunately to many other homes,

people were able to break in. Some of our neighbors were killed, injured, kidnapped.

We were locked inside for 10 hours in the dark with no food and we were waiting. We were waiting

for a rescue. How were your young children at this point? We told them right from the start,

you have to be quiet. No noises, no speaking because there are bad people outside and they

listened. They were so mature. They couldn't see us in the dark and yet they understood from the

energy that we exhibited that this was serious. Tell me about the moment where you were able

to get out of that room and what happened to enable you to do that? When we had cell reception in

the morning, I texted my father. My father is a retired general in the Israeli military. He's

62 years old and he said he's coming. We had no idea what this means. How is he going to come

here? What is he going to do? But I told myself right now I'm asking my two young daughters to

put their faith in me and to believe me and I told myself just like I'm asking them to trust me,

I need to trust my father. My parents embarked on a crazy journey from Tel Aviv toward the border

area. Along the way, they saved people. They saw people who were running away barefoot from a music

festival where Hamas had committed a massacre. They put those people in their car and took them to

safety. And from there, my father embarked toward our community with one soldier, a very brave

man who agreed to accompany him because my father only had a pistol. He's retired. He didn't have

military equipment. They saw in real time a military jeep being ambushed by a Hamas cell.

Several soldiers were killed in that ambush and two were very badly wounded. And so my father

already so close to our home turned around, put the injured soldiers in his car and took them

to where my mother was waiting. My mother took the wounded soldiers to the hospital

and my father asked a friend that he knew to take him to my community. They arrived to the entrance

of the kibbutz. They met there a group of soldiers. There were hundreds of people in our community

stranded in safe rooms like ours. My father joined this group of very impressive soldiers.

They recognized him and so they started going from home to home in the community.

They killed six terrorists. They freed dozens of people. We heard the exchange of fire and that's

when I told my wife that he's on his way, that he's coming. And at 4 p.m. this is now 10 hours

so that we are stranded. We heard a bang on the window of the safe room and my father's voice.

And then my daughter Galia, three and a half years old, said grandfather is here. And we all

just started crying. We told them all the time that he was coming because toward the end they just

wanted to get out. They couldn't stand it anymore. And the one thing that kept them focused was our

promise that their grandfather is on the way and he will open the door for us. This event is the

biggest failure in the history of this country. And we will have to deal with the criminal and

corrupt politicians who are responsible for it. But right now there are so many stories of heroism

and I'm very proud of what my father did for us, but also for so many other people. And I'm most

proud more than anything in the world of my two daughters for how they dealt with this.

I met a tie-borne on how he and his family survived a Hamas attack on their kabuts on Saturday.

Now, do you have questions about the crisis in the Middle East? Well, if so, my colleague Jackie

Leonard will try to find answers. The fast-moving events in Israel and Gaza have prompted many of

you to get in touch with your questions. How do we get here? What's at the root of the conflict?

What are both sides saying? What happens next? And what role does the rest of the world have to play?

We hope to answer as many of your questions as possible in a special global news podcast

coming soon. As ever, send us an email or voice message to globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk

And now, a road report from Siemens Energy. The road to energy resilience is long and winding.

Step by step, we are making progress with renewable energy with stronger grid technologies,

hydrogen-ready gas turbines and e-fuels for hard to decarbonize industries. We are driving towards

that destination every day. Step by step, we are getting there. Find out how at Siemens Energy.com.

Let's make tomorrow different today.

Hey, BBC listeners. You come to the Global News Podcast because you want to stay up to date on

the best of international coverage. I'm Erica Cruz-Gavara from KQED's The Bay Podcast, where

we bring you the best of local news around the Bay Area. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,

we bring you conversations with local journalists to give you the context and analysis that you need

to make sense of what's going on in our region. You can find The Bay wherever you get your podcasts.

Nearly 30 people, including children, have been killed in an attack on a camp housing displaced

people in northern Myanmar. It's been described as one of the deadliest strikes on civilians since

the return of military rule to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The camp is located close to the

headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army, an insurgent group that's been fighting the

military junta for decades. I heard more from our Southeast Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head.

This is an area which is very accustomed to attacks going way back before the coup.

