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Bobby Bones here with news on the Top Shelf Country Cruise.
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It's not just a cruise, it's a country music experience at sea.
An amazing lineup of performers.
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Got to hurry though, these spots are filling up fast!
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World service.
I'm Rachel Wright and in the early hours of Monday the 21st of April these are our main stories.
Israel's military has admitted its soldiers made mistakes when they opened fire on emergency vehicles in Gaza last month, killing 15 rescue workers.
A ceasefire declared by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine has ended, with both sides accusing each other of numerous violations.
Also in this podcast, Pope Francis has appeared at the Vatican balcony to wish happy Easter to thousands of worshippers and...
Our overarching ambition is to use immersive technologies to mend the broken relationship that we have with nature.
To bring people closer to it in absence of being able to physically do so.
Can virtual reality really help us appreciate nature?
It was an incident that drew international condemnation, the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza last month.
Even more troubling was the fact the Israeli army initially claimed the convoy of vehicles didn't have their emergency lights on.
That was proved to be false after a video was found on the phone of one of the paramedics who'd been buried in a shallow grave, along with Gaza civil defence workers and a UN employee.
This was the moment the rescue workers arrived to help some injured people, only to be shot at for more than five minutes by Israeli soldiers.
The Israel Defense Forces have now carried out an internal investigation into what happened and they have published their conclusions.
Our correspondent in Jerusalem Gary O 'Donohue unpacked the findings of the investigation.
What they've concluded is that the soldiers involved in the killing of the fourteen aid workers and the UN worker in the first case of the fourteen aid workers medics and and civil defense rescue people basically they say that it was operational misunderstandings that led to that they say that there was a problem with night visibility and identifying these as ambulances even though we have video evidence from one of the phones of one of the men who was killed that they did have their lights on and they were showing their emergency signals so that's what they're saying about that they're saying
that even after they identified them as ambulances they did then retrospectively identify six of those they had killed as Hamas military members they haven't provided any evidence for that they haven't told us what their names were so anyone could follow up and check that out.
Now they have dismissed the commander who was involved that night also because this group fired on a separate UN vehicle, killed someone in that, and the IDF report is stronger on that, it says that was a breach of orders, and it's indicated that the officer on the ground effectively misled the investigators when first describing that incident.
So that's where we are in terms of what they're doing.
One firing a reprimand for a commander further up the food chain, but still a lot of questions that people will be asking about what happened that night.
Israel have done reports in the past into events where they have found Israel Defense Force members or soldiers have been negligent and have fired.
Do you think that they are upholding a sort of levels of scrutiny?
And is this going to be an example of that?
Well, what they say is that this was done by an independent part of the General Staff, of the IDF, that it didn't involve the chain of command of those involved yet still this is an Israeli military investigating the Israeli military.
You're right to say that they have taken action in the past, you remember the killing of seven aid workers from the world central kitchen last April.
There were two officers fired in that case and a number of others disciplined so they do do this but the thing about this particular incident A, the numbers are larger, this is one of the bloodiest incidents involving medical and rescue workers dying in this 18 month conflict and I think secondly the emergence of that video from one of the workers praying for his life in the last seconds of his life I think really has brought this incident home to people in a way that perhaps these statistics and these incidents that come along regularly in Gaza in various forms in an even more powerful way.
What is the situation on the ground in Gaza right now?
Israeli action is intensifying.
I think we've had around 300 air strikes this week by the Israeli Air Force according to their own figures.
The health ministry on the ground is telling us that several dozen people are dying every night with more than a hundred being injured every night.
Israel is occupying increasingly large percentages of Gaza itself, particularly around the perimeter, what it calls these buffer zones around the edge.
It's also moving into areas in the south around Rafah and Khan Yunis.
And there is now some signs in the last day or so, that the clashes on the ground are starting to pick up again.
That hadn't happened during the ceasefire.
That seems to be possibly changing now.
And of course at a point where there is nothing really on the table in terms of any negotiations." Gary O 'Donoghue in Jerusalem… And since speaking to Gary, we've had a reaction from the Palestine Red Crescent.
