BBCNEWS — The Context
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[00:00:42] editor in chief of The Economist Economist will tell us about her
[00:00:44] her experience. It's all on The Media
[00:00:46] Media Show on BBC News. Here at BBC
[00:00:55] BBC Verify, we use forensic investigative investigative techniques and tools
[00:00:57] tools to fact check stories, verify
[00:01:01] verify information and counter disinformation disinformation using data analysis analysis and the latest technology,
[00:01:04] technology, our journalists examine examine the evidence and get to the the facts. Watch our BBC Verify reports
[00:01:08] reports on the BBC News channel or
[00:01:10] or go online to find out more. Hello,
[00:01:19] Hello, I'm Annita McVeigh and this
[00:01:20] this is the context on BBC News.
[00:01:23] News. Iran says a deal with Oman
[00:01:25] Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is in
[00:01:28] in its final stages. And let's turn
[00:01:41] turn to the Iran war. Now let me me begin by just bringing you up
[00:01:44] up to date with what President Trump Trump has been saying in the Oval Oval Office in the last few minutes.
[00:01:48] minutes. He's just finished speaking speaking there. He was being asked
[00:01:51] asked about the questions of American
[00:01:54] American supplies of munitions, and and he said that the US., quote,
[00:01:58] quote, had an unlimited supply of of munitions. But he said, we always
[00:02:02] always want more, but we're supplied supplied all over the world. That
[00:02:05] That doesn't exactly track with some some concerns about military supplies
[00:02:09] supplies that we've heard from the the chair of the Joint Chiefs of
[00:02:12] of Staff in the US., General Dan Dan Cane and President Trump also
[00:02:16] also said that he thought the war war would be over soon. But he has
[00:02:20] has said that a number of times during
[00:02:23] during the course of this war, which
[00:02:26] which began in February. Well, with with reports of a possible breakthrough
[00:02:29] breakthrough over the Straits of of Hormuz, Iran says they're close
[00:02:33] close to finalising an interim agreement agreement with Oman over the vital
[00:02:37] vital waterway, which has been effectively effectively closed since the start
[00:02:39] start of the conflict. Pakistan, Pakistan, which is mediating between
[00:02:43] between the United States and Iran, Iran, says it hopes an agreement
[00:02:46] agreement will lead Washington and and Tehran to resume talks and resolve
[00:02:50] resolve their conflict. If confirmed, confirmed, a deal might begin to
[00:02:54] to ease an economic crisis that has
[00:02:56] has shaken markets. But it could could cement Iranian control over
[00:03:00] over the maritime choke point. Well,
[00:03:02] Well, let's speak now to Matt Smith,
[00:03:05] Smith, director of commodity research research at Kepler, a global data
[00:03:09] data platform that provides intelligence intelligence on international trade
[00:03:13] trade and maritime logistics. Welcome Welcome to the programme, Matt. I
[00:03:16] I want to get you to bring us right right up to date with what exactly exactly is happening in the Strait
[00:03:20] Strait of Hormuz at the moment. Is
[00:03:22] Is there any movement? Well, we continue
[00:03:25] continue to see somewhat more than than a trickle, but that's about
[00:03:28] about it. And so whether it is ten,
[00:03:31] ten, 12, 14 tankers passing through through there each way on any given
[00:03:34] given day, would that those are mostly mostly related to Iran. So they're they're either ones that Iran is
[00:03:38] is letting pass through on its northern
[00:03:41] northern route that passes close
[00:03:43] close to in its waters there, or
[00:03:45] or we are seeing some dark tankers, tankers, tankers switching off their
[00:03:49] their eyes. So we are seeing some some crude oil getting out of there,
[00:03:53] there, but it still remains very, very, very depressed in terms of
[00:03:56] of volumes. Yes, absolutely minimal
[00:03:58] minimal compared to the traffic before before this conflict started. So
[00:04:02] So in terms of what you've heard
[00:04:04] heard about the discussions between between Iran and Oman, do you think
[00:04:07] think that a deal to reopen the strait
[00:04:10] strait fully to traffic, shipping
[00:04:12] shipping traffic can be
[00:04:17] reached? It's difficult to say. It's It's hard not to be sceptical at at this point, right? As we move
[00:04:21] move into the sixth month of the the conflict here, it seems as if
[00:04:25] if this deal is more related to just
[00:04:27] just getting the traffic flowing flowing rather than some broader
[00:04:30] broader type of deal. And so when
