Global News Podcast - Xi greets Putin in Beijing - days after Trump's China visit

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

China's leader Xi Jinping hosts a colourful welcome for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The two leaders have met dozens of times. Mr Putin arrived in China shortly after President Trump ended his trip to the Chinese capital. Also in this podcast: Donald Trump tightens his grip on the Republican Party after orchestrating the defeat of a congressman who defied him. Pro-Palestinian activists go on trial in Germany - raising questions about the country's traditional support for Israel. Arsenal win the English Premier League for the first time in more than two decades. And we investigate a peculiar noise made by humpback whales.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 Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Wednesday the 20th of May, these are our main stories. The Russian president gets the red carpet treatment in Beijing. We explore how close the relationship is between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump tightens his grip on the Republican Party ahead of this year's mid-term elections with his chosen candidate emerging victorious, in Kentucky's closely watched primary. Also in this podcast.

We have played with passion. Emotion. We've played. I feel like we honestly deserve this title. We're just so happy. We can't honestly, we can't speak. I can't speak. To the delight of their fans,

Arsenal win their first English Premier League title in 22 years. We start in the Chinese capital, Beijing, where the country's leader, Xi Jinping, welcomed Russia's president. Putin at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. The two leaders inspected a guard of honour as a band played. They were then cheered by a group of children. It's only a week since President Trump made a similar journey and had a similar welcome.

The timing of the two visits is coincidental. Mr Trump's had originally been due to take place weeks earlier. Nevertheless, the images look good for China's President Xi Jinping, world leaders beating a path to his door one after another. Mr She and his Russian counterpart have played up their friendship for years. But Mr Putin is clearly the junior partner, particularly since Russia's isolation following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. So just how close is the relationship between these two leaders?

Steve Rosenberg is the BBC's Russia editor, and he's been speaking to Oliver Conway. They've certainly developed a pretty close relationship. and they've certainly had the opportunity to do that. I think the two leaders have met more than 40 times. And yes, they called each other friends. I think back in September when Vladimir Putin was in Beijing, he addressed Xi as my dear friend,

and Xi called Putin my old friend. And, you know, there are many moments I can remember, thinking back over the last few years, the moment when Putin and Xi cooked pancakes together, a sign of friendship, pancakes with caviar, and Vladimir Putin gave Xi a big cake. of ice cream for his birthday, just to illustrate the friendly relationship between the two men. Yeah, I think this is something like Vladimir Putin's 25th visit to China.

Now, he won't get any of the pomp, or at least all of the pomp that we saw for Donald Trump last week. But I guess he doesn't need that because they are closer allies. He'll get some of the pomp, I think, for sure. The interesting thing is, one of the things he'll be doing in China is reaffirming the Russian China friendship agreement that was signed 25 years ago. It's the 25th anniversary. And which Russian leaders signed it 25 years ago? Vladimir Putin. It shows how long he's been in power. I mean, the Trump-She meeting, that summit really made headlines around the world. Quite a rare event. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping regularly meet. So in that sense, nothing out of the ordinary.

You talked about the 25th anniversary of the signing of that friendship agreement. But over those years, the relative strengths of the two nations have changed substantially. This is true. Yes, words you hear a lot. Cooperation, partnership, no limits partnership, but actually it's not an equal partnership. Russia has become very dependent on China, particularly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. And you remember that tsunami of international sanctions that was imposed on Russia basically cutting off access to markets in Europe, in the West. And so Russia became heavily reliant on China economically.

When you think about it, more than a quarter of Russia's exports are bought by China, including vast amounts of fossil fuel since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That gives you an idea of how dependent Russia has become. For Moscow, this money that it gets from selling to China has become a, economic lifeline. And what will Vladimir Putin be hoping to get out of this trip specifically? Well, first of all, let's talk about the optics again. He will want to be seen with the big kid on the block, who is clearly Xi Jinping. China has become really the center of global diplomacy. When you think about it, the Iranian foreign minister was recently in Beijing, then Donald Trump was in Beijing,

