Global News Podcast - Ukraine's Zelensky meets US vice-president at Munich security conference

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has held talks with US vice president, JD Vance, as a rift grows between the US and Europe over how to end the war in Ukraine. Also: YouTube celebrates its 20th birthday.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles and in the early hours of Saturday 15 February these are our main stories. President Zelensky of Ukraine has met JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference after the US Vice President launched a wide-ranging attack on European politicians. African leaders at a summit in Ethiopia have agreed to increase their health budget and taxes to compensate for a freeze on foreign aid by the United States. The latest figures from South Korea indicate that the suicide epidemic among young people is continuing despite efforts to address it.

Also in this podcast... Also in this podcast. Well, if you're familiar with YouTube, you may have heard that video. Believe it or not, the video sharing platform is 20 years old. The future of Ukraine took centre stage at the International Security Conference in the German city of Munich on Friday. It came after several days of speculation about how President Trump's telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday might be the start of a process that will end the conflict. On the sidelines of the conference, the US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Washington could impose economic sanctions

on Russia if it refuses to agree what he called a good peace deal that guarantees Kyiv's long term independence. There are economic tools of leverage, he said, and there are of course also military tools of leverage the US could use. Later he addressed the delegates at the meeting. This is a security conference, and I'm sure you all came here prepared to talk about how exactly you intend to increase defense spending

over the next few years in line with some new target. And that's great, because as President Trump has made abundantly clear, he believes that our European friends must play a bigger role in the future of this continent. We don't think, you hear this term, burden sharing, but we think it's an important part of being in a shared alliance together that the Europeans step up while America focuses on areas of the world that are in great danger.

So the emphasis there was on American expectations of more military spending by Europe. Well later in the day the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met the US vice president at the Munich conference. Mr Zelensky said they'd had a good conversation and that it would not be their last. He said they needed to prepare a plan on how to stop President Putin and finish the war with Russia and that President Trump was key to making that happen. I hope and we count that really President Trump will help us and I really count on him. He is the President and United States is the biggest denator during the war.

I mean, comparable with other countries, as I said, Europe also, but it's Europe totally continent. Yes, United States gave a lot, that's why I count on him. People voted and we really think, I see, yes, that he is strong man and if he will choose our side, and if he will not be in the middle, I think he will pressure and he will push Putin to stop the war. He can do it.

The head of the European Commission is Ursula von der Leyen. President Putin says he's willing to meet, but on what terms? It is up to him to demonstrate that his interest is not to prolong this war. It is up to him to show that he has given up his ambition to destroy Ukraine. And let me be very clear. A failed Ukraine would weaken Europe, but it would also weaken the United States. Because what we have seen is the authoritarians of this world are carefully watching whether there's any impunity if you invade your neighbor and violate international borders

or whether there are real deterrents. Ursula von der Leyen. Our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucet, is covering the conference. Sumi Sumaskanda asked her what the mood among the delegates in Munich was like. First of all, there's great relief among the Europeans, among the Ukrainians that at last, after three years of a grievous war, that peace talks, or at least discussions about peace talks, are finally on the table. But there is great worry, too. This is a very troubled Munich Security Conference,

probably one of the most troubled it's seen in its 61-year history, that they really feel what they regard as the foundation of this, what they call a transatlantic partnership, is falling apart, that President Trump's kind of diplomacy involves the kind of unilateral step that we saw earlier this week when he had this 90-minute telephone conversation

with President Trump and seen President Putin and seemed to give away the main issues, some of the main issues that should be on the negotiating table, that Ukraine should be at that table to decide on its own future. And so the value of Munich Security Conference is that finally President Zelensky can sit down with Vice President J.D. Vance, and although both of them struck up a very diplomatic tone for the cameras when the talks began, no doubt those talks were very candid as they tried to narrow the gaps on what they say is a mutual ambition, which is to end this war and end it in a way that it doesn't start again.

What about U.S. relations with European leaders, their lease? We know that JD Vance was very critical of fellow allies there. How are people responding to that? Shocked, stunned. When the US Vice President took to the main stage here in Munich, it was expected he would perhaps give more details about the war in Ukraine and how to resolve it. Instead, he gave a lecture to the gathered delegates,

many of them were very high level officials from European countries and basically said the main threat to Europe is not from Russia, is not from China, it's from within and basically excoriated them about what he said as attacks on information, on political freedoms, he accused Britain of backsliding on on religious rights and the comments afterwards, you can imagine there wasn't very much clapping, Sue me, but afterwards even Germany's defence minister Boris Masturio said that it seemed as though the Americans want to look at Europe through the lens of autocratic regimes. Lis Ducet in Munich.

