Global News Podcast - Six killed as Egyptian tourist submarine sinks

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

Tourist submarine sinks off Egypt's Red Sea coast with at least six people confirmed dead. Also, Trump imposes new tariffs on foreign cars, and the devastation Sudan's civil war has caused to the National Museum.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Available now on the documentary from the BBC World Service. Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia group, has been battered by its war with Israel. Now even some supporters are questioning its purpose. So is this a turning point? Join me, Hugo Bachega, as I travel to the heartland of the movement to find out. Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and at 14 hours GMT on Thursday 27th March, these are our main stories. A tourist submarine sinks off the Egyptian Red Sea city of Haggadah. At least six people are confirmed dead. President Trump imposes 25% tariffs on foreign car imports and parliament in Israel passes a contentious bill that would increase political influence over the appointment of judges. Also in this podcast, the Ghanaian journalist who won a multi-million dollar court case.

The bigger impact for me is not the money but is the fact that young journalists are encouraged to believe that no matter how big you are a politician, we also have the capacity to stand tall to talk with you. And will pigs' livers solve the problem of transplant organs? But we start our podcast in Egypt, where six tourists died when the submarine they were on sank in the Red Sea just four months after the submarine they were on sank in the Red Sea just four months after the sinking of another dive vessel in the same area leaving 11 people dead or missing. The Russian Embassy in Cairo has

said that all the people who died today were from Russia. I got the latest from our correspondent in the Egyptian capital, Sally Nabil. What we know is that submarine has sunk this morning off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Hergada. It had 45 tourists on board, according to the Russian embassy in Cairo that confirmed that all the tourists were Russians, in addition to the Egyptian crew of course. What we know so far is that six people are dead and nine are injured and they have been moved to local hospitals to get treatment. We understand that four of them are lying in a critical condition but we don't know exactly what caused the submarine to sink but this incident will raise a lot of questions about safety measures employed by

the local authorities in these popular sea excursions because it's not the first time for a tragedy like that to happen off the Red Sea coast. Just four months ago I was in Hergada as well last November covering another story for another boat that sunk off the Red Sea coast that had more than 40 tourists on board. The BBC has spoken to many of the survivors and they accused the authorities of trying to cover things up, of blaming things on the weather, but they understand that there are some real reasons that have not been revealed through the investigations. Yeah a lot of people

might be surprised even to discover that there are submarines full of tourists going down to the seabed. That's pretty normal in Hargada, by the way. I've been on a similar submarine excursion before. You go into the submarine and you spend around one hour or less underwater to explore the magnificent sea life there. It's not unheard of, it's quite normal and it's quite regular as well and this is why we're talking here about whether or not proper safety measures have been put in place to guarantee the security of those people on board given the frequency of these tours and how regular they are. Yeah because the potential for disaster, particularly with the submarine, is clearly there.

And as you indicated, the Egyptian tourist boat industry has a fairly checkered track record. Exactly, and that will give another hard blow to the tourist industry. And if we talk about the Red Sea, it's one of the top tourist destinations in the country. And it's very popular for its marine life and sea trips. And so if everything seems to be unsafe, if everything seems to be unchecked by local authorities, so people would be scared to go,

and they would have second thoughts about booking a trip to the Red Sea. Sally Nabeel in Cairo. Japan and South Korea are meant to be America's closest allies in Asia at a time when China is pressing ahead with its ambition to overtake the United States as the world's biggest economic superpower. But President Trump's decision to impose punishing tariffs on cars and vehicle parts entering the US has led to condemnation not just in Tokyo and Seoul but in Europe as well. His decision to hike import taxes on the sector by 25% have been described by

Germany and France as very bad news. For more on the reaction in Asia, I spoke to our business correspondent there, Nick Marsh. It's a major, major region for car exports to the United States when it comes to finished cars. Japan is only second to Mexico when it comes to exports. South Korea is third in the world. Car parts, Japan is fourth, South Korea is fifth. So we are talking about major players, major trading partners with the United States and unsurprisingly, the reaction has been one of dismay. The South Korean government has been holding an emergency meeting. The Ministry of Trade has been meeting with representatives from the car industry. They say it's going to pose significant challenges to the Korean car industry, these tariffs.