Vladimir Putin is coming to Beijing. So being seen with the head of the superpower, that's a big thing. It's important for Vladimir Putin. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg. And there's a longer interview with Steve on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube. And you'll find the Global News podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. Donald Trump has tightened his grip on the Republican Party

after voters decided not to back a congressman who defied the president on a number of issues, including the decision on whether to release the Jeffrey Epps files and the war in Iran. In primaries in the U.S. state of Kentucky, Thomas Massey lost a challenger Ed Goulrain who'd been backed by President Trump. The vote in Kentucky's fourth congressional district was being closely watched as a test of Mr. Trump's power within his own party. I spoke to Lisa Kaczynski with the news website Politico and asked her if the result was a surprise. It is and it isn't. So this is what we've seen over the past.

month is President Donald Trump in this revenge tour against state lawmakers in Indiana who opposed his redistricting effort against Bill Cassidy, the senator in Louisiana, who had voted to convict him on an impeachment charge in 2021. And then it was Thomas Massey, a longtime thorn in the president's side. Then it was his turn tonight. And what you've seen is Trump, you know, win in almost all of these races, five of the seven state lawmakers in Indiana, Bill Cassidy failing to make. make the runoff in Louisiana. Now Thomas Massey losing by a margin that, you know, could be as many as 10 points if kind of where the returns are now hold. So it is par for the course with how this month has gone, but it is a little bit surprising in Kentucky because Massey, he was a very polarizing

figure. He had the district really kind of mirrored his libertarian-leaning politics, which could have been a boost for him. But he had also made a lot of local enemies. And there was just so much money, outside money spent against him, that it would have been very difficult for even a well-liked incumbent, which he was not to overcome. Yeah, the most expensive primary race ever, I'm told. Yes, spending has crossed $33 million. It's the most expensive house primary in ad spending on record. And about 16 or 17 million of that came from MAGA KY, which was a super PAC that President Donald Trump's political team had kind of stood up to target Massey and from a pair of pro-Israel super PACs aligned with the RJC and the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee.

So that was a very powerful force and a very expensive force against Thomas Massey. Yeah, and Thomas Massey, well, seen as a thorn in President Trump side, but most of the time he voted with the president, didn't he? He did. And he tried to kind of thread that knee. where he would kind of wear his breaks with Trump as principled stand and as a badge of honor, where he was sticking with his conservative principles. And it was the administration that had shifted in his mind.

But he did still vote with Trump, you know, a majority of the time. But in a time where the president kind of demands, you know, 100% fealty, that definitely was not Thomas Massey. And that message, what, that Donald Trump has an absolute iron grip on the entire Republican? party? That is certainly what it seems, and well, this race will be dissected in the margins and the counties and whatever to see kind of if there is any fraying of the coalition. Obviously, Republicans are splintering a little bit over foreign interventions over Israel, things like that. But Massey was really leaning on that to boost him to another term and boost him over this challenge. And that didn't work for him. So it does certainly appear that Trump very much, at least in electoral politics,

remains with a vice-like grip over the base. Lisa Kaczynski from Politico. There's more worrying news on the Ebola outbreak. A virologist with the World Health Organization has told the BBC that in the next few days the number of suspected cases could reach 1,000 in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nixi Guamidei Mulezzi also said that it was hard to measure the full scale of the crisis because of a shortage of testing equipment

and there was a backlog of samples waiting to be analysed. More than 130 people are estimated to have died in the latest outbreak. One person with first-hand experience of dealing with Ebola is Tom Frieden, who led the US Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, when there was an epidemic in West Africa. So how worried is he? A question put to him by Tim Franks. I'm extremely concerned.

This is a very serious and potentially devastating Ebola outbreak. The world again faces grave risk and needs an urgent response. This outbreak likely spread not just for weeks, but probably for months by the time it was found. And by the time a response started, there are now more than 500 cases. In West Africa, the Ebola epidemic 2014-2016, there were 40 or 50 cases by the time the response started. The geographic area is broad. We already have cases in Kinsasha and Kampala, which are capital cities. We know that urban Ebola can be very difficult to control. And there are really highly experienced, highly talented, very dedicated doctors, nurses, laboratory specialists,

epidemiologists in both DRC and Uganda, who are able to stop outbreaks, have stopped Ebola outbreaks before, but time really is of the essence. In an Ebola outbreak, minutes, days, weeks make an enormous difference. What we found in West Africa was that if we got there in days and started outbreak response, the outbreak could be stopped in a couple of weeks. If there was a delay of even one week, that outbreak could go on for months. The World Health Organization representative for the DRC has said that WHO has been working, I think her words were, very well with the US government on this Ebola outbreak. But she did say that reductions in health funding overall have had a tremendous impact on the organization's ability to counter the disease. Ebola is back. And the U.S. government has spent much of the past year weakening our defenses against it.

