Global News Podcast - US threatens tariffs over Greenland

Episode Date: January 18, 2026

President Trump warns he'll impose fresh trade tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to annex Greenland. European leaders have condemned the move, describing it as blackmail. Also: Iran's supreme leader acknowledges that "a few thousand people" were murdered during recent anti-government protests; a US federal judge calls for ICE agents in Minneapolis to face restrictions; Yoweri Museveni becomes Uganda's president for the seventh time in a row; NASA's Artemis II Moon rocket arrives at the launch pad; scientists debunk claims linking paracetamol to autism; the Scottish football team's change of clothes sparks a row over identity; and 'Sentimental Value' wins big at the European Film Awards. 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 BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Shopping for a car should be exciting, not exhausting, but sometimes it can feel like a maze. That's where Car Gurus comes in. They have advanced search tools, unbiased deal ratings and price history, so you know a great deal when you see one. It's no wonder Car Gurus is the number one rated car shopping app in Canada on the Apple App and Google Play Store. Buy your next car today with Car Gurus at Car Gurus.com. Go to Carguoros.ca to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's C-A-R-G-U-R-U-S dot CA.

Car gurus.com. You're not at the office. You're solving murders in the Scottish Highlands. You're not in your car. You're in a candlelit carriage on the way to the ball. This winter, see it differently when you stream the best of British TV with Britbox. Catch a new original series like Riot Women. New seasons of fan favourites like Shetland.

The body's been found. and on paralleled collections of Jane Austen, Agatha Christie and more. It's time to see it differently with Britbox. Watch with a free trial now at Britbox.com. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 18th of January, these are our main stories.

Demonstrations in Greenland as Donald Trump threatens export tariffs on eight European countries which oppose his plan to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Uganda's electoral authorities declare Yorri Maseveni, president for a seventh term, despite opposition accusations of widespread voter fraud. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khaminai admits, as he puts it, a few thousand people died in the recent anti-government protests. Also in this podcast. Get off the fence. We will identify you and come arrest you. Get off the fence. We will come arrest you.

A U.S. federal judge in Minnesota has ruled that 3,000 ICE agents sent to Minneapolis should face restrictions on what tactics they can use. Ever since his first presidency, Donald Trump, was keen to get hold of Greenland. But since the audacious U.S. raid on Venezuela, the president has been increasingly stuously. strident about his desire to buy the semi-autonomous Danish territory. On Saturday, he threatened eight European allies with tariffs if they continue to oppose his plan, starting at 10% before rising to 25%. The nations in the firing line include Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany and the UK. Just hours before the announcement, people in Greenland took to the streets to protest against Mr Trump's threats to annex the Arctic Territory.

We don't want anyone to take our country. We want to be our own country. We don't want them here. Tell a message to the world and to Donald Trump that he should keep his hands off Greenland. I strongly believe that Europe and Denmark is a great and very important alliance for Greenland. And yes, I do believe in the world's big alliances

to step up and be a part of what's happening at the moment. The mission is the Greenland is not for sale. We want to have our own country. Greenland will always be Greenland. We don't want to have war. Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump's deputy chief of staff, told the Fox News Channel in the U.S. why the president was so focused on Greenland. Greenland is essential for America's national security. The new domain of international competition, is going to be polar competition. That is where more and more resources are being spent by our nation's adversaries and rivals, is the ability to control movement, navigation,

lanes of travel in the polar and Arctic regions. Greenland is 25% larger than Alaska. Greenland is the size of one-fourth of the continental United States. With respect to Denmark, Denmark is a tiny country, with a tiny economy and a tiny military. They cannot defend Greenland. They cannot control the territory of Greenland. The French president, Emmanuel Macron,

called Mr Trump's threat of tariffs unacceptable, saying Europe would respond in a united and coordinated manner. Britain's Prime Minister Kirstama said applying tariffs on allies for defending NATO's collective security is completely wrong. And European Union leaders have warned the tariffs risk a dangerous downward spiral in transatlantic relations. I asked our North America correspondent David Willis if President Trump's threats and fresh economic tariffs

would help him to take control of Greenland. They may well certainly serve, I think, to fire a shot across the bowels of many European leaders, Alex, and President Trump has now drawn the EU into the political brinkmanship surrounding Greenland's future. He's up the ante as well, as far as rhetoric is concerned, claiming on social media that the security of both this country, the United States and the world, rests with Greenland becoming part of the United States. And as you said, he's threatening tariffs of up to 25%

