Global News Podcast - Army deployed to protests in Islamabad

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Security forces in Islamabad have clashed with thousands of protestors demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. The army has been deployed to central parts of the Pakistani capital.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and at 13 Hours GMT on Tuesday the 26th of November, these are our main stories. Protesters demanding the release of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan have battled with security forces to reach the centre of the capital, Islamabad. Ukraine says it's been hit by the biggest ever drone strike by Russia. A former officer in Russia's elite nuclear forces who's fled the country has spoken to the BBC.

The troops are there to either repel or carry out a nuclear strike. There's a very strict selection process. There are constant checks and lie detector tests. Also in this podcast, why Demure has been named the Word of the Year by an online dictionary. We begin in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where security forces have clashed with thousands of demonstrators demanding the release of the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. His supporters, who have travelled from all over Pakistan to take part in the protest, broke through a ring of shipping containers that have been used to lock down the city since the weekend. Police in riot gear fired tear gas and stun grenades to try to disperse the crowds

near the parliament building. This man said the protesters were intent on staying. We are here only at the call of Imran Khan. He told us to come here, not for him but for ours and our country's sake. That's the reason we are here. We will stay here until Khan himself is here with us and tells us what to do next. As we record this podcast, there are reports that several people have been killed, with both sides blaming each other for the violence. The Prime Minister's office said four paramilitaries had died after being run over by a truck. The government says the army has been deployed to central parts of the city. Pakistan's Interior Minister Moh Mohsin Naqvi, said the protesters had been offered an alternative venue for their demonstration, but they'd refused.

We told them to avoid bloodshed. The loss is Pakistan's, not anyone else's. If they want to protest, they can go ahead. If they want another venue, we'll arrange it. But they're not ready to accept anything. I asked our South Asia regional editor, Ambaras Anitharajan, how likely it is that the demonstrators will achieve their aim of freeing Mr. Khan. At this time, the supporters of the former Prime Minister Imran Khan seemed very determined because the leader himself was talking about a final call as a protest and there had been a number of protests in the previous months. I was in Islamabad last month when there was a similar protest by the PTI, the party of

Mr. Khan, but that did not succeed. This time even Imran Khan's wife is also leading one section of the rally. What we understand is thousands of supporters are yet to reach the central square in Islamabad called D-Chowk, which is very close to parliament building and other government institutions. Probably these supporters are taking a leaf out of what happened in Sri Lanka in 2022 when a public uprising toppled the then president and Bangladesh what we saw in August this year where again public uprising forced the prime minister to flee the country. Now here they want to hold a sit-in until the demands are met. Now it's a huge challenge for the government of Pakistan Muslim League

Nawaz Sharif because they argue that it is a judicial process, a corruption charge as well as inciting riots and the real force in the country is the military. The military has to decide whether they want to release Imran Khan because whether he's going to cause more political problem for them because Imran Khan's party doesn't accept the verdict of the elections in February. They call it as rigged, a claim denied by the government. So it is becoming a tug of war between these three sides. Between one side you have the supporters of Khan, the government and the military. But what

the supporters of Khan this time seem to be that they want to see that their leader is released. That's a very good point you make there about the military because the military also have wide economic interests. Obviously they're concerned about security crisis and so they must be worried about the impact this will have and obviously ordinary Pakistanis are very worried about the impact this will have on them economically. A number of protests over the last few months has really shattered the confidence of people because you know we're talking about schools closed, businesses shut as we speak and even the Pakistani stock market losing you know thousands of points. Investors are worried you know

they need to see political stability for any economic growth. You know Pakistan is already facing an economic crisis they got a seven billion dollar bailout from the IMF and several businesses have reached out to the government and the opposition. Listen we can't have this kind of protest going on all the time as the country is facing security as well as economic challenges and they need to stop. Ambarasan Etirajan, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have carried out their largest-ever drone attack in a nighttime blitz, cutting power to many areas and damaging residential buildings. Some 190 drones are said to

