Global News Podcast - US and Ukraine strike mineral deal

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Ukraine and the US reach a deal on mineral resources. Donald Trump says it’ll help repay US military aid. Also: New investigations into war atrocities in the DRC and a Chinese animation breaks box office records.

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. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Andrew Peach and in the early hours of Wednesday 26 February these are our main stories. Ukrainian officials say a deal has been reached between Kiev and Washington on the joint exploitation of Ukraine's mineral resources.

Britain is to fast-track planned increases in defence spending two days before Prime Minister Kyiv Starmer meets President Trump in Washington. Also in this podcast, we hear from survivors of a prison fire in the city of Goma in eastern Congo. We were walking from our sleep by a fire in the middle of the night. We started to scream, fire, help, but there was no one there and the doors were padlocked shut. but there was no one there and the doors were padlocked shut. Ukrainian officials say a deal has been reached between Kyiv and Washington on the joint exploitation of Ukraine's mineral resources. At the time of recording this podcast, the details haven't been made public,

but reports suggest the US has dropped some of its more drastic demands. Rare earths, titanium, graphite and lithium would be hugely lucrative for investors and for Mr Trump. Speaking from the Oval Office, he said they could be a way of recouping hundreds of billions of dollars of US military aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago. Lots of equipment, military equipment and the right to fight on and originally the right to fight. Look, Ukraine, I will say they're very brave and they're good soldiers, but without the United States and its money and its military equipment,

this war would have been over in a very short period of time. Officials in Kyiv say the terms of a deal have been reached and President Zelensky will fly to Washington on Friday, just a week after Mr Trump called him a dictator. For more on this, I've been speaking to our correspondent in Washington, Bernard Busman, but first, Abduljahlil Abdur-Rasulov in Kyiv. We have spoken to Ukrainian officials in the Presidential Office here, and on the condition of an enemy that they did confirm that terms have been agreed, and judging from the media reports, we can say that the deal includes not just critical minerals

and rare earth metals, but also it covers oil and gas. And Ukrainian media are also talking about ports and other related infrastructure. The agreement would establish a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50% of revenues that will come from developing mineral resources and infrastructure. And importantly, there is this reference that this fund would invest, reinvest the capital in projects in Ukraine. And this is certainly a positive signal for Ukrainian officials. And they're saying that overall, the conditions that this deal is offering is much better than what they had previously. And the fund that will be established as part of this deal will not

be completely controlled by the US as it was before. And now it's not clear the size of the US stake in this fund, but I think this will be established later during the talks. The most important thing is that the figure of $500 billion is dropped. And previously, the US wanted Ukraine to contribute this amount of money because they saw that this is how much the United States provided Ukraine in terms of military and economic aid and Donald Trump kept saying that he wants this money back and the Ukrainian resisted saying that they received all aid in the form of grant and therefore they have no financial obligations

to return anything. And with you, Bernard Rosmary in Washington, this sounds like standard Donald Trump tactics. Say something that everyone thinks is outrageous, then step back from it a little, and everyone's happy with the deal they get. Well, it is, and that's kind of in his classic negotiating tactic, in that they're very unclear on details, and then something happens, and then they go from there.

We've so far really not had much firm details on this end either, besides what we heard from Donald Trump just a few minutes ago in the Oval Office. Now, he didn't say anything necessarily about what's in the deal or whether there's any security guarantees that would come after the deal. He just said it gives Ukraine the right to fight on. And President Zelensky, he says, is likely to come on Friday to sign the deal. He's always framed this very much as a transaction. The deal in exchange for the assistance the United States has provided to Ukraine in the last three years of fighting.

This is Bernd de Bosman in Washington and Abdou Jalil Abdura-Sulov with me from Kyiv. Now before President Zelensky flies to Washington, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday. He's announced an increase to the UK's defence spending to reach 2.5% of GDP within the next two years. To pay for it, he's slashing overseas aid for the world's poorest countries. Here he is making the announcement in Downing Street. A new approach on defence, a revival of our industrial base, a deepening of our alliances, the instruments of our national power brought together, creating opportunity, assuring our allies, delivering security for our country.

