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Quake kills hundreds in Afghanistan
00:33:31
More than 800 people die after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan
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This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Mars and at 14 hours GMT on Monday 1st September. These are our main stories. The Taliban in Afghanistan say hundreds of people have been killed in an earthquake in the country's mountainous eastern region. The leaders of China, India and Russia have been presenting a united front at a summit of world leaders in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. Also in this podcast, as the Israeli army continues its push into Gaza City, what more do we know about the US plan on the so called next day after the war? And details of how Queen Camilla fought off an attempted assault when she was a teenager are revealed in a new book about the British monarchy. Camilla said, I did what my mother taught me. I took my shoe off and I whacked him in the nuts with a heel. The Taliban in Afghanistan say hundreds of people have died In a magnitude 6 earthquake in the east of the country. As we record this podcast, the authorities say more than 800 are dead and that more than 2,500 people have been injured in the provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar. A Taliban spokesman, Zaibullah Mujahid, said the epicenter was in a remote mountainous area which is making relief operations difficult. He said the casualty figures may increase as some villages were only accessible by helicopter and some people and bodies were still being recovered from the rubble. Our correspondent in Afghanistan is Yama Bariz. I spoke to him as he made his way towards the area worst affected by the quake.
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The epicenter of the earthquake was in eastern Afghanistan, Kunar province, which has been affected very badly. It's a mountainous area and the area was hit by floods during the weekend. So because of the landslides now the roads are blocked to the affected areas. The latest reports which we have got the sources and Nangrahar Regional Hospital, they told us that they have received hundreds of casualties. But it's still a developing story as there has been areas in province which due to the landslides various rescue team have not reached there. So till now they were saying that tens of dead bodies which they have recovered are only from two valleys and there are four other valleys which the rescue teams have not reached there yet. The Taliban government, they are saying that they are military rescue teams as well as civilian rescue teams. They're trying to make their way to the region and some of them have got there. So the evacuation has mostly happened by helicopters because the roads are blocked and that's the only means in order to bring the people out. When we spoke to some local people, despite the difficulty which we had in the communication due to lack of phone signals, they told us that the local people themselves are trying to evacuate their loved one from the rubbles. And they were calling on the authorities here and as well as on the international humanitarian organizations to come to your help.
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Yama, can you tell us a little bit more about particularly the villages that have been affected and why there's been so much damage there?
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It happened like around 12 o'clock midnight last night. We felt it here even in Kabul. I was in my room when I felt that jolts of earthquake and. But there in the region, in the epicenter, it's a mountainous area and the infrastructure is very weak. They are mostly mad houses and they are not earthquake resistant. So that is why the area has been affected very badly. And also it was middle of the night, people were sleeping mostly at home. That's why most of the casualties, they are saying they are women and children, of course, they are men as well, but because they were inside and it was middle of the night and the buildings there are not earthquake resistant. So that is what it has caused such a big number of casualties and also has brought about a lot of destruction.
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And from what you're saying, it's unlikely that there's going to be any heavy lifting equipment arriving in these places because of the landslides.
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That is the one issue. And even apart from that, the rescue teams here in Afghanistan, they are overstretched due to the aid cad, they are under pressure and they are equipped with very basic tools. They might get there, they might try hard. But yes, of course they would need the help from the NGOs with the proper rescue teams, with the proper rescue equipments. So it is going to be problematic and a huge task for the NGOs as well as for the authorities here.
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To deal with Yama Barris In Afghanistan. The leaders of more than 20 countries, among them Russia, Turkey and Iran, are in China for a major economic summit. Trade will be one of the main items on the agenda for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. But will we see diplomacy at work too? The mooted talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war haven't yet materialized and China may use the opportunity to position itself as a global diplomatic leader as well as a financial one. Its support is very much behind Russia in the conflict, though. And Vladimir Putin is scheduled to appear at a big military parade on Wednesday. China's President Xi Jinping criticized what he labelled bullying behavior. In the world order.
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We must uphold fairness and justice.
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We must promote a correct view of.
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World War II history and oppose Cold War mentality, block confrontation and bullying. We must oppose international system with the United nations at its core and support.
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The multilateral trading system with the World.
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Trade Organization at its core. We must advocate for an equal and orderly, multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization and promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system.
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The remarks appear targeted at the United States, which has imposed steep import taxes on India for buying Russian oil. Cindy Yu is a columnist for the Times newspaper and former host of the Chinese Whispers podcast. And Nigel Inkster is a former assistant director at the British intelligence agency MI6. So what do they make of these remarks?
