--:-- Janet Jalil: This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil.
--:-- Janet Jalil: In the early hours of Wednesday, the 16th of July, these are our main stories. The British government has apologised to thousands of Afghans at risk from the Taliban whose personal details were leaked online.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: President Trump joins big oil and tech bosses to unveil a $90 billion plan to invest in AI and energy.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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. Italian officials in the glamorous town of Portofino have banned picnics, alcohol and being barefoot in public to try to deter unruly tourists.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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 details of close to 20,000 Afghans who were at risk of reprisals.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Frank Gardner: But in February 2022, six months after the Taliban had taken over, an MOD official inadvertently leaked a spreadsheet with thousands of Afghan names and personal details into the public domain.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Frank Gardner: That super injunction has finally been lifted and the Defence Secretary John Healy offered his sincere apologies.
--:-- Frank Gardner: This was a serious departmental error. It was in clear breach of strict data protection protocols and it was one of many data losses relating to the ARAT scheme during this period.
--:-- Frank Gardner: Thousands of Afghans have already been brought to Britain but a further 2,500 remain in Afghanistan, waiting to come out.
--:-- Frank Gardner: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Frank Gardner. Well, the government has declined to say how many Afghans may have been arrested or killed as a result of this breach.
--:-- Janet Jalil: We spoke to one man who asked that we don't give out his name as he fears for his family back in Afghanistan.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: What did he think when he found out about this latest development?
--:-- Guest: It's a huge psychological harm. You know, the anxiety, the fear, even right now, as I speak with you, you know, like the distress it has been causing us, because I'm not sure what's going to happen in the next few days.
--:-- Guest: 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.
--:-- Guest: So it's a huge psychological toll. You know, it makes me very, very fearful of the future for me here in the UK and also for the safety of my family members back home.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: What makes you think that it might have been or indeed that members of your family might have been on that list? or are you saying you simply don't know?
--:-- Guest: I don't really know for sure what is in that list and what has been breached.
--:-- Guest: 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.
--:-- Guest: And I had applied in 2021 and now I have received another email a few hours ago where there's a tracker. You can check your name if you were affected.
--:-- Guest: 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.
--:-- Guest: 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 of my family members, my wife and children, information of my family members in Afghanistan, brothers and sisters, and where I worked, why I thought I was eligible for this programme, everything.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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?
--:-- Guest: 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 before.
--:-- Guest: Those were the things that they've been doing over the past few years just to make sure they are not targeted.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Honestly, since this morning, I haven't spoken to any of them, and I just could not tell them 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: And also, I'm being careful not to make calls because that email instructed us not to make calls or be careful at least with making calls.
--:-- Janet Jalil: So I'm pretty sure they will be very worried to hear about this now.
--:-- Mike Thompson: One of the Afghans who worked alongside British forces in Afghanistan and whose identity we're revealing talking to Tim Franks.
--:-- Mike Thompson: 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.
--:-- Mike Thompson: A Syrian family of five is reported to be among the dead.
--:-- Mike Thompson: Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah weapons storage and training sites in Lebanon's eastern Beqa Valley.
--:-- Mike Thompson: Our Middle East regional editor is Mike Thompson.
--:-- Mike Thompson: The Beqa Valley has long been a Hezbollah stronghold.
--:-- Mike Thompson: And as you say, this is a place that Israel says they were storing weapons and indeed they were training fighters.
--:-- Mike Thompson: They had training bases there.
--:-- Mike Thompson: This was, yes, one of the deadliest attacks.
--:-- Mike Thompson: 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.
--:-- Mike Thompson: And Hezbollah has called these strikes a major escalation.
--:-- Mike Thompson: And this has been going on repeatedly, as you say.
--:-- Mike Thompson: So for the Lebanese, this is compounding the trauma that they felt during that war between Israel and Hezbollah.
--:-- Mike Thompson: Indeed, you know, we had the ceasefire in November and yet these strikes have continued.
--:-- Mike Thompson: 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.
--:-- Mike Thompson: Now, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah has said this is a flagrant abuse, a violation of the ceasefire, but it carries on.
--:-- Mike Thompson: 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.
--:-- Mike Thompson: Yes, it's been severely weakened.
--:-- Mike Thompson: 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.
--:-- Mike Thompson: That's Hezbollah's Radwan commando force.
--:-- Mike Thompson: And that was the unit running these bases that were struck today.
--:-- Mike Thompson: And Israel's defense minister have said these strikes should give a clear message to Hezbollah not to rebuild their forces.
