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Six killed as Egyptian tourist submarine sinks
00:30:29
Tourist submarine sinks off Egypt's Red Sea coast with at least six people confirmed dead
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- [00:00]
Oliver Berlau
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
- [00:06]
Sali Nabil
La temporada de asados at the Home Depot. Y tu encuesta impressionara tus invitados con tu sados. El asador de gas next grill con cuatro que madores es parati. Ah impresio bajo todo dos dias de dos veintinue dolares ademas tami impo de se encontrato dos accessorios qu? Necitas and the Home Depot.
- [00:38]
Alex Ritson
This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and at 14 hours GMT on Thursday 27th March, these are our main stories. A tourist submarine sinks off the Egyptian Red Sea city of Haggadah. At least six people are confirmed dead. President Trump imposes 25% tariffs on foreign car imports. And Parliament in Israel passes a contentious bill that would increase political influence over the appointment of judges. Also in this podcast, the Ghanaian journalist who won a multi million dollar court case.
- [01:18]
Sali Nabil
The bigger impact for me is not the money, but it's the fact that young journalists are encouraged to believe that no matter how big you are a politician, we also have the capacity to stand toe to toe with you.
- [01:31]
Alex Ritson
And will pigs livers solve the problem of transplant organs? But we start our podcast in Egypt where six tourists died when the submarine they were on sank in the Red Sea just four months after the sinking of another dive vessel in the same area, leaving 11 people dead or missing. The Russian Embassy in Cairo has said that all the people who died today were from Russia. I got the latest from our correspondent in the Egyptian capital, Sali Nabil.
- [02:03]
Sali Nabil
What we know is that a submarine has sunk this morning off the coast of the Red Sea resort of hurghada. It had 45 tourists on board, according to the Russian Embassy in Cairo. That confirmed that all the tourists were Russians, in addition to the Egyptian crew. Of course, what we know so far is that six people are dead and nine are injured and they have been moved to local hospitals to get treatment. We understand that four of them are lying in a critical condition, but we don't know exactly what caused the submarine to sink. But this incident will raise a lot of questions, questions about safety measures employed by the local authorities in these popular sea excursions, because it's not the first time for a tragedy like that to happen up the Red Sea coast. Just four months ago, I was in Hurghada as well. Last November, covering another story for another boat that sunk off the Red Sea coast that had more than 40 tourists on board. The BBC has spoken to many of the survivors and they accused the authorities of trying to cover things up, of blaming things on the weather. But they understand that there are some real reasons that have not been revealed through the investigations.
- [03:23]
Alex Ritson
Yeah. A lot of people might be surprised even to discover that there are submarines full of tourists going down to the seabed.
- [03:31]
Sali Nabil
That's pretty normal in Hurghada, by the way. I've been on a similar submarine excursion before. You go into the submarine and you spend around one hour or less underwater to explore the magnificent sea life there. It's not unheard of. It's quite normal, and it's quite regular as well. And this is why we're talking here about whether or not proper safety measures have been put in place to guarantee the security of those people on board, given the frequency of these tours and how regular they are.
- [04:04]
Alex Ritson
Yeah, because the potential for disaster, particularly with the submarine, is clearly there. And as you've indicated, the Egyptian tourist boat industry has a fairly chequered track record.
- [04:17]
Sali Nabil
Exactly. And that will give another hard blow to the tourist industry. And if we talk about the Red Sea, it's one of the top tourist destinations in the country, and it's very popular for its marine life and sea trips. And so if everything seems to be unsafe, if everything seems to be unchecked, checked by local authorities. So people would be scared to go, and they would have second thoughts about booking a trip to the Red Sea.
- [04:48]
Alex Ritson
Sali Nabil in Cairo. Japan and South Korea are meant to be America's closest allies in Asia at a time when China is pressing ahead with its ambition to overtake the United States as the world's biggest economic superpower. But President Trump's decision to impose punishing tariffs on cars and vehicle parts entering the US has led to condemnation not just in Tokyo and Seoul, but in Europe as well. His decision to hike import taxes on the sector by 25% have been described by Germany and France as very bad news. For more on the reaction in Asia, I spoke to our business correspondent there, Nick Marsh.
