Typhoon Dujuan hits Japan and other top news stories | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC World Service. I'm Ankit Desai. Here's what's coming up. Japan tells more than a million people. to evacuate as a powerful typhoon. batters Tokyo. BBC investigation finds a years-long. cover-up of alleged sexual crimes at an. Indonesian boarding school. We'll speak. to the reporter behind the story. >> This issue of sexual abuse in the. schools has reached an emergency level. right now. >> We'll go to Djibouti where thousands of. Yemeni refugees have fled the fighting.

between Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi. Arabia. >> One father said to me, "How can I just. sit there when my children are shaking. in fear?". >> And we'll hear more from our Middle East. correspondent as officials in Gaza try. to clear hundreds of buildings in danger. of collapse. >> Because of the lack of safe places to. go, the lack of durable shelters in. Gaza, it is forcing people to go into. some of these unsafe buildings.

>> We begin in Japan where a powerful. typhoon is battering the country's. capital, Tokyo. Typhoon Dujuan has. forced the cancellation of hundreds of. flights and prompted warnings of. record-breaking rainfall. This typhoon. is the latest in a wave of storms in the. Pacific made more intense by this year's. super El Nino. We got the latest from our correspondent. in Tokyo, Kurumi Mori. >> Japan facing record rainfall, really. strong winds all over the especially the.

Kanto region which includes Tokyo. The. latest reports say actually right now we. are seeing the typhoon be the closest to. the Kanto region. I have to tell you the. rain all day has been nonstop, but it's. been getting worse and worse as the. hours go on. Hopefully we'll get a. reprieve soon after this passes, but. we're already seeing reports of power. outages. That number of evacuations now. climbing up to 1.9 million residents in.

the surrounding areas around Tokyo and. beyond. And so, a lot of residents on. watch, officials urging people to be. aware and quote protect their lives. Unfortunately, we are very used to. evacuating our homes due to the. earthquakes. We've had heavy rainfall. Just last month we had several deaths. and injuries because of heavy rainfall. like this one. And so, there are. evacuation centers set up in places like. elementary schools, middle schools, and. community centers all around the. country. Most Japanese people are quite. prepared in these emergencies with a.

prepared kind of. go grab kit in their homes. And so, hopefully people are staying safe, but. you know, 1.9 million people ordered to. evacuate. That's a huge number. I did. speak to some residents within Tokyo. including near people who live near. Meguro River. And some people are saying. they're not going to evacuate if they. live above the second floor and and. higher they're they'd rather stay home. So, even though these 1.9 million people. were ordered to evacuate, the number is.

unclear as to who actually is. evacuating. But, as far as we can tell there are reports. trickling in about missing persons and. people being stuck out on the roads with. their cars being flooded. Even a woman. reportedly believed to be buried alive. after a landslide slashed into her home. And so, we are expecting more reports. unfortunately to come out even after. this storm passes and we'll keep an eye. on those for you. >> A BBC investigation has uncovered a.

years-long cover-up at a prominent. Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. involving allegations of sexual crimes. by the son of its founder. Known as Beky, he was jailed in 2022 for. sexually assaulting a student at the. school. But, BBC Eye has exclusively. recorded footage of him as a free man. after serving less than half his. sentence. The investigation has also. uncovered further allegations against. him and evidence that the school tried.

to suppress them. Indonesia's National. Commission on violence against women. says sexual abuse in Islamic boarding. schools known as pesantren has reached. an emergency level. This report by the BBC World Service's. Rebecca Henschke contains testimony that. some may find distressing. >> What I can never forget what he said. while raping me again. Don't you realize you're just my slave?

>> This is a teacher known as Beky who was. first reported to the police in 2018. for sexual abuse at the Siddiqia Islamic. boarding SCHOOL IN INDONESIA. BUT YEARS OF RESISTANCE followed as the. school and its founder, Beky's father, have thousands of loyal supporters. In 2022, he was finally arrested but on.

trial for the rape of one student. He. was found guilty of the lesser charge of. sexual assault and sentenced to 7 years. in prison. But BBC I can now reveal the allegations. against him go much further. Ira Puspitasari is speaking out publicly. for the first time about what she says. happened to her. >> I was raped for several years.

