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Global News Podcast
Afghans moved to UK in secret scheme after data breach
00:27:14
The Afghans had worked with the military
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Host
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
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Sasha
Sasha hated sand, the way it stuck to things for weeks. So when Maddy shared a surf trip on Expedia Trip Planner, he hesitated. Then he added a hotel with a cliffside pool to the plan and they both spent the week in the water. You were made to follow your whims. We were made to help find a place on the beach with a pool and a waterfall and a soaking tub. And of course, a great Expedia made to travel.
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Janet Jalil
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Wednesday 16th July, these are our main stories. The British government has apologized to thousands of Afghans at risk from the Taliban, whose personal details were leaked online this the authorities in Lebanon say that 12 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, the deadliest day since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect last year. President Trump joins big oil and tech bosses to unveil a $90 billion plan to invest in AI and energy.
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Sasha
Also in this podcast, for those planning to dip their feet in the Mediterranean this summer, be sure to put your sandals back on promptly if you're in Portofino.
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Janet Jalil
Italian officials in the glamorous town of Portofino have banned picnics, alcohol and being barefoot in public to try to deter unruly tourists. It was a simple mistake, but one that put the lives of thousands of Afghans in danger and has ended up costing Britain more than a billion dollars. Three and a half years ago, just months after the Taliban had seized Kabul, a British defence official accidentally disclosed the names and deal details of close to 20,000 Afghans who were at risk of reprisals. The leak was only discovered the following year when it was posted on Facebook with a threat to disclose the entire database. That led to the British government setting up a secret scheme to relocate thousands of Afghans to the uk. Meanwhile, for the past two years, a court order has prohibited the reporting of this information. That changed on Tuesday when a judge ordered that it be made public. Here's our security correspondent Frank Gardiner.
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Frank Gardiner
When the Taliban seized back control of Afghanistan four years ago, amid those chaotic evacuation scenes at Kabul airport, thousands of Afghan soldiers and their families were left behind. Many had worked with British forces and so were at risk of reprisal by the victorious Taliban. Britain set up a scheme to bring vulnerable Afghans to safety in Britain. But in February 2022, six months after the Taliban had taken over British an MOD official inadvertently leaked a spreadsheet with thousands of Afghan names and personal details into the public domain. This so called unauthorised data breach was not discovered until the following year, when the government then got a super injunction imposed to keep the leak secret. That super injunction has finally been lifted and the Defence Secretary, John Healy, offered his sincere apologies.
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Janet Jalil
This was a serious departmental error.
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Frank Gardiner
It was in clear breach of strict.
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Sasha
Data protection protocols and it was one.
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Frank Gardiner
Of many data losses relating to the.
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Janet Jalil
Arab scheme during this period.
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Frank Gardiner
Thousands of Afghans have already been brought to Britain, but a further two and a half thousand remain in Afghanistan waiting to come out. The MOD points out that this major data breach occurred under the previous government, but that'll be little consolation to those Afghans who have only just been told about this leak and will now have concerns about their safety.
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Janet Jalil
Frank Gardiner well, the government has declined to say how many Afghans may have been arrested or killed as a result of this breach. We spoke to one man who asked that we don't give out his name as he fears for his family back in Afghanistan. He worked for British forces in Afghanistan and a month after the Taliban seized power back in 2021, he was relocated to Britain for his safety. What did he think when he found out about this latest development?
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Unnamed Afghan
It's a huge psychological harm, you know, the anxiety, the fear, even right now, as I speak with you, the distress it has been causing us. Because I'm not sure what's going to happen in the next few days. I don't know if something has happened already. I don't know if my family members have already been targeted, if they know if the Taliban have received information about me and my family members. So it's a huge psychological toll. You know, it makes me very, very fearful of, for me here in the UK and also for the safety of my family members back home.
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Frank Gardiner
But just to be clear, I mean, I assume that because this was a list sent out at the beginning of 2022 and you had already arrived by then, that your name would not have been on that list. What makes you think that it might have been or indeed that members of your family might have been or on that list? Or are you saying you simply don't know?
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Unnamed Afghan
I don't really know for sure what is in that list and what has been breached if my name happens to be on that list. Because the data we have received, the information we received, anybody who has come here before or applied to the process before January 2022 might be affected by it. And I had applied in 2021 and now I have received another email a Few hours ago. Where there is a tracker, you can track your name, if you were affected. It tells me that I was affected, unfortunately. So it means if it is a simple list of my name, it would identify me as this person has gone to the uk. I mean, I don't know what kind of information they had. But with my application, I have provided the British government not only my personal information, information from my family members, my wife and children, information of my family members in Afghanistan, brothers and sisters and. And where I worked, why I thought I was eligible for this program, everything. So I don't know how much information have been shared in that list.