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America and Trump were not name checked, but it was clearly all about them. When these Global south countries, including Russia, China and India, talk about a more fair and equitable international world order, what they're criticizing is the fact that they don't see the US Led world order as fair or equitable for those outside of the Western club. And so they want to create this alternative. Now, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has existed for over two decades now, but this year what we're seeing is probably the biggest summit it has had since its founding and the most significant as well because India is now pretty much on.
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Board in a way that it hasn't.
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Really been in the past few years. Russia at this crucial juncture with this invasion of Ukraine as well as China in terms of the rise of itself.
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So they talk about this kind of.
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Mega scale market and the member states make up something like a quarter of world gdp. So it is a mega grouping of countries to be talking about now how seriously how substantial these alliances really become.
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You know, in the coming years, whether.
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They can really contest Western multilateralism. I think that's something that's still an open question.
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And Nigel, we've been hearing Vladimir Putin speaking at the summit saying that apparently they're still planning, hoping to have talks with Ukraine at some point to try and achieve piece. He talks about the, the coup d' etat in Ukraine which was supported and provoked by the West. Are we likely to see any movement on the Ukraine war at this particular summit, or is it all about positioning?
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I think this is all about positioning and also semiotics the message that this grouping, you know, this gathering is sending to the world. And one thing that Xi Jinping said in his initial speech was that there was a need to promote a correct view of the history of World War II. This bleed feeds into this major military parade that's going to take place on 3rd September to mark the end of World War II at which pretty much all major leaders of Eurasian countries will be present. And the message there is very much, you know, we were the victors in World War II. And this gives us legitimacy to promote an alternative view of global governments from the Western model. And I think that is the most important thing that's going to come out of this summit and the subsequent military parade.
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How much, Cindy, is that, that narrative, that attempt to change the world order gaining traction?
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Well, as I say, this year is the largest ever SEO summit. In the past it has been racked with inconsistencies. For example, Pakistan and India both join in 2017. Now, these are two countries you don't have together if you your security organization to do something consistent. And that came to a head earlier this year when the India Pakistan border clash happened. And the SCO statement did not condemn the terror attacks that India says started that conflict. What's interesting is that now today the latest declaration from the summit has condemned those attacks. So I think what's happening there is that Xi has basically reined Pakistan in to allow India to give India some face, as it were, in basically putting forward this lovely united message, as Nigel says, the semiotics of this alternative to the west grouping. And they're trying to basically smooth the way to do all of that.
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And it's all very a lovely show.
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The question is just really how substantive.
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It will be in the coming years.
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Well, as we heard, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has defended his war in Ukraine. At the Summit in China, Mr. Putin again blames, blamed the west, including NATO for the conflict in Ukraine. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Vladimir Putin that he hoped Russia and Ukraine would move forward to end the war soon. Our correspondent in Kyiv is Sarah Rainsford. So what will they make of this in Ukraine?
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Nothing new, in a sense from Vladimir Putin stressing his key arguments that he claims that the war was not of his making but of the West's making making. Obviously that is not true. This was a war of, of choice for Vladimir Putin. But he is saying that he welcomes China and India in their efforts to bring it to an end. But, but underlining again that as far as he's concerned, that has to be on his terms. So a totally maximalist position from Russia, even though of course a couple of weeks ago we saw that summit Vladimir Putin greeted on the red carpet in Alaska by Donald Trump. Trump and supposedly some kind of understanding there reached about how to bring this war here in Ukraine to an end. But there has been no real substantial progress on that. And Vladimir Putin quite clearly has shifted no ground at all. So I think a lot of skepticism here in Ukraine that we're any closer to this war being done. And, of course, you know, the air raids continue, the missile and drone attacks continue, the war on the ground, particularly in the. The east of Ukraine, continues, and it is brutal. So as far as Ukraine is concerned, you know, pretty hollow words when they hear Vladimir Putin talking about the causes of this war and the chances of peace. And, Sarah, what's the battlefield strength of. Of Moscow and Kyiv at the moment, as far as we know? Well, you know, I think looking at this meeting taking place in Shanghai, it is really interesting to see Vladimir Putin on that stage and really looking to the symbolism of those meetings that he's holding being hosted by China, meeting the Indian leader and really foregrounding those relationships. Of course, this is Vladimir Putin saying, look, I have friends, I have allies, I have strength. And those countries, whilst not directly supporting his war in Ukraine, are supporting the Russian economy. And that is absolutely vital, of course, for Russia's ability to continue prosecuting its war here on the ground in Ukraine. So this is Vladimir Putin saying, look, I'm still in the game. This is my game, these are my rules. And, of course, in Ukraine, that goes down extremely badly. There has been this sense that Vladimir Putin wants to tell the world, and tell Donald Trump in particular in the United States, that Russia is winning this war. He wants them to believe that there is progress on the east, on the battlefield along that front line. Ukraine is saying that they have stopped the latest advances in the Donbas around Pokrovsk, a very important fighting hub at the moment. But, of course, the fighting does continue. It is brutal, it is prolonged here. The mood generally in Kyiv is that they don't see any end to it anytime soon.
