Global News Podcast: US Republicans face mutiny in Congress

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

I'm Nigel Adderley and in the early hours of Monday the 2nd of October, these are our

main stories. The fallout continues from Saturday's temporary deal to avoid a U.S. government

shutdown. As further military aid to Ukraine is now under threat and deep political divisions

are exposed. Hundreds of thousands of Poles join an opposition rally in Warsaw ahead of

a crucial general election. And we're here from the right of a new play, which recalls

the miraculous escape of Danish Jews during World War II.

Ordinary Danes, fishermen, policemen, nurses, priests, they stood up and they helped them

at risk of their own lives and potentially their family's lives as well.

Also in this podcast, Turkey hits Kurdish targets in northern Iraq, following a suicide

bombing near the parliament in Ankara. And?

Very proud. I mean, it was a rollercoaster today. Never felt so many emotions. Our guys

just hung in there like I knew they would. High drama as European golfers hold off an

American revival to reclaim the Ryder Cup.

Mutiny could be about to descend on U.S. Congress. A hardline Republican, Matt Gates, says he

will seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he defied the right wing in his own

party and pushed through a last minute spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Without

enough support from the Republicans, he relied on opposition Democrats. On the U.S. Broadcaster

ABC on Sunday, Mr. Gates accused Mr. McCarthy of having lied to conservative members of

the party.

McCarthy said he would survive Gates's challenge, which he dismissed as a personal quibble.

Matt voted against the most conservative ability to secure a border. He's more interested

in securing TV interviews than doing something. He wanted to push us into a shutdown, even

threatening his own district with all the military people there who would not be paid.

If he's upset because he tried to push us in a shutdown and I made sure government didn't

shut down, then let's have that fight.

Our North America correspondent, Sean Dilly, told me what this round says about divisions

within the Republican Party.

It tells us it's exactly as divided no more, no less than it was last week, last month.

Indeed, when Kevin McCarthy was elected as Speaker, he's not a liked man. Let's be frank

about it. Democrats despise him because he had launched an impeachment inquiry into the

President Joe Biden, breaking a promise that he'd hold a vote on the floor before he did

that.

Republicans are not his biggest fans either. If you look back to his election, it took

four days and 15 rounds to put him in office. And ever since he's done that, at least nine

very hardline Republicans, Matt Gaetz, chief among them, have been threatening to remove

him from office. He says now he's going to do that, but actually he's probably not going

to manage it on this occasion.

What would have to happen for McCarthy to go?

Due to a compromise deal that McCarthy did when he was elected as Speaker, any member

of the House, Republican or Democrats, can put a motion on the floor to vacate and then

you'd need a simple majority of the House. You'd have to find 218 members of the House

of Representatives to support that.

Now, the reason that's not going to happen is Democratic politicians supported the very

last minute deal that Kevin McCarthy put to the House yesterday. They compromised massively

because it did not allow any additional funding for Ukraine. Republicans compromised because

it didn't cut as deeply as they wanted to. But the Democrats only supported it because

McCarthy promised them that if they did to keep the government open, that he would within

the coming days introduce a separate funding bill for Ukraine, a temporary funding bill.

Now, look, here's the reality. No Kevin McCarthy almost certainly means no Ukraine funding

bill, which almost certainly means Democratic politicians through very gritted teeth will

support a man they really have very little time for.

Sean Dilly. Now to Slovakia, where in yesterday's podcast, we were reporting that the liberal

pro-western party, progressive Slovakia, were unexpectedly heading for victory in Saturday's

election. Now, a day later, the reverse has happened because the pro-Moscow leader of

the Smear party, Robert Fiezzo, has emerged as the winner. He's raised many eyebrows

in the West by vowing to stop sending military aid to Ukraine. From Prague in the neighbouring

Czech Republic, Rob Cameron reports on a remarkable turn of events.

Jubilation at Smear party headquarters as they realise they were on track for a fourth

chance at government. Yet again, Robert Fiezzo has wrong footed his opponents. Who wouldn't

be singing from a balcony at 4am after a comeback like this? Later, there were glimpses of what

a new Fiezzo government might look like and perhaps just a hint that the thundering rhetoric

on Ukraine might soon be retired. Slovakia and people in Slovakia have bigger problems

than Ukraine. That's all I can say. If Smear forms an ex-government, then we'll do everything

in our power, including at EU level, to ensure peace talks start as soon as possible. Indeed,

Slovak observers are more alarmed about what Smear plans at home than abroad. Mr Fiezzo

said he'd immediately fire the chief of police and the special prosecutor. Rob Cameron. Hundreds

of thousands of opposition supporters have been rallying in Warsaw ahead of parliamentary

elections later this month. Footage on social media showed wide avenues

and huge squares packed with Polish and European Union flags prominent. The opposition leader

Donald Tusk called the march a breakthrough in Poland's history, but his party is still

trailing in the opinion polls. It's trying to stop the right-wing incumbent for law and

justice party from winning an unprecedented third term, saying the government is endangering

the democratic gains of the past three decades. These people explained why they joined the

protest. Poland to be free. I don't want the return of the communist regime, which I remember

very well. Drab street, people afraid of talking politics or anything, in fact. The oppressive

police. I feel like a European, but I'm no longer so sure that we will stay in the European

Union if law and justice stays for the third term. So did it live up to its billing of

the march of a million hearts? A question for our Eastern Europe correspondent, Sarah

Rainsford, who was there. It was certainly huge. There were hundreds of thousands of

people on the streets of Warsaw. The city hall has said it was a million people. The

governing party and state media are playing it down massively, talking about less than

a hundred thousand. But I stood there for three hours and I saw huge crowds of people pouring

past me nonstop. It was a really big turnout and everyone who we spoke to who'd come out,

many of them were carrying the Polish flag, lots of them carrying the EU flag as well.

They all see this as a really critical election for Poland and for its future. Lots of people

believe, as the opposition leader Donald Tusk has been saying, that this is about whether

or not it remains a democratic country going forward and about its place in the EU because

they are portraying the governing party, law and justice, as a threat to democracy, as

eroding basic principles like the rule of law and the freedom of the media. And they

say all of that is jeopardising Poland's democratic future.

And the government have accused the opposition of being unpatriotic. Just give us a flavour

of their time in power.

That claim of unpatriotic is precisely why there were so many Polish flags there today

and precisely why Donald Tusk made a point of saying that he loved Poland and he was

ready to die for Poland because it's been quite a vicious election campaign so far.

We've seen some really nasty language used actually by both sides. I mean Donald Tusk

describes the government as evil. The government describes him as a foreign agent and as a

stooge of Germany, essentially as a traitor. And there have been all sorts of social media

adverts and videos and general language from the government portraying the opposition as

betraying Poland's national interests. So I think that's a lot of what today's sea of

red and white was about. They described wanting an open and tolerant Poland. They want an end

to the friction with the EU that they see has been increasing under the governing party

so far and they want a country where they feel it has the kind of future that they would

like to choose for their children. One of the biggest messages from today was Donald

Tusk telling people to go out and to get all of their friends and their colleagues to

vote. He was very much making the case that this is the most important election in Poland

since 1989 and the end of communism. He said there was a huge amount at stake and that

everybody should turn out and take part in the vote.

Sarah Rainsford in Warsaw. FIFA and its African subsidiary, the Confederation of African Football,

are facing accusations of failing to take effective action to deal with the scandal

of abuse of young footballers in Gabon. BBC Africa Eye has spoken to dozens of witnesses

who describe a long standing sexual abuse ring within Gabon's football world.

Caridia to Cease reports.

We were at a football training camp for the under 17th election team. This young man is

talking about his time as a footballer in Gabon's youth team. We're using an actor's voice

to protect his identity. On the fourth night of the camp, they came to wake me and my best

friend. They took us to a room with red lights. It was full of naked men. They started touching

me and my friend and I just didn't understand. I wanted to scream.

He says he was sexually assaulted and made to watch his friend get raped by their football

coaches. Among them was Patrick Asoumouéi, better known as Capello, the head coach of

Gabon's youth team. Africa Eye has spoken to more than 30 witnesses who said Capello

and others were predators in a sexual abuse ring that has plagued Gabon's football world

for decades. The BBC was told the Gabonese Football Federation, Fegafoot, were made aware

of it. Former Gabon international player Parfendon says he escalated the issue all the way to

the top. I spoke to the president of the league. I spoke to the president of the federation.

But it was only after an expose in the garden in 2021 that Capello was arrested. He admitted

to charges of raping, grooming and exploiting young players. Months later, the president

of Fegafoot, Pierre Alamo Genghi, was also arrested on the charge of failing to report

crimes of pedophilia. But unlike Capello, football governing bodies did not suspend him

from his role. Rémié Banega is the president of Gabon's National Footballers Union. The

local justice system has imprisoned the president of the federation and FIFA did nothing. He

continued to manage the federation while he was in prison. After almost six months in prison,

Mugenghi was provisionally released and in July 2023, he was re-elected to the executive

committee of CAF, the Confederation of African Football, a FIFA subsidiary. CAF's secretary

general has defended the decision to not impose sanctions on Mugenghi. But witnesses say no

meaningful child protection measures have been put in place and both CAF and FIFA have come

under criticism for failing to act. Loïc Alvez is a senior legal counsel for FIFA,

the International Football Players Union. CAF and or FIFA, they have no obligation to wait

for a state decision before they sanction someone for violations of disciplinary codes and codes

of ethics. The BBC believes all suspensions of those arrested have now lapsed. Pierre Alamo

Mugenghi, Fegafoot, FIFA and CAF deny all the allegations made against them. They say all

appropriate action was taken as soon as the allegations were made public and FIFA's Ethics

Committee investigation is still ongoing. All parties condemn child abuse in the strongest

possible terms. But in Gabon, many are still waiting for both answers and action.

Cadet Deer 2 Seese. It's been called a miracle that in barely one night during the Second

World War, Denmark was able to save 90% of its Jewish population from deportation at the hand

of the occupying Nazis. 80 years ago, 7,000 Jews escaped by boat to Sweden following a

mysterious tip-off. Bent Melchior, later to become Denmark's chief rabbi, was 14 years

old when he boarded one of the fishing boats. We were gathered in this boat that was supposed

to carry herrings, but instead of that, they were carrying human beings. Can you imagine

that people started to be sick there in the boat and we were hiding underneath so that

nobody should see that there were so many people on the boat. So every minute was like

an hour. Shortly before the planned deportation, a warning was given by a chief rabbi. There

will be no prayers today, pack your bags and find a way to disappear. It was this moment

that inspired the author Alexander Bolden Safir to pen a play. It will receive its first-ever

reading in Denmark this week. Safir described the unique warning his own grandfather received

to the BBC's Johnny Diamond. He was working as a tailor in his brother-in-law's shop

and in walked a high-ranking German official. He told my grandfather, my brother-in-law,

that they needed to get out and get out as quickly as they could. And it wasn't until

many years later that an additional wrinkle to that story really spurred me on. The wrinkle

that you talk about is that it perhaps wasn't just the odd German officer, you know, saying

something on toward or leaking something to a friendly Danish native. But in fact, that

this was leaked on purpose by one of the most senior Nazis in the country.

Well, yes, the narrative immediately after the war was that the right-hand man of Vener

Bess, who was the plenipotentiary of Denmark, leaked the information. What has since come

out is that the German patrol boats that were guarding the waterway between Denmark and Sweden,

when it became clear that the Jews were escaping across the water, those patrol boats were all

brought into harbour. And the reason, the official reason was that they all needed a paint job.

All at the same time.

All at the same time. Exactly, exactly. What we now know is that when Hitler ordered

Vener Bess to make Denmark Jürgen Rhein to make it Jew-free, after the failure of the roundup,

Hitler then telegrammed Bess to explain himself. And Bess said, I have done what you ordered.

I have made Denmark Jürgen Rhein Jew-free. And that comes back to the story of my grandfather,

because my grandfather never told us the name of the high-ranking German official that warned him.

But his brother-in-law, Nat, on his deathbed mentioned a name, and that name was Vener Bess,

Dr. Karudov Vener Bess. And so he really had a dilemma in his hands. How is he going to

placate Hitler and fulfill that order of making Denmark Jürgen Rhein without stopping the flow

of agriculture and small arms munitions that were being manufactured in Denmark? And so as a

calculating man, I think he made a decision and he played both sides.

You have injected several shades of grey into a history perhaps that the Danes would prefer to see

a little more black and white with clearer heroes and villains involved. But it's a different kind

of story that you're telling, more nuanced. It is, but I don't think that necessarily takes away

from the miracle. But I think the miracle is slightly different. It is the fact that ordinary

Danes, fishermen, policemen, nurses, priests, they stood up and they helped them at risk of their

own lives and potentially their family's lives as well. And yes, it is more nuanced and more complex,

but I think that's the difference between a story and reality. And I don't see it as any

less of a miracle, but it is certainly less black and white. Alexander Bolden-Safir and his play

about the exodus of Jews from Denmark opens next week in Copenhagen.

Still to come on the Global News podcast. I've been composing mostly pop songs. And after the

military, I don't want to do more pop songs. I want to make more serious, deep music.

We meet the creator of the music for the huge Netflix series Squid Game and the Oscar-winning film

Parasite. Turkey says it's carried out airstrikes against the PKK rebel group in retaliation

for a suicide bombing near the Turkish parliament on Sunday. The blast in Ankara injured two police

officers. Victoria Craig is a reporter in the Turkish capital. She told us more about Turkey's

protracted fight against the PKK. The PKK, which is a Kurdish militant group called the Kurdistan

Workers' Party, has long been a designated terror organization by the US, Turkey, and the European

Union. The Interior Ministry for its part, according to state media, says that one of the attackers

is a member of the group. And this group has, as I said, claimed responsibility for the attack,

saying it was designed to coincide with the opening of the Turkish parliament this afternoon

and carried out by a team linked to one of its own called the Immortals Battalion.

And just to put this in a bit of context, this group has carried out attacks across Turkey over

the last several decades. Ultimately, it wants an independent state. Now, hours after the group

claimed responsibility this evening here in Turkey for the bombing today, the Defense Department said

that it has already carried out strikes in northern Iraq, where the PKK is based. And it said that

many terrorists were neutralized across 20 sites. It destroyed caves, bunkers, shelters, and warehouses,

quote, in order to eliminate terrorist attacks against our people and security forces.

Victoria Craig in Ankara. Three days of mourning have been declared in the Spanish

region of Murcia, after a fire which engulfed three nightclubs killed at least 13 people.

The fire is said to have started in one of the clubs in the early morning and quickly spread.

Several people are being treated in hospital. Jose Balesta is the mayor of the city of Murcia.

What we are now concentrating on is looking after the families of the victims, recover the bodies,

the search for those who could still be in there. And those are the urgent, the important issues.

Our correspondent in Spain, Guy Hedgeko, told me the latest on the rescue operation.

The emergency services are still in these nightclubs and there's a tremendous amount of rubble

because of the fire. They're looking to see if there are more bodies. There certainly are other

people who are believed to be missing. And then the big task right now for the police is to identify

the bodies that have been found. So they're doing DNA tests on those bodies with the cooperation

of relatives of people who are believed to have been in the nightclubs during the fire.

And so we've been warned that the process of identifying the bodies could take quite a while

and quite some days, possibly. Do the police have any idea at this stage what started the fire?

No. I mean, we've been told that there's no theory at the moment regarding the cause of the fire.

What we do know is that it appears to have started in one of these nightclubs which are on the outskirts

of Murcia City and there are two nightclubs next to it and the fire spread across these three

nightclubs very quickly. One of them was particularly badly affected. Certainly part of its structure

seemed to collapse because of the fire and that in turn has made the rescue operation that much

more difficult. And how rare are such incidents in Spain? Well, this is the worst nightclub fire

in Spain. Certainly since 1990 there was a fire in Sadagosa when 43 people died and we haven't seen

anything on this scale in the three decades since. So this kind of tragedy is unusual and

when you add that the fact that Murcia is not a huge city, it obviously has a tremendous impact

on the local community. Guy Hedgeko. The United Nations has put boots on the ground in the disputed

territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and it's for the first time in roughly 30 years. Since Azerbaijan

took control during a short military offensive last month, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have

packed up their lives and fled. Among them is Spartak Harut Nuneann. I left so many things there

but I'm not concerned about it. If there's a choice between leaving things behind and staying,

I chose leaving. Azerbaijan has been accused of ethnic cleansing by the Armenians. I asked our

Euripada to Danieh Bahad how the Azeri government has responded to the allegations.

Well, they denied them outright, Nigel. They say that the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh

are free to stay or go. There's certainly no compulsion on their part, they say,

in terms of forcing people out, as has been alleged. One of the presidential advisors says that

there's been no case of violence against civilians. The Karabakh Armenians may dispute that,

but that's his position. There is, of course, a huge lack of trust between the two sides

due to repeated outbreaks of fighting over the past three decades. France has criticised Azerbaijan.

They basically accused Azerbaijan of waiting until virtually all of the Karabakh Armenians

have left before inviting in the UN. What is the latest on the exodus of refugees?

The exodus has slowed to a trickle. I mean, it unfurled with staggering speed since the 20th

of September when the Azeri military operation ended. But on Saturday, the Armenian authorities

talked about 100,417 people having left. Today's figure earlier on Sunday was 100,490. So just a

difference of 73 people. One journalist for the French news agency, AFP, said that basically

had been on the border and seen one car. What we don't know at still at this stage is exactly how

many Karabakh Armenians remain in the enclave. There are also some people reportedly with special

needs. And there is a bit of a disparity between the 120,000 people that was estimated to be the

population before the latest outbreak of fighting and the 100,000 people who have left. That hasn't

been accounted for fully. But we do know the needs of the people who have fled are huge. The WHO,

the World Health Organisation, has talked about the fact it's going to take a long time to resolve

this crisis. They're sending in experts, mental health issues, burns treatment for the people who

survived the fuel depot explosion on Monday, and things like prefabricated clinics

to try to cope with this huge humanitarian crisis within Armenia now.

