Saudia Arabia vows 'serious response' to Houthi attacks and other stories | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC World Service. I'm Anker Desai. Here's what's coming up. As Houthi. missiles break through Saudi Arabia's. air defenses, Riyad vows a serious. response to airport attacks. We're in. Delhi where the cockroach movement is. taking to the streets. >> For days now, protesters have been. trying to make themselves seen and heard. in India's national capital. However, what we are seeing today is unlike what. we've seen on any other day. >> And an unprecedented cyber attack on.

French supermarkets destroys. refrigerated produce. Also in this. podcast, the boss of Microsoft says AI. is less regulated than milk. >> AI is moving forward faster than the. speed of [music] safety. That's not good. for the protection of the public. [music]. We begin in the Middle East where. Yemen's Houthi rebels have renewed their. warnings against people using Saudi. airports after two deadly strikes on.

Riyad's main international airport over. the weekend. And reports of ongoing. threats from missiles as well as drones. One person was killed and 11 were. wounded at King Khaled International. Airport on Sunday. That came a day after. 13 people were killed and more than 300. injured in a missile strike on another. terminal at the airport. The deadliest. attack on Saudi soil in more than a. decade. Speaking at a conference in. Riyad on Monday, the Saudi energy. minister, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman.

said the word fear in the Saudi. dictionary does not exist and that oil. would continue to flow. Energy security. cannot be taken for granted. for Saudi Arabia. This circum this. circumstances have tested our. infrastructure, our institution, our people. and our resilience. They have also tested decision made long. before the present crisis.

because resilience is built before. crisis began. Fighting between the. Houthis and Yemen's internationally. recognized government backed by Saudi. Arabia has escalated dramatically in. recent weeks. Earlier, our global. affairs correspondent Sebastian Usher. told us about the impact the Houthi. attacks are having on Saudi Arabia. >> If you go on the streets uh in Riyad, you'll find that the schools aren't. open. Uh students are studying at home.

up in the skies above people's heads. Planes aren't going by. So this is. having a very very big impact uh both. economically. in terms also of human life but also in. terms of the mood the atmosphere in. Saudi. This is a country that was. pushing towards 2030 uh an extraordinary. ambitious goal but to have a very new. sort of economy which welcomed millions. of people who once upon a time wouldn't. be accepted in Saudi Arabia at all. tourism wasn't a thing. This will have.

another big knock-on effect after the. one that the Iran war had. And we're. seeing it. We're seeing it, as I say, on. the streets of Riyad. You're seeing it. across the country. Even an app um a. very popular app that people use now has. an extra uh device that allows Saudis to. monitor if there are any suspicious. sounds or sites in the sky, but they. then will post them. >> And how is this being presented within. Saudi Arabia? Well, as as you heard. there, I mean, that's very much the line.

that the oil minister was giving there, that they are steadfast um that they are. um not going to bend in any way to the. Houthis. The problem is the Houthis can. hurt the Saudis quite easily really. those missiles are able to get through. I was having a bit of a um a a a. discussion with um a contact I have. who's quite close to NBS and and and and. the leaders in Saudi Arabia over this. saying how could a major airport be hit.

you know three days out of four and he's. saying well it's such a big country so. many different facilities that need to. be looked after doesn't really explain. and I don't think that will come across. to Saudis or expats there the uh de. facto leader of Saudi Arabia the crown. prince Muhammad bin Salman. Haven't. really heard anything from him for a. week or so. There were reports. I was. just looking uh in the Wall Street. Journal saying he's moving from palace. to palace with lots of bodyguards. I. don't think he's under any personal. threat, but there isn't a sense coming.

from him at the moment that he's. standing there and he's speaking up for. the Saudi people. But as I say, the. general sense from officials will be. that we're taking care of this. Just one. very thing briefly, there has been. posted a video of what happened at the. airport on Saturday. very unusual in. Saudi Arabia to show that. I think one. of the keys is to show that lots of the. people who were there were dressed as. pilgrims and to say look what the. Houthies are doing. They're hitting. Muslims, not just Saudis, but Muslims. across the world. India's opposition. parties and thousands of the supporters.

