Los Angeles: Clashes erupt for a third day as the US National Guard arrives
33:01 Share

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

Legends, the greatest social casino and sportsbook experience, has arrived at Legends.com. With thousands of the best free-to-play casino-style games, chances to earn millions of bonus coins and win real money. Legends is revolutionizing the Vegas experience wherever you are. If you love winning, then you'll love playing at L-E-G-E-N-D-Z.com. Legends is a free-to-play social casino void where prohibited play responsibly. Visit Legends.com for more information. Legends with a Z.com is legendary fun.

Imagine a place where you're free to wander through winding curves, cut by sacred water through history's memoir in brick and mortar, painted vibrant like the future. Where you're free to seek pulsing inspiration in a drum beat, intrinsic, the rhythm that connects street to street and soul to soul. What are you free to be? Find out at visiteurekasprings.com.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Julia McFarlane, and in the early hours of Monday 9 June, these are our main stories. The National Guard are in Los Angeles, deployed on the orders of President Trump, as protests against sweeping raids on undocumented migrants continue for a third day. In Gaza, there are reports of more Palestinians shot dead near food distribution sites.

Also in this podcast, Ukraine's president says missiles promised by the previous US administration have been diverted to the Middle East by President Trump. In tennis, Carlos Alcaraz wins the longest men's singles final at the French Open. And... They could stick their mail in this whiskey barrel. People would come past and they would pick it up and collect it and deliver it.

how one man decided to personally deliver letters posted in the Galapagos Islands.

We start in Los Angeles, where the National Guard has been deployed on the orders of President Trump as protests over raids on undocumented migrants continued for a third day. The president's decision bypassed the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who called the move purposefully inflammatory and accused Mr. Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis.

The protests, largely involving members of the city's Hispanic community, have been largely peaceful, although there have been instances of people throwing rocks and clashing violently with local police. President Trump has said he may yet decide to widen the scope of the deployments and even send in U.S. Marines if the protests grow. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has defended President Trump's intervention. He was speaking on ABC's This Week.

The president did exactly what he needed to do. These are federal laws. We have to maintain the rule of law, and that is not what is happening. And Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or an unwillingness to do what is necessary there. So the president stepped in. That's real leadership, and he has the authority and the responsibility to do it. You know, one of our core principles is maintaining peace through strength. We do that every day.

on foreign affairs and domestic affairs as well. I don't think that's heavy-handed. I think that's an important signal. You don't think sending the Marines into the streets of an American city is heavy-handed? We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect. Our correspondent Reagan Morris is in downtown LA and spoke to the BBC's John Donison.

It changes so quickly. 20 minutes ago, I was saying this feels really festive, and it really just started kicking off. They've sprayed some tear gas, and the National Guard has pushed out into the crowd, and the road is now shut because there's pedestrians all through the street. I don't know what prompted it. I was here.

And suddenly there was tear gas being sprayed and the crowd being shoved back and people running across the street. So whereas 20 minutes ago, I was like, wow, this is quite fun and festive and seems like a party. Somebody was putting out a barbecue. People were waving flags, mostly Mexican flags here, which does really irritate some people who will be watching this on social media. It looks like quite a lot of soldiers, but not that many protests. Certainly over the last few days, we're talking about hundreds, weren't we?

It's a growing group of protesters, but still, I think the media and the military outnumber. I would say we just had a group march down the street in the last five, ten minutes. And I think probably, unless you're seeing aerials, there's definitely now a couple hundred people here. And here comes some more.

federal authorities. And has there been any violence today? What are the National Guard or the police doing? Are they using tear gas again or rubber bullets? They have these police DHS, Department of Homeland Security police coming out. And I've actually just watched them shoot rubber bullets at someone. So the crowd is definitely changing now. And there's a big National Guard kind of wagon pulling up outside

and the National Guard are armed and they're pushing people back and they've got riot gear and it's the Department of Homeland Security

shooting back. I got tear gassed just before we got on air. I don't know where it came from. Gavin Newsom's been very critical of this move, and I believe this is the first time the National Guard have been brought in without a request by the governor since the 1960s in the civil rights protest. Yeah, it's incredible. It was President Lyndon Johnson was the last president to do this without the governor's request.

and consent. And that was during the civil rights movement to not to break up protests, but to protect Martin Luther King and others marching in Selma, Alabama. So this is a real different scene. Reagan Morris.

Ronald Vitiello is a senior advisor to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and served as director of ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during President Trump's first presidency. He says the actions of ICE and law enforcement have been proportionate.

