This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
Eno and looking at nature's shapes.
So listen wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Bernadette Keogh and at 14 hours GMT on Tuesday the 4th of March, these are our main stories.
The US is pausing military aid to Ukraine.
The White House decision immediately blocks American suppliers going into the country.
New U .S. tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China have come into effect, prompting immediate retaliation.
Also in this podcast, a report claims half of adults worldwide are predicted to be obese or overweight by 2050.
And can mice give first aid?
We captured detailed behaviours at an English university.
And we're beginning with a conflict that appears to be running at two different paces.
On the battlefield, the war between Russia and Ukraine has, for a time now, appeared to be slow and grinding.
On the diplomatic and strategic level, though, things are developing at a breathless pace.
Overnight in Washington, into Tuesday, there was the latest move from the Trump administration, an announcement that it was suspending US military aid to Ukraine.
Then on Tuesday afternoon, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky tried via the social media platform X to repair some of the diplomatic damage from the Oval Office confrontation last Friday, saying none of us wants an endless war.
Then in his evening address, Mr Zelensky repeated his gratitude to America and Mr Trump for military support to Kiev.
Ukraine will always be grateful to America for all the support that has been and continues to be provided, support that is now essential to preserving Europe's already fragile security foundations.
This is not just about our country, it's about all of Europe.
We seek constructive cooperation, true partnership.
What happened at the White House instead of our negotiations is regrettable.
But we must find the strength to move forward, to respect each other, just as we have always respected America, Europe and all our partners.
Well, as we record this podcast, there hasn't yet been any reaction from President Trump's administration to the statement, but he's due to address both...
...sophisticated missile launcher systems, armoured vehicles, ammunition.
When you're near the western border, it's not uncommon to see military convoys under police escort coming in.
It's like an artery.
It's much needed armor and ammunition for exhausted troops on the front line.
And other Western allies to this point have been unable to plug the gap when American aid has slowed in the past.
When it's happened in the past through political disagreements in the US Congress, President Zelensky says Ukraine has lost land and lives as a direct result.
And I remember the eastern once fortress town of Avdivka falling early last year because you had troops there that were dug in but they just ran out of kit and this as a political lever puts enormous pressure on President Zelensky to play ball with Washington and it challenges that existential belief
that if Ukraine stops fighting then it'll succumb to Russia because without American help things could probably go south very quickly.
Is there a real risk then that Russian forces could make big gains further into Ukraine?
Very much so. There are a string of towns and cities in the eastern Donetsk region which come under increasing artillery fire that are sitting very uncomfortably as Russian forces target major supply lines.
Now Ukraine had been launching counter -offensives in some areas, pushing back, but the Russian force attackants which Ukraine has been using to hit high -value targets inside Russian -occupied territory of Ukraine.
There has been Russia exploring the relaxation of sanctions whilst putting Ukraine under this kind of pressure in the eyes of some amounts to a switching of sides.
Equally, there are MPs saying, look to President Zelensky, go to Washington, sign this minerals deal, say you're sorry, say thank you repeatedly, because that's clearly what they want if it's for the sake of of the future of Ukraine.
James Waterhouse the pressure is now firmly on Western European leaders to bolster Ukraine's defense in the last few hours the president of the EU commission Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to relax EU fiscal rules on borrowing for defense procurement a measure she says could raise hundreds of billions
of dollars. We are in an era of rearmament And Europe is ready to massively boost its defence spending, both to respond to the short -term urgency to act and to support Ukraine, but also to address the long -term need to take on more responsibility for our own European security.
For more on what this means for the war and the state of Western diplomacy, here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.
What is actually going on right now is the worst crisis in transatlantic relations since the alliance between the US and Europe was created after and during the Second World War.
It is absolutely that serious because essentially this suspension of aid has put the US on the other side to its major NATO allies.
All the American pressure has been on Zelensky.
Putin's position has not changed because what he has been demanding consistently since the full scale invasion and before is effectively for Ukraine, a capitulation.
If you look at what Trump and his people say, it's America first.
America first is emerging as an idea which essentially treats the rest of the world as raw material for American business deals, for American supremacy, for America trying to extract as much money, including from their allies.
And the implications of that, while Trump is in the White House, the rest of us really are, I think, in his mind, an adjunct to try to make America as rich and powerful as possible, which is one reason why.