on imports from eight European nations until such time as an agreement is reached for the United States to purchase Greenland. Now, all eight of the countries mentioned have backed Denmark, warning that the use of U.S. soldiers to seize control of Greenland could spell the end of the NATO alliance. Yeah, because words are one thing, but will Donald Trump actually follow through and impose tariffs on these countries? And what would they need to do to avoid that? I think raising the price of imports once again would not be popular. both here and in Europe. And he has allowed himself a two-week window, hasn't it, for negotiation over the future of Greenland,

saying that those first 10% tariffs won't be introduced until the end of this month. That's some wriggle room, which the president tends to set himself in these sort of circumstances. And those on both sides of the pond, I think, will be hoping that some sort of compromise can be reached. Do we know what the real reason is for Donald Trump's, desire to add Greenland to the United States? Well, he insists, doesn't he, that it's all about vital national security interests, but it is, of course, also an island that is rich in rare earth minerals such as iron, uranium, and so on. Those are the sort of minerals that China currently has the monopoly over

and which the United States needs to acquire for the development of high-tech products, such as cell phones, car batteries, and so on. David Willis. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has for the first time acknowledged that, in his words, a few thousand people were murdered in the Islamic Republic during the recent anti-government protests, which were sparked by a cost of living crisis. In a televised address, he also said they were killed with the utmost inhumanity, pure savagery.

But the Supreme Leader blamed what he called agents, adding that President Trump was responsible for the deaths and that he was personally involved in the unrest. We do consider the U.S. President a criminal because of casualties and damages, because of accusations against the Iranian nation, said Ayatollah Ali Kameinae. Mr Trump recently urged Iranian demonstrators to keep protesting and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them. According to the US-based Iranian human rights activists' news agency, the number of dead is just over 3,000.

Despite a near total internet blackout, BBC has received voice messages from a woman who has been speaking to her sister in Tehran and from two others inside Iran. They are read by our producers. Unfortunately, the severe crackdown has caused the protests to be completely silenced. My sister said that when people, including herself and her friends, talk among themselves, they jokingly say they're waiting for Trump to attack. Now it is Trump's duty to support the people.

People's hopes are pinned on Trump's words. I consider part of the blood that has been shed to be Trump's responsibility. In the Mar-Aliabad area of Shiraz, security forces are still patrolling on motorbikes, but overall things have gone back to normal. The Supreme Leader, despite his age, remains defiant. He said that the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition. So how significant is this speech from the Ayatollah?

Here's Siavash Adelan from BBC Persian. Up to now, the Iranian authorities had not mentioned any statistics. not even hundreds, let alone thousands. We only had heard about a few dozen security forces, members of the IRGC or the paramilitary besiege, and a handful of ordinary citizens to have died in the hands of what the regime called rioters and vigilantes. One Iranian official had said two-thirds of the overall death toll

is from that category of people. Whether this was a slip of the tongue by the Iranian Supreme Leader, his mentally is still very sharp at 86, so he probably knows what he is saying. It's very significant that he says thousands of people were killed, but he doesn't mean the protesters.

He is saying that the people affiliated with the government were killed. And Donald Trump keeps changing his word at any second, and when he thanked the Iranian authorities for not executing 800 people, something that wasn't true to begin with, there wasn't even a plan to execute 800 people,

and then he comes out and says, that he stopped the execution of those people. And thanks, the Iranian Supreme Leader, who many Iranians now see as the person who ordered these killings, which some people think it's up to 20,000 people who are dead, many Iranians now feel angry and they feel betrayed because in the height of the protest, it was really many people relying on the promise of Donald Trump

to intervene militarily, went out in the street thinking that somehow the U.S. has thought this out, that there is an actionable plan to stop these security forces from massacring the people. And that turned out to be completely false. And now they hear that the President of the United States is thanking the Supreme Leader. So you can imagine in the midst of this Internet blackout, the sense of frustration, grief, and now abandonment and betrayal, how pervasive it could be now among Iranians.

Sie of Ash, Adelan. The 81-year-old President of Uganda, Yewari Meseveni, has been in power for 40 years, and to no one's great surprise, he's just been declared the winner again for a seventh term. Official results gave him nearly 72% of the vote, against 25% for his main challenger, Bobby Wine. Election observers say the campaign was marred by widespread repression,

including an internet shutdown which has now been lifted. Benjamin Katana is a senior opposition Party official. There was a marital for voting at different pouring stations. There was barretted staffing. There was impersonation where people come and vote in the name of others at different pouring stations. All these undermine the integrity of the process. On Saturday, there was much confusion over the whereabouts of Bobby Wine with reports denied by the police that had been arrested. He says he's in hiding. Oliver Conway heard more from Richard Kugoy, who's been following developments from neighbouring Kenya.

