Well as time more than 30 Palestinians have been killed since choose day when Israel targeted and killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group pro-democracy protests have again paralyzed parts of Hong Kong Police have accused university students of firing arrows at the map to some activists gathered makeshift weapons and build barricades from Hong Kong Robin Brant reports for the 4th day in a row a crowd of office workers are brought home Poland Central District to a standstill Some shops are closed the shutters down fearing damage despite condemning the widescale disruption the government ordered all schools to close today and that will continue for the rest of the week away from the center of the Chinese University rudimentary fortifications remain in place with a large stock of petrol bombs at the ready students there are prepared to fight back they say if y. Police try to clear a bridge over a highway where they've been throwing items down to block the road the Supreme Court of India has agreed to a review of a landmark ruling from last year that allowed women to enter a Hindu temple in the southern state of Kara in response to more than 60 petitions the court referred to the case to a larger bench but said its earlier ruling would remain in effect critics should get jail reports the summary minor temple was historically closed to women of menstruating each defined as between $10.15 because they are considered to be impure in Hinduism but the Supreme Court revoked the ban in September last year allowing women entry into the temple which prompted outrage among Orthodox cruet the holy debate over women's entry into the shrine was sparked after dried groups argued that the custom violated gender equality by traditionalists view it as an attack on their feet particularly our reporting Donald Trump has said he has no recollection of a phone call at the center of the new red. Lation from the 1st public hearings of his impeachment inquiry the u.s. Envoy in Ukraine Bill Taylor testified on Wednesday that a member of his staff overheard the president directly ask about investigating the leading Democrat Joe Biden Mr Trump denies the allegations Well news from the b.b.c. . Bolivia's interim president Jenny and yes has sworn in cabinet ministers and appointed a new military high command as right police clashed with supporters of the former leader a vote Mary Alice one person died in the violence rejecting claims that her presidency amounted to a coup maze and yes promised to hold elections as soon as possible Mr Miralax who is now in exile in Mexico said he was ready to return to Bolivia to in his words pacify the country the Australian Government has set new guidelines for universities to combat what's described as unprecedented levels of foreign interference more from film in Sydney the guidelines are designed to prevent Australian universities being exploited all infiltrated by foreign agents all governments there are planes that researches here have collaborated with Chinese groups involved in Beijing's global surveillance network cyber attacks and down a geisha is of political bullying have Australian authorities worried that China is trying to exert too much influence on campus universities are supporting the security measures but some academics argue the debate has been dominated by anti China hysteria Zimbabwe's government is due to announce a budget later today to try to ease the country's economic turmoil it's expected to include measures to shore up the new local currency and end long running strikes half the population is facing the threat of starvation because of the worst drought in 4 decades parts of South Korea have fallen silent as more than half a 1000000 students take an 8 hour university entrance exam which can determine their future the government has halted some flights alter the subway shuttle and stop construction work to try to keep noise to a minimum only 2 percent will get in to the top 3 universities that's the latest b.b.c. News. Imagine if you will a ship with 13 men aboard locked in Arctic ice for 3 years drifting very slowly across a frozen wasteland. This may sound like an unfortunate accident but for the man whose life we'll be following in this edition of The Forum from the b.b.c. World Service for each of Manson that was almost exactly what he planned but then Manson was a thoroughly exceptional man before turning 30 he became known globally for his athletic prowess and injury and he was the 1st person to ski across Greenland on a later expedition he survived for many months in an arctic winter with only a small den for shelter in one of the most inhospitable places on. He was also a pioneering scientist and towards the end of his life his humanitarian work with thousands of 1st world war refugees and prisoners of war earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm Rajan data and to find out more about this remarkable Norwegian I'm joined by 4 people who spent years researching his life and work writer and journalist Merritt fossick is the co-author of Nansen Explorer and humanitarian historian Dr Karl Emil works from the Norwegian center for Holocaust Studies has published numerous books and articles about Manson as has Robert Mark Friedman professor of history at University of Oslo who with his other hat on as a dramatist has written a play about Manson and his younger fellow adventurer ruled Amundson and explorer and broadcaster Paul Rose has spent more than a quarter of a century in both polar regions now some 15 years ago Paul you made a documentary about Manson reenacting his expedition towards the north pole you tracked on skis and had to dive into freezing Arctic waters tell us why you had to do that and what it was like well what happened is when Nansen. And Johansson made their way south from trying to make you know Hanson was his colleague in their hands was his colleague That's right and one of the things I carried with them aside from the dogs and the food and the feeling I had with them is Nansen was smart enough to bring couple kayaks when they got to open water the idea was they would raft up their boats you know because kayaks could be a bit Tippy with all the gear but as soon as you rough them up they become very stable and you can actually sail them so he had the plan I rafted them up by tying them together put up a nice big square sail and one great day they were both exhausted bait in about they got out to rested on the ice float while they were resting the joint together kayaks which looked like a bit like a catamaran at 1st glance drifted off away from the ice and Nansen had no choice if he'd let the boat go that be dead so we're thinking at all he dived in the se you know minus one degree water no support