are marching to the Supreme Court in. Delhi to demand the resignation of the. election chief over electoral fraud. defying a strict security clampdown. The. leader of India's opposition Congress. party, Rahul Gandhi, is calling it a. march for democracy and justice and. calling on everyone who believes in. democracy to attend. They want to submit. a petition to the court about the. removal of millions of names from voter. lists. The electoral commission denies. any wrongdoing. There's a heavy police.

presence on the streets and key metro. stations have been closed. Our reporter. Jugul Purit is there. For days now, protesters have been trying to make. themselves seen and heard in India's. national capital. However, what we are. seeing today is unlike what we've seen. on any other day. Look behind me from. this side. There is a huge crowd coming. being led by India's opposition leader. Rahul Gandhi and several other.

parliamentarians from this side and this. side. They're merging onto this main. carriageway. As I said, it hasn't been. as big in the last several days. The. plan is to march from here to the. Supreme Court of India. And the idea is. to press for the resignation of India's. chief election commissioner and initiate. a slew of electoral reforms. Now the. government says that this area is is is.

there's a notification which prevents. the assembly of more than four people at. any place in this vicinity. But as you. can see that particular piece of law has. been breached and the police is moving. in as you can see because there's also a. huge police deployment and now they're. moving in to try and make sure that the. protests remain confined to this spot. Next to France, where supermarkets say a.

cyber attack has caused havoc with. fridges in their stores. The hackers. reportedly targeted a company that. provides software for their. refrigeration systems, causing fridges. to heat up, destroying stocks of fresh. and frozen food. I asked our Paris. correspondent Hugh Scofield for the. latest. >> All we're getting now is rather sketchy. information about what's happened. Um, one big chain, Ant-Marete, confirms that. up to 200 of its supermarkets were hit. There's another chain owned by the same. group called [clears throat].

uh which has also been hit. There are. reports that others likelair and. monopree have been hit but that's not. being confirmed. But in all cases it. seems that it was this as you say this. Danish um systems manager um that was. was hit. Um, I had no idea, and most. people probably didn't either, that, you. know, the the the cold and freezer units. in supermarkets are actually controlled. centrally by by software which was. hackable uh and and which would then. impact on all all the supermarkets. It.

seems that whoever did this got into the. software which um regulates the programs. of defrosting of these um units because. they have to go through regular periods. of slight increases in temperature in. order the frost disappears. And instead. of them just going up slightly in. temperature, they went up way up into. sort of 30 40 50 degrees Celsius. overnight which with the result that. that all the food inside was was. contaminated and unusable. So it is a. you know a very very interesting. development. I mean it's a terrible one. but uh if if if you know if they can get.

into the the the design for all these. supermarkets and their freezer units. then then they can wreak havoc. >> Um Hugh any word from the authorities or. or the companies themselves? Well, I. mean, only to say that they deplore it, obviously, and that on from the. authorities point of view, there is an. investigation open into who might have. been responsible. I mean, obviously, there's all sorts of speculation um with. with Russia obviously being in in the. mix there, but I mean, there is no. evidence of anything at the moment, and.

we'll just have to wait until we are. given more guidance. >> Get off. >> Still to come, we look at the backlash. against data centers in the US ahead of. the midterm elections. The residents. here are all going to feel a couple of. degree Fahrenheit warming on a typical. day and that will translate to higher. energy costs for them running air. conditioners, probably higher landscape. water use costs.