That includes both the U.S. CDC, which has been, frankly, under assault by this administration. Close to 3,000 staff have been fired, forced to retire, let go. Most of the directors in the organization are acting or absent. Even the overall director, Dr. J. Batacharya, who does appear to be working hard to get the CDC back on track, is doing this as a part-time job. In addition, the U.S. has not only pulled out of WHO, it's not only defunding, the WHO. It's not only failed to pay its past dues, but it's also abruptly withdrawn dozens of specialists who were seconded or loaned to WHO and were working side by side with them on a range of issues. But I wouldn't rush to put it at the feet of the U.S. government, quite frankly.

This is an area that is remote, that is insecure. It's an uncommon strain of Ebola, so the initial tests were negative. The specimens have a long way to travel. It's among the hardest places in the world to do public health work. But I do know that the recent changes are making it much harder for the world to mount the kind of robust response that we mounted a decade ago in the 2014-2016 outbreak, and that is even more needed now because we're really behind the eight-ball. Tom Frieden speaking to Tim Franks. Still to come. Local villagers and lighthouse keepers telling us about in the night these strange sounds that are rattling their window panes and their dog is hiding under the bed. Can you explain?

An eerie humming noise from the ocean. All of that later in this podcast. This is the Global News podcast. In Germany, the trial of pro-Palestinian activists is sparking controversy. The five, including two British citizens, are part of Palestine Action Germany. The UK has proscribed Palestine action as a terrorist group, but Germany has not. The trial of the so-called Ulm 5 could set a precedent for the future, where protesters are tried as being members of a criminal organisation. The case has sparked a debate about how Germany, traditionally a strong supporter of Israel, is dealing with pro-Palestinian protesters.

Bethany Bell reports from Germany. This video posted on social media shows the activists known as the Ulm 5, breaking into the Israeli Arms Company Elbit Systems in Ulm in September. Germany finances Elbit System produces Israel bombs, they shout. The video shows them destroying equipment and spray painting the words baby killers on the walls. Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine! The group is a key,

accused of destroying around 1 million euros worth of property. Prosecutors have accused them of smashing screens, PCs and equipment. They've charged the group with trespassing and with membership of a criminal organisation. The activists have also been charged with using symbols of Hamas, which is prescribed as a terrorist organisation in Germany. The prosecution and defence have clashed in court over the way the activists are being treated. chaotic scenes on the first day of the trial, with supporters cheering and shouting when the activists entered the courtroom.

They were handcuffed and put behind a glass wall. Two British citizens are among them, Crow tricks and Hannah Heilu, known as Zoe. The families say the state is trying to make an example of them. Crow's sister Kit told the BBC the charges against them are disproportionate and their treatment unacceptable. They've not harmed anybody and there's not even a charge of threats of harm. Do you know what I mean? Like this is a case of property damage and this is how they're being treated.

Zoe's mother, Nikki Robertson, says the Ulm 5 should be released on bail and given a fair trial. Zoe's got quite sore wrists and that's from being handcuffed, which I'm absolutely disgust in and outraged about. they shouldn't be in those handcuffs anyway. It's completely inappropriate to have brought them into court like that. In a statement to the BBC, German prosecutors denied that the charges and treatment were disproportionate. They said they hadn't requested any special conditions of detention and the restrictions were standard under German law.

The activists are now on trial in Stuttgart Stamheim, a high security prison. Their lawyers say it gives the impression their clients are dangerous, individuals. In the UK, where there have been extensive protests by Palestine action, it's prescribed as a terrorist group. In February, the High Court ruled that was unlawful. The government is appealing against the decision. Yasmin Kuder from Amnesty International Deutschland says in Germany, Palestine action is not prescribed as a terrorist organization.

