Mass shooting in South Africa sparks manhunt and other top stories | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver. Conway and this is what we have coming. up. Gunman kill 11 people in South. Africa as the nation grapples with. skyhigh murder rates. >> It is something that does still shock a. lot of people in this country to see u. mass shootings happen anywhere. >> The head of the IMF warns governments to. reduce their debt burdens. I have seen. shock after shock pushing debt levels up. like a staircase not to heaven.

>> Our China correspondent reports from the. front line of the AI race. >> Just a few months ago, this corner of. Inner Mongolia was farmland. Now dozens. of data centers have sprung up for the. likes of Huawei and others. >> Fears of a return to civil war in. Ethiopia as Tigrian fighters seize a. major airport. South Africa has one of the highest. murder rates in the world with around 60. people killed every day. In one deadly.

incident on Tuesday night, gunman. attacked a house party in a township. outside Durban, killing 11 people, including a pregnant woman. I heard more. from our correspondent in Johannesburg, Puma Flani. The police have said, Oliver, that it's still very early in. their investigation, but they are also. following um a lead where some of the. victims they say had been on their crime. watch list. They are saying this may. mean that there was a a a rival feud.

involved that was behind the killing. But again, it's still very early stages. Um it's something that's not that widely. common in South Africa, mass shootings. Although the murder rate is high, it is. something that does still shock a lot of. people in this country to see mass. shootings happen anywhere. But Kesen. Kazat, the area where that happened in, there's just another insight that's. important to share there. It's a place. where murder for hire uh is is ri um the. police have said. So they're also. looking at whether that was behind the.

motive, whether somebody uh paid these. gunmen to carry out um the shooting last. night. >> Yeah. and tell us more about the high. levels of of violent crime that are. affecting South Africa at the moment. >> Certainly, it's one of the highest um. hardest across violent crime in the. world with the murder rate uh continuing. to be something that's very difficult. for the authorities u from the. government to the police to get a handle. on. It's something that South Africans. are widely concerned about and that.

persecution rate they've said isn't as. high as it can be. It takes very long. for cases to get through the courts and. some instances for even arrests to. happen. But it is something that is. front of mind for a lot of South. Africans because of how prevalent it is. and just how widespread. There isn't one. specific area Oliver that you can zero. in on and say if we solve it here, it. goes away everywhere. It happens in each. province and for various reasons. But. the police have said that they're trying.

their level best in terms of renewing. their training and getting as much. resources as needed so they can get a. handle on the situation. >> Yeah. The government even sent in the. army earlier this year. Is there. anything more they can do? >> See, that should tell you how serious of. a problem it is. We don't see the army. on the streets of South Africa often. They only are ever called in when. there's been a spike really. And they're. there to help the police effect arrest. So they don't effect arrest themselves. but they're there as extra backup.

because there are certain parts of the. country where even the police themselves. cannot just uh willy-nilly go in. They. need that added support in terms of. gunfire and we see in areas where that. does happen. There is temporarily a. reduction of violent crime. >> The head of the International Monetary. Fund has warned advanced economies to. cut their borrowing. Cristina Gorgva. said debt levels had been pushed up by. global shocks, but governments hadn't. done enough to tackle the spiraling cost.

of interest. She spoke to our economics. editor, Fisal Islam. >> Our message to everybody is you cannot. control exogenous factors, but you have. control over your domestic policies. So. make sure you stay ahead of inflation, keep inflation uh back and uh to. governments uh get on top of your debt. uh issue. Uh I have seen shock after.

shock pushing debt levels up like a. staircase not to heaven. >> and no action to contain the uh debt. service cost. So time to take that. action. >> You are the world's financial and fiscal. watchdog. You you you mark the homework. if you like of entire governments. especially at times like this. There's. been a government bond market borrowing. market shock frankly over the over the.

summer affecting the biggest nations in. the world from the United States and the. United Kingdom too. The policy advice. you're saying quite clearly is to. respond to this shock with lower. borrowing, potentially lower spending, potentially tax rises. >> So there are these two things that must. be done, bring debt levels down, put fiscal consolidation as a priority. and make sure that the uh central banks.

deliver on their mandate for price. stability. It is impossible to stress strongly. enough uh how critical it is to get the. courage to take the steps that are. necessary. Uh so far the bond markets. have reacted to fundamentals. Inflation. is up that service is up uh and that is.

reflected in yields. So it is not to be we shouldn't be. surprised that yields had gone up. But. if we want this not to be step up after. another that has to be has to be. demonstrabably a commitment uh to price. stability. >> We're hearing a lot obviously about. safety but what about your area of. financial safety? Some astonishing. valuations, cross ownerships a danger.