And it started when I was 15 years old. I had to do whatever he wanted. If I refused, he would go into a total. If I refused, he would go into a total. rage. I was hit repeatedly while he was having. sex with me.

When Era did report Bekti to the police. after she left school, she faced a wave. of intimidation from his supporters. Now, the BBC has heard that after just. serving 3 years, Bekti has been secretly. released. BBC Eye undercover reporters, posing as. loyal followers, went to his house on. Eid. In a side room, he was blessing people.

Approaching on their knees like others. in the room, they came face to face with. him. The BBC showed the footage to Era. Bekti. It's just a complete mockery of the law. He hasn't served his sentence. Indonesia's Ministry for Immigration and. Corrections said he was given early. parole due to legal sentence reductions.

The BBC put the allegations to Bekti. He. did not respond. Era has rebuilt her life with a family. of her own. I'm going to prove that my. life won't be ruined. I'll be more. successful and I'll come back stronger. But with pressure on victims to remain. silent, there are fears the cases of. abuse that are emerging are only the tip. of the iceberg. >> Rebecca Henschke reporting there. Earlier, I asked Rebecca how she first.

came across the story. >> We were investigating allegations of. sexual abuse in Islamic boarding. schools. It's an issue that's come to a. head in Indonesia with a couple of. high-profile cases. So, Era Puspitawati, who. her allegations over years that she was. intimidated into withdrawing. And when. we were doing that, we started to hear. rumors. that the man that she alleges. raped her since the age of 15 and also. was jailed for the sexual abuse of one.

of her friends had been released early. So, we began an undercover investigation. to look into what had happened there. >> Okay. And then the man at the center of. this story, uh Becky, are we likely to. know what's going to happen next? Is. >> Well, the report has it just sort of. gone live in Indonesia and there's. already been a huge reaction on on. social media with the majority of. content comments calling for for justice. for Era and also for a full. investigation by the government into why. he was released early. I mean, the.

government says he was given remissions. that are according to the law, but. lawyers that we've spoken to said that's. often used as a loophole and they want. more details about exactly what those. remissions were. And we've also in the. last few hours the report's being shared. by some parliamentarians who are also. calling for action. So, there's quite a. strong reaction from Indonesia right. now. >> Okay. And and and Rebecca, is this a. sign of deeper malaise in Indonesian. society that senior men.

that are connected are often protected? >> There is an issue for sure with the. legal system and there was a report by. Komnas Perempuan, which is the. commission for violence against women. just a few months ago that was saying. that this issue of sexual abuse in. Islamic boarding school pesantren where. millions of children go to school. Many. have a very happy time there, but. they're saying that this issue of sexual. abuse in the schools has reached an. emergency level right now because of the. unchecked power of the men that are.

running these schools and is calling for. the government to put in place. safeguarding, reporting mechanisms. because it all the cases that we were. looking at, the students did raise red. flags. They went to teachers or they. tried to go to the police and each time. they were intimidated and and not. helped. >> A refugee crisis in Djibouti is. worsening as people flee renewed. conflict in Yemen between the. Iranian-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Several thousand have made the dangerous. crossing, many arriving in Djibouti's. northern town of Obock. Our security. correspondent Frank Gardner is there and. spoke to Lucy Hockings. >> The sea behind me is what's called the. Gulf of Tadjoura, which is just beyond. the Bab el Mandeb Strait. And the reason. that we're here is that we have been. just up the road to a camp that's. jointly administered by the Djibouti. government and the UN High Commissioner. for Refugees. And they have taken in. more than 3,000 Yemeni refugees in the. last few days,

who I've been speaking to. They're in a. crowded but safe shelter here in. Djibouti on the African side of the Bab. el Mandeb Strait. And they fled in. terror. One father said to me, "How can. I just sit there when my children are. shaking in fear?" And the overriding. message I got from them is that. they're not taking sides. They're not. backing the Houthis or the UN-recognized. Yemeni government or the Saudis. It's. the air strikes that are terrifying for. them because what's happened is that the.

Houthis have made this lightning advance. down the coast just really across the. water from here, displacing the. coalition of Yemeni roughly loyal forces. backed by the Saudis. And the Saudis. have responded with horrific air strikes. that are. leaving probably a lot of damage on the. Houthis, but also terrifying the. civilians. They're trying to bomb the. Houthis out of the positions that. they've taken because there is, of. course, a geopolitical angle to all of. this, not just humanitarian, because.

it's choking off Saudi oil exports, but. what we've been seeing today is very. much the humanitarian element. Families. who fled with nothing but the clothes. they stand up in. The ones who Some of them who've got. boats have been able to bring goats. across and a few belongings, but they. are totally dependent now on the. Djibouti government and the UN to. provide them shelter, food and water. >> What is the Houthis' ultimate goal, Frank? What do they want? >> Well, they want to control the whole of.

Yemen. They consider, even though they. only represent a minority of Yemenis, some say only 15%, they consider that. they are the legitimate historic rulers. of Yemen. Their forebears ruled Yemen. until 1962 for centuries. Um and they. would like to extend their control over. the whole of Yemen. At the moment, ever. since 2014, 2015, they've controlled. most of the populated most populated. areas of Yemen, but not Aden, a major.

port uh just up the coast from here or. across the water from here, rather. Um but they want to extend that right. into what's called the Hadramaut, to. Mukalla, all the way to the borders of. Oman. And they want, above all, for the. blockade that Saudi Arabia has placed on. their ports and airport, they want that. to be lifted. So, they are in a fight to. the death with the Saudis, literally, because the two sides are trading air. strikes, missile strikes, ballistic. missile strikes, drone strikes, and. that's hurting the Saudis and their.

economy, but it's also hurting the. Houthis and civilians who live in Yemen. >> Still to come in this podcast, a dispute. over a sun lounger turns deadly. According to the UN agency that supports. the relief and humanitarian development. of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, more. than 80% of all structures in the Gaza. Strip were damaged or destroyed during. the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Now, officials in Gaza have announced.

plans to evacuate and demolish more than. 250 buildings because they're at risk of. collapsing. Our Middle East. correspondent, Yolande Knell, told us. this move follows a series of collapses. in recent days. >> At least 21 people were killed in Gaza. City when a residential building came. down. Locals who've been living in that. area told the BBC that it had been. tilting to one side, that families knew. it was unsafe. Um one relative um who. was bereaved said that, you know,

buildings like that have become a. ticking time bomb. Um but really because. of the lack of safe places to go, the. lack of durable shelters in Gaza, it is. forcing people to go into some of these. unsafe buildings. And as well as that, um the building in the south of Gaza. City um that really fully came down on. Friday, there was another partial. collapse in which uh five children got. minor injuries. Um and and this coming. after the first rains of the season um. were in Gaza last week. And that really,

you know, accelerated the warnings once. again about the dangers of some of these. places where people uh displaced by the. fighting now with no homes of their own. have been sheltering. >> And Yolande, just tell us about the. challenges the authorities are facing in. terms of trying to implement this. demolition plan. >> I mean, there are going to be so many. challenges. This uh statement from the. Hamas um media office says that local. authorities will be going to families. and asking them to leave these more than.

250 buildings um which are, you know, at. risk of collapse, where the situation is. urgent. Of course, many of those. families will not have places to go. They'll also need uh to evacuate areas. around um. where where the buildings are going to. be pulled down. And that is another. danger. Um many families may may be. refusing to go. So, this is going to be. a big challenge. Um, of course, then. you've also got the fact that, uh, many. authorities, they're talking about.

police and, um, other services that. aligned with Hamas, uh, will have to be. working on this. Israel has really, um, opposed fully, uh, the signs that Hamas. has been trying to sort of reassert. itself in Gaza. I've not been able to. get, uh, some clarification from local. UN officials about what their role is. going to be here, but certainly, um, this uh, statement is saying that the. plan involves UN agencies and other. international organizations. They're the.

ones really, um, with the heavy lifting. equipment, um, what there is of it in. Gaza, that will be able to do some of this. work, but you've had the UN in recent. days really underlining how. the Israeli officials, um, that control. the border crossings, how restrictions. from Israel are limiting the work that. they can do, whether it comes to that. sort of heavy equipment that's so. important for rubble removal, um, the. the fuel and the the oil, um, that is.

needed to run these machines. And then, on top of that, that the fact there is. not enough durable, uh, shelters in. Gaza. Um, you know, many of the shelters. that were there, people are complaining. that, um, you know, they're already. showing signs of wear and tear, and. they're looking for things like, you. know, caravans to be allowed to go into. Gaza that would give people better. protection as we go into the winter. Now, Israel, um, puts restrictions on. items that it deems to be what it calls.

dual use, uh, meaning that they could. have a possible military use, um, by. Hamas and others, and says that this is. for security. >> In Russia's parliamentary elections, President Putin's United Russia party is. on course to retain its constitutional. majority. It's won a record number of seats, and. the near complete results will ensure it. can continue to make changes to the. constitution without support from other. parties. The victory was widely. expected. Only pro-Kremlin parties were.

allowed to stand. Those opposing the war. with Ukraine were not. In elections. described as neither free nor fair. From Moscow, our Russia editor, Steve. Rosenberg, reports. >> Many things in Russia are hard to. predict, but the outcome of this. election wasn't. In a political system. that is tightly controlled by the. Kremlin, as expected, the ruling party, United. Russia, the party that is supported by. Vladimir Putin, is well out in front and. on course to retain its constitutional.

majority. Despite more than 4 and 1/2. years of Russia's war on Ukraine, despite huge troop losses on the. battlefield for the Russian army, economic problems, and most recently a. widespread petrol shortage because of. Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil. facilities. As for those parties that are lagging. far behind, but which have got over the. 5% threshold and got into the new. parliament, experience shows that in any. case, MPs from those parties end up.

supporting the Kremlin's main. initiatives. So, no surprise about the outcome. I. think the key question now is how will. the Kremlin use this result? And I imagine it will use it to claim. that the whole country is united behind. the president and behind the so-called. special military operation, Russia's war. on Ukraine. And to claim that it has a. mandate now from the people for any. future decisions about the course of. that war. >> Now, if you've ever spent time in Europe.

during the summer, you've probably. experienced fierce competition for. sunbeds at pools and beaches. But in. Greece, a dispute over one of those. coveted spots has turned deadly. An. 82-year-old man has died after getting. into a fight with another man over a sun. lounger on a beach near Athens. I spoke. to our reporter Helena Burke about what. happened. >> According to witnesses at Vouliagmeni. Beach, which is about an hour south of. Athens, this man had tried to reserve a. few sun loungers and was waiting for his.

companions to join him. This then. sparked a dispute with another man on. the beach aged in his 70s. The dispute. eventually escalated into a physical. fight between the two and eventually. other got involved as well. One. eyewitness told local media that the. scene became so chaotic that the. screaming could actually be heard at the. other end of the beach. While these two. men were fighting, the older man aged in. his 80s collapsed. According to various. reports, he received CPR and a. defibrillator was used on him. He had to. be taken to hospital where he later died.

and the other man involved in the fight. has now reportedly been arrested. >> Helena, there seems to be a growing. issue in Europe around this as well. Like during the summer, it feels as. though it's got completely out of hand. People competing for a spot on a sun. lounger. >> Yeah, some of the videos online of this. kind of mad dash to the sun loungers. around pools and beaches are just. extraordinary. Crowds of people can be. seen lining up at the gates in the. morning at resorts waiting to get into. the pool as soon as possible. There are. also reports of people fighting over sun. loungers at various European beaches.