[00:04:32] when we kind of consider from a US
[00:04:35] US perspective, this is a positive positive thing given that President President Trump wants to see more
[00:04:39] more traffic moving here, he wants wants the market to seem to be returning
[00:04:42] returning to normalcy. From the Iranian Iranian side, though, they are the
[00:04:46] the ones that have the leverage. leverage. They have the control. control. We have seen them fire at
[00:04:50] at tankers just over the last week
[00:04:52] week or so. And so Iran isn't going
[00:04:55] going to give up that leverage. And And so that's the key thing here
[00:04:58] here is what is their game plan. plan. This may simply be a temporary
[00:05:02] temporary deal. It's a prequel towards towards them. Perhaps just implementing
[00:05:06] implementing a toll on the strait. strait. So we have to be sceptical
[00:05:09] sceptical about their motivation motivation to do this because they they are the ones that hold the power
[00:05:13] power right now. And if there was
[00:05:15] was a deal, what would the impact
[00:05:17] impact be in terms of shipping behaviour? behaviour? Would we see operators
[00:05:21] operators holding back at first to
[00:05:23] to see if someone else goes first
[00:05:25] first and what might happen to
[00:05:29] them? Yes that's likely. And so we we have seen this across a number number of scenarios through the Strait
[00:05:33] Strait of Hormuz in recent months months here where you need the first
[00:05:36] first movers. So essentially those those that will go first to give
[00:05:40] give confidence to everybody else, else, and then that gives the momentum
[00:05:43] momentum for those that vessel traffic traffic to essentially pick up. The The thing to bear in mind here, we're
[00:05:47] we're still waiting to hear all the the details on this. We're hearing
[00:05:50] hearing rumours, you know, that Iran Iran is going to let some tankers
[00:05:53] tankers go through, but if they are are related to those countries that
[00:05:57] that have been part of the war against against them, they are not going
[00:06:00] going to let those go through. So So there's a lot of unknowns related
[00:06:03] related to it. Now. Yes, this could could be very positive in terms of
[00:06:06] of really seeing the traffic pick pick up. I think we just have to
[00:06:09] to be very wary because we don't don't know what Iran's ultimate intentions
[00:06:12] intentions are here. Yeah. A lot lot of questions that would need
[00:06:15] need to be answered. And just finally finally and very briefly if you would,
[00:06:18] would, Matt, what could the impact impact be in costs for ships if they
[00:06:22] they do start to move again through
[00:06:25] through the strait? Well, it's related related to insurances, the shipping
[00:06:29] shipping costs involved there. And And so the insurance are the ones
[00:06:32] ones that are have to approve these these vessels to be passing through.
[00:06:35] through. We've had these high costs costs here involved which have stopped
[00:06:38] stopped them moving through. So that's that's the ultimate concern here
[00:06:41] here is is if it is a safe passageway passageway to then everything else
[00:06:44] else will kind of fall into place place for that to happen. OK, Matt,
[00:06:47] Matt, very good to talk to you. Thank Thank you very much. Matt Smith,
[00:06:50] Smith, director of commodity research research at Kepler. Now, over the
[00:06:54] the next few minutes we're going going to focus on the man who shaken
[00:06:58] shaken up the Democratic Party in in a critical US swing state. We'll
[00:07:01] We'll discuss how he pulled off the the victory and what it tells us
[00:07:05] us about the shape of the Democratic Democratic Party. Less than 90 days
[00:07:08] days from the crucial mid-term elections elections over to my colleague Matthew
[00:07:12] Matthew Amroliwala and today's big big story. What a race. You know,
[00:07:15] know, in the words of Muhammad Ali, Ali, we shook up the world. Billed
[00:07:17] Billed by some as a battle for the the soul of the Democratic Party,
[00:07:21] Party, a narrow victory for 41-year-old
[00:07:23] 41-year-old progressive Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed. Eating establishment centrist centrist candidate Congresswoman
[00:07:27] Congresswoman Haley Stevens. He hates
[00:07:28] hates Jews and he hates Israel. Abdul
[00:07:31] Abdul El-Sayed. If you can't say say the name, it's Abdul Rahman. Rahman. Keep the name out your damn
[00:07:35] damn mouth. We need more people in
[00:07:38] in the Senate who will fight for for working families. God forbid
[00:07:41] forbid you're going to have President
[00:07:43] President El-Sayed in three years.