have been used and Ukrainian authorities say that they managed to shoot down nearly half of them. Our correspondent in Kyiv is Paul Adams. We were certainly aware that there was a substantial drone activity going on last night. It's not uncommon here in Kyiv to hear air defenses firing off over a protracted period of time and for a good hour or two that's what we were hearing late last night in the distance. It's not thought that any drones causing any significant damage in this area but far to the west of the country in the city of Ternopil, a city of around 200,000 people, it does seem as though drones did hit there, causing significant damage

to power in the city and the surrounding area with the effect that public transport has been affected, electricity supplies to people's homes, heating in some cases, also in some cases water. So that city which has been hit before but not very often in the course of the war, and it's a little unusual now to hear of major strikes so far west that city certainly is having one of the more difficult nights that it has had in the course of this war. And this is all part of a pattern of Russia recently escalating its air attacks on Ukraine. Yes, I mean it's not quite being cast this morning as another Yes, I mean, it's not quite being cast this morning as another concerted attack on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine as a whole, although clearly it has had that impact in

some areas. But I think, yes, it's not surprising that people are seeing this as part of that overall effect that as winter approaches and the temperatures drop, that Russia concentrates on trying to hit power generation, transformers, all of the grid that is necessary to keep Ukrainians warm and light through the long winter months and also of course the impact on the country's industry and its military industry. All of that will be affected by such attacks. Paul Adams in Kyiv. In the face of such attacks, Ukrainian officials are desperate for more air defence systems and for the chance to hit back at Russia. Last week, the US and Britain decided to

allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory. President Putin responded to the move by announcing that he was lowering the threshold for the potential use of Russia's nuclear weapons. Now, for the first use of Russia's nuclear weapons. Now for the first time a Russian military officer who served inside one of his country's top secret nuclear bases has spoken out. The man deserted after being threatened with deployment to the front line in Ukraine. Our correspondent, Will Vernon, went to meet him at a secret location outside Russia. On Russian TV, the West is regularly threatened with atomic annihilation.

MPs and pundits discuss firing nuclear weapons at London, Paris and other Western cities. Some in the West are even posing the most disturbing question of all. How close is President Putin to pressing the nuclear button? I'm meeting a man who worked on the inside. We're calling him Anton. He's a former officer in the elite nuclear forces and was stationed at a top secret base in Russia. He's voiced here by an actor. The troops are there to either repel or carry out a nuclear strike. There's a very strict selection process. There are constant checks and lie detector tests.

It's a closed society. There are no strangers there. If you want your parents to visit, you need to submit a request to the FSB Security Service three months in advance. Anton's testimony offers an insight into the inner workings of a nuclear weapons facility. It is extremely rare for service members to talk to journalists. On the day the war started, we were put on full combat readiness and shut in the base. The weapons were fully in place

and we were ready to the maximum extent. The state of alert was canceled after two or three weeks. Three seconds left. Two, one ask him. Some experts say the weapons might not even work. That's a very simplified view from so-called experts. Russia has an enormous arsenal and a huge amount of warheads and constant patrol on land, sea and air. The weapons are fully operational and battle-ready. Maintenance work never stops, not even for one minute."

Anton's job at the nuclear base was so-called political education of the troops. Not long after the full-scale invasion started, he says he was given what he describes as a criminal order, to hold lectures with his troops using very specific written guidelines. They said that Ukrainian civilians were combatants and should be destroyed. That's a red line for me. It's a war crime. I said I wouldn't spread this propaganda. Senior officers reprimanded Anton by transferring him to a regular assault brigade in another part of the country.

Assault brigades are regularly deployed on the front line in Ukraine, sent into battle as the first wave, sometimes suffering heavy casualties. A number of deserters from the Russian army have told the BBC that soldiers who refuse to fight are often sent to these units and are seen as cannon fodder. When Anton arrived at the assault brigade, he was told he would be sent to war and managed to leave the country. He believes the top-level security clearance system failed. I think this lucky thing is connected to my transfer to the ordinary frontline unit. If I had run away from the nuclear forces base, then the local FSB security service would have reacted decisively and I probably wouldn't have been able to leave the country.

