700 ICE agents to leave Minnesota

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is The Global Story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Interview. The best conversations from across the BBC. Today we are spending trivians on war and peanuts on peace. With the people shaping our world.

0:45You're making decisions that will have long-term consequences for the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Wind power in the United States has been subsidised for 33 years. Solar for 25 years. That's enough! The Interview from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcast.

1:07This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Will Chalk and in the early hours of Thursday, the 5th of February, these are our main stories. President Trump speaks of the need for a softer touch on immigration enforcement as hundreds of federal agents withdraw from Minnesota. The last nuclear weapons control treaty between the United States and Russia has expired, raising fears of a new arms race. As Russia and Ukraine take part in the second round of US-led peace talks, the chances of a breakthrough remain slim. Also in this podcast, here in the UK... Did the official security vetting he received mention Mandelson's ongoing relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

1:58The Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing big questions.

2:07Well, it's not traditionally been Donald Trump's style to be conciliatory or to call for a soft-touch approach to immigration. But the US president appears to have admitted sending in federal agents en masse to Minnesota to carry out immigration raids hasn't worked. Last month, two American citizens were shot in confrontations with masked agents during weeks of protests about the actions of ICE and other officers deployed to the state. President Trump has been speaking to NBC News. What did you learn? I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough.

2:47These are criminals. We're dealing with really hard criminals. But look, I've called the people, I've called the governor, I've called the mayor, spoke to him, had great conversations with him, and then I see them ranting and raving out there. The US border czar Tom Homan had earlier announced the withdrawal of 700 immigration agents from Minnesota after he said state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants. But to put that in perspective, around 2 ,000 agents will remain there. So what do the people of Minnesota make of this? The 700 drawdown, okay, I see it's a positive step, but we need two more steps and get them out of here completely.

3:29There's so much misinformation. How can you trust it? It's just a step in the right direction. All the volunteers are helping families that won't go out. There's 40 % of their population that won't go to school. We cannot sustain this. They just cannot. The quantity goes down great, but the quality of the enforcement is still here. and they're still using basically the same tactics as they have used. So nothing's really changed. Well, in terms of what in practice the removal of some of these agents and also this softer touch approach might mean, it's a question I put to our North America correspondent, Helena Humphrey, who's in Washington.

4:08I think that remains to be seen. In that interview with NBC News, President Trump appeared to suggest that the fact that some 700 federal officers and that includes those ICE agents are leaving Minnesota. He said that that was down to him. But on social media, the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, said, well, OK, you're left with 2 ,000 federal agents. That's not what we call a de-escalation, essentially, was his message. And we also heard today from the White House border czar, Tom Homan, and he was saying that the Trump administration will plan to make these body-worn cameras available nationwide immediately when it comes to Minneapolis and saying that the failure to use them there had been unacceptable.

4:50But I think you have to look at these comments when it comes to a softer touch in the broader context. And in that interview with NBC News, President Trump had said that he wasn't happy with the deaths of Alex Pretty and Rennie Goode, but he said that ICE agents must be backed. And he praised the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, saying that she's doing a very good job. Remember, there have been calls for her to be sacked, essentially. she'd face criticism for referring to Alex Pretty and Rennie Goode as domestic terrorists in the wake of their deaths. So I think we will be watching and monitoring very closely the extent to which this de-escalates the situation on the ground.

5:27And then polling for Republicans and Trump not doing as well. And then immigration seems to be a key issue on the polling as well. Immigration is a really interesting one because it was the leading topic in the past election. And that's unusual when it comes to America, because as we know, so often it is the economy. So what we're seeing is even if immigration remains a winning issue with Republicans overall, there's this increasing number of Republicans peeling off. And they're saying that they're unhappy with how ICE raids are being conducted following the scenes in Minneapolis. And there seems to be this dividing line.

6:03So you have MAGA Republicans, for example, more likely to support those raids. And of course, looking at this with the looming shadow of the midterms, and Donald Trump has been encouraged by his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to get out across the country now to talk about the economy on a weekly basis. That was something he was being told to do in Iowa. But often we find his speeches are far more wide ranging than that. Helena Humphrey speaking to me from Washington. So as this is all going on, criminal cases are continuing against some of the demonstrators in Minnesota, among them a civil rights lawyer, Nakema Levy Armstrong.

