Global News Podcast - Trump heads to China for crucial talks with Xi Jinping

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

President Trump is travelling to Beijing, on the first trip to China by a US leader since he last went there in 2017. The main focus of his highly significant talks with Xi Jinping will be the tense trade relationship between the two superpowers. President Trump said he would also have a "long chat" with President Xi about Iran. Also: we have the latest from the court battle between two of the biggest names in tech - Elon Musk and Sam Altman. How just one infusion of immune cells could suppress HIV for years. The viral video of a mafia-linked illegal horse race in Sicily - escorted by armed scooter riders - that's led police to seize the animals and launch an investigation. And Israel makes it through to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, as five countries boycott the event over the war in Gaza. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail] PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. She was the sister who went unnoticed. A daffodil might look plain next to a lily, but on its own there is much to be admired. Now, her greatest chapter is yet to come. The most important thing is to be yourself. From the world of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice comes a new Britbox original drama.

Mary, you will flourish. Based on the best-selling novel. The Other Bennett Sister, now streaming only on Britbox. Watch for the free trial at Britbox.com. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Wednesday the 13th of May, these are our main stories. Donald Trump heads to Beijing in a visit set to test the fragile truce between the world's two biggest economies. The US president also says,

he's in talks with Cuba, which has been under pressure from Washington's oil blockade for months. We have the latest from the court battle between two of the biggest names in tech, Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Also in this podcast, police and Sicily investigate illegal racing with horse-drawn carts and Kalashnikovs. And after our one-time immune therapy, we have several individuals that are suppressed. the virus long term. One individual is almost two years and another individual is almost a year. Researchers behind a new pioneering type of HIV treatment tell us how it works. Donald Trump is on his way to China for a high-stakes meeting with a Chinese leader Xi Jinping

with their talks expected to be dominated by two wars that have not gone the way the US president wanted, the war in Iran and his trade war. The first saw Mr Trump delay the summit by six weeks in the expectation of a swift victory. Instead, he's now struggling to find a way to end Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. And the second saw him impose hefty tariffs on China and other countries only for them to be reversed or diluted. Before he left, Mr. Trump said that while he would have a long talk with Mr. Xi about Iran, he didn't need China's help to end the conflict.

Well, I think number one, we're going to have a long talk about it. I think he's been relatively good, to be honest with you. You look at the blockade, no problem. They get a lot of their oil from that area. We've had no problem. And he's been a friend of mine. He's been somebody that we get along with. And I think you're going to see that good things are going to happen.

This is going to be a very exciting trip. A lot of good things are going to happen. Well, our China correspondent, Laura Bicker, has been to the slyly. libid punk city of Chongqing in China to find out the country's strengths and weaknesses ahead of the talks. At dusk, Chongqing's skyline flickers into life like a vertical neon display of China's ambition and technological power. It's been eight years since Donald Trump's last visit to China and he's facing a far more confident rival. Here, some had a message for the US president.

I hope Trump can respect the common will of people around the world. He should know that we share the same world. He should not always put America first. This lesson for three- and four-year-olds in Chongqing is part entertainment, part introduction to a future shaped by AI and automation. And let's face it, there's just pure job. in watching a robot dance. China is investing heavily in robotics and coding. However, it needs America's help, not just to buy high-end computer chips to help program the robot brain,

but Professor Dawei from Xinghua University believes that together the two superpowers could help mitigate the risk that AI poses in the wrong hands. The technology is developing very, very fast. So if we don't work and try to govern it effectively in next, I guess, one or two years, it will become out of control. Then we won't have that opportunity again. Elsewhere in the city, cars are getting their final checks before being shipped abroad. This city is part of China's rise as the world's biggest car exporter, a challenge for a US president that's obsessed with manufacturing and the auto industry. Lucia Chen is the saleswoman for Sahyu.