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Frank Gardiner
You've clearly still got family members in Afghanistan. How are you hearing from them? I mean, what are they saying to you about their concerns?
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Unnamed Afghan
They have always been very concerned. In fact, they move places from one province to another just to blend in and just make sure that they disappear from where they used to live, live before. Those were the things that they've been doing over the past few years just to make sure they are not targeted. Honestly, since this morning, I haven't spoken to any of them and I just could not tell them how this was coming because I just didn't know how to bring the news to them and how to tell them and what to tell them. And also I've been careful not to make calls because in that email, it instructed us not to make calls or be careful at least when making calls. So I'm pretty sure they will be very worried to hear about this.
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Janet Jalil
Now, one of the Afghans who worked alongside British forces in Afghanistan and whose identity we aren't revealing, talking to Tim Franks. The authorities in Lebanon say that 12 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the deadliest day of such attacks since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect last year. A Syrian family of five is reported to be among the dead. Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah weapons storage and training sites in Lebanon's eastern Beqa Valley. Our Middle east regional editor is Mike Thompson.
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Mike Thompson
The Becca Valley has long been a Hezbollah stronghold. And as you say, this is a place that Israel says they were storing weapons and indeed they were training fighters. They had training bases there. This was, yes, one of the deadliest attacks. There's been many attacks Israel have launched against Hezbollah positions, mainly in southern Lebanon, which they say don't comply with the ceasefire deal. And Hezbollah has called these strikes a major escalation.
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Janet Jalil
And this has been going on repeatedly, as you say. So for the Lebanese, this is compounding the trauma that they felt during that war between Israel and Hezbollah, indeed, you.
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Mike Thompson
Know, we had the ceasefire in November and yet the these strikes have continued. Now, Israel has said all along we will continue attacking Hezbollah positions which we believe shouldn't be there and don't comply with the ceasefire. Now the Lebanese government and Hezbollah has said this is a flagrant abuse and violation of the ceasefire, but it carries on.
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Janet Jalil
Hezbollah may be calling this an escalation, but it's not really in a position to do very much given the way that its leadership was decapitated by Israel.
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Mike Thompson
Yes, it's been severely weakened, but it looks like one of the concerns Israel still had, apart from these isolated positions we just talked about, that they've been striking, is this elite Radwan commando force. That's Hezbollah's Rad 1 Command Force and that was the unit running these bases that were struck today. And Israel's defense minister have said these strikes should give a clear message to Hezbollah not to rebuild their forces. They want them to stay obviously in this weakened position.
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Janet Jalil
Mike Thompson Donald Trump has said Ukraine should not attack Moscow after a newspaper said he discussed the possibility during a call with President Zelenskyy. The Financial Times reported that the US President has asked whether his Ukrainian counterpart could strike the Russian capital. But speaking outside the White House, Mr. Trump dismissed the idea and said he had no plans to give Ukraine long range missiles. On Monday, Mr. Trump announced new weapons sales to Kyiv and threatened Russia with steep tank tariffs unless it signs a ceasefire within 50 days. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.
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Steve Rosenberg
One Russian newspaper recalled the Roman politician Brutus, but replaced his name with America's president. The headline ET2 TRUMP Russia feels let down by Donald Trump, by his announcement of new weapons shipments to Ukraine and by his threats of severe tariffs on Russian exports. The Kremlin complained that such decisions were a signal to Kyiv to continue the war, though it made no mention of the fact that it was Russia that launched the full scale invasion of Ukraine. Recently, President Trump has been mentioning quite a lot that he's not happy with President Putin for failing to end the war.
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Sasha
Are you done with him? I mean, I know that sounds a.
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Unnamed Afghan
Simplistic thing, but I'm disappointed in him, but I'm not done with him. But I'm disappointed in him. Do you trust him? I trust almost nobody, to be honest with you.
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Steve Rosenberg
On a Kremlin conference call later, I asked Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to comment on that phrase, disappointed but not done with. He declined to. President Trump has no monopoly on disappointment. The Kremlin will surely be disappointed that after six months, it has apparently failed to convince America's president to accept Russia's arguments on Ukraine or Russia's conditions for ending the war. But there's no sign yet that Vladimir Putin has given up on Donald Trump. The Kremlin knows that America's leader is driven less by ideology and more by the urge to do deals, which is why, almost certainly, the Kremlin and the White House will continue to talk.