As President Zelensky prepared for his visit to Munich, the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine was targeted in a drone strike in the early hours of Friday morning. Russia has denied any knowledge of the attack, but Mr Zelensky said it showed President Putin was definitely not preparing for negotiations, but instead continuing to deceive the world. A protective shelter that covers the remains of a destroyed reactor at the nuclear power plant was damaged. The shield was built to prevent radiation from spreading after the Chernobyl reactor melted down in 1986. The International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA

said the explosion caused a fire in the structure, which has since been extinguished. The radiation levels inside and outside the building were currently normal. With his assessment of how optimistic people in Kiev are feeling about an end to the war, here's our Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse. President Zelensky is facing one of his steepest political challenges in taking on a White House which is warming to Russia. His message, while all sides are looking to win, Ukraine deserves to. The pace of these ceasefire politics is blistering but no less consequential for a country which doesn't want three years of sacrifice to be for nothing.

In Kiev and countless other cities there is a desire for peace, but the terms are seen as just as important. The main thing is that the negotiations have started. For three years there were none at all. President Zelenskyy has always said there can be no talks on Ukraine without Ukraine, but this week has been anything but. To the frustration of Alexei, a frontline soldier. Trump first called Putin and then he called our president.

It's nonsense. It's silly. We are defending our country now and negotiations must be held with the head of our country. How would they decide our destiny without us? It's not right. I think it's not right. I think it's not right." The fact Ukraine didn't fall to Russia within days, as many expected, is a victory. But three years on, if Ukraine over compromises and doesn't secure sufficient security guarantees,

it could still lose. James Waterhouse in Ukraine. Next to Ethiopia, and African Union leaders meeting in Addis Ababa have agreed to increase taxes and government budgets to create alternative healthcare funds on the continent following the USAID funding freeze by the United States. Many African countries rely on USAID and other donors to provide billions of dollars for programmes including those tackling malaria and HIV. rely on USAID and other donors to provide billions of dollars for programs including those tackling malaria and HIV. Will Baines spoke to Dr Jean Kesea, Director General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention who's at

the conference. We can say this is a timely meeting because it came when we saw a number of partners decided to stop funding to a number of programs in Africa. And today our leaders, they decided collectively to take strong action to increase domestic resources and to reduce dependence to external funds. What does that strong action look like? What kind of things? It's a combination of a number of actions. From increasing the health budget, second, for putting in place some taxes

to create innovative funding, and also for providing some innovation, the innovative approach for Africa CDC and other health organs of the African Union to get funds. And what about barriers in terms of moving things, moving people, rules, regulations? I'm guessing those kind of things will be on the table once again as well. Yes, what our leaders did, it was first to open the door for these kind of topics. And you know, it was not common to discuss innovative financing mechanism. Now they decided to put in place a committee of the EU, Africa CDC and African Medicine Agency to sit together to develop with some experts a concrete plan

how we can now start to raise this fund. Dr Jean Kesea, Director General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It was an attack by one man alone. That is the conclusion prosecutors in Germany have drawn after an asylum seeker from Afghanistan had driven a car into a crowd in Munich on Thursday. The prosecutors say the man identified as Farhad N had no links to any terrorist groups, but that he appears to have had a religious motivation. At least 36 people have been injured in the attack. Two people, including a two-year-old girl, are in a religious motivation. At least 36 people have been injured in the attack. Two people, including a two-year-old girl, are in a critical condition. Our Berlin correspondent Damian McGuinness reports. Munich's chief state prosecutor has revealed that during questioning

the 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker had admitted that he drove a car into the crowd intentionally. The prosecutor, Gabriella Tillmann, told reporters that she was cautious about making hasty judgments about the motive, but from what the suspect told police, she had reason to believe this was an Islamist extremist attack, but that he was acting alone. From everything we have seen and read so far, I can comfortably say that we see an Islamist motive. But what we also want to say is that there is no indication that the suspect was part of an Islamist organisation like ISIS. No indication at all. Officials have also corrected previous statements and have now confirmed that the suspect had no criminal record

and was legally in Germany. Damien McGuinness next to the Democratic Republic of Congo. And there's growing panic among residents of the city of Bukavu as M23 rebels close in on the city. of Bukavu as M23 rebels close in on the city. Two nearby towns and the airport serving Bukavu have been captured by rebel forces. The advance comes as African heads of state are due to discuss the crisis at an AU summit in Ethiopia this weekend. I got this update from our Africa regional editor Will Ross.

