Global News Podcast - US offers Cuba a new relationship

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

America's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, has offered the Cuban people a "new relationship" in a video message marking the anniversary of Cuba's independence. He blamed the island's hardships on its communist leadership and not the US fuel blockade, which has exacerbated the economic crisis. Mr Rubio made the comments as US media reported that the Justice Department would unveil charges against Cuba's veteran leader Raul Castro.Also: The World Health Organization is exploring vaccine and treatment options to help contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has released a video showing him taunting detained activists from a Gaza aid flotilla. As investigations into how a group of experienced divers died in the Maldives continue, officials say all five bodies have now been retrieved from a deep cave. Russia's President Putin has met China's President Xi in Beijing and signed around 20 agreements just days after Donald Trump's visit. North Korea's Naegohyang football team has beaten South Korea's Suwon FC 2-1 in the semi-final of the Asian Women's Champions league in a rare match between the former enemies. English wines have won the highest percentage of gold medals per entry in a global competition, with experts describing the improvement as remarkable... and we find out why the T-Rex had such little arms.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and on the afternoon of the 20th of May, these are our main stories. The U.S. Secretary of State has offered Cuba a new relationship with America in comments ahead of expected U.S. charges against the veteran communist leader, Rao Castro. The World Health Organization says a vaccine may be ready in nine months to help counter the current Ebola outbreak. in Central Africa. Also in this podcast, the latest on the rescue mission in the Maldives after a scuba diving accident. The remaining two bodies have been recovered and brought back to the surface. So that completes the diving mission.

So the search and recovery mission is now complete. And a team from North Korea traveled to South Korea for a football match. We'll hear from our reporter who was there. America's top diplomats. Marco Rubio has offered a new relationship with the Cuban people in his first direct address to the island's population as Secretary of State. Speaking in Spanish on the anniversary of Cuba's independence, Mr. Rubio blamed the island's unimaginable hardships on its communist leadership and not the US fuel blockade.

The reason you are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil obligate by the US. As you know better than anyone, you have been suffering from blackouts for years. The real reason you don't have electricity, fuel or food is because those who control your country have plundered billions of dollars, but nothing has been used to help the people. US media are reporting the Justice Department will shortly unveil charges against Cuba's veteran leader, Raul Castro, in the latest move to pressure the communist authorities. The indictment relates to the downing of humanitarian planes 30 years ago. Sarah Montague got more on the significance of the speech from our correspondent in Havana, Will Grant. Well, it comes on a day when we are

expecting there is a lot of speculation that the United States may well bring an indictment against Rao Castro. He is no longer the president of Cuba, as you know, nor the head of the Cuban Communist Party, but he is the co-founder of the Cuban Revolution along with his brother, Fidel Castro. It would be a hugely symbolic step if that goes ahead. But in terms of Madco Rubio's message, it was fascinating. First, of course, it is in Spanish, and he himself is a Cuban American, who was a Florida senator for many, many years, who basically built his political platform in opposition to the Castro government. He said specifically that President Trump was offering a new path to Cuba. Now, you'll remember that in 2014, President Obama opened a new path to Cuba, but we can safely say this will be a very, very

different one, whereas that was opening, reproschement. This has been about pressure to get to this point and heaping pressure on through that oil blockade that you mentioned to a point where he's basically saying, look, we can offer, as an initial step, a hundred million dollars in terms of aid through the Catholic Church, but ultimately a new relationship that isn't run through something called Gaessa, which is the commercial wing of the Cuban military. How is it likely to go down in Cuba? Pretty poorly, specifically the element of bringing an indictment against Rao Castro. That is likely to harden positions very, very much within the Cuban government. Rao Castro is pretty much untouchable from their point of view.

He is one of the original generation of revolutionaries. He was on the Granma in the 1950s, the boat from which Cuban exiles return to the island to defeat the dictatorship of Fulhencio Batista in 1959. he's on the very, very ground floor of the Cuban Revolution. He created it, or one of its creators. So that will harden their position, the idea that a 94-year-old man is basically being threatened with indictment criminal charges in the United States over something that took place in the 1990s.

But I think among ordinary people there will be a lot in which Marco Rubio says that rings true to them. The idea that their island is failing, that that is the result of mismanagement by the government, that they aren't able to run profitable businesses and being able to breathe economically in ways they'd like. There's lots in there than Marguerbius said that will chime with many ordinary Cubans. And what do we know now about the situation in Cuba, given the oil blockade?

It's utterly dire. It is utterly dire. I see it every single time I come here and I come very, very often. I've been here, I think this is the fourth time this year, and each time I stay for sort of 10 days or so. Each time I come in from the airport, it's harder and harder and harder. You can see that among ordinary people who are having to walk or cycle in hugely high temperatures.