A long ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Army and Myanmar military

ended way back in 2011, and so there's been pretty on-off but quite heavy fighting since then.

This particular camp is quite close to Liza. That's the headquarters of the Kachin Independence

Army right on the Chinese border. I've been there before, I know where these camps are. They're

very crowded. So these are people who've been displaced often many, many years ago and have

been living in the camps. The populations go up and down according to whether people leave or not.

Houses or huts built very close together, people often living and eating commonly.

I'm not sure what the population is right now. It has peaked at sometimes two or three thousand.

In the past, sometimes it's been a few hundred. Certainly anyone attacking it would know that

there would be very significant civilian casualties. And do we know who might have carried out this

attack and indeed whether it was deliberate? Well, the Myanmar military government has said

it didn't, but they've said that before and it's not really plausible that anybody else could have

carried it out. The other thing about it is, you know, the Kachin Independence officials there are

describing very powerful explosions and the video that we've seen that they've posted in the aftermath

of the attack shows really substantial destruction, much more than we're used to seeing when there's

occasional shelling or mortar rounds coming, which is what these people would have been used to.

As it happened at midnight and they seem to have hit right in the centre of the camp,

I think their thinking is it may well have been an airstrike. The Myanmar military has

precision guided bombs now. It used them and attack exactly a year ago on another Kachin

base where they were holding a concert. Just two bombs going in, in the middle of the night,

causing absolute devastation. That attack killed 80 people. So it's quite likely that this is a

similar kind of attack. We saw an aerial attack on a village earlier this year and another part of

Myanmar, which killed more than 170 people. And human rights groups believe that in that one,

the Myanmar military might have used what's known as a thermobaric bomb, which causes

immense destruction. We don't know who carried out the attack, but it's almost certainly

some branch of the Myanmar armed forces and it looks like an airstrike at this stage.

A Southeast Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head. Here in the UK, a study by the Royal Botanic

Gardens at Kew has found that nearly half of the world's known flowering plants could face extinction,

mainly through habitat loss. The scientists say some 100,000 species are under threat,

including orchids, pineapples and grain crops. Dr Matilda Brown from Kew warns the effects of

losing plants could be far-reaching. Plants are what we wear. They're what we eat. They're what

we build with. They produce the air we breathe. Plants underpin every aspect of life. When we

consider that nine out of ten of our medicines come from plants, what we're potentially staring

down the barrel of is losing up to half of all of our future medicines. Well, Nick Robinson heard

more from our environment and rural affairs correspondent Claire Marshall. I went into the

tropical palm house at Kew Guns. So I crouched down with a scientist and I looked at this little

plant. She showed me just these glossy green leaves and a little dainty pink flower and it

didn't look like much and most people were walking by and she explained that this was the Madagascan

periwinkle and it was actually one of the most important compounds in the drugs and the fight

against cancer and it would have saved thousands of lives. So just this little plant that everyone

was walking by and it was a perfect illustration of what the scientists have found out that nearly

half, as you say, of the world's flowering plants are facing extinction. What's even worse is the

ones that we don't even know about, the ones that have yet to be collected by botanists in the field

and studied, almost three-quarters of those are threatened with extinction. So it's pretty bleak

news. And how are they making these calculations? This is on assumptions, is it at the speed of

which the climate will heat up? The climate change bit of this is actually much harder to estimate.

They are looking at habitat loss mainly. The impacts of climate change are very hard to see

from satellites, which is how they're gathering a lot of the data. It's a really interesting story

how they're making these projections. They're using something called Darwin's Dream,

which is the publication of the most comprehensive list of plants actually ever produced. So you

can actually go online and see that at the moment. It's called the World Checklist of Vascular Plants.

That has been published. Darwin foretold it and wanted it to be published 160 years ago,

but looking at that and overlaying it with the red list of threatened plants,

this is the horrific conclusion that scientists have come to. But one positive element to come

from it is they looked at the world of fungi. And actually what they found out is there's 2.5

million species, and 90% of those we don't know what they do yet and what their powers are,

and the key to fighting climate change or to other medicines could be in the fungal kingdom

that we know so little about. Claremarchal. World Rugby has said it will begin using mouthguards

that can be monitored to determine whether players have suffered concussions. Sensors in the mouthguards

measure the G-force of every head impact, and the data is then transmitted to medical staff on the

sidelines. A rugby correspondent, Chris Jones explains. Rugby Union is facing something of an

existential crisis over safety with the number of former players taking the governing bodies to court

over how their brain injuries were treated during their careers. However, World Rugby believed this

newest development will be a game changer for the sport. The mouthguards will be worn by players

at the upcoming WXV competition, and then worldwide in the elite game from January 2024.

