Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway, and this edition is published in the early hours of Monday, the 12th of January. President Trump says the US military is assessing its options over Iran, as activists say more than 500 people have been killed there in anti-government protests.
Chapter 2: What are the latest updates on the Iran protests?
Cuba's president has rejected Donald Trump's demand to make a deal with Washington. And the Golden Globes have kicked off the Hollywood award season. Also in the podcast, we hear about the deadly avalanches that have hit the Alps and... It's incredible.
It's life-changing. It's given me everything back.
The simple gel that can treat a rare form of blindness. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran has faced a series of mass protests. The usual response from the authorities has been to launch a violent crackdown. And it's no different this time.
A communications blackout makes it difficult to know exactly what's going on there, but the US-based human rights activist's news agency says 544 people have been killed in two weeks of demonstrations.
Chapter 3: What is President Trump's stance on Iran and Cuba?
The group's deputy director is Skylar Thompson.
We have seen the use of lethal force indiscriminately against protesters. We have evidence of close range gunshot wounds. We have evidence of tear gassing. We have evidence of military grade weapons being deployed on individuals protesting in the streets. And this is absolutely unacceptable.
It's a serious violation of not only international law, but it's something that the international community must condemn.
Despite the violence, there's an important difference from previous demonstrations. The Iranian government has been severely weakened by the Israeli and American attacks last year and the loss of its allies in Syria and Lebanon. It's also facing a threat of intervention from President Trump.
Chapter 4: How has the UK government responded to CIA torture allegations?
In the past few hours, he said he's looking at possible military action. The president was asked by reporters on Air Force One if Iran had crossed a red line of protesters being killed.
This auditorium looks like, and there seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed. These are violent, if you call them leaders. I don't know if they're leaders or just they rule through violence.
But we're looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it. And we're looking at some very strong options. The Iranian president, Massoud Pazeshkian, says the unrest is being manipulated by Iran's enemies, while the authorities in Tehran have called for nationwide marches on Monday in support of the regime. Our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, has this report.
Chapter 5: What recent advancements have been made in treating blindness?
Mashhad, Iran's holiest city. Now it burns with a different fervour. The hometown of Iran's supreme leader. A place where protesters want this clerical rule to die. Across Iran, the anger boils. Tehran in the north. Kerman in the south. The roar of the crowds. The boom of the guns. But courage has a cost in Iran.
Chapter 6: What happened during the recent avalanches in the Alps?
A huge cost. This forecourt is full. Ground zero of grief. It's an open-air morgue. We've tried to count body bags. There's at least 180 here and the trucks keep coming. The government is also burying their dead. Coffins carrying police and civilians carried by the crowds. The presenter on state TV lists ten provinces where they fell.
Killed, she says, in terrorist acts committed by the US and Israel.
Chapter 7: Who were the winners at this year's Golden Globe Awards?
Death to America, MPs shouted in Parliament today. The Speaker had a warning for President Trump, who's been threatening to attack Iran again. So that you are not miscalculating, know that in the case of an attack on Iran, Israel, as well as US military bases in the region, will be our legitimate targets.
To decide their own future.
Iran's exiled former crown prince sent President Trump a different message on America's Fox TV.
Your words of solidarity with the Iranian people and your administration have had tremendous positive effect. Let's hope that we can permanently seal this legacy by liberating Iran so that we and you can make Iran great again.
Some call for Reza Pahlavi to return. He's helped galvanize these protests. But his call for foreign help is rejected by those Iranians who say change has to come from within.
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Chapter 8: How are humanoid robots expected to impact household chores?
Today, Iran's President Peshishyan also spoke for the first time in days. We ask that everyone comes together and not let these people riot. If they have concerns, we will hear them. It is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is to not allow rioters to disrupt society. But there's menace on the streets. Security forces on motorcycles open fire.
It's not clear who they're targeting. The message to the president from the protests, there are no quick fixes anymore. They're calling for much more. And that report by our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette. When US forces seized the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro just over a week ago, many of those killed trying to protect him were from Cuba.
Venezuela has a long-standing alliance with the island nation and supplies it with an estimated 35,000 barrels of oil a day. Donald Trump says he's putting an end to that, urging the communist authorities in Cuba to, quote, make a deal before it's too late. Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has hit back with this post on X, read out by one of our producers.
Those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point fingers at Cuba for anything, absolutely anything. Those who today hysterically rail against our nation do so out of rage over the sovereign decision of this people to choose their political model.
More details on the dispute from our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams in Washington. Donald Trump has made one very trenchant observation, which is that Cuba is heavily dependent on Venezuelan support, specifically oil. And with America assuming control of Venezuelan oil, that support is gone. Cuba is losing around a third of what it relies on from outside contributors.
So that could have a very dramatic effect. Some observers are suggesting it could be catastrophic for the Cuban economy and lead to power cuts and food shortages and all sorts of difficulty. And of course, that is exactly what Donald Trump wants. He wants to batter communist Havana into submission to make some kind of deal. What that deal is, he doesn't say.
But for Cuban Americans, influential people like the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, they want to see the release of political prisoners, the holding of free and fair elections. Frankly, they want to see an end to the Cuban revolution started, led by Fidel Castro in the 1950s. Now, the Cuban president, President Diaz-Canel, has said that Cuba is free, independent, and sovereign.
No one tells us what to do. But the regime in Havana, which has weathered all sorts of storms in the past, knows that it is now facing possibly some of its most difficult days yet. Paul Adams in Washington. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland will travel to Washington this week for talks over the future of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
President Trump says the US needs Greenland for its defence, but 85% of the island's residents say they have no interest in becoming American. Our Europe editor Katja Adler sent this report from Greenland's capital, Nuuk. Crisis or no crisis, it's the weekend and Greenlanders were out skiing and sledging around the frozen lake of Nook. The tension hangs heavy.
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