--:-- Mike Thompson: They want them to stay, obviously, in this weakened position.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Donald Trump has said Ukraine should not attack Moscow after a newspaper said he discussed the possibility during a call with President Zelensky.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: The Financial Times reported that the US president has asked whether his Ukrainian counterpart could strike the Russian capital.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: But speaking outside the White House, Mr Trump dismissed the idea and said he had no plans to give Ukraine long-range missiles.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: On Monday, Mr Trump announced new weapon sales to Kyiv and threatened Russia with steep tariffs unless it signs a ceasefire within 50 days.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: One Russian newspaper recalled the Roman politician Brutus, but replaced his name with America's president.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: The headline, Et tu, Trump.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Russia feels let down by Donald Trump, by his announcement of new weapon shipments to Ukraine, and by his threats of severe tariffs on Russian exports.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: The Kremlin complained that such decisions were a signal to Kiev to continue the war, though it made no mention of the fact that it was Russia that launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Recently, President Trump has been mentioning quite a lot that he's not happy with President Putin for failing to end the war.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Are you done with him? I mean, I know that sounds a simplistic thing.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: But I'm not done with him, but I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed in him.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: Do you trust him?
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: I trust almost nobody.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: In a Kremlin conference call later, I asked Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to comment on that phrase, disappointed but not done with.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: He declined to.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: President Trump has no monopoly on disappointment.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: 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.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: But there's no sign yet that Vladimir Putin has given up on Donald Trump.
--:-- Steve Rosenberg: 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.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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 investment in AI and the energy needed to power it.
--:-- Peter Bowes: We're here today because we believe that America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology.
--:-- Peter Bowes: And that includes being the world's number one superpower in artificial intelligence.
--:-- Peter Bowes: And we are way ahead of China, I have to say.
--:-- Peter Bowes: We're way ahead of China.
--:-- Peter Bowes: The plans are starting up, the construction is starting up.
--:-- Peter Bowes: Well, Pennsylvania also happens to be a key battleground state that was crucial to Mr. Trump's election victory last year.
--:-- Peter Bowes: I asked our North America correspondent, Peter Bowes, who was funding this huge investment in AI and what they're hoping to build.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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.
--:-- Peter Bowes: They include Google, $28 billion, investing in AI infrastructure projects, as well as hydro plant upgrades.
--:-- Peter Bowes: Energy is hugely important for this.
--:-- Peter Bowes: More generally, there'll be construction of large-scale data centers, some of which will be used for training purposes.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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 of dollars to this country's GDP.
--:-- Peter Bowes: Yes, but there could also be a huge drain on energy reserves.
--:-- Peter Bowes: And that's why these energy companies are involved.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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.
--:-- Peter Bowes: That's where a lot of the money is going.
--:-- Peter Bowes: AI is very power-hungry, electricity-hungry as a business.
--:-- Peter Bowes: And certainly it is needed electricity to fuel the data centers where much of the other investment will be.
--:-- Peter Bowes: And you mentioned the political significance of the location of this announcement.
--:-- Peter Bowes: announcement. We're told that it will create tens of thousands of jobs.
--:-- Peter Bowes: 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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 investment in AI and the energy needed to power it.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: We're here today because we believe that America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And that includes being the world's number one superpower in artificial intelligence.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And we are way ahead of China, I have to say.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: We're way ahead of China.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: The plans are starting up, the construction is starting up.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Well, Pennsylvania also happens to be a key battleground state that was crucial to Mr. Trump's election victory last year.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: I asked our North America correspondent, Peter Bowes, who was funding this huge investment in AI and what they're hoping to build.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: They include Google, $28 billion, investing in AI infrastructure projects, as well as hydro plant upgrades.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Energy is hugely important for this.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: More generally, there'll be construction of large-scale data centers, some of which will be used for training purposes.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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 of dollars to this country's GDP.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Yes, but there could also be a huge drain on energy reserves.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And that's why these energy companies are involved.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: That's where a lot of the money is going.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: AI is very power-hungry, electricity-hungry as a business.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And certainly it is needed electricity to fuel the data centers where much of the other investment will be.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And you mentioned the political significance of the location of this announcement.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: announcement. We're told that it will create tens of thousands of jobs.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Normally, the choices seem to involve tax rises and public spending cuts
--:-- Hugh Schofield: That certainly part of the strong medicine that was proposed on Tuesday by France Prime Minister Francois Bayrou
--:-- Hugh Schofield: But he also said he wants to scrap two national holidays
--:-- Hugh Schofield: This is a country which takes its holidays very seriously.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Tim Franks spoke to our Paris correspondent, Hugh Schofield, and asked him how the proposal had gone down.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Like a lead balloon is basically the short answer to that.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: They have tried before in France to get rid of a national holiday about 20 years ago now, But it didn't succeed.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: There was a backlash.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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, and which workers have held dear for a century or whatever, so you can't do it.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: So it's not something that's going to go down easily.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Now he's suggesting two more holidays, Easter Monday, and he says there's no reason why that should be a holiday.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: I mean, nothing happened in the Bible on the Monday.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And the May the 8th, 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: But I still think it's going to go down like a lead balloon and people aren't going to buy it.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And you mentioned opposition from the left, also presumably opposition from the right.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Well, I mean, the first opposition is from the populist right, you know, the National Rally Party, Marine Le Pen's lot, 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.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: They will vote a motion of censure, in other words, trying to bring the government down.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: They mean it, I think.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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?