And this, I think, even, you know, for the British as well, they they would say that it's leaves a sour taste.
They are saying to to Zelensky, you have to go back and talk to Trump and sign that deal.
Jeremy Bowen, if you've got questions about the fast -moving situation with Ukraine, Russia and the involvement of President Trump and European leaders, we'd love to hear from you and get some answers from our correspondents.
Send us an email to globalpodcast at...
There has been no word from the Kremlin about the latest turn in the Trump -Zelensky relationship.
So is President Putin content to just watch on from afar?
A question I put to Steve Rosenberg, our Russia editor.
I think that's true to a large extent.
I mean, we haven't even heard any comment imposing their own levies on US exports.
Mexico is likely to also reply in kind too.
And trade barriers are extending beyond the Americas.
Washington's tariffs on China are set to double to 20 percent.
But stock markets are jittery.
Asian markets have fallen and European exchanges have opened lower.
Andrew Wilson is the Global Policy Director at the world's largest business organisation, the International Chamber of Commerce.
The president has chosen to use Oscars Week to serve a cliffhanger of a drama on the tariffs, followed by a very dramatic ending, but one that I think will have severe negative ramifications for business, including in the United States.
This is a deeply interconnected economic area in North America, backed by 40 plus years of policy integration.
And I think what we see very clearly from the modelling, economists tend to disagree on many things, but everyone agrees that this is a lose, lose, lose scenario.
Our business reporter Mariko Oye gave me this assessment of the US move.
The impact on the Canadian economy, the Mexican economy, the Chinese economy, it will be really, really significant.
But at the same time, the impact on the US economy is also something that avoids any public criticism of Vladimir Putin.
And there has been reaction from Moscow on that decision late on Monday from Donald Trump over military aid for Ukraine, hasn't there?
Absolutely, there has been reaction.
And the Russians are very pleased.
There's a sense of satisfaction here.
So that's because they understand how important that...
...countries. So for example, if you look at Mexico, for example, it accounts for nearly 80 % of delivery trucks being imported into the United States.
As for Canada, it accounts for, of course, about 60 % of crude oil.
So for Canada, they do actually have a nuclear option of restricting access to energy, but that would be really contentious.
So they haven't gone down that road.
And Canada has so far announced retaliatory tariffs on certain products that are worth about 100 billion US dollars.
China has also announced retaliatory measures.
But for China, of course, this is they already had the 10 % tariff earlier last month, and that has basically been doubled.
So it's now 20 % tariffs on everything that gets imported from China into the United States.
But this is, of course, in addition to all the tariffs that have been in place since the first term of Mr.
Trump's presidency.
So the impact on the Chinese economy has been quite significant.
And of course, not to mention, they have their domestic challenges facing the economy.
So, the impact on them will be quite significant.
But let's also not forget about the US economy because these… To hear from you and get some answers from our correspondents.
Send us an email, globalpodcast at bbc .co .uk.
Now, to another international conflict with the US president orbiting its centre after Donald Trump suggested his Riviera of the Middle East planned for Gaza.
It would entail the US taking over Gaza and the nearly 2 million Palestinians living there.
Investors are worried about, and that's why, even before these latest tariffs kicked in at about 5 o 'clock GMT, which was midnight at the US time, when Mr Trump said that these tariffs would go ahead, because, of course, remember, those tariffs on Mexico and Canada, that they were kind of put on hold
while they negotiated all these deals.
But when Mr. Trump said that these tariffs would kick in, we saw US shares falling.
And then when those tariffs kicked in, we saw an impact on the Asian markets, which were trading at the time.
And of course, we're going to start seeing some impact on the European market as well.
And that is all because investors are worried, as you said, about the global trade war, which would impact, of course, the US economy.
And that would, of course, impact the rest of the world.
And it's just not something that investors wanted to hear about because, you know, China has repeatedly said that they didn't want a trade war because in their words, nobody wins a trade war.
But of course, Mr. Trump sees tariffs as a negotiating tool.
And that's what he's going ahead with.
Marie Koh -oy, the leader of the rebel group that is an Arab plan that they believe they can rebuild Gaza within five years, not the 10 to 15 years that President Trump talked about.
And crucially, it can be done without having to move Palestinians away from from Gaza, they will be housed in containers, they may have to move around as different sections are rebuilt, but they are not going anywhere.
