Jamaicans hunker down for Hurricane Melissa

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2:33This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles, and in the early hours of Tuesday, the 28th of October, these are our main stories. Hurricane Melissa has intensified into the strongest possible storm category with winds of nearly 300 kilometers an hour. President Trump has held talks with Japan's new prime minister, promising a stronger relationship than ever before. Also in this podcast, concern after Russia says it's tested a new nuclear powered missile. We are entering very dangerous territory. We are very rapidly entering this new Cold War nuclear arms race dynamic that nobody wants and nobody really understands where it's going to end.

3:18And we find out the real reason for the dawn course.

3:30Viewed from space, Jamaica and much of the southern part of the Caribbean is covered in a vast, swirling mass of cloud. At ground level, Hurricane Melissa is causing havoc and destruction with winds of up to 300 kilometres an hour. At the time of recording this podcast, the hurricane is bearing down on Jamaica and due to make landfall imminently. Meteorologists are warning that torrential rain will batter the island as well. And because the storm is moving very slowly, it's likely to cause widespread damage, severe floods and landslides. It is now confirmed as the world's strongest storm of the year.

4:09Milton Walker is head of broadcast news at RJR Gleena Communications in Jamaica. We have 2 ,002 persons in shelters. There are 800 shelters that are open. 133 are active so far. And the persons are in shelters in four parishes. All hospitals remain open, but the government is concerned about three or four of them, which are on the coastline. And Milton, people on the island are used to storms and hurricanes, but perhaps not of this strength. What would you say the mood is amongst the people that you're speaking to? And what are they doing to try to protect their own properties? Well, you know, persons over the last four or five days have been battening up their homes, putting up shutters, purchasing flyboard to board up their windows.

4:58And also a lot of sandbags we've seen being mounted to protect their homes from flooding and stocking up on bottled water and thin food and other non-perishable food items. The government has also been issuing evacuation orders for about six or so communities. The people, though, have not been very willing to obey those instructions. The prime minister issued compulsory evacuation orders and the police and the army went into some of those communities. So what are the prospects for the coming hours? Our correspondent David Willis is monitoring development from Los Angeles. The National Hurricane Center here in the US is predicting catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides once Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica.

5:47Tropical storm force winds are expected to spread across the island, starting actually in the next few hours, with hurricane force conditions reaching the southern coast of Jamaica early on Tuesday morning, dumping up to 40 inches, it's thought of rain in some places, moving across the island during the day. More than 880 shelters have been set up across Jamaica. Evacuation orders have been issued for people living along the coast and those in flood-prone areas are being urged to move to higher ground. And the flood-prone warnings are significant because the capital, Kingston, is surrounded by mountains, the Blue Mountains, as they're known, which rise to over 7 ,000 feet above sea level.

6:36and it's feared that water pouring down the slopes could easily inundate low-lying coastal areas leading to the flooding and the landslides that everybody is fearing. Yet despite a lot of precautions in place, trimming of trees, blocking windows, stockpiling food and so on, there are fears that Melissa could prompt an economic as well as a humanitarian disaster for Jamaica. David Willis in LA. She may only have been elected last week, but Japan's first ever female prime minister, Sanei Takeichi, has already been hosting President Donald Trump in Tokyo. The self-styled Iron Woman of Japan will be hoping to build a strong relationship with the American leader.

7:22And as Takeichi started by laying out her vision. On diplomacy, I am determined to restore dynamic Japan's diplomacy to protect Japan's own national interest. In addition, I am ready to promote further collaboration with you and with the United States toward our shared goal of achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific. For his part, President Trump had warm words for his host and said it was important to acknowledge her victory. It's a great honor to be with you, especially so early in what will be, I think, one of the great prime ministers. I'd also like to congratulate you on being the first woman prime minister.

8:07That's a big deal. That's a big deal. I don't want to congratulate you on that. I think that has to be called out. Our Tokyo correspondent, Shama Khalil, gave me her assessment of today's meeting. There's a lot of goodwill between those two leaders. And I must say, what really stood out for me is how much praise he's given her. The fact that he said what he said in that clip, but also, you know, starting off by saying, if you need any help, if you need any advice, I'm always here to help Japan. And it just felt to me that the late former Shinzo Abe, who's been a close mentor to Shusanae Takeuchi and a close ally and friend to Donald Trump, who was killed over three years ago, was very much present in spirit between those two leaders.

8:49But putting the pleasantries aside, and I hate to be the cloud in these silver linings, there's a lot of difficult conversations to be had. Japan doesn't have a lot of room to manoeuvre. Washington could still reimpose tariffs. Japan wants to avoid this at all costs. And I think there are two rooms of vulnerabilities that are very obvious to Tokyo that it really needs to strike a balance with, and that's the car industry. This is the backbone of their economy and exports. Now they're at 15%. They do not want to go any higher. They want to keep this steady, but also agriculture, because expect Washington in the nitty gritty of the business deals to push on more access to Japanese markets when it comes to things like rice, soybeans and dairy.