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Well, it is.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And, you know, from the start of this speech, which has built as a very, very important speech today, setting up the budget for September.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: We had exactly the same thing last year, but now the situation is even worse because every year the debt gets higher.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: It's now $3,300 billion.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: There hasn't been a balanced budget in France for 50 years.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: I mean, his message is the chickens are coming home to roost.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: We always talk about over-indebtedness and how countries can go under when this happens.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: Well, it's getting nearer the stage where that's going to happen.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: 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 of the army and the navy and the air force and defense the straits are indeed dire and what beru 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 accounts would say were perfectly sensible.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: But, you know, I see there was a red rag, which the left and the hard right are going to oppose by instinct.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: And I see Bayrou as someone who knows all this, but feels ironically kind of liberated by his dire political predicament to say what he really wants.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: There's no attempt at sort of compromise here.
--:-- Hugh Schofield: This initial budget plan is one that is extremely bold, extremely daring, and were it ever to be enacted would probably make a big difference to the finances, but I think its chances of being adopted are very small.
--:-- James Cook: 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. A 114-year-old man believed to have been the world's oldest marathon runner has died after being hit by a car.
--:-- James Cook: We'll be right back.
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--:-- Aruna Iyengar: According to a nationwide survey conducted by GeneSight, nearly 9 in 10 Americans who've been diagnosed with depression or anxiety believe that mental health medications are somewhat or very effective.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: However, despite that belief, more than half of those individuals say they have avoided taking medication due to concerns about potential side effects.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: That's why Dr. Whitney Brown, a family and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner based in Alabama, often recommends genetic testing to our patients as part of their treatment journey.
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--:-- Aruna Iyengar: As part of my treatment plan, I offer the GeneSightTest, which analyzes how a patient's genes may influence how they metabolize or respond to certain mental health medications.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: It gives me insights and takes out some of the guesswork that can be associated with prescribing them.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: If you or someone you love is facing challenges with depression or anxiety, talk to your doctor about how genetic testing may help.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: To learn more, visit genesight.com.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: That's genesight.com.
--:-- Janet Jalil: You're listening to the Global News Podcast.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Police in Indonesia have arrested 12 people suspected of being involved in trafficking babies.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Six infants, all of them only a few months old, have been found.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Our Asia-Pacific editor, Mickey Bristow, reports.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: The police say the gang operated in several locations across Indonesia.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: Those arrested had different jobs.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: Some found the babies or looked after them.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: Others prepared fake documents used to smuggle the children to Singapore and perhaps elsewhere.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: where they were sold.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: 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.
--:-- Mickey Bristow: Two dozen infants could have already been traded.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Now, there are two remote archipelagos, one part of Scotland, the Shetland Islands, and the other an autonomous territory in Denmark, the Faroe Islands.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Officials in Shetland are hoping to follow the example of the Faroes in replacing an ageing ferry fleet with a network of undersea tunnels connecting their islands
--:-- Janet Jalil: The Faroes have more than 20 tunnels linking its islands
--:-- Janet Jalil: Residents say they transformed their lives as they can now travel at any time without worrying about sea conditions
--:-- Janet Jalil: From Shetland, our Scotland editor, James Cook reports.
--:-- James Cook: I've come to Scaw Beach, which according to the sign here is the most northerly point of the National Cycle Route, 1,695 miles from Dover.
--:-- James Cook: And we've come here to speak to Elizabeth Johnson from the Saxavord spaceport, which is being built just across the beautiful bay from here, where they're hoping to launch rockets within the year.
--:-- James Cook: The economic activity needs connectivity.
--:-- James Cook: And at the moment, we have a very system that's been in place since the 70s.
--:-- James Cook: and demand exceeds capacity on a daily basis now.
--:-- James Cook: We need to be able to move when we want and if we want.
--:-- James Cook: And does that mean tunnels?
--:-- James Cook: That means tunnels for us.
--:-- James Cook: We need tunnels.
--:-- 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.
--:-- James Cook: 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.
--:-- James Cook: I think 10 years ago, Scottish salmon used to have 10% of the global market.
--:-- James Cook: Nowadays, we're slipping ever closer to 5%.
--:-- James Cook: And that gives you a scale of the difference that's happened, a missed opportunity.
--:-- James Cook: And does this country then, and do these islands, need better infrastructure urgently?
