Nepal flood survivors are rescued from a tunnel and other top news stories | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and on Friday the 4th of September we go to Nepal where two flood victims have been pulled alive from a tunnel in a miraculous rescue. Many of the families we've spoken to fear their loved ones are dead but this moment will give so much hope to people who are having a very difficult time holding on to it. We have a report from the occupied West Bank where two Palestinian teenagers have been killed. Jewish settlers backed by Israeli soldiers are expanding their attacks and incursions further inside Palestinian villages. We find out why the German car giant Volkswagen is cutting tens of thousands of jobs and we hear how video filmed by undercover journalists has led to two officials from Britain's populist right-wing reform party standing down. We start our podcast in Nepal with the dramatic moment two workers were rescued from a hydropower tunnel in the country, nine days after devastating flash floods that have killed more than 1,300 people. Our South Asia correspondent Azadeh Mashiri reports from Nepal. A miracle trapped in the Trishuli 3A hydro tunnel for nine days but still alive. Here Sanjay Shah pulled from the darkness. Kabir Mahajan follows. He puts his hands together against all odds he's now safe. Both survivors need immediate medical attention. Rescuers carry Sanjay, Nepal's home minister holding an oxygen can. The workers had little of it inside the tunnel. Sanjay was in the underground control room the day of the flood. He calls to reassure his father. He then tells rescuers there may be more survivors in an underground chamber. Amid all the devastation, the thousands who are still missing and the fading odds, many of the families we've spoken to fear their loved ones are dead. But this moment will give so much hope to people who are having a very difficult time holding on to it. They are just two of the workers rescued in what is turning into an extraordinary day for Nepal. The tunnel rescue is extremely challenging. Rescuers have been making their way inside since the flood. Little space to move. Oxygen is being pumped to keep workers alive. Using excavators to clear the mud and debris and a controlled explosion at the crown of the tunnel. On Friday, they heard voices for the first time. Survivors are being airlifted to a military hospital in the capital, Kathmandu. The hope is more survivors will follow. The flood also caused massive devastation over the border in the Chinese-controlled region of Tibet. Although the official figures for those killed are much lower than in Nepal. I asked our China correspondent Stephen McDonnell about the situation there. On the Tibet side of the border, the rescue does seem to have changed into an effort much more to deal with the living. So all of the information we're getting now from the People's Liberation Army is that they're testing water and food that the survivors are eating. They're putting up shelters. They're disinfecting areas. They're also looking after the psychological well-being of people who might have lost loved ones. Something else they've done is to pull together, I think, around 800 different items of people's personal belongings. Now, they're thinking that these belongings can be attached to the missing. And on the Tibet side of the border, that's nearly 550 people. So items like torn bits of police uniforms, children's toys, personal belongings like bracelets and the like. And then they're attempting to match those with individuals. And I guess in the long run, it's the pretty grim task of determining who is or isn't coming back and then to be able to say to those who are grieving already, yes, indeed, your family members are not coming back. They've also added, I should add, set up these two hotlines for people to call who have missing loved ones, one in English and one in Chinese. And so that's for people who specifically think that they are missing somebody in the Tibetan part of China. And I think 800 calls around by noon on Wednesday. And at least I think half of those are from people overseas. So it shows how many amongst that nearly 550 missing how many foreigners are missing. So that's all pretty terrible. But at least those systems have been set up to try and help people deal with this crisis. The past couple of years here in Britain have seen the populist right wing reform party become a major political force. Its leader Nigel Farage is often compared to Donald Trump, and he's been talked about as a future British Prime Minister. But this year has seen reform embroiled in financial scandals. The party has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But now two senior officials have stepped down after undercover journalists secretly filmed members of the party, apparently suggesting ways of getting around the law to secure a large foreign donation. Joe Pike reports. Under UK electoral law, you need to be registered to vote here to donate to a political party or you need to have a company that is registered here. Secondly, we should say that this filming was done by a US group called Verbatim Investigations. They were founded by a group called the Centre for Climate Reporting. Now the sort of key allegation here centres a man around a man called Dan Jukes. He's very close to Nigel Farage, a senior aide. Now in this undercover footage, we see Mr. Jukes talking to a reporter who is claiming to be a young son of a rich American. So a UK based son of a rich American who might give reform money. Now, the reporter tells Dan Jukes that because of his concern about the rules I mentioned about needing to be a voter in the UK to donate, his father wouldn't be able to donate directly to Reform UK. And in the film, Dan Jukes appears to suggest the donation could be made by the son, where the funds would of course come from his rich father in America. He then claims that Reform UK have done this before. Dan Jukes then asked the undercover reporter how much money they're talking about. So I think we could probably go, you know, if Nigel makes it number 10, you know, you're having a pie with who's effectively going to be his chief of staff at number 10. Yeah, exactly. If