The market research firm YouGov actually. did a poll about this recently and they. found that about 57% of people in Europe. say they found themselves deprived of a. sun bed because they were all taken. The. poll also found that the majority of. holiday makers think it's unacceptable. to try and reserve the loungers by. leaving your towel on top of them and. then leaving. This isn't only an issue. in Europe. There are reports of similar. tensions over sun loungers at resorts in. North Africa and the Middle East. Anecdotally though, as someone who's.

originally from Australia and has spent. quite a lot of time in Southeast Asia, this isn't really as much of a problem. in that part of the world. I think that. some of that is cultural differences, but it's also the fact that there's just. generally a lot more space on the beach. in that part of the world. The number of. tourists going to Europe is increasing. every single year, so it seems like. these so-called sunbed wars are only. going to become a bigger and bigger. problem there. >> Hundreds of families are taking part in. a study that uses the latest technology. to keep people with dementia safer in.

their homes in the UK. Scientists at the Dementia Research. Institute have kitted out homes with. smart gadgets and sensors to try to cut. care home and hospital admissions. The. UK's National Health Service, the NHS, says it's following the trial closely to. see if it can reduce trips to the. hospital and give families peace of mind. that their loved ones are safe. Our. health reporter, Jim Reed, has been to. meet one of the couples involved. >> Bharat and Jyoti haven't had the most.

conventional relationship. They spent decades performing together. on stage all over the world. But then small mistakes began creeping. into their routine. >> 3 years back and I saw something I was. looking for on the stage and it wasn't. there. So, I thought something is wrong. I. wasn't sure that it is a dementia or. something, you know, because I thought. she might have forgotten it. But that's where I noticed her. And then. we saw the doctor.

And they says it is coming, it's a. starting, you know. >> If I was going out and then. after certain step, if I just don't look. around, then I will find that I'm lost, yeah. >> The couple though are now part of an. ambitious new project using technology. to help people live at home with. dementia. >> You're looking up the sensors. for the door. >> Their house is fitted out with door and. movement sensors in every room.

>> If the door is left for a longer time. open, >> Yeah. >> I'll get phone call. >> If Jyoti tries to leave in the middle of. the night, or just suddenly starts. making more trips to the bathroom, the. system can alert carers or doctors. In the bedroom, the couple sleep on a. smart mattress to check Jyoti's heart. and breathing rate, and spot early signs. of infection. And back here in the kitchen, the. fridge, kettle, and microwave are all.

fitted with sensors to check whether. she's eaten and is sticking to her daily. routine. >> And you can see here. uh a feed of her heart rate. and uh from both devices. So, we've got. the sleep mat readings here, which are. taken from. obviously the time she spends in bed. >> All this data can then be shared with. doctors and care staff in near real. time. The total cost works out at around. £2,000 a year. >> We're trying to spot early signs that. things.

uh might be going wrong. There may be. risks that are changing. We spot them. early, we can intervene earlier, and we. can keep people at home and out of. hospital. So, that's That's the power of. technology. >> And the unit fits in here. >> Jyoti is now trialing wearable devices. like these socks and a smart watch to. monitor her mobility. Combined with all. that other data, they could spot early. signs she's at risk of falling. >> Having these old gadgets, I mean, mostly.

people worries, but having the gadgets, it is a less worries. >> I'm happy to stay with my family, first. of all. And. he is always with me. My family is always with me. Whenever I need, they are always there. with me. So, I'm happy that way. >> King Charles. >> This project is still in the research. stage. >> That's me here. >> But, if it's successful, the idea is to. roll it out across more of the NHS and.

hopefully keep more couples in their own. home sharing their own memories for. longer. >> You're lucky. and good. You were absolutely brilliant. >> Jim Reed, BBC News. >> I'll see. What else can we do now after. this now? >> 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 Ankit Desai. Until next time. Goodbye.