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Janet Jalil
Steve Rosenberg for decades, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was America's steel capital, churning out the beams and girders that formed the backbone of its skyscrapers, bridges and railroads. But on Tuesday, Donald Trump joined executives from some of the largest US Tech and energy companies to recast this Rust Belt city as a haven for artificial intelligence, announcing a 90 billion doll investment in AI and the energy needed to power it.
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Unnamed Afghan
We're here today because we believe that.
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Janet Jalil
America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology. And that includes being the world's number.
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Unnamed Afghan
One superpower in artificial intelligence.
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Janet Jalil
And we are way ahead of China. I have to say. We're way ahead of China. The plants are starting up, the construction is starting up. Well, Pennsylvania also happens to be a key battleground state that was crucial to Mr. Trump's election victory last year. I asked our America correspondent Peter Bowes, who was funding this huge investment in AI and what they're hoping to build.
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Host
Well, it is huge. The largest package of investments in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, according to Donald Trump. 20 leading technology and energy companies are involved in this. $92 billion, to be precise. In terms of investment, the common goal being to fund America's expansion of artificial intelligence. They include Google, $28 billion, AI infrastructure projects, as well as hydro plant upgrades. Energy is hugely important for this. More generally, there'll be construction of large scale data centers, some of which will be used for training purposes. And of course, at the heart of all of this is AI supremacy, technical leadership, global influence, the military advantages that could come with this, the economic power that can be derived from AI, which if successful, has huge potential to add trillions, billions of dollars to this country's gdp.
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Janet Jalil
Yes, but it could also be a huge drain on energy reserves. And that's why these energy companies are involved.
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Host
Yes, that's why there's so much emphasis on the energy infrastructure, the energy, the cooling infrastructure that's needed for large scale AI computing. So that's where a lot of the money is going. AI is very power hungry, electricity hungry as a business, and Certainly it is needed electricity to fuel the data centers where much of the other investment will be. And you mentioned the political significance of the location of this announcement. We're told that it will create tens of thousands of jobs. It will, according to local officials, position the state as a leading hub for energy, for artificial intelligence innovation, which, and this reflects what you said a moment ago, it really changes the face of industry, puts it into the future for a state that some might see as being locked in the past in terms of the kinds of industries that have been there.
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Janet Jalil
Peter Bowes, it's pretty common for governments to warn about tough choices to deal with budget deficits and growing debt piles. Normally the choices seem to involve tax rises and public spending cuts. That's certainly part of the strong medicine that was proposed on Tuesday by France's Prime Minister, Francois Bairou. But he also said he wants to scrap two national holidays. This is a country which takes its holidays very seriously. Tim Frank spoke to our Paris correspondent Hugh Scofield and asked him how the proposal had gone down.
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Sasha
Like lead balloon is basically the short answer to that. They have tried before in France to get rid of a national holiday about 20 years ago now, but it didn't succeed. There was a backlash. Even the kind of left wing unions who are not at all Christian said no. This Whit Monday, though, a Catholic holiday, is something which we hold dear in which workers have held dear for, you know, a century or whatever. So he can't do it. So it's not something that's going to go down easily. Now he's suggesting two more holidays in Easter Monday. And he says there's no reason why that should be a holiday. I mean, nothing happened in the Bible on the Monday and the May 8, which I think there is a logic to because, you know, that's the day that marks the end of the Second World War. But that memory is fading. But I still think it's going to go down like a lead balloon and people aren't going to buy it.
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Frank Gardiner
And you mentioned opposition from the left also, presumably opposition from the right.
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Sasha
Well, I mean, the first opposition is from the populist right, you know, the National Rally Party, Marina Pennslot. And they have said straight away, this is an attack on French history, on French roots, on French workers. And if it comes to a vote in parliament on this, and that's the whole idea, this is going to be part of the budget that's put forward after the summer holidays. They will vote a motion of censure. In other words, try to bring the Government down. They mean it, I think.
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Frank Gardiner
But just in terms of the hole in which the Prime Minister says France finds itself, I mean, it is deep and dark, isn't it?
