Global News Podcast - Syria deploys troops to enforce fragile ceasefire

Episode Date: July 20, 2025

The Syrian government says it has halted sectarian clashes in Sweida despite signs it's struggling to enforce the ceasefire. Also: more than 30 die in Vietnam when a tourist boat capsizes, and the young poets of Gaza.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Sunday the 20th of July these are our main stories. As we record this podcast, Damascus says it has halted sectarian clashes in southern Syria by deploying troops. There are signs it is still struggling to enforce a ceasefire. More than 30 people have died in Vietnam where a tourist boat has capsized in a storm at sea. The M23 rebels have agreed a ceasefire with government forces in eastern Congo. Also in this podcast. Tell them, tell them we are more than numbers, more than silent echoes in a ledger of loss. We are families entwined in love, friends living in the shadows of our hoops bound by

dreams. We hear from the young poets of Gaza. As we record this podcast, Syria's interior Ministry has said that sectarian clashes have been stopped in the southern city of Sweda and that the area has been cleared of Bedouin fighters following the deployment of government soldiers. This follows nearly a week of violence between Bedouin tribesmen and the minority Druze community. More than 900 people are believed to have been killed in the wider province of Zoueda. Government forces claim to be attempting to enforce a fragile ceasefire.

Earlier on Saturday, John Donelson sent this report from Damascus. This morning in and around Zoueda, it didn't feel much like a ceasefire. Bedouin tribesmen in running gun battles with fighters from the minority Druze community, which have left hundreds of people dead. We will go to their houses and kill them in their homes, said this Bedouin, Abouz Jazeem. The Syrian army has now set up checkpoints around Zawada to try to restore calm. It came after President Ahmed al-Sharah announced the new ceasefire. He's previously been accused, though, of siding with the Bedouin tribes.

And this latest ceasefire also involves Israel, which has in effect given permission for Syrian forces to deploy south on condition that they protect Syrian Druze citizens. Israel also has a significant Druze community. Many live in the occupied Golan Heights on Israel's northern border. Syria is a fragile, fractured nation with many different factions as well as outside forces wanting a say in its future. John Donnison. The BBC has been hearing from a Druze woman caught up in the violence. In a series of messages sent via WhatsApp she told us about the terrifying events that forced her into hiding. Her words have been translated

and spoken by one of our producers. I think that when you hear her story, you will understand why we're not identifying her. And a warning, it is distressing. I live in a village called Mazra. It's the first village outside the city of Subaida in southern Syria. Our area is mostly made up of Druze people who have tried to stay safe and away from the Syrian government because we do not support their control or beliefs.

I was at home with my family, my mom and my brother and my dad, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Before that day, our Druze leader, Al-Hajari, made an announcement. He told everyone not to fight the Syrian government. He said they made a deal. The government promised they would come to protect us, not to hurt us. So the Druze fighters in our area stopped fighting. They gave up their weapons and let the government come in peacefully. But the government lied. Soon after they entered, everything changed. There were gunshots in the streets. People were screaming, doors being broken.

We saw men with covered faces. Some looked like they were not even from Syria. They started killing people, burning homes, stealing from shops and cars. We were very scared. My family tried to hide me, so I ran to the loft and climbed inside the water tank. I closed the lid and just stayed there, half in the water trying to breathe. From inside I could hear my family crying, screaming. My mum was begging, saying, please, he's disabled, don't kill him. But they were monsters. I heard a lot of gunshots and then silence. I stayed in the tank all night. I couldn't breathe well.

I was cold and shaking. The next day I went down, I saw my whole family dead. My disabled father was still in his chair, shot. I couldn't cry or scream. I was scared they were still around. I hide in the corner for two more days, with the bodies and the smell. I just did not know what to do.

Then I heard the voices of Druze youth who had arrived in the area after it was liberated. I went out and saw many massacres, the pregnant woman who had been killed, children who had been slaughtered, cars and shops blown up, and houses burned down. Nothing was livable. It was like a disaster zone,

and everyone in it had been killed. A Druze woman speaking to the BBC. To Gaza next, where the Hamas-run civil defence agency has said that 26 Palestinians seeking food have been shot dead by the Israeli military near two distribution centres run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. For its part, the Foundation has said there had been no incidents at or near its sites on Saturday. Israel does not allow international journalists, including those from the BBC, into the territory. Our correspondent, Emir Nadir, reports from Jerusalem.