Anton showed us documents confirming his rank, unit and other parts of his story, although we couldn't independently verify everything he told us. To protect his safety, we're not revealing his location or identity. Anton has agreed to talk to me as he says he wants the world to know that many Russian soldiers are against the war. A volunteer group that helps deserters, Edytylesm, tells me in the past two years the number of soldiers seeking help has increased by more than 12 times to around 350 per month. But the risks to those fleeing abroad are growing too. At least one deserter has been

killed and there have been several cases of men being forcibly returned to Russia and put on trial. A lot of the knowledge you have is top secret. How concerned are you that the Russian authorities might try and track you down? The FSB, the Interior Ministry, local police, they're all looking for me. I realised I could be kidnapped and taken to Russia by plane. Now I try to help other soldiers to flee. I understand the more that I do that, the higher the chances they could try and kill me. And that report was by Will Vernon. He's still got two months to go before he takes over in the White House, but Donald Trump is already making threats on social media,

which may cause some of you to have a sense of déjà vu. He said he will levy tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office and he'll levy 10% on goods coming from China on top of the existing tariffs. The president-elect said the import taxes on the two big US neighbours were because of what he called their ridiculous open borders, which allowed illegal immigration and drug trafficking. And he criticised China for failing to follow through on a promise to impose the death penalty on those bringing the deadly opioid fentanyl to the US. We'll hear from Mexico and Canada in a moment, but first let's go to China. I asked our correspondent in Beijing, Laura Bicker, what we should make of Mr. Trump's announcement of 10% tariffs

on China, given that he had, during his election campaign, threatened to impose tariffs as high as 60%. Having read some of the reactions from various market traders, I think there's a little bit of a sigh of relief from some of them. Because during the campaign, you're right, there was this threat of 60% tariffs on goods and this is just an additional 10%. But what we don't know here in Beijing is one, is this threat serious?

And two, are further tariffs coming? Now what Donald Trump has said in his social media post is that this is in response to what he sees or perceives as Beijing's lack of action to curb the supply of fentanyl. Now when we've had a response from the Chinese embassy in Washington DC, what they've said is no one will win a trade war or a tariff war. And they've hit back at claims that China's not done anything to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States. And actually, when I've spoken to American officials here, since President Biden met with President Xi Jinping last year, late 2023, there have been several meetings on

fentanyl. There's a task force on fentanyl. And China in the summer clamped down and said that they would monitor three precursor chemicals that are used to supply and make fentanyl and they would monitor those thoroughly leaving the country. So China believes and certainly certainly that's the statement, that they said that all this proves is the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow to the US runs completely counter to facts and reality. Not surprising given his past record when he was president last time, but he's talking specifically about the fact that he said China promised to do more, that they said they would impose the death penalty on those who deal in Fentanyl. I think when it comes to that particular aspect, Beijing has yet to respond on whether or not

they are willing to impose a further death penalty on those that they have managed to arrest. I think when you speak to American officials here and I've done so in the last year on Fentanyl, many of them have looked at the cooperation between Washington and Beijing as actually a bright spot in the relationship while saying that more needs to be done. But each time officials have met, whether it's the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, whether it's the US ambassador here, Nicholas Blinken, whether it's the US Ambassador here, Nicholas Burns meeting with counterparts, the one thing that they always tend to bring up is fentanyl and how important it is to curb it.

Now, I think it's worth pointing out that China is a big chemical producer and a cottage industry for these chemicals has been set up in certain parts of the country. These chemicals have other uses. So China says, look, you know, we can't look at everything that's going out of the country, but they say that they're doing everything they can to monitor the chemicals in particular that is causing concern. Laura Bicker.

Well, if Mr Trump does go ahead with his tariffs on Mexico and Canada, that could violate a free trade deal the US has with them. Will Grant reports from The View from Mexico City. It does present a challenge for Claudia Sheinbaum, the new president, Mexico's first woman president, who is going to have to deal with Donald Trump for four years. But so far the administration here in Mexico has been quite pragmatic about the idea of a second Trump presidency Saying that it will simply defend Mexico's rights that they are differentiating if you like bark from bite and trying to work out exactly what is said in the heat of the moment by Donald Trump in

