Water shortages could force evacuation of Iranian capital

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Speaker 1 This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service.

Speaker 1 I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Sunday the 9th of November, these are our main stories.

Speaker 1 Water supplies in Tehran are being restricted with warnings that the Iranian capital may have to be evacuated.

Speaker 1 Bolivia swears in a new president and restores diplomatic relations with the United States for the first time in 17 years.

Speaker 1 Saudi Arabia launches a campaign to become more popular than France as a tourist destination.

Speaker 9 Also, in this podcast, the lady was like, ah, you are the person that's going to bring the elephants.

Speaker 10 And we are, yeah, yeah, it's really interesting the way that the community here engaged with the project because it's about, really?

Speaker 9 Elephants here?

Speaker 1 Why, elephants could soon return to the rolling hills of Portugal.

Speaker 1 It seems an extraordinary suggestion. All 10 million inhabitants of the Iranian capital, Tehran, might be forced to leave unless the city gets some rainfall in the next eight weeks.

Speaker 1 Mohammed Ali Mo'allen manages the main dam which supplies the capital.

Speaker 11 Unfortunately, we didn't have enough rain. Rainfall is reduced by 90 to 92 percent compared with last year.

Speaker 11 This has caused the amount of water stored in the reservoir to drop to just 8 percent of its capacity.

Speaker 1 And this was the warning from President Massoud Pezeshkian amid the worst drought in decades.

Speaker 13 If it doesn't rain, we'll have to start rationing water in Tehran between late November and early December.

Speaker 13 Even if we do ration it and it still doesn't rain by then, we'll run out of water and we'll have to evacuate Tehran.

Speaker 1 Since that warning was broadcast on Friday, the government has announced that Tehran will face cuts to water supplies as reservoirs begin to run dry. But this is not a new problem for Iran.

Speaker 1 Water expert Professor Kava Madani used to work for Iran's Environment Department, but left because of political pressure. He said that even a sudden deluge would not help the current situation.

Speaker 15 There are years of mismanagement, lack of foresight problems that have appeared, and then on top of that, you have a catalyst being a drought that is now in its sixth year, and then climate change as a major global driver.

Speaker 15 Even some rain would not solve this problem fundamentally. And I'm worried that with the first rain, we all forget that this problem was real.

Speaker 1 My colleague Owen Bennett-Jones asked Omed Khazani, a freelance journalist in Tehran, how bad are the water shortages?

Speaker 12 Some officials were saying that actually we're warning the people that every house, every apartment needs to be equipped with water tanks because there will be a serious rationing in place and also the situation is catastrophic.

Speaker 3 So how many hours a day are people having their water supply cut off?

Speaker 12 It depends on the districts and neighborhoods.

Speaker 12 In some neighborhoods, there are reports that they have water cuts three, four hours, especially in summer, at least three or four hours of water cuts in many districts were reported.

Speaker 12 But it's going to be worse than that.

Speaker 3 I've just been reading up about this, and it's not just Tehran, is it? I mean, Isfahan is also very short of water.

Speaker 12 Yes, Isfahan in Shiraz, even in the northwestern part of the country, which had relatively better rainfalls, there is serious warnings for water cuts and droughts.

Speaker 3 You're blaming the drought, but there are other aspects to this, aren't there?

Speaker 12 There are an awful lot of illegal wells in Iran people just dig a well in their garden to secure water for their household and that causes problems yes this is called mega mismanagement over decades and a range of issues that ranging from

Speaker 12 lousy agricultural expansion around the country especially in mainland

Speaker 12 and i think that it goes without saying that what caused the urmia lake the second largest salt lake in the world, dried up because of the illegal wells, which in that area was more than 30,000.

Speaker 12 And the same story hits other parts of the country.

Speaker 3 I mean, what about these reports I'm reading? The buildings are beginning to shift because the ground under them is drying out, and that's causing big problems.

Speaker 12 Yeah, Iran is one of the countries that is hit with this phenomenon.