The hope is that the mouthguards will help alert doctors when a player has suffered

a particularly high impact blow during a match, while it will also be possible to log a player's

load on a short and long-term basis to inform medics as to when a player is at more risk of

brain injury. With the sport at a crossroads, World Rugby Believe technology will have a

significant part to play in safeguarding Rugby Union's future. Chris Jones. Chuck Feeney,

the American businessman who quietly made billions of dollars and then gave it all away,

has died at the age of 92. Forbes says he's the first person to have donated his entire fortune

during his lifetime. Anna Aslam looks back at his life. Chuck Feeney was born during the Great

Depression to working-class parents who struggled to pay a $32 monthly mortgage. But Feeney's life

changed dramatically when his business selling luxury duty-free goods to travelers took off.

He suddenly had mansions in New York London and Paris, grand yachts and tickets to opulent

black-tie dinners. But Feeney said he was uncomfortable with the wealth and lavish lifestyle.

He was, in his own words, a man who'd be happy with a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

So, in 1982, he set up the Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation and spent the next four decades giving

away all his money, more than $8 billion, to humanitarian causes around the world.

Feeney said it was much more fun to give while you were alive than when you were dead.

I'm not here to tell anybody what they should do with their money. If you make your money,

you do what you want with it. But I think there is an obligation, certainly, for the

haves to reach out and to look at what they can do. Any money that people give to any good cause,

as long as it's well managed, is worthwhile. Chuck Feeney rarely gave interviews and preferred

to stay out of the limelight. In fact, unlike most philanthropists whose names are emblazoned on

buildings and honored at banquets, Feeney donated anonymously for years, leading to him being

dubbed the James Bond of Philanthropy. He later became a public figure, but continued to live a

modest life, in a rented two-bedroom apartment without a car and wearing a $10 watch. His giving

while living philosophy inspired other billionaires, most notably Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren

Buffett, to redistribute their wealth. And that was Anna Aslam on Chuck Feeney, who's died at the age

of 92. Finally.

The unmistakable sound of the British band Coldplay.

They are currently taking legal action against their former manager over allegations of tour

mismanagement. It comes just weeks after Dave Holmes sued the group for millions in alleged

unpaid commission. The details from Phoebe Hobson.

This is an incredibly bitter dispute between arguably one of the most popular bands in the

world and their former manager Dave Holmes, who really saw the band reach high levels of success.

He managed the band between 2005 and 2022. Now, he in August sued the band claiming that he's owed

$12 million in commission for his work relating to Coldplay's 10th and 11th studio albums, which

haven't been released yet. The band, whose lead singer is Chris Martin, denied these claims,

and they've now countersued Dave Holmes, seeking about $17 million in damages in relation to the

tour, which is called Music of the Spheres. They say that he didn't manage the budget responsibly,

that he also owed money to the American Entertainment Company that promotes the band's tours.

There are some random other details that they say Holmes didn't share the dropbox containing the

work for the tours at any time between the two-year period when they were in the planning

stages of the tour. So it's quite complex, but there's a number of allegations. The tour,

the Music of the Spheres, is huge. It's about 165 shows. And the bands say that Coldplay themselves

had to sink around $20 million to cover the costs from Dave Holmes' alleged mismanagement.

Phoebe Hobson.

And that's all from us for now. But the Global News Podcast will be back very soon.

This edition was mixed by Chris Lovelock and produced by Nicky Verrico, the editor's Karen

Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.

Hey, BBC listeners, you come to the Global News Podcast because you want to stay up to date on

the best of international coverage. I'm Erica Cruz-Gavara from KQED's The Bay Podcast, where

we bring you the best of local news around the Bay Area. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,

we bring you conversations with local journalists to give you the context and analysis that you need

to make sense of what's going on in our region. You can find The Bay wherever you get your podcasts.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.