[00:07:49] years. The left wing political outsider.
[00:07:51] outsider. Abdul El-Sayed narrow victory
[00:07:54] victory in Michigan's Democratic Democratic primary has been branded
[00:07:57] branded another big win for America's America's progressives. But as Democrats
[00:08:01] Democrats prepare to take the fight fight to Donald Trump and the Republicans
[00:08:04] Republicans in November, can the the left wing of the party labelled
[00:08:07] labelled as communists by the President, President, unite with the centrist
[00:08:11] centrist wing? And if so, can they
[00:08:12] they do it in time to present a united
[00:08:15] united front that can convince voters voters of the party's strategy? Well,
[00:08:18] Well, we're going to spend the next next ten minutes or so in today's
[00:08:21] today's big story looking at those those questions. Well, with us is
[00:08:25] is our North America correspondent correspondent Anthony Zurcher, who's who's in Washington following the
[00:08:28] the story. Let's start with Abdul
[00:08:30] Abdul El-Sayed. He's fairly new on on the national scene. So tell us
[00:08:34] us more about him. Fairly new. He's
[00:08:36] He's 41 years old. He was born in
[00:08:39] in Michigan, the son of Egyptian
[00:08:41] Egyptian immigrants. He went to the the University of Michigan for college,
[00:08:45] college, attended Oxford as a Rhodes Rhodes Scholar. He's an epidemiologist
[00:08:49] epidemiologist by training. He was was a public health official in Michigan
[00:08:52] Michigan before going into politics politics in 2018. He ran unsuccessfully
[00:08:56] unsuccessfully for the Democratic Democratic nomination for governor.
[00:08:58] governor. And then now in 2024, he he ran for the Senate seat mostly
[00:09:02] mostly on the same sorts of issues. issues. But he's young, he's charismatic,
[00:09:05] charismatic, and he's viewed by many many on the progressive left as the
[00:09:08] the next generation of potential potential leaders. Well, you touch touch on it because I was going to
[00:09:12] to ask you why voters in Michigan
[00:09:13] Michigan chose him over the more
[00:09:16] more established Democratic candidate. candidate. Well, one of the things
[00:09:19] things we hear time and time again again from Democrats, Democratic
[00:09:22] Democratic voters across the country country is that they're frustrated frustrated that the Democratic Party
[00:09:25] Party isn't doing enough to stand stand up to Donald Trump. They want
[00:09:29] want someone who's a fighter, someone someone who's willing to full throatedly
[00:09:33] throatedly espouse Democratic positions. positions. And that's what El-Sayed
[00:09:37] El-Sayed did the Democratic voters voters liked his positions. They
[00:09:40] They wanted someone who was charismatic
[00:09:42] charismatic but also willing to draw draw bright lines between Donald
[00:09:45] Donald Trump. And if he gets to Washington, Washington, not look for compromise,
[00:09:49] compromise, but look for ways of of stopping Donald Trump. And tell
[00:09:51] tell us what some of the key issues
[00:09:53] issues were for those voters in Michigan.
[00:09:57] Michigan. Well, his policy prescriptions prescriptions are mostly progressive
[00:10:00] progressive ones that people who who follow Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth
[00:10:03] Elizabeth Warren and others would would be familiar with. He talked
[00:10:07] talked about Medicare, this government government health insurance for all
[00:10:10] all Americans expanding that elderly
[00:10:12] elderly programme, raising taxes
[00:10:14] taxes on the wealthy, getting money money out of politics. He also talked
[00:10:18] talked about cutting off US military military aid to Israel. And that
[00:10:21] that became a big issue during the
[00:10:24] the campaign and a line of distinction distinction between him and Haley
[00:10:28] Haley Stevens, the congresswoman congresswoman who he defeated. So
[00:10:30] So these are all familiar progressive
[00:10:33] progressive ideas, but he's focusing focusing more on the economic policies
[00:10:36] policies he's going to. He said he's he's going to get money out of politics
[00:10:38] politics and put money in American's
[00:10:41] American's wallets. Well, you mentioned mentioned there that the Middle East
[00:10:44] East and Democrats support for Israel Israel is dividing the party more
[00:10:48] more broadly. There was focus on
[00:10:50] on comments made by Abdul El-Sayed
[00:10:52] El-Sayed after the Michigan synagogue synagogue attack back in March, carried
[00:10:55] carried out by a man who's Hezbollah Hezbollah linked relatives were killed
[00:10:59] killed in an Israeli air strike. strike. Well, back then, he said
[00:11:03] said of the attack. Hurt people, people, hurt people. He was asked
[00:11:06] asked about those comments by CBS
[00:11:08] CBS News on Wednesday. What did you you mean? And do you regret saying
[00:11:12] saying it? What I mean is that hurt hurt people, hurt people that maybe
[00:11:15] maybe if we're serious about ending ending the hurt, we should stop hurting
[00:11:18] hurting people. I condemned the attack. attack. It was a vile anti-Semitic
[00:11:21] anti-Semitic attack. Let's turn now now to Michigan's importance on the
[00:11:25] the national stage, because it's
[00:11:27] it's one of the six key swing states states that in 2024, Donald Trump
[00:11:30] Trump flipped from Democrat to Republican.