President Zalinski has said that an. energy ceasefire with Russia could be a. major step towards ending the war in. Ukraine with American support. He's been. speaking in a video address to a. security forum in Warsaw following. another night of intensive attacks on. Ukrainian power plants. These took place. despite claims from President Trump that. an energy ceasefire had been agreed. We. want peace and we are ready to work. together with America and with everyone. else to end this war and we need to feel.

that same unity from. America. America is without question the. strongest country in the world and it's. important that America uses its strength. to make the world a better place. Our. correspondent in Kev, Dan Johnson, gave. us this update on the seemingly. fracturous relationship between. President Trump and President Zalinski. >> Since Donald Trump announced the deal. that he'd done with Vladimir Putin to.

enable Russia to export diesel once. again, Vladimir Zalinsky responded to. that saying the US was again being weak. on Russia, the country that had started. this war. And then Donald Trump. responded saying that Vladimir Zalinski. should be out of his job, that Ukraine. should have elections. Then we got the. surprise announcement of an energy. ceasefire that Donald Trump posted. about. President Zilinski confirmed this. morning uh that he'd been unaware of. that until it was posted on Truth. Social, but he seems to have adopted it.

He's taken the pragmatic approach that. this is what Ukraine had been calling. for. It's what the Ukrainian people need. to get them through the winter. So, however it was negotiated or announced, he's going to sign up to it. But he's. reiterated that Russia must respect it. too and that the US will need to put. pressure on to ensure that because the. early evidence was that Russia was not. adhering to this. There were further. attacks on Ukrainian power stations last. night which have caused more energy. problems across the country.

>> And Dan, there were hints that a. ceasefire, an energy ceasefire could be. a step in the right direction towards. finally ending this conflict. >> Yes. President Zilinski said if this. could work, if it was respected by both. sides, that it would bring huge benefits. to the Ukrainian people and that Russia. would get uh a sessation of attacks on. its oil refineries as it wants, but also. that this could perhaps build some trust. and move things forward uh towards uh. looking at other issues towards ending.

the war. It's it's early to be talking. about any sort of peace, but it would be. a step in the right direction, a major. step. So Vladimir Zilinski definitely. throwing his weight behind this and. highlighting how significant it could. be, but it all depends on the Kremlin's. approach. And their only comment so far. has been through their spokesman Dmitri. Pescov who said uh just a few minutes. ago that the Kremlin has nothing to say. on the subject of an energy truce for. now. He said contacts were ongoing and. that Russia wanted lasting peace, not.

just a ceasefire. So whether the. Russians are actually going to respect. this ceasefire and stop attacking. Ukraine's energy infrastructure, that's. what everyone here now is waiting to. see. >> Let's look now at an issue playing into. America's midterm elections. The data. centers powering AI expansion. President. Trump is championing them and supporters. point to investment and America's. technological future. But people who. live near them say they're bothered by. incessant noise and heat. Arizona is one.

of the country's data center hubs and. its attorney general has called for a. pause on new approvals amid residents. concerns about water and electricity. demand. Our North America correspondent. Shy Khalil has been to meet residents. living near the giant facilities. >> A backlash to the data center boom is. happening across America. Here in Arizona, protesters are fighting.

against upcoming expansions. >> The point of technology is to make. things more efficient, not to coat the. earth in rapidly depreciating uh chips. that heat, you know, neighborhoods. >> We can't have another data center. We. don't have enough water as it is. >> This is what America's AI ambitions look. like. President Trump says any slowdown. means losing to China. At first glance, this looks like an. ordinary suburban neighborhood. That is. until huge data centers started. sprawling around. And in a place like.