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Sarah Rainsford in Kyiv, speaking to Geeta Gurumurthy. All too often, we hear of the dangers posed by AI, but perhaps we don't hear enough about how artificial intelligence can do things we want now, just faster and more effectively and also in a way that can transform things for the better. A new $160 million research project funded by Larry Ellison, the Oracle billionaire, is examining how AI could transform the development of vaccines. Nick Robinson asked Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, how it would work.
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What we're going to do differently here is reimagine how to develop vaccines to make them more efficient or make the process of development more efficient. Currently, what we do is we Take sub components of germs to see if they'll work as potential vaccines. But only about 1 in 20 are successful. But what we're hoping to do now is to make vaccines from the perspective of the human immune system. And that's enormously complicated, which has really made it difficult to think about human immunity. First, to drive the best approaches to vaccines which will work in our bodies.
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Is it that the AI can do things humans simply can't do, or is it just doing it faster on a scale that wouldn't be possible? What AI can do is it can.
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Cope with this huge scale of data that we can generate from the human immune system that it's very difficult to do without these amazing computational methods to be able to pull all of the data together to really understand how the immune system works and what we need to protect against these serious infections that kill people all over the world.
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And which infections are we talking about that you're focusing your work on?
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Well, we're going to start with a number of bacterial infections. For example, staph, which causes wound infections after surgery, and bone and joint infections. We're also looking at another germ called E. Coli, which is a major problem in older adults, causing urinary tract infections and sometimes very recurrent and debilitating ones, and also a problem in hospitals causing sepsis. We'll also look at the pneumonia bug, the most common cause of death in early childhood and also a big problem in older adults. So a series of different bacteria which have a huge global burden of disease, antimicrobial resistance, and kills people.
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Professor Andrew Pollard. Still to come in the global news podcast, how does it feel to be a caregiver in. In Kenya, where people looking after loved ones with disabilities are usually unpaid, how.
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Do you feel about the possibility of being a caregiver for the rest of your life? The thought of it is mind blowing, but I think I'm mentally prepared and I'm so ready to give him the best care.
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As the Israeli army continues its push into Gaza City, local residents say old armored vehicles filled with explosives have been been sent into parts of Sheikh Radwan district and then blown up remotely. Videos posted online show more Palestinians fleeing from the outskirts of the city in cars, carts and tractors after Israel dropped leaflets warning people to flee south immediately. Days after a meeting at the White House to discuss what a post war Gaza should look like and who should run it, the Washington Post has published details of what it says is a leaked plan for the day after the proposal, which seems to be circulating within The Trump administration involves Gaza of becoming a US run trusteeship and the relocation, at least temporarily, of all its 2 million citizens. They'd then be paid to live in a different country or offered tokens for their land, which would give them the right to redevelop their property at some point in the future. Well, David Satterfield was the U.S. special envoy for Middle east humanitarian issues between 2022 and 2023 under President Biden. He's read the document. Anna Foster asked what he thinks about the detail contained in the report.
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Gaza very much needs a day after that. Day after requires, of course, a day before. The day before is an end to the fighting and release of the hostages. But let's assume that that can be done. What's going to happen then? Well, first humanitarian assistance is going to have to flow. It's have to come in at scale. What's needed to make Gaza something other than a sink indefinitely of misery, desperation and ultimately radicalization is a political vision that conflicts with that of Hamas. And that framework is going to have to be based around a commitment by the government of Israel to a process that leads to an ultimate, agreed, directly negotiated resolution with the Palestinians. And there's going to have to be an acknowledgment that the Palestinian Authority, or at least personnel from the Palestinian Authority, will have a key role in the stabilization and then the reconstruction of Gaza. This political framework is critical because without it, it's very difficult to see how the major Arab states who are being sought after in the plan that was published in the Washington Post, as well as many other concepts, the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Egyptians, they're most unlikely to participate either in stabilization or reconstruction of Gaza minus that political framework.
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And the, the difficulty in actually coming up with a day after plan that is acceptable, as you say, to all the main actors is proving one of the reasons why Benjamin Netanyahu is able to continue extending this war beyond the point at which various of his critics want him to have stopped.