- [05:28]
Nick Marsh
Well, it's major, major region for car exports to the United States. When it comes to finished cars, Japan is only second to Mexico. When it comes to exports, South Korea is third in the car parts, Japan is fourth, South Korea is fifth. So, you know, we are talking about major players, major trading partners with the United States. And unsurprisingly, the reaction has been one of dismay. I mean, the South Korean government has been holding an emergency meeting. The Ministry of Trade's been meeting with representatives from the car industry they say it's going to pose significant challenges to the Korean car industry, these tariffs. I think that's something of an understatement, to be honest. They're prepared some countermeasures of their own which will be available in mid April. They say shares, of course, in big Japanese carmakers such as Honda and Toyota are, unsurprisingly, down. Hyundai shares were also down today. It really is a huge blow for the Asian car industry and particularly, like I say, South Korea and Japan.
- [06:38]
Alex Ritson
Yeah, President Trump has always had a difficult relationship with China, but South Korea and Japan, they're two of America's closest allies. This is going to strain the relationship, isn't it?
- [06:49]
Nick Marsh
Yeah. I mean, I think Donald Trump doesn't really care too much about relationships, even with allies or what were allies. I think from his point of view, he just wants to try and secure what he sees as the best deal for the United States. But Japan's prime minister has made the point today that his country is the number one foreign investor in in the United States. And this is hardly a way to treat a country that invests more than any other country in the world. He is still holding out for some kind of exemption in the future. But he did say, though, that if no exemption could be found, then countermeasures of their own are also on the table.
- [07:31]
Shigeru Ishiba
We have to think about appropriate measures following this announcement.
- [07:34]
Alex Ritson
Naturally, we'll consider all options. Japan has made investment and created jobs in the United States paying the highest.
- [07:43]
Shigeru Ishiba
Salaries to workers there. We're the number one country in U.S. investment. In that sense, we have to question if it's okay that all countries are.
- [07:51]
Alex Ritson
Treated the same way. Shigeru Ishiba, the Japanese prime Minister. Nick, is there any chance that Donald Trump won't follow through with this in the short term?
- [08:00]
Nick Marsh
Probably not. He was actually asked this question directly in the Oval Office when he was announcing these tariffs and he said no. So we're all waiting for them to be introduced next week. We do know obviously that Donald Trump does like to use tariffs as a negotiating ploy. I think, though, when it comes to car manufacturing, his vision is a much more long term one. He likes the idea of America in its heyday being the number one car manufacturer. So, you know, even though these tariffs are going to push up the prices of cars for consumers, I don't think he minds that. He just wants foreign carmakers. If they're going to sell their cars to American consumers, he wants them to build them in America.
- [08:45]
Alex Ritson
Nick Marsh in Singapore. Let's head to The Middle east now, where Parliament in Israel has passed a highly contentious bill that would increase political influence over the appointment of judges. Thousands of protesters in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have been rallying for several days against the plans which have been pushed forward by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrators have also been condemning the resumption of hostilities in Gaza. Our Middle east regional editor, Sebastian Asha, told me why people have been out on the streets against the bill.
- [09:19]
Shigeru Ishiba
They see it as an attack on democracy, essentially. I mean, the way that it's framed by Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters is that it's a recalibration, a rebalancing, so that elected officials, the lawmakers in the Knesset, in the government, will have more say in the appointment of judges. But those who are protesting against it, and this was a major, major issue before October 7, 2023. There were huge demonstrations week after week in Israel over the judicial overhaul that was planned by Mr. Netanyahu. They see it as an attack on democracy. But the checks and balances that the judiciary provides is severely undermined by this. And I think also it's important to say that there's been a real resurgence of protest against the Israeli Prime Minister in the past few days. This is one of the issues. Another issue was the passing of the very controversial budget. His moves also to dismiss the head of the internal security agency, Sin Bet, and the Attorney General. All of those things have kind of coalesced into a movement that's united much of the opposition and beyond. And above all of that has been people's concern over the resumption of Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza and their fears for hostages there. I mean, this has been an absolute key part of protests in recent months. And this is further fueling the protests on the streets, which are only likely to continue.