Arizona, already struggling with soaring. temperatures and drought, people here. worry about what that will mean. More. pressure on the power grid, potentially. higher bills, more demand on scarce. water. >> We love our house, but if we had known. that was going in, we never would have. bought here. It's enough to make the. difference between a pleasant lifestyle. and wondering how much noise is going to.

be coming up and what's next. >> This is essentially a data logger. >> And noise isn't the only concern. Scientists say the data centers are. making scorching Arizona even hotter. Driving around this neighborhood, what. worries you about its proximity to that. data center? >> The residents here are all going to feel. a couple of degree Fahrenheit warming on. a typical day, and that will translate.

to higher energy costs for them running. air conditioners, probably higher. landscape water use costs. >> But some residents see these facilities. as part of the technology they already. rely on. I don't think it's a problem. and I'm kind of excited. I just recently. bought a Tesla with full self-driving. and I know that uses a lot of data and. it's awesome. So, I I don't have a. problem with it. >> We need that water and if it's not. there, how do we farm? >> But Nancy Kwood worries about what gets.

left behind. Her family has farmed this. land since 1930. Drought is making that. harder now, but she says she's refused. offers to sell to data center. developers. Knowing my granddad worked. so hard to for this farm, just not. having it here would just be it would be. hard. >> What do you say to President Trump? Because he's a big advocate of data. centers. >> Can't eat data centers. Can't eat them. They're not going to provide food for. you. >> As voters head to the polls in November,

many issues will weigh heavily on their. minds. Among them, the expansion of AI, changing their lives and the landscape. around them. Staying with technology, it's being increasingly woven into. everyday life. But what can we do to. make AI safe? It's a question that. leaders around the world are grappling. with after a series of hacking incidents. with AI agents going rogue, illegally. accessing government systems and global. institutions. President Trump has. insisted that the sector regulate itself.

so that US firms don't lose out to. Chinese rivals, but the president of. Microsoft disagrees. Brad Smith's been. speaking to the BBC's Will Bane. There's. a lot of times in life when you look at. a problem and you wish you could have. started earlier. Um I often joke inside. Microsoft. I come in and I look around. and say, "Did any of our engineers build. a time machine last night?" No. Okay. Well, then let's get started today. And. I think that's the way we should look at. AI safety. Let's get started today and. really start to do more.

>> Shape it then. Keep it simple for. people. But what you pick the number of. bullet points, but what should be the. areas of focus? Well, I would say three. things to focus on. First, put a safety. break or emergency brake on any AI. system that is say controlling and on on. autonomous device critical. infrastructure. We have. >> this is this so-called kill switch idea. >> Yeah, I would call it a safety or. emergency break um. >> because it's not got the word kill in it. or. >> I just think it captures that you not. may want to slow things down or turn.

them off but you want to have that. choice. And let's just remember we have. circuit breakers in our homes. There are. emergency brakes on our trains and. buses. This is a common feature. Even. every lift that we get in has that kind. of safety mechanism. So let's build it. into AI and let's put it not only in the. companies that are building and running. the models, but in the cloud. infrastructure where a lot of times. these are being run or in other places. so that we can address that. That's.

number one. Um, number two, let's have. what's called incident reporting. We're. all used to this now. For example, if. there's a privacy breach. If somebody's. been hacked and your data is. unfortunately let loose, you're notified. so that you know what's going on. In the. same way, if a company builds AI agents. and they break loose, as we've seen. recently, if they break in, there should. be a legal obligation to tell the victim. what [clears throat] has happened. I.

think that. >> legal obligation. >> I think there should be a legal. obligation. I think those are two things. that are relatively straightforward. I. think the third issue is really the. biggest, the broadest and maybe the most. important. When should we have not only outside. evaluators testing say a frontier model, the most powerful new technology? Um. when should those evaluators work for a. government agency? um when should they. have to sign off on something before the.

product is released? And right now. around the world, especially say in the. United States, that idea makes people. nervous. And there's good reasons to be. very careful and thoughtful. But just. remember right now, your washing machine. is subject to more safety rules than AI. Every carton of milk that you see in the. grocery store is subject to safety rules. and inspection. Or think about the. airplanes we get on. You can get on a.

plane in London. You can fly to Athens. or New York. Either way, that plane has. been certified so that it is considered. safe by the aircraft regulators in both. countries. We know how to do this for. other products. We should build on that. knowledge and start to think about how. to apply it to AI. >> 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 Anka Desai. Until next time,

goodbye.