Are the AI companies too big to fail? uh. what we are seeing is uh one. companies are profitable. They are able. to go and raise money because of that. profitability that comes from deployment. of AI. Uh also we see quite a lot of. leverage and circular financing in. place. uh and that if there is not. turbulence is not a problem. But yes, we.

are concerned of two things. One, if. this massive enthusiasm about AI is. paired with the disappointment and we. all know that with new technologies, usually we overestimate the short-term. impact, we underestimate the long-term. impact and therefore disappointment can. happen. Or if we see more incidents when. AI takes life of its own, then we can be.

faced with a significant financial. stability risk. >> Listening to that was our business. reporter Andquay. I asked her first why. debt costs were so high at the moment. >> The war in Iran has certainly. exacerbated this issue because it's. disrupted the supply of oil. Of course, you've been hearing so much about the. the straight of Hormuz and its blockade. Um, and because it's restricted, the.

flow of oil um that's reaching the. international markets. That in turn has. fueled inflation, which means government. borrowing costs have gone up as you. know, the government uses tools to bring. down inflation. And one key tool to. bring down inflation is raising interest. rates. And that makes it more expensive. to borrow. and that in turn makes it. more expensive for governments to. service their debt. So here in the UK. for example, the interest on government. debt in August. Um it was the highest.

figure since monthly records began in. 1997. And and you know just looking at. the US um another advanced economy their. borrowing costs pushed up debt to more. than $40 trillion which has doubled in. the space of a decade. >> Okay. So, a lot of interest that has to. be paid. How can governments bring that. down and and will they take action? >> Um, yes. I I think one of the things. that Miss Gorchi ever um alluded to is.

this um difficulty politically with um. trying to cut spending? I mean, what. what do governments cut? Um, here in the. UK, we're expecting Prime Minister Andy. Bernham's first budget budget next month. and speculation is already building over. his tax policy and what spending. policies will be. Um, I mean, the key. thing here is that governments need to. bring down their debt levels and to do. that they have to cut government. spending. Um, she also talked about.

central banks stabilizing prices, which. could mean raising interest even. further, which isn't popular. that means. mortgage rates going up even more. Um, another mechanism is um, policy reform. that encourages the private sector to. come in and invest because governments. simply don't have the cash to boost. economic growth. >> The IMF boss also warned about AI, the. huge amounts of investments going in, the possible disruption it can cause.

How worried should we be that a a. possible AI bubble could burst? Well, there are still concerns um that. companies might not, you know, investors. might not realize the returns expected. from um investment in artificial. intelligence because we've been seeing. so much money funneled into developing. the infrastructure and you know building. things like data centers. So there are. concerns that perhaps the industry has. exaggerated you know their abilities to.

boost their performance and profit. I. mean, that's something we'll have to. wait and see. >> Still to come, why Dolly Parton's estate. is at the center of a brewing legal. battle. AI is one of the issues likely to be on. the agenda when the US and Chinese. presidents meet at the White House on. Thursday. There have been calls from. inside the industry for a slowdown, but. Donald Trump and Cinping are keen to. push on. The US president says whoever.

wins AI wins overall. While China is. investing heavily to build the computing. power it needs to compete in the AI. race. Much of the construction is far. from China's major cities. As Laura. Bicker now reports, for centuries these vast grasslands were. known for horses and herders. Now it has become a digital frontier. with enough renewable energy to power. China's AI ambitions.

That's why its data centers are being. built here. at remarkable speed. As this country races to catch up to the. US, if China is going to lead the world in. artificial intelligence development, this is where it is building the engine. room that will drive that change. Just a. few months ago, this corner of Inner. Mongolia was farmland. Now, dozens of.

data centers have sprung up for the. likes of Huawei and others. There is no. sign that China is slowing down on this. technology. Across China, AI is becoming part of. everyday life. From programming robot. deliveries to aiding police on patrol. It's moving out of the lab and onto the. streets. Part of Beijing's ambition to. embed AI into its economy. The computing power generated here will.

support that vision. >> There is one phase of construction every. year. This is the second phase. There. are more to come. This has been a $75. billion investment. It doesn't do much good for us locals. They need educated people. They don't. need that many workers. For me, I can. only do some hard manual labor. >> There's been little opposition in this.

remote corner of the country, unlike in. the West. But there are still some quiet. skeptics. If they demolish the village for a data. center, it won't be good. I prefer. living by the farmland. >> Off camera, farmers told us they saw few. benefits and feared for their land or. their way of life. Others were keen to. praise the country's leadership.