Whether or not, the US needs Chinese electric vehicles. Our development and sales won't be constrained by that. We mainly export to the Middle East, Asia and South America. We don't rely on the U.S. markets. The cars that even ships straight from here to Europe and Southeast Asia via new rail links. This country is doing what it can. to move away from past dependence on sales to the US. China is also trying to be a bit more, well, trendy.

This city's image has been amplified with the help of influencers. Now what's happening here is there's a line of people with their mouths open and they're looking for that perfect Instagram shot where the train heads into their mouth. So it looks like they're eating the train. train. But from this angle, obviously, it looks rather strange. Here comes the train. The mouths are open and ready? Photographer, Mr Wang, is profiting of the city's newfound popularity.

I feel like China is getting more connected to the world, more integrated with the international community. I feel like the world is like a big family. And yet we found streets behind the futuristic skyline where workers and their 50s and 60s were shifting heavy loads and selling fruit and veg for just a few dollars a day. Just like a Sichuan opera, where performers breathe fire in elaborate painted faces. Chongqing tells a story of rapid transformation. But this carefully curated image masks sky-high local government debt, high unemployment and uneven growth. China needs Donald Trump to end his tariffs and the war in Iran, which is adding to those pressures.

That's why President Xi will see these talks as a chance for China to push forward with its ambition, to be modern, resilient and increasingly capable of rivaling American power. That report by Laura Bicker. Earlier this month, President Trump said the US would be taking over Cuba almost immediately. Now, in a post on social media, he's announced talks with the Cuban leadership saying they'd asked for help. Mr Trump went on to describe the Caribbean-Isaboard. nation as a failed country. Our Cuba correspondent Will Grant has this assessment. It's not much to go on, to be perfectly honest. We know from previous information that the

grandson of Rao Castro is said to have been in conversations with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It's not clear at this stage, really, if Donald Trump is talking about something more formal. What I think we can say is there is diplomacy behind the scenes that the Cubans have acknowledged that there is conversations taking place across the Florida Straits. But what's interesting to me is that when President Obama made his opening to Cuba, there were two years of secret talks beforehand, it's impossible, I think, with this administration to carry on something similar because Donald Trump simply tells people what's happening, which is not something that the Cubans are very used to. It is getting extremely difficult for the Cuban government.

It has been for a long time. Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela was removed from power at the the very beginning of this year. And basically from that point onwards, the Trump administration has imposed what amounts to a complete blockade of fuel to the island. So it is an extremely difficult situation and one wonders exactly how long the Cuban government can carry on. What is interesting is that the two sides seem so far apart. Raoul Castro, the lead revolutionary on the island, if you like, is never going to simply hand over. everything that the Trump administration would like to see. And Marco Rubio is one of the key Cuban-American anti-Castro voices in the United States for many decades now,

is not going to want to see anything other than root and branch, economic and political reform. So marrying those two things, they're meeting in the middle somewhere currently seems very distant. Will Grant. Survivors of the abuse carried out by the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have given emotional testimony at a hearing in Palm Beach in Florida, near the Waterfront Mansion where many of his crimes took place. Democratic politicians heard how Epstein and his accomplices evaded accountability for years, and one survivor, named only as Rosa, spoke publicly for the first time. Here's our North America correspondent, Shai Mikalil.

Several survivors returned to Palm Beach where many say their abuse began, and where prosecutors struck the controversial 2008 plea deal, that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to avoid federal sex trafficking charges. Witnesses told the politicians they'd been denied justice for decades. In a recorded message, Maria Farmer said she first reported Epstein's abuse in 1996 and accused law enforcement agencies of repeatedly failing to act. The government needs to start telling the truth. Face my lawsuit and be held to account to me and to all others who have been harmed.

