Fury after Trump's 'insult' to NATO troops
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Onneksi on turvan laaja kotivakuutus.
Ostat sen helposti osoitteesta turva.fi kautta koti. Psst! Ammattiliiton jäsenelle parhaat erot. Hymyile, ole turvassa!
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankur Desai and at 16 hours GMT on Friday the 23rd of January, these are our main stories. Britain says Donald Trump was wrong to diminish the role of NATO troops during the war in Afghanistan. There's been an angry backlash to the US President's claim that NATO allies avoided the front line during the conflict. While the World Economic Forum has been dominated by geopolitical rankling, we'll be talking about women's health, another important topic that leaders have been addressing. And a court in South Africa has dismissed a government appeal to block the auction of personal items belonging to former President Nelson Mandela.
Also in this podcast... This plant alone provides a huge proportion of Ukraine's energy needs. And the boss of Ukraine's nuclear industry says this too is a target for the Russians. As high-level talks to end the war in Ukraine continue, we report from inside one of the dwindling number of power stations fighting a freezing winter. The once so-called special relationship between the US and UK has, it's fair to say, had a few speed bumps on the road. And now there is another one you can add to that long stretch. Donald Trump has sparked outrage here in Britain after claiming that NATO troops stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan. The US president made the comments on Thursday while he was at the World Economic Forum in Davos during an interview with Fox News.
We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, a little off the front lines. While the majority of NATO soldiers who died while serving in Afghanistan were Americans, roughly a third were mainly from the UK and Canada. Diane Derny's son, Ben Parkinson, is a former paratrooper and he was severely injured. She told the BBC that President Trump's comments were hurtful.
Ben went to Afghanistan as a member of ISAF. He wore the ISAF badge, which makes him part of the NATO forces. Ben's life changed completely. He and his family lost everything. He lost his career. He lost his chance at a normal life. But Ben was proud and happy to do it. And we were proud of him. And to have that then negated by somebody who neither they nor their family have ever served on the front line, making his comments about the effort that they put in and the sacrifices that they made is absolutely disgraceful.
There's been strong condemnation amongst British politicians, as our political correspondent Damien Grammaticus explains. We've had this morning from Downing Street, officially through the spokesman, a statement saying the president was wrong to diminish the role of NATO troops. and Downing Street making very clear that it says we are incredibly proud of our armed forces, their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Now, of course, the government has had to tread carefully around an American president who many view as thin-skinned and unpredictable, so that's quite strong stuff from Downing Street. We've had those calls for an apology from the leader of the Conservative Party, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Many more MPs have been out expressing their outrage too. So what role did NATO soldiers actually play during the Afghanistan war? Here's our defence correspondent, Jonathan Beale.
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