Global News Podcast - UK's top court rules on definition of woman

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

In a landmark ruling, the UK Supreme Court says the legal definition of a woman refers to biological sex. Also: BBC gets rare access to a torture cell in Bangladesh, and the unexpected popularity of a slow TV moose show.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel and at 13 Hours GMT on Wednesday the 16th of April, these are our main stories. Britain's highest court rules that trans women are not legally women. China insists its economy is doing well for now, despite the intense pressure from President Trump's tariffs. A German doctor is charged with the murder of 15 patients. Also in this podcast... It felt like being buried alive, being totally cut off from every outside

world. It felt worse than death. The BBC gets rare access to a torture cell in Bangladesh and the 20 centimeter race that can only be watched through high-resolution cameras. It's been one of the most hotly contested cultural, social and political issues in recent years – the global question of how to define gender and biological sex and a landmark court ruling from the UK Supreme Court has now added to that debate. The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.

But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. The ruling by Britain's highest court means that transgender people won't be identified under their chosen gender for legal purposes here in the UK. Effectively, the ruling says that trans women are not legally women, though the court also took pains to note that transgender people still have legal protection from discrimination. Our Europe regional editor Paul Moss outlined the background to this lengthy

legal battle that has culminated in today's court judgment. The strange thing is it begins with a relatively minor case. Britain has a national parliament but also a Scottish parliament which legislates on issues like crime and health and in 2018 the Scottish parliament passed a law which was trying to encourage the participation of women in public boards. That's the people who run cultural organisations or it could be hospitals and they've provided various incentives to encourage more recruitment of women. Cue the big question of our era. Do trans women count as women? Now the Scottish Parliament said yes,

when it came to encouraging this participation trans women would be included, but a group called Women for Scotland challenged this legally. The case went all the way to the UK Supreme Court and that led to the ruling which you just outlined, which says that for the purposes of the British Human Rights Act, the word women refers only to people who are born as a woman. And tell us about the reaction. Well not surprisingly that campaign group Women for Scotland are delighted they were celebrating outside the court, singing a song to the tune of a very well-known Scottish song.

For women's rights are human rights, we won't let you forget. For women's rights are human rights, this isn't over yet. So lots of delight there from the women who are campaigning for this, obviously disappointment from the other side. As I said, it was the Scottish Government which wanted to include trans women in the definition of women, but the Scottish First Minister John Swinney has now said he will accept the court's ruling. But real disappointment from people who campaign on trans rights issue. Now we heard the court emphasising that trans people are still protected from

discrimination. You can't say well I'm not giving you a job because you're trans, but that wasn't enough for people like Maggie Chapman. She's a member of the Scottish Parliament representing the Green Party and she said she's deeply concerned about the impact the ruling will have on trans people. The protections that were mentioned in the judgment this morning, the protections against discrimination, against harassment, they do exist, but they are not currently protecting trans people who are suffering vilification, who are suffering attacks in the street, who are being demonised, who are being marginalised in so many different ways. Having spoken to

a lot of trans people, the fear that they feel, the attacks that they feel has done serious damage to them. And Paul, this is an issue that goes far beyond Scotland's borders. Indeed, something about the public bodies in Scotland now has had a ruling made by the British Supreme Court so it will cover all spaces which are supposedly reserved for women in Britain. That could be hospital wards, that could be clubs which are designated for women. As a result of this ruling, people will say say look only with people who are born women will be allowed to be admitted but I should say also that British you know court rulings

can be cited by other countries when they're considering this issue so I think the implications of today's ruling will be considered around the world Paul Moss prosecutors in Germany have charged a palliative care doctor with 15 counts of murder. The unnamed man has been accused of administering lethal doses of medication to his patients over a three-year period, starting from 2021. Rupert Wingfield-Hays reports from Berlin. When the 40-year-old doctor was initially arrested last year, investigators in Berlin said they suspected him of killing two of his patients using a cocktail of drugs. Then in February this year, they said the list of potential victims had grown to 10.