What are the officers on the ground there, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the FBI, the DEA and the members of ICE, what are they supposed to do when citizen activists, these rent-a-mobs, get in the way of them performing what are actual lawful duties? You know, ICE is charged with the lawful activity to find people who are in the United States illegally who have also committed crimes in places like Los Angeles. And it's disappointing to see people get active in order to help criminals stay in the United States.

Let's hear now from someone taking part in the protests. Kuali is a Mexican-American who's lived in Los Angeles for most of her life. We're not afraid. We prepare. We don't get scared. And we've been dealing with Border Patrol and ICE agents for decades now, disproportionately.

So I think that our community just had enough and we're tired of seeing our families being ripped apart and thrown into those ICE detention concentration camps and without any due process. Some of the workers who've been taking part in the protests are members of Service Employees International Union in California, the SEIU. On Friday, the union's president, David Huerta, was arrested during the protests.

Luis Fuentes is a union regional vice president, and he told the BBC what had happened to him. He is currently still in detention. He has a scheduled hearing tomorrow, Monday, here in Los Angeles. And so, you know, we are standing by and calling for his release, immediate release, and a de-escalation of this unjust movement.

attack against our communities. And I think the governor talked about the inflammatory excuse to an abuse of power to militarize our communities and instill fear in workers. The reality is that we live in a city of Los Angeles where we take pride in our multicultural composition. We welcome people from all over the world and all over our country to

you know, the administration has, you know, focused in on Los Angeles because of what we represent. Luis Fuentes, the Regional Vice Union President from the United Services Workers West.

To Gaza now, and there have been reports on Sunday that more Palestinians have been shot dead near aid distribution sites. Several people were reportedly killed in southern Gaza as they headed towards two sites near Rafah and Khan Yunus, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial aid group run by American and Israeli contractors. Adam Dahman was injured as he went to collect aid at the site near Rafah.

He said that the foundation had posted online there would be aid available. But when the Palestinians arrived, they were surrounded and shot at by soldiers and a tank. He goes on to say the crowd was trapped and several people were injured and then killed.

The Israeli military say it fired warning shots after people were ordered to leave the area but refused. Our Middle East regional editor, Sebastian Usher, is in Jerusalem. He told me more about the incident near Rafah. At one main aid distribution site, the one where these deadly incidents have been happening on an almost daily basis in Rafah, people were gathering early in the morning at a time when they've actually been told by the IDF

that it's a battle zone around there, that it's too dangerous for them to travel, that in order to get to the aid distribution site, they really don't have any option except to go at those times. Four people were killed. The IDF gave a statement to journalists and to us at the BBC saying what they've said before, that several suspects approached troops, that the troops...

gave them a verbal warning not to come towards them, to keep away from the area, and when they didn't respond, they fired warning shots. The IDF doesn't go into any details beyond that. We still don't have 100% clarity about what is happening.

It is confusing because on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site, it told people, first of all, that they shouldn't go to this particular site at that time, that it wasn't open, that the only one that was open was higher up, was in the center of Gaza. Later in the day, it then said that this site and another would be open, but at around noon.

But as you can understand, Palestinians who are desperate for food to give their families start moving towards the sites that they've been to before in the hope that they will open at some point and these incidents ensue. Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister has instructed the military to prevent this ship with pro-Palestinian activists, including Greta Thunberg.

from reaching Gaza. They're trying to break the blockade. Is this Freedom Flotilla ever likely to reach Gaza? I think that the Israeli military, its navy, will intervene. It's a question of when and how. I mean, the latest that I've seen from the boat, the Madeline, it's about 130 nautical miles from Gaza.

There's no doubt that Israel is going to stop this boat. The real question is, will we see the kind of scenes that there were back in 2010 when the Mardi Marmara, a boat with Turkish activists, was a site in which 10 of the activists were killed as it was stormed

by Israeli troops. I think it's very unlikely in this case that something like that will happen again. But just a few weeks ago, a boat, again, which was coming with the same mission, the same group, was just moored off the coast of Malta and it was hit by drones. It's still unclear whether

what caused it, who did it, but those who are on that boat blame Israel for doing so. So what's clear is that Israel is not going to allow them through. What happens next will be a big question. Sebastian Usher. And as we record this podcast, the international group that's trying to send that ship carrying activists to Gaza with Greta Thunberg on board, they've reported that the alarm has been sounded on board. It says life jackets are on, preparing for interception.

