Kosovo and the new world of war

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kate Adie presents stories from Kosovo, the US, East Jerusalem, Ghana and El Salvador

Its 25 years this week since Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo. Jeremy Bowen went back for the anniversary celebrations and reflects on how conflicts have changed in the 21st century.

All eyes were on Wilmington in the US State of Delaware this week where a jury took just three hours to deliver a guilty verdict in the case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on three felony counts. Bernd de Busmann Jr followed the twists and turns of the case and considers what ramifications the verdict might have on Joe Biden’s run for a second term in office.

Visitors to the Old City in East Jerusalem have dropped sharply since the Israel-Gaza war began in October. And there’s increased tension between the different communities inside the Old City Walls. Emily Wither spoke to Palestinian and Jewish business owners about how the on-going conflict is impacting their daily lives.

Millions of people in the UK were born outside the country. But what's involved in taking the plunge and making your life anew in another land? Elaina Boateng recently spoke to her mother about what had motivated her to leave her West African homeland of Ghana in the eighties– and her reflections on how it had changed when she returned.

And finally, El Salvador's coffee industry took a pounding during years of civil war and natural disasters like rust disease which ruined crops and sent prices plummeting, But the country’s 18,000 coffee farmers have embraced agroforestry – a farming technique which integrates trees with crops or pasture, as Jane Chambers discovered.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:05.3	Hello. Today, the trial of Hunter Biden threw up some vivid details about his battle with addiction. President Joe Biden has stood by his son, but
0:16.3	will it cost him on the campaign trail? We're in Jerusalem's old city, where a community is polarized by Israel's war with Gaza and
0:26.4	shop owners are feeling the impact on their businesses.
0:30.3	We hear the story of one woman who left her home in Ghana to support a family via remittances
0:36.5	and what she learned about her homeland from afar.
0:40.5	And finally, how a new greener technique for growing coffee is all the rage in El Salvador,
0:47.0	but you'll need deeper pockets to purchase a cup of the golden brew.
0:51.0	But first this week marks the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal
0:56.4	of Serbian forces from Kosovo. After the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in
1:01.7	the 1990s Serbia Serbia responded to separatist pressure from Kosovo
1:06.7	by launching a brutal crackdown on the territory's Albanian population, which was only brought to an end by NATO military intervention in 1999.
1:17.0	Kosovo later declared its independence, which has been recognized by the US and major European countries but not by Russia or Serbia.
1:27.0	In a special parliamentary session to celebrate the anniversary on Monday, the former British PM Tony Blair told those gathered the fight hadn't just
1:36.7	been for Kosovo, but for all those who believe in freedom and justice. His words have residence today as conflicts continue in
1:45.8	Sudan, Ukraine and between Israel and Gaza, all countries which have witnessed large
1:52.1	scale loss of life and the impact of a relentless war.
1:57.0	Jeremy Bowen went back to Kosovo for the anniversary this week and reflects on how conflicts have changed in the 21st century.
2:06.4	The shock of the first time that I saw war in Europe still comes back, especially if I'm anywhere
2:11.8	close to the countries that used to be Yugoslavia.
2:15.0	The precise moment was in a village in Croatia in 1991,
2:20.0	as Yugoslavia was breaking up.
	...

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