There have been some videos circulating showing some M23 fighters within the city itself establishing some kind of a presence. It's been a very fast advance throughout the day. The M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have quite a lot of vehicles with them. They move fast. And initially they took the towns of Katana and Kabamba with very little fighting. Then it was Kavumu Airport, and that's the main airport that serves the city of Bukavu, Bukavu home to roughly a million people.

And that's a key capture because the Congolese military was flying some of its fighter jets out of Kavumu Airport and attacking M23 positions so it's a big setback for the Congolese military. There have also been videos showing some Congolese troops leaving the city of Bukavu as well as Burundian troops who were allied to the Congolese army leaving the city of Bukavu, as well as Burundian troops who were allied to the Congolese army leaving the city, suggesting that there's not really a great attempt to hold on to this territory, partly I guess because they know they're completely outgunned by a very well-armed rebel group that's backed by Rwanda. Certainly no sign yet of the kind of resistance that there was when the rebels came close to the city of Goma before attacking it.

We understand at least 3,000 people died when it was captured at the end of last month. And it seems that the Congolese authorities are banking on international pressure, principally on Rwanda, as a main tool in what is a conflict really between these two countries. Meanwhile Will, the World Health Organisation is saying that fighting has caused a number of patients with the M-Pox virus to flee hospitals in the eastern part of the DRC. What do we know? Yeah well the World Health Organisation says that there were more than 140 confirmed M-pox cases. So these were patients who were in isolation units in the city of Goma and close to Goma, so in various hospitals and clinics. And it says out of those more than 140, 128 fled and only 15 remained in those isolation wards. I mean, eastern Congo is chaotic at the best of

times but you add on top of it a fast-moving conflict and the kind of effort at any health care and humanitarian assistance just gets that much harder. Our Africa regional editor Will Ross. YouTube is 20 years old. The video sharing platform was created at a time when broadcasting was confined to expensive TV studios, but not many people would have predicted the way it's turned the world of entertainment on its head. This report by Alfie Habersham. Alright, so here we are in front of the elephants. Cool thing about these guys is that they have It seemed like a normal home video when the YouTube co-founder Javed Karim spoke to the

camera in front of a pair of elephants in San Diego. But what it really meant is for the first time anyone, anywhere could film something and the whole world could watch it. A year later Google bought YouTube for more than a billion dollars and introduced a new rule, the more views you get the more cash you make, and teenagers filming in their basements became rich overnight. That's Baby Shark Dance. Showing kids making chomping gestures with a cartoon sea background, it's been viewed 15 billion times, earning its Korean creator Kim Min Suk about 30 million dollars. And

it does seem to be the bizarre videos that do the best. Just take the keyboard cat. I've been watching YouTube videos since I was about 12, it's where I find new music, learn about history, watch my favourite football matches, pretty much anything you want is there. But what I find interesting is it's unlikely superstars, just take the YouTube king MrBeast, he made his name by filming himself for two days straight counting to a hundred thousand. 99,995, 99,996, 99,997, 99,998. Make sure you like the video, drop a comment. 99,999, 100,000. What am I doing with my life?

At the time, he had dropped out of college to be a YouTuber and was living in his car. Now he's a billionaire. And today there's a new generation who want to be just like him. If only they could find the next big idea. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. Alfieaberschen reporting. Still to come.

There's a switch that activates specific neurons in the brain that then ultimately make us guide towards eating more high sugar containing foods. We get a scientific explanation for our love of desserts. Hamas has released the names of the three hostages that it is to release on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. They are the Argentine Israeli Lejon, the US Israeli at Sagil de Kecen and the Russian Israeli Alexander Sasha Tufanov. Hamas had earlier said it would postpone the handover, claiming that Israel had breached the terms of the Gaza ceasefire. But after mediated talks in Cairo, the

Israeli threats to resume the war if the releases didn't go ahead as scheduled, Hamas agreed to abide by the deadline. One of the hostages had been held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Khaza Madeera spoke to Moshe Lavi, the brother-in-law of the hostage Omni Mouran, who's not on the list of the hostages to be released on Saturday. What are his thoughts on this development? It's a difficult day for us again as Omni family. We want to see him home. Lishaim, my sister, wants to hug him. My niece is running on, want to run to him and spend time with him again, but he's not expected to return anytime soon.