Patients were rushed to hospital by cart after the incident. Some groaning, bloodied and in shock. Others lifeless. Scenes that are being played out each day as Gazans try to secure food. One eyewitness pointed the finger at the Israeli army for today's attack. We reached the area where there are cement blocks at the first entrance. Suddenly we saw jeeps coming from one side and tanks from the other. They started shooting at us. It wasn't shots that were to scare or organize us. It was shots that were targeted to kill us."

The Israeli military told the BBC its troops fired only warning shots to prevent so-called suspects approaching them who posed a threat, saying the incident happened before the aid site opened. The US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation told the BBC that the deaths were near its sites and took place several miles away. Both the military and GHF have previously said they're implementing lessons learned after repeated violent incidents, but there are few signs of a change in the deadly chaos, violence

and humiliation for Palestinians seeking food. This week, the UN reported over 670 killings at GHF aid sites. It's also said that the number of acutely malnourished children has doubled since Israel began restricting food entering the territory in March. Significant amounts of aid, including baby formula, remains blocked at the border. Yesterday the director of Warnfield Hospital said they were witnessing an unprecedented influx of patients suffering from severe exhaustion, emaciation and acute malnutrition. The Hamas government media office has said 69 children have died from malnutrition.

Speaking today to a BBC cameraman in front of a rubbish dump, one former businessman told how his family once had land and 10 apartments. Now he searches for plastic to sell for flour. On Friday, President Trump once again suggested a ceasefire deal was very near. But a Palestinian official told the BBC that talks remain blocked, with the latest troop withdrawal map proposed by Israel still unacceptable to Hamas. Emir Nadir, at least 34 people died after a tourist boat capsized off Vietnam's coast as high winds, heavy rain and lightning struck the popular destination of Ha Long Bay. Local

media say most of those on board were Vietnamese families visiting from the capital Hanoi. 11 people were reportedly rescued but as we record this podcast others remain missing. This survivor Dang Thi, said she was worried about her relatives. My husband, my children and my friends and their family are still missing. I hope they're all rescued soon. Don't leave anyone in the boat. The air is running thin and time is running out. I got more from the BBC's Ella Bicknell. This incident happened about 2pm local time when there was this very sudden change

in the weather off the coast of Ha Long Bay, torrential rain. Local residents are reporting hail stones and the sky suddenly going dark, causing this quite small vessel, about 53 people on board, to capsize into the choppy water. Because of the torrential rain, because of the bad weather, it's a real struggle for the search and Rescue operation who are dealing with some very bad conditions. Yeah and this is a family destination, many of the passengers children. Absolutely, it's believed half of the passengers on this vessel were children and you're right, it's such a popular tourist destination particularly with families, yes international tourists but particularly people from Vietnam, many visiting from the capital Hanoi, millions visit Ha Long Bay every single year to see those thousands of limestone islands

poking out of what is usually emerald green waters, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, such a beautiful place and because it's the site of such a awful tragedy, many Vietnamese people will be rocked by this including the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin, who's offered his condolences to the victims and their families. And a tropical storm making its way towards Vietnam. Yes, Typhoon Weaver. There was some speculation whether today's tragic event was caused by it, but meteorologists at Vietnam's weather agency says it won't actually be hitting till next week. Typhoon Weaver will be the third tropical storm to hit the South China Sea this year alone.

Obviously climate change is exacerbating the frequency and the devastation of these tropical storms. But at the moment Storm Weaver is making its way through the China Sea. It's been past the Philippines with now seeing ferry and flight cancellations in Taiwan. It's approaching Hong Kong and going to hit Vietnam early next week. The BBC's Ella Bicknell. The population of Italy is shrinking fast. The birth rate has declined every year for over a decade, with more and more villages and towns registering zero births. decade with more and more villages and towns registering zero births. The right-wing government of Georgia Maloney talks a lot about family values and promoting childbirth. So why isn't

it working and how will her anti-immigration policies fare in the face of a rapidly diminishing workforce? Sarah Rainsford has been to northern Italy to find out. The population of Fregona is shrinking fast. So fast that the local primary school is now in danger. Only four children have been registered for the reception class next year and that's not enough to be viable. So the mayor is on a mission. He tells me he's been touring local towns, trying to persuade parents to send their children

to Fregona and save the school. I went to the factories to speak with the workers and I offered a minibus service to school and extra activities after class. But the population in neighbouring towns is shrinking too. In Fregona, the population has shrunk by almost a fifth in the past decade. This is now a very rare sound here. There have only been four babies born in Fregona this year. Nationwide, Italy's birth rate is the lowest it's ever been.

But having Delita wasn't a step her mum Valentina took lightly. It's difficult here in Italy to plan to have a baby. What was the biggest complication? Work because I have to start working now. I have the luck to have the grandmother to take care of her. If you didn't have grandparents here, what would you do? I have to leave work. The right-wing government of Georgia Maloney talks a lot about families. And it does give parents some tax breaks and longer leave.

There's some cash too for having children. But affordable, accessible childcare is still a big problem here. A short drive down into the Veneto Valley, there is a factory that's taken matters into its own hands. Ladies, this lady is into the garden of the kindergarten and it's full of children. And this little boy's got a frying pan full of pasta. Ciao. This place was created by eight companies that clubbed together. It isn't free, but there is a hefty staff discount.

My name is Katia Daros. I'm a vice president and CEO of Irinox. This helps for sure, especially women, to come back to work. What do you think about the government's measures? Do you think they're enough? Do you think they're right? I think that what has been done till today is really like a little action

which will not change the situation. Katia has one other solution to Italy's shrinking population. 40% of her workforce are now foreigners. But the government prefers to talk about making more Italian babies, not about increasing immigration. Sarah Rainsford. Still to come. The valet podium was taken out, the taco truck was taken out and then a large number of people were impacted by the vehicle.

A car drives into a crowd of people outside a nightclub in Los Angeles. After more than 30 years of conflict, could peace finally be within reach in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo? There's hope now the DRC government and the M23 rebels agreed a ceasefire in Qatar on Saturday. It follows another more recent deal between the DRC and Rwanda, which denies the accusations of backing M23 rebels. The African Union called Saturday's deal a major milestone in a regional conflict that has killed millions of people and displaced many more. The US Special Envoy for the region, Massad Boulos, was at the signing ceremony in Qatar.

This is extremely important. It's a region that has suffered for too long, at least three decades, at least six million lives were lost and millions of displaced and refugees are suffering. So they have both committed to resolving this and we've seen nothing but good faith from them. The BBC's poor NGA has reported recently from the Eastern DRC and he told me there was some controversy about what's actually in the deal. On the one hand the M23 leader Bertrand Bissimond has said that it doesn't in any way involve their complete withdrawal from the areas they control whereas the Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Mouyaia says it

indeed asks that the M23 rebels unconditionally withdraw from those areas so this is a gray area now that many people are wondering what the actual what the real fact is. Yeah a gray area now that many people are wondering what the real fact is. Yeah, a gray area and presumably it could still collapse. Well, if we can go by previous initiatives by the African Union, the East Africa region, we can say that it's still unclear whether in August the final deal will be signed. Both parties up until now have seemingly expressed good faith in meeting in Doha, Qatar to sign this declaration of principles because the M23 had been favourable to this process as opposed to the one in Washington which did not involve their direct signature with

the different parties that signed. That's the government of the DRC and Rwanda. But it remains to be seen whether finally they will put pen to paper on the 18th of August. Presumably both sides will have had to make quite significant concessions to get to this. Yeah, definitely. These talks have been underway for quite a while. I think as far back as April when the Qatari government had been engaging with them. But then in March they had facilitated a meeting between the DR Congo president, Felix Chisekedi, and Rwandan

president, Paul Kagame. So these efforts now are simply a culmination of those previous efforts. And yes, both parties have seemingly had some concessions, but the way things are going now leaves many people wondering because if the DRC government is saying the M23 needs to withdraw from the areas they control, the M23 is saying no, they do not have that kind of prescription, People would be wondering what the actual fact is. It would basically affect the people on the ground who suffer the violence and the bombings that are at play right now in the region. Paul, you were recently there. Just remind us the toll this conflict has taken in recent