[00:11:33] Republican. But how crucial is Michigan Michigan in these mid-terms that
[00:11:36] that are ahead? Here's Ed O'Keefe O'Keefe from CBS News. Michigan is
[00:11:40] is one of those states to watch this this fall because Democrats need need to hold on to their Senate seat
[00:11:44] seat here and in the state of Georgia, Georgia, plus win four other Republican
[00:11:47] Republican held seats across the the country in order to retake control
[00:11:51] control of the US Senate. Let's go
[00:11:53] go back to Anthony in Washington. Washington. And Anthony, looking
[00:11:56] looking ahead to November in Michigan,
[00:11:59] Michigan, who is El-Sayed actually actually running against? He's running
[00:12:03] running against a former congressman, congressman, Mike Rogers, who is
[00:12:06] is trying to get back into politics
[00:12:09] politics after leaving his House House seat in Michigan. He's more
[00:12:13] more of a traditional Republican. Republican. He isn't one of these
[00:12:15] these Trump fire breathers, not an an election denier. If you imagine
[00:12:19] imagine the Republican Party ten, ten, 15 years ago, Mike Rogers would
[00:12:22] would fit well into that mould. So So it's going to be an interesting
[00:12:26] interesting contrast between El-Sayed, El-Sayed, who is obviously a progressive
[00:12:30] progressive activist, and Rogers, Rogers, who's much more traditional traditional establishment type of
[00:12:33] of Republican. Well, it's not the the first time in recent months that
[00:12:37] that a left wing candidate has won
[00:12:40] won for the Democratic Party with with the biggest name being the mayor
[00:12:44] mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani. He, like El-Sayed, focused
[00:12:47] focused his campaign on lifting the
[00:12:49] the working class and endorsing policies
[00:12:51] policies such as free childcare and and abolishing the controversial
[00:12:55] controversial Ice immigration enforcement. enforcement. Back to Anthony and
[00:12:58] and Anthony, a couple of final questions. questions. Is this part of a broader
[00:13:01] broader trend now within the Democratic
[00:13:04] Democratic Party? Yeah, I think it it is. As I mentioned, Democrats
[00:13:07] Democrats are looking for fighters. fighters. They're looking for people
[00:13:09] people to stand up to Donald Trump. Trump. And you have seen progressives
[00:13:12] progressives start winning some races, races, unseating incumbent members
[00:13:16] members of Congress who were viewed viewed as to moderate. Zofran. Mamdani
[00:13:19] Mamdani obviously, his success in in New York City was a big part of
[00:13:23] of this. But you've seen in places places like Colorado, elsewhere in
[00:13:25] in New York and in some House races
[00:13:28] races in Michigan as well, that this this is a trend that Democratic voters
[00:13:32] voters are more open to progressive progressive candidates, whether that
[00:13:35] that actually translates into ballot
[00:13:37] ballot box success in a battleground battleground state like Michigan
[00:13:40] Michigan that Donald Trump won twice twice in 2016 and 2024. That's the
[00:13:44] the big question. I think progressives progressives are hoping that the
[00:13:46] the answer is yes and that this shows shows that their policies have wider,
[00:13:50] wider, wider appeal than just in in those deep democratic parts of
[00:13:53] of the country. Well, let's finish finish with that final thought. How
[00:13:57] How do we look and know how progressive progressive candidates have stacked
[00:14:00] stacked up so far against Republicans?
[00:14:04] Republicans? Well, we haven't seen
[00:14:07] seen anyone like Abdul El-Sayed run
[00:14:09] run in a place like Michigan before.