Had the FBI done their job 30 years of child sex abuse, and trauma could have been avoided. I want my full FBI file, including the 96 and 2006 reports. Another survivor identified only as Rosa spoke publicly for the first time. She alleged that she was repeatedly sent to Epstein's Palm Beach home by her modeling agency in 2009 and that she was subjected to repeated sex abuse and rape, noting that Epstein was on house arrest at the time for abusing children. She explained how she was lured in. Doesn't look really. scary to begin with, so they gave your trust, and then they put you in a situation where financially you can't leave. Although the hearing carries no legal authority, it has kept

the Epstein case in the political spotlight, with critics accusing the Justice Department of shielding powerful figures, an allegation the department denies. President Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein's crimes, saying he ended their friendship years ago. Shai Mikalil. Can just one infusion of immune cells, also known as white blood cells, suppress HIV for years? It's very early days, but on Tuesday, researchers presented a study indicating that they've had remarkable success using a type of immunotherapy normally associated with treating blood cancers,

and they use that to treat a handful of patients with HIV. Dr. Borodropulich is the executive. Director of Caring Cross, the non-profit organisation that's developed this pioneering technique. He's been working on this for 30 years and he told Tim Franks how the treatment works. The therapy involves taking the immune cells from people with HIV and then reprogramming them so that those cells can then find and destroy HIV-infected cells. and the therapy also protects part of the immune system against being infected by HIV called the CD4 cells, which are coordinators of the immune system.

And what this clinical study that has been sponsored by a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine has shown is that we have now several people with HIV that once they've stopped taking drug therapy, which suppresses the virus and you have to keep on taking the drug therapy to suppress the virus, Once they've stopped taking the drugs, after our one-time immune therapy, we have several individuals that are suppressing the virus long term. One individual is almost two years and another individual is almost a year. And we have other individuals that either partially suppressed or have suppressed for months or weeks. Was it particularly effective with a certain small subset of those patients?

I mean, for example, those who've only recently been infected, with HIV? Yeah, there seems to be a trend. Those individuals that when they got originally infected with HIV quickly went on to drug therapy, they seemed to be responding better than those individuals that when they originally got infected took years to then come on drug therapy. And the hypothesis is that if you're delaying drug therapy, then you create a larger reservoir of the virus in the body that can become activated over a period of time. It's one of the few viruses that hide in a stealth-like mode. And then once you stop taking drug therapy, the virus comes roaring back.

But in our case, we're trying to tackle the virus with the cells themselves. These cells that are reprogrammed, they're around all the time living. And when the virus then becomes activated, our goal ultimately is that these cells that are around and that can stop the virus replicating any further. The cost of CART therapy in the US today is $350,000 a dose. We have produced a method to produce these cells, and by tech transferring, we can reduce that cost to a tenth. So instead of being 350,000, 35,000, a start-as, and then continue to work on further reducing the cost to further improve access. That's our goal.

Dr. Borough-Dropelich. Still to come in this podcast. Not since Tel Aviv hosted Eurovision in 2019. Have I seen that many Israeli flags in the audience? Israel has qualified. There are a lot of protests over Israel's inclusion. Amid boycotts and controversy, the 70th edition of Eurovision has got underway. She was the sister who went unnoticed. A daffodil might look plain next to a lily, but on its own there is much to be admired.

Now, her greatest chapter is yet to come. The most important thing is to be yourself. From the world of Jane Austen's pride and prejudice comes a new Britbox original drama. Mary, you will flourish. Based on the best-selling novel, The Other Bennett Sister, now streaming only on Britbox. Watch for the free trial at Britbox.com. This is the Global News Podcast. Let's turn now to a legal battle between some of the biggest names in tech.

The world's richest man, Elon Musk, is suing the Open AI boss, Sam Altman, accusing him of looting a charity, given that OpenAI, the firm behind Chat GPT, began as a non-profit. But appearing before a US federal jury in Oakland in California, Mr. Altman rejected Mr. Musk's claim that he had betrayed the company's founding mission to serve the public good and said it was the Tesla boss who wanted to control OpenAI and make money from it. Our North America tech correspondent, Lily Jamarly, was at the trial and told us more about what the chat GPT co-founder had to say. Sam Altman testified for about two hours in court today.

He began by describing his early relationship with Elon Musk, acknowledging that the multi-billionaire made critical contributions to OpenAI early on. But he also said that Musk wanted it to be a for-profit as well. And what he described today on the stand was, you know, his increasing alarm at what he calls Musk's demands for. control. So back when Musk testified a couple weeks ago, he acknowledged he wanted initial control, said that would diminish over time as more investors came in. Tuesday, we heard from Altman that he was unsettled by Elon Musk's reluctance to put that commitment that control would be

diminished over time to put that into writing. He suspected he wanted long-term control. He called into question this hair-raising moment, as he described it, in which OpenAI co-founders asked Musk, well, what happens if you die, to which Musk allegedly responded, that control could potentially pass on to his own children, which was a very alarming moment to Altman, and it certainly got a lot of attention in the gallery in the courtroom today. And this is a very different version of events from that being given by Mr. Musk. Yeah, because ultimately this case is about whether Sam Altman breached a commitment to keep open AI as a nonprofit. Musk has repeatedly said that he has.

had made such a commitment. And Altman says that no, you know, there was no such commitment made. And that is very much in line with some of the more recent witnesses that we've heard from. So just yesterday we heard from Microsoft CEO Satina Della, who said he was not aware of any such commitments after all the due diligence that Microsoft's lawyer went into as they began a strategic partnership with OpenAI in 2019. Elias Sutskiver, who is a former chief scientist at Open AI, also a co-founder there, also said he was aware of no such commitment. So in that respect, Must's case is somewhat falling apart.

And Lily, when are we expecting a verdict? And what could it mean for Open AI and its place in the AI race? This jury could begin deliberations as early as Thursday, perhaps more likely on Monday, but any day now. And we have no idea how long that would take. It could take a few hours. It could take several days. But ultimately, if Musk gets his way and wins this case, what he wants to do is see Sam Altman ousted.

And he wants to see these for-profit entities that Open AI has created in recent years unwound to basically have it revert back to its nonprofit roots. Lily Jamali. A viral video of a mafia-linked illegal horse race in Sicily, escorted by armed scooter riders, has led it to, Italian police to seize the animals and investigate two men. The race took place on Friday morning near the city of Catania, and the footage was later shared online by an animal rights activist.

Our reporter, Carla Conti, has been looking at what these races are really used for. At first, it could be a snapshot of small-town Sicily, hooves on tarmac, scooters beeping, and people shouting from the roadside. But then come the gunshots. An illegal horse race happening in plain sight. The footage, filmed near Palagonia in eastern Sicily, shows two horses pulling small carts along a public road surrounded by a convoy of scooters.

Some of the number plates are blacked out. Several riders appear to be armed. In the video, gunshots are fired into the sky and at least one man can be seen holding what looks like a Kalashnikov. Illegal horse and cart races have a long history in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy. Investigators at animal rights groups say they are used by criminal families

with ties to the mafia to make money through illegal betting, but also to project power, closing off roads and drawing crowds to show who really controls the territory. The images were posted online by the animal rights activist Enrico Rizzi, who says he received them

from an anonymous source. Here's what he told the Italian broadcaster, Rai. It isn't a clandestine race. These individuals are so confident they'll get away with it, they do it in broad daylight, with lots of people lining the streets watching, witnessing the spectacle. So it's no longer a clandestine. It's really about sending a message. We're in charge here.

The state does not exist. Police later carried out raids in Katania's San Cristoforo neighborhood. Two men have been reported to prosecutors, and the horses have been seized after officers found, they had no legal registration or microchips. Carla Conti. The news from Gaza in recent times has been relentlessly bleak. Large swathes of the territory remain in ruins,

with people living in tents and struggling to get basic supplies, following Israel's devastating war against Hamas in the wake of the October 7th attacks three years ago. But this next story is one of hope because two teenage Gazan sisters have won an environmental prize awarded by a Geneva non-profit organisation, the Earth Foundation. Tala and Farah Moussa have been crowned the regional Middle Eastern winners for the Foundation's annual Earth Prize

for a project that turns rubble into reusable bricks. And they're in the running for an overall global award. Danny Aberhard has the story. Tala Mousa, who's 17, and her 15-year-old sister, Farah, know well the cost of the Gaza War. Their house was bombed last year. They've been displaced several times and live now in a tent. There's a dearth of materials for rebuilding in Gaza, so the sisters set about developing bricks, using crushed-sived rubble mixed with binding agents. The blocks aren't load-bearing,

but could be used for pavements and temporary shelters. And the project is scalable. The Musa sisters are delighted with their prize money, $12,500.000. They planed. to use it to teach other young people their skills. Tala says the prize is recognition that hope can rise from the rubble. The Earth Prize, open to people between the ages of 13 and 19, aims to act as an ideas incubator, providing winners with mentorship and money to develop their projects. As such, it tries to provide young people with a pathway from concern to action. Danny Abrahad. Now, the biggest music extravagant, The Guanza of the year is back, the Eurovision Song Contest. But politics is again casting a shadow over the

competition after five countries pulled out over Israel's inclusion in the event. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia are boycotting the contest in protest at Israel's war in Gaza. Journalists and Eurovision expert Daniel Rosni was in the arena in the Austrian capital Vienna for the first semi-final on Tuesday and gave us a rundown of a round of. the evening, starting with the results. Ten of the 15 who performed this evening are qualified to Saturday's grand final. Five that haven't are Georgia, Portugal, Montenegro, Estonia and San Marino. But those that did qualify are Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Israel, Serbia,

Croatia, Lithuania and Poland. And I've been covering this event getting on for 10 years now. And not since Tel Aviv hosted Eurovision in 2019. Have I seen that many Israeli flags in the audience? So there are lots of Israeli supporters there this evening. Israel has qualified. There are a lot of protests over Israel's inclusion. As you said, five broadcasters have withdrawn.

And for those that were watching, viewers will have heard an anti-Israeli chant right before the Israel performance began. And I've just had a statement actually from the Eurovision Organizabeth. which says that Eurovision was being broadcast on a clean audio feed live from audience microphones before and during every performance song. One audience member close to a microphone loudly expressed their views as the Israeli artist began his performance and during the song, which was heard on the live broadcast. They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience, and three other people were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behavior. year. And because those five broadcasters have withdrawn, it has sort of put a cloud over this year's event. It's the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is the fewest number of countries taking part in Eurovision since 2003.

So there is definitely, the brand is bruised, but the viewers, it's 50% of this evening's vote. And the competition's judges have decided that Israel deserves a place in Saturday's grand final. But Spain is one of the big broadcasters that isn't participating this year. And that is because of Israel's war. And that has been a bruise for the competition because of how much it contributes financially. And so there's a big talk of what the big five is. And those are those broadcasters that ordinarily do automatically qualify for the final. And the minute you start to talk about money, that is when the organisers get a bit nervous.

Because the more countries that withdraw, that makes it more expensive for the participating broadcasters. and all of these broadcasters around Europe, including the BBC, they're all looking at their bank balances and they're all thinking, one, is it worth the hustle because of the discourse that now surrounds this competition? The two, can they afford to host it? Daniel Rosni in Vienna, and the second Eurovision semi-final will take place on Thursday

with the final to be held on Saturday. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global Podcast at BBC.co.uk. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Chris Ablaqua. The producers were Shavon Lehi and Stephanie Zacherson.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jeanette Jalil. Until next time. Goodbye. Britbox has the best of British TV, period. Let's get started. The best mystery, period. I like a good detective story. The best romance, period.

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