Like ending extreme poverty and tacking Climate Change. And president s and Prime Ministers will take the opportunity to seize the global spotlight, including us President Joe Biden who arrived On Sunday Evening in new york. Earlier, i spoke to michael bociurkiw, Global Affairs analyst and non resident Senior Fellow at the atlantic council, about what we can expect from the week ahead. Lets touch on whos not going to be there. French president macron, british Prime Minister rishi sunak, chinese president xijinping, russian president vladimir putin, indian Prime Minister narendra modi, among others. It is quite a list. What do you make of those absences . Yes, it is quite a list indeed. Well, the un Secretary General played it down and says this isnt a show for vanity fair. Whoever comes, he will engage with them. But im finding World Leaders are using more and more of that excuse, that theyre very busy, so they are show up at certain summits. In the case of the uk Prime Minister, if reporting is to be believed, hes not only very busy but hes afraid to be called out at a un Climate Summit for not performing well enough on the environmentalfront. French president macron who as we all know loves being in the spotlight, on the same time level as canadian Prime Minister trudeau, i would say, has the king coming to visit and the pope following, and has been travelling quite a bit. As for china, i didnt expect them to show up. Xijinping is facing difficulties at home and doesnt like these summits, hes focusing more on brics. And then finally russian president putin, afraid to get arrested and doesnt like to take part in these western backed gatherings. So a situation in which five out of the five permanent members of the security council, only the us is sending its leader. Ijust wonder there in new york, is there talk about the united nations� effectiveness in responding to global crises at a time when, lets face it, they are myriad. Right. Well, first of all, these absences will give more of a spotlight for mr biden. And sorry, iforgot to mention that an important show will be president zelensky of ukraine, hes going to be arguing for more resources to fight the war. But, yes, a lot of calls, especially from the african continent, for reform of the united nations. I heard a lot of that at the brics summit in south africa recently, and in fact the Secretary General has promised to fight for a seat for africa. Theyre casting a much, much bigger shadow on the world stage. Their resources, their Growing Populations, they absolutely deserve a seat at the table, and one more thing im a former spokesperson for unicef, i worked for their organisation in many places around the world there is a widespread feeling that the un is becoming less effective, doesnt have the backbone. In the old days when there were egregious acts committed by say the myanmar generals or coup leaders in africa, they would be called out by the un. That is happening less and less unfortunately. Lets talk a little bit about africa then, because you were just pointing to that discussion about africa potentially having a seat at the un security council. Do you think thats something that will come up this week in new york . Yes, you know, when i sat there at the brics summit in south africa, dozens of African Leaders spoke for a long time and all of them said that they would like to see this happen. And the other thing that could bring them is more clout, not only to help, for example, authorise emergency un deployments to end conflicts but also development aid. A lot of them are complaining, helena, that they dont have the resources, even though theyre paying the price, big time, for climate action, and they want the developing countries to do more. And also, they will be very loud at the different fora these coming two weeks. They will be raising their voice and theyre also going to be reminding people, ithink, that if theyre not given the proper seat, for example, at the un security council, they will go it alone and theyre getting the resources to do that in terms of minerals in the ground that can help alleviate Climate Change these so called green minerals. But also their Growing Populations is going to give them a much bigger shadow on the world stage. Well on that point, this particular General Assembly will also be a moment to measure progress when it comes to Sustainable Development goals. I believe that happens around every four years. Hows it looking on that front . Not very good. Whether you use the data to reach that conclusion or, as i travelled the world, since the goals were introduced and seeing the lack of progress, for example, in areas access to clean water, poverty alleviation, Climate Change, classrooms were about halfway through the sdg period and only about 15 of those indicators are on track. A lot of the countries where indicators have been reversed, for example, under nutrition, a lot of them happen to be in africa. And a lot of the progress, in fairness, was set back by the pandemic and also by the Global Economic crisis. So i dont know whether much progress will be made because these are, afterall, commitments, theyre not binding. And also we have to remember that a lot of cases, leaders of countries have to go back to their National Parliaments to get approval, they have to twist the arms of regional and local leaders to get things done so its a very complicated process. But of course i think were all on the same page that we hope that many of these indicators actually do reach their goal by 2030. Michael bociurkiw there in new york. Great to have your analysis, as ever, thank you. Thank you very much. Five american citizens jailed for years in iran are expected to fly back to the us later today after a deal mediated by the gulf state of qatar. The four men and one woman, who also hold iranian passports, will board a plane in tehran once 6 billion in iranian funds earned from selling oil to south korea will reach banks in doha. Five iranians imprisoned in us jails, mainly on charges of violating us sanctions, will also be freed