6:40She was arrested for taking part in a protest at a church where one of the pastors is also a senior ICE official. Hours after her arrest, the White House posted a picture of Ms Levy Armstrong in handcuffs on X. You might have seen it. She was visibly distressed with tears pouring down her face. Except it turned out this had never happened. It was an AI fake based on a real image that showed her looking composed. The White House later defended posting it, saying it was a meme. Nakima Levy-Armstrong has been speaking to the BBC. I was in real life cool, calm, collected and composed as I was being arrested, whereas they presented an image of me with exaggerated features, darkened skin and tears just flowing out of my face like I was hysterical.

7:32I feel that it is prejudicing my case by presenting me in a false light to the public. And it is not unlike the ways in which my ancestors, you know, I'm a descendant of enslaved people, have been caricaturized, you know, with darkened skin and exaggerated features, as well as implications for how artificial intelligence is being used to manipulate reality. It should cause the public to be on high alert from any information that is being disseminated from the White House. They simply cannot be trusted. Nikema Levy-Armstrong. Next, could this be brought back? First, you have to know what happens when an atomic bomb explodes.

8:19There is a bright flash, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything you've ever seen. If you are not ready and did not know what to do, it could hurt you in different ways but if you duck and cover like Bert you will be much safer yeah slightly chilling listen that it was the public information film widely distributed to us school children in the 1950s telling them what to do in the case of nuclear war well now the last nuclear weapons control treaty between the united states and russia the new start treaty has expired, raising fears of a new arms race. After the Cuban missile crisis, when the world seemed at brink of nuclear war, years of negotiations led to the frameworks meant to keep the nuclear powers in check.

9:10Georgia Cole is from the International Security Programme at the think tank Chatham House and explains the role of these frameworks. It was designed to increase a minimum sort of level of stability at a very unstable time, obviously, during the height of the Cold war. And what Newstart did more than any others was introduce these quite detailed verification and transparency measures. So you had things like on-site inspections, regular data exchanges, notifications, and then a commission that would meet twice a year to discuss compliance concerns and new systems. Under the agreement, both countries were still allowed to keep 1 ,550 warheads.

9:50So while that is thousands less than what they were estimated to keep during the Cold War, it's still more than enough to destroy the world several times over. So has the treaty been effective in reducing the risk of nuclear war? Pavel Podvig is a Russian arms control expert. The most important part of the treaty is not necessarily the limits that the treaty established. That system sort of by just being there creates a certain atmosphere of certain trust and confidence in each other. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's stopped providing notifications and also suspended inspections as well.

10:31But it's estimated to not have significantly exceeded the required caps, according to the US State Department. As the New START agreement was nearing its end, Russia's President Vladimir Putin proposed to extend it for one year, to which it appears President Trump did not respond. But he's indicated he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in future arms control talks. In terms of how worried we should be now, it's something James Menendez asked Rose Gottemmola, who was the US chief negotiator for the New START treaty. It is concerning that the treaty is going out of force this very night, but I do think it's also worthwhile to consider that we won't fall off a cliff tomorrow.

11:16The two countries, Russia and the United States, are not going to immediately start building up. But do you think they might in the years to come? Of course, I worry about that, because at the moment, we don't have any prospect for new negotiations. There's very little communication between Washington and Moscow. It is true that President Trump states he wants to negotiate a new and better deal with the Russians. He said that in mid-January, speaking to the New York Times. So that's a good sign. He also wants to negotiate with President Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, which is also good because the Chinese have been rapidly modernizing their nuclear forces.

11:55And we don't know why. So the president's got the right idea. We just have to make it happen. And with so little communications going on below the level of presidents, it's hard to see how. Right idea. Why? I mean, some reports have suggested that the U.S. wants to increase its nuclear arsenal. precisely because China's now so powerful and so much more powerful than it was in 2010. And the US is thinking it needs to take on both Russia and China potentially. Yes, this is the so-called two nuclear peer problem, because China's had very low numbers of nuclear warheads historically, about 200, 300.