Now they are charging the man with 15 counts of murder, although they say that number could rise even further. The alleged killings took place between 2021 and 2024. All of those who died were palliative care patients ranging in age from 56 to 94. But prosecutors say none of the alleged victims were actually dying. They also say the accused tried to cover up some of his alleged crimes by setting fire to the victims apartments. Rupert Wingfield Hayes. China's economy may have grown faster than predicted by more than 5%, according to official data on the first three months of the year, but that was before the hefty US tariffs of

145% on Chinese goods kicked in. It's thought that part of the reason for the better than expected figures is that Chinese exporters tried to ship as many of their products as they could before the American import taxes took effect. And now, after defiantly ignoring calls from the Trump administration to do a deal, Beijing has unexpectedly appointed a new trade envoy. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China had no choice. This tariff war was initiated by the US side. China has taken necessary countermeasures in order to defend its legitimate rights and interests and international fairness and justice.

China does not want to fight, but it's not afraid of one either. If the US truly wants to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop using maximum pressure and stop threats and blackmail. I asked our correspondent in Beijing, Stephen MacDonald, how credible these better than expected Chinese growth figures were. Well, there's always questions around, you know, the credibility of China's GDP figures. I mean, I think the interesting thing though, imagine if we build in all the assumptions and imagine that there is just as problematic this quarter as they always were for various reasons, what they are showing though is that the economy

here has held up better in the first quarter than had been expected. Now mind you, those figures are coming out before the tariffs have kicked in but we have had acknowledgement from the official who released the figures that these tariffs are definitely going to hurt China's economy and definitely hurt its exporters. A little example of that we've seen a report here that the companies here that make Christmas decorations for the US market they normally get those orders by now. They haven't received those orders yet because of the increased price from the tariffs. So that means in the US consumers they can either bust out last year's Christmas decorations or if they're

going to buy more this year they're going to cost more and this is what shows the predicament we're in. US consumers paying more for stuff. China's export companies hurting more as a result of this, putting pressure on both governments. But what the Chinese government is saying though, crucially, is that look, we're acknowledging this pressure on us certain elements of our economy. But the economy here is so big, really our trade to the US was only ever 2% of our GDP. We can ride this out. And we don't have to cut a deal with Donald Trump in a hurry if we don't want to. Yes, as you say, China has been very defiant saying they don't have to hold talks, they

can tough it out, but they have appointed a new trade negotiator. Does this mean that they could be talking to the US soon? Yes, this is very interesting. So you wouldn't be putting Li Chenggang in unless both of these things were true. They've got to be worried that China's heading into difficult waters, needs a firm hand, someone to guide China through this difficult period and possibly also preparing for negotiations with the US. Now, why do we think that? Because he's a decades long experienced trade negotiator. He's the former Chinese ambassador to the World Trade

Organization in Geneva. Just the sort of person you would want to have if you're going to sit down with the Americans and try and work your way out of this. So on the one hand China's toughing it out on the other hand it is showing signs that there is at some point going to be a deal, some sort of a negotiation. There just has to be. It hurts both sides too much. Stephen MacDonald in Beijing. Well, one consequence of the new tariffs that President Trump has imposed is that cargo ships are clogging up global ports. Many operators have put movements on hold as they work out whether there is a market for the goods they carry.

Marco Fugioni is the Director General of Britain's Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade. We've seen a lot of diversion of ships from China that were due to head to the US, diverting and coming to the UK and into the EU. In fact, in this first quarter of the year, the amount of Chinese imports into the UK has increased about 15% and into the EU by about 12%. And that's a direct impact of what President Trump is doing. But others are diverting to warehouse their goods, waiting to see what happens. All of this creates uncertainty, which increases disruption and increases prices for the consumers. And we've seen already something like 18% of sailings from China to the US being blanked,

which means they're not taking place. And we've heard from some of the shippers that they will instead dock in Mexico or Canada to avoid those costs in the US. Marco Fogione. Under the rule of the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it was common knowledge that criticising her government could land you in a secret prison.

