Global News Podcast - EU entices foreign scientists as Trump attacks universities

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

The EU launches a campaign to attract foreign scientists, after the Trump administration froze government funding to some universities. Also: Israel approves "conquest" in Gaza, and the Lady Gaga concert bomb threat.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles and at 14 Hours GMT on Monday, the 5th of May, these are our main stories. As the US government cracks down on research facilities, the EU announces a multi-million dollar plan to attract scientific talent. Israel says it plans to expand its military offensive in Gaza with what it calls a conquest. to expand its military offensive in Gaza with what it calls a conquest. Five months after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, we look at the search for political prisoners who went missing. Also in this podcast, Alcatraz, the rock. No one has ever escaped from this prison. Why a prison known more recently as a film set or a day trip destination for tourists may once again

be housing America's most dangerous criminals. European leaders appear to have given their reaction to President Trump's new policies targeting American higher education. At the European Commission, chief Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a half a billion dollar plan to attract foreign scientists. We see today that the role of science in today's world is questioned, the investment in fundamental free and open research is questioned. What a gigantic miscalculation. Speaking alongside the

French president Emmanuel Macron at Paris' Sorbonne University Ms Vandeleine said free research was vital for tackling global challenges like climate change. Several speakers at the event criticized Donald Trump's efforts to cut funding to universities and research facilities, with two speakers calling the cuts across the Atlantic a reverse enlightenment. Our correspondent in Paris, Hugh Scofield, told me more about how the plan could lure American scientists across the Atlantic. By emphasizing these arguments, by appealing to what they hope is the conscience of American scientists who they hope and think are disorientated

and wants the reassurance of a kind of safe haven and by offering them money. I mean of course traditionally the brain drain has been in the opposite direction because there's so much more resources on offer both as salaries and in terms of funding for programmes in the United States. They think they can build on the kind of intellectual level for the freedom of research but also on the financial level to reassuring scientists that they can come here and have commensurate lifestyle over in Europe. So that means money and the EU's offered 500 million euros in the next three years, France has offered 100 million euros out of its funds and

I guess other countries will be thinking about following suit. President Macron has said who would have thought the United States would have made such a glaring mistake. I suppose there might be a diplomatic risk here. Donald Trump might see this as a direct slight on him and that doesn't look good in the middle of a trade dispute between America and the EU, does it? No, but I think they've decided which side of this debate they're on in Europe and they're flying the flag here. Yes, there will be no doubt offence taken in the United States, but they might react

by saying also, well, let's see what happens really. I mean, is there going to be a big move of scientists across the Atlantic? We'll have to wait and see. Is the money that tempting is is European research that sort of sacrosanct and that safe and that strong? I mean, the European and French research certainly has all sorts of problems with funding and salaries and so on. So the Americans might be saying, well, let let let's see. And, you know, I've seen a lot of comments here in Europe in in France from people on the on

the on the right, perhaps, but saying, you know, hang've seen a lot of comments here in France from people on the right, perhaps, saying, you know, hang on a second, the Americans may be saying goodbye to their, you know, climate scientists, but all the stuff that's linked to the big money, the tech and all the rest of it, they're probably staying put. Hugh Schofield, to the war in Gaza now, and Israel's security cabinet says it's ramping up its military operations to achieve what it calls a conquest of the territory. Cars have been seen arriving at a military drafting station in northern Israel after tens of thousands of reservists were called up. At the same time officials said they would start getting

basic supplies into Gaza that's after blocking deliveries of aid for more than two months and prompting fears of mass starvation. Our correspondent in Jerusalem is Hugo Bachega to tell me more. We haven't had an official statement of the plans, we haven't seen the plans and I think the lack of clarity is perhaps part of the plan but an Israeli official has been briefing journalists and this official said that the plans as you said in the introduction involve capturing and holding territory in Gaza and moving Gaza's population to the south of the territory now obviously this has the potential to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is a result of the