12:31Now they're building up to 600. And our Department of Defense estimated that by 2035, they could have 1 ,500 warheads. So if the US is deploying about 1 ,500 and Russia is deploying about 1 ,500 and the Chinese deploy about 1 ,500, then the US has to deter two nuclear peers. And that's a big worry. So for that reason, many in the United States argue that we need to start building up our nuclear warheads. I say we need to plan and prepare, definitely need to work that problem. But we should also be thinking about ways to get to new negotiations. Rose Gottemmolo there. Well, for its part, Russia is now into the second round of US-led peace talks with Ukraine, but the chances of a breakthrough still seem slim.

13:18This two-day session in the United Arab Emirates is believed to be focused on the future of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, which is largely occupied by Russia. Moscow is demanding its full control as a price for peace, something Ukraine's President Zelensky has repeatedly said he can't agree to. It's almost four years after Russia's full-scale invasion, and with no sign of peace in sight. What is the public mood? Sarah Rainsford reports from Kyiv. For Daniel, diving is a distraction to drown out his darkest thoughts. The soldier lost his foot after he stepped on a landmine in the Donbass. The water helps with the pain he still feels on the leg he no longer has.

14:06It's all part of a rehab programme for Ukraine's soldiers, those suffering PTSD as well as with physical injuries. Danil fought in eastern Ukraine, the land Moscow demands Kiev surrenders for a peace deal. He doesn't want to cling to the Donbass at any price, but he's also sure Russia wants more. We all hope they will come to some deal, some peace deal. But everyone who has been to the front will know very well that Russia can put their weapons down, agree to peace, but then pick them up again at any point. So further east and deep underground, we went to meet soldiers still engaged in the fight.

14:58Drone engineers. working to give their troops every chance against an enemy with more men and more resources. You don't hear the word victory so much here now, or taking back territory, but neither do they talk of surrender.

15:19We have preserved our way of life, protected our country and independence, and that is already a victory. But the cost of that fight has been huge. Natalia is burying her husband for the second time with military honours.

15:45Vitaly died in the Donbass three years ago. Now their hometown there is under attack. So Natalia had his body exhumed and moved here to Kiev. When we buried him, we thought the war would end soon. Now the front line is constantly moving closer, and I was scared Vitaly could end up under occupation. It was hard emotionally, very hard. But it would have been far harder to have to leave him. Her husband is now close, but the land Vitaly fought and died for could still end up in Russian hands. And for this family, for most people in Ukraine, that is a desperately painful thought. That report from Kiev by Sarah Rainsford.

16:42Right, question for you now. What's this sound?

16:53If you said the sound of a Saudi Arabian camel herder using traditional song known as Al-Hayda to communicate with his flock, you're right. It's estimated there are around 2.2 million camels in the country and now each individual creature is to get its own passport. It's something that takes on new significance if you bear in mind that Saudi women were only given the right to have a passport six years ago. So why are the Saudi authorities doing this? Our global affairs reporter, Ambarasan Ethirajan, told Keith Adams more. Camels, they play a huge role in the cultural life of the Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

17:33So they even celebrated the year of the camel in 2024. But they served a different purpose about 200 years ago, the main mode of transport. Now it's mainly used for meat, milk and the hide, which is used to make different stuff. In fact, it is regarded as the second most durable leather after crocodile skins. Now, when you have a huge amount of camels roaming around, there's a lot of transaction involved. It's a huge economy. It contributes to nearly half a billion dollars to the Saudi economy. So now they want to regularize the trade. And also when you are buying and selling, you should be knowing from where you are getting it, what kind of breed you are getting it and what is the breed quality.

18:20That's why the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, now they're talking about a passport. Wow. So these passports, will they have passport photos? Will there be embarrassing camel passport photos? That I'm not sure whether they will have photos, but they will have all the details of the camel itself, including the blood tests, what category it belongs to. they're all in the desert in ranches proof of ownership that is the main thing where they want to do it now why this is important is also because the camels are also used for other purposes now like camel racing which is like multi-million dollar business and also the beauty pageants, camel beauty pageants.