- [10:42]
Alex Ritson
Yes. What are the latest developments in Gaza?
- [10:45]
Shigeru Ishiba
Overnight, around 10 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes. Among them, the Hamas spokesperson. Also, it's reported that another Hamas official was killed. I mean, since Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas, they've killed several senior members of Hamas and more than 800 people, according to health officials in Gaza. We've also had, amongst the evacuation warnings that have been given by Israel, an even more urgent one for people in several districts in Gaza City, essentially saying, this is your last warning before military action. I mean, in the past week, since this resumption by Israel, there have been several rockets that have been sent into Israel from Gaza, and that's prompted these warnings in areas where Israel believes they were fired from And I think that's also fueled for the first time these protests that we've seen in northern Gaza, where people feel that Hamas is perhaps provoking Israel into carrying out more attacks which they are fearful of. They kind of feel that they want an end to all of this now.
- [11:58]
Alex Ritson
Sebastian Usher in Jerusalem. A new documentary which claims it is setting the record straight on the pro Palestinian protests that engulfed U.S. college campuses last year has got the backing of the Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon. It's the latest in a series of films highlighting Palestinian grievances, some of which have faced strong resistance and in some instances even calls for outright bans. Tom Brook reports from New York. Shut it down. Shut it down.
- [12:31]
Oliver Berlau
Last year's Columbia University pro Palestinian campus occupation ignited a global movement. This new documentary charts how the protest escalated.
- [12:40]
Mahmoud Khalil
We've tried to come to a middle ground with the administration.
- [12:44]
Oliver Berlau
A key character in the film is Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist and a lead negotiator with the university administration at the time. Early this month, he was taken by federal agents from his New York home. Now in custody, he faces deportation to his supporters. He's seen as a target of President Trump's crackdown on students who protested against the war in Gaza. The President maintains that his administration will not tolerate students who engage in what he describes as pro terrorist, anti Semitic, anti American activity. The creators of this new documentary tell a different story of how they see student activities on college campuses. Rap artist Macklemore was an executive producer of the film.
- [13:26]
Sali Nabil
This film is extremely important to dispel any notion of anti Semitism, of any bias, of any hatred. It is a film about liberation. It shows the power of students in this moment, that students have always been on the right side of history, that our liberation is dependent on people like the Columbia students stepping up.
- [13:51]
Oliver Berlau
That view is echoed by the film's supporters who maintain it presents the real truth of what was happening at the Columbia protests. Among them, Oscar nominated actress and activist Susan Sarandon.
- [14:02]
Susan Sarandon
I'm a New Yorker, and so it was interesting to me because I had been to Columbia while it was going on, and then I would turn on the TV and see reports that were completely the opposite of what was happening there. And so I think that it gives a good context to why the students were there. I think it shows that they were eating meals together and having classes and dancing and that the whole intention was very peaceful.
- [14:30]
Oliver Berlau
But peaceful isn't the conclusion that a Columbia University task force came to last year. It found some Jewish and Israeli students on campus were the targets of abuse. The Encampments, like other films focusing on the plight of Palestinians, may find it faces big challenges in the U.S. another documentary, no Other Land, which details the Israeli military's efforts to forcibly displace Palestinian villages in the occupied west bank, won an Oscar earlier this month. It was made by an Israeli Palestinian collective around the world. The film has received strong reviews but struggled to get a proper distribution deal. Earlier this month, the mayor of Miami Beach, Stephen Miner, moved to cut public funding to a local cinema showing the film, in effect banning it.
- [15:13]
Iklas Abdelatif Ahmed
A lot of people have asked me.
- [15:14]
Alex Ritson
Did you actually watch it, Mayor?
- [15:16]
Oliver Berlau
And the answer is yes.
- [15:17]
Nick Marsh
I legitimately view this as a public safety threat.