They also tackled the issue of, well, who's going to run Gaza?
They have proposed not the first time.
The M23 rebels portray themselves as liberators who have come to clean up corruption, but they have been advancing at the point of a gun and have forced almost half a million people to flee from camps around Goma.
In a BBC interview, Cornel Nanga said the rebels would take their fight all the way to the capital if, as he claimed, the government keeps attacking them.
If the threat is in Kinshasa, he said, we will go there.
He denied the M23 are backed by Rwanda, though this has been documented extensively by UN experts.
I don't know anything about Rwanda.
If they say that there are 4 ,000 fighters from Rwanda, I don't know.
I didn't see them. So you don't receive any assistance from Rwanda?
I don't see the military assistance from Rwanda.
He said he had never read reports about human rights abuses by the M23.
There's going to be an international conference shortly where they hope to raise money from major donors.
There is an expectation that wealthy Arab states, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, will put in quite a bit of the cash.
But of course, no one is going to do that if they believe that it will only be a matter of time where rebuilt buildings will come crashing down again in yet another war.
Liz Doucette. In the next few weeks, the U .S.
private space venture...
...fears that the country could once again be at the centre of a regional war.
All again reporting.
clotting. Coming up, modified mice that mimic mammoths?
It's got bright orange hair, about five centimetres long.
This mouse is supposed to be a first step towards recreating the mammoth.
Our science correspondent explains.
this is ashley canetti from the ben and ashley i almost famous podcast you probably know somebody who's on ozempic or semaglutide right now these are really popular medications that people are using to lose weight if it seems like all other options aren't working for them go to try fh .com to find out if weight
loss meds are right for you.
TryFH .com TryFH .com Future Health is not a health care services provider.
Meds are prescribed at providers.
Shared in is how plants respond to microgravity on the molecular level because the more we understand about how plants grow in space, the better we can optimize them to grow here on Earth.
And this has implications globally for food security, even growing plants in hospitable environments.
You are part of quite a group.
You've got Gayle King, the legendary broadcaster.
You've got Lauren Sanchez.
You've got singer Katy Perry.
Quite a group to be part of it, isn't it?
It's absolutely incredible.
I'm so inspired by the women.
This is the Global News Podcast.
For years now, the World Health Organization has warned that obesity is a global epidemic, but a new study covering more than 200 countries predicts obesity levels will accelerate rapidly over the rest of this decade.
The report in the Lancet Journal found that by 2050, more than half of adults around the world are predicted to be overweight or obese.
So what's driving this worsening problem?
I spoke to our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes.
Bernadette, it's really complex.
It's partly to do with big changes in society that we've seen in recent decades.
So, for example, people moving from rural areas to the cities, but it's partly also to do with changing diets.
Basically, more calories are being consumed, but not necessarily better quality food.
So in some countries like China, we've seen a big shift towards dairy products that perhaps weren't so common in the diet 30 years ago.
And Carrie Ann Flynn, I mean, these women are incredible and they are a reflection of who we are here on Earth that we'll be able to see in the sky.
This means to me that there will be women and girls all over the planet who are going to see themselves in this mission.
Studies have shown that women can decide at middle school to not pursue space or STEM fields because they don't see themselves represented in them.
This mission is not only going to do that, but it's going to inspire all people to reach higher.
Ayesha Bowe talking to the BBC's Victoria.
Developed countries as well, especially high levels already in areas like Oceania, North Africa and the Middle East.
62 % of adult males in Nauru, the Cook Islands, and American Samoa, and over 71 % of adult women in Tonga and Nauru live with obesity.
in terms of raw numbers China India and the USA have the countries with the biggest populations but weight gain varies wildly across the globe more than half of the world's adults with overweight or obese in 2021 they live in just eight countries so as well as China India and the USA also Brazil Russia Mexico
Indonesia and Egypt and there are really significant numbers of people living with these conditions but population growth means that forecasters are predicting the number in sub -saharan africa will rise by more than 250 i'm robin ince and i'm brian Cox and we would like to tell you about the new series
of the infinite monkey cage we're going to have a planet on jupiter versus septer it's very well done that because in the script It does say wrestling voice.
After all of that, it's going to kind of chill out a bit and talk about ice.
