Voices From Libya’s Flood-hit East

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kate Adie presents stories from Libya, Ukraine, Australia and the US Anna Foster visits the flood-affected region of Derna, in Libya's east, where she speaks to survivors of the storm surge after two dams collapsed in the hills above the city. In the Russian-controlled areas of Donbass in Ukraine's east, Nick Sturdee hears from residents there who have lived through nearly a decade of fighting. In an area which is hard to reach for Western journalists, he gains an insight into how the conflict is seen and understood there. Australians are poised to vote in a referendum in October which would create a formal body for its indigenous people to give advice on laws. But the battle between the Yes and the No campaigns is reaching fever pitch - which some have described as Australia's Brexit moment. Nick Bryant has followed the story And in the US, Maryam Ahmed talks to New Yorkers about their latest obsession: the battle against the spotted lanternfly. She learns a few techniques from locals and hears how the insects have achieved cult status. Series Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: China Collins Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts
0:06.0	Today a fever debate is underway in Australia as its citizens prepare to vote in a landmark
0:12.6	referendum to give greater recognition to its indigenous people in its constitution.
0:19.2	We hear from Ukrainians in the Russian-held areas of the Donbass region in the country's
0:24.8	east caught between two sides of the war.
0:29.0	And New York has a new city-wide obsession, the fight against the spotted Latin fly.
0:36.2	We hear how one correspondent has been perfecting a swatting technique.
0:42.1	First Libya, Westorm, Daniel, which hits southern Europe with such ferocity, wreaked devastation
0:48.7	on a wholly different scale in the eastern city of Danna.
0:53.0	But tsunami like surge of rushing water was triggered after two dams collapsed in the
0:58.3	hills above the city.
1:00.6	More than 11,000 died in the floods, according to the UN, but the death toll is disputed with
1:06.8	thousands more still missing.
1:10.4	Complicating the relief effort locally is a lack of confidence in both authorities and institutions.
1:17.2	We are deteriorated into civil war after the former leader Mohmaw Gaddafi was killed
1:23.3	in 2011 following military intervention by the West.
1:28.2	Decades of dictatorship had left a par vacuum and hollowed out institutions.
1:34.4	Open conflict has mostly paused since a ceasefire in 2020, but the country remains split between
1:41.6	two rival administrations, the internationally recognized government in the West and the
1:47.4	military coalition in the east led by Khalifa Haftar.
1:52.4	Anna Foster has been in Danna.
1:55.6	The journey to Danna takes twice as long now.
	...

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