Israeli ban on the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory and according to this official the Israeli ban on the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory. And according to this official, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Security Cabinet yesterday during the meeting that this was a good plan because he said this would achieve the goals of defeating Hamas and returning the hostages who are still being held in Gaza. Up to 24 people are believed to remain alive in Gaza, those hostages that still being held in Gaza. Up to 24 people are believed to remain alive in Gaza, those hostages that were taken by Hamas. Now

critics of the government will say that this is a failed strategy, that military action has so far failed to achieve those objectives and they have been urging the government to strike a deal with Hamas and to essentially end the war in Gaza. And what about those reports that it might also include getting basic supplies into Gaza? Do we know how that would work and what would go through? Again we haven't had any official confirmation of it but there have been reports that there is a new mechanism in place that would involve international organisations and private companies. This wouldn't be implemented

anytime soon. It seems that there is no date for this mechanism to be implemented. But a lot of people have raised some questions about whether this is something that can actually be implemented, whether this can achieve any kind of meaningful result to try to ease the very dramatic situation in Gaza. And obviously some people are saying that this could be just a way for the government to say that they are doing something about the situation in Gaza, especially given all the accounts that are emerging from Gaza of the desperate catastrophic situation there because of this ban on the entry of humanitarian aid. Hugo Bachega,

it has been five months now since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and for many the priority now is finding out what happened to people who disappeared and are trying to get justice for their loved ones. Tim Franks went to Damascus and spoke to Malak Eud, the mother of two teenage sons who were arrested and went missing shortly after the uprising against Assad began 14 years ago. We've just come into Malak's house. It's a tiny shack really, two very bare rooms. But this room, the inner room, along with the plastic bags and piles of clothes, there's a...

well, it's almost like a shrine. There's a flag, a new Syrian flag, and then two large photographs on that Syrian flag of her sons, the sons whom she hasn't seen since 2012. What did you try to do to find out what had happened to Mohammed and Mahir? I couldn't really try to get information about Mohammed. I was really afraid because he was a defector. He had fled the army. And what I had done at the time was that I reported him missing because you know like it was known at the time that if anyone you know like

flees the army what they do is that they burn their house they kill their family and I was afraid for the safety of his father and brothers However, it turned out that they later found out that I had tricked them and that was why I think they arrested Mahir. One of the bits of information that Malak got from the school was a few telephone numbers for some of the teachers who were around in 2012 when Mahir was attending school and so hope against hope that they're still going to work.

So she asked him about her son, whether he heard the name Maher Khan Khan at any time when he worked in the school and if he remembers him being arrested. And so he says, Yaya, I remember a student who was in the 10th grade, and she's saying, no, no, my son was in the 11th grade. It must have been a different boy. And then he recommended that she talks to the head teacher of the school at the time and he said if he has the phone number he'll send it to her now via text message. I suppose that's the the awful thing about the liberation of these prisons is that my guess is Malak that all these

years you've been you've been clinging to hope that actually your boys are in prison, were in prison, but now that the prisons have been opened, you have to accept that they're probably not coming back. I thought there was a 90% chance for Maher to walk out of prison, but I didn't have as much hope for Mohammed. I thought he was martyred the day he was arrested. But when it comes to Maher, I was waiting for him. I had great hopes that he'd walk out of prison, but he didn't and I couldn't even find his names in the prison records. There was nothing. And that just means that for you,

the grief must go on because you can't put an end to this can you? Actually I feel lost, confused and I still have hopes because of I've heard like different types of rumors. There are rumors that that they're still you know like finding prisons now and I also heard about prisoners who were taken outside the country in trucks. So where are these trucks? Where did they go? I don't know. Malak Eyud ending that report by Tim Franks. More than 60 years after it was closed Donald Trump has confirmed plans to rebuild and reopen the notorious Alcatraz prison. The president says the jail will

be used to house America's most ruthless and violent offenders. More than one and a half million people currently visit the site every year as tourists. This report from Stephanie Prentiss. Alcatraz, the rock. No one has ever escaped from this prison. It's the American prison known around the world due to its place in pop culture, including escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood and its notorious former inmates like Al Capone. glorious former inmates like Al Capone. Alcatraz, which sits on a rocky island in San Francisco Bay, is surrounded by freezing waters and sharks.

It was built to be escape-proof, but during the three decades it was open, 36 inmates broke free, though only one is confirmed to have survived the swim. In 1963, it closed its cells for the last time to criminals. Now, President Trump says he wants to reopen them, and also hit out at America's legal system, which he said is holding up his attempts to deport immigrants. So many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single person that's in our country illegally, they came in illegally, that would mean millions of trials and it's just so ridiculous what's happening.