And also in this series, we're discussing history of music, recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes.
So listen wherever you get your podcasts.
We're going to turn now to a corner of the world we often struggle to cover because of access or lack of it.
Klov went to meet family members of men Russia has lost in the war and finds out how they spent their money.
Andrei Nazarenko was 21 when he was killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
At his old school in a small town in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, they solemnly unveiled a desk in his memory.
He was a qualified chef and when he called his mother, Oksana, from the front, he talked of using those skills when he got back.
He used to say, Mum, let's open a cafe together.
It'll be great. Now, though she's still grieving bitterly...
Don't talk about it.
They hide it. What difference would it make if they speak?
What can we do? Tell me, what can we do?
I asked them why they didn't leave.
We're too poor, they told me.
We have nowhere else to go.
My colleague Rebecca Kesby spoke to Tess Ingram from UNICEF, who was involved in compiling the report.
And once again, a warning, what she describes may be distressing to some of you.
We found data and stories that really were beyond our worst expectations.
We knew that there was a somewhat hidden sexual violence crisis in Sudan with children really among the survivors there.
And the data that we've now released today tells us that there are 221 children who have been raped in Sudan since the beginning of 2024, two -thirds girls and one -third boys.
and the youngest survivors, I think, among the most startling findings of this research, there are 16 children under the age of five, including four one -year -olds in that cohort.
They're recorded in nine states from north to south to east to west of Sudan.
So this is a widespread issue that is affecting children of all ages and I think it should ring alarm bells across the world today to try and drive action to protect these children from this ongoing violence.
As you say, the country's been in chaos, hasn't it, for years, and various armed groups as well as the two main warring parties.
So has it been possible to get any support through to these children and helping them deal with the trauma they must continue to suffer?
They do, and this was one of the things that I heard when I spoke to these children in Sudan when I was there meeting with them in December.
That after experiencing the horrors of rape or sexual harassment, the suffering doesn't end.
And for many reasons in Sudan.
One, as you say, because access to service is incredibly difficult in the world's largest humanitarian crisis, where hospitals have been decimated and medical staff are again operating under threats for their own life, but also because of social stigma.
The real elite, he says, are those who serve Russia, loyal workers and warriors.
It's still unclear whether that project will work.
Existing local elites often resist admitting newcomers, but compensation payments have certainly catapulted a huge number of Russian families into a higher social class.
If, according to rough but informed estimates, 150 ,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine, and if each of their families has actually received what they're due, that would mean the state has spent the equivalent of more than...
...members of the opposition threw tear gas canisters and smoke grenades.
Two lawmakers were injured.
One was said to have suffered a stroke.
The demonstration in the chamber was said to be in support of ongoing student -led anti -corruption protests.
These followed the fatal collapse of a train station roof last year.
The BBC's Slobodan Maricic was at the Serbian Parliament.
First regular session of the Serbian Parliament in 2025 started with a national anthem but quickly descended into chaos with physical conflict between the MPs, smoke bombs and eggs being thrown.
MPs could be seen running out of the National Assembly hall coughing with swollen and red eyes from something that seemed like a tear gas or a pepper spray.
That is just one of the many protests.
Could a modern day version of the woolly mammoth soon be walking the earth?
That's what the US company Colossal Biosciences claim.
They're experimenting on genetically modified mice that they claim have mammoth -like traits.
And that will pave the way, they say, for hairy elephants with increased body fat to survive in cold environments.
The aim is to repopulate the Arctic tundra with these creatures.
Ben Lam, founder and CEO of the firm, spoke to the BBC.
So this is a very long plan, right?
Like, tomorrow we're not going to have mammoths, and the next day we're not going to have 1 ,000 of them.
But over time, we're going to have this entire lineage of cold -adapted elephants.
...pontability and responsibility for the death of 15 people at the Novostad tragedy.
Slobodan Maracic reporting from the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade.
Now to a battle between Apple and the UK government over data.
The tech giant has announced it's taking legal action to try to overturn the government's demand to view customers' private data held in Apple's most secure cloud storage systems.
Our technology editor Zoe Kliman reports.
Apple's legal challenge is the latest development in an unprecedented row between one of the world's biggest tech firms and the UK government over data privacy.
In January, the firm was issued with a secret order by the Home Office.