9:31And while Senai Takeichi could make an opening, she will also have to strike a balance of trying to reassure the farming industry, the very powerful farming lobby that is in charge of a lot of rural voting, that their industries, their livelihoods are not at risk. So those contentious trade issues aside, Shia, there were an area of agreement, if you like, amongst security issues, aren't there, particularly rare earth metals? Absolutely. And I think this is where Japan has a lot of room to manoeuvre, has a lot of leverage, if you will, because remember that Washington really wants to move away from its reliance on China when it comes to rare earth minerals that really go into everything from electric vehicles to the defence industry.

10:14And China all but monopolizes this. And it has been playing hardball by restricting exports in the midst of this U.S.-China tariff force. So I think with agreements with Japan, with Malaysia, with Thailand, with Australia, Donald Trump goes into that upcoming Xi Jinping meeting in a much stronger position. Japan is known to have a wealth of these rare earth minerals, but they're underwater. So they will need the know-how to mine them. And I think defence as well. Donald Trump is pushing into an open door with Sunai Takahichi because she is known to be a hawk on defence. She wants Japan to be stronger militarily.

10:48And she's already promised a 2 % hike in defence spending as early as this March. So we know that Washington wants more on this. And I think he will get it because I think Sunai Takahichi seems open in that regard. Shaima Khalil. Horse racing is big business. It's estimated to be worth$400 billion a year, but it has a growing number of critics, and that is because so many horses still die on the race course. In fact, a new report by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, or CPR, in Australia, has found that a record number of them are dying. The report says 174 horses died as a result of injuries sustained during races or training between August 2024 and July of this year.

11:34CPR's general manager is Heli Erhardsen. Horses are dying on the racetrack because they are being pushed way too far. They are being pushed way too fast and they're started way too young. We're seeing horses who die on the racetrack in Australia on average every second day. And these are horses that 85 % of the time will fracture a front limb. We're also seeing horses who die from fractured pelvis, internal bleeding, exercise-induced bleeding. We're seeing horses who simply collapse and die from a heart attack in front of race-goers. Helly, I had perhaps naively assumed that safeguards for animals, horse racing in particular, was improving here on you.

12:20That's clearly not the case as far as you're concerned. No, I think this record number of horses dying in the past year There is clear evidence that the racing industry has become even more relentless in their pursuit of profits at the expense of the horses that they rely on to exist. One animal rights group in the United States called Horse Racing Wrongs says that death is built into the horse racing systems. Killing is inevitable. Do you think that's true? And what can actually change that? Yes, I totally agree. The cruelty is inherent in racing because it's an industry that's built on profit.

12:59And as long as that's the case, welfare will always come second. That's what we see proof of all the time. And it's not only the deaths that happen on the racetrack. The numbers of forces killed from training and track work were twice as many as the ones we could detect dying directly on the track. The massive overbreeding of racehorses is not just an issue in Australia, that's worldwide. You have to breed thousands and thousands of thoroughbreds to try and find that one special horse that might be a winner. And sadly, there's no transparency into where these horses end up when they're done on the racetrack.

13:37On average, they race for about three years, but horses live for 25 years. The horse racing industry in Australia is a billion dollar industry and they could afford a proper retirement plan for their horses. So do you think reform is impossible? There are plenty of things we could do to improve their lives and lower the risk. A few years ago, they introduced mandatory CT scans to avoid more horses being killed on the Melbourne Cup race day. and since 2021 when they introduced the mandatory CT scans there hasn't been any on-track deaths during the Melbourne Cup and we're just saying why won't they introduce CT scans of all horses all year round no matter which racetrack.

14:24They would certainly do that if they put welfare over profit. That was Heli Erhardsen. No matter where you live, if there are birds around you will get a dawn chorus as the sun rises. Scientists in South Korea now think they might have an explanation as to why it happens, as the newsroom's Isabella Jewell reports.

14:49It's nature's alarm clock. Wherever you are in the world, birds break into song at dawn. The melodic phenomenon has inspired artists for hundreds of years. Teach us, sprite or bird, what sweet thoughts are thine. I have never heard praise of love or wine that panted forth a flood of rapture so divine. A verse of To a Skylark by the English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. And there we see the sense of wonder inspired by our feathered friends. But now we may be closer to understanding why they do it. Scientists at the Korea Brain Research Institute conducted a series of experiments on zebra finches, a species found in Australia and Indonesia.

15:37The birds were raised in a laboratory and the researchers controlled the lighting in the room. What they found was that the birds would stay silent when it was dark and would begin to sing when the lights came on. but the team then began to play with the timing of the lighting turning it on several hours before and then after the natural time of dawn the scientists said that the longer the birds hats await the more intense the sound of their dawn chorus they even trained the birds to press a lever to gain 10 seconds of artificial light and found that the birds would press it frequently when the light was delayed Their conclusion?

16:19That the zebra finches build up their motivation to sing overnight in the time between waking up and the sun rising. In other words, when the birds are prevented from singing by being in darkness for longer, their desire to sing increases.

16:38Still to come in the Global News podcast. You know, in Canada it feels like he's got a bit of divorce dad vibes happening. There are people who look at that and think, OK, and good luck to you, Justin, as you figure out what life looks for you. Is it a celebrity couple to rival the Obamas or Harry and Meghan?

