Global News Podcast: Niger power blackouts blamed on coup sanctions

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I'm Nigel Adderley and in the early hours of Thursday the 3rd of August, these are our main

stories. Major cities in Niger are facing rolling blackouts after Nigeria cut electricity supplies

to the country following last week's coup. Donald Trump is due to appear in court in Washington

later today charged with trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Brazilian

police have shot dead at least 10 people in Rio in the latest of a series of deadly raids across the

country. Also in this podcast, we could see that we detected more cancers without increasing the

false positives and the same time we can reduce the workload for the breast radiologists.

A study from Sweden suggests that screening for breast cancer could be transformed by the use of

artificial intelligence. We begin in West Africa. Major cities in Niger are facing rolling blackouts

after Nigeria cut electricity supplies to the country following last week's coup. The West Africa

regional bloc, ECOWAS, imposed trade and financial sanctions on Niger on Sunday, giving the coup

leaders a week to install the country's democratically elected president. A delegation from ECOWAS has

been sent to Niger to negotiate with the coup leaders and military representatives from the

group are meeting the Nigerian capital Abuzia to discuss the situation. Nigeria's Chief of

Defense staff Christopher Guabin Moussa told the meeting that African countries must act together.

The events that transpired in one of our countries on 26 July 2023 has reverberated across our borders

affecting us all. The recent coup d'etat in the Republic of Nigeria is one event that calls for

our collective attention and a united response. We must face the challenges of restoring democratic

governance in Niger head on, drawing on our shared experiences with dome and collective resolve.

Our Africa regional editor Will Ross told me more about the current negotiations. These talks are

ongoing we think for at least another day and basically these defense officials are saying

that the military option in Niger is the very last resort but they're saying it is still on the table

and they're really using a sort of carrot and stick method here you've got the the ECOWAS this

West African regional grouping saying look you have got to hand back power to the president of

Niger Muhammad Bazoum or there is a risk of military intervention but at the same time they've sent

in a delegation to have talks with those military people who have seized power in Niger and there

efforts led by the former Nigerian military ruler Abdul Salam Abubakar who's taken part in

negotiations before he's in Niger along with the Sultan of Sokoto the the most senior Muslim cleric

in Nigeria who has quite a lot of clout in the region so it's a kind of carrot and stick approach

but they're certainly saying for now that military option is still there on the table in case power

is not returned to to the president of Niger and what effect are these sanctions and the power

outages having on the people in Niger well we've already seen queues at banks there's a limit on

how much money can be taken out that's partly because of financial restrictions imposed by ECOWAS

through its bank we're also hearing about lorries full of produce having to turn back and go back

to Nyamay those lorries that were trying to leave the country and then perhaps significantly as you

mentioned the blackouts because Nigeria exports quite a lot of electricity to Niger and by cutting

off that power that's going to hurt people and really hurt businesses a lot so the hope if that's

what Nigeria has done officially the hope is that that'll put pressure on people not to to follow

behind the military leaders who seize power and support them but instead to to stand up and say

come on we need another way the military rule in in Niger is not the way to go will Ross so

what is life like for people in Niger at the moment christian Fraser spoke to sadi susani the

chair of the association of Niger's municipalities in miradi a region that borders Nigeria with no

electricity he had to do his interview in his car the owners of business are trying their best you

know our people are very resilient here so business is is going on not normally but is going on with

a lot of concern a lot of anxiety i would say well a lot of concern and anxiety i would think

with no electricity i mean what does that mean to the local economy where you are

to the local economy already prices are going high food products electrical gadgets because of

the the power cuts and and life is beginning to to to become more difficult it is already difficult

you know in this part of the world who are fighting insecurity poverty and and all those

problems that you know but now is like things are becoming harder for people mr siding you're an

elected official but yes you are right so i don't want to put you unduly on the spot because of

the situation in the country but i i wonder how you feel about the change in leadership was it

necessary it isn't it isn't in fact we were shocked we were shocked everybody knows it

and niger were part of them with a lot of problems but i think the government was doing

relatively well relatively when i say relatively in the region and even compared to to to to other

governments that were there before and and and people are not complaining to to to that love

you know in a democratic process so people who be complaining they do they do complain everywhere

if they're all right so so so i don't see any reason for this coup from from and my people the

people are shocked sadasu sani next to senegal the country is seeing a surge in migrants attempting

the atlantic route to reach spain's canary islands almost 800 people have died or gone missing during

the first half of the year according to a spanish NGO making it one of the deadliest sea routes for

migrants worldwide but despite the dangers many young people attempt to make the crossing over

and over again seara tiere reports from senegal and some may find the following distressing

we're at a popular beach in the sinigales capital daca it's a typical afternoon but only at first

