Browse content similar to 02/01/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Now on BBC News, it is time for Witness. | :00:00. | :00:27. | |
Hello, and welcome to a special edition of Witness, with me, Tanya | :00:28. | :00:37. | |
Beckett. I am at the British library in London for the last time this | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
year to bring you five of our most striking films of 2015. We will hear | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
from the mother and daughter whose lives were changed forever by a | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
massive environmental disaster in Japan. A drummer who jammed with | :00:50. | :00:59. | |
Miles Davis on the album, Kind of Blue. And a breakthrough in the | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
relations between the US and Iran in a wrestling match. First, 75 years | :01:03. | :01:11. | |
since the Trotsky was assassinated at his home in Mexico. Our first | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
witness, Esteban, is the grandson of the Russian revolutionary. Mexico is | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
about the only land that will have him, so here it is, Trotsky, landing | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
with his wife. Once a partner of Lennon and commander of the Red | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
Remembering his grandfather in the country. | :01:33. | :05:19. | |
Remembering his grandfather in the house that has become a museum | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
dedicated to Trotsky's memory. In the 1950s, a mysterious epidemic had | :05:25. | :05:34. | |
swept through the small town of Minamata in Japan. It was only much | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
later revealed to be the result of mercury poisoning. We spoke to a | :05:38. | :05:47. | |
witness about the environmental disaster that hurt a family. | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
TRANSLATION: I cannot tell you how much I hate the chemical factory. | :05:54. | :06:02. | |
They devastated our ocean and people. I just hate it. People used | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
to say that life in Minamata was wonderful. The corporation was the | :06:10. | :06:18. | |
only one in Minamata. We are still frightened by the offer must of what | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
was leaked by the country. -- awfulness. It poisons the fish and | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
people that get them got Minamata disease. -- poisoned. -- ate. There | :06:29. | :06:41. | |
was no warning before the factory was built near the base. But the | :06:42. | :06:49. | |
corporation denied anything and continued to pump its waste into the | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
sea. TRANSLATION: That's got the disease before people. They became | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
blind and stands round and round like they were crazy. -- cats. Soon | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
became clear that people were suffering as well. TRANSLATION: | :07:06. | :07:12. | |
Miyumi was my first daughter. She could not eat fish well because she | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
was only three years old, but she could eat prawns by herself, so I | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
let her eat many. We thought that something might be wrong with | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
Miyumi. We thought she might have the strange disease. When her hands | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
started shaking, I realised, she had the disease. She became unable to | :07:37. | :07:45. | |
walk properly, unable to speak. Doctors from the local university | :07:46. | :07:48. | |
filmed the shaking for it. They suspected metal poisoning. -- fits. | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
TRANSLATION: When I visited her in hospital, she had lost her sight. | :07:55. | :08:03. | |
But, she could still hear. I said to her, Miyumi, your mother is here, | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
you do not have to cry any more. She gave me a sweet smile. It was her | :08:09. | :08:18. | |
last smile on January three of 1958 she died. -- third. -- smile. | :08:19. | :08:31. | |
By 1958, we knew it was caused by the corporation. They knew it was | :08:32. | :08:40. | |
caused by waste water pumped into the bay by the factory. They tried | :08:41. | :08:48. | |
to hide it. My second child Shinobu. She contracted Minamata disease in | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
the womb. I did not think it was possible. But, three months after | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
she was born, I noticed that something was wrong with her Shinobu | :09:01. | :09:16. | |
is now 59 he sold. -- years old. In 1959 the corporation offered her | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
some money. Her life cannot be replaced by money. And Fuji and | :09:23. | :09:33. | |
Shinobu still live in Minamata today. Next, 20 years ago, Iraq | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
decided to mark a thought in diplomatic relations by inviting a | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
US team to a wrestling match in Iran. -- thaw. It was the first time | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
in two decade that any US diplomatic visitors had stepped foot in Iranian | :09:51. | :10:00. | |
soil. -- decades. They are the best fans in the world, Iran, it is a | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
party. They chant and they have a guy with a whole and the sheer. -- | :10:07. | :10:15. | |
horn and they cheer. It is just amazing. Before going to a round, we | :10:16. | :10:29. | |
knew there was a lot of tension between the US and Iran. -- Iran. We | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