Independently of the ongoing proceedings in the UK, it is important to note that the original ban applied explicitly to Pelasine Action UK and had no international usage. We are also deeply concerned by the repeated references in this case to the UK ban within the German proceedings. This was former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008 in Israel. Germany's never again doctrine, its special responsibility towards the state of Israel, has shaped its politics and society. Of course, I think these types of actions are very shocking to the German public,

you know, property destruction on an Israeli firm. Jewell-Clyzatig, an analyst at armed conflict location and event data, says Germany's different approach to such cases stems from historical sensitivities due to its role in the Nazi Holocaust. He also said that Germany has seen significantly fewer problems, Palestinian protests than the UK. This case kind of, yeah, is the epitome of a harsh crackdown by German authorities on the Palestinian cause.

If found guilty, the activists face up to five years in prison. Bethany Bell. After an evening of riveting football drama, the English Premier League title race is over with Arsenal being crowned champions for the first time in 22 years. As you'd expect, our reporter, Nesta McGregor, who's been outside the Emirates Stadium this evening, has met some very happy fans. Here's Louis and Amy.

We have played with passion, emotion. We've played. I feel like we honestly deserve this title. The way we've been the season, we have scraped the winter, that's fine. We're just so happy. We can't, honestly, we can't be in words. I cannot speak. Now, Amy, I hope I'm not spoiling the news for anyone.

You're pregnant. Your baby shower is the day of the parade. Louis, are you going to the parade? I've got to go to the parade. I'm going as well. So the baby show was cancelled. Arsenal clinched the title, thanks to Manchester City, Bournemouth, ending in a one-all draw,

meaning City couldn't surpass the gunner's position. BBC sports John Bennett has been following their way to the top of the table. It has been nervy for them, but they've saved themselves some real nerves on Sunday because it was set to come down to a game against Crystal Palace away from home. They would have been big favourites, but still, it would have been so nervy because they've had this reputation, haven't they, over the last few years of getting so close, but yet so far, you think about 2023 when they were first in the title race under Mikhail Artetta, and they finished

second. A year later, again finished second to Manchester City. A year later, they finally finished above Manchester City, but again finished second to Liverpool. So to wrap it up with one game to spare, there will be huge relief for the Arsenal fans. finally they can celebrate a Premier League title win for the first time since 2004. Yeah, something that Mikhail Arta has, as a manager, waited an awfully long time for. How is it going to be remembered, though? Well, in terms of style of play, this Arsenal team have changed, haven't they? It's not the free-flowing football that we've seen in the past from Mikhail Arteta.

It's been based on grit, on determination, on set pieces. but I don't think the Arsenal fans will care about the style. They just wanted the trophy. And I think they will be so proud of the team, but in particular, the manager. When he took over, Arsenal were in disarray. Yes, he won the FA Cup. But the culture of the club wasn't working.

The connection between the fans and the players wasn't there. The quality on the pitch wasn't there. So this was a long process. And Michel Arteta's motto was, trust the process. the fans had to get behind this and understand what he was doing, like getting rid of a star player like Pierre Emoryko Bamian because he didn't fit in with his culture.

So finally, this is paid off. Not only this Premier League tied to win, but remember, they're also in the Champions League final as well. So they've got that to look forward to. This has already been a season to remember, but it could get even better. So the Arsenal fans are absolutely loving life right now after a number of disappointments over the last 22 years.

A disappointing end to the season for Manchester City, though they didn't manage to catch up. And it seems Pep Guardiola, who's given us some very exciting football over the years. And he's seemingly on his way as head coach. Yes, a disappointing end for him. Although we have to remember, they did win two domestic cup competitions. And he said last week, even before the English FA Cup final, which they won on Saturday, he said that whatever happens in the title race, this will still have been a very successful season.

And what a legacy Pet Guadiola will leave, not just on Manchester City, but on English football. In terms of Manchester City, 17 major trophies since he took over. And in terms of English football, he has arguably changed the way that football is played in England. So many people have tried to copy his style of football, playing out from the back,

and almost the tick-and-and-tick-tac-a-stile that he, he had and he launched it at Barcelona. So an incredible legacy that he leaves, but yes, there will be that disappointment for him that he goes without winning one last Premier League title, a competition that he has dominated since arriving in England. And some more football drama earlier in the day. John, Southampton relegated and expelled from the championship playoffs over spying.