--:-- James Cook: Yes, would be a very short and simple answer to that one.
--:-- James Cook: Nearly 200 miles further out into the Atlantic towards Iceland, there is an answer.
--:-- James Cook: The Faroe Islands have been building tunnels since the 1960s.
--:-- James Cook: They now have 23, including four under the ocean, boosting growth, says the Prime Minister Axel Johanesson.
--:-- James Cook: 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's come to the population and also economy.
--:-- James Cook: What advice would you give to Shetland?
--:-- James Cook: I would recommend tunnels for them.
--:-- James Cook: Driving through these tunnels, I'm really struck by the scale of what they've built here.
--:-- James Cook: This one alone is nearly seven miles long and deep beneath the water.
--:-- James Cook: They even have the world's first undersea roundabout.
--:-- James Cook: Andy Sloan is the UK Managing Director of Covey, an engineering firm that specialises in designing tunnels and is now advising Shetland Islands Council.
--:-- James Cook: So why are the Faroes so far ahead of Shetland?
--:-- James Cook: From my perspective, it's about ambition.
--:-- James Cook: The Faroes 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.
--:-- James Cook: And quite frankly, it can be repeated in Shetland and not just Shetland, possibly elsewhere in Scotland.
--:-- James Cook: But when?
--:-- James Cook: In Shetland, they've been talking about replacing ferries for nearly 20 years.
--:-- James Cook: The council leader, Emma MacDonald, says she now thinks it will happen.
--:-- James Cook: I think tunnels could be incredibly transformational.
--:-- James Cook: And as a council, you know, we want what's best for our island.
--:-- James Cook: We want Shetland to be sustainable.
--:-- James Cook: and we're really excited about the opportunity that this gives us, I think tunnels could absolutely be the answer.
--:-- James Cook: A decision on whether to proceed could be taken as soon as next year.
--:-- James Cook: The Faroe Islanders built their tunnels with private finance, which they're paying back through tolls.
--:-- James Cook: That's the most likely funding model for Shetland too, although there is not yet an estimated cost.
--:-- James Cook: In the meantime, many Shetlanders are eyeing the Faroese with envy.
--:-- James Cook: James Cook reporting.
--:-- Janet Jalil: A man believed to be the world's oldest marathon runner has died in a hit-and-run incident at the age of 114.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Forja Singh, who was nicknamed the Turban Tornado, was killed as he was walking near the village where he'd grown up in northern India.
--:-- Janet Jalil: He'd lived in London since 1992 and only started marathon running at the age of 89.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Aruna Iyengar reports.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: Forja Singh was born in Punjab in 1911 but moved to East London to live with his son in his 80s.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: He took up running to deal with the grief of losing his wife.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: He became a global icon in the running world.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: He broke records in multiple age categories.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: It all started at the London Marathon in 2000 where he knocked 58 minutes off the previous record for the over 90s.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: This was Forja Singh crossing the finishing line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011 at the age of 100.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: His long-time coach, Armanda Singh, speaking at the time, said the performance was phenomenal.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: They did all the tests for him, gave it to a group of doctors and said, how old is this chap?
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: And they thought he was 40.
--:-- 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.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: In his final 10k race in Hong Kong in 2013, he was asked if he was happy with his time.
--:-- Aruna Iyengar: He said, oh no, actually, I was expecting to run much faster.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Aruna Iyengar.
--:-- Janet Jalil: And finally, let's go to Italy.
--:-- Janet Jalil: 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.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Those flouting the rules could be fined up to 500 euros.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Will Leonardo reports.
--:-- Will Leonardo: 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.
--:-- Will Leonardo: 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.
--:-- Will Leonardo: Portofino says it wants to ensure peace and quiet for its 200 well-heeled residents, who, as elsewhere in Italy, appear to be finding the country's massive international popularity a tad tiresome.
--:-- Will Leonardo: But the push towards genteel respectability has also targeted those without means.
--:-- Will Leonardo: Begging or just sitting or lying on the streets will also now incur a fine.
--:-- Janet Jalil: And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later.
--:-- Janet Jalil: If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email.
--:-- Janet Jalil: The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.
--:-- Janet Jalil: This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll.
--:-- Janet Jalil: The producers were Liam McShuffrey and Arianne Kochi.
--:-- Janet Jalil: The editor is Karen Martin.
--:-- Janet Jalil: I'm Janat Jalil.
--:-- Janet Jalil: Until next time, goodbye.
--:-- Asma Khalid: America is changing. And so is the world.
--:-- Asma Khalid: But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval.
--:-- Asma Khalid: It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
--:-- Asma Khalid: I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C.
--:-- Asma Khalid: I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is The Global Story.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet.
--:-- Asma Khalid: Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