- [15:21]
Oliver Berlau
The mayor had second thoughts and later decided not to revoke public funding to the cinema. But the fact remains the filmmaking keep in general is fearful of what will happen to freedom of expression in this new Trump era. New York based film director Ira Sachs People are scared.
- [15:38]
Alex Ritson
They fear being themselves. They fear violence, they fear retribution.
- [15:46]
Oliver Berlau
Some in the film industry say that a form of resistance cinema could emerge in the Trump era and that the Encampments is part of this. Kay Pritzker co directed the Encampments documentary and he hopes other filmmakers will be inspired.
- [15:59]
Sali Nabil
I hope they watch this film in the bravery to make their own films.
- [16:02]
Nick Marsh
And to not censor themselves, to tell.
- [16:04]
Sali Nabil
The truth, to speak their own truth.
- [16:07]
Oliver Berlau
In these polarized times and with tensions over the Middle east remaining high, the challenge films like the Encampments face is reaching beyond its expected audience opinion on the Israel Gaza war is so entrenched that for the most part the Encampments may end up just preaching to the converted.
- [16:23]
Alex Ritson
Tom Brooke in New York still to come in this podcast, how the civil war in Sudan affected the National Museum.
- [16:34]
Susan Sarandon
They took from the main storage all the unique and the beautiful collections and destroyed the rest of the collection that is existed. Now.
- [16:53]
Alex Ritson
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan is warning that the detention of the country's first Vice president, Riek Machar has brought the country to the brink of a return to civil war. Dr. Riek's SPLM in opposition movement says he's under house arrest alongside his wife. Riak Machar was made the first vice president as part of a peace deal after a civil war between his forces and troops loyal to President Salva Kiir, which killed an estimated 400,000 people from 2013 to 2018. James Kopnell spoke to Isaac Kouorth Gang, the representative for Rek Machar's Splmio movement in the us he began by asking him what happened In Juba last night.
- [17:41]
Mahmoud Khalil
A number of people from the government, including the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the Staff and then the Director General of the National Security, paid a visit to the first BP's resident. We got some calls with people panicking, you know, sure, what was happening and you know, once, once they understood what was, what was happening, they informed us that they were meeting with the first bp. And when, when the meeting was finished, we understood that he was given a warrant of arrest and that he was, he was officially arrested at his residence.
- [18:19]
Isaac Koueth Gang
So to be clear, has he been arrested and taken somewhere else or is he under house arrest as we speak?
- [18:26]
Mahmoud Khalil
Our understanding is that he's under house arrest. There was an attempt to take him to a different location, but he did not cooperate.
- [18:35]
Isaac Koueth Gang
And what is he being arrested for?
- [18:38]
Mahmoud Khalil
This is a critical question and it's very difficult to answer because I personally don't know, as I understand, I think they wanted him to answer for what transpired in Nasser. As you may remember, there was, there was a clash between the SSPDF and the local youth in the Nasser county that resulted in the SSPDF being the National Army.
- [19:03]
Alex Ritson
Yeah, correct.
- [19:04]
Mahmoud Khalil
And so it seemed like they trying to make an answer for that. And from what I understand, this seemed like a trump of charges to create, you know, to create an impression that he might have been responsible for that.
- [19:15]
Isaac Koueth Gang
That local militia you talk about, the White army, is a newer youth group that fought on his side in the 2013 Civil War. So you can understand why the government might be asking those questions, could you not?
- [19:29]
Mahmoud Khalil
I don't. Because the White army, which is a name given to the Nuer version of the local Defense forces, is not an isolated group, you know, to the Upper Nile region in general or to the newer community in particular. These arm groups or non state actors. Our prevalence across South Sudan, including Uponal Barre, Gonzale as well as the Greater Katoria. In Greater Katoria we have Arrow Boys, which are the equivalent of the local youth. In Nasser and other places in Greater Upper Nile we also have a group called Gil Wing and Matiana Nyor in Greater Bar Ghazal. These non state actors came up as the result of limited protection, security wise from the government. So they pop up to protect themselves, protect their properties and protect their families. In this particular case, when there was a massacre in 2013, the White army started the war actually because they were upset about what happened and they moved towards Juba and then they fought the government. It was later in 2014 that Splio was formed. And then when they were fighting with the government forces. I think it's safe to say that they were fighting side by side, but they're not the same groups with Riek Masha's forces.
