Global News Podcast - Trump threatens Russia with sanctions

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Donald Trump urges President Putin to end the 'ridiculous' war in Ukraine or face tough US economic action. Also: a new wildfire flares up near Los Angeles, and are footballers much smarter than we thought?

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart, from the movements of money and markets, to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. You're listening to The Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway.

This edition is published in the early hours of Thursday the 23rd of January. President Trump tells Russia to end what he calls the ridiculous war in Ukraine or face tough economic action. A new wildfire is burning north of Los Angeles as winds pick up again. And a BBC investigation finds that psychiatric hospitals

in China are being used to silence critics of the communist authorities. Also in this podcast... 23 x 42, 966. There you go, what was that a second? How about this one then? OK, 93 x 60. 5,500 and an idiot. Are footballers smarter than the stereotype would have us believe?

When he was campaigning for the White House, Donald Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of becoming president. That deadline has passed and the fighting goes on. Many Ukrainian supporters feared the new US administration would pressure Kiev into accepting a peace deal favourable to Russia. But after barely mentioning the conflict during his inauguration celebrations, Mr Trump has now come out with a warning for Vladimir Putin, saying unless Russia agrees to make a peace deal soon, it will face tougher economic measures. I heard more from our Washington correspondent, Nomiya Iqbal. Donald Trump said he wanted an end to the Ukraine war as a big promise. He said he'd

end it on day one. He hasn't done that. And he clearly thinks threatening to sanction Russia is a way of making it happen. So he has said the potential sanctions are likely. He also said to reporters on Tuesday that he had suggested to the Chinese President Xi Jinping that Beijing should help to get the conflict settled, that they've got a lot of power. Support for Ukraine is interesting. He was asked if he intends to cut that off. There are lots of Republicans that don't want to keep providing money and support to Ukraine. Trump didn't give a firm answer. He sort of said that European nations should be doing more since they're in closer proximity to the conflict. This is what Trump does. He announces a policy,

well, it's not that he's announced a policy on Russia, I should say, but then he says something else on his social media. So it's, you kind of have to read between the lines and he say, look, I'm not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people. I've always had a good relationship with Putin. But clearly Donald Trump thinks he has to sort of make

these kinds of threats, I guess, and his bluster may pay off. Let me just also add the US already has steep tariffs on Russian metals and the Biden administration imposed sweeping sanctions to cripple the Russian economy. One area where he has been taking action is immigration and specifically allowing refugees into the US. The State Department says even if they had approval to settle there, they are not allowed to arrive. Tell us about the impact of this.

Yes, so this targets refugees and specifically this is going to impact refugees from Afghanistan. So there were about 1,660 who were previously cleared by the government to come to the US and that included family members of active duty US military personnel, unaccompanied miners flying to America to reunite with family. And then there were those who fought for the Afghan government that was backed by the U.S., taking huge risks to themselves. And, you know, in some ways, he's sort of mirroring actions from his first term, where he signed that executive order barring people from Muslim-majority countries.

And it is controversial. There will be some Republicans who will be uncomfortable with it, especially for those Afghans who, as I mentioned, helped America. And if you compare it to the Biden administration, Joe Biden, you know, he—approximately 200,000 Afghans were brought to the U.S. following the U.S. troops' withdrawal from the Capitol. But this is what Trump promised. He promised to be tough on immigration. He promised to implement this and he would argue, I'm living up to that promise.

And that was Nomiya Iqbal in Washington. Well, those latest developments are just the latest sign of how busy Donald Trump has been since he was sworn in on Monday. Next week here on the Global News podcast, we're going to take stock on how much has changed with a Q&A special on his first seven days as the 47th president. So if there's anything you'd like to ask our US experts, then please email globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. And if possible, please record your question as a voice note. Thank you. please record your question as a voice note. Thank you. Well staying in the US and a new wildfire has flared up near Los Angeles. Dense smoke can be seen across a wide area around Castaic Lake some 40 kilometers north of the city with people ordered

to evacuate. The authorities are warning that increased winds could fuel the flames. The fires that hit southern California earlier this month were among the most devastating in US history, destroying thousands of homes and killing 27 people. Shortly before we recorded this podcast I got the latest from our correspondent near this new fire, Peter Bowes. This is an extraordinary fire because it is, as you say, moving extremely quickly, much faster than some of the fires that we saw over the last couple of weeks and that is in large part because of the terrain of course it's extremely dry still we haven't had any rain here for months the winds are strong so it's this familiar pattern of this perfect storm of conditions the fast