19:01Camel beauty pageants they're not terribly good looking are they? It's all the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder because for those who are living with these animals, they are beautiful and they are highly respected. And that is why people go to any extent to win the competition because prized camel can cost you something like$6 million or something. It is a status symbol when you have a beauty queen. So what do they do? Like a couple of years ago, more than 40 camels were disqualified because they tried to make the lips bigger, the jaws or the hump at the back. So they want to like drooping lips.

19:40and so what they do is they do their Botox injections. Botox for camels. Yeah, and also hormonal injections to make them bigger. Well, I'm sad that the listener can't see you mime in the drooping lips of a beautiful camel. That's considered beautiful. That's not considered beautiful anywhere else, is it drooping lips? That's naturally if it is a drooping lips or if the hump is slightly back towards the back or it is in the right shape. So they were cheating. So that is why many people got disqualified. But it is also a status symbol to have, you know, this is the winner of this contest. That's why it is costing millions of dollars.

20:19Ambarrasan Ethirajan.

20:23Still to come in this podcast. We've actually had somebody phone us up this week looking to replace their curling stones that they bought off us 50 years ago. The answer to a Winter Olympics question that's probably never crossed your mind. where do curling stones come from?

21:06you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The interview, the best conversations from across the BBC. Today we are spending trivians on war and peanuts on peace with the people shaping our world. You're making decisions that will have long term consequences for the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Wind power in the United States has been subsidized for 33 years. Solar for 25 years. That's enough. The interview from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

21:47We live in a world where the news is at our fingertips. But how often do we stop scrolling and just listen? I'm Malika Bilal and this is The Take, Al Jazeera's daily news podcast, where we bring you the context and the people behind the global stories that matter. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. I am Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union in 1962. And I'm Max Kennedy, the nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. We explore what was a terrifying moment in history. The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. How close the world came to nuclear war.

22:26and what they had to do to pull it back from the brink. The bomb, Kennedy and Khrushchev. All episodes available now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

22:43This is the Global News Podcast. Wednesday was quite the day for Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He faced question after question after question and increasing anger over his handling of Lord Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador in 2024. Swathes of files released in the US have shown the depth of Lord Mandelson's relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted of sex offences and have sparked a police inquiry into evidence that the former Labour politician gave sensitive information to Epstein. The opposition Conservatives have pressed for details to be made public about what the Prime Minister knew when he sent Peter Mandelson to Washington.

23:24The BBC has asked Lord Mandelson for comment. Our political correspondent Harry Farley followed the day's events. The Epstein files have had a profound effect on British politics. Lord Mandelson, for so long a colossal figure in the Labour movement, has been forced to quit the Lords and faces a police investigation. And attention is now shifting into how much the Prime Minister knew when he made the controversial decision to appoint Lord Mandelson US ambassador. It was known at the time that he had remained in contact with Epstein after his initial conviction, but the Prime Minister told the Commons the peer had lied during his vetting for the Washington job.

24:04I am as angry as the public and any member of this House. Mandelson betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party. Mr Speaker, he lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him. What questions were asked? Did they go far enough to get the extent of the relationship between Lord Mandelson and Epstein? The Conservative leader, Kemi Baden-Ock, sought more clarity. Did the official security vetting he received mention Mandelson's ongoing relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein? Prime Minister?

24:50Yes, it did. As a result, various questions were put to him. That answer appears to have increased the feeling of despondency among some Labour MPs. Catastrophically bad was how one described the situation. Grim added another. The biggest concern for number 10 now is that this saga continues to drag on. That appears likely to happen when the documents on Lord Manilson's vetting are published. For a Prime Minister already languishing in the polls and facing big questions over his leadership, another drawn-out row about judgement is a significant problem. Harry Farley. Over the past few weeks, despite the internet blackout, we've done our best here on the Global News Podcast to bring you updates on the nationwide protests in Iran.