Global News Podcast - US Treasury secretary criticises the IMF and World Bank

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

The US Treasury secretary says the IMF and World Bank have deviated from their purpose. Also: The US issues Ukraine with an ultimatum, and proof that a Roman gladiator in Britain was bitten by a lion.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Following the death of Pope Francis, we look at his life and legacy on the documentary from the BBC World Service. Right from the start of his pontificate, Francis brought change to the Catholic Church, urging believers to be less judgmental and putting the poor at the heart of his mission. From gay rights to climate change and refugees, he wasn't afraid to speak out. Listen now by searching the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Rachel Wright and in the early hours of Thursday the 24th of April these are our main stories. The US Treasury Secretary attacks the IMF and the World Bank. America First means we are doubling down on our engagement with the international economic system, including at the IMF and the World Bank. We'll tell you what that means. Also, President Trump criticises the Ukrainian leader again. He wants to see the killing stopped, but you need both sides of the war willing to do that. And unfortunately, President Zelensky seems to be moving in the wrong direction. India closes its border with Pakistan after unknown gunmen killed 26 Indian tourists. Also in this podcast...

I've been analysing skeletons for 30 years but I've never seen anything like it. ...proof that a gladiator in Roman Britain was bitten by a lion. In the Trump administration's ongoing effort to bring about what it sees as a rebalancing of the world economy, both the IMF and the World Bank have come under heavy criticism. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said both institutions had deviated from their purpose. I invite our allies to work with us as we rebalance the international financial system, refocus the IMF and World Bank on their founding charters. America First means we are doubling down on our engagement with the international economic system, including at the IMF and the World Bank.

Scott Besant also focused much of his attention on China. China's economic system, with growth driven by manufacturing exports, will continue to create even more serious imbalances in the global economy. China's economic system is in growth driven by manufacturing exports, will continue to create even more serious imbalances with its trading partners if the status quo is allowed to continue. China, though, is not taking Mr Bassant's comments lying down. While it says it's open to negotiation, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised the US's heavy-handed approach to tariffs. Our business correspondent Michelle Fleury was at the meeting in Washington.

She told me more about today's events. I think going into these spring meetings in which you've got the people who run the global economy showing up here in Washington DC, there was drama hanging over it all. And that was whether or not the US would pull out of these two institutions because the White House is currently reviewing American membership of them and it is the largest shareholder. So Scott Besson's comments today as US Treasury Secretary essentially saying that America remains committed to these two bodies was very significant and will come as a huge relief to many. As he put it, America

first does not mean America alone. That being said though, what does that look like? Well there was definitely a strong call for these two institutions to reform, saying they had strayed from their mission and that they need to get back to their roots and it took on very much a kind of Trumpian shape in the sense of calls for rebalancing with a specific focus on China but there too there was a kind of olive branch of sorts extended in that Mr. Besant said there was an opportunity for the US to do some rebalancing of its own, that this was something that could be beautiful. So it's this idea of kind of trying to reshape

the world in a way that would benefit the US and other countries, but the Chinese authorities not necessarily buying that at the moment. And of course there is no official planned talks between the two. And of course this all comes amidst the ongoing tariff dispute between the US and China. Where are we with that at the moment? The US has imposed 145% tariffs on goods coming from China into America and there is 125% on American goods going the other way. This is unsustainable. This is partly why you've seen the IMF earlier this week downgrade their forecast for global growth. And there is a sense, both

from the Trump administration and Scott Besant, that it is an unsustainable situation, which is why you've heard them talk about the need to try and de-escalate. But what does that look like in practical terms? I mean, I think at the moment people are so concerned that if you look at what the financial markets are doing, there is just relief, there is a desire to try and come together. But what in practice that will look like, nobody knows. President Trump has criticised a statement by Volodymyr Zelensky

saying he would not recognise occupied Crimea as Russian territory. Mr. Trump said the statement was very harmful to peace negotiations. The White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters Mr. Trump wanted faster results. The president's frustrated, his patience is running very thin, he wants to do what's right for the world, he wants to see peace, he wants to see the killing stopped. But you need both sides of the war willing to do that. And unfortunately, President Zelensky seems to be moving in the wrong direction.