Based on the trends that we've seen in the past, it was widely expected. He's going to secure the seventh term. There's been a lot of speculation in terms of succession. That was really quite a major talking point in the run-up to this election. But now that extends his rule of the East African country for more than 40 years, having come to power in 1986 in January 30th. And now he becomes amongst one of the longest serving African leaders, actually the third one.

So chances are for Bobby Wine, really. causing a major upset to a slim, you know, in terms of the crackdown on opposition supporters. And this is something actually that had been raised by human rights organizations and even the UN Human Rights Office. And indeed, a crackdown following the election, according to Bobby Wine. Do we know what happened to him? Bobby Wine has come out in a video addressing his supporters, saying he managed to escape. He describes an incident that took place at his residence as a security operation. He says that police agents who are in plain clothes who couldn't be easily identified stormed his residence and he managed actually to find his way out of the residence. So right now he is in an undisclosed location hiding, saying that he fears for his life.

What he says is that his family members are currently under house arrest. But the police have responded to these allegations and saying that they are false. and it's basically his family members and him spreading rumors because the police spokesperson say that he's currently in his residence and he's free to move. So there have been very conflicting reports. I think this has really been difficult to verify because of an internet shutdown that has been there

just from the eve of the elections. Yeah, African observers said they saw no evidence of ballot stuffing, but they criticised reports of intimidation arrest and abductions. I mean, how popular is Eweheseveni genuinely? Do you think he would still have won without those efforts? Well, it's divided opinion. You know, the people in Uganda who still see him as a figure of stability, they see him as a father, somebody who was able to get the country from a major crisis, a country that has really experienced instability, since independence intermittently, you know, with a dictatorship under Eidiamen, and bringing the country back from the

improving even the quality of life. His age being 81 years old, that's also a subject of a debate. But of course you have a youthful generation, people who grew up knowing no other person as president, young people who really want to see change. They want to express themselves. They're looking for opportunities. So it was a mixback.

And I think that's quite really reflected on the situation in the ground. In Kampala, no major celebrations really took place of following the announcement. Richard Kagoy, a US Federal judge in Minnesota has ruled that the 3,000 immigration and customs enforcement agents sent to Minneapolis should face restrictions on what tactics they can use. The judgment relates to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security three weeks before René Good was shot dead

by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. The new order prohibits immigration agents from detaining people who are peacefully protesting and bars them from using tear gas or pepper spray. Tom Bateman sent this report from Minneapolis. I'm in the middle of a street outside a federal government building, which has become the ICE headquarters here in Minneapolis. And there's a gateway entrance, a huge wire fence with concrete blocks along it, and three or four police cars are lined up with their headlights beaming out towards a group of protest, there's a lot of them holding banners, somewhere in gas masks and helmets, and a lot of

anti-ice slogans. They're getting as close as they can to the barriers. Get off the fence. We will identify you and come arrest you. Get off the fence. We will come arrest you. So what we have at the moment is a standoff. Just tell me a name. Logan. Anna. And why are you here? We're here to protest what's going on. We don't like ice in our cities. Trump is taking it way too far, especially with the threat of the insurrectionist act.

This is my third day out here, and I'm getting angry. I want to see it stop. It's scary right now. I literally have my passport with me right now, just in fear of being racially profiled by ice, and that's an awful feeling and something I've never felt before in Minnesota.

I love this state, and I plan to be here for a long time, And I hate seeing what's going on in our state right now. Get out of the entryway. You are not allowed to obstruct the entryway. You will be identified. You will be arrested. Immigrants are welcome here.

Well, the police have warned the protesters not to block the entrance here. We're now seeing the vehicles moving closer to the protesters. Some of the group here saying get close. because they can't arrest us all. And now we're seeing the police coming out. We go. The police are now lined up here just after some cars came to me,

the protesters surrounded them. We've got the police coming out now. We've got the masks on because we've been told there's been a bit of tear gas and pepper spray already. The protest is not moving. When we are doing it's legal and it's death against us war. And we saw really an hours long standoff between the

those two sides. So there's, you know, a continuing sense of tension, suspicion and concern in this city ahead of what is likely to be another weekend of protests. Tom Bateman reporting. Still to come in this podcast. There is no evidence that paracetamol increases the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability. A major international scientific study disputes one of President Trump's Pet theories. Ever feel like car shopping is designed to make you second-guess yourself? Is this a good price? Am I making the right choice? With Car Gurus, you don't have to wonder. You get deal ratings, price history and dealer reviews without the surprises, so you can shop with confidence. It's no wonder Car Gurus is the number one rated car shopping app in Canada on the Apple App and Google Play Store.

Buy your next car car gurus today with Car Gurus.ca. Go to CarGurus.com. Go to CarGurus.com. Go to CarGurus. Cargooros.ca to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's C-A-R-G-U-R-U-S.C-A. Car gurus.com. You don't need AI agents, which may sound weird coming from service now, the leader in AI agents. The truth is, AI agents need you. Sure, they'll process, predict, even get work done autonomously. But they don't dream, read a room, rally a team,

and they certainly don't have shower thoughts, pivotal hallway chats, or big ideas. People do. And people, when given the best AI plans, They're freed up to do the fulfilling work they want to do. To see how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it.

It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking about. talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The NASA rocket, which will take astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years,

has arrived at the launch pad in Florida. Artemis 2 was moved from its assembly point about five kilometres away. NASA chief Jared Isaacman said that it was an historic moment. We are doing this to fulfill a promise to the American people that we will return to the moon, a promise to all of the pioneers, the engineers, the scientists, the astronauts, the researchers from the 1960s, of which laid the foundation that we are standing upon right now. We'll do it to inspire my kids, your kids, kids all around the world to want to grow up

and contribute to this unbelievable endeavor that we're on right now. The rocket will take four astronauts around the moon, and back to Earth. Our science editor, Rebecca Morel, told us more about Artemis 2. Well, it's a very exciting mission. It's going to be a 10-day mission to the moon and back home again. For the first two days, the astronauts are going to be orbiting around the Earth, and they're going to be checking out their spacecraft because basically humans haven't flown in the Orion spacecraft before. So they need to check all systems are okay. And then mission control will hopefully give them the go-ahead to go to the moon. It takes about four days for them to get to the moon. They'll be flying around the far side of the moon

and hopefully seeing bits of the moon that haven't been seen with human eyes before. The far side of the moon is the side we can't see from here on Earth. And then they'll be making their way back home. So they're not landing on the moon this time. That's for Artemis 3, but they are flying around it. And the rocket is going to be reaching incredible speeds eventually. Today we saw it moving really, really, really slowly.

So the rocket is nearly 100 metres tall. It weighs about 5,000 tons. It's carried on the back of this sort of monster machine called a crawler transporter. So the entire journey takes up to 12 hours. And the Apollo missions were all about a race with the Soviet Union. This time around, it's with China who've been pushing ahead to get to the moon. They want to get astronauts there by 2030. So it will be really interesting to see how the two continue and who gets there first, really.

Rebecca Morel. Researchers have insisted that taking... paracetamol while pregnant is safe. A major new international study found no evidence that taking the painkiller raises the risk of autism. The findings contradict controversial claims from President Trump that women should tough it out rather than take it. He said that paracetamol was associated with a very increased risk of the condition. One of the scientists behind the latest research is Dr. Asma Khalil. This review included 43 studies and this studies come from worldwide. But when you focus on the high-quality research and the studies that carefully adjusted for maternal health or other confounders,

you find that there is no evidence that paracetamol increases the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability. And this lack of association was consistent across the most robust study design, the studies that have low risk of bias or the studies that followed up the children for more than five years. So what would you say to the Trump administration, considering its advice to women, not to take Tylenol or paracetamol during pregnancy because of concerns it says I could lead to autism? I think we need to be careful when we give the messages to the public. Our findings from this study I send a strong, reassuring message to the millions of pregnant women there

that it's safe to take paracetamol in pregnancy. It remains to be the first line treatment if you have fever or pain during pregnancy and is consistent with the recommendations by the national or international medical organizations. It can be a difficult time for. mothers trying to figure out what is safe or unsafe for their unsafe for their unborn baby. Considering the misinformation that's out there online, what will be your advice to mothers today? In following announcement back in September 2025, pregnant women were afraid of taking

paracetamol. And there are implications of not treating fever or pain during pregnancy that increase the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects. Asma Khalil, Professor of Obstetrics at St George's Hospital in London, speaking to Catherine Biaruhanga. The US Health Department criticised the study. It said that other experts had expressed concern about using the drug while pregnant. Sentimental value was the big winner at the European Film Awards, which are regarded as Europe's Oscars. Not only did it win European Film of the Year, but it was also successful in the categories of director, screenwriter, Actress and actor, the last, going to Stellan Scarsgaard, who also won a Golden Globe a week ago for his performance in the film.

For more on sentimental value, here's Tom Brooke from a noisy red carpet scrum at the European Film Awards in Berlin. It's a Norwegian film, it's a family drama, it deals with an estranged father-daughter relationship. And a lot of people have really actually taken to this film. It's now become the most successful Norwegian film of all time. And I'm sure when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday of the week that's coming up, it will get several nominations. One of the best performances in the film comes from 74-year-old Swedish actor, Stellan Skarsgaard, who could make history conceivably by becoming the first Swede to win an acting Oscar in his category. And I spoke to him on the red carpet not so long ago,

asking him why this role was important for him? It's about relationships within a family, and it's a remarkably quiet film in a way. It's subtle, and it's about really dark subjects, but incredibly light. It's like a souffle in a way. But I think it's funny. It's entertaining.

So it's really a strange mixture without compromising, without being tacking. Interestingly, I think this event can have an impact on the Oscars race, which is of course centered in Los Angeles. The Oscar ceremony will take place on March 15th. Because what happens is the Oscars are determined by the 10,000 voting members of the Academy. And in the last four or five years, they've expanded their membership to include a lot of international members, many of whom here live in Europe.

Those European members will be paying attention to this European Union. European Oscars event tonight. And I think the thing is that European cinema has a window of opportunity right now. Most people who are in the film business would agree that Hollywood no longer really makes many films that engage grown-up audiences. They do well with family films,

films like a Minecraft movie, and this provides an opportunity for European filmmakers to get attention for their films. And I think they're being quite being quite strategic with this event and it could bring fortunes to the European film industry. Tom Brooke in Berlin. The kilt is synonymous with Scotland, a knee-length garment which resembles a pleated skirt. Traditionally, it's made of wool with a tartan design,

given that Scottish football fans are known as the tartan army and some of them wear kilts when they go overseas, it was assumed by many that the men's team would do the same at this size. Summer's World Cup, but the players will instead wear traditional suits off the pitch and at formal events. Some fans welcomed the change, but not Marion Foster, a master kilt tailor. I was stunned, actually. You know, when these athletes, these sportsmen are wearing the kilt, it is so beautiful to look at and it is so powerful the kilt is. When you think of how it was received in the wars, when it was the active uniform of the Highland Regiments.

It's emulated courage. It increased morale. It brought belongingness of the team. You know, thinking of the impact with the fans. When I heard this news, I felt, gosh, going over to the USA where there is a huge diaspora of Scots out there, and they are hugely passionate about the kilt and their heritage. And when they see the Scottish team coming out in smart suits,

there'll be massive disappointment. And they didn't wear a kilt at the Euros more recently. They did wear kiltz in 1998, the last time they were in the World Cup. Why do you think it matters for a national Scotland team to wear the kilt on the world stage? Shouldn't they be allowed to modernise or do things differently? Well, is it modernising? I don't think it is. I think modernising is actually working with the huge popularity of the kilt.

It is hugely popular. So to be stripping the team of that cultural representation of their homeland and their country they are representing, I don't think that's modernisation. What makes the kilt so special for Scotland? And does it still play that very important role in Scottish identity? Yes, it does. Really at the beginning of the last century, the 1900s, the kilt was more worn in civilian life for more formal occasions. but it was in the 1970s that it really took off being driven by the rental market. And so although it was still coming in for weddings, it has become hugely popular to be wearing the kilt and the tartan at the rugby games, at going up hills, becoming a practical, a very practical garment in which it has always been.

Give us an idea of the craftsmanship that goes into making a traditional bespoke kilt. So bespoke tailoring is a crafty. within itself with technical knowledge. It serves the higher end of the market. So some of the high street kilts can take two days to make. As a bespoke tailor with my fittings, it takes me a good nine, at least nine days, sometimes 10 days to create. It's all hand-stitched.

The bespoke tailored kilt will last generations and be passed down because it can be altered to fit the changing body and altered also for the next generation. There's enough cloth in it. So bespoke tailoring is the highest end. My motive is really to try and bring bespoke tailoring above what is the norm and not let the norm just be manufacturing and off the peg sort of thing. Marian Foster speaking to Caroline Wyatt. And that's all from us for now.

But there'll 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 Global Podcast at BBC.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. This edition was mixed by Rebecca Miller and the producers were Pierre Vickery and Daniel Mann. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritsen.

Until next time, goodbye.