Now, President Zelensky has said missiles promised to Ukraine by the previous U.S. government have instead been redirected to the Middle East by the Trump administration. Mr. Zelensky told the U.S. news outlet ABC that the former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had agreed to send Ukraine 20,000 missiles. Our Europe regional editor Danny Eberhard told us more.

didn't specify what type they were. He said they had special technology to target Shahid drones. Now, Shahid drones obviously being sent sometimes in their hundreds in a night to attack areas of Ukraine, causing deaths and injuries. Often they target civilian areas. So it really matters that

And there was a report recently in the Wall Street Journal that said that U.S. munitions to intercept drones had been redirected to American forces in the Middle East. So it sounds like that it's referring to. But obviously, air defenses are critically important to Ukraine. President Trump's administration is yet to comment on the specific claims by Mr. Zelensky.

And it was quite a wide ranging interview. What else did we learn? It certainly was. There was all sorts of things, including more details about Operation Spider's Web, the attack on Russian air bases that caused such a stir. The ABC correspondent at one point asked Mr. Zelensky whether Mr. Trump felt that Russia was winning the war.

He answered that Donald Trump has said as much in public, but he also pushed back. He said such an assessment was not true, regardless of what Mr Trump may have said. I mean, it's not about his wars. Yes, just to be understandable. Yes, about the real situation. It's not a victory. You spend, really spend one million people for getting some thousands of kilometres.

So there he's pushing back against the idea that anything Mr Putin may have achieved thus far amounted to a victory due to the massive cost in human lives. He said that Russia was the only party that still wanted to keep the war going. This is a constant theme of his in pushing for tougher sanctions.

to pressure Russia into accepting a ceasefire. Ukraine has repeatedly made it plain that it would accept a ceasefire, but he said that US involvement in sanctions was essential if they were to have any impact. He's calling for things like a price cap on oil, for example, at $30, and there's currently a bill in the US Senate where they're trying to tighten secondary sanctions on companies that deal with Russian oil.

Kiev wants Mr. Trump to back that. There was other things as well. So, for example, he pushed back against an assertion by President Trump, an analogy he made this week, trying to get Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting was like stopping kids fighting in a playground. That's a deeply offensive assertion to many Ukrainians. Danny Eberhardt.

To tennis now, and the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, has won the French Open in Paris, beating Italy's Yannick Sinner. It was a nail-biter of a match, and the first Grand Slam final to feature two players born in the new millennium. I heard more from our tennis correspondent, Russell Fuller, who's there in Roland Garros. The longest French Open final in history, and also the first Grand Slam singles final to be decided by a 10-point tiebreak, which was introduced...

universally by the Grand Slams five years ago as a way of deciding matches that might otherwise go on and on. And this one was very much in that category because the two players couldn't be separated after five hours and 29 minutes. But there had been so many twists over the course of the five and a half hours that

Yannick Sinner, led by two sets to one, he had a 5-3 advantage. He had three championship points. It looked like he was going to win his third consecutive Grand Slam, but Alcaraz saved them, ended up winning that fourth set on a tiebreak, and then the fifth set tiebreak as well. Fairly comfortably in the end by ten points to two, but really nothing had been comfortable for either player on such a marathon afternoon.

And Russell, I feel a little ill saying this, but these two finalists were also born after the year 2000. I mean, they are such incredible players. Are we in a new era of tennis now?

We most certainly are on the men's side. They are world number one and they are world number two. And the fact that Carlos Alcaraz is 22 and Yannick Sinner is 23 suggests that they are going to play many, many more of these finals. When they've met before, the matches have always been close. They've had some memorable Grand Slam matches, but this was the first time they'd met in the final when they were competing for the trophy. It seemed very hard to separate them beforehand. Alcaraz is a defending champion, but

will remain the defending champion and has a little bit more clay court nows and expertise. He's so comfortable on this surface having grown up in Spain. Yannick Sinner is particularly strong on the hard court. So perhaps there was an argument that Alcaraz would be able to win it given his extra clay court experience. But given that Sinner has only lost to one player since August of last year, Carlos Alcaraz,

It just seemed almost impossible to predict with any certainty who was going to come out on top. Russell Fuller. Still to come on this podcast, hopes to combat antibiotic resistant superbugs with a so-called poo pill. The atmosphere of Mexico Beach is very quiet and slow, and that's a good thing.