were the first Americans go to Iran in about 20 years, since the hostage | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
crisis. We were a little nervous about the whole trip, but also, at | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
the same time, I was very excited about the trip because I was going | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
to get my first opportunity with Iran and compete against the best | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
wrestlers in the world. Iowa is the first American to wrestle an Iranian | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
in at least two decades. -- I was the. When I first walked up to him, | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
I knew he was the national champion for Iran, one of their better | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
wrestlers... I won't forget the match. He was strong, I and talking | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
real strong. It makes you a little nervous just watching it. -- I am. | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
There is so much energy in that room. He was their hometown | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
favourite. APPLAUSE. I ended up getting a score | :11:24. | :11:29. | |
early and had even turned him on top, which is very unusual, to be | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
able to turn and by bringing in the top position. In many Minamata then | :11:35. | :11:42. | |
he came back and got a scorer me. -- Then he. That was a defining moment | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
in the at. If he turned me again he would be able to keep pushing. -- | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
score on me. -- in the match. He threw everything at me and I was on | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
the offence and I managed to shut down. He not only shook my hand | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
after the match, but he came up to me, and he gave me a kiss on the | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
cheek. And, it was me looking uncomfortable and in showing his | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
gratitude to wrestling and having a good match. Obviously, being an | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
American, we are not used to, especially after competition, or | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
anytime, but a male wanting to express himself kissing you on the | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
cheek. -- any time. I won the match, but they won the tournament as 18. | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
They are fantastic wrestlers. To be able to get on the map with and | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
Iranian and be able to win is a big deal. -- a team. -- an. There was | :12:37. | :12:45. | |
one they let us do at to see the city. They took us to the bazaar. | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
That is what it is called, it was also an. Many people, very friendly | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
towards us. -- it was awesome. My mother collect teapots so I bought a | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
very nice one for my wife and my mother. When I returned to the US we | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
got an invitation from Bill Clinton to go to the oval losses because he | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
wanted to know what our experience was like in Iran's. -- Oval Office. | :13:12. | :13:19. | |
-- Iran. He was very appreciative of what we did. He is still tough. | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
Still calf. And the real good shape of the would-be kind of fun to scrap | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
You can catch up on a thousand of against the -- tough. | :13:33. | :13:48. | |
You can catch up on a thousand of our programmes on radio archive. | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
Just go to this website. In the 1950s the Danish government removed | :13:56. | :14:03. | |
20 in Newark children and took them to Denmark. The Fx are still being | :14:04. | :14:13. | |
felt -- effects. This woman was taken from her family. . | :14:14. | :14:26. | |
TRANSLATION: In 1948 the authorities held a national conference with the | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
Danish colonial committee. They discussed sending children to learn | :14:32. | :14:35. | |
Danish. The idea was that they would return to Greenland and teach their | :14:36. | :14:43. | |
peers Danish. The authority sent out telegrams to priests and head | :14:44. | :14:44. | |
teachers in Greenland's coastal town. They requested to find bright | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
children in all those town. They had to be intelligent because they | :14:52. | :14:54. | |
needed to learn Danish quickly and they had to be between six and ten | :14:55. | :15:03. | |
years old. One day two grand colonial masters showed up and asked | :15:04. | :15:06. | |
my mum if she was willing to send me to Denmark. They said was a great | :15:07. | :15:15. | |
chance for me. The day I was leaving the Denmark we walked down to the | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
harbour with my little suitcase. From the boat I looked at my mum but | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
I could not way that her, I was too upset. I thought, why are you | :15:24. | :15:35. | |
letting me leave? In Denmark I was put with two different foster | :15:36. | :15:39. | |
family. The first was with a doctor outside Copenhagen. I did not feel | :15:40. | :15:47. | |
welcome and felt like a stranger. The second was like a fairytale | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
compared to the first. They were very warmhearted people. As far as | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