Speaker 12 It's one of the worst situations that the country is experiencing, especially in central cities of isfahan and shiraz and southern parts of capital tehran because there were over consumption and over extraction of wells in these cities because of the drought yeah so i mean it sounds really really bad and we've got very senior officials saying that it may be necessary to evacuate tehran i mean it's a massive city are people taking that seriously do they think that's going to happen i don't think it is possible because even if it is approved by parliament and other legislative bodies, evacuating a city of 10 million is close to impossible.

Speaker 12 And there are some reports of moving the capital to other parts of the country, especially south. I think it is not possible either.

Speaker 1 Omid Khazani.

Speaker 1 For the first time in almost 20 years, Bolivia has a conservative president ending the political dominance of the Socialist Party.

Speaker 1 A few hours ago, Rodrigo Paz, a pro-business politician, was sworn in as president in the capital La Paz in a ceremony hosted by his deputy.

Speaker 1 You are hereby sworn in as the constitutional president of the plurinational state of Bolivia, the translation goes.

Speaker 1 In his inauguration speech, President Paz said Bolivia would now be open to the world after two decades of left-wing governance.

Speaker 1 It's already been announced that it's re-establishing diplomatic relations with the United States.

Speaker 1 Last month, the new president's Christian Democrat Party won an election dominated by a severe economic crisis. Luis Vajado is our South American expert for BBC monitoring.

Speaker 1 He joined me from Miami and began telling me more about Bolivia's new leader.

Speaker 16 His father was President Paz Samora, who was a left-wing president in Bolivia a few decades ago. And Mr.

Speaker 16 Paz Samora, the father of the current president of Bolivia, got in trouble with the military government at the time in Bolivia, and he had to escape to exile in Europe.

Speaker 16 And that's why President Rigo Paz was actually born in Spain.

Speaker 16 However, he has returned to the country and now he's being seen as starting a new moment in Bolivian politics after nearly 20 years of domination by the left wing. Now he's seen as a moderate.

Speaker 1 And his victory comes as something of a surprise.

Speaker 16 Certainly, a big surprise. As I was mentioning, the left wing in Bolivia had been very strong for nearly 20 years, the mass movement led by the former president Pueblo Morales.

Speaker 16 And also, there was a very strong candidate in the right. They were the two candidates who had been expected to reach the final round.
However, Mr.

Speaker 16 Paz Amora had a very surprising presidential campaign.

Speaker 16 He was also helped by his vice presidential candidate, who was a former police officer who became a social media sensation because of his criticism and his denunciations of corruption in the police, something that struck a nerve with many voters.

Speaker 1 He faces some serious issues, doesn't he?

Speaker 16 Certainly. One of the things Mr.
Paz said today when taking over the presidency, he was demanding rhetorically to ask the former government. Literally, he said, What did you do with the economic boom?

Speaker 16 Because for many years, Bolivia had been experiencing an energy boom, a very good situation in terms of exports of energy, of natural gas.

Speaker 16 But this situation has markedly deteriorated in the last few years. And now Bolivia is facing a serious economic crisis.
It has a serious shortage of foreign currency.

Speaker 16 It is increasingly dependent on foreign energy imports.

Speaker 16 So he's facing a lot of trouble, a lot of economic instability, and a lot of expectations to see if he can move the economy in a different direction.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and he says he wants to build a closer relationship with the Trump administration.

Speaker 16 That is right. One of the key elements in Bolivian politics in the last 20 years was very antagonistic relations with the U.S.
The U.S.

Speaker 16 had not had a formal ambassador in Bolivia for more than 10 years. than a decade.

Speaker 16 And now the new government, the incoming government, is saying that they want to move away from what they call ideological extremism and they want good relations with everyone, specifically with the United States.

Speaker 16 A high envoy of the US government announced precisely in the last few hours that a US ambassador was returning to Bolivia.

Speaker 16 So certainly one of the things that people are looking at is how the Bolivian government is going to have a better political relation with the US.

Speaker 16 And the expectation is that this might help increase confidence in the business environment, maybe increase investment, and in that way, maybe make the economic problems that the country is facing a little bit easier to overcome.

Speaker 1 Luis Fajardo.