There's no hustle and bustle like you have at most beaches. I think we're one of the last truly small beach towns in Florida. That small town attraction where you know the owner of the hardware store, you know the lady that delivers your mail. I don't know any other place along the coast that's like that. You can rent a bicycle or bring your bicycle. You can ride from one end of town to the other and experience the shopping on one end, experience the beach on the other end.

It's a very unique place. Experience our character and unforgettable spirit at MexicoBeach.com.

Legends, the greatest social casino and sportsbook experience, has arrived at Legends.com. With thousands of the best free-to-play casino-style games, chances to earn millions of bonus coins and win real money. Legends is revolutionizing the Vegas experience wherever you are. If you love winning, then you'll love playing at L-E-G-E-N-D-Z.com. Legends is a free-to-play social casino void where prohibited play responsibly. Visit Legends.com for more information. Legends with a Z.com is legendary fun.

Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skincare simple, and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types, and it's designed to work as a complete skincare system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth, and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's Full Regiment, which contains all five of her best-selling products, including

the amazing youth activating melon serum. This next generation serum has the power of melon leaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five-star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the amazing meaningful beauty system for just $49.95.

That includes our introductory five-piece system, free gifts, free shipping, and a 60-day money-back guarantee. All that available at MeaningfulBeauty.com. Are you struggling to find an effective mental health medication? Meet the Genesight test.

Whether it's medication for anxiety, depression, or ADHD, the GeneSight test is a genetic test that analyzes how your DNA may affect medication outcomes. Along with a full medical evaluation, test results can inform your provider with valuable insights to help guide treatment. Your unique genetic blueprint may also lead to significant savings on medications.

According to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Current Medical Research and Opinion, patients who received GeneSight testing saved on total annual medication costs, took their medicine more regularly, and were on fewer medications by the end of the study compared to those who received regular treatment. Ask your provider about the GeneSight test today and move forward on your journey to mental wellness. Or visit genesight.com for more information.

Again, genesight.com for more information and to move forward on your journey to mental wellness. Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharra, has promised to build an inclusive society, but members of the Alawite sect of the former president, Bashar al-Assad, have fled to neighbouring Lebanon. The Alawites, a minority Shia Muslim group, had close links to his regime and have been persecuted in recent months.

Emily Wither has been to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where thousands of Alawites have found refuge. Her report begins with Angela Bilal, who's been listening to their testimony. Some of the details are distressing.

Many Alawites believed they would be safe after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December last year.

While he was from the minority Shia sect, Syria's new Sunni Islamist-led government, headed up by Ahmed al-Shara, promised to protect minorities. And at first, it was relatively calm, until the holy month of Ramadan. In early March, pro-government forces rampaged through Alawite towns and villages in Syria's coastal regions, killing more than 1,000 civilians, including women and children.

The violence started after fighters loyal to Assad had led a deadly ambush on Syria's new security forces. The new government called for support, but that escalated into a wave of sectarian anger aimed at Alawites. Syria's president, Ahmed al-Shara, has promised to crack down, launching investigative committees and claiming the violence is limited to the Alawite areas on the coast.

But killings, kidnappings and forced evictions of Alawites have continued across the country.

Angelina leads me inside the cramped hall to speak to one of the recently arrived Alawites from Syria. She doesn't want to share her name over fears for her safety. The reason why she flee her home in Syria was that groups with weapons, they came to the village and they were knocking the doors and demanding water. And if there was a man in the house, they would shoot him to take his wife. In her case, she didn't have a man in the house.

She has only her kids. One of them stepped in and draped her. And after one week, another one of the same group also stepped in and draped her.

and the third one with him together. They threatened her that they have her number, they have her name, and they would kill her if she doesn't obey what they're demanding from her. Other groups with weapons set fire in that village that immediately killed 60 people that day. Her house was burned. She managed to escape with her children.

She walked about 16 to 17 kilometers, knocking on doors, demanding food and shelter and water. And she kept walking until she reached the borders with Lebanon. We've come to the local mosque. I'm told it's actually the first Alawite mosque that was built in Lebanon in the 1970s. But it's now also home to...

Over 20 Syrians that fled recently. There are mattresses lining the floor, around the edges. There are plastic bags with the very few belongings that people were able to take with them when they left in a hurry.

Men sheltering in the mosque crowd around my translator and I, keen to share their stories. They look exhausted. Do people here feel like they'll ever be able to go back to Syria? Will it be safe enough for them?