Is this all to curry favour with President Trump? Here's our political correspondent, Rob Watson. I don't think there's any doubt, although Keir Starmer made the argument that what had really got the ball rolling was Russia's invasion of Ukraine three years ago, that this is all about being able to go to Washington and say to Donald Trump on Thursday, look, we Europeans, including we in the UK, we get it. We get the idea that you think that we should be spending more on our own security. And in return, of course,keir Starmer and other European

leaders want Donald Trump to think again about the wisdom of doing a quick deal with President Putin and of course they want him to continue to support Ukraine. I thought the tone was fascinating in the sense that he continued to stress on several occasions the importance of the UK's relationship with the United States. Indeed, he said at one point that he hoped to deepen it after seeing President Trump. And what I take from that is this idea, and it doesn't just apply to Keir Starmer, but I think to other European leaders, that they're hoping upon hope, upon hope, despite the signals

that somehow they can salvage that post-1945 transatlantic alliance between the United States and European countries, which has essentially dominated European and world security since the end of World War II. In other words, they haven't given up on it. They don't want to confront Donald Trump. They want to try and somehow, how could I put this, sort of soothe him, to persuade him rather than to just give up and say right it's all over the world has changed. Lord Kim Darroch is a former British ambassador to the US and a former

national security adviser. He's in favour of the plan. Keir Starmer needed to take something on defence to his visit to Washington. It's exactly the right moment not just because of the meeting with Donald Trump but because of the security situation that we face globally in terms of the threat from Russia, the instability around the world, the problems in the Middle East, the threat to international shipping. When you have to prioritise, as we do at the moment, then defence spending has to be the priority. But the announcement has been condemned by aid agencies.

Gideon Rabinovitz is from Bond, a British-based network for organisations which work in international development. He says the aid reduction will backfire on the UK with devastating consequences. International cooperation, support to countries to remain stable, build democratic systems, to be able to maintain their own security, to improve the health and prosperity of their people, helps to make those countries more stable and reduces the chances that they fall into conflict. It's always cheaper to prevent conflict from happening than to respond when conflict already breaks out. And what we would say is that these cuts are self-defeating from a security perspective.

Our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale, considers what the move will mean for humanitarian projects supported by the UK. In the House of Commons this afternoon, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, told MPs he was proud of the UK's development work. Moments later, the UK Prime Minister announced a massive cut in, yes, Britain's development budget. The reduction from 0.5% of national income to 0.3% means $7.5bn less will be spent on foreign aid by the UK each year. Given that billions of this budget still pays for asylum seekers' hotels in the UK, the actual amount of money spent on aid overseas will be about 0.15%. The Prime Minister said the UK would

use this money to help Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza tackle climate change and support multinational efforts on global health. Aid charities were stunned. Save the Children said it was a betrayal of the world's most vulnerable children. The one campaign said it would create huge problems for the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance. All this after Donald Trump froze America's development spending arm USAID. By cutting foreign aid, the UK government has broken a manifesto commitment to protect the budget. It has also damaged its policy of using aid to engage more closely with countries in the global south. David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee and former Labour Foreign Secretary, said the cut was a blow to Britain's proud reputation as a global humanitarian and development leader.

James Landale reporting. The mineral rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been plagued by conflict for more than 30 years, but there's been a new wave of violence since the start of this year. 7,000 people have been killed since January, as the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the cities of Bukavu and Goma. During the capture of Goma, more than 4,000 prisoners escaped from the male section of the jail there. A fire that broke out during the jailbreak killed at least 130 women and 25 children in a neighbouring prison. Our senior international correspondent, Orla Gurin, has been to the crime scene to meet female survivors who say they were raped by male prisoners. And a warning, details of this report are distressing.

and the warning details of this report are distressing. I'm just walking into the women's wing or what's left of it. You can see all around evidence of how intense the blaze was. There are burn marks here on all the walls and lots of ash at my feet. And there are a lot of belongings strewn around here, piles of clothing, lots of cooking utensils. On the ground I can see a copy of the Bible. You can just imagine what was endured by the women and children who were trapped here, locked in, unable to get away. Two survivors from the women's prison have come back for the first time. They want to tell their story. In silence, they walk through the charred ruins. 22 year old Pascaleen has her hand to her mouth in

horror. Nadine, who is 23, is soon in tears. Pascaleen can you tell me what happened to you that night? I was raped by two men, violently, and passed out. While the second man was raping me, I came to. He told me he would kill me if I tried to escape. I was forced to let it happen instead of losing my life. The unlucky ones were raped. The lucky ones got out without being raped. That night the prison was engulfed by chaos and by fire. Most of the guards long gone. By morning thousands of the men had managed to break free. Thousands of the men had managed to break free. But the women were still trapped, among them Nadine, who was raped by two men and saw women and children dying around her.

When I sleep at night, I see scenes of everything I've seen here coming back to me. I see the dead again, as many dead bodies as I saw here, until I got out. Maybe through you, someone can help us find justice, because we've suffered a bad savagery. Do you have any faith in injustice here in the DRC? I don't, because instead of helping us, they were the ones who closed the door. Instead of opening the door, they let us die like animals in this prison. I'm just coming into a tent in the grounds of a hospital in Goma. I've come here to meet a 25 year old woman, Sifa Mohammed.