[00:14:11] before. We've seen progressives win win the Democratic nomination in
[00:14:14] in places that are either solidly
[00:14:16] solidly Republican. And it was a
[00:14:19] a token kind of opposition or in in places that were solidly Democratic
[00:14:22] Democratic and winning the Democratic Democratic primary nomination would
[00:14:25] would be enough to virtually assure assure victory. This is going to
[00:14:27] to be the big test case. This is is going to be someone who is progressive
[00:14:31] progressive standing in a seat that, that, as you mentioned, is essential essential for Democrats to hold on
[00:14:35] on to if they want to flip the Senate. Senate. Anthony Zurcher there in
[00:14:39] in Washington. Thanks for taking taking us through all of that. And And that's all you need to know about
[00:14:42] about the primary victory of Abdul Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and what
[00:14:46] what it means for the
[00:15:50] editor in chief of The Economist Economist will tell us about her her experience. It's all on The Media
[00:15:54] Media Show on BBC News. Some good
[00:16:03] good health news now, as British British scientists say vaccines which
[00:16:06] which don't need to be kept cool cool in a fridge have been successfully successfully trialled in patients
[00:16:10] patients for the first time. Around Around half of all vaccines are wasted
[00:16:13] wasted each year, often after freezing freezing or becoming too hot. Researchers
[00:16:17] Researchers say the breakthrough breakthrough could transform vaccination vaccination programmes around the
[00:16:21] the world. A team at the National National Institute for Health and
[00:16:24] and Care Research in Southampton Southampton has been working on a
[00:16:28] a fridge free approach. And the director
[00:16:31] director of the NIH facility, Professor
[00:16:33] Professor Saul Faust, joins us now. now. Welcome to the programme. Great
[00:16:36] Great to have you with us. And I
[00:16:38] I understand that you used a tetanus
[00:16:41] tetanus diphtheria vaccination for for this trial. Was there a particular
[00:16:43] particular reason for that? Yeah.
[00:16:46] Yeah. Well, the British company that
[00:16:48] that have developed this technology,
[00:16:51] technology, obviously it's quite
[00:16:53] quite difficult to use develop a
[00:16:55] a new vaccine from scratch with a
[00:16:57] a new technology that to help the
[00:17:00] the temperature regulation and storage.
[00:17:03] storage. So they had to find a company company that were prepared to let
[00:17:06] let them use their vaccine and change change their vaccine, if you like.
[00:17:09] like. Take the take the same vaccine vaccine and turn it into a fridge
[00:17:13] fridge free version. And the company company that that worked with them
[00:17:17] them allowed them to use a tetanus tetanus diphtheria vaccine that is
[00:17:21] is used in different places around around the world. OK. And in user
[00:17:25] user friendly terms, explain then
[00:17:26] then for us how you created a version
[00:17:31] version of this vaccination that that doesn't need to be kept in a
[00:17:34] a fridge. Yeah. So the founder of
[00:17:37] of the company realised that a sugar
[00:17:40] sugar called trehalose, which is
[00:17:41] is like a simple naturally occurring
[00:17:44] occurring sugar that was found in in a plant called the plant in the
[00:17:48] the desert in the United States.
[00:17:51] States. And the plant is able to
[00:17:55] to dehydrate itself in times of drought drought completely looks dead if
[00:17:58] if you look at it like our grass grass outside at the moment. And
[00:18:02] And then when the rains come, it it sort of completely regenerates
[00:18:05] regenerates itself and resuscitates resuscitates itself into a flowering
[00:18:08] flowering plant. And that shook same
[00:18:10] same sugar has now been used to take
[00:18:14] take what is a vaccine that's already already been made? Is the normal
[00:18:18] normal version. And then they can
[00:18:20] can dehydrate it using the same sugar
[00:18:23] sugar and create a powder that when when we take it to the clinic, can
[00:18:27] can then be reconstituted just with with water for injections. Like many
[00:18:30] many of the things you get at the
[00:18:32] the doctor's or in hospital as there's there's water for injection everywhere
[00:18:36] everywhere that can be used. So looking. looking. To the natural, looking looking to the natural world for
[00:18:40] for inspiration. Professor Faust Faust and talk to us in a little little bit more detail if you would
[00:18:44] would then about the implications implications for vaccination programmes
[00:18:47] programmes in places with hugely hugely varying temperatures. Yeah.