that isn't his business interest, I don't know what is. No, exactly, exactly. So I think five, five would be a realistic first, 500 would be a realistic first salvo. No sign of Nigel Farage in that clip. But the Reform UK leader does appear in another clip around a table, a dining table outside in his Clacton constituency. There are four people there. You've got Nigel Farage, his aide, Dan Jukes, who we saw in that report, as well as the reporter claiming to be the son of the rich American and an actor claiming to be the rich American himself. But then Dad will send the money to me. And then as soon as as soon as that's done, all of those conversations are had, then the money's available. So no, we... Reform UK say they've launched an investigation, but they've also said that this is a hoax perpetuated by foreign funded climate change activists. Earlier on the BBC, actually, in this very spot, we heard from the Reform chair, Lee Anderson. Well, what I will say is that we've spoken to our KC, who has advised us that no laws have been broken and Reform UK have launched a full internal investigation to see how this, how these what we can only describe as far left agitators have got that close to the party to make this documentary. And one of the questions that we're asking is how is this all funded as well? Well, the key aide at the heart of these revelations, Dan Jukes, has been approached for comment. We've also contacted the Electoral Commission. They look after electoral rules and party donations in the UK. They've said information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is a matter for the police to consider. The police, the media reports, but they've not begun an investigation. Funerals have taken place in the occupied West Bank for two Palestinian teenagers who were killed during an incursion into their village by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The deaths come amid a recent surge in settler violence and mounting criticism of the Israeli military's role in the attacks. The IDS says it's investigating Wednesday's incident. Our Middle East correspondent, Lucy Williamson, sent this report. One by one, Al Moraya is losing its sons. Khalil Abu Aliyah was 16, shot dead in the middle of the village as settlers, backed by Israeli soldiers, seized dozens of sheep in a disputed claim of ownership. His body carried for burial alongside that of 19-year-old Omar Al Nasser. This village has held six funerals this year for men and boys killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers here. The killing of our young men has become a regular ritual, just part of our life. When your son walks in the street, you expect that he could be injured or killed, arrested by the army or beaten and dragged in the streets. It was here, right in the middle of the village, that both teenagers were shot dead. Khalil down this street and Omar just over here. Local residents say there were Israeli snipers on many of the rooftops here and Israel's army says its forces fired in response to a violent riot. But that doesn't address the wider situation that's unfolding across the occupied West Bank, where Jewish settlers, backed by Israeli soldiers, are expanding their attacks and incursions further inside Palestinian villages. And Palestinians are being forced off their land. Sheep farming has become a routine tool for extending settler control over the occupied West Bank. Before the teenagers were shot yesterday, settlers brought sheep through the fencing around this house at the edge of the village, as they do every day, one of the families said, accompanied by Israeli soldiers. In my village, I don't have any protection. My country don't have anything to do for me because it's not have an army or anything. This is life, you know, this is my life. I can't change it. If you want to change it, you will kill. Settler outposts, illegal under both international and Israeli law, have encircled Al Moraya over the past few years, backed by Israel's fiercely pro-settlement government and protected by Israeli forces. This village, now facing a daily choice, losing its land or losing its people. Still to come, New Zealand authorises psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA, which is found in the drug Ecstasy, to some patients. A BBC investigation has found that more than 80 people have been killed in a number of African countries following false claims of what's being termed genital theft. These false rumours, which are being spread on social media, allege that a simple tap on the shoulder by a stranger can cause a man's genitals to shrink or disappear. Despite repeated assurances from doctors that there is no medical basis for these claims, there have been repeated mob attacks which have left entire communities gripped by fear. One survivor is Boniface M Gulla, a mechanic from southern Tanzania. Alfred Lastek went to meet him. Boniface still bears the scars of the day. He almost died in April this year. The father of four had gone to a restaurant for lunch with a friend when a crowd suddenly surrounded them. The crowd dragged him out of the restaurant, saying someone accused him of stealing another man's genitals. The accusation turned into a brutal mob attack. They were beating my friend over there and I was being beaten here. We were in the beaches and they were also throwing stones. It is until I lost consciousness. As for my friend, they took him away to a different location and killed him there. Boniface woke up in the hospital two days later. Months later, he still suffers constant headaches and sometimes walks with a limp. If I walk for even an hour, I struggle and I still have to be on medication. And now my life has come to a standstill. I have closed my business. I am not working and I have no support. My children offer their sympathies and the two have always been crying. He says he has no idea who first made the accusation, but by then fear had already taken hold. Behind me is the Tanzania-Zambia border, one of the region's busiest trade crossings. So earlier this year, the area became the center of widespread panic after rumors of so-called genital theft, which spread through communities on both sides of the border and on social media. I