Since she was ousted from office last year, victims have been coming forward, telling investigators harrowing tales of forced imprisonment and torture. Our South Asia correspondent, Samira Hussussain obtained rare access to a detention centre located on the compound of an elite military base in the capital Dhaka. This is the way up to my cell and to the right is where I was kept in. Oh my god. This is what my cell was.

Oh so not this room but in here gosh. This is what my cell was. They used to- Oh, so not this room, but in here. Yeah, inside. This was your cell? Yes. Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem, a British trained barrister, spent eight years locked in this cell. It was really difficult, really long.

It felt like being buried alive, being totally cut off from outside world. It was meticulously designed to give the detainees a worse than death experience. It felt what was being done to us was worse than death. I'm walking through a tiny doorway. It's not even five feet high. Width, it must be about two feet wide. There's crumbled bricks absolutely everywhere.

And these cells are unimaginably tiny. I'm walking into one. I cannot extend my arms to its full length. I can extend one arm to its full length, and I cannot stand up straight. And I am about five feet four inches tall it is unimaginable that people would have spent days, weeks, months or in some cases years in these tiny cells. All the people who are detained here they

were from different political identities and they just raised their voice against the previous regime, government of that time and that is why they were brought They were from different political identities and they just raised their voice against the previous regime, government of that time, and that is why they were brought here. Dejul Islam is the chief prosecutor for Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal. So he's building a case against those that are responsible for running these detention centres. Who were the perpetrators? In every case we found that it was designed by the Prime Minister.

So we got the information from the horse's mouth that the officers concerned, all the enforced death cases have been done with the approval or permission or order by the Prime Minister herself. Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist. Anti-government protests last year forced her out of office, and she's living in exile in India. Now her political party, the Awami League, says these enforced disappearances had nothing to do with them, that security forces operated alone. Thousands of victims have already come forward, and there are still many who were disappeared and have not yet been found. Others are still too afraid to come forward and talk about what happened.

The BBC has spoken to half a dozen victims who say they still live in fear. So I've come to the home of Attaquad Rasman Russell. He's 35 years old and he was a student leader for the opposition, the BNP. And that's why he believes he was picked up. And even though he was in the detention center for only a month, he talks about the mental anguish he continues to deal with. I fear now that even as I give this interview and talk about being taken by security forces, they might take me away again out of personal vengeance.

The fear is always there. Are you scared? Very much. I live in constant fear. I always have to watch my back when I'm traveling. The high officials, the top brass who facilitated the fascist regime are still in their position. As long as they're there, all is still in office. I'm really afraid of my own personal safety and of that of my family. That report by Samira Hussein in Dhaka.

Still to come on the Global News podcast. I have prepared food so I don't have to be in the kitchen too long. Sleep. Forget it. I don't sleep. Why viewers have become obsessed with a Swedish nature show about moose migration. You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Iran's nuclear program is again in the spotlight. As we record this podcast, the head of the UN's nuclear agency, Rafael Grossi, of the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to visit Tehran. The IAEA has previously expressed concerns about Iran's sharply increased production of highly enriched uranium following Donald Trump's decision seven years ago to pull the US out of a nuclear deal that had been negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