There is rubbish being burned on the streets because there's no garbage collection taking place, no rubbish trucks that all belong to the state because they simply don't have any fuel. There is constant blackouts lasting 20 hours a day, rising discontent with sporadic protests taking place here and there over recent weeks and months. It is a very, very bleak picture. And the difficult thing is, of course, that's hitting children's educations. That's hitting ordinary people getting to work. Hospitals are basically close to almost nothing but emergency cases. So yeah, people are in very, very much survival mode and have been for quite a long time now. This blockade is in its fifth month. That was Will Grant reporting from Havana. The Ebola outbreak has continued to

grow and a climate of fear is descending on Central Africa. With the World Health Organization, warning infections could reach a thousand in the coming days in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latest figures announced on Tuesday suggest 136 people have died in this latest outbreak. Dr. O'Reilly Bagamber is a lecturer at a local teachers' college. We hear the cases of death and the burial all around us. but everyone is now trying to protect themselves. But all we know, there is a fear and anxiety among the population. The World Health Organization says it's exploring treatment options

and the outbreak is of significant regional but not global concern. There is currently no approved vaccine for this strain of the virus. However, doses for trials may be ready in three months with a possible vaccine in nine. Liberia's former assistant health minister, Tobit Naisois, played a key role in stopping a previous outbreak, and he spoke to us on his way to the epicenter of the new outbreak. I'm flying to Bonia at the epicenters of the outbreak. To understand the interceptment of what is going on on the ground, because there is community transmission going on right now.

We are very, very late. the disease is ahead of us because it was in the community in the month of April. So we are really beyond time and cases are far out of control. I got the latest from our correspondent in the region, Thomas Macquarna. Well, the gentleman who's just spoken has put it very clearly that everyone's cared about the potential devastating effect of this virus because it was detected late. It was detected five days ago, not really detected, but announced and declared an international concern around three days ago and first declared an outbreak five days ago by the Africa CDC. And the problem is the first case that is suspected to have happened in the epicenter of Bunya is the case of a nurse who passed on.

And when he was buried, no one knew about the virus. And you can imagine the African rituals for burial at funerals is where most of the cases are suspected. to cases of transmission are suspected to happen. And so as it stands right now, around 543 cases, about 30 more cases overnight announced by the Health Minister of the DRC and around 136 people dead. And one of the virologists that are leading WHO's charge in DRC right now, they're saying that the test kits are needed and needed urgently because at the moment, one test kit can only do six patient tests an hour. And in a country that has almost 543 people suspected to have the virus and this number steadily climbing, it's a crisis. And it's good that humanitarian organizations

like WHO, the doctors without borders and more are going into the province of Vitturi to try and respond to this. Lots of people listening to this will remember that absolutely horrendous outbreak of Ebola between 2018 and 2020. And I imagine this outbreak has brought a lot of fear in the region? And is there a sense that the authorities, have they learnt lessons from that outbreak in the way that they're dealing with this one? Yeah. If you speak to experts, experts tell you that the good thing about what's happening right now, or the brighter side of things, is that the DRC government, although detected late, are responding to this virus in the way they're supposed to. But the problem is that you can enhance screening in places.

you can't speak to the residents and try to educate them on the effects of this. But when the virus was announced an outbreak five days ago, the minister said on television that instead of people running to hospitals after being infected, they run to the church because there's superstition and myths about the disease of Ebola being a case of witchcraft and that it's false. And this is part of the problem that you have to deal with this information breakdown over time to try and deal with this virus right now. but people are, it depends where you're speaking from.

If you speak in Kinshasa to people, they'll tell you that it's not a big problem yet, but if you speak to people in Bunya, they'll tell you that it's a huge problem. Thomas Macquana. Israel's far-right national security minister, Itimar Ben-Gavir, has released a video in which he taunts detained activists from a Gaza aid flotilla who are being held in the Israeli port of Ashdod. It shows them kneeling with their hands tied and, foreheads on the ground. It's angered many in Israel, including the foreign minister,

Gideon Saar, who called it a disgraceful display, and the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was not in line with Israel's values and norms. From Jerusalem, here's our Middle East correspondent, Yolan Nell. The video shows dozens of international activists kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. Waving a large Israeli flag, Itamar Ben-Govir tells them in Hebrew, welcome to Israel, we are the masters. The activists who were detained in international waters are also shown on the deck of a ship as the Israeli national anthem is played.

The Italian Prime Minister called the video unacceptable and said demonstrators, including many Italian citizens, were being treated in a way that violates human dignity. And in an unusual step, the Israeli Foreign Minister joined condemnation of his cabinet colleague. Addressing him on X, Gideon Sarr wrote, No, you are not the face of Israel. Investigations into how a group of experienced divers died in the Maldives are ongoing.