adults were concerned, I did not trust them. They had set me to | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
Denmark, so far away. The following year in 1952, 16 of us were sent to | :16:03. | :16:10. | |
Greenland. When the ship docked I ran down the bridge into the arms of | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
my mother and I talked about all that I had seen, but she did not | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
answer. Looked up at her in confusion. After a while she said | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
something but I could not understand a word she said. I thought, this is | :16:24. | :16:27. | |
awful, I cannot speak with my mother any more. We speak to different | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
languages. I barely recovered from the shock before the director tapped | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
my shoulder and said get on the bus we are going to the orphanage. I | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
thought I was going home to my mum. Why was I being sent to a | :16:42. | :16:48. | |
children's home? I just got on and could hardly see the town through my | :16:49. | :17:01. | |
tears. It was later revealed that at the conference in 1948, the Danish | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
Red Cross were present. They suggested that when the innuit | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
children come back to Greenland, a children's home should be built for | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
them. They thought we should not go back to worse conditions than we had | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
experienced in Denmark. With my mother, the relationship was never | :17:21. | :17:25. | |
really rebuilt. The way my mum gave in. It was in the days when | :17:26. | :17:35. | |
Greenland was a part of the colony. And they were masters in the worst | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
part of the words. As far as the Danish authorities are concerned I | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
felt disappointed. I've not been able to understand how they turned | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
us into an experiment. It is just in Conran 's ball and I'm still bitter | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
about it. I will be until the day I die. -- despicable. They received an | :17:53. | :18:16. | |
official apology from Save V Children -- the. Miles Davis | :18:17. | :18:25. | |
recorded and how will that changed transfer ever. Kind of blue was a | :18:26. | :18:38. | |
death record of all time. We made it on the day. To play with Miles Davis | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
was wobbly one of the best things you could do in the jazz world. I | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
was unpopular and he had the most popular jazz bands in the world. I | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
don't know what the magic is for most people. For me, it is the | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
feeling in the way the guys play. I love being there with them. I think | :19:03. | :19:09. | |
what got everybody about it was the sound. He could play really twitchy | :19:10. | :19:27. | |
-- pretty ballads. If you were a drummer and played the way he likes | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
you to play, it is not a test. He used to say, if I have someone in | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
the band and I found something off them and I can't get anything back, | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
then I know I have got the wrong guy. | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
Where are you going to work now? Right here. Ready? It was just | :19:51. | :20:05. | |
another Miles Davis record. When Miles came in there was no music. He | :20:06. | :20:12. | |
had the manuscript had but that he had written down a few things like | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
chord changes and something like that. That was probably the least -- | :20:16. | :20:29. | |
I have ever had making a record -- pressure. He said make it seem like | :20:30. | :20:37. | |
you were floating. And that is the way he liked it. He always figured | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
the first take was going to be the best one anyway. He stopped the tape | :20:43. | :20:48. | |
one time because someone played a chord that he did not want. That is | :20:49. | :20:59. | |
the only time he stopped it. It wasn't hard. It was like we were at | :21:00. | :21:08. | |
a jam session or something. The rest of the world was playing structured | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
tunes and this was nothing like that. This is what they call modal | :21:13. | :21:19. | |
where you place chords and scale. It was easy on the ear. Ifan people who | :21:20. | :21:26. | |
did not know about Jazz liked it. By the time it was over I loved it -- | :21:27. | :21:37. | |
even. Nobody thought it would be as big as it was going to be. Those are | :21:38. | :21:46. | |
some really great guys that I was playing with. They are not here any | :21:47. | :21:57. | |
more. And I think about them every day and I am going to love them to | :21:58. | :22:10. | |
the end. That is how it lasts. That is all from us here at Witness. We | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
will be back in 2016 with more tales of our times from around the globe. | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
Now, from me and the rest of the Witness team. Goodbye. | :22:22. | :22:50. | |
Hello. It looks like we will see wet and windy weather across most parts | :22:51. | :23:02. | |
of the UK again. Obviously, concerns are flooding but especially eastern | :23:03. | :23:05. | |
Scotland where the | :23:06. | :23:06. |