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And the political horizon, the political framework, the prevented cleared personnel from the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. Why hasn't that been expressed to date? Because it's the door through which so much would come that Arab assistance. It's because of the nature of the coalition government of Israel today and the Prime Minister's unwillingness, inability to express views which could run the risk of challenging his coalition.
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One of the interesting details, I think, of this plan as well is there seems to be a lack of understanding about the wider and deeper conflict in the region. It talks about the large scale movement of Palestinians without seeming to understand why that would be a controversial and problematic thing to do.
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Again, I'm very cautious in ascribing to that plan a status that it may not in fact have. But you're quite correct, the plan, in many if not most of its aspects, doesn't reflect any real world sense of the Middle East, Gaza, the requirements of key Arab states. It's a plan that reads very much as the product of a US Based consulting group.
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But how seriously is the Trump administration taking this plan? And would the international community or the Gazans themselves really accept the relocation of 2 million people? Our international editor is Jeremy Bowen.
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We don't know if this is official Trump policy, but for the sake of argument, let's assume it might be because it rather echoes that bizarre video he posted months ago, you may remember of his vision of Gaza as a sort of high tech holiday haven, which even included AI images of Trump sipping drinks in bathing attire next to Netanyahu on the beach. You know, all that seemed to be a bit of a joke, but if this came to pass, talking about US rule for 10 years, so called voluntary departures to another country, confinement of any reform, any Palestinians who are still there, to restricted and secured zones, you know, if this all did come to pass, it would be massively controversial as an enormous violation of international humanitarian law. And I think those people who believe that genocide is going on in Gaza would say that this is further evidence of a genocidal project by the Israelis and just remind you of the definition of, of that genocide is the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic or racial or religious group. So the idea that you might remove the entire Palestinian population from the territory would seem to fit into that.
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And it would, Jeremy, if it were to come to pass, or at least if the plan were to be publicly confirmed, it would draw condemnation from other nations around the world. But if the US wants it to go ahead and Israel does as well, will it?
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Well, it might. It depends the degree to which, not just European countries, but also critically, I think the Saudis would oppose it. And I think as they have their own plans on the table, the Saudis and the Arab countries, I think they'd absolutely would oppose all of this. And it would also raise major questions for the British government and the French and the Australians and those others who at the UN later this month are planning to recognize the independence of an independent Palestinian state.
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Jeremy Bowen. As Donald Trump continues his immigration crackdown, a last minute court order has blocked a government plan to deport hundreds of Guatemalan children to their home country. The decision came just hours before the first flights were due to take off. Our America's regional editor Leonardo Roche told us more. It all happened in the early hours of Sunday. It was last minute really literally some of the kids had already been boarded onto planes to be returned to Guatemala. They're all Guatemala nationals who had arrived in the US Alone. And for that reason they were being kept either with foster families or in temporary accommodation under the custody of the American government. But pro immigration group that took defends human rights for kids there and for immigrants asked for an injunction, last minute injunction to stop the departure this flight and they managed to do that. A judge in Washington D.C. granted the request and also extended it to all Guatemalan children aged between 10 and 17 who were in the same situation. According to the media, that could be applied to about 600 children. And how has the Guatemalan government reacted to. Well, that's very interesting because this human rights group, this pro immigration group had the best intentions in the world and you would imagine that Guatemala would be happy with the decision. But no. The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo, who is a very moderate president, has been in power for less than a year, former diplomat, he issued a statement criticizing in a veiled manner the ruling, saying that ruling prevented hundreds of children from being safely reunited with their parents in Guatemala. He said he Mr. Arevalu, he proposed this idea, this pilot program to the Trump administration and he said there will be much better situation, much better situation in Guatemala rather than being in a vulnerable situation in the U.S. another thing that's very interesting as well. It shows how difficult it is with migration in the region. The local media reported that many parents had gone to the airport and they were in tears because they couldn't meet their children. So you imagine something that was done with the best intentions in the US Actually was affecting the families in Guatemala. The Guatemalan government said they will try to get the program done. And they said that they would be very careful with that, that the children, when they were returned, they would get all the support from the social services. And one of the mothers said, my son went four months ago. Some of them as teenagers were forced to grow up very quickly because of poverty. And he said his idea was to go and send money to help the family, but that hasn't been possible. He'll be better. He'll be safer with us here. Leonardo Rocha speaking to Ankar Desai in many parts of Africa, the burden of care for people with disabilities and those with chronic illnesses largely falls on families off, often with little formal support. Caregivers across the continent quietly sustain families, communities and even health systems. Yet because their work is uncounted, their struggle remains invisible. BBC's Brian Wahenya has been speaking to two caregivers in Kenya who talked about their experiences as well as the resilience that keeps them going.