moving winds the extremely dry brush on the hillsides to the north of Los Angeles it's called the Hughes Fire, a place called Hughes Castaic Lake is very nearby, about 60 kilometres from the centre of Los Angeles, so a significant distance from some of the other fires that we were talking about over the last couple of weeks, but the conditions are exactly the same, perhaps with the slightly positive news that the winds aren't as extreme, they're not almost hurricane force as we had over the last few weeks but they're still strong enough to cause extremely rapid spread of this fire, some 20 square kilometres in about two hours, which is extremely fast moving. And have they resolved the water

issues which hampered firefighting efforts in Los Angeles itself? Well it's a different situation. There's still a big question mark over the water issues which hampered firefighting efforts in Los Angeles itself? Well it's a different situation, there's still a big question mark over the water issues and why there were issues in the first place with the fire hydrants running out of water, a dry reservoir close to one of the big fires in Pacific Palisades that is now thankfully almost fully contained and I think the investigation into why there were fire issues will go on for some time. In terms of this latest fire, again looking positively at it, there are three large-ish lakes very close by and this is where the helicopters are scooping up water from those lakes to douse these flames but it really is a battle I was watching from my home as the smoke

was rising above the hills and it was dark smoke and that's always bad news if it's lighter coloured smoke if it's white smoke that suggests that they're getting a control of the situation but really it's still a hundred percent uncontained so a lot of work still to do and very residential areas pretty close by there's a major freeway the FI freeway that really cuts through California part of that freeway has been closed down. You mentioned the winds and indeed the aircraft being used to fight the fires at the moment then the winds aren't causing too many difficulties for those aircraft as they were earlier on in the fires in LA. Yes and that's a good point that the

winds aren't so strong that it precludes those aircraft from getting into the air. I think if they get faster than something like 100 kilometres per hour, that really is the dangerous sort of territory. But the winds aren't as intense at the moment and the forecast isn't for them to be as intense over the next 36 hours or so. So, fingers crossed, those aircraft can still fly. Peter Bowes, North of Los Angeles. A BBC investigation has found that psychiatric hospitals are being used by China to silence critics of the communist authorities. The practice, which some in China call being mentally ill, was made illegal a decade ago.

However, the BBC has spoken to victims who say they were forced into psychiatric units by Chinese police. Our correspondent Neema Pratton reports. University student Junjie fled China after twice being detained in psychiatric hospitals for protesting against the country's strict Covid measures. They forced me to take medicine and they beat me, they tied me on the bed and they hurt me a lot. Junjie's medical records show he was prescribed a large amount of medication during his first hospitalisation. Junjie is not the only Chinese citizen to have been detained in a psychiatric ward for protesting.

We've spoken to 15 people and looked at hundreds of cases for this investigation. Many claim to have faced similar treatment. Jeli Zheng says he was detained in a hospital after attending a protest supporting workers demanding better pay at a factory. He claims he was forced to have electroshock therapy. Electric shock on, then off, plus even were flashing through my mind like a movie and very fast I felt like I was about to die. China has guidelines on managing mentally unwell people who disturb public order. In these official documents, they are referred to as troublemakers.

Huang Shuitao is a prominent patients' rights lawyer in China. She has spent many years advocating for improving the legislation. I think whoever has a little bit of power and anyone who knows the shortcomings of this system can abuse it. If there is no challenge from civil society, people with power will make decisions for you, saying it's for your own good. Not only the police, but everyone can abuse it. To try and find out what role doctors are playing in this, we have to go undercover. In a secret recording, this doctor told our undercover reporter that police do send patients to his hospital.

If the online comments are considered criminal, then a hospital could be needed to assess the person's mental health. The psychiatric department has a type of admission called troublemakers. We then spoke to a doctor from the hospital where Junjie was held to ask why the police visit patients accused of troublemaking. The police are focused on public security. If you're registered as mentally unwell, the police will check up on you at home to make sure you take your medicine. If you don't take it, you might break the law again."