times. Now, the conflict is really disturbing. It has lasted for over three decades and when I spoke to the people in the Eastern DRC, they told me that they really want peace as soon as possible because most of them leave day by day fearing that they might not leave to see the next day and that's a very horrible kind of situation. I was there again in January when the M23 had seized Goma. I spoke to the people and I could see the eagerness at which they wanted a restoration of peace. Most of them are appreciating some of the efforts to get the belligerent sign,

but at the same time they are also saying with the unpredictable nature of security, they are not sure whether anything lasting will happen. The BBC's Paul NGA. The South African Government says a series of preventable safety failures led to the collapse of a building last year in which 34 construction workers were killed. A new report on the disaster says serious concerns were raised long before the partially built five-storey apartment block came down. Here's our correspondent in the region, Shingai Nyoka. The Public Works Minister detailed the widespread failures that led to the building collapse

at a construction site in the resort town of George in the western Cape province. Investigators reported the use of substandard building material. Workers had also felt vibrations and seen cracks and gaps in the concrete slabs of the building. Some defects were detected a year earlier. The health and safety officer resigned in protest, but work continued. Red flags were a chance to turn back, a visibly angry minister said. He pledged to introduce regulations to improve oversight in construction. He said survivors were still facing trauma,

medical bills, and struggling to put food on the table. A police investigation is still ongoing and no arrests have been made. Shingai Nyoka. A man has died in a freak accident involving an MRI scanner in the state of New York. Police say the man was wearing a large metal chain and was pulled into the scanner by its magnets. Theo White reports.

MRI or magnetic resonance imaging scanners are used in medicine to create detailed pictures of the human body. They contain powerful magnets which surround a patient as they lie inside the machine. Police in Long Island say a 61 year old man was waiting outside an exam room as a relative was having a scan. He heard screaming and defying orders to stay out of the room rushed inside. He was pulled off his feet as the chain he was wearing was sucked into the scanner's magnetic field, carrying him with it. He was taken to hospital but died soon after of his injuries. One expert told CBS News that the chain would have acted like a torpedo trying

to get to the middle of the magnet. The company which runs the scanning facility, Nassau Open MRI, has refused to comment. Theo White. Right now there are more questions than answers in Los Angeles after a car drove into a crowd of people outside an East Hollywood nightclub. Police are investigating the crash as an intentional act. There are reports the suspect made a u-turn before slamming into the crowd in the early hours of Saturday. Adam Van Gerpen is from the LA Fire Department. The majority of them were female that were standing in line.

So they were all standing in line going into a nightclub. There was a taco cart out there. So they were they were getting some food waiting to go in and there's also a valet line there. So the valet podium was taken out, the taco truck was taken out and then a large number of people were impacted by the vehicle. Our correspondent Aruna Dey Mukherjee has the latest. Out of the 30 people so far who we've been told have been injured, seven are critical while six are in serious condition.

Now the Los Angeles Police Department has said that when the officers responded to the first call and arrived at the scene, they were seeing bystanders had dragged the driver out of this vehicle and were attacking him and in fact one of them also reportedly shot the driver. It's after that that he was taken to the hospital for surgery and now we're learning from the police that he has been taken into police custody. His condition at the moment, the last that we checked was said to be stable but he will now be questioned and investigated.

But some reports coming in of police officials speaking to US media who said that he was believed to be in an intoxicated state, but that is also being thoroughly investigated. Do we have any idea of who he is? What his motive might have been? So at the moment, not much is clear. Again, as I said, it's an active investigation,

but what eyewitnesses seem to suggest, and that's how we've been trying to piece together what happened is that they saw a car which was coming in very fast which lost control and it went over into the pavement where a significant number of people were standing waiting in line to get inside a nightclub which was hosting a music event. That's when a lot of those people who were standing there got injured, got trapped because of the sheer speed of the car. Because there's reports he actually did a U-turn, aren't there? Nothing seems to be given out officially in terms of what exactly led to it.

The only aspect that came out was a statement that was given to CNN by the police was that he was believed to be in an intoxicated condition. So I think on that basis they're still probing what has happened. But given the fact that now, as we last heard, he is in a stable condition, I think this is when the investigations will pick up as they're able to question him, given that he might be in a state to actually respond to questions, which is where perhaps the police will have a little more detail about what happened. And how has this been taken by the people of Los Angeles?