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Babies.
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Yeah, yeah.
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28 year old Jane Mushiri's day starts by helping her husband Brian out of bed. Eleven years ago, he was left paralyzed after a road accident. Since then, he's needed constant care.
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Because he has a spinal cord injury, he has no control of the bladder and the bowel.
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Like for many in Kenya, her husband's caregiving started at home, quiet, unpaid and unseen. She left her job to be his full time caregiver. But she admits the sacrifice has been greater than she imagined.
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Sometimes I find it hard being a caregiver and wife because sometimes I feel like he sees me like a caregiver more than the wife.
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Across Africa and in many parts of the world, most care for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses is carried out informally, usually by women.
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I am a caregiver. I take care of my mom who has schizophrenia, and my brother Joseph, who is autistic.
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That seven year old Viona Wamoyo has carried a different kind of burden for the last 14 years. Complicated family dynamics have left her alone to care for her mother and brother, both who live with mental health challenges. The demands of caregiving cost Viona her relationship. She's now raising her 10 year old daughter alone.
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Hi.
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We introduced her to Jane, complete strangers who quickly bonded over this shared responsibility.
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How do you feel about the possibility of being a caregiver for the rest of her life? The thought of it is mind blowing, but I think I'm mentally prepared and I'm so ready to give him the best care. And for you? I am in it longer than you. I'm a decade plus in, but I think I have accepted it and I'm okay with it. So which part of caregiving do you enjoy doing? I have witnessed especially my mom in very, very dire situations. Her being a teacher, peace. Her being safe, Joseph being healthy and smiling and clean. I think that's my relief.
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Studies show that three in five caregivers suffer from physical, emotional and economic strain. Psychologist Faith Goko says many caregivers themselves end up suffering mental health challenges.
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One that stands out is guilt, which actually people don't think it's a mental health challenge where you you feel as.
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A caregiver that you have to be.
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There every minute, every second. If you're not there, maybe this person will not be able to function well, which in most cases, yes. But that now leads to where the caregiver neglects their own mental well being and their life revolves around the person receiving the care.
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Unlike parts in the Western world where governments provide disability benefits and respite services, there is little form of support in Africa.
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I don't really socialize that much. I don't do a lot of trips, partying. People my age, what they do.
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Jane and Viona understand this struggle and so do I, because I am Jane's husband. I am the one she lifts into a wheelchair, the one she dresses and turns in bed every night. I know the love and sacrifice behind every act of care and how much the world depends on people like her and Viona. Caregivers who often go unseen. That was the personal story of BBC reporter Brian Wahenya, ending the report from Kenya. A new book about the British royal family describes how Queen Camilla fought off an attempted indecent assault when she was a teenager. She's said to have hit her attacker with a shield when he attempted to touch her while she was traveling on a train. The book is written by a former royal correspondent for the British Times newspaper, Valentine Low. He's been speaking to my colleague Nick Robinson. She was a teenager. She was on a train going to Paddington, London, Paddington, and some chaps started groping her. And she told this to Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London. And Boris was obviously oligarch, as anyone would be, and said, well, what did you do next? And Camilla said, I did what my mother taught me. I took my shoe off and I whacked him in the nuts with a heel. And when she got to Paddington, this is in a way a crucial bit of the story. When she got to Paddington, she found a man in uniform and told him what had happened and the man was arrested. As the article, which is serialized in today's Times, as the article makes clear, not only was she resourceful and strong, but she was a responsible citizen and making sure the man was arrested. Yeah. And took it seriously. Well on Camilla, took it seriously, followed it up with the police, and she's taken this issue seriously ever since. Yes, she's campaigned a lot on domestic violence and sexual violence, you know, and the person who told me the story, who was Guito Harry, who was Boris Johnson's PR at the time, he thought this was the kind of the roots of Camilla's campaigning on the issue. I don't think it is. I think she's heard a lot of stories over the years and she's got a very deep seated, sincere interest in this issue and it doesn't all spring from one incident when she was a teenager. No worth stressing. Valentine, isn't it is this fact that she hasn't put the story out there.
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It's others who've heard it who've told you about it.
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Exactly. She's considered doing it. She's considered talking about it but has decided not to because I think she thinks it would be wrong to try and equate what happened to her, which was an upsetting experience, but was nothing like as bad as what has happened to other women and girls. So she didn't want us to draw draw attention to her at the expense of their experiences. Valentine low 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 globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on X@BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspot. This edition was mixed by Holly Smith and the producer was Alice Adley and Paul Day. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye.