Global News Podcast: Pakistan cable car: Relief as all passengers saved

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis

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I'm Alex Ritzen, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 23rd of August, these are our

main stories. A dramatic rescue in Pakistan after children were left dangling above a ravine in a

cable car. The BRICS Economic Group, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa consider

adding new members to their block. The charred bodies of 18 people have been found by firefighters

in northeastern Greece. Also in this podcast, how the out-of-control wildfires in Canada have

left long-standing indigenous communities with nowhere to live. A helicopter chopping through

the air high above Pakistan's mountainous northern region, where a terrifying hanging by a thread

drama has been playing out. Cable cars or chair lifts are commonly used to carry passengers across

valleys and ravines in Kaiba Pakhtunkhwa province. But earlier on Monday, one of those lifts,

transporting six children and two adults, became perilously stranded hundreds of meters

above the ground when two wires snapped. After several anxious hours, all on board were finally

rescued either by military helicopter or by local people working by floodlight on the ground using

zip wires. My colleague Julian Marshall spoke to the BBC's Saha Baloch in Islamabad.

So the day began with the news that around eight people are stranded in a cable car

in the middle of the air. And what happened was that local media started to report on it. And

then it began to also uncover that there are children on board, like there were six children

and two adults. And since a lot of rescue operations started, the military got in. And

because there were no other way of rescuing these children, so military was called in.

And since then, everybody was glued to their screens and watching how there was this rescue

operation going on. There was also a sling operation in which a man from the SSG force

of the military was coming down from the helicopter. And he made four different attempts of taking

these children out of this stranded cable car. But for some reason, he was not able to. And on

the fourth attempt, he was able to rescue two children. And there was, of course, a lot of

people who were around that area. Also, there were parents who were in the crowd as well,

and they were cheering at that point of time. But they were also holding on to this fear that,

you know, what if, you know, it all goes wrong and everything. So because the army helicopter

during the day was also at an angle where it was also providing a lot of air. And there was a,

there was anyway a strong windy day, but the army helicopter was also sort of adding to it,

which was hindering the rescue operation. So at one point, local rescue operation teams

were also called in because it was getting dark. And that's when we saw how local rescue teams

also got into it. And how did those local rescue teams rescue the remaining six people in the

cable car? Well, what they did was they created a parallel zip line, and then they rescued people.

And, you know, this is something that is very familiar to a lot of people who live in the

northern region of Pakistan. They know how to sort of survive. And they are very self-sufficient in

all of this. And this is clearly not the first time that a cable car has been suspended in mid-air.

So they were very much willing to help. And, you know, this was, this was an idea which was

suggested by a local rescue team member. And everybody acted on it because it was already

dark. And everybody knew that they have already spent 14 hours trying to sort of rescue children

and all. And there was also one kid who had a heart condition as well. So they got onto it

and made sure that the zip line works. Try to explain to me because I don't quite understand.

You had one cable car that was dangling on one line because two wires had broken.

And there was a parallel wire. Was there to where the cable car was? Yes, it was parallel to it.

Like right next to it, there was another one which was built by the locals as well.

It was also a rope which was used, but it was a stronger one. It was a stronger cable,

basically, I should say, which was also built. And basically what they did was that locally,

they made sure that the children were on top of it as well. And there was a rescue guy who was

bringing these children. And you know how they usually do that during like these very daredevil

kind of stunts and all, where they make sure that the person who they are rescuing is on top of them

or at least on their backs. And then they zip them right down to security. So they were brought

down to the ground. Were they by zip wire? Yes, yes, they were. They were. Yeah, there was a zip

wire and they were like using it to literally rescue the children. And there is a video also.

It's all across social media now being shared because these rescue teams are being called heroes

right now. And this is how they made it possible that these people were rescued. And a general

sense of relief, I would imagine in in Pakistan that this particular drama ended in the way that

it did. Yes, for sure. Because you know, this is I think the fourth consecutive day that we have

had really like terrible news regarding children. They were all kinds of news coming in and they

were really, really heartbreaking and really sad also because they were all around sexual abuse

and stuff like that. But there is another case which is going to be heard tomorrow. So this came

as a very pleasant surprise that a lot of people were rescued and everybody on board was rescued.