The visit by the watchdog chief comes days after Washington and Tehran held talks over Iran's nuclear programme, with more talks expected this weekend. Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if there's no deal. Iran has always denied it wants nuclear weapons but insists that its right to continue enriching uranium for its nuclear programme is non-negotiable. Our chief international correspondent, Lisa Doucet, told me more about the significance of Mr. Grossi's visit. Well, any visit by the head of the nuclear watchdog to Iran is very significant. Especially year on year, Iran's nuclear program continues to expand. But this one, the visit of Rafael Grossi, comes in between the first and what is expected to be the second round of

largely indirect talks between the United States and Iran about its nuclear program in exchange Iran hopes for sanctions relief. Now Rafael Grossi as he goes to Tehran has been saying that he's seen new signs of cooperation from the Iranians but in previous trips, his last one was in November, he basically said I'm far from being able to tell the international community precisely what is going on with Iran's nuclear program and he complained of not getting enough access to the sites, about not getting explanation for traces of uranium at undeclared sites. Now I should emphasize that under the 2015 nuclear deal that the United States unilaterally pulled out of, verification, very stringent verification, was very much part of that deal and Iran

largely followed it until the US pulled out and then year on year there have been questions over its cooperation. And it was Donald Trump that pulled the US out. Why given that is he now so keen to strike a deal now with Iran? Well when President Trump in his first term pulled out, it was 2018, he said as he did to almost any treaty that was agreed under President Obama's time, was that it wasn't a good deal, he could do a better deal. He didn't like the fact that Iran's nuclear program had what were called sunset clauses, that is that after 15 years Iran could continue to expand its nuclear program. So he boasted that he could do a better deal.

The consequence was that at the time of the signing of the deal, Iran committed itself to an enrichment level of 3.6%. Now when these talks are getting underway again, Iran, according to the IAEA, is enriching up to 60%, can easily get to 90%, which is weapons grade, and within months produce bombs, although Iran continues to say that it has not taken the decision to make a bomb. Liz Doucet, the World Health Organization says member states have agreed a landmark draft proposal aimed at strengthening global collaboration on prevention, preparedness and responses to future pandemics. The agreement is a culmination of years of negotiations and will be submitted for ratification at the WHO's annual assembly next month.

The organisation's chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, hailed the proposal as a significant milestone in what he said was our shared journey towards a safer world. Imogen Folkes has more details. The new treaty should ensure the world is notified immediately about emerging viruses so that governments can prepare and scientists can work quickly to develop treatments and vaccines. Countries also approved technology transfer to poorer countries as long as it was mutually agreed. This clause was tricky. Developing countries are still angry at the way wealthy nations bought up vaccines during COVID-19,

while countries with big pharmaceutical industries fear mandatory transfers might undermine research and development. The WHO is hailing the agreement as historic. But the treaty has been overshadowed by the US decision to leave the WHO and by funding cuts to the WHO's work fighting diseases like Ebola, HIV and MPOCs. Imogen folks, there's been a setback for Elon Musk's space programme after the Bahamas said it no longer wanted SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets to land there. This follows an explosion of a Starship rocket last month which sent fiery debris raining down over the Bahamas. SpaceX has not commented so far. Alice Adley has more details. Whoa! That was the sound of shocked spectators in the Bahamas witnessing the explosion of the SpaceX Starship

shortly after its takeoff from Texas at the end of March. The world's largest rocket spun out of control before breaking into pieces on its eighth test flight. Such was the extent of the debris that aircraft were temporarily diverted from parts of the Caribbean and Florida to avoid it. This man told NBC what he saw. I looked out my kitchen window and I could see Starship rotating around. It was a bright white flash in the sky. I wanted to make sure first and foremost that it wasn't tumbling at us." Following the incident, the Bahamas said the

debris contained no toxic materials and added it was not expected to have a significant impact on marine life or water quality. But now it's reversed a decision to allow 19 further landings of the SpaceX Falcon 9, pending a full environmental assessment. In March, debris was still being found, following the explosion of another starship test flight further south in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Alice Adley, now in an era of short attention spans and endless choices for TV shows you might be surprised to hear that a series that has no plot, no dialogue and only sporadic action has become a sensation. In what's

being called an example of the growing popularity of slow TV, a once obscure annual Swedish series about the moose migration has now reached nine million streams and the latest three-week 24-7 live broadcast has just begun with fans already admitting to missing work, school and even sleep to watch it. Stephanie Prentice reports on the show's unusual appeal. Stephanie Prentiss reports on the show's unusual appeal. At first it may not seem like an obvious TV hit. An unscripted, round-the-clock, minimally produced window into Moose migration patterns. But since it launched Dems Dura-Allevondringen has been a hit.