site just hours before firefighters were pulling bodies out of the sea at least 17 migrants have

drowned here on their way to europe their capsized boat still drifting in the distance

we saw the bodies with our own eyes our brothers we all cried so much

momo dubari a nearby fisherman tells me but there is nothing here in daca everyone is dreaming

of going to europe i've been working for years but all i've got is six pounds in my pocket

in emboar a fishing village just two hours south of daca around a hundred wooden boats line up along

the beach they should be out at sea but there's no one here to drive them their captains have left

for spain i'm in a neighborhood where several families have lost a husband or a son but many

fishermen tell me they'd rather die at sea than not try at all salio sea is taking water out of his

pierock a young father of six he has set out to reach the canary islands three times already

and almost died at sea yet he's getting ready to try again i have no other choice but to leave

i have to take care of everyone in their daily lives but he says ever since big foreign vessels

started fishing along sinigales coasts his nets have come back empty

youth unemployment is soaring in senegal and those who make it to europe reinforce the idea

that life is better there this needs to stop it's not benefiting anyone for you to disappear in the

sea like that flies in a suburb of daca mustafadi office talking to a group of young men he too

went to spain but returned home and now warns others about the dangers of the sea crossing

and the false promises about europe you should stay here even though things are bad if you

keep looking you will find something here if you cross to europe you're going there just to be

the valley level here last summer

yet later at night when it's dark and the beaches are empty some of them will come

back to this very spot and wait for a pierock that might take them to spain dying at sea they say

here is better than dying next to our mom that report by seara tiari in senegal supporters

of donald trump are rallying around the former president after he was indicted on four charges

relating to alleged attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election his campaign team

have accused the u.s. justice department of interference in next year's presidential poll

and compared mr trump's treatment to the persecution inflicted in nazi germany and the

soviet union the charges are the most serious leveled against mr trump so far with each count

carrying a maximum sentence of between five and 20 years in prison he is due in court later today

six co-conspirators have also been listed in the indictment from washington here's our north america

editor sarah smith donald trump supporters and allies have been rallying to his defense

claiming he's being unfairly targeted to try and stop him getting back into the white house

and also that the latest charges against him will increase his popularity mr trump's former

lawyer rudy juliani is believed to be one of the co-conspirators who's described in the indictment

as helping mr trump try to subvert the election results he argues it's not illegal to claim the

2020 election was fraudulently stolen what they did here is an abomination that will live in history

as one of the worst violations of free speech ever in the history of a country

that used to value free speech more than any country on earth we can't say that anymore

donald trump frequently complains that the biden administration has weaponized the justice system

to persecute him the u.s attorney general merit garland insists many steps were taken to ensure

an entirely impartial investigation immediately after the january sixth attack on our democracy

the career men and women of the justice department engaged in what has become the largest investigation

in our history in november last i appointed jack smith a special counsel to take on the

ongoing investigation in order to underline the department's commitment to accountability

and independence mr smith and his team of experienced principled career agents and prosecutors

have followed the facts and the law wherever they leave donald trump insists he will continue

his presidential campaign even if he's convicted and jailed for trying to overturn the results of

the last election his supporters are convinced he'll be found innocent and reelected he's going

to be decayed i think it's uh helping us popularity i uh most people believe he's a

a martyr you know just being persecuted and uh i think they'll they'll get more votes the democrats

their new playbook is to whoever the republican nominee is they're going to try to press criminal

charges on them mr trump's next court appearance will be in washington next year he'll have to fit

his election campaign around a busy schedule of court dates sarah smith a jury in the united states

has sentenced to death a gunman who murdered 11 people at a synagogue in the u.s city of pittsburgh

seven other people including five police officers were injured when robert bow was open fire at the

tree of life synagogue five years ago the federal jury agreed unanimously that he should be executed

it's the first federal death sentence imposed under the biden administration jewish organizations

have welcomed the verdict as a sign that the united states will not tolerate hate and violence

towards followers of their faith or any other gene clickner is a member of the synagogue

and was there on the day of the massacre i don't even know what to say about the verdict because

it's not a happy day the room was quiet nobody was reacting there was there's nothing to report

everyone's just sitting there listening and even at the end i don't think there was a big gasp or

out anything yeah it's it's terrible it's really tough jamie raskin is a democratic congressman

from maryland he gave his reaction to the death sentence i have opposed the death penalty for

a long time and i led the fight in maryland to abolish the death penalty you know i think that

the punishment of death is certainly way too good for the mass murderer this racist anti-semite who

assassinated worshipers at the tree of life synagogue and you know he should be forced to

endure his days with the rigors of hard time in prison and he should be an example to others you

know a lot of these people who engage in these massacres at churches supermarkets walmarts what

have you turn the gun on themselves and kill themselves they don't want to face a guilty

verdict and life in prison so that's my feeling about it but you know i think this is obviously

the best case for the death penalty when you have unreconstructed nazis who are essentially

you know setting themselves at war against humanity but i still think that the civilization

can evolve beyond the death penalty democratic congressman jamie raskin police in brazil say

at least 10 people have been killed in a police operation in rio three others were hurt warren

bull reports a military police spokesman said officers had returned fire during an operation

targeting criminal gangs in a slum area in the north of rio called complacent the peña officers

say they acted after receiving intelligence on a high-level meeting involving gang leaders and

that two of the people killed were heads of local favela among the items seized were rifles ammunition

and grenades since friday more than 40 people have been killed in police operations in brazil