no life jackets nothing swam towards it and rode it back and then they could carry on so and obviously to recreate the journey I was asked to do the same thing and I have to say it's one thing saying it and I agreed thumbs up but it's quite another to stand on the ice look at minus one degree water and dive in but I did it anyway good on young girl and you well let's rewind a few years and for Europeans and Americans the 19th century was a time when explorers particular people from well to do backgrounds tried to reach the most difficult areas of the planet so Nansen is quest to get to the north pole in the 1990 s. The public's imagination but he learnt some of his key explorations skills on an earlier Great Adventure So Robert tell me how does a young zoologist working in a University Museum in Bergen which is now no ways 2nd largest city how does he end up attempting to cross Greenland on skis Well he actually had been to the east coast of Greenland earlier when he began his studies his mentor professor of zoology Robert Collette arranged that he should join a seal hunting expedition to. The east coast of Greenland where he could perhaps find some interesting specimens and months and was an avid cross-country skier an avid hunter avid outdoorsman a few that years later once and read that the great Swedish Explorer Jordan shoal the one who 1st achieved the North East Passage going north of Europe and Siberia he attempted to cross from the west coast and did not make it come to an immediately why not do it he decided the way to do it was to cross from the East Coast to the west there is no inhabitants on the east coast essentially the motto was reach the West Coast or die and it didn't always go exactly as planned as planned Ok well cull I mean it was unusually thick pack ice in eastern Greenland on the approaches to the launch point which meant they couldn't land on the shore they did drift for several weeks on ice flows and eventually found themselves 400 kilometers south of the proposed starting point so just tell us then how did Nance and his fellow explorers get out of that predicament Yeah you're right the most dangerous part of the expedition was perhaps the thought they could easily have drifted helpless to their only ice flows into the open ocean but the currents change direction suddenly and turned north and they finally reached the shore rowing in 2 small boats but the 100 cells 200 kilometers south of the intended starting point and realized that it would be too late in the season to actually reach the starting point so they had to choose a different route and after 49 days which included climbing ice covered mountains and temperatures of minus $45.00 degrees Celsius they finally reached a green. West coast under settlement to go top which is now called new and is Greenland largest and pole by the time Manson's expedition did reach the West Coast the last of this season's ships had departed they had to wait 7 months until next spring for the next one but actually it turned out to be an extremely fruitful period for learning finance didn't tell us about this is it because you know these days we have totally different expectations you know I lead expeditions all over the world and I could say to you Come on let's get across Greenland it would take us about 30 days and we could you know book return flights and come back in the studio we would have a normal life but in those days in Lance's days he had that wonderful sense of true exploration commitment and that was all about what we might come back this winter we might spend an extra winter it would be no big deal to spend an extra 7 months on the West Coast to go in and waiting for a ship but here is that time very smartly because he learnt from the Innuit people a learnt and understood and and this was all great preparation for not only his science studies but getting involved in skills for the north and give me some examples of the kind of skills he learnt from the Indian people while the weather the ice movement hunting and also simple things that we now take for granted struggles mean he was using snow goggles but the way that they carved them from the wood and made these beautiful slick goggles they didn't get that on the you know the ski development and all this kind of stuff is it was always our understanding the snow getting a sense of what life in the Arctic is really all about survival techniques but also vital Yeah well I think Nancy was particularly impressed with the kayak which is a small single person boat which he considered exceptionally well designed. Of a kayak is beyond comparison the best boat for a single oarsmen ever invented. When one is acquired by practice a mastery of the kayak and the 2 bladed paddle one can get through the water and all sorts of ways. At an astonishing speed. The kayak man's jacket is laced tight round the face and breasts so that with it on he can go right through the breakers and can capsize and right himself again without getting wet and without letting a drop of water into the kayak. A kayak man who is entirely mastered the art of writing himself can defy almost any weather if he is capsized he is on even keel in a moment and can play like a sea bird with the waves and cut right through them. For the next year Nansen returned to Norway a national hero something like a 3rd of the country's capital came out to greet him if contemporary ports are to be believed and soon began planning on an even bigger adventure getting to the north pole the plan was based on a discovery that there are currents in the Arctic Ocean which slowly move the ice which covers the region for much of the year from one end of the Arctic basin to the other and this was made apparent by the wreckage from a research ship called Jeannette which sank of Siberia in 1901 but washed up on the other side of the North Pole Negri now and 3 years later so Robert what did this event what is that accident away tell nouns and what they didn't want to do because that at the time it should be recognised that the entire Central Arctic was a question mark nobody had ever been there there are numerous theories all through the 1900 centuries of further what type of land masses might yet be there to be discovered what are the conditions like there were theories even to the effect that in the very central part of the Arctic there was ice free water nobody knew but none sent believed it would be possible to have a specially designed ship every other ship they had attempted had been pulled down crushed etc I'm sure Paul can tell us a lot more about that but with the proper design getting locked in the ice you set up essentially a floating scientific observatory and with patients with lots of discipline with a clear plan you