There's a man here that's just put his hand across his neck, which I think is very clear. Everyone's talking at once now. It's clearly a question that has really upset the people that are here. They cannot return back unless there is an international help, international protection, especially with all the killing that they saw. That

That report was from Emily Wither in Lebanon. And her documentary, The Future of the Alawites, can be heard on Heart and Soul on the BBC World Service. Italians voted on Sunday and will continue on Monday in a referendum that could halve the time needed to become a citizen to five years of uninterrupted residency. Supporters of the move say it would help the army of immigrant workers that the country relies on to feel more at home in Italy.

But the governing coalition of the far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Maloney, has urged people to stay away, looking to keep the turnout below the minimum 50% threshold, which is needed for the measure to stand any chance of becoming law. Sarah Rainsford reports from Rome. This vote could mean hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals now living in Italy are eligible for citizenship five years sooner. That would bring better security and political rights in line with other countries in Europe.

It'd prevent people waiting two or even three decades without citizenship, as they do now. It should help them to integrate instead, to feel part of this country. But for a referendum like this to be valid, 50% of all voters in Italy have to turn out. And the far-right government of Giorgio Maloney has been trying to block that.

first by ignoring the vote and then by calling on people to boycott it, to go to the seaside this weekend, not to the polls. The Prime Minister argues that Italy's citizenship laws are already excellent and don't need changing.

Some here fear making it easier to become Italian would attract more illegal migrants to the country. For those supporting the referendum, say it's about improving life for the foreign workers who come here legally and who Italy now relies on as its own population shrinks and grows older. Sarah Rainsford in Rome.

The Russian paramilitary group Wagner says it has left the West African state of Mali. A Telegram account affiliated with Wagner said, mission accomplished, private military company Wagner is going home.

Wagner's operations have been taken over by the Moscow-run Afrika Korps. So why has the infamous mercenary outfit left the country? Here's Richard Hamilton. If you go back to 2020 and 2021, a military regime took power in Mali in separate coups and they kicked out French and United Nations troops.

saying that they had failed to defeat Islamists. And this junta then pivoted towards Moscow. So Wagner intervened in 2022 to try to defeat the militants and also bolster this new regime in return for lucrative mining contracts.

The official line now is, as you say, mission accomplished. And they say they brought regional centres in the north back under the control of the Malian army. And they've also killed commanders of the insurgents.

But the reality is that Wagner never really had the capacity to defeat the jihadists. And there's been a spate of recent attacks that have been big setbacks for them. For example, there's one insurgent group called JNIM, and they killed more than 100 Malian soldiers recently and some mercenaries as well.

And also, Russia has been phasing out Wagner. And this is ever since the leader of Wagner, Evgeny Prigozhin, he died in a mysterious plane crash after staging a 2023 coup against Vladimir Putin. So since then, Wagner's being phased down and a bigger role is coming in from the Africa Corps.

And who exactly are the Afrika Korps? What will they be doing there? Well, that's the key point. It's really a rebranding exercise. So analysts say that 70% to 80% of the Afrika Korps are actually Wagner mercenaries.

Now, the Afrika Korps is state-controlled. It comes under the Russian Defence Ministry. And Wagner mercenaries are sort of being absorbed into this Afrika Korps. So it's a sort of revamping of Wagner under a new name. But the Afrika Korps does have a slightly different role. Experts say the Russian military engagement in Mali is still continuing...

but it's more in terms of training and providing equipment for the Malian army and less actual fighting of jihadists. And one analyst, a German called Ulf Lessing from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank, he said the Afrika Korps has a lighter footprint and they fight less than the Rambo-type Wagner mercenaries. Richard Hamilton.

Now, a little warning if you're listening to this podcast while eating. Doctors are hoping they can combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs by using so-called painkillers.

poo pills made from the freeze-dried faeces containing healthy bacteria. People with antibiotic-resistant intestinal infections take the pills with the good bacteria driving out the resistant bugs. Drug-resistant infections are thought to kill a million people worldwide every year. Here's our health and science correspondent, James Gallagher. The dark, murky depths of our bowels are a major hiding place for drug-resistant superbugs.

These can escape their intestinal home to cause trouble elsewhere in the body. So doctors at Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals in London are trying to flush them out with good bacteria. These come from a healthy donor's faeces, which is checked for dangerous infections and then freeze-dried and packaged into so-called poo pills. It's thought that good bacteria compete for food and space in the bowels, making it harder for the superbugs to thrive.

It would take larger trials to prove the effectiveness of the approach, but the researchers said it could one day be used in patients with hard-to-treat infections or in those needing other therapies that weaken the immune system, such as cancer treatment. James Gallagher.