14 of them in clashes in south baolo state that prompted an intervention by brazil's justice

minister flavio dino who said the police reaction was not proportional to the crime committed

warren bull a study from sweden suggests that screening for breast cancer could be transformed

by the use of artificial intelligence the trial involved more than 80 000 women from sweden

with an average age of 54 johnny dimon spoke to the lead author dr christina long from lunch

university in this trial we randomized women to ai supported screening and to normal screening

and normal screening is when two radiologists read each screening exam and we found some really

exciting results because we could see that we detected more cancers without increasing the

false positives and the same time we can reduce the workload for the breast radiologists reading

their screening examination by almost half this is the first randomized controlled trial where we

see what actually happens when you use this in practice previous studies have been so called

retrospective studies where you analyze ai on already collected images so they can give some

hint on what the result would be when you use it in clinical practice but it's only an approximation

of the truth to do a randomized controlled trial is getting closer to what the truth is so how much

crudely put radiologist time do you think you might be able to save with the use of ai actually

quite a lot because i mean it takes not a lot of time to read one screening examinations it can

take less than one minute but put together we can say that maybe an on average a radiologist or

radiographer read 50 screening examinations per hour so if we could have the screen reading burden

with ai we could save substantial time so for the 40 000 women that were in this ai supported group

we calculated that we could save almost five months of radiologist time the inevitable question and

one which radiologists junior radiologists might themselves might fear is if it's this good why

do you have any humans involved at all this trial that we designed it was really emphasized the

central role of the radiologist because as the algorithms are currently they cannot be used as

a standalone method because they are too sensitive they react to too many findings in the images so

the radiologists have to make the final decision whether women should be recalled or not because

the big risk is that if we use ai alone it will lead to too many false positives is this a time

saver or is it a lifesaver or is it both well it's definitely a time saver and whether it's a

lifesaver that remains to be seen so my hope is that using ai and screening will lead to a screening

program with a higher effect that we can further reduce the mortality of breast cancer and so far

we can see that we detect 20 more cancers so it's very promising but that we have to put the whole

picture together what type of cancers do we detect and how many cancers do we miss so in order to get

the full picture we need to wait for this two-year follow-up period to get more data on that Dr

kristina long from lunch university in sweden stelter karm it was a great day for jamaica and

south africa at the women's world cup but was their success despite the support they receive

these women deserve to have backing and funding regardless and there's really no excuse for

these federations not to be backing and really supporting these women who are representing

their country equal to the men

from the passion of the fans yes what did you think of the match though the match was amazing it was

so nice to see so many Nigerians coming up to the atmosphere of the competition the game the crowd the

atmosphere is absolutely amazing i am now a converted new zealand fan world football at the women's

world cup is the podcast from the bbc world service capturing all the excitement of the tournament

here in australia and new zealand listen now by searching for world football wherever you get

your bbc podcasts welcome back to the global news podcast the greek government is offering free

holidays to anyone who had a visit to the island of roads cut short by wildfires more than 20 000

people had to flee the island last month now the greek prime minister kiriakos mitzotakis says

those tourists whose vacations were affected by the fires can go back to roads next year for free

i asked our europe regional editor paul moss why he might be in the mood for such generosity there

is a famous saying beware of greeks bearing gifts i should say we don't have any details yet from the

greek prime minister mr mitzotakis one assumes that he's offering free accommodation though who

knows maybe he's planning to fly people out to roads for free and and throw in a few portions of

musaka and a bottle of uzo as well but there is i think a reasoning behind this greeks relies on

tourism it's a key part of their economy and roads in particular needs tourists for financial

survival they're very worried that those fires will put people off coming travel agents have

launched a whole campaign with this title roads is safe and they've even got a campaign video which

they've posted online with a sort of jaunty piece of music to accompany it now when you watch this

video i have to admit it's quite a cliche of a holiday advert we see bikini clad bathers lounging

lethargically in a pool of a few more adventurous types diving off a pier and then there are shots

of a few ancient greek ruins as well and overall of this there's this caption roads is safe will