bring back a treasure trove of scientific data and hopefully also maybe even planting a flag on the North Pole so basically it's about sailing into the ice pack kind of embedding the ship into it and then rifting with it so pole to accomplish that you're going to need an unusual ship to. Sittin north rather on the Arctic ice for months on end now that shit was cold Fram which I think means forward in the region it still exists in a museum in Oslo and I believe you've been to see it a number of times just tell me what's the most striking thing about it there are striking thing about it is the shape of the hull because it's completely round which is how it works I mean boats are designed to sail in the sea so their characteristics and their design is all about being specific for long distances or maneuverability whatever that is they're not designed to be trapped in millions of tonnes of ice which is why there were so many failures as soon as the ship was be set as they call it in the ice and the ice pressure began to increase there was a lot of panic in the old days to try and cut the ship free and do anything to get it out but it rarely worked the ship would get pinched as they call it get wrecked down to the bottom she regards her friend realize that he wanted a shape that once you realise non-answers made a sorry so when Manson designed his boat with Colin Archer the idea was to have it strong and round so that when the ice nipped it it would squeeze up and go up which meant it was spectacularly suitable for the ice but was a very bad sailing boat but luckly was very good for this and is basically egg shaped Now what about the actual wood inside of the beautiful thing we're going to the Fram on addicted to the friend Museum is one of the finest museums on earth when you open the front doors Here's the friend you're suddenly underneath that beautiful bell with a friend it's hugely thick wood up at the bell it's over meets a thick and all of the important structural brains are grown brains so how they would make it is they go into the wood and look in the forest for the right beams that were about the right shape and that way you're not cutting across the grain and weakening the wood you're using the whole strength of the wood clever things like the rudder comes up they could lift the rudder stock didn't get damaged in the ice the whole thing just looks and feels absolutely polar ready now pull in the documentary you're. Me You say that Manson's expedition ne polar exploration into the modern era and how do you do that well it did because well firstly it made it possible there was a sense of being possible and not just Sam's or suicidal journey to make something happen he's planning was so precise and it's that precise planning that lead to success and it's the kind of planning we use today planning like want plan not what do you do about food feel what you do about when people are getting exhausted What do you do when people are mentally exhausted had a we keep teams together how do we manage expectations and all of this combined with his talent for leadership is the same thing we do today I think it also he basically discovered I'll develop the idea of a layered clothing which we are all used exactly layered clothing he learned some of that from the any rate but they tended to have pretty heavy skins he went for nice layered clothing with nice air movement in there you know the man's a technical g. Is on the way up on the way north he made the skis he just took wouldn't blanks and made the skis the way he wanted them to work so at the beginning of the expedition everything was going to plan and in October $893.00 The Fan was Judy frozen in Arctic ice pack and began drifting slowly and often erratic late with the ice Vance after a number of months it became apparent that the ship's trajectory was too far south and it was unlikely to reach the North Pole so Robert he discovered Nansen discovered that the Arctic Sea was much deeper than everyone thought and the ship generally was caused by deep currents affected by the Earth's rotation without a major insight Yes In fact I would say it's probably the most important geographical discovery of the 19th century because during the rest of the expedition when they're taking samples of ocean water Nancy and realize there are 3 different types of orders. And with this extremely deep ocean there is a massive amount of water entering and leaving the Arctic the Arctic was therefore central for the whole hemispheric oceanic circulation and therefore of significance for weather patterns for climate change etc So now the ship was locked in the sea and they were getting no nearer the North Pole Nansen decided to try to get to the pole on foot as you said Paul they made a new type of ski out of wood and they used dog sleds and he took just one companion Johansson So Cal How did that trip go the expedition did not to go too well though they were both trained skiers they met overwhelming obstacles in the terrain and when I say terror end there is of course are these only artists pact of hard artists in blocks an incredible says they also met extremely low temperatures they had the in fact set off too early in the year and the drifting in the ice the currents move them south almost as much as they marched north so they had to abandon the attempt having reached a new record for farthest north reached that is 314 kilometers beyond the previous one so they got a new record but they turned back south and they knew that finding the Fram still trapped in ice and moving on and predictable gentry would be impossible so instead they headed for an archipelago called Friends years of land about 600 kilometers away but the maps of the area were very imprecise and once more one day nouns and your hands and didn't wind up their watches and that that meant that they were not able to calculate their long issues so merit how did they get out of that situation where ever they flee at a difficult situation to being and this happened quite early on the 3rd into vapor now and invest. A well organized so they did have compassion and also I think Stan so they tried to calculate and find out where they have been based on what they've done before so they managed to get of the situation and how they survive for food in whatever else well they went on hunting they were being used in they were seals so they they were attacked but they also managed to survive with all these primitive things yes so they were hoping to reach a supply which they knew was at the southern end of the Friends years of violence but after another month of struggle they realized they would reach it before the onset of the next winter so poor how did they prepare to stand a chance of surviving 8 months of an