Global News Podcast - Rescuers race to find Spanish flood survivors

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Rescue efforts continue in Spain to find survivors of flash flooding which have killed more than 100 people. Also: super typhoon hits Taiwan, and North Korea tests its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile.

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Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and at 14 Hours GMT on Thursday 31st October, these are our main stories. As rescuers in Spain race to find survivors after deadly flash floods, anger grows over the authorities' failure to send out alerts in time that could have saved lives. Taiwan is hit by its most powerful typhoon in decades. North Korea fires an intercontinental ballistic missile in its most successful test to date, causing international alarm.

causing international alarm. Also in this podcast Russia finds Google more than the world's entire GDP. We'll tell you why and my parents if they find out that I spent a lot of money in TikTok they will be devastated but somehow it's kind of like addiction. We'll look at a social media trend in Somalia with a dark side. We start in southern Spain where rescuers are working tirelessly in a race against time to find survivors after the flash floods that have killed more than a hundred people. Hundreds of soldiers have been sent to Valencia, the hardest hit region, to help with the operation. Some places can only be reached by helicopter, as roads are blocked by mud, debris and piles of cars. The Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who's visiting areas devastated by the flash floods, said the authorities were using all their resources to find the

missing, to restore basic services and to rebuild. I would like first of all after this meeting to pass on to the people who live in Valencia and also Castellón, please, the high altitude isolated depression continues. Please do not go out, stay home, follow the alerts from the emergency services, follow all their requirements, all their recommendations because at the moment the most important thing is to save as many lives as possible. But many have questioned why, before the flash floods, the authorities failed to send out alerts in time that could have saved lives. Paco Pollit is a local journalist. I think that we were comically unequipped to deal with something like this. Even though

the weather forecast was quite clear four or five days ago, the protocols didn't work. The alert that we got on our mobile phones came too late. When people were trapped in their own homes and shops, it was an absolute nightmare. One business owner, Sylvia, said it could take many months before she reopens her shop. I think it's full of mad. We couldn't enter this morning. We are trying to enter now. They are trying to rob us. There are people that are trying to help us and we are trying to help them. And well, in this situation you can see the worst and the best of the people.

I put it to our correspondent in Valencia, Nikki Schiller, that the trail of devastation was so huge it could only be described as apocalyptic. Apocalyptic is the word that I would use for what I have right in front of me at the moment. I'm in the Lothare area of the city of Valencia and all I can see on the road in front of me at the moment. I'm in the Latorre area of the city of Valencia and all I can see on the road in front of me is piles of cars. It goes on probably for about 200 meters. The road is completely blocked. They're on top of one another. They're crumpled. They're broken. Glass has been smashed. I think I can only describe it as like a scene out of a disaster movie. You have to pinch yourself to believe that

it's actually happened. But I walked about two kilometres because there's no way that you could get a vehicle in this area at the moment. And down every single road was cars that have been tossed by the water that came through here. And right now the road is covered in this really horrible mud and debris and the locals are walking around there I have to say I think the best word for it is dazed some of them have been crying people are trying to help each other I'm watching a lady just walk past me now and she's carrying her very little cat with her.

I've seen people with plastic bags on their feet. They are struggling to get things because there is no power in this area. People have come up to me and asked, can you borrow a mobile phone charger to be able to ring a member of their family? But also, people are carrying empty bottles to get water. There was a broken water pipe, and people were filling up bottles in that on the street. And we've seen them walking all the way into the center of the city to try and get water.

So really, apocalyptic scenes here in this area of Valencia. And meanwhile, there are also questions about why the alert sent to people's mobile phones in Valencia was sent so late when there had been weather warnings for a while. Yeah, absolutely. This is a big topic on both social media here, but also talking to some of the people here. The Civil Protection Agency, which is what is deployed in natural disasters, didn't issue that alert until 2015 on Tuesday evening, which of course was when the flooding had already caused damage and the people on social media were asking why the local government and the politicians were not better prepared and even today the

locals here are saying where are the people to help us? Now there are police but they are going to need resources and somebody said why is the Red Cross not here to help us? Now there are police but they are going to need resources and somebody said why is the Red Cross not here to help us? Because this is what they are going to need over the coming days. Nikki Schiller. While Spain tries to recover from the damage wrought by those devastating floods across the world, Taiwan is also dealing with extreme weather, the most powerful typhoon to hit the island in nearly 30 years. Officials say one person has died after their vehicle was crushed by a falling tree. Dozens more have been injured. Typhoon Kongrei has also caused power outages

in half a million households. Schools and workplaces across Taiwan have been closed, hundreds of flights and ferries cancelled and supermarkets stripped bare. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from the capital Taipei. The brunt of the storm has really been borne by the people on the east coast of Taiwan where it came ashore a little earlier today. It is an enormous storm. It's 500 kilometres across. It is packing winds at the centre of over 200 kilometres an hour. The real danger from storms like this isn't so much from the winds, it's really from the amount of rain that it's carrying and as it piles into the central mountains of Taiwan, which are very high,