at the same time. The swap is being condemned by leading us republicans and iranian activists who say it will only encourage more hostage taking. Ukraine claims its recaptured another village, during its offensive in the east of the country. The small village of klishchiivka, has now been cleared of occupying Russian Forces, according to kyiv. The village is a couple of miles from bakhmut, the city captured by Russian Forces in may after a long battle. Since then, ukraine says it has been re taking land surrounding bakhmut. Russia has denied ukraines claims. In the coming hours, ukraine and russia are set to present arguments at the International Court ofjustice in the netherlands, over allegations that russia used false claims of genocide to justify its ongoing invasion. Russia has already been ordered by the icj to withdraw from ukraine, but moscow claims the court does not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter, saying the allegations are outside the scope of the uns genocide convention. That means the court must first rule on its own ability to hear the case, before it can proceed further. Switching gears now and a woman who claims the comedian, Russell Brand, raped her, has been giving more details of the alleged attack. In an interview with the sunday times newspaper, she describes how the star asked for her forgiveness and says she was scared of the implications for herself and herfamily, if she went to the police. The woman is one of four making allegations of Sexual Assault against the comedian, when he worked at channel four, the bbc and in hollywood. Russell brand denies all the allegations, and says his sexual relationships, were consensual. Heres david sillito. Russell brand, comedian, actor, Political Commentator accused of multiple Sexual Assaults and the rape of a woman that the programme dispatches called nadia. Hes grabbing at my, my underwear, pulling it to the side. Im telling him to get off me, he wont get off. I was distraught, trying to get out of the house with him being so much taller than me, like, holding me up against the wall. Further details have now been published about Nadia Reporting the incident to a Rape Crisis Centre and also a series of Text Messages that the investigators say Russell Brand sent to nadia. The exchange begins with him saying, im sorry, i will make this up to you. And then he goes on to ask, will you everforgive me . It was just as these allegations first began to emerge that he arrived for a performance in london. On stage, he was met by fans with cheers and a standing ovation. He has these days, millions of followers on social media. This is antiestablishment anti authoritarian. Where he has cast himself as a voice of dissent against mainstream media. But the catalogue of accusations and concerns about his behaviour stretch over his many years in Mainstream Tv and radio, and the Foreign Secretary says it raises wider questions about the entertainment industry. I think there are some real challenges, where you have these very, very acute differentials in power. Whether that be in the entertainment industry, whether that be in politics and we see this in the commercial world as well. And i think we have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless. Only been locked up for four days and yet already. Russell brand made his name on channel 4s big brother. Dispatches featured claims that staff helped pick out girls for him from the audience. It felt like we were essentially taking lambs into slaughter. Channel 4 says it has no evidence that any of the alleged incidents were brought to its attention at the time. Oh, no, this is andrew sachs� answer phone . And the bbc, which parted company with Russell Brand after a scandal over offensive voice mail messages, has also said its making urgent inquiries. Meanwhile, Russell Brand has issued a statement in vehemently denying all the allegations. I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships i had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then. And to see that Transparency Metastasised into something criminal, that i absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play . However, in 2020, a woman the programme called alice, who said a relationship had begun when she was 16 and that shed been assaulted by brand, contacted his agent. I phoned the offices and i asked to speak to his agent. They say they now believe that they were misled by brands denials. And as his tour continues, many others are facing questions about what they were told and what did they do . Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. One of sudans most recognisable landmarks, the Greater Nile Petroleum operating company tower, caught fire, after heavy fighting between the army and rivalforces in the countrys capital of khartoum. The senior architect who worked on its design described the destruction as senseless and truly painful. Nearly one Million People have fled sudan since fighting broke out in april. British opposition leader, keir starmer, has promised hell try to re write Britains Brexit deal with the european union, if his labour party wins the next general election. Mr starmer said he would make closer relations with the eu a priority, to bolster britains economic growth. But hes ruled out re joining the customs union, the Single Market or the eu itself. Over 15,000 protesters in new york city kicked off climate week, ahead of the start of the un General Assembly this week. They are calling for World Leaders to end the use of fossilfuel, and drive action to combat Climate Change. Sundays demonstration is part of 500 planned protests across the globe. Youre live with bbc news. Here in the us, more people than ever are dying from fenta nyl overdoses, as a fourth wave of the Opioid Epidemic sweeps the country. In 2022, deaths due to Drug Overdoses hit a new record, killing more than 100,000 people in the us, according to data from the centers for Disease Control and prevention. Of those deaths, more than two thirds were tied to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, 