order to energize his base particularly as I say in these final days as president-elect, and what is actually a reality, what will actually take place in terms of diplomatic relations and of course, trade relations. Will Grant and with reaction from Canada to Donald Trump's tariff threats, here's CBC journalist Takara Small in Toronto. A lot of economists and critics, they assumed that the most they would see would be a 20 percent tariff so seeing that much higher was a little shocking. You know as soon as the announcement was made I quickly started seeing the reaction from the market and it's not great considering where Canada is at the moment and I have to say Canada relies on the U.S. 75 percent

of our exports are destined to the U.S. There's about 3.6 billion, you know, with a B billion dollars worth of goods and services every day that flow between the two countries. This could set back the entire Canadian economy. And I just want to reference the part about immigrants that Trump mentioned is true social posts. It's interesting that that was highlighted because in Canada right now there is concern that perhaps the deportation that's meant to take place in 2025 will lead to people crossing into Canada seeking asylum. So there's an interesting conversation about can Canada absorb that? What can we do? Who's responsible for borders?

So it's interesting that that conversation was applied to Canada as well as Mexico. CBC journalist Takara Small. Still to come on the podcast, we'll tell you about the UN-led talks in South Korea to try to curb plastic pollution. We hear how Rwanda hopes to make a difference. We are looking at checking plastic pollution at different stages, not just at the end of life of the materials, but also during the design, the production, throughout. To Serbia now, where members of parliament have come to blows during a parliamentary session

after opposition parties blamed the government for the deaths of 15 people at a railway station. Earlier this month, the roof collapsed at the recently renovated facility in Novi Sad. Protesters said it happened because of what they called poor work by corrupt officials. More from our Balkans correspondent, Guy Delaney. Both fists and accusations flew in the debating chamber of Serbia's National Assembly. Opposition MPs chanted killers and held up placards reading blood on your hands. Members of the governing coalition confronted them and the disagreements turned physical. It was the opposition's latest effort to hold the government responsible for the disaster at Novi Sad railway station earlier this month. They say a culture of impunity and corruption

caused the deadly collapse of a concrete canopy. They want Prime Minister Milos Vucic to resign. The parliamentary session was abandoned as Mr Vucic described the opposition MPs as thugs. Guy Delaney, well just days after the contentious COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, dozens of countries are meeting in South Korea to try to reach another formidable environmental goal. The week of UN-led talks in Busan is aimed at agreeing the world's first treaty on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution.

But oil producers like Saudi Arabia oppose the idea of limits. One country that does have an impressive record on reducing plastic waste is Rwanda. It's one of the nations leading the negotiations. Juliet Kabera of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority is in Busan from where she spoke to Rob Young about what her country is doing. We put in place a law that prevents the manufacture, the use, the importation, the sale of single-use plastics and that is as far as 2004, 2007, but we started with a small portion of plastics, which was polythene carry bags. But later we noticed that this is not going to be helpful, and we increased the scope of the law by amending it to now

control the manufacture, the use and sale of single-use plastic items, including carry bags. We are encouraging the use of non-plastic items. So if I took an example of cutlery, we would rather have the cutlery that is steel, that is not plastic. Straws, we can have straws that are made of steel or wood or paper but not plastics. So yes, recycling is part of it but we have to avoid because when you avoid then you're actually going to make recycling necessary. Do you think it is likely that there could be some kind of global deal to limit the amount of plastic that is produced? I mean it's potentially very complicated agreement that would be needed and there are are big questions about enforcement. But do you think a deal is likely?

Indeed, a deal is likely. This is day two. We started yesterday and we made huge progress because we didn't spend a lot of time in the plenary talking about high level statements. We started work. We're looking for a deal that is actually going to make a difference and ensure that the consumption patterns are checked, the production patterns are reduced to only the quantities that must be produced and not producing unsustainably, meaning sometimes we produce more than what we need. Plastic is a very useful material, isn't it? It's found in all sorts, not just consumer goods that get thrown away as soon as they're opened, but pens, for example, mobile phones, it's in all sorts of different products.

You accept that we will probably always use plastic? I agree. We'll always use it, but we're going to focus on the problematic plastics. That's what we are starting with. And those are usually the ones that we find in the use and throw away materials. But even the ones that are not for throwing away, like the examples you gave in electronics, in pens, we can have a shift in the design. So we have designs that can enable us to do recycling.