started hearing about genital theft through TikTok and they took it easy. In the evening, I saw people running. I then had to look what was going on outside my shop. Upon following, I learned that a man had been caught and accused of stealing male genitals. Then I found some people beating the man. Several people were arrested and some were sentenced to prison in connection with other mob attacks linked to the genital theft rumors. Boniface says he has not pursued his own case as his priority for now is to recover fully from the injuries he suffered. Medical examinations found no evidence that anyone's genitals had disappeared. The BBC verified videos of several countries showing people being attacked after similar accusations. The rumors had spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Kenya. As police tried to restore order, those claiming their genitals had disappeared were taken to hospital, but the violence continued. An analysis and investigation suggested that the incident was rooted in superstitious beliefs which is linked to criminal acts. Essentially, individuals conspired to commit a crime and incite public panic for their own benefits. For Boniface, the impact of that day is lasting. His injuries may heal, but the scars left by misinformation will remain for the rest of his life. Germany's once mighty car industry is in crisis, in part because of growing competition from China and its cheap electric vehicles. Volkswagen is still the biggest car maker in Europe, but the company is to cut a further 50,000 jobs by the end of this decade. That would bring the total number of planned layoffs to 100,000 and could see the closure of plants in Germany. Anna-Marie Beesden is Head of Autos and Infrastructure Research at BMI. She spoke to my colleague, Mark LaBelle. It's a sign that they're having to become more competitive. Particularly labour costs are high and that's why we're seeing the job cuts, but we're also seeing the proposals about plant closures because idle capacity has been a problem in Europe even since before the pandemic and sales in the region have never really got back to those pre-pandemic levels and so it's exacerbated the problem. So we're seeing this not just with VW but a lot of other manufacturers as well and, you know, we're seeing talk of maybe we should increase the number of hours in the working week to try and be more competitive. So it's a problem across Germany. Volkswagen was a brand close to many people's hearts but now can its reputation recover? We've had the emissions scandal. We've got this competition from China struggling over EVs and competition against other brands. I think really that's what a lot of these sweeping proposals are aimed at is longevity. If they can become more competitive, more efficient and then, you know, we don't have to hear as many of these kinds of stories coming out, that will all add to reputation. But at the moment it's more of an operational thing and trying to secure that longevity by not having idle capacity that will cost a bigger workforce than they need that's also a big cost. New Zealand has become only the second country after Australia to authorise psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA, the active ingredient that's found in the party drug ecstasy. It will only be administered in a controlled clinical setting to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Our global affairs reporter Paul Moss told me more. This is, as you suggested, the drug that's known as part of ecstasy which makes people dance all night at rave parties. But yes it does seem to have clinical uses. People don't realise that in fact long before it was used by people at parties back in 1911 it was developed and used in psychotherapy because the idea is that the feeling of well-being it induces allows people to think about perhaps traumatic things that have happened which they might otherwise be blocking out. So in a sense while New Zealand might think it's ahead of the curve that's going back to the original purpose of MDMA, as you suggested, particularly going to use it on people with post-traumatic stress disorder in a clinical setting and whilst they're in this under the influence of MDMA, they'll be given psychotherapy with the idea it might be more effective than otherwise. Now to some people this might sound like quite a radical approach compared to traditional methods, is it? Well Australia's actually been doing this, New Zealand's neighbour, for the last three years but using MDMA in a clinical setting is really part of a growing belief among a lot of psychiatrists that drugs which are considered mainly for recreational or for legal purposes do have a clinical use and again there is history here. Back in the 1950s LSD was given in very small doses to people who were suffering from alcoholism and depression and had some effects. Now I should emphasise this is always done in a clinical setting, no one is suggesting that if you're feeling a bit depressed just take an ecstasy tablet and you'll be fine but there is a growing belief that this and also ketamine can be used to help people in a way that otherwise psychotherapy doesn't work. Yes I think the actor Cary Grant took LSD in that setting and magic mushrooms have also been used in the setting but is there opposition to any of this? There is yes, I mean first of all there is a big debate about whether these drugs really are efficacious but then you do tend to get drugs about any medicine used in a psychiatric circumstances causing debate. I mean think about the rouse over Prozac and related antidepressants still going on. Is it effective? Does it have bad side effects? Similar debates are going on about these other psychedelic drugs. There is also political opposition I should say, I mean most countries do have strict laws against possession of things like LSD and ecstasy and there are a lot of politicians, they're very opposed to anything which might seem to be indulging or sort of favouring these drugs. So I think it's safe to say that like all debates in psychiatry this one is set to run. And that's all for this edition of the Global News Podcast. If you'd like to get in touch our contact details are below. I'm Janet Jalil, goodbye.