Paul Adams (3:08)

ceasefire is always under threat because, you know, you've got two sides both maintaining a kind of ceasefire, but continuing the conflict through these competing blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, with always the possibility that one side will lose patience and decide to revert to overt hostilities. It's not surprising that we hear, you know, talk from the United States of military planning of the deployment of, you know, new and devastating weaponry such as the one you just mentioned. And I think it all points to frustration, certainly a frustration in the White House that the blockade has yet to bring Iran to its knees. I think there is a calculation going on at the Pentagon about how long it can maintain the military pressure. It's got three carrier strike groups in the broader region at the moment. How long can those remain on station before decisions have to be taken about bringing them home? And all of these sorts of things are constantly going through the minds of those planners in Washington. And that's why I think we do hear from time to time these reports that the United States might simply return to some kind of military action in an effort to force the pace.

Oliver Conway (4:23)

President Trump says he has already won, but just wants to win by a bigger margin. How much pressure is the Iranian regime under at the moment?

Paul Adams (4:33)

It's under enormous pressure and it is mounting pressure. The blockade that the US Navy has imposed has certainly increased the economic pain being felt by the Iranian regime. There is talk about the point at which the blockade will force Iran to reduce its oil production. That is going to cause hardship. It's felt possibly in the next couple of weeks, some of the workarounds that the Iranians are using, increasing their trade with Russia across the Caspian Sea, exporting oil to China via rail, all of these things can help to kind of ease the pressure somewhat, but are no substitutes for the proper functioning of the Strait of Hormuz. And so, you know, clearly Washington's hope is that this will ultimately bring bring Iran to its knees. I think a lot of Iran watchers say that simply doesn't really show an understanding of the kind of pressure that Iran is willing to put itself through. And, of course, this is a regime which just a few months ago killed tens of thousands of its own citizens. Does it really mind if ordinary Iranians feel a bit more economic pressure? Probably not. So the question is, who blinks first

Oliver Conway (5:46)

and briefly, Will the passing of the 60 day war powers act deadline make any difference?

Paul Adams (5:51)

There's a legal debate going on in Washington about this. You heard Pete Hegseth saying the administration's understanding was that the clock stopped when the ceasefire came into effect some weeks ago. That is not the view of legal scholars. And I think it is clear that some Republicans who have so far stuck with the administration may reconsider it at the point at which they feel that the administration has gone beyond what the war power, the 1973 War Powers Resolution allows for. That remains an ongoing debate in Washington.

Oliver Conway (6:23)

Paul Adams, and there's more from Paul about the likely direction of the conflict in Iran on the BBC News YouTube channel. You'll find us in the podcast section there. The war in Iran has already caused huge disruption in world energy markets with the price of oil hitting a four year high this week. Now there's a warning about how the conflict could harm global food supplies. The assessment has come from the boss of Yara, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of fertilizers. Svein Holzetter has been talking to our business editor, Simon Jack.

Svein Holzetter (6:55)

Fertiliser is not just any other commodity. It's responsible for half of the food production in the world. And given the importance of the Strait of Hormuz for fertiliser exports, it has huge consequences for every day that passes. And right now, it's not only a matter of not getting product out, it's also a matter of not being able to produce in that part of the world as well. And it's very difficult to put exact numbers. No one has full overview of that. But if I try to estimate, it could be that we're up to about half a million tons of nitrogen fertiliser not being produced in the world right now because of this situation that we're in. And if I try to translate that into, okay, so what does that mean for food production? And again, using some standard calculations on that, I would get to up to 10 billion meals that will not be produced every week as a result of lack of fertilisers.

Oliver Conway (7:56)

And are there any particular areas in the world where this is more urgent? Is it Europe? Is it Asia? Is it Africa? Where are the hotspots?

Svein Holzetter (8:04)

It will have the biggest impact where there's the least fertilizer application already. And what I mean by that, the soil conditions in Europe are such that you can reduce somewhat in Europe, not that big consequences on the crop yields. Now if we move to Africa, Africa is under fertilising, so you're not replacing the nutrients in the soil. And when you then reduce just slightly on fertiliser application, it will have a bit, much bigger impact on the, on the crop yields as we see the

Oliver Conway (8:39)

scarcity of fertiliser supply, which has a direct impact on food production. Could you see us in a bidding war for fertilizer and in fact, a bidding war for food?

Svein Holzetter (8:50)

And that would be a very dramatic situation if there's a bidding war on food and one that Europe is robust enough to handle. But what we need to keep in mind in Europe is, okay, in that situation, who are we buying the food away from? And that is again, a situation where the most vulnerable people pay the highest price for this in developing nations where they cannot afford to follow that. And that leads to food affordability, food scarcity and hunger. And that's why it's important that we do our part in Europe right now and grow as much food as we possibly can.

Oliver Conway (9:29)

Sven Hohs talking to Simon. Jack, Russia has deployed nearly 800 emergency workers in the Black Sea port town of Tuapse after it was hit by Ukrainian strikes. For the fourth time in two weeks, Ukraine is targeting the port's energy infrastructure to try to prevent Russia benefiting from the high oil prices. Jessica Parker in Kyiv told me more about Ukraine's tactics.

Jessica Parker (9:53)

Ukraine is clearly trying to hit the Kremlin's pocket here. They have been intensifying hits on Russian oil interests using particularly this evolution in drone technology, being able to reach inside Russian territory. And as you mentioned there, the port city of Tuapse now reportedly experiencing its fourth hit, this time on the seaport and hits on the refinery. Earlier in the week, there were residents reporting seeing black rain in the city oil spills. And from Ukraine's perspective, they say, look, Russia targets our energy infrastructure and the money that is being made out of Russian oil exports is being used to finance the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which, of course, the full scale invasion began back in 2022, now into its fifth year. Moscow, though, has accused Kiev of destabilizing energy markets. We're just obviously hearing what's been happening in the Middle east and has accused the west as well of ignoring the environmental cost that's been resulting from these strikes. But Ukraine certainly managing to make a number of successful strikes, it seems, over the past couple of weeks as part of this intensified campaign.

Oliver Conway (11:03)

Yeah. How damaging is this to Russia's war effort amid suggestions that some people there are beginning to wonder how long this conflict is going to go on.

Jessica Parker (11:12)

Yeah, I mean, it has gone on a long time now. And in terms of how damaging, obviously it's Difficult to say for sure exactly what this is costing Russia or indeed costing the Kremlin. Ukrainian estimates are putting it at billions and billions of dollars in terms of the amount of cost that these strikes are having. But then there is also that matter you're referring to of morale in Russia. Ukraine must have that on its mind as well. And it's interesting. There's the upcoming Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May, which of course commemorates Russia's role in defeating Nazi Germany towards the end of World War II. It's going to be scaled back this year because of what the Kremlin calls a terrorist threat from Ukraine. So there is this sense, I suppose, of the war coming home to Russia, even though, of course, the actual fighting between troops is going on largely in, of course, eastern Ukraine, where the war keeps raging.

Oliver Conway (12:10)

Jessica Parker in Kyiv Weight loss drugs could help people with alcohol problems cut down on harmful drinking, according to a new Danish study published in the Lancet. It looked at the impact of semaglutide on patients with alcohol abuse disorder. The study was led by Professor Anders Fink Jensen of Fredericksburg Hospital and the University of Copenhagen.

Anders Fink Jensen (12:32)

We had randomized controlled trial where every patient enrolled had to have a BMI of 30 or higher and diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder. And all of these patients over 6 months time period got psychotherapy and on top of that they got either placebo or we go e semaglutide weekly. What we find was quite potent effect, a reduction in number of heavy drinking days, total alcohol consumption, craving and so on.

Oliver Conway (13:01)

So why do you think those taking these drugs were drinking less with this compound?

Anders Fink Jensen (13:08)

We haven't investigated. We have looked at it. In an earlier study we put people also in scanners and measured the brain activity when they were shown pictures of alcohol. And the pictures of alcohol increase the activity in the reward center of the brain and the group that was treated to have reduced activation. It's also what rodent experiments indicate and we believe at least there are overlapping brain circuits involved in appetite regulation and involved in the rewarding effects of alcohol and food and also other drugs of abuse.

Oliver Conway (13:43)

What do you make of the fact that those who didn't have the drug but had a placebo still drank less?

Anders Fink Jensen (13:49)

There was absolutely an effect and I think it's because everyone was treated well. Psychotherapy, which is a documented effective treatment of alcohol use disorders and probably also combined with the fact that you asked them to measure how much they were drinking, this is known to have a reducing effect on consumption.

Oliver Conway (14:08)

Now, there have been some Cases where people who lost weight as a result of being on these drugs put it on once they stopped taking them. Could the same thing happen here?

Anders Fink Jensen (14:18)

Yeah, that could easily happen. That is exactly what we see in rodents and in monkeys, too. And then a very interesting thing is it looks as if lower doses than those used for weight loss may be effective here. And also the price, which is of course, an issue, would be lower probably. So that's what is needed to be looked into.

Oliver Conway (14:37)

And might you be able to use this for treating other addictions?

Anders Fink Jensen (14:41)

Yeah, this is what laboratory experiments from Denmark and Sweden, and especially from the US has indicated, where it seemed that there could be an effect on nicotine, on cocaine, on cannabis, basically on all drugs of abuse. That could be really interesting because a lot of our patients actually are not only dealing with alcohol, they also take different drugs on top of each other. So if it holds true, would be the first time that there was medication that actually would work on different kinds of addiction.

Oliver Conway (15:11)

Danish psychiatrist Anders Fink Jensen. And still to come on this podcast,

Matt Grubb (15:18)

you've got thousands and thousands of different types of cells, and you're faced with this very intricate anatomy. It's this beautiful structure with lots of whorls and different kind of tunnels in the nose. So you've got to try and figure all of that out in 3D.

Oliver Conway (15:31)

What mice noses tell us about our sense of smell.

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Trace Dominguez / Alicia (17:05)

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Oliver Conway (19:17)

You're listening to the global news podcast. New footage has been published of the security breach outside the White House Correspondent's Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Saturday night. It shows the moment the gunman burst through a checkpoint not far from where President Trump and other officials were dining. Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes told us.

Peter Bowes (19:39)

More. Several minutes of security video showing the crucial few moments when the gunman, Cole Allen, sprints through the security point, the metal detector. This is much clearer video than we saw in the hours after the shooting. It also shows what happened in the seconds before with the suspect apparently wearing a large overcoat. As he approached this area, he dips into a doorway for a few seconds. When he emerges without the coat, you can see the long gun that he's holding. And what follows appears to be the exchange of gunfire with a Secret Service agent. Now, we don't see him being detained, but according to the head of the Secret Service, Sean Curran, who's been speaking to Fox News, the suspect then falls after hitting his knee. And that's how they were able to subdue him near the top of the stairs leading to the ballroom where Donald Trump and the guests were just starting their dinner. I suspect that in releasing this video on X, Jeanine Pirro, who's the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, the chief federal prosecutor, she wanted to make the point. She writes, there is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire. And she is referring to the shooting of the Secret Service agent who wasn't seriously injured. His bulletproof vest saved him. And there's been much speculation in the media here that he may have been hit by a bullet fired by one of the other agents. But officials, including President Trump earlier in the day now appear to be saying categorically that that was not the case. Sean Curran from the Secret Service in his interview said that one agent was shot at point blank range by the suspect and that agent fired five times. But the alleged gunman, Cole Allen, was not injured.

Oliver Conway (21:23)

Our North America correspondent, Peter Bowes. Hundreds of people have taken part in a wave of anti migrant demonstrations in South Africa in recent days. Protesters blame undocumented migrants for unemployment and pressure on public services and are calling for stricter immigration enforcement and mass deportations as a result. Several businesses owned by migrants from other African nations have closed amid fears of xenophobic attacks. Shomari Mukandjwa is a trader who moved to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He recorded this message for us.

Shomari Mukandjwa (21:58)

I am married to South Africa and I've been living in South Africa for 24 years. I am a trader who helped myself trading in order to support my family. I had shops that was back in 2004, but my shops were all looted in 2017 when it was a xenophobia again in South Africa. I just want to, to highlight a few incidents. What happens in this matches that occurred in Pretoria because I am living in Pretoria. The, the matches in Pretoria, they did not start in Pretoria. They started in KwaZulu Natal which is Deben. And they caused many havoc. These matches never started yesterday. They started in fact last year, August, when the very same organization, Merchant, merchant operation Dudula, they started protesting, blocking access to health care to all foreign nationals. They claim foreigner, they have occupied the hospital space, school space, women space. Therefore they don't need foreigner anymore. They must leave. We have been engaging with the authorities, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee in order to find the solutions. Recently we wrote a letter asking for a dialogue between foreign national and local people, of course with the other stakeholders so that we can find a solution together. We are concerned with South African demand, We are concerned with joblessness. We are concerned with all most of the demand they make. But what is more concerning for us is the safety of the refugee, the safety of foreign national who are attacked without anyone condemning the attacks that are going on. And that's why as Sarof, we wrote a statement calling this kind of xenophobia, which are going on as a coordinated silent xenophobia. And therefore we're still making the very same call to the authorities in the provinces, the authorities on national level, to come on board so that we can have a conversation to address the matter that are raised by South Africans. Of course, also to look into the matter of the safety and security and the protection of all the people, including refugee and asylum seeker, who are living in South Africa.

Oliver Conway (24:19)

Jamari Mukandjwa in South Africa, along with millions of Iranian civilians, two travelers from Britain, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, have been caught up in the conflict in Iran. They were arrested in January 2025, accused of spying and sentenced to 10 years in even prison, which was hit by deadly Israeli strikes last year. Until last August, their relatives had heard nothing from them. But now the couple are able to call out and spoke to our correspondent Caroline Hawley.

Lindsay Foreman (24:50)

I'm with Lindsay and Craig's son Joe, and we are waiting for them to call in by payphone from Evan jail.

Matt Grubb (24:57)

These phone calls are a lifeline in

Paul Adams (24:59)

so many ways for.

Oliver Conway (25:00)

For them and for us.

Lindsay Foreman (25:03)

Hi, Lindsay, how are you today?

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (25:06)

I'm just kind of dealing with the realization that we are likely to be here for a long time yet.

Lindsay Foreman (25:16)

Hi, Craig. I hope you're okay.

Craig Foreman (25:18)

How you doing?

Lindsay Foreman (25:19)

I'm all right. How are you? More to the point, I'm not too bad. You've said in the past that you feel abandoned by the government. What do you want the government here to be doing and what do you think they realistically can do?

Craig Foreman (25:30)

I don't actually know what they can do with this country here. We want help, you know, we need to be removed from this place. We are innocent people. We have committed. No.

Lindsay Foreman (25:44)

The phone calls are constantly interrupted by a recording which says this call is from Evan prison and the caller is a prisoner. Craig's used to it and carries on.

Craig Foreman (25:54)

It seems to me we are sitting here like almost hitting ducks. Anything could happen really within the prison without outside the prison. I just feel as if we are wasting our lives in here and rotting away to a degree.

Lindsay Foreman (26:08)

The war brought its own fears and risks with explosions going off close to

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (26:13)

the prison and you've got the physical bombing. I was on the phone to Joe when there was one that came so close. The after effects of things. You realise how hyper alert you were during that whole period.

Lindsay Foreman (26:26)

Lindsay, how do you spend your days?

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (26:29)

Reading, mainly. Running is my salvation, always has been. So I continue to do that. And yoga again, one of my salvations that I choose to keep doing.

Lindsay Foreman (26:40)

I wonder how you stay positive.

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (26:42)

Well, I thank God I studied positive psychology because without that I don't. People have been here for years and it is shockingly unjust.

Craig Foreman (26:54)

We'll get through it together and sometime I hope soon we will be on the other side of these four walls.

Lindsay Foreman (27:02)

Look how beautiful Iran is.

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (27:04)

We are here.

Lindsay Foreman (27:05)

Lindsay and Craig Foreman had crossed into Iran in late December 2024, only planning to spend a few days there before continuing their motorbike journey towards Australia.

Jessica Parker (27:15)

I feel content I'm in Iran, having

Oliver Conway (27:18)

an amaz time for super grateful for

Peter Bowes (27:20)

being here, just in this lovely country with these lovely people.

Lindsay Foreman (27:24)

They were posting prolifically about their trip before their arrest. Along their route they'd been talking to people about what it means to live a good life. And it's these conversations that seem to have got the pair into trouble. In February, they were Both sentenced to 10 years in jail for spying. Lindsay, I know you were aware of Foreign Office advice not to go to Iran, but could never have imagined you would wind up in this situation. I wonder if you have regrets.

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (27:51)

The short answer is no. And Craig and I have discussed this and we did research prior to coming and assessed the risk. I did not imagine to innocent tourists that we would end up in prison for this long with no evidence.

Lindsay Foreman (28:08)

And Lindsay, you genuinely have no regret?

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (28:12)

No, it is. And I won't swear, but it is really, really tough. But then so is running a marathon where people choose to do that. You know, I take responsibility for the choice I made to be here and I have to live with the consequences.

Lindsay Foreman (28:28)

How about you? Do you wish you'd Never crossed the border from Armenia into Iran.

Craig Foreman (28:33)

No. I'm glad that we came on this journey together, you know. Yes, we're in a horrible position right now, but we have met some fabulous people on the way. We have seen both sides of this country firsthand. I have seen four of my friends that have been removed and executed for a crime in England or a different country. You may have got a caution.

Lindsay Foreman (29:02)

Four of your cellmates have been executed.

Lindsay Foreman (alternate) (29:04)

Yes.

Craig Foreman (29:05)

Four people have been taken. And I know they've been executed because they publicise it on the TV the next day.

Oliver Conway (29:11)

Craig and Lindsay Foreman talking to Caroline Hawley from Evin prison in the Iranian capital Tehran. Researchers have mapped the nose of a mouse for the first time, detailing the position of more than a thousand smell receptors. The study reveals a few surprises about their sense of smell. As Anna Foster heard from Professor Matt Grubb, neuroscientist at King's College London.

Matt Grubb (29:35)

We knew there were these receptors in the nose and we knew they had different abilities to detect different smell molecules, but we thought the different receptor cells were distributed pretty much randomly across the nasal space. And what this study shows is that it's completely not the case. And much like many other sensory systems, these cells are really, really tightly organised and it's really exciting.

Oliver Conway (29:55)

And what does it tell us about smell more broadly?

Matt Grubb (29:59)

There's a consistency in this level of organization, but there's also variability in terms of how people perceive smell. Certain people can detect certain smells that other people can't. So there's still that inter person variability there. But what this tells us is that in general, the variability is much, much lower than we thought it was.

Jessica Parker (30:17)

And presumably the same for humans as

Lindsay Foreman (30:19)

for mice, for other animals as well, we're presuming.

Matt Grubb (30:23)

So. So that hasn't been shown and that's obviously a next target for the researchers to take this and move it forward. But these early stages of the smell system tend to be very, very similar in mice and humans. So I'd be surprised if it wasn't the case in us.

Lindsay Foreman (30:37)

It must be. It's an enormously complex thing to try

Oliver Conway (30:41)

and do to map the nose of a mouse.

Matt Grubb (30:43)

It's really very, very complicated. You've got thousands and thousands of different types of cells and you're faced with this very intricate anatomy. I mean, if you've seen any of the pictures that accompany the articles, it's this beautiful structure with lots of whorls and different kind of tunnels in the nose. So you've got to try and figure all of that out in 3D. And access all the different kind of genetic coding information of all the cells at the same time and put those two things together, which is what these teams have been able to do so well.

Jessica Parker (31:10)

And as you say, there are still

Lindsay Foreman (31:11)

things that we don't know quite yet.

Jessica Parker (31:13)

What would you really like to understand about the way our sense of smell

Matt Grubb (31:17)

works based on this study? I think I'd like to know what it is about the smell signals that is being organized so well and so intricately in space. So we know that the cells themselves are really tightly organized and very, very specific. What we don't know yet is exactly what that means for how different bits of the nose detect different smells and how that signal is then processed in the brain. So that's the next thing to figure out.

Oliver Conway (31:39)

Professor Matt Grubb of King's College London. And that is all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, email us@globalpodcastbc.co.uk this edition was mixed by Mark Pickett and produced by Paul Day and Oliver Bernau. Our editors, Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.

Trace Dominguez / Alicia (32:09)

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Oliver Conway (32:10)

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Lindsay Foreman (32:17)

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