50 times more powerful than heroin. The drug is illegally manufactured and sold by criminal gangs. Most of the illegal fentanyl found in the us is trafficked from mexico, using chemicals sourced from china, according to the Drug Enforcement administration, or dea. Earlier, i spoke with prof carl latkin, vice chair of the department of health, behaviour, and society atjohns Hopkins University in baltimore. Prof latkin, thank you for joining us to talk more about this issue. We have had some extremely worrying numbers out this week, when it comes to the scale of the Fentanyl Crisis here in the united states. Just talk to us about the size of the challenge at hand. The Fentanyl Crisis is really horrific, in terms of numbers. There are over 100,000 individuals dying each year. Thats over 300 individuals a day dying from overdoses, and almost all of those are fentanyl related in the us. So its a massive problem. Its only gotten worse in the last decade. The last two years, it has plateaued, but at such a horrific rate you wouldnt consider a Plateau Anything to see in a positive light. Absolutely. Some shocking numbers that youre giving us there. Just talk to us about why this drug is so dangerous. Well, its dangerous for several reasons. Some is the physiologic aspects of it, in that it is exceedingly potent, 50 times more potent than heroin, 100 times more potent than morphine, meaning that 1 50th of that amount, you can overdose, compared to the same amount of heroin. So what happens is the drug users get drugs that are cut with other substances, and they never know how much fentanyl is in it, so one batch may have a little, and the next batch may have enough that any dose is going to cause an overdose, and potentially a fatal overdose. So theres that aspect of it, there is also that drug use is so stigmatised, people tend to hide their use, so if they do overdose, they cannot be revived with naloxone in a timely manner, and it is also in the us, most people who are dependent on opioids arent in effective drug treatments, so i would say those are some of the major issues why you have this phenomenal rate. So, from what youre saying, there is also the risk here that, in terms of Drug Shortages of pharmaceutical drugs can also potentially push people to go to the illicit market, and then risk encountering fentanyl when it is cut into another drug . Correct, yes, so people become drug dependent, and once you are dependent on an opiate, the Withdrawal Symptoms are just so horrific that you will do a lot of things to get that drug, or to stave off the Withdrawal Symptoms, and if you cant legally get your drug to prevent withdrawal, then you are going to go to the illicit drugs, and now there are a lot of Counterfeit Drugs that contain fentanyl, so people used to try to safely get things like 0xycontin on the street, but now a lot of these supposed 0xycontin are really counterfeit that contains fentanyl, so it is very difficult to get a drug that you know the dose, and with fentanyl, because of its potency, not knowing the dose can easily be fatal. Look, professor, i know its a huge question that im asking you, but what needs to happen to get a handle on this, and do you think the Biden Administration is doing enough about it . Well, yeah, i think it is one of these where it has to be multipronged, there is no silver bullet, but there is a lot that can be done. First of all, there needs to be more access to the drug treatment, because most people who are drug dependent are not on known effective drug treatments, like methadone and diprenorphine. So those things are not available. The question of biden, most drug treatments is through states, so that with the federal government, there are some limitations of what they can do. Naloxone needs to be much more available, programmes need to be made to reduce the stigma of drug use, there needs to be places where people can inject safely, that is sanctioned drug places where people use drugs, so that if somebody overdoses, other people can quickly treat them with naloxone, and that one is a federal law that needs to be addressed. And finally, what about stemming the supply . Do you think more needs to be done to crack down on that . Well, i would say that, yes, and that a lot of the precursors, almost all the precursors for fentanyl, are made in china, and then shipped to mexico and other places for making fentanyl, so clearly trying to cut down on that is a viable strategy. However, historically, supply side interdiction has not necessarily been very effective, and it may have unforeseen consequences, like clamping down on heroin may lead to fentanyl, so i think thats part of it, but i think it needs to be done veryjudiciously and not with a heavy hand, or you may get, you know, whole narco terrorists and groups, because of the profits to be made, due to illicit drugs. If the prices go up, then there is huge incentive for criminal elements to engage in selling drugs, so i think it has to be done in a way that doesnt motivate that type of behaviour. Prof carl latkin, thank you so much for your insights on this important issue. Youre quite welcome. The italian island of lampedusa is once again at the centre of the debate over migrants trying to reach europe in small boats across the mediterranean. In the last week, the number of migrants arriving on the island from north africa has the surpassed the number of residents that live there. The president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has met the italian Prime Minister on lampedusa, and pledged more help to deal with the influx of small vessels. Heres mark lowen. One of europes Migration Choke Points is gasping. More than 8,000 arriving in Lampedusa Injust three days this week. The migrant centre, built to hold 400, was at ten times its capacity. Congested, chaotic, some trying any futile way to get free. Today, two new arrivals, rather more planned the italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the eu president ursula von der leyen, to see for themselves the turmoil at europes door. Italys