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From Our Own Correspondent

Israel’s Vaccine Rollout

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Israel’s health system has been in the spotlight as it races ahead with its coronavirus vaccination programme. More than half of eligible Israelis - about 3.5 million people - have now been fully or partially vaccinated. For our Middle East correspondent Tom Bateman, covering the pandemic meant a return to his beat after a mishap on the streets of Jerusalem, and a vivid episode of his own in hospital.

Next, Ireland, which in recent weeks has been caught in the middle of the row between the UK and the European Union over the Northern Irish protocol. The Irish Taoiseach, Michael Martin, called for both parties to “cool it”. But Ireland’s relationship with Brussels has, to date, been a largely positive one. Chris Paige looks back on Ireland’s evolution since it became a republic into a firmly European nation.

Thirty years ago an American air strike destroyed an air raid shelter in Baghdad, killing hundreds. The previous August, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had invaded and occupied Kuwait, triggering a huge international response. Jeremy Bowen reflects on US interventions in the region and their bearing on the future.

Pangolins are one of the most heavily trafficked species in the world and are now in the frame for being a possible source of the Covid-19 outbreak. In India, they are seen as a delicacy but a conservationist in Maharashtra is finding creative ways to help protect the mammals with a little help from Hindu mythology, says Geetanjali Krishna. We visit Seville, which may soon see the construction of its first new mosque since the 13th century. It’s a bold new initiative that has involved an ex-Premiership footballer, a former male model and an internet crowdfunding campaign, as Oliver Smith reports.

Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.2

Today, the complexity of the Irish-British EU relationship would defeat a genius, but

0:11.7

having benefited from belonging to the EU, Ireland now finds itself in a difficult spot

0:17.8

in these post-Brexit times.

0:20.6

Thirty years ago, all eyes were on the Middle East on the First Gulf War.

0:25.1

We look back at one of the airstrikes which produced terrible casualties.

0:29.6

The American raid on the shelter full of civilians, and ask if President Biden is mindful

0:35.4

of history.

0:37.2

And we look at the cute but vulnerable pangolin, shot to dubious fame as a possible link in

0:43.3

pandemic transmission.

0:45.5

One Indian at least is trying to improve its image.

0:49.9

And in Andalusia, where tourists flock to see Spain's historic Moorish architecture,

0:56.2

we hear of plans for a new mosque.

0:59.6

Just to Israel, where the country's health system has been in the spotlight for its

1:04.2

rapid vaccination programme, more than half of eligible Israelis around three and a half

1:10.0

million people have now been fully or partially vaccinated.

1:14.6

But even so, most Palestinians have yet to receive vaccines.

1:20.1

Covering the pandemic meant that Tom Bateman returned to his beat after hospital due to

1:25.8

a mishap on the streets of Jerusalem.

1:29.4

I'm sinking into a big black hole.

1:32.0

People around me are shouting urgent instructions, but all I can sense are their echoes in Arabic.

1:37.6

I'm powerless, disembodied.

...

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