So people are literally cheering for for now. Saha Baloch in Pakistan speaking to Julian Marshall

Altaf Hussain is a teacher who was on the scene today. And he told Julian about the crowds who'd

gathered to watch the rescue operation. There were people from the whole area. Some came from far

to watch the rescue operation. And later in the day, a big contingent from the media arrived

to report. They also clarified some mistakes they made earlier in the day. I'm a school teacher

and I went there from my school. Everyone was very concerned. Do you yourself use these cable cars to

travel from one place to another? I did not ride this particular cable car, but I did ride other

cable cars over the gorges in this region, some even higher. But as you know, the infrastructure

over here is not very good. These chairlifts are not really safe for us. I don't think they were

installed or maintained properly. The system is very poor. So will you continue to use these cable

cars, these chairlifts, because of what has happened today? You know, the thing is the local

people are not very happy about the situation. They have always said that these cable cars

were not installed properly. Now they're saying that they will not let them operate these cars in

this area. But presumably they have to use them if they want to go about their jobs, their lives.

These chairlifts are a necessity because in this area the roads are pretty bad.

We are an underdeveloped area. Not only roads, but we also do not get other amenities. There is

lack of electricity, little education or health facilities. Of course, people in this area are

physically strong. They can walk far. But when it comes to cable cars, they have no choice and

have to use them. But I think they will not be that keen to use them after today's incident.

Teacher and eye witness to that drama out of Hussein in Pakistan. The African Union has suspended

Niger from all its activities because of the military coup last month. The organization

warned against any interference in the country from outside Africa, including by private military

companies. After the head of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries,

Evgeny Prugoshin, claimed to be on the continent. Here's our West Africa correspondent, Mayeni

Jones. The statement from the EU is dated the 14th of August, but it was only released after

Mr Prugoshin published a video claiming to be working in Africa. In the video, the Wagner chief

who appears to be in an arid landscape is dressed in military fatigues and carrying a rifle.

Two trucks and half a dozen armed men are behind him in the distance.

The BBC hasn't been able to verify the location of the video.

We are working. The temperature is over 50 degrees, he claims. Everything we like.

The Wagner group conducts reconnaissance. It makes Russia even greater on all continents

and Africa even freer, he says and rounds off with justice and happiness for the African people.

Wagner has been accused of great human rights abuses in a number of African countries.

Niger's Western allies fear the mercenary group could use the crisis there to strengthen its

presence in the Sahel region, south of the Sahara. It's already active in neighbouring

Mali and Burkina Faso, which are both on the military rule. The West African economic and

political group EQUAS says it will send armed forces into Niger to return it to democracy,

but the junters in Burkina Faso and Mali have vowed to support Niger's coup leaders against

any foreign aggression, leading to fears of a regional war.

I need Jones. Eighteen people dead. Their charred bodies found not far from the Turkish border,

victims of a wildfire in northeastern Greece. The authorities say those killed by the flames

are likely to have been migrants. Your original editor, Danny Aberhart, has more details.

The grim discovery was confirmed by the Greek fire service. It's the worst tragedy so far

from wildfires which have ravaged the area since Saturday. The authorities said that,

as there'd been no reports of missing residents, they were investigating whether the victims

had entered the country illegally. Migrants regularly cross from Turkey, often hiding

out in rural or forested areas to avoid being caught. Greece's immigration minister has said

the incident once again highlighted the dangers of irregular migration. The fires around Alexander

Drupalus have led to a number of settlements being evacuated. Patients from hospital, including

newborn babies and people in intensive care, also had to be moved out hastily overnight

to a ferry in the port when a wall of flame engulfed the nearby hillside.

One hospital worker described chaotic scenes. I've never experienced this. I've been working

for 27 years. It's like war conditions, really. Stretchers scattered everywhere. Patients here,

drips there. We had to arrange them by clinic. We had to get them on their meds, their serums,

everything. It's like a bomb dropped. A number of other wildfires are burning across Greece.

One has sent a pool of smoke over the capital, Athens, and prompted the authorities in a

northern suburb to order evacuations. One resident described damage to properties.

The fire has entered the urban area. Houses, shops are burning based on the information we have,

and the bad thing is that the fire has surrounded us. The winds are now very strong,

approaching 10 on the Beaufort scale. It's a very difficult firefighting task. God help us.

Fast-moving conflagrations are in places threatening to trap emergency workers. A number

of EU countries have already sent assistance to Greece, including water-bombing planes and teams

of firefighters.

Apart from Greece, this summer has already been marked by wildfires in Spain, Algeria, and Hawaii.

Canada is also in the midst of its own wildfire season. About 30,000 people in the western

province of British Columbia have been moved from their homes. Many of them from Indigenous

communities officials have said the blazes have shown some signs of easing, but thousands are

still unable to return to their homes. Chief Robert Louie is the leader of the West Bank First

Nation and himself an evacuee. He spoke to Peter Goffin about the threat to Indigenous areas and

the loss of traditional lands. We have several reserves. Iron number 10 reserve, which is closest

to the city of Kelowna. Part of the reserve is evacuated, and the other part is on alert. So,

all in all, we must have one to 2,000 people in that evacuation. And where are people going

when they leave their homes? Well, we're doing our best to accommodate as many people as we can,

but they're all over. I mean, some are with family like myself, for example. Some have moved into

RVs. For a while, I was told some were sleeping in their cars. Some have gone into emergency

shelters. We have been working with the emergency services to try and provide

whatever accommodation we can at our gymnasium, that sort of thing. I was evacuated Friday.

We're still in that evacuation mode, and most likely the nearest I can figure from the emergency

service personnel. I expect that will be all of this week before anyone's allowed to maybe consider

returning. What does it feel like to leave your home and all of your belongings behind knowing

they might be at risk from these fires? Well, that's a very high anxiety feeling. I think for

those maybe the elderly, I think it's absolutely traumatic. I know of people that broke down

and simply cried out of frustration and grief. Others take it with a grain of salt, and it's

better to have your life. Your personal belongings is secondary. I think that's how you have to look

at it. As long as you have your life, your health, and your family, I think that's number one.

Are there challenges that are unique to an Indigenous community when it comes to

evacuating, as opposed to, say, a city? That's an interesting question. I mean, for us,

we have an Indigenous perspective of things. Here, we've got over 11,000 hectares of land

that's burnt right now, and they're still tallying how much more beyond that. But there's huge

wildlife, for example, deer, bear. One individual caught on video, for example,

young fawn that was struggling in the water from the fires without knowing where the

doe was. That's a major concern from an Indigenous perspective. Another major concern for us is that

the mountains is where we get our medicines and plants. We know that we have certain sites that

we harvest. We know that there are sites now that are totally gone, totally burnt. We don't know what

the devastation is, but we fear the worst. That sets us a bit of a part. Of course, our peoples

have been here for many thousands of years, the first peoples of these lands. From what I can

gather, at least in more recent times, the last few hundred times, this fire is unprecedented,

never to the extent that our people can early or remember. So this is kind of an eye opening,

and I guess it fits with climatic changes that's happening not only here, but around the world.

Chief Robert Louie speaking to Peter Goffin.

Still to come in this podcast.

The rapper in Tunisia using her words to push for social change.

The five countries that make up the BRICS trading bloc, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa,

represent almost half the world's population and a quarter of the global economy, and many more

countries now want to join. The leaders, minus Vladimir Putin, are meeting in Johannesburg,

together with at least 50 other heads of state and government. In advance of the summit, the

Chinese President Xi Jinping meant the South African host Cyril Ramaphosa.

We both believe that China and South Africa are major developing countries and emerging

markets enjoying great influence. We should be global partners that uphold justice. We need to

strengthen strategic cooperation and implement true multilateralism and work

to boost the representation and the say of countries in the global south.

Our correspondent Nomsa Maseko is covering the summit in Johannesburg.

Currently there are more than 20 other countries who have formally applied to join the group, and

those countries include Africa's biggest economy, Nigeria, also Egypt, Argentina, Saudi Arabia,

and the UAE. However, it does not seem possible that all of them will be accepted to be part of

the group. We are told that if any are accepted, it's going to be about four or five of them.

At the same time, we don't know when exactly that is going to be announced, whether that

announcement is going to happen at this summit or that it will happen at a later stage, because it's

not all the five countries representing BRICS that are for the expansion of the group with Brazil,

saying that expanding the group is something that they are not for. However, both South Africa

and China are saying that they think that an expansion could be possible.

Indeed, it was highly anticipated that he would be here but facing possible arrests because of

alleged war crimes that he is facing. That's why he did not come, but he did address the summit here

via a prerecorded message in which he said that the de-dolarization of BRICS member states was

inevitable and irreversible. He also spoke about strengthening trade relations within the BRICS

member states as well, and also saying that it was an obligation for Russia to ensure that it

does deal with reducing hunger and providing trade to poor countries, particularly African countries.

Donald Trump says he'll hand himself in to the authorities in the US state of Georgia on Thursday.