And finally, when was the last time you received a handwritten letter from a friend or relative? It is a dying form of communication. Not so for Kiwi Johnny Beardmore, nicknamed the Galapagos Postman. He's taken it upon himself to travel the world delivering letters from one of the world's oldest post boxes found on the remote islands. The

The aim is to raise money for motor neurone disease charities, the illness which killed his father. So how did it all get started? He spoke to the BBC's John Donison. It was a few months after my father passed away. He'd been diagnosed with motor neurone disease back in 2014, just after I'd come back from my last sort of trip where I drove across Asia.

And so I couldn't go anywhere big. And so once he passed, I was on the lookout for a new challenge, something that resonated with me that I could do something with my father in mind. And when I was in the Galapagos, I always wanted to go there. I came across this ancient post box on Isla Floriana. The post box has been there since 1793 and sailors and whalers used to stick their mail there. Everybody knew that when they were sailing on multi-year voyages, they could go to that spot.

They could stick their mail in this whiskey barrel. People would come past and they would pick it up and collect it and deliver it. Wow, and it's still there. It's still there today. Now it's tourists and you go there and you stick a postcard in and you go through the postcards are there and you're encouraged to take them and deliver them. Right. So what did you do?

I took a couple and I brought them back here to London and went and delivered them. And they were an amazing experience, just rocking up on somebody's doorstep unannounced, old school, and handing it over. And the buzz I got from it was like, wow, this is amazing. Maybe I could do this on a grander scale. So how many countries have you done? As a postman, I did 52 countries last year. Which were the most memorable deliveries? Mexico was great. Norway was unique.

So Bergen, I flew in and I turned up there, knocked on the door, explained to the young lady that was at the thing that I'd come to deliver this letter and the recipient wasn't home. And we'd had, I thought, quite a friendly thing. I'd showed her the letter and I said, do you mind if I wait outside? She said, fine. She went inside, closed the door and then flipped out. And they thought I was a knife wielding murderer because I saw my selfie stick poking out of my pocket and I thought it might have been a knife handle.

So they rang the police. The police turned up and I had to do a little bit of fast talking to explain myself. But it all turned out brilliant in the end because once they saw that it was legitimate what I was actually doing and the card was from a friend, then, you know, all concerns disappeared and they invited me in for a cup of tea. And Mexico?

Mexico was special because a girl came down, young girl, she opens the door and she's looking very suspicious at us going, what's going on here? And we go, we're here to see Carmen. And she's going, there's no Carmen here. And this went backwards and forwards. We showed her the card and instantaneously her entire demeanour changed from one of suspicion to one of joy because she'd actually written the letter. So she recognised it. And it was a letter to her mum thanking her for allowing her to follow her dreams and

because she'd been in the Galapagos on a volunteer work placement in nature and her mum had fallen and had a hip replacement operation while she was away and she wanted to come back and her mum said, no, stay, finish, this is your dream and she was writing a letter to say thanks and...

She opened the door. It was her mum's house. We went upstairs. Both her mum was there as well. So we got both the sender and the recipient and the whole thing. I'm just getting goosebumps thinking about it all brought on because of a piece of paper with some writing on it. Now, you must have clocked up a lot of air miles. I mean, how much has this cost you?

It was 100,000 miles. I went around the planet four times. I took all sorts of forms of transport, but the big cost obviously was flights, but I'd saved up a million air miles, and basically that paid for all the flights, so my...

It cost me £4,000 for the flights for the whole trip for the year. Now, of course, these days, people just don't write as many letters, do they? It's all emails or WhatsApp messages or whatever else. But the letter...

is powerful, isn't it? Absolutely. You know, the abiding thing from this is that people aren't writing those messages. And so when somebody does and they receive it, the impression that it creates, you know, everybody was just blown away that they'd got something handwritten because in the world we live in now, we're not doing that anymore.

Johnny Beardmore speaking to the BBC's John Donison about delivering letters from an old whiskey barrel, a postal system used by sailors and whalers on the Galapagos Islands.

And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or any of the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod.

This edition was mixed by Rezenwen Durrell and the producers were Marion Strawn and Stephen Yensen. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Julia McFarlane. Until next time, goodbye.

I'm Zing Singh. And I'm Simon Jack. And together we host Good Bad Billionaire. The podcast exploring the lives of some of the world's richest people. In the new season, we're setting our sights on some big names. Yep, LeBron James and Martha Stewart, to name just a few. And as always, Simon and I are trying to decide whether we think they're good, bad or just another billionaire. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.