The Chinese embassy in the UK told the BBC that China operates under the rule of law and that the law explicitly prohibits unlawful detention. In New Zealand, Junjie and I take a walk on the beach just outside of Dunedin, where he lives, reflecting on his journey. I just want justice. I do hope that maybe in the future, China could change. That report by Neema Pratton and you can hear the full investigation, Troublemakers, Drugged, Framed and Detained on the BBC World Service YouTube channel or wherever you get your BBC

podcasts. Now something rather different and given they spend their time kicking a ball around a muddy field there's long been a cliché that footballers are a bit thick, i.e. lacking in intelligence. But a new study of professional players in Brazil and Sweden suggests the opposite is the case. They're actually smarter than the average person. Alfie Haberschen reports. You don't have to be a genius to run around and kick a ball. As the German manager Hans Meyer once said, in every squad there are five really stupid players. One of them would absolutely live under a bridge if he didn't play football and when players do get in

front of the camera it can raise some eyebrows. Doesn't have a scooby on it. Let's see, let's see. Does Jack Grealish know where he's from? No he doesn't! That's where you are. Problem is that's like 80 miles out. That's the Manchester City player Jack Grealish unable to point out where he's from on a map of the UK. But have a listen to his teammate Manwila Kanji doing some mental arithmetic and see if you can keep up. Multiplication is what I've seen you do really well. I've got a few that I've pulled out. So 23 times 42? 966.

I mean, there you go. What was that second? How about this one then? Okay, 93 times 60. That's 580. Well, a new study suggests that Kanji's quick thinking is part of a broader trend. It tested 200 professional players for different thinking skills and says they are not just smarter than the average person, but in the top 10%. Leonardo Bonetti from Oxford University is co-author of the research. Google players had much higher executive functions, but also much higher working memory and ability

of solving logical problems and planning in general. And it's not just a few smart ones driving up the average. The study even goes as far to say that without being brainy, you wouldn't make it as a pro player. We can essentially predict whether a football player is a football player with 97% of accuracy, suggesting that nearly all of the football players had this set of cognitive skills. It's very likely that if you don't have this set of cognitive skills, you wouldn't succeed. As a fan myself, I've noticed that football has become more intellectual. It's hard to watch a match on TV without being confronted with pages of statistics and graphs. It's even caught the curiosity of the chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Here he is speaking to the manager and former player Pep Guardiola. Both in chess and football, the important thing is to control the middle. If you control the middle, you control the pitch or the board.

Often in chess also you attack on one side, force the opponent to overload and then you switch. And you have an advantage on the other side. Now Pep, you must be impressed with the insight. Yeah, that's right. I noticed that. That's nice. Yeah, it is right. For the rest of us, It's a hard pill to swallow

We know that footballers tend to be stronger richer even better-looking Perhaps it's now time to accept their smarter to and one final one 83 times 4 Footballer and master Manuela kanji ending that report by Alfie Habershen footballer and maths star Manuela Kanji, ending that report by Alfie Habersen. And still to come on the Global News podcast. Oh, it's my dream. No one shops in one shop. And, you know, my aesthetic might not be anybody else's. We should have choice. The designer launching a fashion line for people with disabilities. Palestinian health officials say at least 10 people have been killed in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. The incursion, codenamed Iron Wall, has entered

its second day. Israel says the occupied area is a quote big hub for terrorists. Lucy Williamson reports from Jenin. All the main roads into Jenin refugee camp have been closed off by the Israeli army so we've come here to this smaller back road to try and see if we can get in but the road into the camp has been completely churned up by the army bulldozers and I can see at the end there are some Israeli army vehicles and some soldiers. And at least one of them has raised his weapon.

It's not clear whether he's trying to get a better look at us or whether we just need to leave. As we were moving away, we spotted a family picking their way through the tangle of earth and concrete, one man lifting his infant son high above his head as he approached. There are still a lot of people inside, elderly people, patients, kids. They couldn't leave. They're still inside. God help them. It's not normal for us this time. The strikes come everywhere. It's like Gaza. Leaving with him him 52-year-old Kefa Sawal.

