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

This is a global news podcast from the. BBC World Service. I'm Jennil 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,300 people. Our South Asia correspondent Azad. Mashiri reports from Nepal. >> A miracle trapped in the Tishuli 3A. hydro tunnel for 9 days but still alive. Here's Sanjes Sha 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. Katmandeue. 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 Steven. McDonald 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 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, uh, 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. that's for people who specifically think. that they are missing somebody in the. Tibetan uh 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 Center for. Climate Reporting. Now, the sort of key. allegation here centers a man around a. man called Dan Jukes. He's very close to. Nigel Farage, a senior aid. Now, in this. undercover footage, we see Mr. Jukes. talking to a reporter who is claiming to. be uh a young son of a rich American. So, a UK-based son or a rich American.

who uh might give reform money. Now, the. reporter tells Dan Juke that because of. his uh 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 uh to. suggest the donation could be made by. the son, though the funds would of. course come from his rich father in. America. He then claims that Reform UK. have done this uh before. Dan Jukes then.

asked the undercover reporter how much. money they're talking about. >> So I think we could probably go, >> you know, it's not going to make you. number 10. You know, you're having a P. who's effectively going to be chief. staff at number 10. >> Yeah, exactly. If that doesn't if that. if that isn't business interest, I don't. know what it is. >> No, exactly. Exactly. >> So, um, 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 Clactton. constituency. There are four people. there. You've got Nigel Farage, his aid, uh, Dan Jukes, who we saw in 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, uh, 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 the money's available. >> Thank you. Um, so no, we both.

>> Reform UK said they've launched an. investigation, but they've also said. that this is a hoax uh perpetuated by. foreignf 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 uh 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 uh how these uh what we can only. describe as far-left agitators have uh. got that close to the party to uh to uh. to to um to make this documentary. And. one of the questions that we're asking. is how was this all funded as well? Well, the key aid at the heart of these. revelations, Dan Jukes, has been. approached for comment. We've also. contacted the Electoral Commission. They. look after uh 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 Metropolitan Police in. London have said they are aware of 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 IDF says it's investigating. Wednesday's incident. Our Middle East. correspondent Lucy Williamson sent this. report. One by one, al-maya is losing its sons. Khalu 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 19year-old Omar al-nasan. 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. Uh my uh country don't have. anything to do for me because it's not. have an army or or anything. This is life, you know. This is my life. I can't change it. If you want to change. it, you will killed. >> Settler outposts illegal under both. international and Israeli law have.

encircled Al Mariah 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 authorizes. 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 rumors, 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 Bonifac Mgala, a. mechanic from southern Tanzania. Alfred. Lztec went to meet him. Bonafas 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. the party. >> They were beating my friend over there. and I was being beaten here. We were in. the ditches 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. >> Bonafas woke up in the hospital 2 days. later, months later, he still suffers. constant headaches and sometimes walks. with a limp. And.

>> 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 standill. 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 Tik Tok 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 mo attacks linked to the. genito thefty rumors. Bonifas 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, Mozambi, 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 Bonafas, 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 a 100,000. and could see the closure of plants in. Germany. Anna Marie Basden is head of. autos and infrastructure research at. BMI. She spoke to my colleague Mark. Leel.

>> It's a sign that they're having to. become more competitive. um you know. particularly labor costs are high and. that's why we're seeing the job cuts but. we're also seeing the proposals about. plant closures because uh 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 prepandemic 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 the number of hours in the working. week to try and be more competitive. So, it it's a problem across Germany. >> Volkswagen was a brand close to many. people's hearts. Um, 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 uh sweeping proposals are aimed at. is longevity.

um if they can become more competitive, more efficient, uh and then you know not 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 um uh bigger. workforce than they need. That's also a. big cost. New Zealand has become only the second. country after Australia to authorize.

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 realize 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, they're 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 un in 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 neighbor, 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, often illegal 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 emphasize 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 Carrie Grant took.

LSD in that setting. Very well. remembered. And magic mushrooms have. also been used in those settings. But is. there opposition to 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 condition. circumstances causing debate. I mean. think about the rouseover proac and. related anti-depressants 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 uh there. a lot of politicians they're very. opposed to anything which might seem to. be indulging or sort of favoring 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 Janat Jalil. Goodbye.