>> Of course, the data center brings us. benefits. It creates jobs. President Xi. is raising living standards for the. Chinese people. China is growing. We are. now leading the world. This is no longer. the China from the 1960s. And so across the fields, data centers. continue to rise, a symbol of this. country's race towards an AI powered. future, even as some of its people.

wonder whether they'll be part of it. >> Reports from Ethiopia say local forces. in the northern region of Tigra have. seized the airport in the regional. capital, Mckelle. The Tigran rebels said. they were combating an invasion by. federal forces, raising fears of. resumption of the two-year civil war in. the region which left as many as 600,000. people dead. Katherine Baru Hungar got. the latest from our former Ethiopia. correspondent Kalcadan Yel. >> All flights to and from TR toran cities.

have been suspend suspended. Uh the the. flakier Ethiopian Airlines announced. this morning that they have suspended. all flights to the three major airports. in the TUR region. uh and uh you know. local sources and and then residents in. the city told us that uh the grand. forces have entered into uh into the the. main airport in Mali city and then you. know taking control of it that airport. uh had been under the control of a few. federal uh police forces uh and it's not.

clear what happened to this federal. police forces but it this signals a. major escalation and it's coming the. backdrop of uh recent weeks of. increasing tensions and uh you know more. increasingly more increasing instances. of drone strikes in Tigra and around. Tigra region and also it happens a few. days after southern rebel and armed. groups have announced that they're. forming an alliance uh in an effort to. try to overthrow the government of Prime. Minister Abi Ahmed. >> and just give us the context to this and.

why it's so worrying because this comes. some four years after the civil war in. Tiguay where hundreds of thousands of. people were killed. was a brutal. conflict. >> Yes, it was indeed a brutal conflict and. it's one of the most uh you know. devastating and the deadliest conflicts. this century anywhere. Uh some estimates. put the number of people who were killed. in the region of 600,000. That was the. civil war in Tigra between 2020 and. 2022. Uh but at at late 2022 there was a.

peace deal signed between the ground. forces and the government the federal. government that silenced the guns. uh. and you know normal activities have. resumed to the region and it seems that. things were returning back to normality. However, tensions remained and there. were so many unresolved issues. Uh and. uh there are also other in other parts. of Ethiopia there are other conflicts. and it seems now that we're we're seeing. all these are you know converging. uh. the grand forces have repeatedly accused.

the federal government of breaching that. peace deal while the federal government. says that they are the ones who are. breaching the peace deal by trying to. forge an alliance with other armed. actors as well as foreign countries uh. particularly the northern neighbora and. that was as you said very devastating. the humanitarian crisis was uh very uh. you know consequential and if another. war of a similar scale were to break out. it's going to be very destabilizing not. only for Ethiopia but for the Horn of. Africa region.

>> When Dolly Parton died last month at the. age of 80, the news was announced by her. nephew Brian Sver. He worked as the. singer's head of security for more than. two decades, taking over from his. father. But now Dolly Parton's longtime. manager has requested a restraining. order against him in a growing row over. her estate. Our music correspondent Mark. Savage told us more. So, these were. court papers filed in Nashville. yesterday, and they accused Brian Siver, Dolly Parton's nephew, of what they call. an intense and escalating campaign of.

threats against the estate. Um, there. are emails and text messages included in. the court papers, which appear to show. him threatening uh the people who are. looking after Dolly Parton's legacy. He. says he will launch a podcast dedicated. to ruining Dolly's brand. He calls. himself the hand of retribution for the. pardon family and he says everyone needs. to be worried. Now he has disputed uh. his characterization in the lawsuit. He.

says that these messages were taken out. of context and uh nothing that he said. was a threat. Uh in a statement to TMZ. he said a lot of the messages are two. guys rage talking and crying on the. phone together while they were grieving. >> So what happens next? So, uh, Danny Nazelle, who was Dolly. Parton's manager for, uh, more than 20. years, has asked for a civil restraining. order, uh, against Brian Siver, her. nephew. Um, that will, they've also. requested a jury trial, um, after the.

temporary restraining order is made in. order, uh, to to extend it. That is, of. course, if the restraining order is. made. Um, uh, and they say, you know, this has affected their business. already. they have lost lawyers and. other employees as a result of what they. call Sver's threats. H and they also say. that some members of the company have. had to take out private security because. they're worried about their own safety. And again, I would have to say that. Brian Siver does deny that he poses a. threat to these people.

>> Of course, there was a huge outpouring. of emotion when Dolly Parton died. Is. this at risk of of souring her legacy. somewhat? I mean, I think, you know, obviously. everybody loved Dolly Parton because she. was so serene and peaceful and generous. Uh, and the kind of ugliness of a family. and an estate fighting over her $450. million fortune is bound to sour. people's opinions of those who are left.

to look after her legacy. But I don't. think it will make people think any. worse of her. I think you know when. money comes into families it often turns. uh pretty nasty. Um but by all accounts. Dolly did leave her estate in such a way. that um there won't be a huge ongoing. row. Uh she left a lot of her properties. and a lot of her business interests and. trusts uh which makes the likelihood of. legal action much much less than if she. had died in probate. >> And that's all from this edition of the.

Global News podcast. If you'd like to. get in touch, our contact details are. below. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next. time, goodbye.