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18:30This advertisement feature is paid and presented by Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Looking for the perfect place to grow your business? For over 30 years, Poland has been a launchpad for innovation at the heart of Europe, powered by world-class research and ambitious young talent. From bold startups to established powerhouses, Poland offers the momentum, resources and reliability you need to take your business further. Poland, where businesses don't just grow, they're built to last. Find out more at polandyourplacetogrow.com If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed?

19:05In 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 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.

19:37Not appropriate. That was the uncharacteristically understated reaction from President Trump as he described Vladimir Putin's announcement on Sunday that Russia had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile. Moscow says the missile covered more than 13 ,500 kilometres during a 15-hour flight. The Russian leader was dressed in military fatigues when he publicly shared the news about the missile, called a storm petrol by the Russians, but known as a skyfall by NATO. This is, after all, a unique product, unlike anything else in the world. Moreover, I remember well when we announced that we were developing such a weapon, even highly qualified specialists told me that, yes, this was a good, worthy goal, but not achievable in the near future.

20:27So how serious a moment is this? John Wolfstahl is a former senior director at the US National Security Council for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Unlike cruise missiles that the United States and Russia have had for many, many decades, this new system doesn't have a gas or electric motor. It has a nuclear reactor for propulsion. So in addition to carrying a nuclear warhead, it is powered by a small nuclear reactor, which allows it to fly for potentially days at a time. For the last 15 years or so, Russia has been investing heavily in a very diverse set of what we call novel nuclear delivery systems.

21:09In addition to developing long-range missiles that can maneuver in flight, long-range underwater torpedoes that can go at very high speeds, they have been developing this nuclear powered cruise missile, which is designed to attack its target from unpredictable directions in order to evade potential U.S. and European missile defenses. This is a system that's not covered by any of the existing arms control agreements, including the New START Treaty, which is due to expire in February. We are at a point where both Russia and the United States are moving to expand their nuclear arsenals largely free of any transparency, verification, or controls.

21:49We are entering very dangerous territory where neither the United States or Russia or China, for that matter, who's building up its nuclear arsenal, feels constrained, increasingly feel that nuclear weapons are usable politically and potentially usable in a military sense. And so we are very rapidly entering this new Cold War nuclear arms race dynamic that nobody wants and nobody really understands where it's going to end. Weapons expert John Wolfstall. Ten people are on trial in France accused of cyberbullying the country's first lady, Brigitte Macron. Malicious posts alleged to have been made include claims that she was born a man for which there is absolutely no evidence.

22:31If convicted, the defendants face up to two years in prison. Catherine Norris-Trent from the TV news channel France 24 was in court for day one of the hearing. She spoke to Sean Lay. There was a great deal of commotion at the courthouse with a large number of journalists, not only from France, but around the world present. So lots of TV cameras and also quite a large queue of people, members of the public, queuing up to try and get in the public gallery. In fact, there wasn't enough room. An overflow courtroom had to be provided. There's been quite a bit of public attention in this case. And we saw some people there who appeared to be supporting those who'd written these tweets about Brigitte Macron, applauding some of those who were accused as they arrived at court with their lawyers.

23:19It was a bit procedural inside the courtroom. The lawyers taking a long time going through the identities and backgrounds of the clients. Those who were accused in the dock were all defiant. They're all pleading not guilty. And some of them saying that they absolutely didn't regret writing online what they had been writing about Brigitte Macron. It's perhaps no surprise that the Macrons are taking action of their own. I think in the United States against a social media influencer there who's big in the sort of MAGA movement that supports President Trump. And presumably, given that these rumours have dragged on for years, they've kind of lost patience with them.

23:54Yeah, I think that's it. These rumours have been swirling for really quite some time and came to a head in the years after Covid, when they got a large presence online with lots of views for podcasts and other articles and books that have been reported on these rumours. These are unsubstantiated claims, but there's been a few figures who've been really pushing this narrative. And Brigitte Macron has said in interviews that she basically had enough, that whenever she went on state visits around the world accompanying her husband, that people were aware of this wherever she went in the world. And she said that often it was the spouses of foreign leaders who commiserated with her about these claims.

24:34So she felt it was becoming not only very embarrassing and distressing, but also a distraction from Emmanuel Macron's role and position. and she's made something of a point of taking a stand against cyberbullying, saying that she's taking this on despite the risk that it might give it more publicity, but saying she's taking a stand against bullying online, that this is her battle really. There's something significant changed in France. I mean, one thinks of for years when, I mean, French presidents and other public figures were kind of committing adultery left, right and centre. There was a sort of media blackout on people's private lives.

25:10And to get to a stage where something like this, such kind of an offensive rumour against somebody about how they were born and how they choose to live, has been given such publicity, including by the mainstream media. Yeah, I think something has changed. But I think it's the salacious nature of the rumours surrounding Brigitte Macron that have really caught people's imagination, really titillated them. She is 24 years older than her husband. And they did meet when he was very young. she was his drama teacher and he was still a teenager. Now, the couple say they didn't get together until later on, but that has sparked a lot of rumours about the nature of their relationship.