Sifa was badly burned in the fire in the prison. Her right arm is very heavily bandaged and you can see burn marks on her arm and on her face. She was in prison without being convicted of anything, she says she was with her two-year-old daughter Esther. We were walking from our sleep by a fire in the middle of the night. We started to scream fire help we will die in this prison. But there was no one there and the doors were padlocked shut. There were no night watchmen. They had all gone.

Sifa, I'm sorry to ask this question, but can you tell me what happened to your daughter, Esther? I had her on my back when we wanted to escape. Something fell on her. Was it a bomb? I don't know. She died on the spot. The full story of what happened in the prison may never be known. Sifa says no one is looking for the truth. She and the other survivors we spoke to have not been contacted by anyone. Not the rebels in control in Goma now, nor the government in Kinshasa which used to run the prison. Oleg Erin in Goma. The BBC asked the government in Kinshasa about what the survivors had said. We haven't yet had a response. The BBC asked the government in Kinshasa about what the survivors had said. We haven't

yet had a response. The International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan went to the DRC on Tuesday, announcing fresh investigations into atrocities committed by the M23 rebels. Mr Khan stated that any armed group or force must comply with humanitarian law. The law must be seen to be effective. All individuals must comply with their own statute. Nobody can attack civilians, hurt people, kill people. And this is a moment where we will see if international criminal law can withstand the demands that the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo insist upon. African countries have appointed three former leaders from Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia to try to negotiate peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For more on the significance of these developments, our Africa regional editor Richard Kugoe spoke to my colleague Charles Haviland. It's a very significant one because it's widely seen as an attempt by the office of the chief prosecutor to sort of reaffirm the commitment of the ICC to investigate some of the crimes that say to have been committed in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gender-based violence, forced conscription of of miners to join the war, wide displacements, especially targeted at individuals who seem to be really quite opposed to the agenda of the rebels who have really been advancing in that area. So there are quite a number, but those are the most prominent that have been pointed out so far. Now on the more positive side, there is a nascent peace process in Congo and new facilitators

have been appointed to oversee this. What are these facilitators' aims? Yes, so principally their role is to oversee a consolidated, a merged peace process. We had what was called the Luanda Peace Process that was chaired by the Angolan president. The objective of that was to ease tensions between DRC and Rwanda. And now with these three former heads of government or heads of state appointed to oversee the peace process, they're going to have additional aims, is that right, such as securing aid

routes? Yeah, definitely, and opening up critical supply routes. They're going to be delivering the much needed aid, also securing Goma and the surrounding areas. It's one of the cities that was captured by the M23 and most importantly it will be enforcing an immediate ceasefire. Now that was agreed during the joint summit held by the East Africa community and the Southern African Development Community just two weeks ago in Tanzania. There have been decades of conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo and there have been ceasefires before. If one is achieved, is it likely to hold?

I think it's a wait and see because there have been several as you pointed out but they have been all violated. They can't quite hold. But we've seen the latest diplomatic push just as seeking to quell the violence and possibly then if we can see a now more unified and coordinated approach then I think maybe that would have fairly a different outcome in terms of addressing the crisis that is now threatening to spill over into a regional conflict. So it's a wait and see how this is really going to pan out.

Our Africa regional editor Richard Kigoye. And still to come. Norja, long time no see. Are you willing to go to war with me? Yes. I'm the best. Norjar 2, the Chinese language fantasy, breaks animation box office records. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday we break down one big new 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. The family of a French surgeon accused of raping or assaulting hundreds of children over 25 years has been giving evidence at his trial. It's the largest child sexual abuse case in

French history. Our correspondent Andrew Harding is in the western town of Vannes where it's taking place. Joël Lusquanec sat quietly in court as two sons and an expert witness struggled to make sense of the surgeon's double life. His youngest son called him a cold, intelligent man. The expert witness said the 74-year-old was calculating and manipulative. He also quoted Luskwanec's ex-wife, saying she'd praised him as a gentle, ideal father. The former hospital doctor has already confessed to multiple heinous acts, and in the coming weeks he will be confronted with evidence from his own diaries, in which

he details and boasts of raping children in his care. A few streets away, dozens of his alleged victims and their lawyers have watched proceedings from an overflow room, scattered with emotional support dogs. For now, the focus is on the Squanex actions, but France's medical establishment is also in the spotlight, with evidence suggesting that clear warnings about the surgeon's behaviour and his prior convictions were brushed aside. A Spanish city has honoured two Senegalese immigrants for their heroism in trying to save a gay man from being beaten to death by a homophobic mob almost four years ago. Ibrahima Diak and Magat and Die were given the status of adopted sons of their city, an informal way of recognising outstanding bravery. The

story from Mark Duff. Titulo de Fijo adoptivo de la ciudad de la Coruña, au señor, don Ibrahima Diak. Towering over a Coruña's diminutive mayor, the two heroes of the hour looked bashful, a bit overawed even, as they were praised for their altruism. As with all the best heroes, they were modest to a fault. This was Ibrahima Diaz's response to his award. Ibrahima Diaz's response to his award. I was born in a family that doesn't have much, but they gave me many things more valuable than money. They gave me fundamental love. They gave me everything I have with love and affection.