But at the same time, I'm so happy for the families of the three hostages who will be released. So grateful that hopefully they'll be released and be able to rehabilitate and recover. We're one big family, the families of hostages, and I know all these families very well. I'm embracing them today today but our battle doesn't end and I just returned from DC yesterday after campaigning there with the administration, with Congress, hoping to make sure they understand we have to pressure all stakeholders until all the hostages are home. And Moshe, we know that this has been an agonising week for you, for all the

families of the hostages, because we were seeing just how this sea spire was so, so fragile. It twists and turns throughout the few days. Hamas are saying that they expect talks on the Gaza truce, phase two, to begin next week, early next week. Moshe, that must be good news for you. Yes, this is good news, but we have to monitor the situation. We have to ensure that our own government in Israel abide to what it promises us, which

is negotiating the second phase. We have to ensure that Hamas, their accomplices and their sponsors, countries like Qatar, Iran and Turkey, force Hamas to the table. As Marshal Avi, the three named hostages will be exchanged for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners. The latest government figures from South Korea indicate that the suicide epidemic among young people there continues to be widespread and that is despite efforts by officials to address it. Suicide is the leading cause of death among Koreans between the ages of 10 and 39. Here's Jae Seung Lee.

It's a grim picture on a nation that's already grappling with one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The data showed nearly half of South Koreans who had received emergency medical treatment from self-harm, including attempted suicide in 2023, were in their teens or 20s. One in 200 Koreans in their 20s were found to have engaged in self-harming behaviour. These figures come despite the authorities having tried to tackle the problem two decades ago by launching the first national suicide initiative back in 2004. More measures to curb rising suicide have followed since, but to limited success. That was Jason Lee. Now to Argentina, where a luxury community built on a wetland in the

capital Buenos Aires is facing an interesting problem. An ever-growing population of wild capybaras. For anyone who's never seen one, capybaras are the largest living rodents. They're a close relative of guinea pigs, but they can weigh up to 60 kilograms. The residents of the community have come up with a solution for septimies and contraceptives. Luke Jones spoke to Lucia Cholacan Herrera, a journalist in Buenos Aires who's familiar with the problem. What's happening in Buenos Aires has gathered a lot of attention from environmentalists and neighbors from that area alike, because indeed, a few

years ago, the capybaras started to appear in the gardens of the neighbors of Nor delta, which is one of the wealthiest gated communities in Buenos Aires. This is according to some due to the pandemic and the lack of cars driving around, but there are some other explanations. The fact is that when the capybaras appeared, a lot of people started to consider that they should, their appearances should be somehow tackled. And today the authorities in Buenos Aires

have just launched a program to curve their numbers using contraceptives. So in the coming months 250 capybaras will receive two doses of a fertility control vaccine which will be administered by wildlife specialists. What is the, and I say this as somebody who hasn't had a 60 kilogram guinea pig in my garden, what is the problem with capybaras? I mean are they just wandering around or are they making a nuisance of themselves? Well capybaras are not aggressive as a species. What happens is that they can get aggressive

if they are attacked by other animals and in gated communities and especially houses with big gardens it's very common to have cats, dogs. So I think most of the problem that we have seen online news news has been about Capybargas getting into trouble with some dogs. Have a listen to this Lucia, we've been reaching out to people on WhatsApp in Buenos Aires to get their views and this person in particular has sent us back their voice notes. My name is Marcelo Cantón and I'm the communication officer of the Enrodelta Neighbours Association. Our aspiration and desire are to live harmoniously with the local flora and fauna.

We love living surrounded by this natural environment. In the specific case of the capybaras, they are one of the many species in the area. The difficulty is that the environment surrounding the lake and wetland is ideal for their reproduction. They have no natural predators, nor are they hunted like happens in rural heros. As a result, their population has been growing without any control, doubling every year. Thanks Marcelo for that. Lucía, has there been much criticism of this plan? There are a few groups of environmentalists and also some other neighbours who don't agree with

this vision. What I want to clarify is that this measure is thought and planned by the National Research Council. So regardless of the opinions, it has a scientific background. It's not that neighbours are going to sterilise capybaras because they are tired of them being in the gardens. Lucía, Chilaquien Herrera in Argentina. Now quite a few of you may relate to this. You've had a big meal, maybe a starter and a main course. You're feeling pretty full up. But when the offer of a dessert comes, magically you feel like you've still got a space in your already bloated belly. The joke is that we have another separate stomach for desserts. Not true of course,