So we are looking at checking plastic pollution at different stages, not just at the end of life of the materials, but also during the design, as a production throughout. So we can stay with our plastics, but as long as they are not the problematic ones, then we can, we're going to have the first phase

of dealing with the most problematic ones and then technology will going to have the first phase of dealing with the most problematic ones and then technology will advance, innovation will advance and then we'll be able to check the designs of other products that are made using plastics. Juliette Kibera of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority. The Taliban edict that women's voices should not be heard aloud in public shocked women in Afghanistan and around the world. Education for girls over the age of 12 and most jobs for women had already been closed down. Now it seems women were to be silent too. But there's more than one way to be heard. Monica Whitlock has been recording the diary of a young Afghan woman

determined to make her voice count. The voice of Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Hanifi, Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan. He's setting out details of Taliban restrictions on the sound of women's voices. It's written that women must not raise their voices aloud in prayer, he says, let alone sing songs. The law on moral decency, first issued in August, stipulates that a woman can only leave her house alone in case of urgent need, and then she must cover her body, her face, and her voice. So what's it like to live under these laws, day in, day out?

Hello to everyone who'll hear me without seeing me. I extend my heartfelt greetings to all as you discover the hope, passion, strength and energy that defined me, a young Afghan girl, amid the sadness that geography has imposed upon me. I've been talking to one young woman in Afghanistan we'll call her Layla, although it's not her real name and I can't tell you where she lives. Layla was a university student when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Now she's at home, navigating the rules as best she can. It's not her voice

you can hear, but they are her words. Life continues, whether you're a lion in the forest, free, or a dove in a cage. I have a lot to say. Leila and her sisters are the first women in their family to read and write. They had ambitious plans for their adult lives but then the university closed for girls. She's still determined to qualify though and studies at home through an online remote school when the internet's working. I study my lessons 12 hours a day non-stop I study, learning English. It's very quiet in our house. Many of the neighbours, relatives, friends and classmates Leila grew up with aren't

around anymore. I can't count the number of my friends who have left. Some of us are dead, some of us have migrated, and some of us are still struggling with life here. Like young people all over the world, Leila wants to keep fit. Women aren't allowed to go to gyms or do sport, or even walk in the park, so she has to find another way. So I put on a black veil, covering my face and hiding myself in the darkness. I toss my sport clothes into my bag and leave the house. No one must know where I'm going. The Taliban roam the city armed. We meet in an abandoned house each day. We have dance on Mondays and yoga on Thursdays and zumba the rest of the days.

I find joy in exercise. It's a forbidden activity. Our whole life is a secret. A few days later, Leila told me that the Taliban had discovered that abandoned house. They arrested the owner and the girls never returned. Sometimes I am very depressed at home. The only place where I feel free is our garden. Because no one can see me and I can take off my hijab. I say these things only to make you understand the value of free life.

Leyla does everything she can to keep going. She loves art and music and the sound of women singing together. Although Taliban banned any sound from women or music, we still do it in our house, not in public. We have a tradition of singing together until the sun rises. The Taliban came to our house and warned us that they could not stop us. We learned to draw meaning from the smallest things, to hold on to life however we could. And you can hear more from Leila on assignment. Our whole life is a secret. Go to bbc.com

and search for the documentary podcast. The online dictionary, dictionary.com, has revealed its word of the year demure. The word went viral in August after a TikTok creator Jules Lebron posted a video using the word to describe her makeup. Andrew Ochieng reports. You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. That was Jules Lebron's video on TikTok, which has now been viewed millions of times online. Her exaggerated descriptions of how she and her followers should apply makeup for work was a hit.

The use of the word demure has since skyrocketed, according to Dictionary.com, especially in satirical posts on social media. The word has historically been used to describe discrete and reserved behaviour. Now, the dictionary says, it's also used to describe someone's appearance. Demure is also in the running to be the one of the year for the Oxford English Dictionary. Andrew Ocheyeng. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address

is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was produced by Harry Bly and Lul Hasan. It was mixed by Holly Palmer. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janet Jaleel. Until next time, goodbye.