And it's long been a symbol, Alcatraz, of law and order. You know, it's got quite a history, frankly. So I think we're going to do that and we're looking at it right now. The facility shut down due to high operating costs and the cost to rebuild it could be even higher, according to Professor Gabriel Jack Chin, who teaches at UC Davis School of Law. With enough money you can do anything, but I seriously doubt that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency would have endorsed this idea. The reason that Alcatraz was closed in the 1960s was that it was outmoded then. And so it's going to take an enormous amount of money to make it habitable, make it safe for prisoners.

It probably has lead paint and asbestos in it." Former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who lives in San Francisco, has dismissed the plan, calling it not serious. California Senator Scott Weiner called it an attempt to create a domestic gulag, saying the president had a plan to subvert due process on deportations, which was deeply unhinged. Critics also argue that America's ADX Florence prison, its most secure and often called the Alcatraz of the Rockies, is currently operating under capacity. Saying that reopening Alcatraz would be more emblematic than practical for the US prison system. Stephanie Prentiss, well Donald Trump also has plans for the movie industry to put tariffs

on it. The number he has in mind is 100%. He said the move would boost America's film industry and protect its national security. Here's our correspondent in Washington, Jake Kwan. Mr Trump is saying that Hollywood is being devastated mainly by the foreign countries offering incentives and luring the American filmmakers and American studios to make films outside of the US. And just like a lot of these social media posts that Mr. Trump puts out, it is unclear exactly

what he means by films made out of US, exactly what he's going to count as films produced overseas and what exactly is going to happen and when is it going to happen. Howard Lutnick, his Commerce Secretary, has retweeted his original post saying, we are on it. So I imagine we'll get some more information in the future. But similar to many other policies that Mr. Trump has rolled out before. It is also possible that his own staff and his own officials were just learning about this policy as well.

And it is understandable that America's film industry has been struggling, especially since the pandemic. American movie industry has been struggling to get the audience back into the seat. But the reason for this is usually pointed at the change in the way that American public consumes movies. People don't go to theater anymore.

People find it too expensive or people do not have the similar taste anymore and they rather sit at home and watch the movies on the streaming services. So there are a multitude of reasons why this is happening. Also many countries around the world, including the U.S., provide some kind of tax credit to lure filmmakers. If you look at many of the film roles in the past years, you know, a lot of the films are made in the state of Georgia, in the U.S., because they provide a really attractive deal. So does the U.K. and many other countries.

So it'll be interesting to see whether this tariff will actually work, because America tends to export films. Rarely are films a big hit that are made and produced outside of the U.S. becoming a big hit in America. Jake Kwan in Washington. Still to come in this podcast, it is over and out for Skype. We look at its romantic legacy. There is a bit of sadness because it was such

an important part of our life and it really helped provide the glue that could keep us together. After a record-breaking two and a half million people packed out Rio's Copacabana beach to see Lady Gaga perform, police in Brazil say they've arrested a teenager, as well as an adult, who they say was responsible for a planned bomb attack on the event. Helena Humphrey found out more from our correspondent in Brazil, Ioni Wells.

These events that happen on Copacabana Beach are absolutely massive. This is a bit of a tradition. In Rio, Madonna played on the very same spot last year, and these attract enormous crowds which does unfortunately mean that they are a bit of a target as well. Now in this case luckily nothing actually happened, the event went ahead smoothly but police in Rio say that a bomb attack attempt was thwarted beforehand. Rio police received intelligence, including sort of intel that they had gathered from online groups,

promoting the radicalisation of teenagers in particular using sort of extremist symbolism, which linked them to this wider plan to attack the concert and people attending it. And what do we know about the suspects? The alleged person responsible has been arrested for illegally possessing a firearm. The teenager has also been arrested for possessing child pornography as well. We know that according to police in Rio, the group had planned the attack,

partly triggered by their sort of spreading of hate speech online, particularly targeting adolescents, teenagers, children, but also members of the LGBT community, which is thought to be one of the reasons why Lady Gaga's concert was a target for them. She, as an artist, has really promoted herself as an ally of the LGBT community.