[00:18:51] Yeah. So as you said in your introduction,
[00:18:53] introduction, freezing is as bad bad as being too hot. And actually
[00:18:56] actually many of the vaccines that
[00:18:58] that get wasted, about half of the the vaccines in the world are said
[00:19:02] said to be wasted every year because because of temperature and other
[00:19:05] other deviations from how they're they're supposed to be stored. And
[00:19:08] And it's actually freezing at the the back of the fridge or in a cold
[00:19:11] cold in a cold bag on the way, the the way somewhere that that ruins
[00:19:15] ruins more of them than heating.
[00:19:17] heating. So being able to freeze
[00:19:21] freeze or heat, heat, heat a vaccine
[00:19:24] vaccine or in the future, other medicines,
[00:19:27] medicines, other biological, new new biological agents, treatments
[00:19:30] treatments for cancer, whatever it it might be, the potential of this
[00:19:34] this technology is is huge and the the company are already working with
[00:19:37] with other companies that have molecules molecules to treat cancer. Other
[00:19:41] Other anti-infection treatments and and other vaccines. Of this type.
[00:19:45] type. So the standard vaccines, protein
[00:19:48] protein vaccines or ones that we
[00:19:50] we we are called adjuvanted vaccines. It sounds like a really
[00:19:53] really exciting prospect. Very briefly, briefly, if you would, you've had
[00:19:56] had this first trial. What's next?
[00:19:59] next? So two two things. What's next? next? First is to do a bigger trial
[00:20:02] trial just to prove that the data
[00:20:04] data is absolutely solid. And that's
[00:20:07] that's 160 people that'll happen happen in Britain over the next few
[00:20:10] few months, be finished by next year. year. And then that vaccine will
[00:20:13] will hopefully by the end of next next year or 2028, be able to be
[00:20:16] be deployed around the world. And And of course, the potential though
[00:20:20] though is is even more exciting than than just this tetanus diptheria
[00:20:23] diptheria vaccine. The potential potential is that companies will
[00:20:25] will be able to work from the start
[00:20:27] start for new medicines and vaccines
[00:20:30] vaccines to create temp fridge free free versions or for some medicines
[00:20:34] medicines that are needed out to to the community or elsewhere in in the world to turn them into to
[00:20:37] to turn existing medicines into fridge fridge free versions. OK. Professor
[00:20:41] Professor Saul Faust, thank you very
[00:20:43] very much and good luck with the
[00:20:46] the rest of the research. Thank you
[00:20:48] you very much. Now a rare tiger has has been released in Kazakhstan for
[00:20:52] for the first time in 70 years. Umit,
[00:20:55] Umit, a female Amur tiger, has been been released into a nature reserve
[00:20:58] reserve as part of a programme to to restore the animals population,
[00:21:02] population, which was wiped out in
[00:21:04] in Central Asia a century ago. Here's
[00:21:07] Here's hoping that that works really really well. Thank you very much
[00:21:09] much for watching us here on the
[00:21:11] the context on BBC News. MUSIC
[00:21:28] Grand Central Station is one of
[00:21:30] my favourite New York City structures.
[00:21:32] structures. It's a glorious reminder
[00:21:34] reminder of the golden age of American American railroads. It also provides
[00:21:38] provides the setting for some early early scenes in what many people
[00:21:42] people regard as one of the greatest greatest American thrillers of all
[00:21:45] all time. The picture North by Northwest,
[00:21:49] Northwest, an American thriller, thriller, yes, but directed by British
[00:21:52] British filmmaker the master of suspense
[00:21:55] suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Top US
[00:21:58] US film critic Bilge Ebiri told me
[00:22:00] me he's such an ardent fan of North North by Northwest that he's seen
[00:22:03] seen the film at least 50 times.
[00:22:06] times. Do you know this man? MUSIC
[00:22:17] MUSIC Look Look North by Northwest from 1959,
[00:22:20] 1959, the pinnacle of Hitchcock's Hitchcock's American filmmaking career.