Speaker 1 It's been thousands of years since wild elephants roamed in Portugal, but soon these giant creatures will return to the rolling hills of rural Alentejo, the same region where they were last seen in the country.

Speaker 1 A new sanctuary is being built to provide lifelong care for elephants, rehabilitated from zoos and circuses across Europe. Alastair Leithhead has been to visit their new home.

Speaker 19 The last evidence of elephants in Portugal is a series of fossilized footprints discovered on this wild west coast of Alentejo.

Speaker 19 The tracks date back more than 30,000 years, just before the giant, straight-tusked elephants they belonged to went extinct.

Speaker 19 In 200 BC, Elephants were shipped from North Africa to Iberia by Hannibal of Carthage, who marched them over the Alps to the edge of Rome.

Speaker 19 But now they're coming back to inland Alentejo, a couple of hours' drive from here for a more peaceful existence.

Speaker 6 It's a really beautiful site actually.

Speaker 6 It used to be a cattle farm and a eucalyptus plantation and we've spent the last one to two years basically trying to restore the biodiversity on site to get ready for elephants.

Speaker 19 Kate Moore is giving me a tour of the new 400 hectare 1,000 acre reserve.

Speaker 6 And we've estimated the carrying capacity as between 20 and 30 elephants.

Speaker 19 And this isn't just for creating a place for people to come and see elephants.

Speaker 6 No, indeed, it's going to be closed to visitors, so we will have the odd open day for local communities. But no, this is all about the welfare of the elephants.

Speaker 19 Kate leads Pangaea, a UK charity set up to find those elephants a peaceful place to retire.

Speaker 6 Our first elephant is confirmed as an elephant from Belgium who's called Kariba. She was wild caught in Zimbabwe 40 years ago.

Speaker 6 She was shipped off to Germany and has spent the last 40 years in zoos in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany.

Speaker 19 And we just just come to the top of a hill, it's a stunning view. You can see Spain from here, I think, can't you?

Speaker 3 You can.

Speaker 19 How did you choose this site? And was there a lot of competition from other sites in Europe?

Speaker 6 We looked across the whole of Europe. We did a feasibility study looking at all the different landscapes.

Speaker 6 And the reason we chose this one is gentle rolling hills, lots and lots of water, good, diverse habitat, and also privacy.

Speaker 19 And you think they'll settle in in this environment?

Speaker 3 I think they'll love it.

Speaker 19 We might be in the middle of Portugal, but the landscape is very reminiscent of Africa.

Speaker 19 It's just the flat-topped acacia trees have been replaced by cork oak trees, and it's not difficult to imagine elephants wallowing in this little water hole.

Speaker 19 The barn where the elephants can shelter is almost finished, and the giant Jurassic Park-style fences are being installed.

Speaker 10 Basically, it's ready to receive the first elephants.

Speaker 19 Gracia Fonseca is on Pangaea's board as a former Portuguese Minister of Culture. She's passionate about the project.

Speaker 19 What do you think people in the area here will think about elephants on the horizon?

Speaker 10 They love it. You know, one of the first visits I did here and we were passing through a really small cafe and the lady was like, ha, you are the person that's going to bring the elephants.

Speaker 9 And we were, yeah, yeah, we are bringing elephants. Yes, you know, I told all my neighbors here that the elephants were coming.
They wouldn't believe me, but now they believe me.

Speaker 9 You are bringing the elephants.

Speaker 10 It's really interesting the way that the community here engaged with the project because it's about, really?

Speaker 9 Elephants here?

Speaker 19 Soon, these sounds of the African savannah will be coming to the Alentejo as these amazing and intelligent animals adjust to their new home after a long time away.

Speaker 1 Alastair Leithhead reporting. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has gone some way to try to change its image, whether this be in sport, culture, or moving the economy away from being dependent on oil.

Speaker 1 The latest venture involves building more accommodation for people on middle-income budgets to try to attract 150 million tourists every year by 2030.

Speaker 1 There'll be a new visa scheme to encourage visitors from other Arab countries, and cheaper options will be available at 10 new resorts, which are due to open on Shibara Island in the Red Sea.

Speaker 1 I heard more from our global affairs reporter Paul Moss.

Speaker 14 But that does kind of limit people with that kind of price. However, Saudi Saudi Arabia says that it wants to get 150 million visitors every year by the end of the decade.

Speaker 14 I had to check that number wasn't a misprint. Bear in mind, France is the world's most popular tourist destination country and they only get 100 million, so 150 million is pretty ambitious.

Speaker 14 And it seems that the Saudi government has now realized that to achieve this, it's going to have to give some cheaper accommodation options.

Speaker 14 And so, yes, the Saudi tourism minister told people at a tourism conference they were going to focus on the mid-range market. He said they're opening 10 new resorts in the coming months.

Speaker 14 They won't forget the mid-range sector. I think it's worth noticing, though, they do only mention the mid-range sector, not cheap accommodation.

Speaker 14 So I don't think we're going to have scruffy backpackers turning up in Saudi Arabia hoping to share a dormitory in a youth hostel.

Speaker 13 Why is Saudi Arabia doing this?

Speaker 14 Well, tourism is just one part of the attempt by the Saudi Crown Prince to diversify away from oil and gas. It's a project he calls Vision 2030.

Speaker 14 Climate change means that lots of countries are turning to renewables instead of oil and gas and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known universally as MBS, realizes that just too many of the country's eggs are in one fossil fuel basket.

Speaker 14 So tourism is just part of this change. They're also talking about developing manufacturing in Saudi Arabia, digital economy, investing in healthcare.

Speaker 14 I should say this also involves Saudi Arabia very much trying to change the country's image. Famously, MBS has said that women can now drive, they can go to the cinema.

Speaker 14 They've even had parties in the desert where, guess what, men and women are dancing together. I think it's an open question though whether this rebranding is going to work.

Speaker 14 For some people Saudi Arabia will remain a country where, as far as they're concerned, women's rights are extremely limited and where, let's be honest, dozens of people are beheaded every year after trials which a lot of people think are not fair.

Speaker 1 Yeah, so I mean that's it. Is this tourism plan going to work?

Speaker 14 Well Well, I think that's a good question. I mean, a mainstay of the visitor economy in Saudi Arabia is pilgrims performing the Hajj, and clearly, they will always want to come.

Speaker 14 And, of course, it's very possible that if visiting Mecca becomes cheaper, more of them will make the journey. For secular tourists, though, different story.

Speaker 14 I mean, one big potential problem is that for many people, going on holiday involves eating out in restaurants and, of course, drinking alcohol.

Speaker 14 And that is strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia outside of the compounds which house foreign diplomats. There has been a suggestion a similar allowance will be made for foreign tourists.

Speaker 14 They will be able to knock back a pint of beer or a glass of wine, but the government in Riyadh has denied any such decisions being made.

Speaker 14 Presumably, they're all too aware of the opposition they'll face from the religious authorities there.

Speaker 1 Poor Moss.

Speaker 1 Still to come in this podcast.

Speaker 20 These things just don't happen in threes. That's crazy.
When we got down to the green, it was there in the hole.

Speaker 1 The golfer who defied staggering odds to hit three holes in one in just a month.

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Speaker 1 Another typhoon is heading towards the Philippines. The storm, Feng Wong, has intensified to a super typhoon and is due to make landfall in the coming hours.

Speaker 1 Typhoon Feng Wong will bring sustained winds of around 185 kilometers an hour and torrential rain to several areas.

Speaker 1 The authorities have urged residents in coastal and low-lying areas areas to seek safety.

Speaker 1 The latest storm comes just days after another typhoon hit the Philippines, causing widespread destruction and killing at least 200 people.

Speaker 1 Regis Chapman is the World Food Programme's Director in the Philippines.

Speaker 24 As we look at Fun Wang, it's hitting different parts of the country. So while rescue efforts have been paused in parts of Visayas, Luzon is now beginning to feel the impact of Fung Wang.

Speaker 24 WFP has teams on the ground. We work hand in hand with the government.

Speaker 24 And what's really interesting about Feng Wang is we've been able to, through our engagement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, we're getting cash out before the storm hits.

Speaker 24 And so we're aiming to reach around 150,000 people over the last several days with cash transfers. And that will equip them to be able to

Speaker 24 basically heed government warnings and prepare themselves, whether that's protecting boats and livelihood assets by getting them out of harm's way, boarding up doors and windows, or stocking up on food supplies and other necessities again before the storm hits.

Speaker 24 There is right now urgent needs for food, water, shelter, the usual things that you see in this type of an event.

Speaker 24 Just now, we've been supporting the government to transport what they call family food packs. So around 100,000 family food packs are being pre-positioned for the super typhoon that's on its way.

Speaker 1 Regis Chapman from the World Food Programme. It's one of the great mysteries of mountaineering.
Did George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reach the top of Mount Everest before they disappeared in 1924?

Speaker 1 Although some of their remains have been discovered, the question of whether they actually got to the summit has never been answered.

Speaker 1 Now, British twins have tried to test whether it was feasible given what they would have been wearing a century ago. Will Chalk takes up the story.

Speaker 18 When it comes to comparing technology, the advantages of using twins are obvious.

Speaker 25 We are genetically identical. We are identical mirror twins.
We are almost identical in terms of body weight.

Speaker 18 That's Ross Turner, who, along with his brother Hugo, has just climbed Mirror Peak near Everest in the pool. For Ross, it was business as usual, in the latest high-tech climbing gear.

Speaker 18 Hugo, on the other hand, was in an exact replica of the outfit George Mallory was wearing when he disappeared.

Speaker 25 So I was the younger one. I got the short straw.
and yeah, what an experience! What an experience. And so we had about two years' preparation to get all the kit together.

Speaker 25 And it's not easy to find A, out what he wore, and B, get it made. But we had Crockett and Jones made the world's first pair of replica boots.

Speaker 25 We had a tailoring siren sister make all the different layers. I think I had seven different layers.

Speaker 1 So, how was it?

Speaker 18 Well, here are some clips from the climb.

Speaker 19 It's freezing. Absolutely freezing.

Speaker 19 We're all freezing.

Speaker 1 The altitude's increasing, the wind speed's increasing, the temperature's dropping.

Speaker 24 It's Baltic.

Speaker 19 It's cold.

Speaker 18 Despite the cold, the brothers made it. And by putting tiny thermometers all over both of their bodies, they've been able to show just how much climbing gear has moved on in 100 years.

Speaker 25 So every five minutes, we had live

Speaker 25 data coming from our boots, our thighs, arms, chest,

Speaker 25 to see the the difference. So, excitingly, the George Mallory kit is probably two or three degrees on average colder than the modern, which is really exciting.

Speaker 18 As for the mystery of George Mallory, there's no earth-shattering solution here, but for Ross, it's enough to shed at least some light on it.

Speaker 25 We hope over the next couple of weeks to release some of this data to the public so that people can get a real insight into George Mallory's performance and answer that epically exciting question: could he have got to the top of Everest in 1924?

Speaker 25 Which I think we both agree he probably could have with the performance in his kit.

Speaker 1 Ross Turner ending that report by Will Chalk.

Speaker 1 An English amateur golfer in her mid-70s has made three holes in one in a month. For those of you not familiar with the term, it's when a player's ball goes into the hole the first time they hit it.

Speaker 1 Lynn Parry achieved the feat twice at her home club and the third time at a nearby course.

Speaker 1 I'm not not sure how you go about calculating the odds on this, but someone has said they're 1.95 trillion to one. And there's more.

Speaker 1 She's actually hit five holes in one, but two came the month before. Some players go a whole lifetime without managing one.
Owen Bennett Jones asked her how she'd done it.

Speaker 20 It was a beautiful sunny day, the day of our club AGM.

Speaker 3 AGM annual general meeting.

Speaker 20 Yeah, on the third hole, I hit what I thought felt nice, that felt good.

Speaker 20 I knew it was going pretty close to the hole, but because the direction of the sun and the greens had just been sanded, actually, it was a little bit difficult to be sure.

Speaker 20 Anyway, when we got up to the hole, there it was in the hole. So I was very popular that day at the AGM with the free drinks.

Speaker 3 Oh, I see. What a terrible day for this to happen.
I should explain that when you get a hole in one, it's a tradition that the person who got the hole in one buys everyone in the bar a drink.

Speaker 3 So you might be hoping there'd be half a dozen people there or something, but you had

Speaker 3 the AGM must have been a load of people.

Speaker 20 Well, it was, but to be fair, our club very thoughtfully takes out insurance against these

Speaker 20 occasions. So my bar bill was covered by the club, which is all by the club's insurance.

Speaker 3 It's amazing. There's insurance for a club can get in case someone gets a hole in one, and the insurance company pays for the drinks.

Speaker 20 Apparently so.

Speaker 3 Right, and then your second hole, and then your third, by which point your fellow golfers you play with must have been thinking you had a magnet in the ball or some cunning clam.

Speaker 3 What did they say when you got the third one?

Speaker 20 We were actually visiting another local club that day. Again, it felt really nice when it came off the club.
I knew it was close, but I thought, no, these things just don't happen in threes.

Speaker 20 That's crazy. When we got down to the green, it was there in the hole.

Speaker 3 Are you actually a good golfer? I mean, you know, I mean, I say that. You started, I think, in your 50s.
It's an extremely difficult game. People play their whole lives and don't get great at it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, how good a player are you? I mean, was this real luck or are you actually quite good?

Speaker 20 I wouldn't say I'm quite good. I would say I'm average.
But I did have a terrific summer. I just had one of those summers where I couldn't do anything wrong.

Speaker 3 So a professional player would have a handicap of zero. An absolute rank amateur would have, let's say, 24 or 36.
Where are you on that scale?

Speaker 20 Currently, 12.7.

Speaker 3 12's pretty good.

Speaker 20 Yeah. Well, I'll never get any better, let's put it like that.

Speaker 1 Amateur golfer Lynn Parry, and she was speaking to Owen Bennett-Jones.

Speaker 1 In the book Alice in Wonderland, there's a famous scene known as the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Speaker 1 Now, a document has been discovered that sheds light on a social gathering held by the book's author, Lewis Carroll, which might have even inspired his literary creation.

Speaker 1 A dinner invitation sent by Carroll to a a guest has been found at Lincoln Cathedral in England. It's addressed to the cathedral's choirmaster, Ella Bignall, as this record.

Speaker 3 Come, come, my dear. Don't you care for tea?

Speaker 6 Yes, I'm very fond of tea.

Speaker 4 Whether it's the Disney animation Tim Burton's Dark Reimagining or Lewis Carroll's original tale, the Mad Hatters Tea Party remains one of literature's most famous gatherings, set of course in that dreamlike, nonsensical world of Wonderland.

Speaker 4 Now a newly uncovered handwritten invitation is bringing Carol's own social gatherings to life.

Speaker 4 Written on cream-coloured paper in purple ink, the letter dates back to 1875 and was found carefully folded and laid on red velvet.

Speaker 4 The cathedral's curator, Fern Dawson, has called the discovery a hidden gem.

Speaker 26 The Mad Hatters Tea Party really is recreated here. We have reference to the bat from Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat in Alice and Wonderland.
We have Professor Price, who is Bat.

Speaker 4 He was was a mathematician at Oxford alongside Lewis Carroll, nicknamed Bat because his lectures often went over students' heads.

Speaker 4 Others invited included Henry Ramsden Bramley, known for reviving Victorian Christmas carols, and Reverend John Slatter, who often played chess with Carroll.

Speaker 4 The invitation was accompanied by a seating plan and a menu featuring soup, black curry, lamb cutlets, apple souffle, and apricot cream.

Speaker 1 Ella Bicknoll.

Speaker 1 And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

Speaker 1 The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service.
Use the hashtag GlobalNewsPod.

Speaker 1 This edition was mixed by Daniel Fox, and the producers were Daniel Mann and Mickey Bristow. The editor is Karen Martin.
I'm Alex Ritz, and until next time, goodbye.

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