leader is under pressure. Elected with promises to curb migration, numbers are now double the same period last year. Translation what is at stake here is the future, the future i that europe wants to set for itself, and it is very important to be able to tackle the huge, massive challenges which lie ahead for us, especially in terms of illegal immigration. The eu president offered more help from the bloc� s border force to crack the smugglers, and more efforts to distribute migrants across europe something several eu members have refused, prompting fears she was armed more with rhetoric than with workable solutions. Migration is a european challenge and it needs a european answer and solution. It is concrete actions that will bring change on the ground. But lampedusa has repeatedly seen promises come as quickly as the migrant boats and vanish soon after, and patience here is wearing thin. Translation as far as im concerned, europes done. Nothing for lampedusa so far. Theyjust come here to parade. Translation weve been undergoing this extreme i situation for years and its not fair that we continue to suffer from it. The camp is emptying out as new arrivals are transferred elsewhere, but conditions remain grim aid agencies stretched to breaking point. Face to face with the dreams of europe turning to misery, the continents leaders will try yet again to solve it, just as countless more of the desperate will try yet again to come. Mark lowen, bbc news. Drew barrymore has decided to postpone the new season of her daytime talk show. The american actress had faced intense criticism for taping new episodes, despite the ongoing hollywood writers strike. On sunday, barrymore issued a tearful on camera apology for continuing her cbs talk show, the Drew Barrymore show, which was due to return on monday. Since her announcement, fellow talk shows, the talk, and Actress Singerjennifer Hudson have also said they will push back their premieres, as well. I deeply apologise to writers. I deeply apologise to unions. I deeply apologise. I dont exactly know what to say because sometimes when things are so tough its hard to make decisions from that place. So all i can say is. That i wanted to accept responsibility. And finally, take a look at these pictures from cyprus. Hundreds of baby turtles have taken their first steps toward the sea. The newborn turtles broke out of their eggs and moved along the sand, with the help of a team of experts. There are around 2,000 nests located on the protected beaches. In all, around 70,000 baby turtles are expected to end up in the sea. Stay with us here on bbc news. Thats all from us here in washington. We leave you with these live pictures of london, as we hand off to our colleagues there. Hello. It is shaping up to be a very unsettled and autumnal week of weather, with some strong winds and some heavy rain, and talking of heavy rain, on sunday, parts of South West England had localised flash flooding, because of some really intense downpours and thunderstorms that drifted up from the south. You can see the shower clouds there on our earlier satellite picture. Weve also got a couple of different frontal systems pushing in from the west, so, whichever way you slice it, quite a wet start to monday for many of us. Still some hefty showers across parts of eastern england, first thing. Then here comes our band of rain, some particularly wet weather across parts of scotland. Behind our rain bands, we see a mixture of sunny spells and showers. Some of those could be on the heavy side, and also behind our rain band, a cooler, fresherfeel. So, temperatures north to south, 13 to 20 degrees. So, cool and fresh, as we head into monday night, some clear spells, still some showers, and then here comes our next weather system, a zone of cloud and outbreaks of heavy rain across northern ireland, south west scotland, north west england, parts of wales, turning very mild down towards the south west, rather chilly across North Eastern parts of scotland. So here comes our next frontal system for tuesday that is going to bring some heavy bursts of rain, particularly wet, i think, over high ground in south west scotland, north west england and parts of wales. To the south of that, some patchy rain and a fair amount of cloud. But it is going to be windy, particularly for england, wales, northern ireland. Inland spots could see gusts of 50 mph. Around some of the coasts, the winds could be a little bit stronger than that. Temperature wise, well, we could get to 20 or 21 degrees, if the cloud breaks at all down towards the South Of England and south wales. Tuesday night into wednesday, we see all these white lines, all these isobars on the chart. That shows us that it is going to be windy, that shows us that it is going to be windy, still windy on wednesday, particularly just ahead of this band of cloud and rain, this cold front, which will be pushing its way southwards and eastwards through the day. To the north and west of that, well, we see a mix of sunny spells and showers returning temperatures of 1a to 22 degrees. For the end of the week, it does stay very unsettled showers or longer spells of rain, and it will often be windy, particularly in the northwest of the uk as we head into next weekend. Voiceover this is bbc news. Well have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. What sort of political system best delivers individual rights and collective wellbeing . In the western world, the consensus answer is democracy. But what happens when the Building Blocks of democratic societies start to crumble, when bonds of trust and shared history weaken, when information is no longer impartial, and hostility undermines common purpose . Well, my guest, the israeli historian and public intellectual, yuval noah harari, is watching his own country grappling with these questions. Its happening in the us and europe, too. So where will it end . Yuval noah harari, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. It is now more than a decade since you wrote sapiens
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