She has been someone who's vocal, who talks about being bisexual herself. A lot of the fans there themselves proudly showing, for example, LGBT flags in the crowd, which I think is one of the reasons this was a target. But these suspects are thought to have disguised themselves as Lady Gaga fans, referring to themselves as Little Monsters, which is known as the sort of name among that community for fans of the artist. We've had reporting about the fact that Lady Gaga herself and her team reportedly only found out about this the next day. That's right. There wasn't any signs before. This

was a sort of undercover operation that had been taking place behind the scenes. There is, of course, a huge security present at these events. There were CCTV cameras, metal detectors, scanners, facial recognition cameras in place, as well as thousands of police officers policing the event itself. But this was something that took place beforehand. Authorities, as I say, got this tip off from sort of online groups that then police did carry out various searches, seizing various devices of people they thought were linked to this in order to try and stop it before anything took place. But as you say say most people, including all the fans who turned out and Lady Gaga herself, weren't aware of this before the event took place. Ioni Wells. To Nigeria now where streets in major hubs are

often packed with yellow motorised tricycle taxis weaving in and out of the traffic. These Keke Maruaz are usually driven by men but more and more women are getting behind the wheels to make ends meet. Our reporter Ahmed Ambali hitched a ride in the city of Akure. 10 years ago when Yamisioki, Akure's first female tricycle rider got behind the wheels of a Kikemarua, the sight was a rarity. But today, as she weaves through traffic on Nigeria's iconic city tricycle, no one seems surprised. When I first started calling out to passengers, some people would say, it is a female rider. They would say,

I don't want you to injure me. They would look at me with disdain and suspicion. Yemisi began riding after the death of her husband. After years of patience and commitment, Yemisi says she eventually earned her place amongst her male peers. earned her place amongst her male peers. Sandia Ditu is the deputy chairman of the local Kikemaruwa Association. In the past there were like two or three women driving Kikemaruwa but today there are many. We don't blame them for wanting to work because of how the country is right now so we thank God for the women and how they work with us. But what do passengers think? I feel at ease when I ride with a female tricycle driver because they are calm, unlike the men

who speed and drive recklessly. They drive gently. They're not like men who are rough drivers. You know male drivers can have a lot on their minds. Women are rough drivers. You know male drivers can have a lot on their minds. Women are more careful. Progress! Progress! Yemisi now heads an association to inspire and educate other women on how to become Kekemarua

riders. Making their mark in Nigeria's tough economic climate is not easy. Women in Nigeria recorded a higher unemployment rate of 6.2 percent compared to 4.3 percent for men, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. We want people who have a bright future to see us as models, to say, is this not a woman working? I can do it too. Yemce Orki, ending that report by Ahmed Ambali. Now to the end of an era, the grande dame of video calling, Skype. It paved the way for WhatsApp, Zoom and Teams, but now Skype, as we know it, is hanging up for the final time after three decades.

The platform's video and voice calling feature was revolutionary when it was launched in 2003 with its signature tones. The music composer Peter Rayburn told the BBC's Davina Gupta about how they came up with it all. The greeting was the first kind of, because it kind of makes a kind of, right? Shhhhhh. Which is kind of an attempt at a creature to say the word Skype who can't quite talk. It's just an opening of a door or opening of a kind of communication portal sound.

Again, friendly, awake and inviting. We've kind of created a whole set of language for Skype. It was everything from like error tones. If the calls were being dropped a lot in the beginning. So we had to create an error tone that felt not like a kind of failure, but like an attempt at getting it right. If you talk about the ring, what is it? Can you sing it to me? Do you remember it? The ting ting ting the one that and then it sort of...

Yeah so that that was yeah everything was made up from these source materials but that was made and then it became kind of an electronic hook. It was just this kind of like, it was like a jam. Peter Rayburn. Well some people might miss Skype and feel it even may have changed their lives. Wayne Williams left Macau in China in 2014 to start a six-month internship in Wales. When she went back home she stayed in touch with Owen via Skype and now their marriage. They spoke to the BBC's Amol Rajan. I think it's back to 2013 when we started dating. Before that we were just friends and then we were using WhatsApp to text each other. And yeah I think 2013 we started on Skype and it continued for the next two years. And is it right to say, Weng, that you went back to China but you stayed in touch with

Owen via Skype? Yes, both Skype and WhatsApp because Skype is mainly the platform that we use for video calls every day. Right. Owen, do you, video calls are useful for Roam event? I mean, they obviously were in your case, Owen. Did you find there was something about the Skype kind of format, the fact you could speak on video, which was useful for abutting romantic?