It was instructed to be prepared to share encrypted data belonging to Apple users around the world with UK law enforcement in the event of a potential national security risk.
But Apple said it would not compromise.
they believe that having mammoths stomping across the tundra will restore it and slow down the melting of the permafrost and slow down the release of carbon dioxide which would be good for the environment they're also trying to bring back the dodo and the tasmanian tiger but in this instance to bring
back the mammoth their first step has been to try it on mice they've altered seven genes to do with hair growth and they've unsurprisingly you might think got a mouse that looks quite like a mammoth apart from the fact it's the size of a mouse poetry collection at the university of oxford in england it's
thought the handwriting is not shakespeare's but that of an unknown scribe francis reed reports the well -known start of shakespeare's Sonnet 116.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.
Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds.
Dr. Leah Veronese, a university lecturer, had been leafing through an old collection of poems at the Bodleian Library when she made the discovery of the handwritten poem.
But on this manuscript, the beginning has been changed to self -blinding error sees all those minds who with false appellations call that love which alters when it alterations finds.
It's thought the changed first line and the lack of mention of Shakespeare on the script were the reasons why the poem had gone unnoticed as a copy of Shakespeare's sonnet for so long.
Dr Veronese believes the sonnet may bring will be caused if something that works is seen to work on mice.
Will it work on elephants?
Could there be malformed creatures forming?
And even if the creatures are fully formed, then how are they going to be treated by their mothers, their surrogate mothers?
How are they going to be treated by the rest of the herd?
And if you go through all of that, how on earth are you going to get hundreds, if not thousands of them, roaming across the tundra?
So it does seem quite fantastic what they're trying to do.
Pallab Ghosh. We're going to...
Festivities have come under the spotlight and companies are looking for new ways to make the celebrations more sustainable.
Our reporter in Trinidad, Anselm Gibbs, has been looking into this.
Carnival is filled with tens of thousands of people dressed in these brightly coloured costumes, you know, covered in feathers, beads.
Research has found that it produces three and a half tons of waste every year, Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.
And also just to produce and transport one Carnival costume bra, it can generate approximately over 37 kilograms of CO2 emissions.
So picture all these tens of thousands of costumes times that amount of emissions.
You know, it's really a lot and a cause for concern.
So Altam, what's being done about this there?
A number of people are picking up what you call side hustles to try to find ways to help make Carnival more sustainable.
One group is called Carnicycle.
They're a social enterprise.
The mice recovered from unconsciousness.
Researchers at several laboratories have since carried out a series of tests.
And they found that after licking the eyes and biting the mouth of an unconscious mouse, in more than 50 % of cases, the mice appeared to pull out the tongue of their companion to try to clear its airways.
They also tried other tests, such as placing a non -toxic plastic ball in the mouth of the unconscious mouse and found that 80 % of the time the companion mouse removed it.
Experts say the reason it's taken so long to discover the caring side of mice is because they're not usually returned to their cages until they're awake.
Wendy Erkart reporting.
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.
The address is globalpodcasts at bbc .co .uk and remember to send any questions you have about what's going on with Ukraine, Russia and the involvement of President Trump and European leaders.
You can also find us on X at BBC World Service.
Use the hashtag globalnewspod.
This edition was produced by Harry Bly It was mixed by Derek Clarke The editor is Karen Martin I'm Bernadette Keogh Until next time, goodbye Hello, I'm Robin Ince And I'm Brian Cox And we would like to tell you about the new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage We're going to have a planet off Jupiter
versus Scepter It's very well done that because in the script it does say wrestling voice After all of that it's going to kind of chill out a bit and talk about ice And also in this series we're discussing history of music recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes So listen wherever you
get your podcasts And that's all from us for now but there will 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.
The address is globalpodcast at bbc .co .uk.
You can also find us on X at BBC World Service.
Use the hashtag at globalnewspod.
This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and the producer was Stephanie Prentice.
The editor is Karen Martin.
I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye.
Hello I'm Robin Eats And I'm Brian Cox And we would like to tell you about the new series Of The Infinite Monkey Cage We're going to have a planet of Jupiter versus Saturn It's very well done that Because in the script it does say Wrestling voice After all of that It's going to kind of chill out a bit
And talk about ice And also in this series we're discussing History of Music, recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes So, listen wherever you get your podcasts