arctic winter there's a place there was a big where they constructed a very rudimentary shelter after rocks and and some driftwood and some skins and I'm being urged to them it was a great place for bears so it meant that they had almost unlimited supply of fresh meat that kept walking to their front door and in long as they had ammunition they could keep killing the bears and survive now I've been to that beach was brilliant to go ashore just experience that so they survived 8 months there 2 men in one sleeping bag to try and keep warm surviving all meat and just imagine 8 months true dedication and it was winter so it was totally dark totally dark totally very cold and just the sense of language nothing just absolutely nothing are you going to get out the other side what's going to happen when the spring comes I think mentally I'm going to say yes we are suppose we could spot in the modern age but the idea of being in that situation with one other person in a sleeping bag in total darkness in the freezing cold for 8 months they would drive me bonkers while yes I think it was really one but it was a different sense of expectation here these were great men and they said all I wouldn't count for that kind of opportunity I had enough resilience that when these things hit them they could get through it just as you may probably could who knows well I doubt it. Much of my case but all the sources of our information the only source of our information about all this is from Manson himself obviously I guess he's the one that wrote the diary Yes And you know hunches report as well but it did mean that that these 2 men formed a friendship on a bond that was 2nd to none there this was true genuine survival but they did make it well in May 1906 as you say Nance and your hands and finally left their modest winter about and sort of again hoping to reach another archipelago Svalbard then called Spitsbergen some 300 kilometers away a month later while they were repairing their kayaks which were damaged in an encounter with a bad tempered walrus Nansen suddenly heard a familiar sound a dog barking and it turned out that Manson had run into probably the only other expedition in that sector of the polar region led by one Frederick Jackson now Karl was this pure chance and good luck announcer as well yes in many ways this was pure luck actually they did not know exactly whether where they had but maps are only as maps this was not entirely discovered there it's nonsense searched for example for non-existing islands described by an Austrian Explorer but luckily nonce none met Jackson's expedition and was saved in many ways before they paddled into the Atlantic to board so it was a total coincidence I mean it was he just came across it in many ways it was new of course that the Jackson 6 position crew to be there somewhere but in fact nonce and didn't know where he was. So the meeting between Jackson was later described the bar nonce and in suspiciously similar words. The famous meeting between standard of living so you know. It was they each day even a few days later for photography by nonsense and was very advanced when it came to publicity already on the Greenland expedition he had carried a pocket camera and this was the 1st time ever on an Arctic expedition it's hard for us to imagine and as I was saying to Paul you know that the idea of being completely stranded out there is hard enough but the other thing was that radio didn't yet exist then did it so marriage in terms of nuns and character is kind of resourcefulness was he always going to be somebody who could do with that as it was there something in him that made him very resilient I think he was born way tough you know he had a strong character and once he put his mind to something he decided to go through and finish no matter what it would cost no matter what it would take well rather it won't notice and you can see what's happening to reach the North Pole on foot the Fram the ship remained wedged in ice but the men on board were not idle they carried out a full program of scientific observations and when the ship eventually returned to no way their findings represent a major step forward for science so Ok tell us what the major findings were well as I mentioned the most important finding was that the Arctic Sea is a deep ocean. And then the continental shelf very suddenly just stops and drops off but the rest of the work is actually of great significance just the simple daily several times a day perhaps taking weather data sending up kites bringing up water from deep deep below all of this data when fully worked up by nonsense and colleagues over the next several years after his return even to this day is consulted for scientific study it was the 1st complete set of observations from the Central Arctic so at the end of the summer Nansen was reunited with the rest of his crew and his wife and young child and we've seen for 3 years soon he became something of a national hero in Norway and his book about his adventures and his lecture tours made him into a global celebrity you can even buy a tin of branded Nansen celery but Nansen wasn't finished yet and the surprise is that he encountered and the campaign he embarked on in the next phase of his life are the subject of the 2nd part of the form after the b.b.c. News distribution of the b.b.c. World Service in the us is made possible by American Public Media with support from the larger Craig Bourbon the small batch bourbon a larger Craig Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey Bardstown Kentucky 47 percent alcohol by volume think wisely drink wisely and Progressive Insurance with a name your price to offer a range of coverage and price options to choose from now that's progressive more at progressive dot com or 1800 progress. Still to come on the forum we've discussed frijoles announces incredible feats as Explorer and scientist but coming up we see how there was a 3rd stage in his life in which humanitarian endeavor dominated he famously said Compassion is real politik and his famine relief work repatriation efforts and invention on the Nansen passport for Refugees or just added to his achievements Oh and did I mention Nobel Peace Prize winner all this and more after the news. B.b.c. News with David Harper a ceasefire has come into effect in Gaza or after another night of violence in which Palestinian officials say 8 members of the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike more than 30 Palestinians have been killed since Israel targeted and killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group hundreds of rockets have been fired into Israel in retaliation parts of Hong Kong have been paralyzed for a 4th straight day with key transport links blocked by pro-democracy protesters police have accused university students of firing arrows at them after some activists gathered makeshift weapons and built barricades the Supreme Court of India has agreed to look again at a ruling that allowed women to enter a Hindu temple in the southern state of Carolina for the 1st time the court had overruled the traditional ban on women of childbearing age visiting so Brimelow. Donald Trump had said he had no recollection of a phone call at the center of new revelations from the 1st public hearings of his impeachment inquiry the u.s. Envoy in Ukraine Bill Taylor testified on Wednesday that a member of his staff overheard the president directly ask about investigating the leading Democrat Joe Biden but Mr Trump said he didn't remember making such comments about 50000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being offered another experimental vaccine against it bola the disease has killed more than 2000 people there since August last year Zimbabwe's government is due to announce a budget later today to try to ease the country's economic turmoil it's expected to include measures to shore up the new local currency and end long running strikes the Australian Government has set new guidelines for universities to combat what's described as unprecedented levels of foreign interference in future universities will have to name their research partners and financial donors there's been growing concern about China's influence on Australian campuses b.b.c. News. Welcome back to the forum from the b.b.c. World Service I'm Rajan data and today I'm talking about your finance and with Explorer Paul Rose historians Robert Mark Friedman and Carl Emil vote and journalist Mary said and if you were interested in the life and work of other remarkable men and women if history you can download them from our pod cast archives. So within a decade of Manson's return from his polar trip Norway became an independent country and he added to his 2 occupations of scientists and explorer he was to become a negotiator diplomat and humanitarian but his national and international stature was based firmly on his fame as the go to advise it for expeditions to cold weather regions now even the announcement would never lead another major expedition his famous ship the Fram was to feature heavily in the next celebrity chapter in Norway story why was that yes well the vessel went saf it went to Antarctica the terrific Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was looking to go to Antarctica and needed a vessel and quite obviously he had to use the from but that was not his regional intention was it he was a little north of course yeah the idea was that you know Amazon was getting for North Pole and when he heard about Captain Scott and his proposed voyage to Antarctica and the South Pole it was irresistible he will come or we should be doing this so he kept it very quiet and at the very last minute he announced that he was going to the South Pole and as we know he achieved his aim hit it and in a way became more famous than once and probably eclipsed him in some ways in terms of global history boy yes but tell me Robert how did nuns sin feel about a mansion and doing that for a start of Joe I mean not going to the north of going to south or borrowing his ship nothing had seen in our. And said what he thought was to use his expression a serious man by that he means a man who's willing to do science in his poll the work for nonsense polar exploration without science with egotism vanity and the cheapest form of nationalist flag waving he had just spent the past 10 years working out a scientific program for the exploration of the Arctic all of these questions about the nature of the polar currents the polar climate weather etc he had devised new instruments and he saw an arm and sent a man who was willing to take the from across the Arctic at a route further north hopefully he would reach the North Pole but that was not the main object at all Ahmanson had given his word he had actually repeated in all slow the speech that nonsense given in London at the Royal Geographical Society on what needs to be done of the scientific exploration of the Arctic what he did in terms of going to the Antarctic secretly was a slap in the face 10 ounces and to the Norwegian King and all the people who supported the scientific expedition of course they were glad that it was Norway's flag that was put on the South Pole announced and said so publicly but privately he felt that he was shall we say double crossed Well cull interspersed with names and scientific work were bouts of intense diplomatic engagement and although he would accept any of the political posts offered to him by the new government of his country he did play an important role in the new post independence arrangements of Norway so he just gave us an idea of the status of Norway at the time and what role Nansen played yes non-student played a very important. Wharton parked in the strong nationalists movement in the end of the 19th century no way wanted its full independence from Sweden so in 1905 The goal was cheap and negotiated 1st with the Danish prince call to accept the offer to become the 1st Norwegian King the 1st king of the newly independent Norway and then he went on to long as Norway's 1st ambassador to Great Britain Ok So marriage after the end of the 1st world war efforts were made to prevent the repeat of the terrible destruction and loss of life by founding a body for international diplomacy which was the League of Nations and Nansen became one of Norway's 1st delegates to the league but his 1st practical task was to deal with one of the legacies of the war just ended the thousands of prisoners of war held in camps in Russia and Europe so tell me what were the issues preventing their repaired creation and how did Nansen deal with that many countries were not very keen on getting the prisoners back because of their her volution some countries didn't even have the funds to pay for their reputation so Nansen here really had a huge task amid Childers different money different ways and so on and there was another problem as well with the Russian Revolution and the other countries didn't regular nice Soviet Union and them the Soviets were not they can either try to accept the League of Nations and such so mention he had good press because he had tried to help them out before when the Us Firmin in 1900 the plan didn't work up but once it was considered as a good person an acceptable for this of it so Nancy went there and set up some agreement and I think by the end of it I think by 1922 Nansen was able to say that over 400000 prisoners from nearly 30 different nationalities had been repatriated. And 250000 of those or more I think were