it will start breaking up and dumping all of that rain over the mountains, potentially causing flash flooding and landslides. We've seen that in the past where whole villages have been buried in weather events like this. The other thing that's really most noticeable about this particular typhoon, Kong Ray, is how late it's coming in the season. In Taiwan we've already had two very big storms here, big typhoons so far this year, the first at the end of July and then another at the end of July and another at the end of September. But I look back at the records and I can tell you this, as far as I can see, is the largest typhoon to ever strike Taiwan so late in the season, right at the end of October, beginning of November. They have never had anything like that before and people have been really commenting on

that. We have seen people on TV here being asked what they think of the typhoon, whether they are worried and they are saying, look, we are used to typhoons here. But what's really strange is this is way, way too late in the season. We've never seen anything. And a 70-year-old man I saw saying, look, I've lived here 70 years. I've never seen anything this late in the year in my lifetime. Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Taipei.

Well, it's hard to say definitively whether the sudden floods in Spain or the power of the typhoon that's hit Taiwan are due to climate change. But a new study has warned that climate change made the 10 deadliest weather events of the past two decades more likely and intense. Researchers from Imperial College London say more than half a million people have been killed by the extreme weather across Asia, Africa and Europe since 2004. Professor Freddie Otto is part of the World Weather Attribution team. The study underscores the simple fact that burning fossil fuels causes climate change and climate change causes death and destruction. Life has already

become incredibly dangerous with 1.3 degrees of global warming. But last week the UN warned, we are on track to experience up to 3 degrees of warming this century. Even 2 degrees of warming will see every continent battered by increasingly dangerous heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and storms. The study is again a wake-up call for people who still think climate change is a distant threat, the suffering will only get worse. In two weeks, global leaders will meet in Azerbaijan for COP29. They really need to agree not only to reduce but stop burning fossil fuels with an end

date. The longer the world delays replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, the more severe and frequent extreme weather events will become. Our study also shows the critical need to prepare for climate change. Many of the 570,000 deaths were avoidable. Even many of the deaths we saw yesterday in floods in Spain were avoidable. Even many of the deaths we saw yesterday in floods in Spain were avoidable. The most important thing to avoid these deaths is to have functioning early warning and early action systems every country needs to prepare for the future.

Professor Freddie Otto, with just days to go before the US presidential election, Donald Trump has used a garbage truck to pull off an election stunt, appearing with it in a photo op, as he seeks to capitalise on muddled comments by President Joe Biden, which appear to denigrate Trump supporters as garbage. Kamala Harris had hoped to focus on her message of unity and help for the middle class in her last week of campaigning, but instead had to disavow Mr Biden's remarks which were a response to a speaker at a Trump rally

who'd called the US territory of Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. As both candidates continue to campaign in battleground states, Tom Bateman is in the press pool travelling with Kamala Harris. States, Tom Bateman is in the press pool traveling with Kamala Harris. This is Andrews Air Force Base on the tarmac next to Air Force 2 and we're awaiting the Vice President. But as she shows up here, a row about garbage after the joke that was made by a comedian at the Trump rally in New York over the weekend where he called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. The problem she has now is that President Biden referred to all this last night saying

the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. The Trump campaign have leapt on this saying he's insulted half the country as the vice president is due to show up. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Listen, I think that, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. Just to follow up on the... Do you sympathise if any voters who do feel offended by or insulted by the garbage coming? I am running for president of the United

States. I will be traveling to three states today to do what I have been doing throughout, which is talking with the American people. I get it in terms of the concerns they have about challenges like the price of groceries. My highest priority is to address that. So as she put distance between herself and Biden, we got closer to the battlegrounds. The election is being fought in the dwindling middle, people who could still be persuaded for either Trump or Harris. people who could still be persuaded for either Trump or Harris. So, a rally in Rally, North Carolina. Wow, wow, hello North Carolina.

It begins with a surprise warm-up act in front of these Democrat loyalists. My name is Jennifer Bell. One thing we may not have a lot in common with is the fact that up until 2020, I consider myself an outspoken Republican voter. Yes, get it out. I deserve it. I deserve it. This is the voter Harris wants to win over in the suburbs of North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Women who would vote Republican, but flinch at Donald Trump, particularly over his track record on abortion and reproductive rights.

Can we get another check? As your president, I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges you face. In seats close to the stage, a man holds up a Palestinian flag and shouts, you're a war criminal. It is the fourth time so far this has happened in a few hours. By the end of the day, there will be a fifth. It is a sign of how potent, how divisive this issue has become for the Democrats.

This does feel like the energy election. It's everywhere you turn. Harris rallies, Trump turning out his highly motivated fans. Xi has well outspent him thanks to a late grassroots fundraising surge. But their bases are not the problem. It is turning out the people that don't show up to these mostly stage managed events. They will be decisive in which way America turns on Tuesday.

That report by Tom Bateman. Still to come. We're observing major problems of lack of respect on many of the battlefields. We look at how the laws of war are being challenged by the world's conflicts. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe

to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC podcasts. You're listening to the Global News Podcast. North Korea has conducted its longest ever test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. It flew for around an hour and a half before landing in the sea. The test came just hours after the U.S. and South Korean defense ministers condemned the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia to help it fight Ukrainian forces. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said the exercise was a warning to his country's enemies.

Speaking at a news conference in Seoul, Major General An Chan-myung, who heads the operations at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, fiercely criticised the missile test. Our military condemns Kim Jong-un's regime's illicit and reckless provocation and strongly urges North Korea to immediately hold all actions undermining the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community, including the continued sending of trash balloons, dispatching troops to Russia as human shields and preparing for nuclear tests. Japan and the US have also condemned the missile test and China, North Korea's main ally, has

described it as a worrying development. Our correspondent Shima Khalil is monitoring developments from Tokyo. We've had confirmation from Pyongyang that it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and ICBM and that the launch set a record exceeding their previous missile tests. And I must say it's really rare that we get same-day confirmation from North Korea because it tells you that they want to send a message and they want to send it out fast. And they also wanted to say that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was at the missile

launching site. But we've also been getting more details both from South Korea and the Japanese authorities. The defense ministry here in Tokyo said that the ICBM was in the air for around an hour and 26 minutes, which is longer than any other missile tested by the North. We know that the ICBM flew around a thousand kilometers to the East before landing outside Japanese territorial waters. What we're getting from the South Korean defense officials is that essentially this is aimed at increasing the payload of the missile, so potentially allowing a single rocket to carry multiple warheads, making it more resilient to missile

defense system. Essentially, they're testing missiles and weapons that can fire farther and higher. And this really paints a picture of a determined North Korea to up the ante and to do it at a very crucial timing timing a few days before the US presidential elections. Yes, I was going to ask you about that because it does come just a few days before the US presidential elections, the first test since these reports of North Korean troops being deployed to Russia.

This does seem designed to send a message to the US and its Western allies. Absolutely. And I think the message simply is pay attention, pay attention to us, pay attention to this to this region, pay attention to our strengthening position of negotiations. And as you say, this launch comes days before both US and South Korea have again accused Pyongyang of sending troops to Russia potentially to take part in the war in Ukraine. Remember the US and South Korea have also been ramping up their war games, their military drills. And I think that it is a reminder that whoever is going to come to the White House is going

to come to an increasingly unstable Asia-Pacific and an increasingly angry and emboldened North Korea to deal with. Shima Khalil, the news over the last few years has been dominated by numerous conflicts from Yemen, Syria, the DRC, to Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. We have been witness to terrible violence. Often these wars seem to be characterized by a disregard for human rights and the laws of war. This week around 190 states are attending an international Red Cross and Red Crescent global conference in Switzerland to look at how the laws of war are being challenged by the world's conflicts and what can be done to improve things. Joe Inwood spoke to Pierre Crenboul, the Director General of the ICRC.

He began by asking him what the laws of war are. The laws of war are what we call international humanitarian law and they were designed to impose limitations and constraints on warring parties and obligations to respect, for example, civilian populations to avoid unnecessary suffering during times of conflict to protect prisoners of war and other protected persons such as medical installations, medical personnel. So they were essentially designed from the late 19th century, but expanded after World War II and the catastrophic human consequences of that conflict. And of course, right now we are in a time where we are observing major problems of lack of respect

on many of the battlefields and as the ICRC's role is to not only deliver humanitarian aid in these conflict environments, but also to ensure that these rules are upheld. We are extremely concerned by the lack of respect that we are seeing spreading by very permissive interpretations of these rules and in the ways they are applied and the catastrophic consequences we're seeing in many places. So the conference here at this moment in Geneva is really to galvanize and to mobilize state attention through the entire network of Red Cross and Red Crescent, so the International Committee of Red Cross that I'm a member of, but also National Red Crosses and Red Crescent Societies from around the globe. And we really feel that this is a moment to emphasize, insist and express indignation at the lack of respect

that we're seeing and to ensure that this is improved. Do you think the conflicts that we see in the world today, do you think that the respect for the laws of war, do you think the conduct is worse than it used to be in the past? Or is it possible that we have greater visibility and therefore a different perception of how bad things are? It is certainly a mix because of course if we compare to other great disasters, say World War II, the Rwandan genocide, of course there have been other chapters where there have been major violations of international humanitarian law