Earlier, Vice President JD Vance said explicit proposals had been issued to Russia and Ukraine. Speaking in India, JD Vance said it was time for both sides to agree, warning that if not, the United States would stop trying to broker peace. Our diplomatic correspondent, James Landell, has this analysis. In recent months, there have been several attempts to end the fighting in Ukraine. The United States has demanded an unconditional ceasefire, a partial truce in the Black Sea, a moratorium on energy targets, all to little or no avail. So now the US has a new plan, hoping it seems in part to trade land for peace.

Under the draft deal, leaked to various media, Russia would halt its offensive, keep the territory it occupies in eastern Ukraine and give up its ambition to control the rest of those regions. In return, the U.S. would recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed illegally in 2014. The U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, was impatient for a deal. We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process. It's now time I think to take if not the final step one of the final steps which

is the party saying we're gonna stop the killing we're gonna freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today. The problem is President Zelensky has made clear neither he nor his government could under their Constitution recognize Crimea as Russian. Nor might European allies accept such a breach of international law. That may explain why the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled out at the last minute from talks in London today involving European and Ukrainian officials. Donald Trump's less influential Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, intended instead. This afternoon Mr. Zelensky demanded an immediate, complete

and unconditional ceasefire but Mr. Trump issued a furious post on social media accusing Mr. Zelensky of making inflammatory statements and harming the negotiations by saying Ukraine would not recognize Russian control of Crimea. Much will depend now on the conversations the President's Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff will have with President Putin when they meet in Moscow later this week. James Landell. India has announced its closing a key land border and suspending a water treaty with Pakistan after a deadly attack on Indian tourists in Indian-administrated Kashmir on Tuesday. Gunmen burst out of the forest and opened fire on tourists with semi-automatic

weapons, killing more than 20 people at a beauty spot in Pohalgam. No one has claimed responsibility and Pakistan has denied that it had anything to do with it. Indian public figures have been condemning the violence, although the opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the government must take responsibility for severe security lapses in the region. Yogita Lamai is in Srinagar in Kashmir and has this report. A convoy of ambulances and buses escorted by military vans carried the bodies of those killed in the attack along with their families to Surinagar Airport. Tourists whose holiday in picturesque Kashmir had come to a grim end.

Yesterday, several gunmen opened fire at a group of visitors, killing dozens in an area of Pehelgaum called mini-Switzerland, a reference to its snow-capped mountains and lush green meadows. Wasim Khan, a tour guide, described what he saw. First I thought it was firecrackers. Then I saw people running and screaming. The firing continued for at least 10 minutes. When I went to the spot, I saw people lying on the ground, dead and injured. All who were killed came from outside Kashmir, except Syed Adil Hussain, a local man who

took tourists around Pehelgaum on horseback. The sole breadwinner for his family, his mother, was inconsolable. There's no one to care for us now. We don't know what we'll do without him, she wept. Many locals marched on the streets demanding justice for those killed. There was a complete shutdown in Kashmir in response to the attack. This is a region that has endured violence and an armed insurgency for three and a half decades, but rarely ever have tourists been targeted on such a scale.

But the country's defence minister has said the perpetrators will soon see a loud and clear response. Well, we asked Yogita about the rising tensions over the incident and India's response. They haven't directly accused the Pakistani government of being involved in the attack, but every measure they've announced is directed at Pakistan. So that is what they're trying to say. Key among those measures is shutting down the land border at Atari Wagar, which is the key border for trade between the two countries. Pakistan's imports from India have risen sharply over the past few years, mainly cotton

chemicals, pharmaceuticals. It seems like that is what India is trying to affect. The other things that they've said is the Indus Waters Treaty, which is a treaty involving the use of river waters on both sides in India and Pakistan, which was signed in 1960. They've said it will be suspended until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. There are a lot of other measures they've announced as well, most of which involve Pakistani

nationals who are on visas in India having to return back soon and defence advisers who are in Pakistan's High Commission in India who will have to leave the country by the 1st of May. India has also said that its defence advisers who are currently in Pakistan at the Indian High Commission there will also leave the country and come back. Nugiti Lemay. 150 people have been injured in an earthquake in the Istanbul area. With 50 aftershocks and people jumping from windows there was widespread panic. Our correspondent Orla Gheran is there. I've been living here for six years and I have felt previous earthquakes inside my building and it has tended to sway

a little for a few seconds and then settle. Now what I heard and felt this morning was very, very different. The building really started to shake quite violently and I could hear a sort of a rumble. And I must say standing there I was waiting to see the walls cracking around me, but fortunately that didn't happen. I left the building quickly along with all my neighbours. Here in my district which is in the European side of Istanbul, people were running out of buildings, gathering in the streets, being careful to stand away from the buildings themselves. And there was a degree of shock that was very visible. I saw one woman who is in tears. People were calling relatives, getting calls from relatives, checking to

see if they were OK. And the Big Quake 6.2 was the main one, but there were two smaller ones recorded before that. It appears that the city has been fortunate, if I can put it that way, because these quakes and aftershocks were in the Sea of Marmara, which is off the coast of Istanbul to the west. So it wasn't actually inside the city. So it appears as if the city has

had an escape this time, but of course it renews the fears that people here live with that the big one could be coming at any stage and there will certainly be more fear here now of that happening. All are garrinaren in Istanbul. Still to come in the Global News podcast. There have been very respected scholars who've said that she was ugly, that Shakespeare hated her, that she trapped him into marriage. The discovery of a letter which possibly sheds a new light on Shakespeare's marriage. Following the death of Pope Francis we look at his life and legacy on the documentary from the BBC World Service.

Right from the start of his pontificate Francis brought change to the Catholic Church urging believers to be less judgemental and putting the poor at the heart of his mission. From gay rights to climate change and refugees, he wasn't afraid to speak out. Listen now by searching the documentary, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. More than 20,000 people have paid their respects to Pope Francis inside St Peter's Basilica

and on Wednesday the Vatican extended the visiting hours beyond midnight due to the sheer amount of people waiting for hours to file past the open coffin. It was a very, very moving experience to see him so vulnerable after so long, being so unwell. A real pleasure and privilege to be there. The cuing was difficult but worth it in the end. We wanted to come here specifically for this. Can you believe that this morning at 9am I was in hospital and now I'm here to visit the Pope?

It's because he's worth it. A Pope like him is not easy to find. Pope Francis will lie in state until Friday evening in Rome before his funeral on Saturday, after which nine days of mourning will begin. After that, cardinals begin the process of choosing his successor. Here's our religion editor, Ali Mukbal. Ali Mukbool. Accompanied by the peeling of the great bell of St Peter's and the chant of the choir waiting ahead, the body of Pope Francis was moved

closer to the public with whom he had such an affinity. When his coffin emerged into St Peter's Square, applause spontaneously broke out. Cardinals, other members of clergy, and 14 pallbearers, his companions on this journey, leading up the stone incline into the basilica. With cheers outside again as he disappeared out of public view. He left instructions he didn't want his coffin placed on a raised platform for his lying in state but instead that it be rested on the ground. Once there prayers were

offered for him and now it was the turn of others to be a part of this history, as they got the chance to be able to file past the Pope's coffin. But that meant queuing in the heat for hours, even before the doors were opened. I'm sure it will go fast, but we're willing to wait till this evening. Finally the public were allowed in and were moved through quickly in their hundreds. But not everyone waiting in line outside was quite sure what to expect in seeing the Pope in an open coffin, like 12-year-old Noah from Sunderland. What's making you nervous? It's just like, it's weird like seeing someone like them, they're in the open coffin, you

know what I mean? It's like history, isn't it? It's a small window that people have to pay their respects, though the Pope's body will continue to lie in state here right until his funeral on Saturday morning. The Vatican says the sheer numbers that have come today mean they're considering extending the time the doors remain open to the public each day. And so what in the end was Noah's experience? We caught up with him in the evening. I've been part of history today and I feel like grace about us. I feel proud of myself

and I paid my respects to the Pope and then, like, yeah. Though tens of thousands of people are expected at the funeral, many said it was this that felt like a personal way to say goodbye. Aline McBall in Rome. People with autism often suffer economic and social exclusion and now the Australian government has a new seven-year plan to improve their lives and job prospects. It's hoped the strategy will lead to meaningful change for a group that lags behind the rest of the population in many areas of life.

From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports. I think I fit in very well. I feel very happy to be part of the team. Matt Vance is autistic and is a valued member of staff at a school in Sydney. He's worked in the maintenance department for five and a half years. I like doing my work. It gives me a sense of purpose. It makes me feel very happy. All the teachers and sports teachers and staff and my maintenance friends are very kind to me, very helpful to me and I'm very happy to be here with them. Jane Danvers and I'm the principal at Canballa. This is not an act of charity. Matt is a really

important cog in the wheel. There are a number of tasks in our school on a day to day basis that must be dealt with and Matt is a really integral part of our team. He's completely reliable. He epitomises, I think, the values of the staff that we look for here. So he has a great deal of respect and humanity in the way that he actually engages with people and how he goes about his responsibilities every day.

So he's a really key part of our team. Autistic Australians are six times more likely to be unemployed than people without a disability. The new government strategy aims to give them more help to find a job. The plan has broad support, although some charities say there's not enough focus on improving education for autistic children. The figures suggest about 300,000 people have a diagnosis of autism. Amanda Richworth was a key part of the ministerial team in Canberra that devised the new blueprint.

We believe, and there's a lot of evidence to back this up, that this is underestimated. So it is about laying the foundations for future and broader reform as well. Our clients don't need to go to job interviews, for example, we do that on their behalf. Job support is an employment service that helps Australians with intellectual disabilities. Rachel Tordion is one of its regional managers. It makes very good economic sense for companies and in fact that's one of the primary drivers.

We're stabilising high turnover positions, the retention rate is on average nine years. At the Gunners Barracks overlooking Sydney Harbour, Keith Dennett says the opportunity to work at the hospitality venue has been life-changing. As a person with autism, it is always going to be hard because of the barriers to employment. Kelly Simmons and I'm the venue manager at Gunners Barracks. Obviously I was a little bit hesitant of how much and how capable Keefe could do, but then the more like when I realised Keefe could come in and realise that he's great and he's just as good as some of my other casual staff so yeah, so it's good. One of the barriers for me was communication and now because of this job it has helped

me communicate better in the workplace, to talk to people, to ask for help and this job has changed my life for the better. It has. There is still a lack of understanding of autism in Australian society. Employers can be hesitant about giving an autistic person a job. But Keith and many others have shown that given the chance, they will succeed. Phil Mercer. A first of its kind animal smuggling case has started in Kenya, highlighting the unusual but growing illicit trade in ants. Four teenagers from Belgium, Vietnam and Kenya have pleaded guilty to trying to traffic the tiny creatures, which can sell for over $200

each in specialist pet shops in Europe and Asia. From Nairobi, here's our Deputy Africa Editor Anne Soy. The men were found carrying about 5,000 queen garden ants that were carefully concealed in test tubes and syringes when they were arrested earlier this month. The Kenya Wildlife Service said the modified packaging could keep the insects alive for up to two months and was probably designed to evade detection at airport security. The recovered ants included the sought-after giant African harvester species which is native to East Africa. Collectors pay as much as £170 per individual ant in exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia.

Possession of wildlife without a permit is a criminal offence in Kenya. Offenders face minimum fines of more than £5,000 and prison terms of no less than five years. The suspects remain in custody ahead of sentencing next month. One of them is also being investigated for financing terrorism. The country's conservation agency says there are growing global concerns about wildlife trafficking networks funding extremism. The agency says this is a landmark case in the fight against biopiracy and shines a light

on a growing illicit trade in wildlife which is increasingly shifting towards smaller and unprotected species. ANSOI. Researchers have proved that a skeleton from Roman Britain has bite marks just like those made by a lion. They say it's the first physical proof of Roman gladiators fighting animals. The bones were discovered 20 years ago in York in northern England. But forensic scientists have used new 3D light techniques which allowed them to examine the depth of the wounds. I heard more from our science correspondent Victoria Gill. This is something that's widely depicted. I mean we've seen it in the movies but it's depicted on mosaics and in Roman art. So we have lots

of cultural evidence for it but it's the physical forensic evidence that we were lacking. So this is why this is so unusual, because in order to find evidence of a gladiator having been in combat with a big cat or a large animal, you have to find that person's remains. You then have to sort of prove relatively definitively that that was a gladiator and that the marks on, you know, all that we would have left after two millennia would be bones. So there's none of the kind of soft tissue damage to prove the cause of death. You'd have to have that actually preserved in the bone. So this is why this has been, has taken such a long time and has been specific to this site in Drifield Terrace near York, where what they have there, they believe is a gladiator cemetery. Most of the skeletons found, there were about 82,

I think, and most of them were men, and they were relatively young to middle-aged men. They had signs in their skeletons that they were strong and very physically active. And then we've got this one very special skeleton that has these bite marks. So I actually went to see the skeleton that is lying in a glass case in the Digg Archaeological Museum in York and Malin Holst, who is the osteoarchaeologist, bone specialist who was involved in this study, pointed to all of these characteristics. The first thing we can see, the earliest evidence, is that he probably had quite poor childhood because he has stress lesions in his teeth

that are indicative of malnutrition during childhood. And then we can see that this individual trained quite physically during adolescence as a teenager. He was very physically active, a bit like an athlete training, which shaped the bones. Then during his life, we also see that he's got inflammation on his legs as well. Again, that could be from kicks to the shins or related to conflict or battle. And then the final sort of evidence we have are these bite marks here on the hips.

This is extraordinary. These are punctures, holes in the bone. These are bite marks left by the tooth of an animal. That's right, yes. But you've never seen a physical injury like that before, a puncture, a bite through a bone. No, I've been analysing skeletons for 30 years, but I've never seen anything like it. So that was really unusual. So we see the bite marks on the skeleton. Can we assume therefore that the gladiator

was killed by the lion? It's a really good question because there are certain things that we can know definitively, you know, forensically, archaeologically, and certainly certain things that we have to assume. So we know, for example, this was fascinating to me, that those bite marks in that skeleton's hip happened at the time of death. And the forensic scientists know that because of the coloration on the bone that shows how they didn't heal, and also that there were fragments of bone inside those punctures. So rather than that having been an old wound that healed and the bone fragments would have disappeared,

we know that that was associated with that person's death. But establishing a cause of death, that's not so clear. This person was also decapitated and that might've been something that happened as part of this spectacle or maybe as kind of a mercy killing because this person was incapacitated. But from where the bite marks are and from the time around the person's death that they happened, what they think has happened is that this large cat has grabbed hold of this person by their hip when they were on the floor incapacitated and dragged them away. So it's clear that the big cat won, but it's not clear whether they actually killed this gladiator

or whether that was something that happened during this spectacle or after this combat had taken place. Sounds like a very gruesome spectacle, not something I think we would probably want to go and see nowadays. But what is the significance of this find? Do you think this is going to change the way we talk about Roman history? We know that this was the case that these spectacles happened for entertainment. They were lavish shows of wealth, you know, buying a lion and transporting it up to York. Not an easy and cheap thing. We have an understanding of the culture of that. I think knowing that it happened in Roman Britain, happened that far north in the Roman Empire, it shows how far that culture spread.

It also suggests, archaeologists that I've been speaking to you about this study have said that there is an amphitheatre, there's an arena yet to be discovered in York. They think they have some indication from foundations in the ground or shapes in the ground that have been carved out of where that might be, but it's not been found yet. So I think it just tells us more about all of these roots of how exotic animals were transported and how far and wide the culture of the Roman Empire spread. Victoria Gill, with that fascinating story. Fragments of a letter dating back to the early 17th century have cast new light on the relationship

between William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway. They could contradict the long-held assumption that the playwright left Anne in Stratford upon Aveman when he moved to London. The research was revealed on Wednesday on the anniversary of his birth 461 years ago. Dan Johnson reports. It's long been assumed the Shakespeare marriage was unhappy. In his will, he left his wife only his second best bed. But this letter, sent to good Mrs Shakespeare at a London address, suggests she may not have been left in Stratford with the children after all.

The note requests she pay a debt on behalf of her husband. The two fragments are both about 16 centimetres by 5 centimetres. Matthew Stegall is Professor of Early Modern English Literature at Bristol University and carried out this research. The usual narrative is that Anne is a good deal older than him, she's pregnant when they get married, was it a shotgun marriage, was it a disaster, he seems to leave town quite shortly after the marriage. You think of films like Shakespeare in Love where the wife is a kind of distant encumbrance

in the countryside. So it definitely changes your sense of the possibilities, the range of narratives that you could tell about William and Anne. The fragments were first discovered in 1978. They'd been used to bind a book published by one of Shakespeare's friends, but recent re-examinations allowed searches of electronic records and mapping to bring meaning to the scarce clues scrawled on the scraps of waste paper. On the back of the letter is a reply, potentially the only piece of writing which can be attributed to Anne Hathaway herself, standing by her husband and telling the letter

writer they should find the money themselves. One of the most famous imagined stories of the Shakespeare's family life is Hamnet, written by Maggie O'Farrell. This is her reaction to the letter. This letter I think is just a thrilling and wonderful discovery. It's a huge one in the eye for everybody who for hundreds of years, all those scholars and Shakespeareans and Valdolitors and biographers who have maligned her and put her down and minimised her. You know, there have been very respected scholars who've said that she was ugly, that Shakespeare hated her, that she trapped him into marriage, that she was illiterate, that she was ugly, that Shakespeare hated her, that she trapped him into marriage,

that she was illiterate, that she was stupid. There's absolutely not one shred of evidence for any of that. It's often been assumed, again, with absolutely no basis at all, in fact, that she stayed in Stupf-on-Avon and he lived in London and that they essentially lived apart. They had a kind of modern, what we would probably call a divorce. But I have never really believed that, mostly because at the end of his career, when he retired, I mean, he was the equivalent of a multimillionaire. He was a very, very good businessman as well as pretty good playwright. He could have lived anywhere he wanted, but he chose to come back to Stratford to live with her in their house, New Place, which was one of the largest houses in

Stratford. And that always to me has been documentary evidence that their marriage was strong, that he loved her. And because why else would he come and spend his retirement with her? But I love this new image of them together living in Trinity Lane. Maggie O'Farrell. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Kai Perry and the producer was Isabella Jewel.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Rachel Wright. Until next time, goodbye. Following the death of Pope Francis, we look at his life and legacy on the documentary from the BBC World Service. Right from the start of his pontificate, Francis brought change to the Catholic Church, urging believers to be less judgemental and putting the poor at the heart of his mission. From gay rights to climate change and refugees, he wasn't afraid to speak out. Listen now by searching the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.