Russian so he had done his job and me yes he had left me so there was always problems you know finance and when he was in front of the assembly in the legal mission there was always problems with money it seems like this and the problems would never stop but he managed you know it was a strong character he fought for the people people back home well that repatriation program was still in full swing another crisis demanded his attention a new famine in parts of Russia so cool how did Nansen try to help with this especially is this was a politically much more complicated issue than that of war prisoners yes it was a terrible famine which threatened actually 30000000 people in in Soviet Russia and the Ukraine the Bolshevik communist government was not record diced by the Western governments etc so. To defend his actions when he wanted to help the starving against accusations from some conservative quarters who thought that helping anyone in Russia meant strengthening the Soviet dictatorship he wanted to have the governments of the League of Nations the European governments to give large scale loans to solve it Russia to help out the famine stricken population but fundraising proved impossible the government did not want to join in and give these loans so he had to rely on private fundraising actually which proved difficult in many ways so he became the leader of the European relief work in Russia under International Red Cross Committee the Save the Children the British organization and the Quakers relief organizations in Europe these were the most important parts tell me why do you think he was so passionate exercised by this cause it was very familiar with Russia he had already on the from expedition he had to try. Of along the Siberian coastal Russia called the north coast of Russia he was fascinated by the no mobs in the northern parts of Russia he traveled to Russia again just before the 1st World War and then the famine came so it was a very moving experience for him when he actually traveled himself so he took the explorer in a way to the humanitarian field he went to the Volga area weather of having was worst and he really saw for himself the horrors of famine and described them for the public back home in Europe now significantly cull the Soviet later emphasized Nansen success in reducing the famine while downplaying the help given by American relief organizations was actually fed something like 80 percent of the starving people now why did this obvious do that the most important help came from America 11000000 people each day where fed by the Americans while nonsense on his European relief agencies fared around 400000 of them daily bases it was for political reasons of course the Soviets did not want the anticommunist Herbert Hoover who actually had a pretty open anti communist goal with his famine relief he wanted to undermine communism by the means of food food is a weapon the Americans put it well another issue related to the new political situation in Russia was the 1921 decision of the Soviet authorities to strip Russians abroad of their citizenship leaving them effectively stateless and estimates vary as to how many people is affected perhaps a 1000000 or more but Nansen in his role as the High Commissioner for Refugees or the League of Nations then came up with a solution to that what was that moment so there was free obvious ways of tackling the refugee problem they should either be back home. But it didn't work well on the way they should be chance but in settle in and another country that we . Welcome them and then there should be a Selman into a country where they were already located but the problem for a lot of river Jews was that especially for the Russians who didn't have any nationality they didn't have an a passport so Nansen came up with the idea to create this famous Nansen passport. Giving them the right to travel to get work and they can move from one country agenda there and it was also paid by the refugees themselves generating income because once again once it was all this type of money and if it's that he made they needed money and there were hardly anyone who wanted to get money for the Russian affiliate in particular and there were some famous names who benefited from the creation of the Nansen passport one there are some famous artists yes absolutely sure that everyone ski was in and when they have been many famous people benefiting from this nonsense that for and in Geneva for instance or elsewhere they are still descendants of people who are came on the Nansen path but were soon after Nancy set in motion the process for issuing the passports bearing his name he was awarded the 922 Nobel Peace Prize he spent a lot of time and energy in the remaining 8 years of his life trying to help the fountains of refugees from Russia and the turmoil that engulfing Asia Minor now by the time of his death in 1930 he was 68 those issues remained really only partly resolved so why did he have mixed success Carr was going on. On the one hand it is necessary to state that the 1920s was quite successful the League of Nations refugee work and nonsense became the 1st high commissioner of refugees etc on the north and passports as we have already heard of but a total failure for instance was nonsense continuing attempt to build a national home as he called it to the Armenian refugees from the former of the man empire in the Asia Minor who had suffered blood the prosecution perhaps as many as one and a half 1000000 had been killed and they were deprived of the Turkish citizens ships they will cause protected by denouncing passport this was a good thing but nonsense also wanted to send the refugees to the Armenian Soviet republic this was an idea he. He stuck to nearly until his death in 1929 the refugee settlement scheme was rejected by the political role of the Soviet Communist Party so it is ironic in a way that nonsense assistant in Moscow the later leader of the Norwegian Nazi collaboration government during the German occupation began christening how the war and nonsense strongly against sending any refugees to the Soviet Union now for a few years Quisling I've reported on Mars prosecutions and terror nonce and did not listen only in June $1029.00 after the plants rejection from the police bureau did he admit that the future in a way for the returning refugees seemed far less secure than earlier so this was an obvious mistake by not Ok well as I say Nansen died in 130 was 68 and we're coming to the end the programs I want to ask about his legacy merit what would you say was the greatest legacy Well the thing about Nansen is that he didn't get any payment for the scene he done he was very modest limitless leech of a. Class lived in smaller towns and songs on he didn't