What caused deadly floods in Nepal and China, and fans remember Dolly Parton | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast from the. BBC World Service. Hi, I'm Ankit Desai. and on Wednesday, the 26th of August, these are our main stories. Hundreds are missing after a flash flood. tears through villages around the. Nepal-China border. At least 14 newborn. babies are killed in a fire in the. maternity ward of a hospital in. Pakistan. And China says a growing. number of teenagers are misusing. prescription drugs to cope with exam. pressure. Also in this podcast, the Russian. bombardment of Ukrainian petrol stations.

along the front line. And new research. suggests vaping may be a better way to. quit smoking than using nicotine gum or. patches. It all came suddenly. We heard a loud. sound like a volcano erupting. That's. how one person from northern Nepal. described the moment a flash flood. ripped through his village. Many others. had similar experiences. >> I saw around nine trucks and people.

being swept away by the floods. It's a. heartbreaking incident. I've been. teaching here for 18 years and I've. never seen anything like this here. before. >> Hundreds of people are missing, including around 300 foreign tourists. who are out of contact. Police in Nepal. say they anticipate what they described. as huge-scale loss of life with villages. as well as roads, bridges and power. stations swept away. The authorities say. at least 31 people have been confirmed. dead so far. Rescue operations are.

underway on both sides of the border. that Nepal shares with the Tibetan. region of China. Earlier, I spoke to. Azadeh Moshiri, our correspondent in the. region. >> The flood tore through homes. It damaged. infrastructure early on Wednesday, but. we likely won't know the true scale of. the disaster, the true figure of the. casualties for the next hours or even. the coming days. Uh but especially when. it comes to an area like this that is. remote, it's in northern Nepal and.

Rasuwa, uh, which is near the border. with Tibet, uh, it's very hard to. access. And so, information keeps coming. out hour by hour. We know that, uh, at. this point they believe, uh, more than. at least 10 hydropower stations have. been damaged. Police have said that. they're struggling to get in touch with. dozens of their own police officers. And. officials believe the cause is excessive. snow melting into the Bhote Kosi River, which flows from Tibet to Nepal. And so, rescue operations are ongoing.

Unfortunately, Nepal is no stranger to. deadly flooding. Last year, 18 people. died, uh, because of a glacial outburst, uh, on the Chinese border. But again, officials are saying this time they. believe that the casualties could be. much higher. >> And as it is, some of the footage that's. emerging, we can see some devastating. pictures and videos. And it and it it. truly is quite a shocking state of. affairs there. >> It is. And, uh, here at the BBC, we're. continuing to verify a lot of the videos.

because there is a lot that's coming out. on social media. Some of it is true, some of it, uh, needs to be verified. But, of the ones that we have verified, you're seeing mudslides, these brown. waters just engulf villages, sweep them. away. And, uh, when we've spoken to some. of the industry bodies, uh, our Nepali. service there has spoken to, uh, the. president, uh, of the, uh, uh, private. electricity generation, uh, industry. group there in Nepal. They have said. that they're worried about, uh, uh, about all the workers they have.

operating in some of these hydropower, uh, plants, for example. There are, uh, lots of, uh, of companies who, uh, transport a lot of goods through that. area as well. Trucks, uh, that are. located, hundreds of trucks that are. located and pass through that area. Uh, people are still trying to get in touch. with their workers there as well. So, again, uh, we're trying to piece. together as much information as we can. But, when you look at those pictures. that you're referring to, that's why. people are so worried. >> Our environment correspondent Navin. Singh Khadka told me more about the.

possible causes of the disaster. >> There are conflicting claims and. counterclaims. For example, you know, the Xinhua News Agency is calling it. mudslide. Whereas, when I'm checking. with other glaciologists and other. experts, some are saying it could be a. case of rock ice avalanche that blocked. a river downstream, and that river after. certain level, you know, it. impounded river burst out, and that's. why. But then there are also now some. others saying that there might also be. some glacial lakes involved. So, we are.

getting all these these different kind. of versions, but yes, we do have the. context of climate change accelerating. the melting of the glaciers and glacial. lakes rapidly filling up, but let's not. forget this is also a very very. earthquake-prone zone, and there there. there there is. there are reports that this region did. did see around four Richter scale of. earthquake before this this flood. happened. >> Okay, so so bearing in mind what you. talked about. global warming, climate change, but how. how much can that exacerbate a problem.

