Gaza aid airdrops to resume, as outrage over hunger crisis grows

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This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Julia McFarlane and in the early hours of Saturday the 26th of July, these are our main stories.

Israel says it will allow foreign countries to airdrop food into Gaza as international outrage over the hunger crisis grows.

Thailand declares martial law in several areas near Cambodia as deadly border clashes continue.

The treason trial of the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, begins in a military court in the capital, Kinshasa.

Also in this podcast, President Trump arrives in Scotland, where he'll visit his golf resorts and hold talks with British and European leaders.

And

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Could Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia finally be finished as he predicted?

Israel says it will allow foreign countries to airdrop food into Gaza after broad international criticism of the humanitarian situation in the territory.

Earlier, the UN's World Food Programme said that Gazans are dying due to a lack of aid, and that almost a third of the population have not been eating for days.

Indeed, nine people have died of malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

But there are fears that airdrops will not be enough, and that they could actually pose a threat to Palestinians on the ground.

Antoine Renard is the country director of the World Food Programme in the Palestinian Territories.

Airdrops are not a solution.

The tonnage is massive.

Remember that you have only 12% of the Gaza Strip, which by the way, are safe zone and where most of the population are.

How an airdrop will be done where there's such small space, safe space for population, high probability you will put some of these populations at risk with airdrops.

I've been speaking to our correspondent in Jerusalem, Emir Nader.

We've been hearing from a Jordanian official that Jordan is indeed putting its name forward to conduct these airdrops of aid, still waiting for permission from Israel.

So we've been hearing Jordan has previously done these airdrops last year, we saw a number of them carried out by the Jordanian Air Force.

I think, as you've just been hearing, there is a real scepticism amongst the humanitarian community that these airdrops can be anything more than a very temporary sticking plaster that could help some people in the Gaza Strip but really aren't addressing the true causes of the hunger crisis there in the Gaza Strip.

And indeed, there are are some amongst the humanitarian community who also look at this as a distraction because they are seen as a very ineffective way of getting aid to the people who need it in the Gaza Strip in large quantities.

Amir, give us a sense of how bad the situation is for people in Gaza today.

I mean, we're seeing it in two ways.

We're seeing the video footage coming out, the testimony, the people that we interview on the ground, the desperate faces of the people that we interview remotely with our trusted freelancers who help us each day go out and speak to the families who are suffering, as you've been hearing.

The World Food Programme is saying that around a third of Gazans are going for days without food.

Doctors Without Borders are saying a quarter of the mothers who are pregnant, who've just given birth, the newborn children, a quarter of them that they're seeing are acutely malnourished.

It's an extremely difficult situation for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and those who need food, everyone.

Many are faced with having to go to these deadly food distribution points where almost every day where they're open, we're seeing deadly incidents where, as the United Nations has reported, over a thousand people have been killed, according to the United Nations, shot by the Israeli military in the past weeks.

Israel rejects that allegation, but we're seeing it almost daily reported by Palestinians who are forced by pure necessity so they don't starve to go and get these food boxes from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

They're saying we know we could be shot at, but we have no alternative.

Emir Nada reporting from Jerusalem.

The United Nations says more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to get food from aid distribution sites since May, the majority near sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF.

Now, a former US Special Forces soldier who was hired to provide security at GHF aid collection points has told the BBC he has never witnessed such indiscriminate brutality against civilians.

Anthony Aguilar worked alongside the Israeli military and U.S.

contractors at the sites.

He told our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, that he resigned after witnessing desperate crowds being attacked with mortar rounds and tank fire.

I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians.

I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces firing a main gun tank round into a crowd of people, destroying a car of civilians that were simply driving away from the site.

I witnessed mortar rounds being fired at the crowds of people to keep them controlled onto the Morag corridor in the south.

As a professional soldier with a very long career, what was your professional opinion of what was happening?

My professional opinion of how the sites were established was what I would describe as amateur, inexperienced, untrained, no idea of how to conduct operations of this magnitude.

That would be my most benign assessment.

In my most frank assessment, I would say that they're criminal.

And I have fought ISIS.

I have fought the Taliban.

In my entire career, have I never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population.

I've never witnessed that in all of the places I've been deployed to war until I was in Gaza at the hands of the IDF and U.S.

contractors.

Anthony Aguilar speaking to the BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen.

Israel and the GHF continue to insist their forces have not targeted civilians.

The GHF said Mr.

Aguilar is a disgruntled former contractor whose contract was terminated for misconduct a month ago.

On Thursday night, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would officially recognize a Palestinian state at a UN meeting in September.

President Trump immediately dismissed France's decision.

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyadh Mansoor, welcomed it.

If we want to continue arguing when is the perfect time, there is no perfect time.

The perfect time is when you act.

And we are grateful that France acted now and we hope others will act.

It is not Israel that has to dictate the pace.

It is all of us, the international community, those who are upholding international law and defending the will of the international community, not those who are opposing it and violating it.

France's gesture is pure symbolism, though, isn't it?

What practical difference could it make?

I think that when a country like France and hopefully others to take that step, it is similar to the step that was taken in 1947 when the General Assembly, the majority of them, voted for the partition plan and the creations of two states on the land of Palestine.

I think that France's step is that meaningful in opening the door for the last chapter of ending this illegal occupation.

Do you think that President Macron's move will put effective additional pressure on other European countries, including the UK, to follow suit?

I sincerely hope so.

I expect more countries will follow the steps of France from today, moving on, to be culminated in the General Assembly in September in New York.

And I sincerely also hope that the government of the United Kingdom to be among those who would invest in peace and saving the two-state solution by recognizing the state state of Palestine.

Riyadh Mansoor talking to Paul Henley On Friday, more than two hundred British MPs signed a letter calling on the Prime Minister, Saqir Starma, to do the same.

And outside his official residence in Downing Street

Crowds of demonstrators gathered, banging pots and pans in protest at the hunger crisis in Gaza.

In a statement, Prime Minister Starmer said the move to recognise a Palestinian state would have to be part of a wider plan, resulting in a two-state solution.

More from our diplomatic correspondent, James Landell.

The announcement by President Macron that France will recognize Palestinian statehood in September prompted unsurprising reactions.

Palestinians and Arab nations welcomed the move, Israel and the US did not.

President Trump said the statement did not matter and did not carry weight.

But what does matter is how other Western nations respond, including the the UK.

The French want to generate diplomatic momentum towards talks about a political settlement, and they need partners to do this.

For now, the UK government remains unmoved.

In a statement, Sakir Starmer said recognizing a Palestinian state had to be a tool of maximum utility, part of a wider peace plan that ultimately resulted in a two-state solution.

The former National Security Advisor, Lord Darrick, questioned what doing this now would achieve.

What has changed on the ground the day after you recognise Palestine, and how has that contributed to a, at the moment, non-existent peace process?

So, my view has been: you play this card when it's going to make a difference, and it's not going to make a difference if you do it now.

The problem for Zakir Stama is that this decision is becoming less about diplomacy and more about politics.

He's coming under growing pressure from his MPs and ministers to follow France's lead.

Today, 221 MPs, 131 of them Labour, signed a letter to the PM saying recognizing a Palestinian state would have a significant impact in supporting a two-state solution.

After their telephone call this afternoon, the Prime Minister and his French and German counterparts said they would work on a credible plan for the next phase in Gaza, including key steps towards a negotiated two-state solution, but they did not repeat President Macron's commitment to recognize Palestinian statehood.

James Landale.

Thailand has declared martial law in eight eastern districts bordering Cambodia in the second day of fighting between the two neighbours.

The Thai army says at least 16 civilians have been killed, most on the Thai side of the border.

Thailand's acting Prime Minister, Pumtam Wechuyuchai, said that Cambodia may be guilty of a war crime for the deaths of civilians.

It is deeply regretful that Cambodia has chosen to use military force and opened fire first.

This is a severe severe violation of international law and humanitarian principles, as their attack has targeted hospitals and residential areas more than 20 kilometers from the border.

Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Manet, said the conflict would only end if Bangkok sincerely accepts a ceasefire.