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Sasha
Well, it is. And you know, from the start of this speech, which is Bill, is a very, very important speech today setting out the budget for September. We had exactly the same thing last year, but now the situation's even worse because every year the debt gets higher. It's now 3, $300 billion. There hasn't been a balanced budget in France for 50 years. I mean, his message is the chickens are coming home to roost. We always talk about over indebtedness and how countries can go under when this happens. Well, it's getting near at the stage where that's going to happen. And on top of the 40 billion which he wants to shave off the budget this year, there's now the extra 4 or 5 billion that President Macron has said has to be found for the other great priority, the army and the navy and the Air Force and defense. The straits are indeed dire. And what Beirut is saying is that we have to contemplate these things like removing holidays, like having a complete freeze on all pensions, on all welfare payments next year so that there is in effect a decrease compared to inflation, on having a complete freeze on state spending next year. All these are measures which, you know, many economists would say were perfectly sensible. But you know, I see them as a red rag which the left and the hard right are going to oppose just by instinct. And I see Biru as someone who knows all this but feels ironically kind of liberated by his dire political predicament to say what he really wants. There's no attempt at sort of compromise here. This initial budget plan is, is one that is extremely bold, extremely daring and were it ever to be enacted, would probably make a big difference to the, to the finances. But I think its chances of being adopted are very small.
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Janet Jalil
He's Schofield in Paris.
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Aruna Iyengar
Still to come, Forger Singh was born in Punjab in 1911. He took up running to deal with the grief of losing his wife. He became a global icon in the running world.
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Janet Jalil
A 114 year old man believed to have been the world's oldest marathon runner has died after being hit by a car. Travis fell in love with the perfect woman.
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Aruna Iyengar
She listened.
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Janet Jalil
She cared.
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Aruna Iyengar
There was just one catch.
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Janet Jalil
She wasn't human.
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Aruna Iyengar
She was an AI companion.
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Janet Jalil
But when her behavior takes a disturbing turn, Travis finds himself at the center.
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Aruna Iyengar
Of a much darker story. This is flesh and code, a true story of love.
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Janet Jalil
Loss and the temptations of technology. Listen to Flesh and Code Wherever you get your podcasts, you're listening to the Global News podcast. Police in Indonesia have arrested 12 people suspected of being involved in trafficking babies. Six infants, all of them only a few months old, have been found. Our Asia Pacific editor, Mickey Bristow reports. The police say the gang operated in several locations across Indonesia. Those arrested had different jobs. Some found the babies or looked after them. Others prepared fake documents used to smuggle the children to Singapore and perhaps elsewhere, where they were sold. The police believe the gang bought most of the babies from their parents, although they're looking into the possibility that others had been abducted. Two dozen infants could have already been traded. Mickey Bristow. Now they are two remote archipelagos, one part of Scotland, the Shetland Islands, and the other an autonomous territory in Denmark, the Faroe Islands. Officials in Shetland are hoping to follow the example of the Faroes in replacing an aging ferry fleet with a network of undersea tunnels connecting their islands. The Faroes have more than 20 tunnels linking its islands. Residents say they've transformed their lives as they can now travel at any time without worrying about sea conditions. From Shetland, our Scotland editor, James Cook reports.
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James Cook
I've come to Skaw beach, which, according to the sign here, is the most northerly point of the National Cycle Route 16, 95 miles from Dover. And we've come here to speak to Elizabeth Johnson from the Saxavoord Spaceport, which is being built just across the beautiful bay from here where they're hoping to launch rockets within the year.
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Janet Jalil
The economic activity needs connectivity and at the moment we have a ferry system that's been in place since the 70s and demand exceeds capacity on a daily basis. Now we need to be able to move when we want and if we want.
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James Cook
And does that mean tunnels?
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Janet Jalil
That means tunnels for us. We need tunnels.
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James Cook
Shetland produces a quarter of the UK's salmon, the country's biggest food export. But the industry worries about slipping behind its competitors. Anne Anderson is the head of sustainability and development at Scottish Sea Farms, one of the nation's biggest salmon producers, which employs 700 people.
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Janet Jalil
I think 10 years ago, Scottish salmon used to have 10% of the global market. Nowadays, we're slipping ever closer to 5%, and that gives you a scale of.
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James Cook
The difference that's happened. A missed opportunity. And does this country then and do these islands need better infrastructure? Urgently?
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Janet Jalil
Yes would be a very short and.
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James Cook
Simple answer to that one. Nearly 200 miles further out into the Atlantic, towards Iceland, there is an answer. The Faroe Islands have Been building tunnels since the 1960s. They now have 23, including four under the ocean. Boosting growth, says the Prime Minister, Axel Johanneson.
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Unnamed Afghan
I think we have learned in the Faroe Islands that investments in infrastructure is a good investment, both for the welfare for the people, but also for the growth when it comes to the population and also economy.
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James Cook
What advice would you give to Shetland?
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Unnamed Afghan
I would recommend tunnels for them.
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James Cook
Driving through these tunnels, I'm really struck by the scale of what they've built here. This one alone is nearly seven miles long and deep beneath the water. They even have the world's first undersea roundabout. Andy Sloan is the UK Managing Director of Covey, an engineering firm that specialises in designing tunnels and is now advising Shetland Island's council. So why are the Pharaohs so far ahead of Shetland?