The former US president denies charges of racketeering and election interference in the

swing state. While Mr Trump prepares for his booking appearance in the city of Atlanta,

his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls will be in the state of Wisconsin for their

first debate. Justin Webb heard more from our North America reporter, Anthony Zercher.

In this case, he is just being booked. He's not being arraigned. The arraigned part of it is where

he appears before a judge. That's going to happen at the beginning of September. But this is just

him getting processed at the Fulton County prison. He's going to show up. He's going to have his

mug shot taken, apparently, this time, which is something slightly new. Fingerprinted to have

his information taken down. He's going to have to post a $200,000 bail that is money that he has

to put up in order to be allowed not to stay in prison, but to go back on his own reconnaissance,

and that money would be forfeit if, for some reason, he decides not to show up for future

judicial proceedings. And then he goes on his way. And what's he said about it? Well, he was

posting on his social media account. Nothing particularly new. He did say that he was going

to be doing this on Thursday. That was open to speculation. Some people thought maybe he would

do it on Wednesday. At the same time, the Republicans were debating as a way of kind of

upstaging his adversaries for the Republican presidential nomination. He once again called

it a political episode, a political charging, that it was all contrived in order to try to

interfere with his attempt to regain the White House. Lashed out against Fannie Willis, the

district attorney who was heading up the charges against him, said that it was corrupt. And that

was the same sort of line Donald Trump has had in regards to all of the charges against him in

these multiple indictments. You mentioned the debate, Anthony, that a debate, of course, which

he's not going to take part in. Exactly. He decided to give a pass to the debate. And there is

certainly a strategic argument for what he's doing. He has a massive lead in the polls right now.

But what I think we're going to see now is the debate stage without him on it, where all of these

Republican rivals are kind of vying for attention. And I think there's going to be more pressure on

people like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramiswamy, who is a tech entrepreneur who's

running for the Republican nomination. All of them are going to try to do something that generates

headlines and generates media coverage beyond just Wednesday evening. Because if there aren't as

many eyeballs watching on Wednesday evening to have any impact from this debate, they're going

to have to do something newsworthy. And that's going to make them try to be a little more aggressive,

perhaps, on the stage towards each other, since Donald Trump's not going to be there.

Anthony Zercher. When members of Italian high society gathered in Turin to celebrate the

engagement of the bank at Massimo Segre and the entrepreneur Cristina Seimandi, things didn't

quite go as planned. In a shocking speech, Mr. Segre accused his fiance of infidelity

and ended the relationship. She's now accused him of gender violence after clips of that speech

went viral and she is threatening legal action. David Lewis has been following the story.

It was supposed to be a night of unbridled joy, romantic celebration, and true love.

But in a speech to the assembled guests, the groom to be, well, he had other ideas.

Tonight, I'd like to give Cristina the freedom to love, to love someone, a well-known lawyer,

whom she clearly cares for more than me. My dear Cristina, I know how much you are in love,

both mentally and sexually. How did you manage to keep it to yourself?

And I know that before him, you had a relationship with a well-known industrialist.

With his fiance watching on, the 64-year-old continued to deliver a devastating account

of their relationship and her alleged cheating. He said he was heartbroken and was leaving her

that night. Guests including big bankers and businessmen who cheered as he took to the microphone

listened in stunned silence. Mr. Segre finished with an apology.

I wish you all the happiness with your new partner and to continue shining in the world

as you have done all these years. Sorry to all of you and good night.

It's not clear who recorded the footage at the Millionaires Mansion

and if it was the same person who leaked the video. Since the speech went viral, the now

ex-couple have been trading barbs in the Italian press. When he started talking, I thought it was

a joke, Ms. Seymandi told the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. Then I was petrified.

It was an act of abhorrent violence, she added. An advisor to Ms. Seymandi says she'll probably

take legal action after facing a barrage of negative comments on social media. Mr. Segre's

lawyers say he never authorised the filming or sharing of his engagement party address.

David Lewis

Over the last few months, the Saudi Pro League, also known as the SPL, has shaken the football

world by signing a string of high-profile players from famous European teams on record salaries.

Last week, the Brazilian star Neymar became the latest to sign up to the Saudi League

in a deal worth almost $100 million. On Saturday, he was unveiled in front of thousands of fans.

Saudi clubs have collectively spent over $650 million during the summer transfer window

to attract foreign players such as Karim Benzema and Golo Kante,

Sadia Mane, among a sleuth of big names. BBC's Middle East business correspondent

Samir Hashmi travelled to Riyadh to find out more.