- [20:53]
Isaac Koueth Gang
Yeah. So to be clear, as far as you're concerned, Riek Masha has no involvement with the White army, is not inciting them to fight against the state?
- [21:02]
Mahmoud Khalil
None whatsoever.
- [21:03]
Isaac Koueth Gang
Have you or any of your colleagues been able to speak to Riek Machad? Do you know in what sort of conditions he is?
- [21:10]
Mahmoud Khalil
Yes, I had a opportunity to speak to someone around him when he was arrested. His guards were disarmed and then detained. But luckily enough he is, you know, he is with one guard in the compounds and I was able to speak to the guard earlier. So my understanding as of now from that conversation is that is that he'll do fine, but we don't know for how long.
- [21:33]
Alex Ritson
Isaac Koueth gang from South Sudan's opposition movement China has reportedly ordered state owned firms to pause new deals with businesses linked to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing following his announcement that he plans to sell two ports ports in the Panama Canal to a US consortium. Tracey Burcham reports.
- [21:56]
Shigeru Ishiba
Media reports in China and the US detail Beijing's wrath at the Panama ports deal by Mr. Lee's CK Hutchinson conglomerate. It announced earlier in March that it plans to sell a range of global port assets, including two at the Panama Canal to a consortium led by US private equity firm BlackRock Beijing. Newspaper articles have been critical of the decision and some pro China commentators have called 96 year old Mr. Lee a traitor and the multi billion dollar deal an act of betrayal to the Chinese people. The deal is due to be signed next week.
- [22:33]
Alex Ritson
Tracey Burcham over the past year, doctors around the world have successfully transplanted genetically modified pig kidneys and hearts into human patients. But now scientists in China have made history by doing the same with a pig liver. Our China correspondent Stephen McDonnell told us.
- [22:53]
Iklas Abdelatif Ahmed
More doctors from the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an have announced their study in the Journal of Nature. And what they're saying they've done is to have transplanted a liver from a genetically modified pig into a brain dead human. Apparently it had six edited genes to make it a better donor. After monitoring the blood flow, bile production, immune response, they're saying it functioned really well and crucially was smoothly secreting bile. Now one of the problems with livers, unlike other organs, is they do multiple things, clean blood, break down alcohol and other things in the body and produce bile. So it's made it a technically Very difficult thing to do. But for the first time, such a transplant of a liver from one of these genetically modified pigs has been, in their words, successful into a human. Now the human, obviously a brain dead human. The family had agreed to this and the trial was terminated after 10 days at the request of the family. This is creating a lot of interest in the medical world. You imagine doctors around the globe looking at this study and saying how incredible it is, is they're also saying it's a big first step. It doesn't mean that we're ready to go now with these livers can start going into humans straight away. Not only huge demand, but huge and growing demand. And it's an even bigger problem in a place like China where for various sort of cultural reasons, there's not a big uptake of donations here, like people when you tick your driver's license or something like that to say, I'll donate my body parts if I'm going to die, that's pretty small, way too small in a place like China. So they're looking for other options. So, yes, of course, people are most excited about the possibility that if a liver from genetically modified pigs could be developed to routinely be placed into humans. Well, it would be a massive scientific breakthrough.
- [24:54]
Alex Ritson
Stephen McDonnell, earlier in this podcast, we heard about the situation in South Sudan. Well, to the north in Sudan, the civil war there continues to rage. But there have been developments. The country's military leader, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, has visited the presidential palace in Khartoum. After landing at the city's international airport just hours after it was recaptured by the army, Mr. Burhan declared the capital free of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or rsf. However, the scars of battle remain, including at the National Museum. When forces of the Sudanese army retook areas of the capital, the National Museum appears to have been looted. The director, Iklas Abdelatif Ahmed, spoke to our former Sudan correspondent, James.