I have lost 15 members of my family since the Gaza War began, she said. After what happened to Israel in Gaza, this is their reaction. They are taking it out on us. Israel's defense minister has talked about a shift in strategy for this operation. The goal not only to eliminate terrorists as he put it, but prevent them from returning later. A key lesson from Gaza, he said. Israel is worried about the West Bank becoming the next focus for Iranian influence and arms. But a show of force here after the ceasefire in Gaza also plays well with those in Israel who not only want to continue the war there but want to annex the West Bank as well. Lucy Williamson in Janine in the occupied West Bank.

Women's rights groups in Iraq have expressed outrage after MPs passed a law that could in theory permit children as young as nine to get married. Activists say it would in effect legalise child rape. The changes give religious courts more power over marriage, divorce and child custody, allowing Shia clerics to rule according to a hardline interpretation of Islamic law. Critics of the measures include Shirouq Abayachi, head of Iraq's national civil movement. The backward political forces, mainly Islamic ones, they encourage such thoughts in society instead of encouraging girls should get educated, should finish their studies, should be economically independent. It's more sectarian attempts to divide the Iraqi society to make the Iraqi society more fragile and against each other.

Former Iraqi MP Sharouq Abayachi, I asked our Middle East regional editor, Sebastian Al-Asher, about the significance of the changes. But first, he told me about the current law. Well, the law called the personal status law has been in place in one way or another in Iraq for more than 60 years. It's essentially a law for all the kind of civil aspects of life, and it incorporates some Islamic elements, but it's not dominated by them. And it was meant, I think, when it was brought in to unify the country, which is made up of many different ethnicities and different religious sects. Obviously Iraq went through many, many years of all sorts of problems, but this law has one way or another managed to weather those storms.

And so what are the changes and what will be the impact? Essentially, these are amendments and there's been an awful lot of pressure to try to stop this for months now by women's rights activists who are alarmed by the fact that it will allow Iraqis, and when we say allow, I mean within the context of certain elements of society, there probably won't be any choice actually there, but to choose when they're looking at the issues of marriage, of divorce, bringing up children, custody, etc., to choose whether they go with the civil law or they go with the religious law which belongs to their Islamic sect the Sunni or the Shia. Now the real headline of this has been about the age at which

girls could be married under these changes. Under the personal status law that is 18 although there is some allowance made if there are safeguards for a religious dispensation for younger than that to 15 I think under Sunni law. The concern is that many girls now will not be married under the Sufaw law but under the Sunni or the Shia law. Under the Shia law the biggest concern was that under one school of Shia Islamic law, the Jaffari school, girls can technically, though this is very rare, be allowed to marry as young as nine. My understanding is that that particular way that that might

be allowed that Shia religious authorities have said that that won't happen, but certainly allowing girls to be married as young as 15, this will potentially make that easier. There won't be a court system which can intervene in the way that it has before. Also other rights, particularly relating to women over the custody of children, over rights to divorce, over inheritance. All of those women are potentially going to lose out under Islamic law. And is there support in Iraq for more religious input into these kind of decisions? To a degree, yes. And I mean the fact that it's been passed despite the pressure, not just inside Iraq, but outside, shows that particularly the Shia religious authorities, I mean they are the majority religious sect in Iraq. It shows that they have year by year gained more power really, as well as socially and religiously so I think it's a sign of that I think that's one of the main

concerns they themselves the religious authorities say this is simply according to Islamic law and that everything will be done responsibly and with justice as the key element but certain elements of Islamic law do favour men in certain instances, particularly to do with the family. This is not just an issue in Iraq, this is an issue across much of the Arab world. Our Middle East regional editor, Sebastian Usher. Clothes for people who have disabilities need to be practical. But designer Victoria Jenkins is working to also make them fashionable.

She's created a new line that's been launched by one of Europe's biggest clothing stores Primark. She's been telling Sean Lay more about it. Elasticated waistbands or within the pockets there are buttonhole openings to pass tubes through rather than over and there are seated options so for wheelchair users so like the garments are actually shaped to a seated position. There's magnetic fastenings, there are openings in a lot of the sleeves, there's no buttons anywhere. But we have just a variety of access openings so that you don't have to expose your body to access parts of your body if you need to, if you're going through medical