this work i'm not really certain that reassuring people that roads is safe can do anything except

remind people that it might not be safe i mean if you were to get on an aeroplane and the captain

said over the intercom fasten your seat belts and don't worry this plane won't crash you might actually

feel rather alarmed and wonder well who said it would crash i mean most holiday destinations

go with slogans like come to kenya we have amazing wildlife or come to a beef you can get off your

head and dance all night what they don't say is come to this resort and we're we're pretty sure you

won't get caught up in an out of control wildfire being serious though the problem they have on roads

indeed a problem they could soon have at holiday destinations across southern europe is that these

wildfires are becoming ever more common do people want to risk going on holiday in a disaster zone

isn't that ironic because tourism encourages people to get on planes which then blast out carbon

dioxide contribute to global heating and then that self-same global heating may mean that those

destinations become insufferably hot not to mention at risk of burning down pool moss scientists

say a strange dangerous habit of targeting and ramming into small boats is spreading through

a population of critically endangered orcas research shows that 20 of the fewer than 60

iberian orcas in the atlantic have now learned the behavior it's believed that one or two of the

animals started interacting with and damaging vessels three years ago along the coast of spain

portugal and the strait of gibraltar our science correspondent victoria gill reports

it has caused us a big, big, very big sound of a nervous sailing crew

in gibralta as five orcas nudge, ram and spin their yachts around this incident in july is one of

at least 100 this year and scientists are trying to work out what's driving this strange new habit

of targeting and damaging sailing boats researchers have studied footage and photographs of some of

the latest encounters between sailing vessels and orcas, and concluded that up to 20 animals

in this small population have now learned to do this by copying others.

It's only a game. It's not revamped. It's not climate change or nothing like that.

It's just a game and that's it.

Dr Renard de Stefanis is president of a marine conservation organisation in southern Spain.

He's studied this critically endangered population of Iberian orcas since the 1990s.

He says the animals appear to focus their attention on the boat's rudder.

In this underwater recording, you can hear an orca shove the vessel's rudder with its head.

Dr de Stefanis and his colleagues are currently attaching satellite tracking tags to the animals' fins

to map their movements.

Thanks to the satellite tagging, we're able to know exactly how to say the sailing boat

and water boat to leave the area and to not cross the main area of the killaways.

As large and powerful as these marine mammals are, scientists and conservationists

are concerned that they're putting themselves at risk,

as well as testing our willingness to share the ocean with its wildlife.

Victoria Gill. It was an extraordinary day at the Women's World Cup,

as both Jamaica and South Africa caused huge upsets to reach the last 16.

South Africa beat Italy 3-2 thanks to a last-minute goal in Wellington,

and the Jamaicans, who wrote an open letter before the tournament complaining about a lack

of support from the country's Football Federation, knocked out Brazil following a nil-nil draw in

Melbourne to become the first Caribbean nation to progress from the group stage.

I asked the former New Zealand World Cup footballer Rebecca Smith,

who's in Sydney, how important it was for the game to see both South Africa and Jamaica

make progress in the tournament.

This is amazing, Nigel. It's not only the fact that they've got out of their groups,

but they've done it in style. They've done it showing that they can play and compete with

some of the best teams on the world stage, including Brazil, as we saw Jamaica last night.

And Jamaica still has not conceded a goal in this tournament, and that is a feat in and of itself.

Specifically for South Africa as well, we don't often see the African countries doing that while

progressing into the deeper stages of the tournament and looking at the lack of funding

and some of the issues that both the Jamaican and South African teams have had coming into

this tournament specifically, Jamaica, where they were pretty much stuck in Amsterdam on the way

down to the tournament looking for funding, where Sadella Marley was looking at crowd funding and

trying to get some money to get them back all the way down to the tournament. You just wonder

what these teams could do when their federations would actually back them.

Do you hope that their progress will be a wake-up call for both the federations involved here

and others who maybe don't give women's football the respect it possibly should deserve in their

country? Do you know what's really sad, Nigel? It shouldn't be that the backing and the funding

of the Federation is dependent on the success of the national teams. These national teams have

worked hard. These women deserve to have backing and funding regardless. They are getting more

money from FIFA for preparation money ahead of the tournament for the very first time in this

addition. There's really no excuse for these federations not to be backing funding their

national teams properly and really supporting these women who are representing their country

equal to the men who are doing that. It's unfair. It's not a positive situation,

but I think that the fact that they are winning is waking the country up and potentially rallying

a lot more of the population to force the Federation's hand into funding them and into

supporting them more, which can only be a good thing. Rebecca Smith in Sydney.

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 globalpodcastbbc.co.uk. You can also find us on Twitter at Global News Pod.

This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producer was Liam McChefrey.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nigel Adderley. Until next time, goodbye.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.