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Sasha
From my perspective, it's about ambition. The Pharaohes set out with a huge ambition and they have led the world really at connecting an archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic through blood, sweat and tears and focus. And quite frankly, it can be repeated in Shetland. And not just Shetland, possibly elsewhere in.
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James Cook
Scotland, but when in Shetland. They've been talking about replacing ferries for nearly 20 years. The council leader, Emma McDonald, says she now thinks it will happen. I think tunnels could be incredibly transformational and as a council, you know, we.
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Janet Jalil
Want what's best for our island.
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James Cook
We want Shetland to be sustainable and we're really excited about the opportunity that this gives us. I think tunnels could absolutely be the answer. A decision on whether to proceed could be taken as soon as next year. The Faroe Islanders built their tunnels with private finance, which they're paying back through tolls. That's the most likely funding model for Shetland too, although there is not yet an estimated cost. In the meantime, many Shetlanders are eyeing the Faroese with envy.
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Janet Jalil
James Cook reporting. A man believed to be the world's oldest marathon runner has died in a hit and run incident at the age of 114. Forja Singh, who is nicknamed the Turban Tornado, was killed as he was walking near the village where he'd grown up in northern India. He'd lived in London since 1992 and only started marathon running at the age of 89. Aruna Iyengar reports.
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Aruna Iyengar
Faujer Singh was born in Punjab in 1911, but moved to East London to live with his son. In his 80s, he took up running to deal with the grief of losing his wife. He became a global icon in the running world. He broke records in multiple age catego. It all started at the London Marathon in 2000, where he knocked 58 minutes off the previous record for the over 90s. This was Fuja Singh crossing the finishing line at the Toronto waterfront Marathon in 2011 at the age of 100. His longtime coach Harmanda Singh, speaking at the time, said the performance was phenomenal.
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Unnamed Afghan
They did all the tests for him, gave it to a group of doctors.
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Janet Jalil
Said how old is this chap? And they thought he was 40.
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Aruna Iyengar
In 2012, the centenarian Sikh became a torchbearer for the London Olympics, parading the fire through Newham High street to a cheering local crowd. In his final 10k race in Hong Kong in 2013, he was asked if he was happy with his time. He said, oh no, actually I was expecting to run much faster than today. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the turbaned Tornado, as he was known, saying he'd been an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Mr. Singh's London based running club, Sikhs in the City, said on social media that all their events into next year would be dedicated to him.
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Janet Jalil
Aruna Iyengar and finally, let's go to Italy. The picturesque coastal town of Portofino, known for its pastel coloured houses and luxury boutiques, has issued a long list of banned activities as it grapples with huge numbers of tourists. Those flouting the rules could be fined up to €500, will Leonardo reports.
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Sasha
For those planning to dip their feet in the Mediterranean this summer, be sure to put your sandals back on promptly if you're in Portofino. Town officials bothered by uncouth tourists are threatening hefty fines for anyone found walking barefoot or bare chested, having a picnic or drinking alcohol in public. Portofino says it wants to ensure peace and quiet for its few hundred well heeled residents who, as elsewhere in Italy, appear to be finding the country's massive international popularity a tad tiresome. But the push towards genteel respectability has also targeted those without means. Begging or just sitting or lying on the streets will also now incur a fine, Will Leonardo.
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Janet Jalil
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, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk this edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producers were Liam McSheffrey and Arian Kochi. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janak Jalil. Until next time. Goodbye. The laws were changing in our country. Women could no longer be discriminated against.
- [28:33]
Steve Rosenberg
It was the dawn of a new.
- [28:35]
Janet Jalil
Era of space flight. NASA started accepting applications from women to be astronauts. That door that had been barred shut for all these years before now actually was open to you. 13 minutes presents the space Shuttle. The inside story of the space shuttle.
- [28:51]
Steve Rosenberg
Program told by the men and women.
- [28:54]
Janet Jalil
Who made it happen.
- [28:55]
Sasha
That was pretty monumental as far as.
- [28:57]
Unnamed Afghan
The public was concerned.
- [28:58]
Sasha
The first woman astronaut from the United States.
- [29:01]
Janet Jalil
You believe in yourself and you think you can do it. Listen now search for 30 minutes presents the Space Shuttle.
- [29:08]
Steve Rosenberg
Wherever you get your BBC podcasts and liftoff.
- [29:13]
Janet Jalil
Liftoff of STS7 and America's first woman astronaut.