I think that's something of an understatement, to be honest. They're preparing some countermeasures of their own, which will be available in mid-April. They say shares, of of course in big Japanese car makers such as Honda and Toyota are unsurprisingly down. Hyundai shares were also down today. It really is a huge blow for the Asian car industry and particularly like I say South Korea and Japan. Yeah, President Trump has always had a difficult relationship with China, but South Korea and Japan, they're two of America's closest allies. This is going to strain the relationship, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, I think Donald Trump doesn't really care too much about relationships, even with allies or what were allies. I think from his point of view, he just wants to try

and secure what he sees as the best deal for the United States. But Japan's prime minister has made the point today that his country is the number one foreign investor in the United States. And this is hardly a way to treat a country that invests more than any other country in the world. He is still holding out for some kind of exemption in the future. But he did say, though, that if no exemption could be found then countermeasures

of their own were also on the table. We have to think about appropriate measures following this announcement. Naturally we'll consider all options. Japan has made investment and created jobs in the United States paying the highest salaries to workers there. We're the number one country in US investment. In that sense we have to question if it's OK that all countries are treated the same way. Shigeru Ishiba, the Japanese Prime Minister. Nick, is there any chance that Donald Trump won't follow through with this? In the short term, probably not. He was actually asked this question directly in the Oval Office

when he was announcing these tariffs and he said no. So we're all waiting for them to be introduced next week. We do know obviously that Donald Trump does like to use tariffs as a negotiating ploy. I think though when it comes to car manufacturing, his vision is a much more long-term one. He likes the idea of America in its heyday being the number one car manufacturer. So, you know, even though these tariffs are going to push up the prices of cars for consumers, I don't think he minds that. He just wants foreign car makers, if they're going to sell their cars to American consumers, he wants them to build them in America. Nick Marsh in Singapore. Let's head to the Middle East now where Parliament in Israel has passed a highly contentious bill that would increase political influence over the appointment of judges.

Thousands of protesters in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have been rallying for several days against the plans which have been pushed forward by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrators have also been condemning the resumption of hostilities in Gaza. Our Middle East regional editor Sebastian Ascher told me why people have been out on the streets against the bill. They see it as an attack on democracy essentially. I mean the way that it's framed by Mr Netanyahu and his supporters is that it's a recalibration, a rebalancing, so that elected officials, the lawmakers in the Knesset, in the government, will have more say in the appointment of judges, but those who are

protesting against it. And this was a major, major issue before October 7, 2023. There were huge demonstrations week after week in Israel over the judicial overhaul that was planned by Mr Netanyahu. They see it as an attack on democracy, but the checks and balances that the judiciary provides is severely undermined by this. And I think also it's important to say that there's been a real resurgence of protest against the Israeli prime minister in the past few days. This is one of the issues. Another issue was the passing of a budget, a very controversial budget. His moves also to dismiss the head of the Internal Security Agency Shin Bet and the attorney general. All of

those things have kind of coalesced into a movement that's united much of the opposition and beyond and above all of that has been people's concern over the resumption of Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza and their fears for hostages there. I mean this has been an absolute key part of protests in recent months and this is further fueling the protests on the streets which are only likely to continue. Yes, what are the latest developments in Gaza? Well overnight around ten people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes, among them the Hamas spokesperson.

Also it's reported that another Hamas official was killed. I mean since Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas they've killed several senior members of Hamas and more than 800 people according to health officials in Gaza. We've also had amongst the evacuation warnings that have been given by Israel, an even more urgent one for people in several districts in Gaza City essentially saying, this is your last warning before military action. I mean in the past week since this resumption by Israel there have been several rockets that have been

sent into Israel from Gaza and that's prompted these warnings in areas where Israel believes they were fired from and that I think that's also fueled for the first time these protests that we've seen in northern Gaza where people feel that Hamas is perhaps provoking Israel into carrying out more attacks which they are fearful of they kind of feel that they want an end to all of this now. Sebastian Asha in Jerusalem. A new documentary which claims it is setting the record straight on the pro-Palestinian protests that engulfed US college campuses last year has got the backing of the Hollywood

actress Susan Sarandon. It's the latest in a series of films highlighting Palestinian grievances, some of which have faced strong resistance and in some instances even calls for outright bans. Tom Brook reports from New York. Shut it down! Shut it down! Last year's Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupation ignited a global movement. This new documentary charts how the protest escalated. We've tried to come to a middle ground with the administration.

