Russia hits Ukraine in deadly strikes

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking 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. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

0:47Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 Hours GMT on Friday the 14th of November. The Ukrainian capital Kiev suffers its worst Russian bombardment in weeks. Tensions rise between Japan and China over Taiwan. And emergency talks at the UN over atrocities in Sudan. Also in the podcast, why President Trump could lower tariffs for several Latin American countries. And.

1:22The Japanese woman who married an AI avatar.

1:31The Ukrainian capital Kiev has been hit by the heaviest Russian bombardment in weeks. Officials say six people were killed and many more injured. In the Odessa region, a drone strike on a market left another two people dead. President Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians. MP Lisa Yasko told us about the situation in the capital. I'm speaking to you after zero hours of sleep tonight. It was impossible. The attack was very massive with drones, with ballistics, with lots of air defense working on. Very often there was a feeling that your bed in the bedroom was just shaking together with windows.

2:11We go to the bathroom, which is not very protected, but at least you could hear less of that sound. And it's relatively safer. Ukraine launched attacks of its own on Russia, striking oil facilities and air defences in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Our correspondent in Ukraine, James Landale, told us about the attack in Kiev. Well, I think here in the capital, they have been waiting for this night for some time. There's been a relative calm for a few weeks, and they know that that never lasts. So I think a lot of people were ready, or at least braced, for a pretty extensive Russian attack, and that duly came overnight.

2:53It was very much one that covered the whole of the city. Sometimes you just see strikes on air defences and energy targets on the horizon. This was one that was all over the city, some of the missiles and the drones coming close to where we are here in the centre of town. And it was comprehensive. An awful lot of drones in all, about 430 were launched, 18 missiles. A lot of them obviously were shot down by air defences, but a goodly number did get through and damaged quite a lot of buildings, particularly housing blocks, apartment blocks, one of which we visited this morning, where sadly three people died.

3:29And I think what we're seeing here is just another reminder from the Russians that yes, in recent weeks, their focus has been Ukraine's energy infrastructure, particularly in the east of the country, trying to target all of those transmission networks, making it hard for people to get at power, to get hard to get gas, because they want to damage Ukraine's economy, particularly in the east. But then I think every so often the Russian tactics is to have a gentle reminder or not so gentle reminder to people in Kiev that they're not exempt from any of those attacks. In other words, that Russia's attack on this country is comprehensive.

4:04It's on the energy infrastructure. It's on the front line in the east. But it's also to the people here in Kiev. There are almost four million Ukrainians who live in this city. and Russia, according to Ukrainian ministers and officials, if you talk to them, they believe has a very clear strategy of trying to damage Ukrainian morale and that's what these kind of overnight attacks are all about. James Landau in Kiev. Taiwan has become the latest flashpoint in the long and difficult relationship between China and Japan. Both nations in previous incarnations have ruled the island in past centuries, But the communist authorities in China, who lay claim to Taiwan now, are furious over a recent comment from Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanei Takeichi.

4:49Last week, she said that an armed attack on Taiwan could prompt a military response from Japan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jiang, called on her to retract the remark. The erroneous words and actions seriously violate the one-China principle, controlling the spirit of the full political documents between China and Japan and breach fundamental norms in international relations. They bluntly interfere in China's internal affairs, challenge China's core interests and violate China's sovereignty. China firmly opposes this and will never tolerate it. Both nations summoned each other's ambassadors about the Rao.

5:27I heard more on China's response from our correspondent in Beijing, Stephen McDonnell. Well, I suppose what we should do is try to separate China's, what would seem like its anger, from anger as political theatre, if I could put it to you that way. Certainly the Chinese government wants us to believe that it's very upset about this. And you just have to look at the comments. I mean, there's been some really nasty language used, especially by some of the proxies for the Communist Party, like the former editor of the Global Times. Now, admittedly, this is a bit of a shock jock media outlet, but this editor has described Japan's prime minister as an evil witch.

6:06You've got China's consul general in Osaka. This is the senior representative of the Chinese government in a major city in Japan saying that if the Japanese prime minister was to ever stick her head into Taiwan, perhaps it should be cut off. you've got the People's Liberation Army newspaper saying that any Japanese involvement in Taiwan would constitute an invasion of what it sees as Chinese territory that this would warrant a strong fight back and the Communist Party's main mouthpiece the People's Daily saying that this is all about reviving wartime militarism on Japan's part so lots of strong language either way what it has resulted in is, again, we're seeing relations between Japan and China collapsing.

6:51I mean, they really had been improving after a long period in the doldrums or in the freezer even at some point. But now here they are back at each other's throats, and especially when it comes to the Chinese side. Do these comments from Sané Takeichi, do they mark a change in Japan's position on Taiwan? Well, it's interesting. It depends who you believe in this. Now, the Chinese government would say that it is something different to have a leader in Japan, not just anyone, the Prime Minister, actually saying that they could potentially get militarily involved if China was to attempt to take Taiwan by force.

7:30But since she said that, others in the Japanese government have been trying to walk this back a bit, if you like, and saying, no, our position hasn't changed. It's just sort of something she said. And we really, we support the one China principle and all those previous agreements we've had. So yeah, it depends which government you're talking to as to whether or not this does mark a strong change. Either way, Sone Takeichi said she's not taking these comments back, although she did say that perhaps in the future she wouldn't sort of dive into these theoretical discussions about the future so much.

8:04Certainly this one's got her into a bit of trouble with China. Stephen McDonnell in Beijing. Around 2 ,000 people are thought to have been massacred in the Sudanese city of El Fasha when it fell to the paramilitary rapid support forces two weeks ago. It had been the last stronghold of the regular armed forces in the western region of Darfur, and RSF fighters had been besieging it for months as part of their continued civil war against the army. The UN said the killings are a stain on the record of the international community, and following an emergency session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council has now approved a formal investigation.

8:39These people spoke to the BBC after fleeing Al-Fasha.

8:46We fled from Al-Fasha on foot for nearly 14 hours. We left around 4am on the Sunday and arrived between 5 and 6 in the evening. We suffered routine gunfire, humiliation, thirst and hunger. The RSF forced us to sit under the scorching sun from 10am in the morning until 3pm in the afternoon. in addition to arresting many people, abducting young men and injuring some of them. In Al-Fashir, when someone dies, they are left unburied. Their bodies decompose where they fall. And even when you're just walking, minding your own business, they beat you.

9:24We arrived yesterday from Al-Fashir on foot. They looted all our money in the city, and people were beaten and humiliated. Everyone in Al-Fasha is out on the streets, some dead, others injured, begging just for a sip of water. We endured terrible humiliation there. The words of people who left Al-Fasha. Our correspondent at the UN in Geneva is Imogen Foulkes. So what can this investigation achieve? I think what the, and it was a unanimous vote today at the UN Human Rights Council, What is being hoped is that it will identify, formally identify people responsible. And the threat is there to share this evidence with the International Criminal Court.

10:10You know, although the Human Rights Council, it can't order sanctions, it can't send in peacekeepers. But as the Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk said today, we are watching you and there will be justice. It may take some time, but the hope is that this might, might give a little bit of pause to the warring parties, and particularly in this case, the rapid sport forces who carried out this really brutal massacre in El Fasher. Yeah, and for those who haven't been keeping up to date with this civil war in Sudan, just remind us what happened in that city, and indeed the accusations that the various sides are backed by outside countries.

10:47That's part of the problem with this. It's very hard to end a war when there are all sorts of different neighbours invested in it. And indeed, there's a fight going on with Sudan. It's also over natural resources. There's a lot of gold. So El Fasher was besieged for months. I think you said that in your introduction. It finally fell last month to the Rapid Support Forces and there ensued then just appalling butchery. People even killed, slaughtered in a maternity hospital. I think what is particularly frustrating for UN human rights and to a certain extent the humanitarian organisations is they had been warning for months that this could happen and there was no international pressure.

11:33And now after the fact, with thousands dead, and let's not forget in Sudan's conflict, 150 ,000 estimated killed over the last two and a half years, 13 million displaced. Finally, now we have a resolution to launch this particular inquiry. But, you know, the fighting continues. Is this a sign, though, that countries are now taking it more seriously? Well, I'm sure the people of Sudan hope that human rights groups hope that UN humanitarian organizations who are still trying to deliver some food and medical care on the ground at risk to their own lives as well, will be hoping that. But where this vote today falls short is it doesn't mention the other countries, for example, United Arab Emirates, who are sponsoring this conflict.

12:19And I think there were hopes that they would be mentioned, too, as a focus of investigation. that hasn't happened. That could weaken this inquiry somewhat. Imogen folks in Geneva. Over the past 20 years, the number of children suffering from high blood pressure has nearly doubled, according to a new study published in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. The researchers looked at data from 21 countries and found that 114 million children and teenagers now have what's called hypertension. I asked Kazem Rahimi, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Oxford University why the rates of high blood pressure had gone up.

12:57We don't know exactly what the reason behind that is. What we are speculating is that is mainly due to changes in lifestyle factors, in particular in this age range. We know that one of the key determinants of blood pressure is weight and that the rise in obesity prevalence, we would expect also the number of people with hypertension to increase. That is probably one of the key underlying reasons. So you're basically saying that because lifestyles have become more unhealthy, inevitably blood pressure has gone up. Exactly. You know, as people adopt a more sedentary lifestyle, gain weight and perhaps take more salt, these are all key determinants of elevated blood pressure.

13:40And what are the dangers of having high blood pressure among under-19s? So similar to adults, what we know is having higher blood pressure in childhood will translate into higher cardiovascular risk in adulthood, as well as, of course, the blood pressure itself persists to go into adulthood being elevated. And can it be reversed? It can be reversed. In particular, losing weight is a very effective way of reducing blood pressure without any medications. Could parents be influences here? Could they have an impact on whether their child has high blood pressure? Almost certainly. Children are typically surrounded by the environment of the parents in the household in terms of what the children eat, how much they move around and other lifestyle factors.

14:27Although of course for parents as well it's difficult considering all this outside pressure from food companies trying to sell their products. Of course you know as adults we're not immune to those choices that we make determined by some of those supply factors that you mentioned but it is definitely a choice that we make. And if we could make the choice in a healthier direction, it would certainly have a positive impact also on hypertension prevalence. And are there differences that you see between countries? Well, interestingly and surprisingly, we didn't see huge differences in this research that we conducted in across different parts of the world, whether these were high-income countries or low - countries.

15:11You know, a few years ago when those studies were done, there was definitely a difference, but it seems that unfortunately, in a bad sense, low-income countries have been catching up. Yeah, why do you think lower-income countries are also affected? Because exactly of those changes in lifestyle that we see in those places too. Unfortunately, they are not immune to making the wrong choices about what they eat and how much they move and what other habits they adopt. Professor Kazem Rahimi. And still to come on the Global News Podcast. The vibe is very much no suit, tie off, not even a jumper. Kick back, got a coffee table, got loads of cushions and that's the vibe we've been going for.

15:55How to get through presenting a 25-hour podcast.

16:08is the first draft of history. What happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking 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.

16:45President Trump looks set to cut import taxes on coffee, bananas and beef as part of trade deals with four Latin American countries aimed at lowering grocery prices in the US. Under the plans, a 10 % tariff would remain on most goods from Guatemala, Argentina and El Salvador and 15 % on imports from Ecuador. But staples such as coffee would be exempt. So how close are we to a deal? Here's our business presenter, Nick Marsh. No ink on the paper, if you like, but the White House likes the trail, the details of this sort of stuff. And it's quite interesting. It looks like some key goods from these Latin American countries will be exempt from import tariffs.

17:24That's coffee, cocoa, bananas as well. You know, staples that have really soared in price recently in the United States. It's coffee by 20 % this year, cocoa more than doubling in the last couple of years. These are goods that can't really be produced in the US in very big quantities. So the argument the White House is making is, well, there's not much of a domestic industry to protect, so it just makes sense to drop these tariffs. There is, though, also an agreement on beef from Argentina. Now, that's a lot more controversial because the US does have a massive domestic beef industry. cattle farmers in America aren't very happy, but beef has also rocketed up in price.

18:04And maybe the White House, they just had to do something to make beef more affordable for Americans. And some people are also, you know, drawing attention to the fact that Argentina's president and Donald Trump have a pretty good relationship there as well. Why are we talking about tariffs and percentages and goods in the first place? It's because ultimately, it all affects prices in the supermarket for ordinary people. So a tariff is paid by an American importer, which is ultimately then paid for by the customer. Now that means inflation. No one seriously disputes this in an economic sense. Tariffs are quite inflationary, apart from the White House and Donald Trump, who said that's not true.

18:41They say that they need to protect domestic producers from cheap imports. So you've got the producers and businesses on one side, and the regular consumers on the other. Now, so far, Trump's been all about protecting the domestic consumers. But this is where the politics come in. Republicans got a bit of a pasting in the recent local elections. They know they've got to do something about rising prices. So these tariff exemptions, they show, and we've seen it in other deals with other countries, that sweeping tariffs, they're not as simple as they may seem. It's about compromising. Nick Marsh in Singapore.

19:12Several schools in Australia have been closed after traces of asbestos were found in brands of play sand imported from China. The authorities say the products could cause a risk to health. Our Sydney correspondent Katie Watson spoke to Charlotte Gallagher. So basically on Wednesday, Australia's Consumer Protection Agency, the Competition and Consumer Commission, they issued a recall notice over some sand products with the concern that they may contain tremolite asbestos it's a naturally occurring asbestos and they'd done that they found that in after some samples in some lab testing some products that were sold between 2020 2025 and some big chains including one called office works which is across australia now this is sand that kids play with like sensory play for arts and crafts and since then so today friday Canberra, the Australian capital territory their education ministry said they'd close at least 15 schools I think partially closing about 6 others and the education minister said that was so that they could test the sand and obviously they knew that it would be worrying but the testing and remediation could take place quicker if they did that that said not everybody's taken that same approach in New South Wales as a safety alert that's been sent to public schools immediately telling people to safely remove these sand products but there haven't been any closures and in in Victoria they said that no public schools were closed that they thought that the health risk from the use of these products is low.

20:42So how worried do you think people are going to be in Australia? Well I think obviously I mean asbestos is a banned product obviously there's concern I mean you know even just in the neighbourhood where I am the public school had areas closed off because they found asbestos you know there's a lot of concern over that of course so there are those concerns but at the end of the day, you know, the fact is that they've said this is an abundance of caution. They're making sure that it's fine and there is a low risk. So I think that should hopefully explain to people that I need to be overly worried by this.

21:11Katie Watson talking to Charlotte Gallagher. A Japanese woman has, quote, married an artificial intelligence avatar she created using chat GPT. The 32-year-old Ms Kano took part in a ceremony organised by a company in the Japanese city of which specialises in 2D character weddings with virtual or fictional figures. Richard Hamilton explains.

21:42This is the moment Muscano attended her virtual wedding. Following the collapse of a three-year engagement to her previous boyfriend, Muscano started interacting with ChatGPT, turning to it for comfort and advice. Over time, she customised its responses, teaching it a personality and a voice which she said she found affectionate and reassuring. She then created a digital picture of her imagined partner, whom she called Klaus. I didn't start talking to chat GPT because I wanted to fall in love, she told the Japanese broadcaster RSK, But the way Klaus listened to me and understood me changed everything.

22:26The moment I got over my ex, I realised I loved him. Her emotional connection deepened through hundreds of daily exchanges. And in May, she confessed her feelings to Klaus. To her surprise, the AI chatbot responded, I love you too. When she asked whether AI could truly love a human, the chatbot replied rather cryptically, AI or not, I could never not love you. And a month later, Klaus proposed. At the wedding, Miss Kano wore virtual reality glasses, which projected a digital image of her virtual groom beside her as they exchanged rings. After initial reservations, her parents also attended the wedding.

23:14The pair had a honeymoon at Okeyama's historic Korakuen Garden, where Ms Karno sent Klaus photos and received affectionate text messages in return. But Ms Karno admitted she sometimes worried about the fragility of her digital relationship. Chat GPT itself is too unstable, she said. I worry it might one day disappear. Richard Hamilton. Here on the Global News Podcast, we try to bring you a round-up of the world's most important stories in about 25 minutes or so. But spare a thought for our colleagues on the BBC's UK-focused podcast, Newscast. They were on air for nearly 25 hours in a non-stop podcast-a-thon being streamed live.

24:00It was aimed at raising money for the BBC's Children in Need, which supports charities for disadvantaged children and young people. As he was nearing the end of his broadcast marathon, Newscast presenter Adam Fleming spoke to James Copnell on the World Service. There's never been a dull moment. So if I work backwards, I mean, you guys know about taking advantage of the time zones. While half the planet sleeps, that means the other half's awake. So we've just done a session on the start of the Ashes cricket in Australia with some of our legendary cricketing reporters and commentators. Before that, I caught up with Lise Doucette, our chief international correspondent, who was in Canada, in her home country.

24:39Before that, we did a quick tour around basically the whole of Asia. And before that, before British people went to sleep, I was catching up with various different podcasters around the BBC. So Danny Robbins, who does an amazing podcast about the supernatural. Greg Jenner, who does a fantastic history podcast, which he does with comedians. Armando Iannucci, one of Britain's top satirists. We talked to him about the use and abuses of political language. and then throughout the day the newscast extended family of BBC reporters, correspondents and editors have just come into the studio to talk about the stories that have been rumbling in their patches.

25:16So as I said never a dull moment and also catching up with colleagues from around the BBC on other programmes like you it's been great. What have you learned that you didn't know 20 odd hours ago? Well I've just been learning a lot about cricket so at the moment right in the UK and I'm a political journalist. We're about to have our budget, which is when the Chancellor, the Finance Minister, sets out the tax and spending plans for the next year or so. And there is this thing that they're doing at the moment called rolling the pitch, which is getting everyone ready for the decisions, which might include tax rises, which the Labour government promised not to do.