and certainly the public scrutiny, the availability and the visibility of the impact in human terms in many of the conflicts of today through social media, your own reporting and others, is of course far more intense and the scrutiny is closer. But we also see that there are many conflicts, of course, that are not in the spotlight of attention. If you see ongoing events in the Sahel region, in Central African Republic, in Myanmar and many others,

the ICRC is present on many conflict settings where we see lack of attention, lack of profile and lack of recognition for the human suffering that is extensive. So again, we feel this is a moment, you know, this year is the 75th anniversary of the drafting of one of the Geneva Conventions that were adopted after World War Two, precisely to limit human suffering on the world's battlefields. That was the Director General of the ICRC, Pierre Crenboul. A court in Russia has fined Google more than two undecillion rubles. In case that number is unfamiliar, that is two followed by 36 zeros or in other words a trillion

times a trillion times a trillion. Well that's far greater than the GDP of the entire world and this fine is all because Google removed state-run and pro-government accounts from YouTube. Our senior technology reporter Graham Fraser told us more about this gargantuan fine. To be honest I had never heard of undecillion before I started writing this story. It's such an incredible number and you know kind of beggars belief doesn't it? And the fine by the Russian court is all in relation to YouTube who are of course owned by Google's parent company Alphabet and this all relates to YouTube restricting the content of up to 17

Russian media channels on YouTube. This all started back in 2020 and these channels were complaining that YouTube was restricting their content and it continued to escalate and it escalated much further after Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago. These fines have just continued to accumulate and as we say this week it's emerged that they have got to this unbelievable figure which is, you know, in US dollars terms, is 20 decillion. That's 20 followed by 33 zeros. Now, this is the latest in the long-running escalation between Russian authorities and the US tech giant. It went back in May 2021, for instance.

The media regulator in Russia accused Google of restricting YouTube access to its media outlets, including RT and Sputnik. And then in 2022, Russia fined Google 21 billion rubles in relation to material about the Ukraine war. So yes, this is a continuing escalation and who knows what will happen next. Graham Fraser, well it could have been worse. The company could have been fined a Google. A Google is one followed by a hundred zeros and it's also the basis on which the company established its name.

It's being called the big tribal game, an online battle between Somali influencers that takes place on TikTok, where they argue over language and cultural issues. It all sounds like harmless fun and for many it is. But in a country where rivalries have in recent decades resulted in bloodshed, things can often take a darker turn. The BBC spoke to a woman who was verbally abused by an influencer who regularly took part in the events. Bushra Muhammad reports. That's meant to be the sound of a lion roaring as it runs across my screen.

It cost about 400 US dollars and in TikTok money many thousand coins. Donation like this helps fund what's known as the big tribal game. Tiktok's battle feature is popular across the world. Typically, you will see two influencers on a split screen debating or taking part in challenges to earn virtual gifts from the audience, which can be converted into real money. For Somalis, they call it the big tribal game, where influences from different clans, often based outside Somalia, battle each other.

For some games, more than 100,000 people have tuned in. But the type of insults exchanged by rival clans, arguing over the past, is causing concerns over inflaming divisions in the community. In Somali culture, the clan also known as the tribe is important for many reasons, but is seen as a sensitive topic. Many clans fought against each other in the Somali civil war in 1991. Clan rivalries are at the heart of the games. The tiktok users we spoke to say they play because they want to prove their clan is stronger.

To me, personally, it's kind of like just to support the people where I was from, just to give them name. That is Zara, a Somali student who lives in the United States. This is not her real name and we are using the voice of an actor to protect her identity. Ahai Rolla, she is known in the game as a gifter, spending money on expensive items like the $400 lion. Now she questions why she got involved and says she spent almost $10,000 on these games. Somehow it's kind of like addiction. An addiction that led her into trouble, but she experienced something much worse.

Zara was verbally abused and threatened by an influencer. Imagine your family see your photos in a naked body because they don't know it was AI photos. They don't know it was photoshopped. Zara says he threatened to post naked pictures of her online and insulted her in a video posted on his TikTok account. The man goes by Hussein Kibre online. He's a US-based Somali influencer with a large following. We contacted him to put these allegations to him, but he hasn't

replied to our message. According to TikTok, Hussein Kibre's accounts that were shared by the BBC have been banned for violating its policies on adult sexual and physical abuse. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said, We prioritise the safety of our community with some of the industry's firmest streaming requirements, including specific policies for match content, customisable safety tools for viewers,

and only allowing people over 18 to go live or send gifts. That was sponsored by TikTok, ending that report by Bushra Mohamed. Now 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 or the topics covered, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Martin Williams. The producer was Tracy Gordon. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jena Jaleel. Until next time, goodbye. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts

like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC podcasts.