And this year the superfans were ready. I was late to school because I saw moose and my teacher was like, what? What do you see in the city? And I was like, no, it's on the TV. So we put up the great moose migration on the big screen in my classroom and started watching it every day. I make sure I have coffee, I have snacks, I have prepared food so I don't have to be in the kitchen too long, sleep. Forget it, I don't sleep. The show is part of a growing concept called Slow TV, the trend that began when the Norwegian

public broadcaster aired minute-by-minute footage of a seven-hour cross-country train trip and around 20 percent of Norway's population tuned in. Other shows have included Salmon Swimming Down a Stream and a 12-hour Knitting Marathon. John Erlag was the project manager for the 15-strong crew capturing the migrating moose. The slow TV concept and the meditative feeling of the program is actually what people like because everyone is so stressed today and this is the total opposite of that.

And that's one thing I think people really, really like. While it may be slow, the show isn't without its heart racing moments. The livestream's chat exploded with comments from all around the world when a lone moose crossing the half-frozen Ongerman River fell through the ice. crossing the half-frozen Ongerman River fell through the ice. It thrashed its way out as viewers celebrated. Sightings of a bear padding about in the snow, a Eurasian lynx and an arctic fox have also been popular. Mostly though, the show is a wide shot of a river surrounded by trees with the occasional

bird overhead. And that, says Swedish media expert and professor Annette Hill, is the point. It's a genre that's going to stay with us and it has some roots in reality television with following something as it's happening in real time. But unlike reality television, it's less, so it feels a lot more authentic. With only a handful of moose currently across, Den Sture Allervondringen has almost three weeks left. And as its producers say, anything can happen. But the good news for slow TV fans, it's likely not much will.

And that report was by Stephanie Prentice. Well let's end this podcast on a slightly racier note in more ways than one. What's said to be the world's first organized race between sperm is set to take place in Los Angeles next week. The start-up behind the idea has created a 20 centimeter long racetrack designed to mimic the reproductive system and viewers will be able to watch the tiny swimmers movements through high resolution cameras. The organizers say they want to raise awareness about declining fertility. Dr. Myrick Gallagher from the University of Birmingham leads research into how male diagnostics for

fertility treatment can be improved. So what's his reaction to the buzz this event has caused? Very happy. Usually it's just me shouting into a dark room saying how cool these cells are. It's a really important thing. So if you think about the scale of fertility problems, everybody knows someone that's had some fertility issues. But what most people don't know is that half of those cases, there's a male problem. I think anything that raises the profile of fertility

and particularly male sub-fertility is really valuable. We know from things like the HabSelect clinical trial that we had a big part of in Birmingham, the sperm are responsible for up to 40% of miscarriage. So actually you don't just want the fastest one that gets there first, you really want the one that's the highest quality and the one that's going to give you a healthy baby at the end of it. We spend a lot of time thinking about how

sperm motility reflects quality, particularly how the sperm tail moves, how that gives us an insight into everything that's going on. I mean, the analogy I like to use is if I'm in a river and you see me moving, you don't know if I'm drowning and being carried away or if I'm Michael Phelps. You need to know all that detail, which is something we don't look at enough really in treatment or in research. The length of a sperm is about the size of a human hair. Really, really small cells. They swim at something up to maybe three times their body length a second.

So they do go quite quickly when you're looking at those scales. The distance we're talking about in this race, which is about 20 centimetres, it will probably take sperm, if they're swimming directly there, about an hour. So it's quite a long race that they're trying to put sperm through. That was Dr Myrig Gallagher. 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, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Masood Ibrahim Kale, the producer of Stephanie Zakrisson. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janak Jalil. Until next time, goodbye.