treatment or for whatever reason you need to access a bit of your body without exposing yourself. We thought of these things particularly for women who were breastfeeding, didn't we, years ago. Why have we not thought of them with people with disabilities? I mean, this is the thing, I do consider maternity wear to be like the initial adaptive and we just sort of stopped. I think the reason we didn't go any further is that traditionally people in retail and in jobs and in fashion, if you're disabled or chronic sick, you're not hired. So people don't consider it because then people are not in the room. Let's talk about what your personal motivation is, because you have a very personal reason for wanting to be involved with this project? I do, yes. So I studied fashion design and graduated in 2008 and then went to my own

personal journey with disability and sickness and I had life-saving surgery in 2012. But it wasn't until 2016 I was on hospital ward going through one of many surgical procedures and it was somebody else and she'd gone through ovarian cancer. She was stuck in sort of like t-shirts and jogging bottoms. You know, she can go to a wedding, she can go to a party. And when she said it to me, I was like, God, that's so obvious. There were some people trying to address this need, but it wasn't from necessarily a fashion point of view. It was more from the people that were dressing the wearer rather than what the wearer might want to wear themselves.

So it was the convenience of the carer or maybe a partner as much as for the person who was going to be wearing the clothes? Yeah, it was very functional, very medical, very hospitalised. And you make the point that this is a kind of worldwide need as well, isn't it? I mean, we're talking about a big proportion of the population now who have a disability. I I mean it's kind of a no-brainer from a commercial point of view. If we're talking about disability, if we're ignoring temporary disability or the elderly, an age-related disability, it's everyone. I'm one of the 80% of people that acquire their disability. Anyone at any time could join this.

Tell me in this range what you're most proud of. I think the men's wear cargo pants because there's so much built into it. For all the trousers they all they have loops in the inside so if somebody else is dressing you they can help you get dressed without having to touch your skin. All the pockets have tube access, they're all elasticated. If you are an amputee the hem opens opens up to your knees so you can get into the trousers and then open them up to attach your prosthetic. And then we put a range of pockets on so that if you're a wheelchair user and you're sat down, you can still access all of the pockets

without anything falling out. Do you hope that other retailers will get the message? Oh, it's my dream. No one shops in one shop and you know my aesthetic might not be anybody else's. We should have choice. Victoria Jenkins talking to Sean Lay. Finally, to the cat making headlines around the world after accidentally becoming a frequent flyer. The pet made three lengthy plane journeys between New Zealand and Australia in just 24 hours as Rebecca Wood explains. Meet Mittens, a fluffy eight-year-old Maine Coon cat who was booked for one-way travel with her family from Christchurch in New Zealand to their new home in the Australian city of Melbourne. She was safely stowed away in the plane's cargo hold on the same flight as her owner. But on arrival, Margot Nies realised something was up as she waited for her pet to be offloaded.

One hour went by, two hours went by, three hours went by, it's kind of 10.30 at night by then. Nothing. And we sat down in this big boardroom and they said, look, we have located your cat but it's actually on the return flight back to Christchurch New Zealand and I said how can this happen? Well the incident is still being investigated but reports say a stowed wheelchair may have obscured a baggage handler's view of Mitten's cage resulting in the return trip that involved nearly eight hours in the sky. It's around sort of seven degrees down there so we didn't know what sort of state she was in.

I had a really sleepless night, you cannot imagine. It was not a great start to our new life in Melbourne because we didn't have the family, we weren't complete. Air New Zealand confirmed that once the cat crisis was realised, the pilot turned on the heating in the hold to keep the feline comfortable. Then, at last, after taking to the skies for a third and final time, realised the pilot turned on the heating in the hold to keep the feline comfortable. Then at last, after taking to the skies for a third and final time, Mittens was reunited with her family early the next morning. The only side effects, some weight loss and a bit of a personality change.

As soon as she came out basically, and look, she is not, you know, wasn't an overly affectionate cat, she just basically just ran into my arms and just snuggled up in here and just did the biggest cuddles of all time. It was just such a relief. Air New Zealand has apologized for the distress caused and said it would reimburse Mitten's travel costs. As for the accidental globe trotter,

she wrapped up over 7,500 kilometres in just 24 hours, enough to earn a nice reward on any frequent flyer card. Rebecca Wood. And that is all from us for now but the Global News podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and produced by Alfie Haberschen, our editors Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence

to divisive politics tearing our societies apart. From the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Hello, I'm Katja Adler, host of The Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday we you get your BBC podcasts. money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives. We bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.