like this? And also, bearing in mind. when it comes to mitigating for. something like this, what is being done? For example, relocating village roads, things like. that. >> So, you see, this is this is an ongoing. thing. So, we we all know that in the. Himalayan region is prone to things like. this. If it was indeed glacial or. glacial lakes involved, you know, all. this glacial collapsing or glacial lakes. bursting out and things like that. Now, that context is already there. We all. know that this is the region that's. warming up and that's accelerating the.

melting, and therefore all these hazards. are are there. Now, the question is, what is being done then? Now, our my own. past investigations, we have showed that. there is a gap of communication. For. example, this place is in Tibet where it. might have originated. Might have It. might might might have been also in the. Nepali side, but mind you that these are. bordering areas. So, the rivers. crisscross, yeah? So, you know, so the. communication gap we exposed the. communication gap back then. This was in. 2016. Last year, again, last year almost.

in the same region where it is of this. thing came from now, there was another. flood, not as big as this. So, in the. beginning, the Chinese news agencies. were reporting it was heavy rainfall in. Nepal. When I checked with Nepal's met. office, they told me there was no. rainfall. And later on it was found that. there were underground lakes. They are. called thermokarst lakes. They were the. ones They were the culprits. So, yes, these are These hazards are there. The. question is are they being monitored or. not properly? And is it being. communicated downstream? And the answer.

when I checked with officials is a big. no. >> With your knowledge of the region as. well, finally, can you just tell us what. this region is like? A lot of tourists. do tend to flock to to this area in. particular. >> Yes. So, in this particular, for. example, this river basin, this is very. near my Kathmandu to the to the north, yeah? This is called the Langtang region. where you know, you you see a lot of. trekkers going up. And also in adjoining. areas, there are some religious sites. where Nepalese or Hindu Indian pilgrims. also go. Now, as of now, we are also. hearing that, you know, authorities are.

trying to secure the whereabouts of. these people. We don't know what's happened, but there. are worries, yes. >> Now to a tragic incident in Pakistan, a. fire at a maternity ward at a hospital. in Islamabad has killed at least 14. newborn babies. The blaze started on the third floor of. the Pakistan Institute of Medical. Sciences. One newborn was rescued. A spokesperson. for the hospital told the BBC the fire. was caused by an air conditioning unit. that exploded. In the aftermath, families gathered outside the building. with many of its windows shattered by.

the blaze. A mother of one of the. victims said little was done to save the. newborn babies. >> I have a three-day old son. They said we. have to save the adults first. Why were. they saving adults? They could have. gotten out on foot. Why didn't they save. the children first? After 2 hours, the. rescue team finally arrived, and after 4. hours, the police came. Why? >> Our Pakistan correspondent Caroline. Davies reports from the scene.

>> This is what's left of that ward. Blackened, twisted hospital equipment. The remains of the baby's incubators. You can still see some of the aftermath. of the emergency services. So, we. understand that these windows. were broken by the fire brigade who were. trying to get inside to put the fire. out. Some of this area is blackened as well. Down here, there's the forensics team. who are in the process of trying to. identify. the bodies of the babies that were in.

the fire to give back to their families. Some escaped. So young, she doesn't have. a name yet. By chance in the opposite ward with her. aunt and mother. >> Uh Around 6:00 a.m. 4:30 I'm not so. ready I do look so ready. >> Around 6:00 a.m. in the morning, half of. us were sleeping. Suddenly, we heard a lot of screams and. shouting from outside. We thought someone had died, but it. wasn't that. There was a lot of smoke. It was coming from inside the nursery.

We didn't go for our things. We just picked our baby and got out. >> The authorities said that the fire was. caused by an air conditioning unit which. ignited oxygen pipes and cylinders. causing a blast. >> It was a fire which spread suddenly and. a very fast speed because there was. oxygen cylinders in a very. >> How how could that have happened if the. safety checks were in place? Should. these things not have been checked? Should there not have been oxygen. cylinders close to something that. >> all safety measures, still.

if there is a short circuiting, if. there's a blast, then you We can't do. anything. And we have done what what we. could have been. >> The hospital's chief executive says the. unit's doors had security to stop babies. from being stolen as they have been in. other hospitals. >> The The gates were not closed. They were. mad properly mad. >> And so people were able to escape? >> Yeah. >> Authorities say rescue services came in. 6 minutes. Eyewitnesses told us it was. more than an hour.

An investigation is promised. Tiny bodies in adult coffins given back. to the families. New to the world taken from it so soon. >> Next, new analysis suggests smokers. wanting to quit their habit have a. better chance if they use nicotine vapes. rather than patches or gums. The review. by an international group of experts. also found that use of e-cigarettes was. more successful than support programs. This report from our health editor, Hugh.

Pym. >> Health officials have argued for some. time that adult smokers wanting to give. up can be advised to switch to. nicotine-based e-cigarettes. They say. the health harms from tobacco smoking. are considerably worse than from vaping. The new review, which looks at the use. of licensed vapes, underlines that. It looked at 80 trials with a total of. nearly 30,000 participants. The review. concluded that six in 100 smokers gave. up after using nicotine replacement. therapies such as gums and patches. But.

of those who vaped, 10 in 100 quit the. tobacco habit. And it said there was no evidence of. increased serious harm from using vapes. to quit, though more longer-term. research was needed. >> Largely speaking, vapes are generally. associated with cigarettes. >> Yeah. >> And that's important, you know, it's an. option to quit. But increasingly, and. there's lots of anecdotes and research. that suggests. that there are other products are other. things that could be in vapes that. people are deliberately putting like. cannabis and THC and other harmful.

products. And that is. that could be potentially lethal. So, we. should we shouldn't be doing that, and. that's why regulating vapes and buying. vapes from a reputable sources is really. important. >> A report last week showed that vaping by. children and young people created health. problems, including breathing issues. It's illegal to sell vapes to under 18s. The authors of the new report say that. unregulated vapes can be hazardous. >> It's so tempting to be like, "Vapes are. good." or "Vapes are bad." But obviously.

that's not the case. For some people, some vapes might be good, and those are. adults who smoke or using them to quit. smoking. For other people, they're only. going to present risk. What I would add. to that though is that what we know is. also very, very bad for young people is. smoking themselves or the adults around. them smoking cuz they might be exposed. to second-hand smoke. So, by helping. adults quit smoking, we might also be. improving the health of some young. people. >> The report says vaping is not risk-free.

and that further evidence is needed. about newer types of e-cigarettes, but. its conclusion is clear. Vaping can help. smokers give up for at least 6 months. and is more effective than more. traditional methods. >> Still to come in this podcast, tributes. continue to pour in for country music. legend Dolly Parton. Russia is waging a campaign to destroy. petrol stations in Ukraine. More than 200 of them have been hit so. far, and the strikes are getting worse, especially in villages close to the.

front line. In response, local. authorities started dispensing fuel. straight from road tankers that change. locations to minimize getting hit. Oksana Ishchuk is head of the Center for. Global Studies Strategy 21, a Ukrainian. energy and security think tank. >> According to the energy minister of. Ukraine, about 300 filling stations were. damaged and destroyed from the beginning. of this year. It means for the last.

eight months, but we should understand. that these 300 filling stations is. just from the overall number of 5,000. So, this. huge damage, but we have no nationwide. deficit. We just have. bad situation in frontline and regions. and also in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv region,

but. overall Ukraine managed it to eliminate. deficit due to import from Poland, Germany, from Romania, Greece, and other. countries, which. these. are direction of flows were done after. the beginning of full-scale invasion. >> This year in China nearly 13 million. teenagers sat their university entrance. exams. It's an education system that is. competitive, grueling, and pressurized.

Now, the country's narcotics control. commission has warned a growing number. of young people are turning to large. doses of prescription drugs to help them. manage the stress. Our China. correspondent, Laura Bicker, told us. more. >> So, there are a couple of problems with. regards to young people in China and the. isolation and the pressure that they're. facing. One, we've been speaking to many. of them to get an idea of this. Um but. when we've spoken to experts, what. they're telling us is that the this this.

situation that's unique here is first of. all the one-child policy. That was. decades of family planning where people. here were told they could only have one. child, which means that the hopes of an. entire family is on the shoulders of one. young person. And secondly, the you. know, the exam system here is like a. pressure cooker. You have two main. exams, getting into high school and then. getting into university. Your entire. future depends on how you do in those. exams and a lot of pressure is put on. you leading up to it. And I think the.

third thing that's happening here in. China that it makes it a bit more unique. is in the past their parents followed a. script set by the Communist Party. They. were told to work hard. They were told. they would be rewarded for that. Now, youth unemployment has surged. Around. one in five young people are struggling. to get a job, which makes that. competition even harder, which means. that that entire pressure is growing. >> So, the Narcotics Control Commission I. mentioned earlier, what what what are. they saying and what kind of. prescription drugs are some of these. teenagers taking?