A key character in the film is Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist and a lead negotiator with the university administration at the time. Early this month he was taken by federal agents from his New York home. Now in custody, he faces deportation. To his supporters he is seen as a target of President Trump's crackdown on students who protested against the war in Gaza. The president maintains that his administration will not tolerate students who engage in what he describes as pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity. The creators of this new documentary tell a different story of how they see student

activities on college campuses. Rap artist Macklemore was an executive producer of the film. This film is extremely important to dispel any notion of anti-Semitism, of any bias, of any hatred. It is a film about liberation. It shows the power of students in this moment, that students have always been on the right side of history, that our liberation is dependent on people like the Columbia students stepping up.

That view is echoed by the film's supporters who maintain it presents the real truth of what was happening at the Columbia protests, among them Oscar nominated actress and activist Susan Sarandon. I'm a New Yorker and so it was interesting to me because I had been to Columbia while it was going on and then I would turn on the TV and see reports that were completely the opposite of what was happening there. And so I think that it gives a good context to why the students were there. I think it shows that they were eating meals together and having classes and dancing and the whole

intention was very peaceful. But peaceful isn't the conclusion that a Columbia University task force came to. Last year it found some Jewish and Israeli students on campus were the targets of abuse. The encampments, like other films focusing on the plight of Palestinians, may find it faces big challenges in the US. Another documentary, No Other Land, which details the Israeli military's efforts to forcibly displace Palestinian villagers in the occupied West Bank, won an Oscar earlier this month.

It was made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective. Around the world, the film has received strong reviews, but struggled to get a proper distribution deal. Earlier this month the mayor of Miami Beach, Stephen Miner, moved to cut public funding to a local cinema showing the film, in effect banning it. A lot of people have asked me, did you actually watch it, mayor? And the answer is yes. I legitimately view this as a public safety threat. The mayor had second thoughts and later decided not to revoke public funding to the cinema. But the fact remains the filmmaking community in general is fearful of what will happen

to freedom of expression in this new Trump era. New York based film director Ira Sacks. People are scared. They fear being themselves. They fear violence. They fear retribution. Some in the film industry say that a form of resistant cinema could emerge in the Trump era, and that The Encampments is part of this.

Kay Pritzker co-directed The Encampments documentary, and he hopes other filmmakers will be inspired. I hope they watch this film and find the bravery to make their own films and to not censor themselves, to tell the truth, to speak their own truth. In these polarized times and with tensions over the Middle East remaining high, the challenge films like The Encampments face is reaching beyond its expected audience. Opinion on the Israel-Gaza war is so entrenched that for the most part, The Encampments may end up just preaching to the converted. Tom Brook in New York. Still to come in this podcast, how the civil war in Sudan affected the National Museum.

They took from the main storage all the unique and the beautiful collections and destroyed the rest of the collection that is existing now. militia group has been battered by its war with Israel. Now even some supporters are questioning its purpose. So is this a turning point? Join me, Hugo Bashega, as I travel to the heartland of the movement to find out. Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts. The United Nations mission in South Sudan is warning that the detention of the country's first Vice President, Riek Machar, has brought the country to the brink of a return to civil

war. Dr Riek's SPLM in opposition movement says he's under house arrest alongside his wife. Riek Machar was made the first vice president as part of a peace deal after a civil war between his forces and troops loyal to President Salva Kiir, which killed an estimated 400,000 people from 2013 to 2018. James Coughnell spoke to Isaac Kuath Gang, the representative for Riek Machar's SPLMIO movement in the US. He began by asking him what happened in Juba last night. A number of people from the government, including the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Staff

and then the Director General of the National Security. Pay a visit to the first VP's resident. We got some calls with people panicking, not sure what was happening. And once they understood what was happening, they informed us that they were meeting with the first VP and when the meeting was finished, we understood that he was given a warning of arrest and that he was officially arrested at his residence. So to be clear, has he been arrested and taken somewhere else or is he under house arrest? As we speak, our understanding is that he is under house arrest. There was an attempt to take him to a different location, but he did not cooperate. And what is he being arrested for?

This is a critical question and it's very difficult to answer because I personally don't know. As I understand, I think they wanted him to answer for what transpired in Nasser. As you may remember, there was a clash between the SSPDF and the local youth in Nasser County that resulted in the SSPDF being... The National Army, yeah. Correct. And so it seemed like they're trying to make him answer for that. And from what I understand, this seemed like a trump up charges to create an impression that he might have been responsible for that. That local militia you talk about, the White Army, is a Nuer youth group that fought with him on his side in the 2013 civil war. So you can understand why the government might

be asking those questions, could you not? I don't because the White Army, which is a name given to the newer version of the local defense forces, is not an isolated group to the Aparnaal region in general or to the newer community in particular. These armed groups or non-state actors are prevalent across South Sudan, including Afrinal, Bar Ghazal, as well as the Greater Equatoria. In Greater Equatoria, we have Aero Boys, which are the equivalent of the local youth in Nasr and other places in Greater Afrinal. We also have a group called Gelwing and Matianganyor in Greater Barphinal. We also have a group called Gail Wing and Matiana Njor in Greater Baragazal.

These non-state actors came up as the result of limited protection, security-wise from the government. So they pop up to protect themselves, protect their properties and protect their families. In this particular case, when there were the massacre in 2013, the White Army started the war actually because they were upset about what happened and they moved towards Juba and then they fought the government.

It was later in 2014 that the SGLIO was formed and then when they were fighting with the government forces, I think it's safe to say that they were fighting side by side by the end of the same groups. With the Rikmashas forces, you know, I think it's safe to say that they were fighting side by side, but they're not the same groups. With Riek Macha's forces, yeah. So to be clear, as far as you're concerned, Riek Macha has no involvement with the White Army, is not inciting them to fight against the state? None whatsoever. Have you or any of your colleagues been able to speak to Riek Macha? Do you know what sort of conditions he is?

Yes, I had a opportunity to speak to someone around him. He's, when he was arrested, his guards were disarmed and then detained. But luckily enough, he is, you know, he is with one guard in the compounds and I was able to speak to the guard earlier. So my understanding as of now from that conversation is that he'll do fine, but

we don't know for how long. Isaac Kuathgang from South Sudan's opposition movement. China has reportedly ordered state-owned firms to pause new deals with businesses linked to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing following his announcement that he plans to sell two ports in the Panama Canal to a US consortium. Tracy Burcham reports. Media reports in China and the US detail Beijing's wrath at the Panama ports deal by Mr Li's CK Hutchinson conglomerate. It announced earlier in March that it plans to sell a range of global port assets, including two at the Panama Canal

to a consortium led by US private equity firm BlackRock. Beijing newspaper articles have been critical of the decision and some pro-China commentators have called 96-year-old Mr Lee a traitor and the multi-billion dollar deal an act of betrayal to the Chinese people. The deal is due to be signed next week. Tracy Burcham. Over the past year doctors around the world have successfully transplanted genetically modified pig kidneys and hearts into human patients. But now scientists in China have made history by doing the same with a pig liver. Our China correspondent Stephen

Macdonald told us more. Doctors from the fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an have announced their study in the Journal of Nature and what they're saying they've done is to have transplanted a liver from a genetically modified pig into a brain-dead human. Apparently it had six edited genes to make it a better donor. After monitoring the blood flow, bile production, immune response, they're saying it functioned really well and crucially was smoothly secreting bile. Now one of the problems with livers, unlike other organs, is they do multiple things. problems with livers, unlike other organs, as they do multiple things. Clean blood, break down alcohol and other things in the body, and produce bile. So it's made it a technically

very difficult thing to do. But for the first time, such a transplant of a liver from one of these genetically modified pigs has been in their words doesn't mean that we're ready to go now with these livers can start going to humans straight away. Not only huge demand but huge and growing demand. And it's an even bigger problem in a place like China where for various sort of cultural reasons there's not a big uptake of donations here. Like people when you tick your driver's licence or something like that to say, I'll donate my body parts if I'm going to die, that's pretty small,

way too small in a place like China. So they're looking for other options. So yes, of course, people are most excited about the possibility that if a liver from genetically modified pigs could be developed to routinely placed into humans while it would be a massive scientific breakthrough. Stephen MacDonald. Earlier in this podcast we heard about the situation in South Sudan. Well, to the north in Sudan the civil war there continues to rage. But there have been developments. The country's military leader, General Abda

Fattah al-Burhan, has visited the Presidential Palace in Khartoum after landing at the city's international airport just hours after it was recaptured by the army. Mr Burhan declared the capital free of the paramilitary rapid support forces or RSF. However, the scars of battle remain, including at the National Museum. When forces of the Sudanese army retook areas of the capital, the National Museum appears to have been looted. The director, Itlas Abdel-Atiif Ahmed, spoke to our former Sudan correspondent, James Kopnor. The building was very unique and very beautiful. The first floor hosted all the

monuments, all the collections from prehistory up to Marawi, and the second hosted the Christianity collections and a little bit of Islamic and a huge garden where an open area museum erected the temples and tombs which were built from the north of Sudan. So really incredible place and one I visited many times when I lived in Khatoum. What is left of it now because it seems like the museum has suffered a lot of looting. Yes, unfortunately, the militia took very big collections from the Sudan National Museum, the collection that we evacuated during our rehabilitating project for Sudan National Museum. And we put all these collections packed in boxes.

Most of this, they took it and they took from the main storage all the unique and the beautiful collections and destroyed the rest of the collection that is existed now. They destroyed it and we have a strong room for the gold collection. They opened this and took all the gold collection from Merawi and from Kush as generous. So what do you suspect has happened to all these wonderful artifacts? Are they being sold? Have they been destroyed? They wanted to take it to the market and do trading by it. And some of them, I think they took to another country, which is support this militia.

Are we talking about the United Arab Emirates, which is often a key backing RSS? Yes, they mentioned that because some of them, they put the collection in the videos and we received some videos and they trying to get to Emirates, but up to now we didn't sure where is it now. But I don't know what is about the gold. Maybe they use it for them or for trading in the market. This war is against the people on Sudan first. They destroyed our identity.

They destroyed our history. Do you think there will be a way of rebuilding the National Museum? Yes, of course. We have to return all our collections, inshallah, and we will build it more beautiful than before. Iklas Abdul Latif Ahmed speaking to James Koppnaul. The investigative work of the Ghanaian journalist Anas Aram-Iyo is considered so dangerous that he keeps his identity hidden. His controversial documentary in 2018 about corruption in African football triggered a huge backlash, including from a Ghanaian MP who called for him to be hanged.

Now Mr Anas has won a defamation case and has been awarded $18 million in court. Alfie Haberschen reports. Football hasn't been the same in Ghana since Anas Aramaio Anas released a film called Betraying the Game. It challenged Ghanaians' deep love for the sport with the idea that many of the matches they watch may be completely fixed. Secret filming showed bribery to be an endemic problem, including footage of FIFA's number two in African football, the president of the Ghanaian Football Association, Kwezi Niantachi, accepting $65,000. He was suspended as a result, along with more than 70 referees. But many refused to believe the film,

directing their anger back at Anas. In Ghana here, when you talk of investigative journalism, I say it's bogus. There is none. There is none. The ghanian journalist Kennedy Aguiapong, he later labelled a Nasser criminal and called for him to be killed. The journalist took him to trial for defamation in Ghana but lost. But now he has been successful at a second attempt in a US court where the politician owns property. He's been awarded $18 million, but says the victory is about much more than that.

The bigger impact for me is not the money, but is the fact that young journalists are encouraged to believe that no matter how big you are as a politician, we also have the capacity to stand tall to talk with you. But Anas's own appearance is a reminder of the ongoing risks of his work, always wearing a veil-like curtain of beads to cover his face. He remains a man undercover. Alfie Haberschen.

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 or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global news pod. This edition was mixed by Holly Smith and the producer was Oliver Burlough. The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Alex Ritz and until next time, goodbye. Available now on the Documentary from the BBC World Service. Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia group, has been battered by its war with Israel. Now even some supporters are questioning its purpose. So is this a turning point? Join me, Hugo Bashega, as I travel to the heartland of the movement to find out. Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.