want to spend too much money on unworthy things I think this is also something today that we should be in mind when the humanitarian field has become an industry he used his own money to help people you know we should never forget that he used his own money to help 1000 disabled persons to get a better life in Bulgaria you know and all of this kind of things he tried to do his best I guess the thing that really there is that people think this guy's a super hero he can do everything so well you know he was obviously he was incredibly smart he was resorts full polymath but he was a human being did he have any shortcomings of course he actually said think it was a terrible father for instance he had a problem. With his oldest son really sent him off brought without any inheritance and cetera but to me nonsense most important legacy is his the refugee engagement the United Nations High Commission of refugee is a grandchild of nonsense in a way international refugee law had its beginnings in the nonce and passport system it was actually a brilliant invention not granting true legal rights as a citizenship does but it was legally only called and arrangement adopted by the states and not Convention which would have made it much harder for the states to accept the rage when it was not considered international law only suggested state behavior in contrast to the convention and what that would have been so hundreds of thousands of people were given basic legal rights by the nonce and passports it became easier to travel get a proper job or a place to live or even simple but important things in life that was difficult for a state lists without idea documents like burying your dead parents marrying or to baptize your children for instance and so his refugee engagement for me and Paul I mean you actually call him at one point I think you call him the most successful failure ever. Because people think of the North Pole or at Mt I think of a trip to the North Pole but his legacy for me is all about his style of exploration leadership which I've tried to follow in his footsteps actually do follow his 1st steps in many ways mused mansions ledges we still call mansions ledges that exactly to his design we used them in the polar regions even today when I see our regularly used Nansen bottles and there's a beauty about the way he thinks and so many different quotes of his one I use all the time is that all the best ideas come from the wild places and given to die. Ways political saying what would we give to have Nansen now as a true global leader Gul We need it right now well there we go that's all we got time for Sadly my thanks to Paul Rose to merit 1st say to Robert Marc Freedman and to Karl Emil verdict and I will leave you with nonsense words from his Nobel Prize lecture where he pondered why some people did not want to help the starving people from the famine in Russia in the early 1920 s. . In all probability their motives were political. They appear to my sterile self-importance and the lack of will to understand people who think differently they call us romantics weak stupid sentimental idealists perhaps because we have some faith in the good which exists even in our opponents and because we believe that kindness achieves more than cruelty it may be that we are simple minded but I do not think that we are dangerous. You're listening to the b.b.c. World Service and now it's time for sporting witness I met a deputy head basketball Paralympian and today I'm bringing you the story of the moment Magic Johnson changed basketball and America. It is the 7th of November 991 and the legendary basketball player and Magic Johnson has called an unexpected press conference in a moment that America will never forget magic and now it says that he's living with hate I see 1st of all let me say good after late after no because of. The virus I have attained I will have to retire from the Lakers today magic becomes the 1st major sportsman to say he's I have the positive and on the surface at least he appears to be both calm and focused I just want to make clear 1st quarter I do not have a family but I know a lot of you want to know that but I have a job by my right is negative so no problem with her I plan on going on living for a long time I want being with the Lakers and only I guess now I get to enjoy some of the other side that we have and can you. See in Magic Johnson had signed to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 quickly becoming one of the most hot eightieth's players on this ng the Lakers team physician Dr Michael Mehlman remembers the impact magic had on the cool in those early days Hewitt was unique he came to a team that had already on it one of the world's greatest basketball players and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he. And his exuberance joining this statesman of the sport and they came together as a pair that was they got everyone's attention their very unique band of players that played a very unique exciting style of basketball they coined the phrase show time he did things that smaller men did and he also did things that larger men did and he was in this category that was relatively unique at the time he really impacted the game is what I remember back then and was very popular any extended outside of Los Angeles for sure. But in 1991 every test on Johnson led to a devastating discovery his insurance company discovered that magic had contract to the through protected sex as his team doctor it was Dr Michael Mehlman who had to break the news to magic and he's agent this was a player an individual that I had developed a close relationship with in and I remember sitting down in my office and it was middle of the day in the sun was shining and they were sitting ups at my desk like you and I are sitting down now Delta Melman had thought carefully about what he was going to say that magic seemed to Hof suspect what was coming Irving didn't run from a problem I've never known him to run from a problem there's a moment of shock that I think anyone would have in a and I thought in a group in Ok what do we do now was the next step and it was pretty straightforward because at that time his wife was pregnant so the question was Was there any risk to either his wife or the unborn baby and also the question was whether or not his career was in jeopardy it was a very subdued clearly onesie environment the 32 year old superstar decided to. He agreed to go public with his knees in a press conference shed jewel to take place on November the 8th but changing events meant he had to make his announcement even sooner the press conference was actually planned for the day after it occurred but if it was one of the radio stations or contacted the Lakers and said we're going to