- [25:47]
Susan Sarandon
The building was very unique and very beautiful. The first floor hosted all the monuments, all the collections from prehistory up to Marawi. And the second hosted the Christianity collections and a little bit of Islamic and a huge garden where an open area museum. And this erected the temples and tomb which were from north of Sudan.
- [26:16]
Isaac Koueth Gang
So really incredible place. And one I visited many times when I lived in Khatoum, what is left of it now. Because it seems like the museum has suffered a lot of looting.
- [26:26]
Susan Sarandon
Yes, unfortunately the militia took very big collections from the Sudan National Museum, the collection that we evacuated during our rehabilitating project for Sudan National Museum and we put all these collections packed in boxes. Most of these they took it and they took from the main storage all the unique and the beautiful collections and destroyed the rest of the collection that is existing existed now they destroyed it and we have a strong room for the gold collection. They opened this and took all the gold collection from Merawi and from Kush.
- [27:11]
Isaac Koueth Gang
As general so what do you suspect has happened to all these wonderful artifacts? Are they being sold? Have they been destroyed?
- [27:19]
Susan Sarandon
They wanted to take it to the market and to trading by it and some of them I think they took to another country which is support this militia.
- [27:31]
Isaac Koueth Gang
Are we talking about the United Arab Emirates which is often a community?
- [27:35]
Susan Sarandon
Yeah, they mentioned that because some of them they put the collection in the videos and we received some videos and they trying to get to Emirate but up to now we didn't sure where is it now. But I don't know what is about the gold. Maybe they use it for them or for trading in the this war it's against the people on Sudan terrorists. They destroyed our identity, they destroyed our history.
- [28:05]
Isaac Koueth Gang
Do you think there will be a way of rebuilding the National Museum?
- [28:10]
Susan Sarandon
Yes, of course. We have to return all our collections Insha'Allah and we will build it more beautiful than before.
- [28:19]
Alex Ritson
Iklas Abdul Latif Ahmed speaking to James Copenhall. The investigative work of the Ghanaian journalist Anas Aram EOR is considered so dangerous that he keeps his identity hidden. His controversial documentary in 2018 about corruption in African football triggered a huge backlash, including from a Ghanaian MP who called for him to be hanged. Now Mr. Annas has won a defamation case and has been awarded $18 million in court. Alfie Habershan reports.
- [28:50]
Alfie Habershan
Football hasn't been the same in Ghana since Anas Aramayo. Anas released a film called Betraying the Game. It challenged Ghanaian's deep love for the sport with the idea that many of the matches they watch may be completely fixed. Secret filming showed bribery to be an endemic problem, including footage of FIFA's number two in African football. The president of the Ghanaian Football association, Kwezi Niantachi, accepting 65. He was suspended as a result, along with more than 70 referees. But many refused to believe the film, directing their anger back at Anas in Ghana.
- [29:24]
Sali Nabil
Here when you talk of investigative journalism, I say it's bogus. There is none.
- [29:32]
Alex Ritson
There is none.
- [29:33]
Sali Nabil
They all have their motives.
- [29:36]
Alfie Habershan
Ghanaian politician Kennedy Agia Pong. He later labelled Anas a criminal and called for him to be killed.
- [29:42]
Mahmoud Khalil
Anas evidence I have about him. He has to be.
- [29:47]
Alfie Habershan
The journalist took him to trial for defamation in Ghana, but lost. But now he has been successful at a second attempt in a US court where the politician owns property. He's been awarded $18 million, but says the victory is about much more than that.
- [30:01]
Sali Nabil
The bigger impact for me is not the money, but is the fact that young journalists are encouraged to believe that no matter how big you are a politician, we also have the capacity to stand toe to toe with you.
- [30:13]
Alfie Habershan
But Anas's own appearance is a reminder of the ongoing risks of his work. Always wearing a veil like curtain of beads to cover his face, he remains a man undercover.
- [30:24]
Alex Ritson
Alfie Habershan 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, 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 globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Holly Smith and the producer was Oliver Berlau. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time.
- [31:03]
Alfie Habershan
Goodbye.