It was the start of a weekend. It is believed to have happened in an area which is popular for its nightlife. This was a nightclub where people had gathered because there was a big event, a music event that was going to happen, so they were just getting ready to enter that, people out for the weekend just to have a good time when suddenly something like this happened. And the reactions that we got from eyewitnesses on the ground seemed to suggest how chaotic the scene was where suddenly, unexpectedly, you see a car coming in at full speed just mowing over a significant number of people on the pavement, coming as a huge

shock. Our Rune Dei Mukherjee in Washington. Let's return to the conflict in Gaza. With Israel refusing international journalists access to Gaza, testimony of what's happening comes largely through postings on social media. For Gazan artists, it's an opportunity to convey feelings and experience through their chosen art form. The BBC's Isabella Jewell has been speaking to some young poets there.

The census officer will come. He will inspect the streets and houses. And with a polypoint pen, he will record our losses, then depart without seeing my heart." Haidar Al-Hazali reading one of his poems. The 21-year-old, whose work has been published in several international magazines, posted the poem on Instagram in November. Haidar, like the rest of Gaza's population, has been living under intense

Israeli bombardment. I don't know anything about life. I don't know anything about the sky without the drones, without the F-16s. As drones buzzed above him, Haidar told me why he thinks poetry is such a powerful way of documenting his experience in Gaza. The only language that is trying to burn, that is trying to shout, that is trying to be thirsty, that is trying to be hungry is the language of poetry. So when I want to convey the reality of what is happening in Gaza, of course I will use

the language of Putri. It's a sentiment echoed by Huda Skake, a 20-year-old student in Gaza City. It speaks from the soul. Putri captures emotion, pain, love, fear and hope all at once. It compresses intense feeling into just a few lines, you know. It's also a lantern, like it carries your memory, promoting a vision for what we are living. Alongside her studies, Huda writes articles and poetry about the situation in Gaza. She tells me it's hard to concentrate on writing when she's hungry and can hear airstrikes

in the background. But for Huda, storytelling is also a form of therapy. I can't keep everything inside me. Writing gives shape to my pain and my people's feelings. It gives me solace under genocidal conditions and it helps me survive. The untold story is the heavier burden, but once I write it, I feel relieved a little bit that I am raising awareness around the world of Israel's genocide and atrocities. Israel denies it is committing genocide and says it is acting to destroy Hamas and return

the hostages held in Gaza. A large proportion of Gaza's infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged in Israel's bombardment, including many educational and cultural spaces, so the online world has become an important archive for Gazans. There is no newspapers, there is no cultural activities happening in Gaza, there is no cultural centre anymore. So people are finding online as one of the only big canvas in which they can put their writings, so they can put their paintings, so they can put their verses of poetry for the work to see.

In East Jerusalem, I met Mahmoud Mouna, whose family runs the educational book shop, which specialises in Palestinian literature. He recently edited a book about Palestinian culture and writing. I think the people in Gaza are experiencing one of the world's most tragedies we have seen in the recent history anyway. And they are triggered, if you like, by these events emotionally, to write and create and to draw. Tell them, by Hudath Kek. Tell them.

Tell them we are more than numbers, more than silent echoes in a ledger of loss. We are families entwined in love, friends living in the shadows of our hoops bound by dreams. Palestinian poetry has been, in a way, the vehicles in which Palestinian literature and creators have carried forward the Palestinian national identity. I remember Mahmoud Darwish's famous poem about hope, and he coined the term, we cultivate

hope. This is what people do. They want to live for a better day. They want to hope for a better day. You plant it, you water it, you watch it flourish and then you cultivate it as well. And I think we should remember that despite all the bleakness of the moment and the hardship of the moment, I think Palestinian poetry particularly coming out of Gaza is also a cry for hope. The only hope I have is that may our poems shape another different and better world.

And the last I can say that the only hope is in a future that I may not exist in. Haida Al-Hasali ending that report from Isabella Jewel. ending that report from Isabella Jewel. at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Kai Perry and the producers were Alison Davis and Daniel Mann. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritzen. Until next time, goodbye.