run this today and the team decided we're going to the press conference we don't want it to be released and lose control of it I'm sure there was no rehearsals there was no preparation of statements or anything like that we came out of a tunnel into this room and there were more lights and more cameras and theory you hear the clicking of you know camera media even to this day I can close my eyes and see it it was a very big dance collection of people in a very big Magix frankness and determination to survive would make headlines around the world. By the player to be president because. Every day part from the a lot of people. Now. Beat it and I'm. Ok thank you again and. I. Remember those who paid tribute to Magic Johnson sports fine and then President George Bush Sr famously said for me magic is a hero. It crashed a lot of the stereotypes that we had of the day. You know. Urban Magic Johnson can be a very positive probably a lot of other people can be too that we have in the United States it was considered to be more likely a male gay disease. But for whatever reasons that's the way it was depicted and I think this holder time opened up awareness there was certainly an increase of people getting tested in 1900 Madge it was persuaded to come out of retirement to join the famous string which went on to win the Olympic gold medal for the USA It was an emotional final one that magic had planned to be his nost but he lay it decided to continue playing inside and outside India because the sports skipper found himself having to adapt to the cage the era of the n.b.a. Had some difficulties early on you know and there were players that didn't want to get on the court with them didn't feel comfortable with them and then there were others that that it seemed to impact less and then there were others that went out of their way to demonstrate their affection and lack of avoidance of this particular individual and in pro basketball they were the 1st to invoke a club's rule for the trainers when they went out and bought on the field and what on the court and everything had to be stopped or taken care of and so that was a constant reminder to people so all of that brought people to the recognition that if I'm at risk I should be tested Johnson won 5 n.b.a. Championships during his career and in 2002 was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame he's still living a full night as a successful businessman and continues to be ahead and safe 6 advocate Dr Michael Mehlman say he's contribution to fight the disease was immense this was a world in which aids had entered and was devastating So the message that we tried to give was that yes this is a player who was open he could. We could made up an excuse but he was open and he brought it to everyone's attention we went to schools we went everywhere we could to educate people it was Ok we learned something from this one courageous person who was willing to share with us something that was incredibly important and we used that as an opportunity to try and impact for the greater good. To Michael Mehlman and did that addition in witness for me I did. It was an old you know always production for the b.b.c. . November a crucial presidential election that you examine all the issues that you look at the polls to do the research that you watch the debates every vote counts the fate of the nation is hanging in the balance and you're not prepared. Oh that's November 2020 well in that case you've got a whole year to prepare with Morning Edition right by your side to navigate you through next Election Day Listen every morning from n.p.r. News. Weekday mornings from 5 to 9. This is Connecticut Public Radio n.p.r. And w n.p.r. H.t. One merit and at $90.00 to be peak a t.v. Interview p.k. t h d One Norwich $89.00. F.m. 88.5. M. Southampton at 91.3 m. W. Npr dot org. Hello and welcome to News Day on the b.b.c. World Service with Alan sharp good to have you with us or good morning to you in London 10 o'clock in Gaza where a ceasefire is now in place after a night of. 8 members of a family were killed you know they are strike on hundreds of rockets fired on Israel in return for the month to go before the elections we tour the United Kingdom 1st stop Northern Ireland our correspondent joins us from there the 2 cases of pneumonic plague have sparked a medical lot in China a couple is now being treated in a hospital in Beijing so is the disease. Of double pollutions of the Middle Ages still a serious threat and staying with matters is the long forgotten but very much alive look at slavery modern slavery as a result of human trafficking that's coming up after the latest world news. Baby seen news Hello I'm Gerri Smit a ceasefire has come into effect in Gaza after another night of violence and which Palestinian officials say 8 members of the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike 4 children were among them more than 30 Palestinians have died since choose day when Israel killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group they've been reports from Jerusalem the ceasefire came into effect at 5 30 am local time according to Islamic Jihad Israel rarely comments publicly on such agreements but there was a lull in the fighting after dawn albeit with air raid sirens once again sounding in some Israeli areas close to Gaza in the hours just before the trees according to Palestinian health officials 8 people were killed when a house in central Gaza was hit in an airstrike witnesses said an Israeli warplane fired 2 missiles at the home of a militant leader. Pro-democracy protests have paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for a 4th successive day police have accuse university students of foreign errors of them of their summer activities gathered makeshift weapons and build barricades officers whose Tegan's to try to disperse demonstrators who broke the crucial cross Harbor Tunnel which links Hong Kong Island to the mainland the Supreme Court of India has referred to a larger bench of judges the decision to lift of Burma on women of childbearing age entering a Hindu temple in the search of September the court ruled that the ban on women and girls could not be considered essential religious practice and should be lifted for to go deo reports the sub reminded temple was historically closed to women off menstruating age defined as between $10.50 because they are considered to be impure in Hinduism but the Supreme Court revoked the ban in September last year allowing women entry into the temple which prompted outrage among Orthodox screw ups the holy debate over women's entry into the shrine was sparked after is rights groups argued that the custom violated gender equality by traditionalists view it as an attack on their faith president.