I think definitely, yes. You know, you don't always catch the meaning of what people say in text form, for example. And I think because we were on different sides of the world basically with a you know seven or eight hour time difference having that face-to-face contact being able to react to each other's sort of body language as much as speech inflections that kind of thing really helped us to bond and secure the relationship I'd say. And do you feel then Owen that you owe Skype something and you feel almost, I guess, a little regretful as it passes into obsolescence today? I'd say so, yes, it is a bit of a shame. You know, there is a bit of sadness because it

was such an important part of our life for, you know, two, two and a half years. And it really helped provide the glue that could keep us together over such a long distance. So yes, it is a bit of a shame to say goodbye to Skype. Wayne and Owen Williams speaking to Amol Rajan. In London, 80th anniversary commemorations are underway to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe. Second World War in Europe. As the celebrations happened, a procession of over 1300 members of the armed forces made their way to Buckingham Palace. The actor, Timothy Spall, who played Winston Churchill in the film The King's Speech, read out part of an address given by the wartime leader

in 1945. I say that in the long years to come, not only will the people of this island, but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, look back to what we have done and they will say, do not despair. Well thanks to the Imperial War Museum in the UK and the families who kept them we have letters from soldiers serving in Europe as the final days of the war ticked down and they realized that the fighting would be over. One of those letters was written by John Armous Jack Laity who was born in 1912 in Brooklyn New York. He served with the 104th Infantry and was

honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant with the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and four campaign ribbons. After the war, he returned to Brooklyn and resumed his art career. Jack's letter is voiced by the actor Caden Brouch. Dearest Mother, Well, I see from your letter and from the newspapers that there was quite a bit of celebrating on VE Day. Over here we didn't do any kind of celebration where we were. On account of we were mostly too darn tired and the end of the festivities were more or less an anti-climax because we all knew by the fourth that the whole thing was over and

all they had to do was sign the paper and have their pictures taken. I guess that when you heard that the war was over, you pictured us all over here as laying aside our weapons and resting up. I suppose in some cases that would be correct, but in my own case, my last bit of combat activity didn't end until today. It seems to me that about all I've been is in the army. Will I be glad when the day comes for me to take off my ODs? I'll be glad to leave Europe behind too. I may be a little sad too, because I'll be leaving behind some awfully good buddies

that will never go home. It's tough to think of that, and it's tough to see some boys go that you've lived and worked with for a couple of years. But that's how all those great victories you've read about are accomplished. Some people may remember a smashing victory by the number of prisoners that were reported taken, or how many guns were destroyed, or what the effect of it was on the stock market. But we remember the capture of a town because that's where Johnny got it. Or we recall the annihilation of a German tank column because Eddie or Tommy gave me his last piece of chocolate and then went out and gave of his blood too because the world was hungry for peace. You know we liberated quite a few PW

camps on our smash through Germany and all that I can say is that what I saw was too horrible to put into words. Every time I think of it I can still smell the horrible stench of those places. It's a thing that will never be forgotten by the men that saw it, and it's one reason why we will never let Germany get up on her feet again, because we can never forget. Well, mother dear, I guess that I will have to call an end to this letter as I feel the need of some shut eye. Keep in mind that you will be seeing me in the near future.

That's usually what I'm thinking about myself, and it sure helps to make my days a lot easier. Tell Graham that I hope she's feeling well and I'm looking forward to seeing her soon. The time will pass by pretty fast. It only seems long while we're going through it. Well, good night for now. Pleasant dreams and lots of hugs. Love, Jay. The actor, Caden Brouch, reading the letters of the American sergeant John Armous Jack

Laty. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later on. Before we go, we have a quick request. We want to hear where you're listening from so that we can update our shiny new map here in the office. You can email globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk with your town or city. And whilst you're about it, please feel free to leave us a voice note too. You can also find us

on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag at globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Chris Kazaris and the producer was Stephanie Prentiss. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye.