The Sound of Danger in Yemen
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At the site of a US drone strike in Yemen, Safa Al Ahmad hears the sound of danger – the jihadi songs of ISIS fighters who want to know why she’s there. She reports from the no man’s land between Houthi rebels, the Yemeni army, armed tribes, Al Qaeda and ISIS - and she reflects on just how complicated the conflict has become.
Kate Adie introduces this and other stories from around the world:
In Nigeria, Mayeni Jones enters the wired world of political “Godfathers”. Their faces stare out of election posters, their rallies attract hundreds of adoring fans and yet they aren’t standing for election themselves.
In Russia, Chloe Arnold remembers her first visit to the avant-garde Mayakovsky Museum in Moscow and asks will it ever be allowed to re-open?
In Turkey, a yapping dog and a sleepless night lead Mark Lowen to question whether it’s ever acceptable for foreigners to tell locals how to behave.
And in South Africa, Gavin Fischer finds out that while Fafi may be an illegal, Mafia-controlled lottery many players believe there is a mystical path to winning big.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:05.3 | Hello, today bribery, betting and barking dogs. |
| 0:10.1 | Wads of $100 bills and hordes of cheering crowds welcome to the world of Nigeria's political |
| 0:16.0 | godfathers, wealthy, often unelected men who wield enormous power. |
| 0:21.2 | We find out what the closure of a Moscow museum reveals about Russia today, where |
| 0:26.1 | there's apparently little appetite for avant-garde thinking. |
| 0:30.1 | We reveal how a barking dog led to a bout of self-reflection for our man in Turkey. |
| 0:36.5 | And could it be you? |
| 0:38.5 | We witness a game of chance, popular in the townships of Johannesburg, though it has the added ingredient of being run by the Chinese mafia. |
| 0:47.0 | First, despite a UN brokered ceasefire agreed in Sweden in December, the war in Yemen rubbles on. |
| 0:55.0 | Huthy rebels continue to hold the port of Houdeda, which they agreed to leave and are instead |
| 1:00.9 | accused of fortifying their positions there. |
| 1:04.0 | Meanwhile the Yemeni army and its Saudi-led coalition of Bakkers |
| 1:07.7 | is said to be massing forces around rebel strongholds, |
| 1:11.3 | in anticipation of the ceasefire breaking down completely. |
| 1:14.0 | And that's not the only conflict being fought in Yemen |
| 1:18.0 | as Safer Ah Ahmed found |
| 1:20.0 | when she went to investigate the use of drone strikes by the US military on suspected jihadis. |
| 1:26.0 | Miss Edal Amri lifted herself into our four-wheel drive |
| 1:30.0 | as several of her children climbed into the back. |
| 1:33.0 | Her husband sat in the front with his granddaughter on his lap, |
| 1:36.0 | and his gun by his side. |
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