Our Asia-Pacific regional editor, Celia Hatton, is following developments.

Well, it's been a pretty vicious second day of strikes, Julia.

I mean, we're seeing both sides employing more heavy machinery and pulling things in, like we're seeing jets, artillery, tanks, and ground troops being involved.

Both sides are accusing the other of really dirty, underhanded tactics.

So we have Thailand accusing the Cambodians of attacking civilians, which they say is a war crime.

And then we have Cambodia accusing the Thais of using cluster bombs, which are banned in most parts of the world.

These are explosives that then produce mini-bombs at ground level that really target individuals and target vehicles.

They really can be quite deadly.

And that's led, especially in Thailand, we're seeing the Thai authorities really attempt to clear the area near the border.

Fighting has broken out in 12 locations along this very porous border.

And so we're seeing the authorities really try to encourage people to move.

We believe now around 138,000 people on the Thai side have abandoned their homes and moved elsewhere to reach safety.

We're also seeing the Thais impose martial law in eight districts along the border because they say they're concerned about what they describe as the Cambodians' use of force to enter Thai territory.

Celia, there's been a lot of concerns over escalation, international calls, and offers to broker dialogue.

Do we know anything about peace talks?

We've had an early attempt by the Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who's also the chair of the regional ASEAN bloc.

He reached out early with offers to broker talks, to urge both sides into some kind of ceasefire.

And there was a period, I would say about 12 hours ago, where it looked like that might actually happen.

However, that has descended again into accusations coming from both sides.

So we heard from the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet.

He said that Thailand had agreed to a ceasefire in principle, but then backed out.

We've also just heard from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs giving their side of the story.

They say, yes, they had agreed to a ceasefire, but then Cambodia continued to launch vicious attacks, and they don't believe that the Cambodians are acting in good faith.

And so it seems like a ceasefire is off the the table for now.

But we're also seeing, Julia, other bigger regional players weighing in.

China, Japan, we're also hearing from the United States.

All are urging Thailand and Cambodia to come to the table, to put down their weapons.

And so we'll see what transpires in the next coming days.

Celia Hatton

The Irish-American dance star Michael Flatley has said he will seek a nomination to become the next President of Ireland.

The election is due to be held this autumn for what is largely a ceremonial role.

The poet Michael D.

Higgins has been in the post for 14 years.

More from our Ireland correspondent, Chris Page.

Riverdance generated a new global audience for Irish dancing.

Michael Flatley was a principal choreographer and male lead for the first performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994.

He went on to develop his own show, Lord of the Dance.

The news he wants to run to be the President of Ireland was confirmed in a court case about works at his mansion in County Cork.

The presidential election will take place in the autumn.

In order to stand, Mr.

Flatley will need to get the backing of 20 members of parliament or four local councils.

The centre-right party, Fine Gael, is running the former European Commissioner, Mairead McGuinness.

A left-wing independent, Catherine Connolly, is also likely to be nominated.

Sinn Féin is yet to announce whether it will contest the election.

There's speculation it could run its leader, Mary Lou MacDonald, the Stormont First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, or its former leader, Gerry Adams.

Chris Page

Still to come.

The British jazz legend Dame Cleo Lane has died at the age of 97.

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The treason trial of the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, has begun begun in a military court in the capital Kinshasa, even though he's not likely to attend.

He's accused of plotting to overthrow the government of the current president, Felix Shisakedi.

I heard more about the trial from our reporter, Richard Hamilton.

So he's been charged with murder, torture, and the occupation of the city of Goma, and this is all linked to his alleged support of the M23 rebels in the east of the country.

But it's a bit odd because most United Nations and other observers say that it's Rwanda that backs the M23 rebels.

So as I say, it's a little bit strange.

There's not a lot of evidence that Joseph Kabila is behind the rebels.

And Felix Shishikedi has accused him of being, in his words, the brains behind the group.

And the treason charge, the most serious, is punishable by death.

And Richard, remind us about Joseph Kabila's time in power.

Yes, so his father, Laurent Kabila, overthrew the long time dictator Mobutu and then his father Laurent was shot dead in two thousand one.

And Joseph Kabila was only twenty nine at the time and reportedly he didn't even want to be president, he was reluctant.

But on advice he took office ten days later and he was in power for eighteen years.

And at the beginning it was all seen rather positively.

He was credited with ending the Second Congo War and encouraging investing in the mining industry, but later became more authoritarian and his government was accused of corruption, embezzlement, and human rights abuses.

And he stepped down after the 2019 election, in which he said he wouldn't run.

And observers said that election was rigged so that Shisakedi would win and he beat another contender.

And at the time,

this deal was seen as being favourable to Joseph Kabila in terms of his time after the presidency.

So that was seen as favourable to Joseph Kabila, but the two men fell out.

And then, after that, Joseph Kabila went into exile in South Africa about two years ago, but came back in May.

And then at that time, the Senate lifted his immunity from prosecution because he had been senator for life, which meant that he couldn't be prosecuted.

So that's when these charges were then laid.

Okay, and we're not expecting him in court, but has he said anything about this trial?

Yes, so there's an old YouTube video that's since been taken down, but that was from that date in May when he said that the current government was a dictatorship and he called there was generally a decline of democracy.

And he's rejected this case as arbitrary and branded the court as an, in his words, an instrument of oppression.

And he basically said that these charges have been trumped up to keep him out of the political scene forever.

Richard Hamilton.

President Trump is beginning a five-day trip to Scotland, where he'll visit two golf courses he owns.

It's mainly a private visit, but he said he will meet the British Prime Minister, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to discuss trade deals.

There's a big security presence with protests expected.

The BBC's special correspondent, James Nockerty, has been reflecting on President Trump's relationship with Scotland.

In his lifelong hunt for trophies and perhaps respect, Donald Trump regards his two Scottish golf courses as memorable outposts of his empire.

I'm very much in favour of Scotland.

It's a place I love.

I've invested heavily in Scotland, and it's been wonderful.

He'll be celebrating this weekend a new course in Aberdeenshire, named after his mother, Mary Ann MacLeod, and visiting Turnbury in Ayrshire, which he hoped publicly after he bought it would once again host the Open, although the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews show no sign of letting that happen.

And although he'll apparently meet the First Minister of Scotland and the Prime Minister in the course of what is technically a private visit, this This is about the image of a man who wants to celebrate his roots.

My mother came from Scotland and she came over to this country.

Other people are from Scotland.

You know, actually,

that's hidden.

Do you know that some of the biggest, smartest, most brilliant leaders in business come from Scotland and nobody knows it?

Rather more, it should be said, than some local people.

The opening of Trump International north of Aberdeen in 2012 was preceded by rows over planning consent and confrontation with some in the area who refused to sell up property to let the future President have the land.

One smallholder in a modest home who stood up to him, Michael Forbes, was attacked in public by Trump, who accused the farmer of living like a pig.

His property is terribly maintained.

It's slum-like, it's disgusting.

In truth, the course has been running at an operating loss since it opened, despite a night in the hotel and some golf costing you two and a half thousand pounds today,

and it's clear that even for the Lynx mad president, it's all more than a game.

His coat of arms has a double-headed eagle, his father's family being German, of course, clutching a golf ball in each claw, with the motto nun quam conquere,

never give up.

As with any Trump outing, there will be surprises and unpredictability at every turn, because he knows no other way.

Some may say he's just trying to divert attention from trouble at home.

Protesters put up a sign on the golf course earlier this week saying twinned with Epstein Island.

But that would be too simplistic.

He does crave the comfort of a backstory, although it is perhaps an indication of where his family loyalty lies that he seldom speaks of his father's German roots in Kalstadt.

The calm contemplation of family history, perhaps even a meeting with a long-lost relative, has never been the Trump way.

Unchanging.

Of that we can be sure.

But wherever he goes, there is always a firecracker.

And whether it's on the links at Balmedi or on the fairways of Turnbury, expect one this weekend.

James Nochti.

Now, anyone who has ever been to Barcelona will have headed to the Basilica La Sagrade Familia, its world-famous Catholic church, and seen parts of it swathed in scaffolding.

Antony Gaudi's architectural masterpiece, which was begun in the late 19th century, is still unfinished, but not for much longer.

Yasmin Morgan Griffiths went to Spain to learn how historic architecture and new technology are coming together to finally bring the project to completion.

Tony Gaudi wanted to invite people to be near God.

He wanted to create a church of light.

Gaudi is one of the world's most renowned architects.

In the 1880s, he took over designing a grand basilica in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia.

It's been under construction for more than 140 years and counting, but Design Tech is helping to complete construction.

I'm in an elevator going to the top of the temple's central tower, the Tower of Jesus Christ, which when finished will stand around 170 meters tall.

It's still a construction site up here at the moment, but you can get some of the most incredible views of Barcelona from up here.

Gaudi's designs for the basilica featured soaring towers, inclined columns that branch out like trees, and 300 skylights.

Jordi Fauli is the current chief architect of La Sagrada Familia, the seventh in line after Gaudi.

He had built his astronomia using the technique of his moment.

He knew the project in the future could be built with new technologies.

Gaudi had to make sure future architects could understand his designs once he was gone.

And for that, he relied on the principles of geometry.

Also on La Sagrada Familia's architectural team, Esteve Umbert.

Gaudi was using what is called ruled surfaces, which are made of straight lines, and just by changing the endpoints of those strings, changes the curvature of the surface.

The skylights are heinperitz.

It's a circle, the skylight, and a huge number of straight lines that surround the internal light.

And this form refuses perfectly the sound and the light.

And these shapes are all over the basilica.

Because they are made of straight lines, these rules can be followed easily.

These shapes, are they quite unique to La Sagrada Familia?

Being applied in that massive scale, it was the first time in history.

Gaudi also used three-dimensional plaster of Paris models to communicate his complex geometrical vision.

The generations after him had to reconstruct this 3D puzzle.

We have more than 8,000 pieces being scanned.

With this information in the computer, we can recreate the same geometry.

But many of these models were smashed up during the Spanish Civil War.

Another challenge the architects face is making the basilica's overall structure strong enough to withstand forces like wind and earthquakes.

That's where Liam Duff from structural engineering firm Arup comes in.

What we have come up with is post-sension stone panels.

So these panels are made of solid stone and they have steel cables which run between them.

And by tensioning them together we're able to make a solid panel which is much much thinner than it would be if it was built out of traditional stone.

Visitors flock from around the world to admire the basilica.

But some local residents say ongoing construction has been disruptive.

But today's architects and engineers are still working to continue Gaudi's great project.

Next year, we'll be able to build the cross on Jesus' Tower.

And once that cross is placed, La Sagrada Familia will become the tallest church in the world.

Yasmin Morgan Griffiths reporting from from Barcelona.

Dame Cleo Lane, one of Britain's most celebrated jazz singers, has died at the age of 97.

Her remarkable talent earned her acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, with notable achievements in jazz, classical, and even pop music.

She performed with the greats, such as Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.

Our arts correspondent David Sillito looks back at her extraordinary career.

The list of British jazz singers who've truly made it on both sides of the Atlantic is rather short.

Tell me whether

since my man and I

came together.

It begins and ends

with Dame Cleo Lang.

If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it.

Her big break was in 1951 when she auditioned for the man who would also become her husband, Johnny Dankworth.

In she walks, and I knew from the first notes she sang that this was the one.

The myth goes that he listened to a hundred singers before he got to me.

She had it all.

The trademark scats singing.

And that extraordinary range.

Born Clementina Bullock, the daughter of an English mother and a Jamaican-born father, mixed race in the thirties, even the local church turned them away.

The world of jazz was different.

Tony Bennett, Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald.

She worked with them all.

Cleo Lane.

David Sillito reporting.

And that's all from 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 any of the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service use the hashtag globalnewspod.

This edition was mixed by Joe McCartney McLaughlin and the producer was Judy Frankel.

The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Julia McFarlane.

Until next time, goodbye.

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