>> Well, we first started noticing this. appearing on social media. A lot of. young people sharing on chat groups. their experiences not just with. self-harm, but then taking large doses. of what are drugs usually prescribed by. a doctor. What we saw from the Narcotics. Control Division is that they're saying. that this is surging among minors, which. gave us an indication because there are. no official figures. Then we started to. speak to young people and in these chat. groups and there are dozens of them on. various platforms, they share. information about how they feel when.

they take large doses of drugs. These. are drugs that are usually prescribed. for a cough. Maybe you would take two. tablets. Well, they're taking five, 10. In some cases we heard of people taking. up to 50. Other drugs that they're. taking regularly are drugs usually used. for epilepsy to control seizures. Um we. spoke to one young girl who for the last. two years has taken various numbers of. prescription drugs and she turned to. that one and took 50 of them just months. before her exam and really overdosed and.

was rushed to hospital. She now has had. a conversation with her parents. She. says she feels better and she says she. now understands that she can deal with. her stress in other ways. But the one. thing many of these young people told us. is that they did this to relieve. pressure and to escape from reality. >> Tributes from across the world have been. paid to Dolly Parton who's died at the. age of 80. During her career, she. released nearly 50 albums and sold more. than 100 million records over six.

decades. Elton John said she was a giant. of an artist, unique and irreplaceable. with the kindest heart. Taylor Swift. praised Dolly Parton's generosity and. said she'd changed countless lives for. the better as a singer and. philanthropist. Fans have gathered at. memorials across the US, including. Parton's hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. >> She was such a example of pure love. Uh it doesn't matter. what. um political belief you have, it doesn't.

matter. where you're from, it doesn't matter any. of that. All that matters is is love, and Dolly was truly an example of that, and there's not many people. I feel like on Earth that uh get that. legacy of Everybody loves Dolly. >> Fellow Tennessee singer and rapper Jelly. Roll also paid tribute to Dolly Parton. saying she might be the last American. everyone liked. Our correspondent Helena. Humphrey is in Nashville, the country. music capital of the world.

>> We've been here since yesterday evening. Locals, tourists alike coming here to. Nashville. This is the city where Dolly. Parton arrived at the tender age of 18. one day after graduating from high. school to make her name in the music. industry here. We're just a stone's. throw away from the honky-tonk bars, but. you know, away from that kind of noise. of the music scene here, a sense of. quiet reflection. I'm outside the.

Country Music Hall of Fame. Uh Dolly. Parton's star is just behind me. Uh. around it, flowers, candles in tribute, her star right at the center, surrounded. by other country music stars who have. been inducted into the Hall of Fame. And. in terms of who's been coming down here, what's so striking is that she has. reached across generations, across. political divides. Last night when we. arrived, we found 7-year-old Nash. He.

had his violin with him, or as he refers. to it, his fiddle, and he wanted to play. her song Coat of Many Colors. So, that's. the song about growing up poor in rural. Tennessee that she wrote, and it spoke. to It speaks to so many people here in. Tennessee. People mention Jolene, they. mention I Will Always Love You, but. that's the one that they keep coming. back to. I also met teenagers wearing. their sparkly rhinestone cowboy boots, the kind of boots, of course, that Dolly. had worn. Just so many people coming.

out, paying tribute not just to her. music and those brilliant words, but. beyond that, the brilliant deeds as. well. The fact that she was a. philanthropist as well, and gave back so. much to her community. You know, just a. taste of the memorial that's going on. here today. And she'd always been so. proud to come from Tennessee, and I. think this state today is so proud to be. remembering her, someone who achieved so. much and did it with such kindness and. grace.

>> And Helena, I guess there will be a lot. of sadness, but also will there be. people celebrating Dolly's life and and. and really wanting to share wonderful. memories of her and her achievements? >> Absolutely. So many people I have met. here. have been sad, of course, but they have. these wonderful memories of her. I met. one local journalist on the music scene. last night and said, "Look, I met her. once and I had a chat with her about my. daughter, Charlotte." I bumped into her. a year later. The first thing she said.

to me was, "How's your daughter, Charlotte?" She touched so many people. with that personal, warm approach. And I. think people are celebrating. People. have been playing her music as you can. imagine coming past, you know, with boom boxes, with country. music. As I said, that little boy Nash with his. fiddle. So, I think it will be a moment. of reflection, but also great. celebration as well to be memorializing.

a daughter of Tennessee who went on to. accomplish so much on a global stage. >> 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 Ankur Desai. Thanks for your. company. Goodbye.