A rapturous welcome for Neymar at his new club, Al-Hilal. Al-Hilal is one of Asia's most successful

clubs, but for many supporters, Neymar's arrival marks the beginning of a new era for the team.

We are so happy that stars like Cristiano Neymar play here in Saudi.

We hope that the Saudi League will become as good as the other leagues in Europe.

A couple of months ago, the top four Saudi football clubs, including Al-Hilal,

were bought over by the PIF, the government-controlled sovereign wealth fund.

This has enabled Saudi clubs to offer eye-watering salaries to attract some of the top names in

football, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. During the summer, there has been an

influx of foreign players. One of them is Portuguese footballer Ruben Neves, who swapped

the English Premier League for the Saudi Pro League and joined Al-Hilal.

Sports is one of the main pillars of the country's Vision 2030 economic diversification program,

which aims to reduce Saudi Arabia's reliance on oil revenues by building new industries and

attracting more foreign capital. Some European leagues have criticized the strategy adopted by

the SPL, but Chief Operating Officer Carlo Nohra says that they are focusing on making the project

financially viable. We have commitment to support this for however long it takes

to deliver on the objectives of the strategy. However, the responsibility that we have against

that commitment is to also fit that commercialization element of the strategy and start increasing

that so that we can be responsible for our own financial growth in the future and not to be

wholly dependent on the government. I'm walking on Tehalia Street, which is located in the heart of

Riyadh. Now, this place is really popular because it's flooded with a lot of cafes,

shisha bars, restaurants. Why? Because Riyadh's home team, Al Nasser, the club that

Cristiano Ronaldo plays for, is in action right now.

Saudi Arabia is a football crazy nation with 80% of the population either playing,

attending or watching the sport on TV. The Kingdom's target is to elevate SPL in the

world's top 10 in terms of revenues by 2030. It's still early to judge whether these ball

investments would pay off in the long run, but the strategy has demonstrated the Gulf

nation's ambition of becoming a major international football hub.

BBC's Middle East Business Correspondent Samir Hashmi.

Now to Tunisia and a young woman who is turning her sensitivity and her gift with words into art.

Fatan Ben Khaled, aka FBK, is a rare thing, a female rapper in Tunisia, and she's using her

voice to fight for the improvement of society and women's equality. As she told the BBC's

African Music Program, this is Africa.

The truth is with rap in Tunisia, the revolution had a very big role to play. Many artists now

dare to find a way to make their voice heard, because we know what it was like before the

revolution. The revolution opened the doors especially for rappers. Now they can express

their opinions on the political situation, on the social situation, this was forbidden before.

But now we have the opportunity to express ourselves. We have to try, as hard as we can,

to make our voices heard, to try to change what's happening, even just a little bit.

I wrote a song called Tezaqian. I decided to do it because people wanted to know who FBK is,

who Fatan is. They wanted to know more about my personality, my beginnings, my childhood.

Today Tezaqian is still the song that helps people understand me and get to know me better.

Where do I get the inspiration to my songs? Okay, the truth is I'm very free and open to

different and varied sources. An artist must open their heads to the universe. I get inspired by

nature, by my experiences, and by other people's experiences too when they touch me. Situations

can happen to someone else and maybe it doesn't affect them. Maybe they don't feel it, but we

know that artists are particularly sensitive and I'm sometimes excessively sensitive. I try to use

that to write about things that touch me.

In my experience, human beings encounter obstacles in their early stages,

but what is noticeable is the huge control over women that men have in Arab societies in general,

and in Tunisian society in particular. There are big challenges for women who want to be

represented in Tunisia. Those women may encounter all sorts of exploitation. People say, oh well,

she's a woman. You know, there's a lot of belittling in this day and it's normal because

in our society men have power over women and women also get judged by their own family. For

example, they would say, how come she sings rap? It's a boy thing. There's this cliche about rap,

that it's an immoral art, that it's no good. A young female rapper can be accused of masculinity,

but that has nothing to do with anything because art has never been linked or limited to a specific

gender. Art is general, art is inclusive, art is universal. These views have to do with the

ignorance of those who say them. As far as I'm concerned, I'm trying to move forward as much

as possible. I'm trying to make progress in what I do, and I'm trying to go beyond the Arab world

to go global. God willing, I'll get there.

Fatan Ben Khaled

And that's all from us for now, but there'll 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.

We address his global podcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X, formerly known as Twitter,

at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and the producer was Stephanie

Prentice. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritzen. Until next time, goodbye.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.