Danny Abahat. Golfs rider cup is back in European hands after they held off an American fight back

on the final day of competition in Rome. Europe began with a five-point lead, which they ultimately

maintained to win by 16.5 points to 11.5. But there were plenty of nerves for the home crowd

as the US team started the day well before eventually falling away. Europe's captain

Luke Donald was delighted. Very proud. I mean, it was a roller coaster today. Never felt so many

emotions. But our guys just hung in there like I knew they would. And I'm just glad we got over the

line. Just so happy, so happy for these 12 guys that they can remember this week forever.

Our sports reporter James Gregg watched the day's dramatic developments.

All eyes were on those top matches. European captain Luke Donald had loaded the 12 singles

matches up with his star names, John Rahm, Victor Hovland, Justin Rose, the elder statesman

of either side, and Rory McElroy made up the top four matches. And it was very nip and took. John

Rahman, the world number one Scottish chef, had a fantastic ding dong battle that ended up as a

tied result. But there was so much, as we say, red on the leaderboard, red for Team USA. In the end,

as we know now, you've got over the line. But at so many points, there was so many different

ebbs and flows. We had no idea which way it was going. And you could feel that all the way across

the golf course. It was a fizzing atmosphere. And of course, there was drama in the clubhouse

on Saturday evening between Rory McElroy and one of the American caddies.

McElroy wasn't happy with an incident that happened in the very last of the four ball

matches on Saturday afternoon. That obviously boiled over. There were words exchanged between

the caddy of Patrick Cantlay, who himself was involved in a bit of controversy. That was

something that all of us as commentators and journalists were talking about. The fans were

well aware of it as well. You could sense that they knew about the needle that had been created.

And that obviously bubbled through into this morning. And it did create a very exciting contest.

That was kind of what this morning needed because the gap was so big. The lead was so

huge in favour of Team Europe. As it got a little bit closer, it really did feel like there was

something to play for for Team USA. That was very much a really cool talking point.

James Gregg in Rome. A celebration of South Korean pop culture is coming to London this week

with the K Music Festival. Now in its 10th year, the festival will host big names like

Jung Jae Il, who made the soundtracks for the internationally successful Netflix series Squid

Game and Oscar-winning film Parasite. He's been speaking to Krupa Padhe.

Let's start with Squid Game. Immediately identifiable. I remember hearing it through

my neighbour's walls because everybody was watching it. I thought, that is the music for

Squid Game. How does that process go making a track for a series like that?

Well, for me, every project is just same. I start from the script and director's intention.

It was just the first time for me to make series because I'm very used to two hours of film.

And it was nine hours film, so I had to be prepared a lot.

But then what's remarkable is your ability to switch genres because you hear the music from

Squid Game and then you hear the music from Parasite, which is remarkably different. That

classical vibe you have going there. How easy is it to make that transition?

It's not that easy, but I have to do that because director's intention and the script is very

important. They are everything. So if they require classical, if they require rock, if they require

hip-hop, I have to do that.

Am I right in thinking that in the case of Parasite, the music score was rejected seven times?

Oh, that's average.

Really? But equally, the same director has said that you are one of the most detailed

and delicate music directors on earth. Quite the praise. You've actually said writing music

was my only way to survive.

Oh, how did you find that?

That's a very moving statement. You're so well known now within your country, but even globally

as a result of the hits that you've had. To hear someone say that, in many countries, people start

out as musicians and realize they can't make money out of this. But for you, it feels like it's been

the opposite. Can you expand on that a bit more, that journey?

Well, I just started a band and then become a musician who gets paid. And then every Korean

male has to go to military. It's mandatory for two years. I've been composing for mostly pop

songs. And after the military, I don't want to do more pop songs. I want to make more serious,

deep music. Mr. Bong just recognized me. Mr. Bong Jun Ho, who is the director of Parasite.

He was an executive producer of a film called Seafog. That was the first film I composed,

and then moved to Okja, a Netflix film. And while I was doing Okja, this is very exciting. And I

can express all kinds of genre and all kinds of feelings, very deep feelings, happiness, despair,

sorrow, everything. This is very exciting for a composer. So I just fell in love with film scoring.

South Korean composer, producer and music director, Jung Jae Il.

And that's all for us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later.

If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

The address is globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Ethan Connolly Forster,

and the producer was Emma Joseph. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nigel Adderley. Until next time,

goodbye.

Make the markets work. You see, others do some of what we do, but not everything we do.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.