This is an astonishing story. So Southampton were in the English second-tenths, playoff final. So they were thinking that they had a game to play 90 minutes away from the Premier League. They were playing whole city with a chance to go up to be promoted into the Premier League. But they have been thrown out of that game. They won't play in that game. Instead, Middlesbrough will play whole city in the playoff final. It's because of, to put it in simple terms, yeah, they've been accused of spying. They illegally watched training sessions of three matches, three opponents, including Middlesbrough, who,

they played in the playoff semifinals, so they've been found guilty of that. In fact, they've admitted to watching training sessions before three matches this season, so they won't be playing in that playoff final. It really is astonishing news expelled from what they call the richest game in English football, because if you win that playoff final, you get to the Premier League, and there is huge TV money that comes into your club. So a massive blow for Southampton. Last question, John.

Arsenal or PSG in the Champions League Finlay. Oh, it's a tough one. Paris Saint-Germere will start as favourites because they won it last year. They have the experience. They have the quality. But there'll be less pressure on Arsenal now. Now that they have the Premier League title already in the trophy cabinet, there'll be less pressure on them. Some of you even described it as a free hit. I wouldn't go that far. But Arsenal, on their day, with their strong defence, they have a real chance against Paris Saint-Germere. Paris-Mare just, for me, would be slight favourites, but Arsenal have a chance. John Bennett.

Finally, an eerie noise has been perplexing lighthouse keepers and fishermen for years. Now, scientists at the SETI Institute in the US say they believe it's the sound of humpback whales, perhaps clearing their airways or sneezing. And if you thought that actually sounded like something from an alien movie, you're not alone. Researchers have actually been looking at whale sounds to see if the animals, having evolved over millions of years could tell us something about how other life forms communicate, including extraterrestrial ones.

Jamie Kumrasami asked Fred Sharp, the biologist who led the research in Alaska, first how he even heard about this peculiar noise. Some of the local villagers and lighthouse keepers coming to us and telling us about in the night these strange sounds that are rattling their window panes and rattling teacups, and their dog is hiding under the bed. And can you explain?

They initially associated those with the whales. And so we have been doing more sort of remote, shore-based research. And indeed, there are, you know, when the whales come up to the surface to breathe, they're very large-bodied, long, deep dives, and they have these explosive respirations, the classical, bar she blows. And within those, like all terrestrial mammals, there's lots of information about health and emotion that can be embedded in breath.

What is particular about these sounds? Well, one of that we're quite interested in is this very low frequency, elephant-like aerial rumble that we've been able to pick up essentially coming over the horizon at a distance of at least six or seven miles. And so that's very exciting. It doesn't appear in the scientific literature. And we're asking, you know, what is the function? Is this a whale-to-wale communication? Is it some sort of self-soothing sound?

Or is there some explanation yet that we're still trying to find out? What causes it? Is there something particular about the humpback? Well, the humpbacks, yeah, they're baleen whales, and they have in their blowhole, their forehead, they have one of these anatomical fat plugs that we believe are used to help prevent water incursion during the deep dive. But when they're up at the surface, these appear to be rattling around and may be put to other uses like clearing sinuses or communication. And in terms of why these sounds are particularly useful, is it because humans not having realized before that these were whale sounds, can identify whales at greater distances and prevent collisions with ships, that sort of thing? Exactly. They have conservation applications for advising shippers and fissures. Also, we can

census them and know that they're out there. And also getting insight into their interior lives and correlating those with their underwater sounds. And of course, the SETI Institute, those for seeking life in the universe, they're very interested in these because they actually tell us a lot about human perceptual shortfalls if these loud signals coming from animals are routinely heard by passive ocean users yet have gone undocumented in the scientific literature. Whales that have independently evolved in the oceans, they have very diverse communication systems. And we can do better when we're seeking life in the cosmos by having as many understandings of diverse communication systems here on Earth to help us build better search

filters when we're peering into the cosmos. Fred Sharp. And that's all from us. For 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. And don't forget, our sibling podcast, the Global Story, which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story.

This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Louis Griffin. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.