They rejected the findings of Israel's investigation and said the report was full of lies.
Now, hopes that the short Easter holiday ceasefire in the three -year Russia -Ukraine war might lead to a prolonged pause in the fighting appear to be over.
A statement by the Kremlin said President Putin had not issued any order to extend the truce, which ended at midnight.
Both sides accused each other of repeatedly breaking the truce.
This report by our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.
For more than three years, Russia has been waging war against Ukraine, but for Easter Sunday, Vladimir Putin had announced an Easter truce.
On the front line in Ukraine, Orthodox priests held services for Russian soldiers.
Amid the celebrations, Russia accused Ukraine of launching attacks.
And Ukraine accused Russian forces of breaking the Kremlin's own ceasefire.
It looked increasingly unlikely that President Putin's 30 -hour truce would lead to anything approaching a lasting peace.
What's more likely is that the Kremlin leader will use what has happened to try to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of Washington to convince Donald Trump that it's Moscow, not Kiev, that's serious about peace.
In Moscow, people I spoke to outside a church seemed resigned to the war in Ukraine dragging on.
I don't think one short cease -fire will end it, Lyubov tells me.
We need something more substantial.
When I ask Artem how to restore peace, he says, that's for those up there in power to decide.
We don't decide anything.
I've heard that from many Russians who are just waiting for peace.
Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.
President Zelensky described the truce announced by the Kremlin as a ruse and called instead for Russia to agree to abandon drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure for 30 days.
But despite the mudslinging there were reported lulls in the fighting in some areas.
Our Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse went to the southern city of Hurson on the front line to assess the situation there.
We are just driving into Herson now, this scarred city has been occupied, liberated, it's shelled every day, the Russians fly drones at civilians, it's been flooded after the destruction of a dam.
If there has been any respite from this last minute truce, people here will have noticed it.
As we weave through the city streets of Hurson, it becomes clear this partial ceasefire has brought with it an eerie quiet.
The military here are nervous about Russian forces carrying out what they call provocation attacks, where the Ukrainians returned fire and are subsequently blamed for breaking the truce.
At an Easter Sunday service, for once not interrupted by sirens, we meet flit lana this isn't usual and it's scary because i can't believe this is true there is still fighting on the front line so there is no peace and we need it there is a very slim chance this ceasefire could be the first paving stone on a path to peace but what is more likely is that the rhythm of this wall will return at midnight it's why artem a soldier on her son's front line isn't getting carried away.
I can't remember when it was so quiet as it is now.
And do you have any faith that it can turn into something beyond tonight?
I don't have faith.
But I hope it will happen.
It seems most of the front line has stayed active, but Ukraine hasn't seen lulls in fighting, like here in Hercon, for a long time.
James Waterhouse, in Hersohn.
The Syrian Human Rights Organization has said that 48 women have disappeared in Syria since the start of the year.
All of those documented are part of the country's Alawite community – the same minority that Syria's ousted leader, President Bashar al -Assad, belongs to.
Since his regime was overthrown in December, there have been attacks targeting Alawites in areas loyal to the country's former leader.
This man told the BBC that his sister was abducted a week ago.
His words have been voiced by a producer as the man fears for his safety.
On the 13th of April, my sister was heading home around 4 p .m. on public transport.
She texted her husband to say she had let him know once she was near the bus station so he could come and pick her up.
But that was the last we heard from her.
Her mobile phone has been switched off ever since.
We reported the incident to the local police station who promised to investigate, but we haven't received any updates.
We have no idea how she is, where she is or who kidnapped her.
We haven't received any direct contact from the capture themselves, but ever since we posted online that she was missing, We have received several calls from people claiming to know her whereabouts, demanding money in exchange for information.
None of them provided any evidence to support their claims. Well, Sara, not her real name, is a Syrian rights activist based in France.
She's been documenting some of the cases and told my colleague Celia Hatton about the spate of kidnappings.
Most of the women disappeared while doing normal things, going to school with their kids or work or visiting family and many of them disappeared during the daytime and from different areas from Tartus, Idlib, Pahama and Jabla, some of them after disappearing, some of the families received messages from the victims, phone calls or voice messages often word like that sounds forced.
Some families were asked to pay ransom.
And some of the women were returned.
But as you may know that this situation is a very sensitive issue in our communities, because it involves women, so there's still strong social stigma, let me say, around women.
With the different areas we are talking about, all the cases were documented, the women are Alawite.
Are there any indications as to who is behind these kidnappings and what their goal is?
You had mentioned ransom in some situations.
Can you tell me more about who you think is behind this?
This is very difficult to say who are behind these disappearing women because for the women who return either they are not allowed to talk because of their families or we are not sure about the reason.
For instance, yesterday, Aya was released in the morning, but she stayed all the day at the General Security Office for investigation.
So until now, we have not much information about who are behind this.
And it's differentiate between case and other case.
Some of them received calls from a phone number, from Emirates, UAE.
We are not sure if these are real numbers or the kidnappers are using masking apps and for the investigations there is nothing serious, let me say.
That's why we are asking the government, the local authority to seriously investigate.
So you've called for investigations, but Syria is undergoing great change right now.
Do you believe these abductions reflect a wider pattern linked to the breakdown in security across Syria?
Yes, because security in general in Syria is not stable, and some areas and some cities like villages in the coast are not safe for people who are living there especially after the massacre in the Syrian coast, but unfortunately these events happen during the day.
People now more afraid, even for many students in the university, the women are not going to their university because they are afraid.
There is no security for them.
Syrian rights activists were calling Saara.
Still to come… Adults' books are all in Canada.
In the Opera House most of the seats are in the United States.
The stage is in Canada.
The library and Opera House built on the US -Canada border, which has found itself caught up in the current cross -border tensions.
For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.
They include a lot more people than ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts.
At Spryvent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind.
because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more.
Thrivent, where money means more.
Connect with us at Thrivent .com.
Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially when it comes to your finances.
So if you're looking for a financial advisor you can trust, Certified Financial Planner professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. That's why it's gotta be a CFP.
Find your CFP professional at Let's Make A Plan dot org.
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Learn more at meaningfulbeauty .com Bobby Bones here with news on the top shelf country cruise!
Setting sell February 27th to March 6th, 2026.
It's not just a cruise, it's a country music experience at sea.
An amazing line up of performers.
Well we're gonna be there, The Bobby Bones Show, I'm gonna be there.
Keith Urban, Lee Brice, Scotty McCreary, Parma -lee, Leanne Rimes, it doesn't end there.
We'll also be stopping in stunning destinations along the way.
Go to topshelfcountrycruise .com to book any available stateroom.
Got to hurry though these spots are filling up fast. Pope Francis has appeared on the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square in the Vatican to greet huge crowds which had gathered for the traditional Easter Mass.
The Pope, who is 88, recently spent a month in hospital being treated for pneumonia in both lungs.
Our correspondent, Rupert Wingfill Hayes sent this report from the Vatican.
Tens of thousands of people had gathered in St. Peter's square for the traditional Easter Mass, but it was clear many had really come in the hope of seeing Pope Francis.
As the midday bells tolled, the balcony curtains on St Peter's opened and the Pope emerged to greet the crowds.
In a very thin voice, Pope Francis whispered to those below.
Dear brothers and sisters, he said, happy Easter.
The crowds clapped in delight and relief.
Pope Francis has been extremely ill.
At one point last month, there were real fears for his life.
Many in the crowd told me they had been praying for his recovery.
I felt so happy because we'd been knowing that he was not well.
We didn't expect him to come out, so it was like a surprise.
We've been praying so hard for him, that it has been I think rough, but with hope.
The Mass closed with a call from Pope Francis for peace and reconciliation of conflicts from Ukraine and Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But as he rode around St. Peter's Square in his Pope mobile, he looked exhausted and extremely frail.
Rupert Wingfill Hayes A police investigation is underway in Sri Lanka after a photo purportedly showing a sacred relic circulated on social media.
Taking pictures of the relic, a tooth said to belong to the Buddha is strictly prohibited because of its religious significance.
The relic is not normally on display but for just ten days until the 27th of April, devotees without bags or mobiles are able to catch a glimpse of it in Kandy in central Sri Lanka.
Zibiya Ahmed has the details.
chambers of the 16th century temple complex. The relic is not just an object of spiritual devotion, it's also steeped in political symbolism.
For centuries it was believed that whoever held custody of the tooth had the right to rule the island.
That legacy of sacred kinship still echoes today as the temple remains both a spiritual center and a national symbol of identity.
Tight security surrounds the display.
Photography is strictly prohibited and access is carefully controlled.
But a shadow has been cast over the ongoing exhibition by the circulation of a widely shared image online, purportedly showing the relic.
The authorities say it may have been secretly captured or digitally altered.
Police have launched an investigation.
If proven genuine, it would amount to a significant breach of security.
The Candy Shrine is one of the only two temples in Asia said to house a tooth relic of the Buddha.
The other, a far more recent construction, stands in Singapore's Chinatown.
But it is in Sri Lanka, under the watchful gaze of centuries -old murals and the saint of jasmine offerings, that the weight of history is more keenly felt, a relic not only worshipped, but profoundly woven into the story of a nation.
Zubair Ahmed, more and more of us are living in cities with less access to green spaces.
Some experts believe this disconnect from nature could be one of the reasons why action against climate change isn't happening as fast as scientists insist it needs to.
Our reporter Grea Jackson has been finding out if virtual reality could help...
So before you fill it with soil, let us put that water using our hands, then we make the soil around the plant...
Hi. My name is Violet.
I am watering some podo and cypress seedlings.
I actually come here for a sense of peace, to relax my mind because I know this is the best place to be.
Violet has been planting trees at her school's wildlife club in Nairobi.
Being in nature has been shown to make us happier, to make us healthier, with better bones and boosted brains.
But evidence is mounting that there may be another effect.
I want to be a lawyer, and make sure one tree is cut to get planted.
I would make sure that will be alone.
Feeling connected to nature is leading people to behave more sustainably and leading them to protect our planet.
But many of us, especially those living in poorer neighbourhoods or with disabilities, are less able to access it.
Here's Professor John Zolenski, a psychologist from Carlton University in Canada.
It's difficult to pin down the science for sure but I think that more humans are living more disconnected from nature, you know, in our cities, fewer of us are farming, we might not have access to a nice nature space, and the hopeful message here is people who feel very connected to nature also report behaving in more sustainable ways.
One South African is trying to make nature accessible to all using virtual reality and immersive films. Ulrika Grech -Kumbo of HabitatXR.
Our overarching ambition is to use immersive technologies to mend the broken relationship that we have with nature to bring people closer to it in absence of being able to physically do so.
I donned a headset to watch his film, A Predicament of Pangolins.
It follows the story of two Pangolins trying to find ants to eat in the Kalahari Desert.
I smell you guys. But where are you?
Hmm so few of you in there.
Where are you at? I'm so hungry!
As the ants become harder to find, the two pangolins slowly starve to death.
I was pretty emotional watching it.
Gosh, that was um it was really powerful actually it's getting to know a pangolin so close and then watching it perish is yeah really sad.
You know and right at the end the sun was setting and the message was this isn't about a pangolin, this isn't about climate change this is about us.
Yeah, yeah, many people cry uh when watching a predicament of pangolins So we're trying to tap into those emotions to create empathy as the currency to create attitude and behavior change.
So I'm kind of wondering if you watch, in my case, a 15 minute film, what sort of long lasting impact that might have. Yeah, look, that's where the data is a little bit thin.
Our suspicion is that there could be a lifelong impact, right?
It's not going to change who you are overnight, but I think that the way that we see it is it plants a seed to start people on their own journey of self -awareness and where it is that wildlife and nature and humanity all coincide.
However, psychologist John Zelensky is sceptical.
I think virtual reality has some really nice potential but I don't think it's the full solution because it may also be important that people can experience nature in their day to day life and something local like a park will allow that repeated connection that might add up to more over time.
Getting yourself and nature hit in any form might make you an eco -hero.
And virtual reality is creating close encounters that most of us could only dream of, without having to leave your own home.
Grade Ed Jackson reporting and you can hear more on this on The Climate Question wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
The Canadian election is still more than a week away, but already a record two million people, about seven percent of the electorate, cast their ballots on the first day of advance voting on Friday.
With Canada facing new U .S. trade tariffs, and U .S. President Donald Trump threatening to annex the country, some are calling it the most important election in Canadian history.
One of the surprising casualties in this fued, is the Haskell Free Library and Opera House.
Built over a century ago as a symbol of the close relationship between the two countries, it straddles the border of Quebec in Canada and Vermont in the US.
But now US officials say drug traffickers and smugglers have been exploiting the library to get access to the US so they have announced they'll be closing the main entrance to Canadians.
Julianne Waraker spoke to Sylvie Boudreau, President of Haskell Free Library's Board of Trustees.
We have a black tape on the floor in the library as well as in the Opera House.
So, all the books, adults' books are all in Canada.
The children's room part is in Canada, part is in United States.
In the Opera House most of the seats are in United States.
The stage is in Canada.
So now you face a change.
The Department of Homeland Security in America wants to increase border enforcement.
How is that going to play out as far as you understand it just now?
What they are doing right now until October 1st, only people with library cards that are coming from Canada can still use the sidewalk to go into the main entrance in the United States.
Also, people that are handicapped can use it because we don't have a Canadian door that's ready for that.
If you don't have a library card, you need to go either through the official port of entry or we had an emergency door on the side of the building quite in the back and we designed it now as a Canadian door so we did few little adjustments for that and now we're gonna to do major renovations to make it more appealing, more welcoming.
Everyone is angry, everyone is discouraged about that division.
It's not what the library and the Opera House is all about, so people felt betrayed, really, on both sides.
Sylvie Boudreaux. Well, our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucet, who is herself from Canada is back home for the election campaign.
These are her reflections about the Canada -US relationship.
Like sleeping with an elephant.
That's how Canada's former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau described this relationship more than 50 years ago.
When you're a Canadian, everything about America seems bigger.
When I grew up on the east coast of Canada and our American cousins came to visit, we noticed how their snacks, their cars, even their personalities were bigger than ours.
We were awed and appalled.
But a vast country stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific stirs pride.
At university we learned how Canada is a mosaic and America a melting pot.
In other words Canada allows its immigrants to preserve their distinct identities while in America everyone assimilates.
But it's meant Canadians have kept asking what is Canada's identity.
When Canadians traveled to Britain and beyond, they are often asked, where are you from in America?
Canadians and Americans do share a lot.
It couldn't be otherwise, across the longest undefended border in the world.
In some places, it's just a bunch of rocks.
American movies, music and more flow into Canada.
Canadians know so much about America, but lament that Americans don't know much about Canada.
When President Trump started musing about Canada as the US's fifty -first state, first Canadians laughed, then they got upset, then they got mad.
Real mad. Even taking it to the most hallowed space of all, the ice hockey rink.
Elbows up is now a Canadian mantra, a hockey phrase which means you're ready to fight.
Canadians known as snowbirds because they escaped winter in Florida are now packing for other places, and American wine and whiskey have been taken off shelves across the country.
A people who have long joked about their identity know it is no joke that Donald Trump wants to take over the country, their identity.
So a people known for being nice are taking off the gloves and not just on the ice.
Lisa Doucette. 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 the topics covered in it you can send us an email.
The address is globalpodcast .co .uk.
You can also find us on X at BBC World Service.
Use the hashtag, globalnewspod.
This edition was produced by Judy Frankel and mixed by Caroline Driscoll.
The editor is Karen Martin.
I'm Rachel Wright, until next time, goodbye!
For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.
They include a lot more people than ourselves Loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home and the causes we hold in our hearts.
At Strivant, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind.
Because even though our business is helping to guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more.
Thrivant. Where money means more.
Connect with us at Thrivant .com.