[00:22:23] career. Listen to me. I had nothing nothing to do with it. And also I
[00:22:26] I think it's kind of the pinnacle pinnacle of a particular kind of
[00:22:29] of studio filmmaking that Hollywood Hollywood specialised in. Automatically
[00:22:32] Automatically means a rising sales. sales. North by northwest follows
[00:22:35] follows an ad executive named Roger
[00:22:36] Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant,
[00:22:40] Grant, who is mistaken for a spy
[00:22:43] spy by some nefarious figures. And
[00:22:46] And they're convinced that he's this this other person and they try to
[00:22:49] to kill him and he winds up going
[00:22:54] going on this cross-country adventure adventure trying both to prove his
[00:22:58] his innocence and also to flee from from the authorities. North by northwest
[00:23:01] northwest had a huge impact on me me because in some way it treats
[00:23:05] treats a lot of Hitchcock's deeper deeper themes about guilt and accusation,
[00:23:09] accusation, while also framing it
[00:23:12] it within this incredibly exciting,
[00:23:15] exciting, delightful, charming adventure
[00:23:17] adventure plot. Well, here we are
[00:23:19] are again. Yes. One of the most famous
[00:23:22] famous sequences in this film is
[00:23:24] is the crop duster sequence. It occurs
[00:23:26] occurs about halfway through the the film. Cary Grant's character
[00:23:29] character has been told that he's he's going to meet somebody out in
[00:23:32] in the middle of nowhere on this this highway road. There's nobody
[00:23:35] nobody around for miles and miles
[00:23:37] miles of flat, blank expanse. And
[00:23:40] And then, of course, he sees this
[00:23:42] this little plane appearing in the the distance, you know, dusting crops
[00:23:46] crops and you realise that the plane
[00:23:48] plane is there to kill them. They
[00:23:54] They start to fire at him and he
[00:23:56] he runs away. An incredible sequence
[00:24:00] sequence when I think about what
[00:24:02] what makes American cinema so special,
[00:24:05] special, I have to think about the the Hollywood system and the kinds
[00:24:08] kinds of films it made possible, possible, the kinds of scale it made
[00:24:11] made possible, the kind of stardom,
[00:24:13] stardom, the kind of charm it made
[00:24:16] made possible. And to me, North by
[00:24:19] by Northwest really kind of stands
[00:24:21] stands at the very top of that. You
[00:24:24] You know, it is Hollywood firing firing on all cylinders, maybe for
[00:24:27] for one of the very last times. It's
[00:24:31] It's a great example of a studio studio film. It's a great example
[00:24:35] example of a master filmmaker at at the height of his powers in the
[00:24:39] the studio system, Working with one one of the great stars of the studio
[00:24:42] studio system to create something
[00:24:43] something so beautiful and so magnificent.
[00:24:47] magnificent. Right as the studio studio system is essentially about
[00:24:50] about to collapse. But the thing thing that they create together becomes
[00:24:54] becomes this work that is so influential
[00:24:56] influential and that winds up influencing influencing all the filmmakers that that come after not just American
[00:25:00] American filmmakers from all over over the world. But if we ever get
[00:25:03] get out of this alive, let's go back back to New York on the train together.
[00:25:07] together. All right. Is that a proposition?
[00:25:13] proposition? MUSIC
[00:28:51] MUSIC
[00:29:01] What new industries are created? Because what we've seen seen throughout history is new industries
[00:29:05] industries are created and it's that that process that actually opens
[00:29:08] opens new doors. That was the that that was the mandate from Prime Minister
[00:29:12] Minister Starmer. He wants the UK
[00:29:13] UK to be an AI superpower. He recognises
[00:29:17] recognises that the ingredients are
[00:29:18] are all right here. AI is real AI
[00:29:22] AI on total pay off just like cars cars in total paid off TV and total
[00:29:25] total paid off. But most people involved
[00:29:27] involved and didn't do well. The
[00:29:30] The revolutionary you know time upon upon us and I think, you know, all
[00:29:34] all industries will be adopting AI
[00:29:35] AI in some shape or form. MUSIC
[00:29:53] MUSIC
[00:30:16] I'm Sumi Somaskanda in Washington and this is BBC World
[00:30:18] World News America. Ukrainian forces forces hit two oil refineries deep
[00:30:22] deep inside Russia as a wave of drones drones target the country. Questions
[00:30:25] Questions mount about the state of of the US military arsenal after
[00:30:29] after President Trump denies reports reports of a munitions shortage that
[00:30:32] that could hinder readiness. And And President Trump signs two executive
[00:30:35] executive orders aimed at denying denying citizenship to some children
[00:30:38] children born in the US.
[00:30:52] Welcome to World News America. Thank you for joining us. Ukraine
[00:30:56] Ukraine says it hit two oil refineries refineries in multiple strikes