Officials say all five bodies have now been retrieved. In a race against time to bring the bodies out of the deep cave, known locally as Shark Cave, a team of specialist divers from Finland were flown in after a rescue diver from the Maldives died. Our global affairs reporter and Barrasanne Etirajan told me the latest. Now the Maldivian officials are saying that the two remaining bodies, the last bodies which were in the cave, they have been brought to this surface. Now basically this brings an end to this entire rescue and retrieval mission because last week these five Italian divers, they went underwater to a deep water cave for an exploration and they did not surface again. And earlier I spoke to the Maldivian government spokesperson, Muhammad was in Sharif. and this is what he had to say.

The remaining two bodies have been recovered and brought back to the surface and are now being transported back to the capital, Malay, to the mortuary. So that completes the diving mission. So the search and recovery mission is now complete. And embarrassing, are we any closer to finding out what happened to these people? Because these were expert divers that died. Yeah, one of them was a marine biology professor

from the University of Genoa in Italy. So according to her husband, and she had done more than 5,000 dives over the years. And she had also taken her daughter. So probably they had taken all the precautions, but we are not very clear what really happens. That's why the Maldivian government has started this investigation. Now, what the officials are saying is that all these people have taken GoPro cameras

and all these watches measured the depths to which they go into. And what really happens, again, by analyzing all these equipment, they should be able to reach a conclusion. But various possibilities are being discussed by various experts. One of them, the latest one, is about the water current. At that deep, at that depth, the water current could have carried them deep inside the K. And they were not able to come out because of the current. And there are also theories regarding what was the mixture of the gas, the cylinders they had carried.

Because under high pressure, the inhaling oxygen, the composition could be different because it is a mixture of both oxygen and nitrogen. It could have been different or whether they had any backup cylinders when they went into this diving. So these are some of the reasons pointed out, but only a final investigation will bring out the truth. Ambarrison, Etirajan.

Still to come in this podcast. So everybody's been fascinated by why big meat-eating dinosaurs like T-Rex have got tiny arms. Just why did the most? most fearsome dinosaur have such little arms. This is the Global News podcast. President Vladimir Putin has met President Xi Jinping in Beijing just days after Donald Trump's visit. The two leaders renewed plans for a natural gas pipeline between Russia and China, but gave no clear timeline.

More than 20 agreements were signed on trade and technology, but the focus of the summit was the glowing praise for their relations. Here's our China correspondent, Laura Bicker. Vladimir Putin is back in Beijing, and his welcome looks rather familiar, the precision of the Chinese Honor Guard, and the cheering children, all a near-mirror image of Donald Trump's recent state visit. Only the flags being waived have been changed. Mr Putin is eager for China to say yes to a new government. pipeline, but there's been little progress.

Russia is the junior partner in this relationship, and Mr Shee knows it. The timing of this visit might be accidental, but President Xi will likely use it as propaganda, that he is now the man to meet. And he'll use it as proof that economically, politically, all roads now lead to Beijing. Mr She used the global spotlight to call for an end to the war in Iran. but there was no mention of Mr. Putin's war in Ukraine. The world today is far from peaceful, with unilateralism and hegemonism posing profound dangers.

The world faces the risk of regressing to the law of the jungle. That was a pointed jab at the US, and Mr. Putin chimed in. Russia and China play an important, stabilizing role on the world's stage here, The two leaders are close but no longer equal. China is now the partner Russia needs and the power that gets to set the terms. Laura Bicker in China. Some sporting rivalries are more significant than others, especially when national politics comes into play. Think India against Pakistan in the cricket. So when sports teams from North and South Korea play each other, there's always a big interest. That rivalry has just played out.

with a North Korean football team crossing the border for a game in the Asian Women's Champions League. Our sole correspondent, Jake Kwan, was watching. The North Koreans took the game two to one and South Korean people in the stands, I don't think they were too crestfallen. I think they were very much supporting both teams. We heard them cheering for both teams,

and everyone was in very much a good spirit. Now, although this is a semi-final game between pro team from Pyongyang, Nego-Hang Chukudan and South Korea-Suan FC, it was kind of seen as, yes, North Korea versus South Korea, because it is a very rare occasion for North Korean any sports team to come to South Korea. The last time it happened was nearly eight years ago. And a lot of people were wondering,

is this going to be a start of perhaps a better peace between the two countries? Because right now, they're having one of the worst relationship in recent years. So can we read anything else into it then? do you think apart from it just being a football game? It is definitely more than a football game. It is very political, even though I think there was a lot of trying to look very non-political. I mean, people were not really allowed to fly South Korean or North Korean flags there. But this is coming after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said that South Korea is now their sworn enemy.

This is what he said in 2024, said that South Korea is not a compatriot of North Korea, and that the North Korean people shouldn't even face South Koreans to talk to them. So we haven't really heard anything from North Korea, if you're a South Korean. But today we saw North Korean team facing South Koreans and giving them high five. We saw them, you know, shaking hands at one point. So, you know, if you are an optimist, you would think that perhaps this is a sign that North Koreans are willing to start some kind of peace process. But at the same time, for them, this could be just extension of treating South Korea.

like any other country. You know, why would they not show up to a game if it was being held anywhere else? So the North Koreans have sent their team and there is a million dollars for a winner and a North Korean team is a very strong contender. They're going to play a final game later this week and they're very much expected to win.

And at the same time, if they didn't show up, the Asian football, the authority, they could have disciplined them and banned from attending any other games later. So there was a lot of reason for them to show up today and do the game and take the hands and, you know, make nice with everyone. Jake Juan, if I asked you to name a country famous for its wines, you might say France or Italy or Australia, you probably wouldn't say England. But whilst France does hold the lead in this year's

International Wine Challenge, it was the English who won more gold medals as a percentage of their entries than any other country, 16%. The judges, the judges, said England's success showed its rise as a world-class wine producer. So is it time to show English wine more respect? Sam Caporn, co-chair and Judge of the Challenge, spoke to my colleague Sarah Montague. With every year that comes along, basically, there's opportunity for more complexity. The vines are getting older. In the cellars, there's more what's called reserve wines, which you can blend into the wines. I think there's a better appreciation of different sites and soils and microclimates and I think and people are learning, understanding their sight better.

Yeah, every passing year, the wines are just getting better and better. And this year was just fabulous. There's a lot of variety, more variety than has ever been before. There's sparkling wines. There's still wines. There's rosé. There's wines made from the classic varieties. There's peeweeds, which is sustainable varieties.

People are doing quite funky, funky wines. Although having said that, the wines we saw in the challenge are. are hugely sparkling, you know, huge amount of sparkling entrance. Right, because the, what, the English climate is particularly good for sparkling wine. Historically, they make the best wines with these kind of champagne break varieties. You've got chardonnay, pinin noir, pin and munier. And that's basically where we've always been for quite a long time, making these amazing traditional method, sparkling wines, similar soils for champagne, similar climate, slightly colder.

They were basically the, were the wines that were the wines that were. one big this year, these quite serious traditional method wines. They're the ones who do really well. What next? What do you think happens next for the English wine industry? The English wine industry, I think, is at such an exciting moment. I think there's increased awareness. I think there's a few different strands with that.

There's this enhanced quality, to be honest with you, as champagne is getting more and more expensive. There's a massive sweet spot with English wines. So some of these wines that run are ones that are readily available in a supermarket, And I think people being able to get their hands on them at a price that's really, really competitive with non-vintage champagne is really appealing. And a lot of wineries also are increasing tapping into visiting and tourists and hospitality and really embracing the kind of more southern hemisphere idea of come for a day and taste our wines and go in the vineyard and have a lovely lunch. So I think it's just really opening up to consumers and wine lovers and it's just a really exciting time for the industry. Finally, scientists say they've answered a question that many of us have wondered at some point or the other.

Why did T-Rex have such little arms? Our reporter Will Chalk has more. If you can learn anything from the film Jurassic Park, or countless children's toys. You can take on any dino rival. Fight them, bite them and smash them back to the Jurassic era. It's that T-Rexes are formidable opponents. And you'd have thought, with all that biting and fighting to do,

they'd have evolved some big arms to help them on their way. But they didn't. So everybody's been fascinated by why big meat-eating dinosaurs like T-Rex have got tiny arms. That's Dr Elizabeth Steele from the University of Cambridge here in the UK. And she's the co-author of a study that claims to have cracked the case. So what we have seen is that in several different dinosaur lineages, They have these big, powerful skulls with strong bite forces, and it's correlated with having small arms. This correlation repeated across multiple dinosaur families, which evolved separated by many millions of years.

All this suggests that the reason these dinosaurs had tiny arms was because their skulls were so big and strong. After all, having a huge powerful head and massive arms would take up a lot of energy to maintain. and as prey got bigger, head strength became the evolutionary priority. We've just confirmed what many people suspected, which is that if you've got a big skull, you don't need your arms as much because you're tackling big prey and if your skull is powerful, then you can do that much better. And arms become a bit redundant. Yet more insight then into creatures that are fascinated humans for years and don't show any signs of stopping. That was Will Chalk. And before we go, on the 4th of July this year, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday.

In the run-up to the celebrations, we're going to have a special podcast looking at the state of America today. If you have any thoughts or questions on this, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at global podcast at BBC.co.uk. And if you can include a voice note, that would be great. Thank you. And that's all from us for next. Now, if you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod.

Don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Holly Smith and the producer was Will Chalk. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.