They gave me respect, education and above all values. The two men were the only ones to intervene in July 2021 when a young gay man called Samuel Luis was brutally attacked outside a nightclub in Acruña. He later died of his injuries. Footage from the night showed bystanders filming the assault on their phones while some of the attackers shouted homophobic abuse. The two migrants also helped convict four men who were jailed for the killing last year. Acarugna's mayor, Ines Rey, said that the fact two undocumented migrants were the only

people to step in to help Mr Louise left, as she put it, much food for thought. Mark Duff reporting. The Academy Awards may be later this week, but a film's success isn't just measured by its accolades. Box office numbers play a role too, of course. Chinese animation Norjar 2 has reached a major milestone, raking in almost two billion dollars in just four weeks. It's now eclipsed Pixar's Inside Out 2 as the highest grossing animated film of all time. Here's Ella Bicknall. Norja 2, a film that has taken the world by storm. I am the three princes of Nezha. Its protagonist, a mischievous and powerful child spirit, reincarnated into a new body

and forced to battle the burden of his past to protect the world from a growing evil force that threatens to destroy everything. Action meets fantasy and mythology with stunning special effects. Critics have called it a visual masterpiece. Those rave reviews on top of a prime Lunar New Year release date and a booming sense of Chinese nationalism. Audiences have been flocking to the theatres in droves. It's also been a hit in Japan, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and it's now on show in 800 cinemas across North America.

The animation in it was amazing. The attention to detail was really nice. I really liked the characters in it. It had a nice mixture of seriousness and fun and a little bit of a comedy. I really enjoyed the fight scenes as well. The animation was so fun, was super pretty and beautiful. Aesthetically distinct from a lot of Western animation and I really liked that. I think that was a breath of fresh air." The film grossed more than $1.9 billion, overtaking animated blockbusters such as The Lion King, Toy Story and Frozen. As well as booming box office figures, there are hopes Norja too will cause a boom for Chinese tourism.

The fog, the picturesque area, seeing something that I saw on film and now I see the reality. English teacher Alexandros Rouales has been following the footsteps of Norja's legendary journey through East China's Yangxi province. I found out in the movie that it was about a certain location here in China, so I figured I'd go with my son because he loved the movie. The fact that he's half Chinese and half Canadian and he's really excited about learning more about the Chinese culture, I'm happy for that and I'm all for it. China's state railway group wants to capitalise on the increased interest. Xiao Chenquan is a train conductor in the region.

We're giving commentary at every train station, linking the movie's storyline with the local culture. That and we recommend tourist routes and destinations in the Zhangxi province. The movie's popularity is a boost to both tourism and our local culture. Despite its recent release, Nour Jartou is now the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. It's expected to pass the two billion mark soon, further solidifying its place in cinematic history. expected to pass the 2 billion mark soon, further solidifying its place in cinematic

history. Alabignor reporting. On an earlier Global News podcast, we told you about the upcoming planetary parade, a once-in-a-blue-moon event where all seven planets in our solar system line up in a row. While the alignment is happening this week, it's so rare it'll be decades before stargazers will get another chance to see it. Here's our science correspondent, Pallab Ghosh. For weeks we've been able to see as many as six planets in the night sky. Now this planetary parade has reached its climax with Mercury also coming into view, completing the full set of the other planets in our solar system. Among the star gazers catching a glimpse is Professor Catherine Haymans, who's Scotland's

astronomer royal. I've cycled up Arthur's Seat this evening in Edinburgh. Unfortunately the weather gods are against me because the clouds have rolled in from the west, but I can still see Venus shining brightly up there. Jupiter's right up there and I've got Mars over there in the east so I've seen three of the best planets. Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society explains where to look in the sky this evening to spot the planets. You need to start pretty much in twilight as soon as the sun has set and then you need to look over at Mercury and Saturn over in the West both very low down. Above them is Venus it's the brightest of the planets. Further around you can find Neptune and Uranus but you

need a telescope for those and then further around still is Jupiter that's really bright too and then even further around is Mars and that's got this distinct pinkish reddish color so it really stands out too. All seven planets will be visible for only a few more days, and the next time to see the spectacle so well again will be in 2040. Palo Goz and apologies if you're listening in the Arctic Circle or other northern latitudes where this phenomenon won't be visible. That's all from us for now, there'll be a new edition of Global News to download later. If you'd like to comment on this edition and the stories we included, drop us an email.

The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. On X we are at BBC World Service and you can use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll, the producer was Ella Bicknell, the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Andrew Peach, Thanks for listening and 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 new 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.