but it seems there is a biological reason why we're able to carry on eating sweet things even when we've really had enough to eat. And it was uncovered by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany through a study of mice. Team leader Dr Henning Fentzel-Lau has been telling James Menendez more. What we found in mice is that once we are in a state of satiety, so when we have enough food, that there's a switch that activates this specific neurons in the brain that then ultimately make us guide towards eating more high sugar containing foods. And so the brain gets a signal that it's full, but what is the other message that it's sending

out? That the consumption of sugar is very pleasant and so that should then ultimately still be consumed even though there is in general the fullness sensation. And this message is via what? An opiate endorphin. I mean, I think people know what endorphins are because they make you feel very good indeed. It's a feeling of reward, is it? Exactly. So that is also being produced in the brain and there is one specific endorphin or opiate which is better endorphin. And there's actually only one cell type in the brain that produces better endorphin, which are palm C cells. And so these palm C cells are really widely known for being the brain regulator for satiety, but they do so with a very different molecule, which

is called FMSH. It's a very well-known signaling mechanism, but they produce also better endorphin. It was a long-standing question, why do they have this? And we think that we, with our investigation, provided a new idea how and why they have this to drive this over consumption of high sugar-containing foods. And why do you think this mechanism exists? We consider that as something that is evolutionary there, because in the wild sugar is extremely rare, right? I mean there are only few sources where sugar in its pure source can be found. And so whenever there an animal can find sugar it should consume it because even though you have a sufficient amount of energy stored in the body you can consume the sugar to use

it to have more energy for later time points. And it is only sugar, isn't it? It's not other types of food that this happens with. It seems so, yeah. All our data strongly suggest that it's only sugar that this mechanism drives. Of course, these days sugar is everywhere, so could this discovery be used to try and control our sugar intake? Is there a way of inhibiting these brain messages?

There is a way to block it or to inhibit it because you can block the opiate receptor. And we think or suggest there could actually be a way how to maybe complement really available strategies or come up with new strategies to treat patients that over-consume and may have a higher body weight. Henning Fentzelau. The Bantu peoples and their languages are spread across vast areas of western, central and southern Africa. On his new album Hymns of Bantu, the South African cellist, singer and composer Abel Selouchwe pays tribute to both his Bantu roots and the Western classical music he's studied. The album brings together sounds as diverse as throat singing and bark.

Abel's been speaking to the BBC's Martin Venard. Hymns of Bantu is actually about universalities. It's a celebration of our ancestors when you look back and seeing how they used to govern themselves and celebrating that in musical and sonic form. The music is a hugely eclectic tapestry of sounds. The combination is of many different cultures. So we start in South Africa with a tune called Zullet Zullet, the hymns that are connected to a type of Western classical music singing known as four-part harmony,

when people sing in four parts from the top all the way to the base. And then we go over to much more improvised music. There's a piece on the album called Dinaka, which is improvised on African percussion, throat singing, and even prepared piano, where we put, you know, blue tack inside the piano to make different sounds. And then we head over to the world of Bach, using the beautiful classical world, but the Bach Suite and arranging it for cello and string orchestra. This is something that I also actually grew up with from a very young age, just having

the influence of this music at school and having the influence of African music at home. You say also that there are synergies between the native music of South Africa and Western classical music. In what way? Pre-colonial thought, people were singing with the idea of the overtone system where if you sing one note, you hear four notes. That's the natural occurrence of overtones when you sing. And then when colonialism came, I think there was just such a share of culture, but also, you know, trying to understand and trying to live with what was new.

And we tended on its head and put our own voice in it. You've also said that Bach and throat singing sit together. That's quite an unusual thing to hear. Yeah, I think the celebration of the sonic space that is just overtones. When you know a note resonates in your mouth like a cave, naturally you hear other notes and throat singing is embedded in that very concept concept and when you sing a Bach chorale and you sing really openly And you know you're creating resonance in your mouth more than you realize there's more than one note But the more you practice the more you hear the other notes And when you play, what's the makeup of the audience? Are they classical music fans, fans of world music, who comes along?

It differs every time and also it often depends on the environment. If you play at a concert hall it would be a certain type of people, if you play at a club it would be a certain type of people, if you played at a club it would be a certain type of people. Now in the recent times what I've seen happen is many people entering the concert hall space when they thought before that they couldn't and that's really my wish that people come to concert halls and come and enjoy music without being conscious of how they should be or preparing who they should be. Martin Venard reporting. 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.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service using the hashtag globalnewspot. This edition was mixed by Darcy O'Brie. The producer was Liam McSheffrey, the editor is Karen Mott. I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye.