A special report from Mexico on the deadly drugs trade

Summary

Global News Podcast – Special Report from Mexico: The Deadly Drugs Trade

BBC World Service • Host: Will Chalk • Date: February 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Global News Podcast delivers an extended special report from Mexico, focusing on the escalation of cartel violence following the recent death of notorious drug lord "El Mencho". The episode provides vivid on-site reporting from Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacán, exploring the impact of cartel power struggles on communities, personal stories of paramedics and grieving mothers, and direct insights from within the cartel. The episode also covers significant global news, including a fatal Cuban border incident, a breakthrough in HIV treatment, the fallout from Nepal’s deadly Gen Z protests, evolutionary science on the human eye, and the latest in humanoid robotics in orchestras.

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1. The Deadly Drugs Trade in Mexico

Segment: 01:37 – 11:11

Key Discussion Points

• Context: The Death of "El Mencho"

  • One of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, "El Mencho", was killed in an attempt to arrest him, sparking countrywide violence—including armed standoffs, businesses torched, and road blockades.
  • The Mexican government faces intense internal and external pressure, notably from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has labeled cartels as terrorist organizations.

• On-the-Ground Reporting in Culiacán

  • BBC correspondent Quentin Somerville reports in real-time with paramedics, painting a harrowing picture of daily cartel violence.
  • Gruesome scenes depicted: “One murder, six shots in all body... The owner of the garage was found dead in his office. I can see a photograph of him now covered in a blanket, just his feet showing.” (Quentin Somerville, 03:29)
  • Innocent bystanders, including women and children, are routinely caught in the violence. Paramedics speak openly about the emotional toll, repeatedly arriving too late to save lives.

• Cartel Infighting and U.S. Pressure

  • Cartel members (voices disguised for safety) confirm internal bloodshed, indicating neither guilt nor hope for peace:

    “A lot of times innocent people die, children die. There is a lot of death of innocent people. A lot of people will keep dying because the cartel is still fighting and it’s going to keep getting worse. This war will continue. Nothing will calm down until there is only one faction left.” (Cartel member, paraphrased, 05:30)

  • President Trump’s aggressive rhetoric—declaring fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” and threatening attacks by land and sea—heightens the cartels’ sense of threat.

• Impact on Communities

  • Descriptions of peaceful protests and memorials outside cathedrals, with citizens chanting for the safe return of missing loved ones.
  • Somerville witnesses a 16-year-old boy gunned down amid the violence: “The family are here… I could hear those screams and wails from here. It seems that the kid was shot 10 or 12 times.” (Quentin Somerville, 07:08)
  • Reluctance among community members to speak to outsiders reflects the pervasive sense of fear.

• Inside the Cartel and Fentanyl Operations

  • Somerville meets a fentanyl smuggler who handles bundles worth tens of thousands of dollars:

    "Even though President Donald Trump refers to us as terrorists, I would just remind him that as long as there are consumers, we're going to keep doing this. But that doesn't necessarily make us terrorists. No one forced them to start using this stuff." (Cartel smuggler, 08:40)

  • The smuggler dismisses responsibility, indicating that production merely slows when police are too close.

• Mothers on the Hunt for the Disappeared

  • Spotlight on "Madres en Lucha" (Mothers Fighting Back), women searching rural areas for remains of disappeared loved ones:

    "A mother will always look for her child. No matter if it's to the ends of the earth..." (Reynalda Girido, 10:14)

  • Despite the risk and trauma, they persist because “no one else is going to look for them”.

• Paramedics and Hope

  • The emotional toll for paramedics is evident when, for the first time in a week of callouts, they arrive to find a cartel victim still alive:

    “Decapitating the Culiacán cartel's leadership may yet destroy it, but for now there is only violence.” (Quentin Somerville, 11:04)

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2. Cuba–U.S. Tensions: Fatal Boat Incident

Segment: 11:11 – 14:07

Key Discussion Points

• Incident Details

  • Cuban border guards fired on an American-registered speedboat, killing four Cubans and injuring six more; the survivors have been detained.
  • Cuba claims those aboard were attempting to “infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism”.

• Escalated Diplomatic Tensions

  • The event is highly unusual and comes amidst already strained U.S.–Cuban relations, compounded by U.S. sanctions and pressure.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio states the U.S. will investigate and “respond accordingly” (12:32–13:10).

• Broader Context

  • Recent U.S. policy has cut off Venezuelan oil supplies to Cuba, worsening humanitarian conditions.

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3. Medical Breakthrough: Single-Pill HIV Treatment

Segment: 14:07 – 15:57

Key Discussion Points

• The Problem

  • Some long-term HIV survivors and those born with HIV must take up to 11 pills daily due to resistance developed from early treatment regimens.
  • This complexity increases the risk of negative drug interactions and decreases quality of life.

• New Solution

  • A successful 500-person trial of a new, once-daily-combination pill offers hope for these patients:

    “So effectively, time has stood still for these individuals… this is a very new combination with a new class of drug which is giving them the opportunity to take a single tablet.” (Professor Chloe Orkin, 15:27)

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4. “Famous Last Words”: Posthumous Celebrity Interviews

Segment: 15:57 – 20:10

Key Discussion Points

• The Series Concept

  • Netflix's "Famous Last Words" records interviews with prominent figures to be aired only after their death, affording them candid reflection and legacy control.
  • Recent episodes included Jane Goodall and U.S. actor Eric Dane. Dane’s emotional final message to his daughters:

    “Fight girls and hold your heads high. Billy and Georgia, you are my heart, you are my everything. Good night, I love you. Those are my last words.” (Eric Dane, 17:22)

• Producer’s Insights

  • Danish producer Mikkel Bondersen describes the interview environment and the psychological impact of knowing the message is posthumous:

    “It gives them permission to reflect on life in a very different way and also frankly say whatever they want to say.” (Mikkel Bondersen, 17:48)

  • On shaping legacy:

    “It is an opportunity to shape your legacy the way you want to, as opposed to just being defined by the obituaries and the general public.” (Mikkel Bondersen, 19:07)

  • Bondersen suggests this exercise is accessible to anyone, not just public figures.

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5. U.S. Scaling Back Health Aid to Zimbabwe

Segment: 23:05 – 25:56

Key Discussion Points

• Breakdown of Health Funding

  • The U.S. offered $367 million in health aid, including for HIV, TB, and malaria, but Zimbabwe rejected the deal over data-sharing requirements and concerns over “health colonialism”.
  • As Professor Rashida Ferrand notes:

    "It puts the country in a really untenable situation to be in a way held hostage through this health colonialism." (24:01)

• Impact

  • Zimbabwe fears loss of access to scientific and commercial advances derived from its shared data.
  • U.S. assistance has provided life-saving treatment to over a million people in Zimbabwe.

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6. Nepal’s Gen Z Protests and Deadly Crackdown

Segment: 25:56 – 29:56

Key Discussion Points

• Background

  • Sparked by social media trends exposing elite privilege during economic hardship, Nepal’s Gen Z organized mass protests against government corruption.

• Violent Response

  • Police used live fire, resulting in 19 deaths on September 8, 2025.
  • BBC investigation revealed:

    "Permission to use live ammunition was granted at 12:40 on police radio. These were the exact words used, voiced by an actor: ‘Curfew already in place. No further need to obtain permission. Deploy necessary force.’” (28:44)

  • Aftermath included widespread unrest, arson, prison breaks, and the Prime Minister’s resignation.
  • Victims' families express profound loss and lack of accountability.

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7. Science Update: The Cyclops Ancestor of the Human Eye

Segment: 29:56 – 31:26

Key Insights

• Discovery
  • Research suggests that human eyes evolved from a “single-eyed” (cyclops) ancestor living over 500 million years ago, with the eye’s position and function changing as ancestors evolved from buried sand-dwellers to mobile swimmers.

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8. Technology: Robot Conductors

Segment: 31:26 – 33:09

Key Insights

• Denmark’s National Symphony Orchestra Experiments
  • A humanoid robot is tested as a concert conductor, praised for rhythmic precision but seen as lacking emotive cues:

    "Yes, it’s actually very strange because you’re not met with a face, you’re just met by this blue strip around a face-like figure... we tend to get information from facial expressions and arms that make phrases and so on. And that’s not present here, but I can’t stop smiling at it. It’s so funny." (Violinist Christina, 32:55)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Cartel Smuggler on U.S. Policy and Blame (08:40):

  “Even though President Donald Trump refers to us as terrorists, I would just remind him that as long as there are consumers, we're going to keep doing this. But that doesn't necessarily make us terrorists.”

• Reynalda Girido, Mother Searching for Lost Son (10:14):

  “A mother will always look for her child. No matter if it's to the ends of the earth…”

• Eric Dane’s Parting Words to Daughters (17:22):

  “Fight girls and hold your heads high. Billy and Georgia, you are my heart, you are my everything. Good night, I love you. Those are my last words.”

• Mikkel Bondersen on Shaping Legacy (19:07):

  “It is an opportunity to shape your legacy the way you want to, as opposed to just being defined by the obituaries and the general public.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:37 – Start of Mexican special report
• 03:29 – On-site description of cartel kill scenes
• 08:08 – Interview with a fentanyl smuggler
• 09:14 – Mothers searching for the disappeared
• 11:11 – End of Mexican segment; Cuba shooting incident begins
• 14:07 – HIV single-pill medical breakthrough
• 15:57 – “Famous Last Words” segment
• 23:05 – U.S. health aid funding collapse in Zimbabwe
• 25:56 – Nepal Gen Z protest crackdown investigation
• 29:56 – Evolutionary origins of human eye
• 31:26 – Robot conducting orchestra

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Conclusion

This episode is a powerful blend of frontline investigative journalism and global news, offering unfiltered perspectives from Mexico’s drug war zone, scientific and health advances, social upheavals, and technological innovation. The reporting from Mexico stands out for its raw immediacy and emotional depth, with memorable first-hand accounts and reflections on humanity, legacy, and resilience amid chaos.

Transcript

[Will Chalk]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

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[Will Chalk]

this is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Will Chalk and this edition is being recorded in the early hours of Thursday 26th February. Coming up, we've got a special report from a Mexican city which has been turned into a war zone by drug cartel violence. Cuba Sundays it's killed four people traveling in an American registered speedboat and a new daily single tablet that could help long term survivors of hiv. Also in this podcast, the BBC investigates last year's deadly crackdown on Nepal's Gen Z protests and what would your last words be?

[Mikkel Bondersen]

It is an opportunity to shape your legacy the way you want to, as opposed to just being defined by the obituaries.

[Will Chalk]

We hear from the creator of a Netflix series where celebrities record messages to be played after they die. We're starting with a special report from Mexico following the death this week of one of the country's most wanted drug lords, known as El Mencho. He was killed on Sunday in an operation to arrest him and his death has led to violence across the country. We've had Standoffs between the drug gangs and the Mexican army. Businesses have been torched and roads blockaded. With the government coming under increasing pressure from Donald Trump to do more to control the cartels, there are also the constant battles within the drug gangs themselves for control. Our correspondent Quentin Somerville recently returned from the state of Sinaloa and its capital, Culiacan, which is dominated by the drug wars. A warning. His report features graphic descriptions of violence from the start.

[Quentin Somerville]

We're just tearing through central Kulukan with the paramedics driving at speed and we're heading towards the scene of a shooting. Just arrived at the scene actually inside the cordon now. It's a garage. A relative has just arrived. One murder, six shots in all body. So, Hector, as paramedics, there's nothing you can do. You mainly see bodies, the dead. Yeah, it's hard, hard job, hard job. So it was in fact one person that was killed. The owner of the garage was found dead in his office. I can see a photograph of him now covered in a blanket, just his feet showing. And somewhat awfully typical for these men that as paramedics, there's no help that they can provide, really, because they're dealing with execution style killings and murders, and it's only dead bodies time after time. It's just before 8 in the morning here in central Cooliocan, just outside one of the main shopping malls. And another body on the pavement. This one is very grisly. It's a man who's been tortured. There's a message taped to his body. It seems to have photographs and some writing, but clearly a message has been sent. It gives you an idea of the extent, the brutality, the viciousness of the infighting within the Sinaloa cartel at the moment. Meeting with the cartels is difficult at the best of times, but now even more so because they're right in the crosshairs of the United States. And President Trump, he's labeled them terrorist groups. He says their product, fentanyl and other drugs, are a weapon of mass destruction. And he's promised that as well as bombing the cartels at sea, he's going to tackle them on land. So they're feeling under threat like never before. I'm about to go and meet with a group. I'm going to have to leave my phone behind. These men are vicious criminals fighting for an illegal drugs business worth billions. They've gone to war after the son of one of their leaders betrayed another. This power struggle is a fight to the death and they show little remorse. They insisted we disguise Their voices. The civil war in the cartel has created a bloodbath in Culiacan. Women are being killed, kids are being killed. Do you feel guilty about that? Yes. A lot of times innocent people die, children die. There is a lot of death of innocent people. A lot of people will keep dying because the cartel is still fighting and it's going to keep getting worse. This war will continue. Nothing will come down until there is only one faction left. There was a small protest taking place outside the main cathedral. On this beautiful sunny day in Culiacan. Lots of relatives are victims of the cartel violence are here. They're wearing white. Some are carrying pictures of their. Their loved ones. They're all sexes, ages. Gives you a sense of how all encompassing the violence is here. The chant here is they took them away alive. We want them back alive. It's seven hours since the peace march. The sun is setting here in Culiacan and they almost made it through the day without a killing. But just in front of me is a young man who's just been gunned down. He's 16 years old. He was on his bike. He's wearing blue jeans and he's got a light blue T shirt on. He's still tangled up in his bike. He's lying dead there on the pavement. The family are here. They're on the other side of the police state. But I could hear those screams and wails from here. It seems that the kid was shot 10 or 12 times. The cartel is strong in this neighborhood and uses young men as spotters. Its spies are ever present and no one was willing to answer our questions.

[Will Chalk]

You can follow me.

[Quentin Somerville]

In a cartel owned basement, we meet a fentanyl smuggler. Here's six kilos of the powder in tightly pressed bundles, each worth at least $20,000.

[Will Chalk]

What we have here is fentanyl. This product is ready to be sent to the United States and pressed into pills.

[Quentin Somerville]

The drug that he's holding and the battle to control it has cost the lives of tens of thousands here and in the United States. He doesn't take any responsibility. There is no shame for what he does.

[Will Chalk]

Even though President Donald Trump refers to us as terrorists, I would just remind him that as long as there are consumers, we're going to keep doing this. But that doesn't necessarily make us terrorists. No one forced them to start using this stuff. Even though the government has intensified their search, when it comes to production, we've never stopped. Sometimes we do scale back because the government gets too close. So we lay low for a few days. But once that problem passes, we either continue or move to other areas.

[Quentin Somerville]

I'm with a group of women, Madras and Lucha. Mothers Fighting back. They're here. We're about half an hour outside of Culiacan in the grounds of a half built church. They're looking for lost sons, lost brothers who are victims of cartel violence. Now the women are heading into some rough ground and fields beyond. They have shovels, they have pickaxes, they have machetes. The woman leading the search here today is Reynalda Girido. Her son disappeared back in 2019. She won't stop searching for him.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

I wake up every day and I ask God, tell me why I'm here. And what gives me strength is realizing that no one else is going to look for them. I realize it because no one is moving to search for the disappeared in Sinaloa. And a mother will always look for her child. No matter if it's to the ends of the earth, she will look.

[Quentin Somerville]

We responded to two people injured.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

They're asking for help at the incident.

[Quentin Somerville]

Paramedics Julio and Hector have been called to another cartel shooting, but this one is different. We've been following these paramedics for a week. We've been to multiple call outs with them. This is the first time they've arrived at scene and the person has still been alive. Decapitating. The Caloa cartel's leadership may yet destroy it, but for now there is only violence.

[Will Chalk]

That was Quentin Somerville reporting from Mexico. Well, we're going to stay in the region for the next story because relations between Cuba and and the US were already frosty, to say the least. Now Cuba Sundays it's killed four people who were traveling in an American registered speedboat off the Cuban coast. The Interior Ministry said it was determined to protect Cuban territorial waters. Our North America reporter, Simi Jolo Osho told my colleague Ann Soy, what more we know.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

All the information we know and have received has come from the Cuban government. They said that their border guard troops detected a boat inside Cuban territorial waters. When they approached the boat for identification, those on board opened fire, injuring one of their commanders. And so they fired back, killing four people and injuring six others whom were then evacuated for medical treatment. They've released more details to say that all those on board were Cubans living in the us Some of them had a known history of criminal and violent activity. They have since detained some of them. And when questioned, those detained said that they were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

This is very unusual, isn't it?

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

Well, it's not irregular for Cuban Coast Guard vessels to intercept foreign or US Flagged boats like this one was. This was registered to the US State of Florida. Sometimes they may suspect that the people on board are smuggling items or picking up migrants or people attempting to reach the island island or leave the island illegally. But yes, we haven't received any recent reports of guards opening fire on people on board and people on board being killed. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said that the US Is going to investigate to find out what happened and will respond accordingly.

[Will Chalk]

Suffice it to say it is highly

[Quentin Somerville]

unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that.

[Will Chalk]

It's not something that happens every day.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

It's something from, frankly, that hasn't happened

[Will Chalk]

with Cuba in a very long time.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

But we're going to find out.

[Quentin Somerville]

We're not going to base our conclusions

[Will Chalk]

on what they've told us.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

Well, given that the US Secretary of State is even commenting on this, what does this mean for the relations between the two countries?

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

This is a very sensitive time for an incident like this to happen. Right. The relations between the US And Cuba has been very volatile. President Trump has focused on a sort of maximum economic pressure approach to Cuba. He's blocked all Venezuelan oil shipments to the country, which has worsened Cuba's deepening fuel crisis, affecting its hospitals and its food supplies. Even the Cuban government in its statement about this boat incident alluded to these tensions.

[Will Chalk]

Simi Jolo Osho there, speaking to Ann Soy. Now we try and bring you as much good news as possible here on the Global News podcast. So how's this a medical breakthrough that could help long term survivors of hiv? Some of those living with the virus take up to 11 pills a day, often at morning and night. But this could now be replaced by a single daily tablet. A British clinical trial on more than 500 people across 15 countries found that a new tablet which combines two current treatments is highly effective at keeping the virus suppressed. Professor Chloe Orkin is the lead researcher.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

For most people living with hiv, it's very simple. They take a single tablet every day or two, monthly injectables. But there's a group of people who have not been able to benefit from medical advances allowing them to take a single pill a day. And these are typically people who were diagnosed very early on in the HIV epidemic when we were learning how to treat HIV and we gave inadequate pills. And that led to the development of resistance to different types of hiv. So the result of this is that these individuals, unlike everybody else, have to take lots of pills and in many cases twice a day still for their hiv. So effectively, time has stood still for these individuals. But also some people who are born with HIV have been living with HIV for a long time and have resistance. So they also can't take the newer medications. And one of the big concerns about them being on these complex regimens is that they have drug interactions with other commonly prescribed medications. So this is a very new combination with a new class of drug which is giving them the opportunity to take a single tablet.

[Will Chalk]

Professor Chloe Orkin from London's Queen Mary University. You might have been watching Famous Last Words on Netflix. It was originally Danish, but has now gone international. It involves an interview with a prominent person recorded privately and stored away and only broadcast when they die. The last section of the recording is the person speaking to camera on their own, leaving a message that no one else hears until it gets a posthumous airing. Last year, the program aired an interview with the British anthropologist Jane Goodall after her death. Here she is speaking to host Brad.

[Quentin Somerville]

This is a moment right now as

[Mikkel Bondersen]

people are watching this, where maybe the

[Quentin Somerville]

biggest story in the world is that you've passed away.

[Will Chalk]

I think a lot of people will

[Quentin Somerville]

be talking about who you were. So who would you say you were?

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

I would say I was somebody sent to this world to try to give people hope in dark times. Because without hope, we fall into apathy and do nothing. And in the dark times that we are living in now, if people don't have hope, we're doomed.

[Will Chalk]

Well, there is now a new episode. It's Eric Dane, star of the US Medical drama Grey's Anatomy, who died last week from motor neurone disease. He addressed his daughters at the very end of his interview.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

Fight girls and hold your heads high. Billy and Georgia, you are my heart,

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

you are my everything.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

Good night, I love you.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

Those are my last words.

[Will Chalk]

Mikkel Bondersen is the producer who took the Danish concept to Netflix. He's been talking to Evan Davies about the inspiration behind the series.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

What makes the show so different is that in the actual space, it's only the interviewer Brad and the guest. Nobody else is in the space. All the cameras are robotic and actually the guest doesn't meet anyone else apart from makeup and sound. And at the beginning of the interview when the guests sit down, Brad makes it very clear that this interview is only to be aired once the person has passed. So they're in essence speaking to the audiences from the grave. So it gives them permission to reflect on life in a very different way and also frankly say Whatever they want to say.

[Will Chalk]

Do you think you get a very different look at someone's life if they know that this is only going to be aired after they pass?

[Mikkel Bondersen]

Absolutely. It changes the entire dynamic of the interview format. Because if I were to ask you, Evan, who were you? Not who are you? But who were you? That question in and of itself really changes everything.

[Will Chalk]

I think it would really change the way you view it. Although a lot of this, you know, would depend on my trust of you and Brad and the team, the confidence I'm bestowing in you by giving you my really personal last words, that those are going to not somehow drift out into the public domain before I die.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

That is true, but we obviously have an incredibly airtight system to prevent any of that happening. And the other thing I think that's important, Evan, tools to think about is that the star of the show is the interviewee. It is an opportunity to shape your legacy the way you want to as opposed to just being defined by the obituaries and the general public. And I think if we look at the impact that Eric's last words has had, that is a big part of the legacy he leaves behind. And what a beautiful and courageous way to leave this world.

[Will Chalk]

This is an exercise anyone can do, isn't it? I mean, anyone can make a video now. And indeed people should perhaps be encouraged to make videos of themselves for those they leave behind.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

If that were to happen, I think it would be an incredible thing to do if we can get into that mindset of the people we hear this, and of course poster mothers hear this, but also really leave behind sort of the lessons that we take with us. I think it would be an incredible thing to do.

[Will Chalk]

Danish producer Mikkel Bunderson. Still to come on this podcast, one of the most complex robots ever built takes on a new challenge. An orchestra.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

Yes, it's actually very strange because you're not met with with a face, you're just met by this blue strip around a face like figure.

[Will Chalk]

And while you might have more in common with one eyed cyclopses than you think,

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[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

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[Will Chalk]

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[Will Chalk]

This is the global news podcast the United States is going to wind down health assistance to Zimbabwe after negotiations over funding collapsed. The US embassy in Zimbabwe said Washington had offered $367 million over five years to support Zimbabwe's priority health programs. They include HIV treatment and prevention, as well as tuberculosis and malaria. But the Zimbabwean authorities rejected it, saying Washington was demanding too much sensitive health data in return. In effect, they said they were being asked to provide the raw materials for scientific discovery without assurance they'd be able to access the products that came from it. Rashida Ferend is a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and she's lived in Zimbabwe for the past 20 years and her research focuses on HIV in children and young adults. She thinks the impact will be severe.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

It's a rocket science to see that this will create a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for people who work within HIV programs and for patients who are accessing care. And it puts the country in a really untenable situation to be in a way held hostage through this health colonialism.

[Will Chalk]

So why exactly did the government in Harare pull out of the deal? Our correspondent there is Shingai Nyoka.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

Zimbabwe essentially is saying that the U.S. s demands are an unequal exchange, that they're lopsided that Zimbabwe is being asked to share sensitive data in terms of its biological resources, biological samples related to disease control over an extended period of time without any real guarantee that Zimbabwe would benefit from any kind of research in terms of vaccines and treatments. And the concern that they expressed was that these samples would be used in the U.S. for research and have potentially commercial value for the U.S. but then there's no guarantee that if in future there is some kind of an epidemic that Zimbabwe or any African country would be able to have access to, to the results of that research. Zimbabwe has made significant progress over the last 20 or so years largely due to the assistance that it's received from the US they are effectively supplying medication to about 1.2 million people. They've spent about $2 billion in the health sector over the last 20 years. And the criticism that the US ambassador gave as a response to Zimbabwe deciding to terminate the talks is that they also wanted the Zimbabwean government to step up in terms of funding its own health programs. And so that's the concern that doctors now have, is will Zimbabwe be able to fill that gap?

[Will Chalk]

Shingai Nyoka in Harare. A BBCI investigation has revealed Nepal's top police officer gave the order allowing the use of live fire during last year's deadly crackdown on Gen Z protests, one of the worst in the country's history. History. 19 people were shot dead on September 8th. The public outrage over the killings and the unrest that followed led to the resignation of the Prime Minister. Sabina Shrester reports camera footage shows a

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

group of girls on the side of the road in their school uniform. They're shouting, gen Z here we come. It's the morning of September 8, 2025. What soon would be known as one of the deadliest days of protest in Nepal's history. It all began months earlier on social media. The global Nepo baby trend came to Nepal. This trend, says 26 year old Gen Z activist Raksha Bham, exposed the Luxurious lifestyle of politicians, children. It sowed the difference between the lifestyles of the politicians and their families and normal people. Our generation was exasperated by the behavior of leaders who have been here forever. Discontent on social media grew. The government banned Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Young people quickly found other ways to communicate. Using the Discord app, they planned an anti corruption protest. At 9am in central Kathmandu, tens of thousands poured into the streets. This photo shows teenage boys in matching blue T shirts emblazoned with a school logo chanting for the Prime Minister to resign. Raksha Bham stands on the back of a pickup truck with a microphone in her hand. She tells crowds of school children and young people to raise their voices in peace. By nightfall 917 people will have been shot dead in Kathmandu, including 17 year old Shriyam Chawla Menu. Ganga Karki is his mother. He told us about the protests the day before.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

I told him not to go.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

He said I'll be in my uniform as we are minors, nobody will do anything to us. But how did a peaceful Gen Z protest end in bloodshed? The BBC forensically examined examined more than 4,000 videos and photos along with exclusive testimonies to piece together what happened that day. According to internal police documents seen by the BBC, permission to use live ammunition was granted at 12:40 on police radio. These were the exact words used, voiced by an actor.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

Curfew already in place.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

No further need to obtain permission. Deploy necessary force.

[Various Correspondents/Reporters]

The man who gave this order was Chandra Kuber Kapu, Nepal's Inspector General of police. He has denied responsibility. Nepal police told the BBC that the order had already been cleared by a government security committee. Less than two hours later, after at least four people are shot dead, Sriyam can be seen in the crowd. A group of protesters ahead of him pelt the police with stones. But Shreem turns away from the violence. Unarmed, he holds his hand in the air and then he's shot in the back of the head. Over the next 48 hours, Parliament, along with hundreds of other buildings are set alight. 13,000 inmates break free from prison. 3 police officers and at least 50 more Nepalis are dead. Then the Prime Minister resides Shreem's mother again. For them it was just a student who died. For us, the world we knew has fallen apart. An official inquiry into the violence is yet to report its findings. No one has been held accountable for these deaths.

[Will Chalk]

Sabina Shrester. Now hear the words one eyed cyclops and you're probably thinking horror or sci fi film. Not important. Human ancestor. But a new study suggests our eyes evolved from these creatures and we share these roots with all other vertebrates. The BBC science presenter Marnie Chesterton has been looking over the research.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

You need three things for an eye. You need some molecule that detects light, you need some sort of cup shape that allows you to sense direction of light. And ideally you'd like a lens like we've got when this all started. What we descended from, or rather the origin of the eye, was very primitive. It didn't have the lens. This new work proposes that there was something 560 million years ago. And so if you go back, then there's a blob and it's at the bottom of the ocean and it's buried in the sand. And so it's got one eye on the top of its head because that's the bit that's not buried in the sand. So it's the best place to put it. Then it has descendants, its descendants can swim. And then suddenly if you're swimming around, actually, it's more useful to have your eyes on either side. So the eye on the, on the top kind of slips down the sides over evolution, and that's a better design. What this new work is saying is that our eyes didn't evolve from primitive pairs of eyes. They actually a more complex version came down from that one ancestral eye.

[Will Chalk]

Marnie Chesterton. Now, if you're a fan of classical music, you'll know that a conductor does a lot more than just keep an orchestra in time. Their gestures and facial expressions also help shape the dynamics, phrasing and emotions of the piece. So not that easy for a robot to replicate, you might think. Well, it's something that's been put to the test at Denmark's National Symphony Orchestra as part of a series of concerts exploring the boundaries between human and machine. This report from Alice Adderley.

[Various Reporters/Interviewees]

Picture the scene in a Copenhagen concert hall. A silver humanoid form moves its robot arms rhythmically up and down and the musicians follow it until it abruptly brings them down and the music stops. At a rehearsal before Wednesday evening's performance, members of the orchestra praised its capacity to keep the rhythm absolutely precise, but said it lacked other qualities. Here's violinist Christina. Yes, it's actually very strange because you're not met with a face, you're just met by this blue strip around a face like figure. It's got a small red butterfly on that makes it a little human, but we tend to get information from facial expressions and arms that make phrases and so on. And that's not present here, but I can't stop smiling at it. It's so funny. According to the Danish Technological Institute, the new Maestro is among the most advanced types of robots available. They say they've just taken possession of it, so wanted to do something truly spectacular with the robot to see what else it can be used for in the future.

[Will Chalk]

Alice Adderley and that is all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnews pod. We have a sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines that's also available wherever you get your podcasts. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Sydney Dundon. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Will Chalk. Until next time, Goodbye.

[Mikkel Bondersen]

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