Couples looking for surrogates still going to Ukraine

Summary

Global News Podcast – Couples Looking for Surrogates Still Going to Ukraine

BBC World Service | May 7, 2026

Host: Ankur Desai

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Global News Podcast investigates the ongoing phenomenon of international surrogacy in Ukraine, even as the country faces war with Russia. Despite the risks and chaos of an active conflict zone, Ukraine remains a major destination for foreign couples seeking surrogacy services, drawn by relatively liberal laws and lower costs. The episode explores the ethical, legal, and humanitarian challenges raised by this practice—including abandoned babies and a pending legislative ban on surrogacy for foreign parents. Additional major global stories covered include shifting geopolitics in the Middle East, the passing of media mogul Ted Turner, protests at the Venice Biennale, and odd news such as the ordainment of a robot Buddhist monk.

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Key Segment 1: International Surrogacy in Ukraine

Reported by Sofia Batica from Kyiv
[01:53 – 06:56]

Main Points

• Ukraine as a Surrogacy Hub:
  For years, Ukraine has served as a principal destination for international surrogacy due to its permissive laws and affordability.

• Industry Continues Despite War:
  Although Russia’s invasion has disrupted many aspects of Ukrainian life, the surrogacy industry continues, with foreign hopeful parents traveling from places like the UK, Turkey, and Brazil.

• Risks Taken by Intending Parents:
  Couples like Himatraj and Rajve from London describe braving the threat of explosions and drones in Kyiv to collect their newborns:

  "I mean, being able to bring our son back and seeing him every day and being able to fill that dream of ours, it was worth every risk."
  – Himatraj or Rajve (03:41)

• Abandoned Babies and Delays:
  Not all surrogacy arrangements are successful. Some parents, fearful for their safety, delay or refuse to collect their newborns for months—sometimes almost a year.

  "So you had these twins for 11 months. The intended parents just left them with you. But don't you think that leaving their babies for nearly a year is a bit selfish and a bit careless?"
  – Sofia Batica to Svetlana, surrogacy agency owner (04:17)

• The Pain for Surrogates:
  Surrogacy agency owner Svetlana tells of the heartbreak involved:

  "I cried when I handed them over. It hurt. They felt like my own. I was watching them grow up, learning to speak, getting their first teeth. It's still painful for me."
  – Svetlana (04:41)

• Children with Disabilities Left Behind:
  Babies born with severe health issues, like Wei—who was born premature and with a brain injury—are often abandoned by intended parents.

• Child Abandonment and Trafficking Concerns:
  According to Valeria Soruchan of the Health Ministry:

  "There is a lot of children that are left behind. And it's not only children that are left behind. We don't know where the children go from there. As soon as they get picked up from this country, we don't know what happens to them... Surrogacy is one of the ways for children trafficking. It is."
  – Valeria Soruchan (05:32–05:50)

• Proposed Ban for Foreign Surrogacy:
  Ukrainian lawmakers are considering a law banning surrogacy for foreign parents, aiming to address abandonment and human trafficking concerns.

  "We do believe that it will minimize that."
  – Valeria Soruchan (05:53)

• Surrogacy as Economic Necessity for Women:
  For women like Karina, 22, who lost her home in Bakhmut, surrogacy is a lifeline:

  "I'm going to do as many surrogate pregnancies as it takes, as long as my health allows. This ban would ruin my plans."
  – Karina (06:26)

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Key Segment 2: Middle East Geopolitics – US, Iran, and Israel

[06:56 – 11:06]

Main Points

• President Trump claims US-Iran talks are progressing, yet simultaneously threatens increased bombing if Tehran doesn't relent.
• Israel launches its first strike on Beirut since ceasefire, targeting Hezbollah.
• International Editor Jeremy Bowen discusses US motivations and Iranian resistance.

  "Trump wants to reverse out of a war that has become very unpopular in the United States... His problem, though, is that he needs something which he can say is a victory."
  – Jeremy Bowen (07:52–08:28) "They have a strong ethos of resistance and stubbornness in that regime. It's a really nasty, ruthless regime that kills its own people in the streets. But that also means that they're not going to be too concerned if the people of Iran are suffering economically..."
  – Jeremy Bowen (08:29) "He wants this to be over as soon as possible. That's why he keeps hyping up the chances of a deal while backing that up with threats that he probably won't carry out, but he might. It's a terrible self-inflicted mess."
  – Jeremy Bowen (10:20)

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Key Segment 3: Passing of Ted Turner and His Legacy

[18:00 – 21:34]

Main Points

• Ted Turner, founder of CNN, has died at 87.
• Created the first 24/7 global television news network, forever changing journalism.
• He was also a major philanthropist, giving over $1 billion to the UN Foundation.
• Christiane Amanpour remembers Turner:

  "He changed the world... Ted created the first ever global television service... It just changed the world."
  – Christiane Amanpour (18:58–19:13) "...He was the first of the post Rockefeller, Carnegie Mellon generation that said, okay, I'm going to give a billion dollars to the UN and then all the other rich people followed. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them..."
  – Christiane Amanpour (20:37)

• Noted for his devotion to world peace and nuclear disarmament, and pioneering vision in media.

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Other Notable Stories

Controversy at the Venice Biennale

[21:34 – 25:55]

• Russia and Israel’s participation sparks protests, resignations, and boycotts.
• Russian Pavilion shut down after Pussy Riot and FEMEN protest with pink smoke.
• Activists and critics argue Russia is using culture as propaganda amidst ongoing war.
• The "Invisible Biennale" honors Ukrainian artists killed or displaced by war.
• Ukrainian art critic Zoya explains the symbolism of protest art:

  "They are all people of culture. Some of them was killed in the street. Some of them fight for Ukraine in Frontline."
  – Zoya (25:16)

Unusual Human Interest: Robot Monk in South Korea

[30:37 – 32:15]

• Gaabi, a humanoid robot, is ordained as a Buddhist monk to appeal to young people and address a shortage of real monks.
• Ethical guidelines were adapted for the robot, including rules to not harm other robots, respect humans, and conserve energy.
• The role of robots in spiritual life provokes both curiosity and controversy.

Other Brief Headlines

• A record-breaking megatsunami in Alaska, caused by climate-change-induced landslides, narrowly misses tourist ships.

  "We know that there were people that were very nearly in the wrong place, and it worked out just barely, and I'm quite terrified that we're not going to be so lucky in the future."
  – Geologist Bret Wood Higman (15:21)

• French politics and media spotlight a "populist and princess" romance poised to affect the 2027 presidential race.

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Memorable Quotes by Segment

• “You could hear explosions, you could hear drones. You could feel tremors and see smoke billowing in the skies from where the attacks were...it was worth every risk.”
  – Himatraj or Rajve (03:25, 03:41)

• “Surrogacy is one of the ways for children trafficking. It is.”
  – Valeria Soruchan, Health Ministry (05:50)

• "He changed the world. Ted created the first ever global television service."
  – Christiane Amanpour (18:58)

• "If the Biennale began to select not works, but affiliations, not visions, but passports, it would stop being what it has always been."
  – Pietrangelo Butafuoco, President of the Biennale (24:36)

• "I will devote myself."
  – Robot monk Gaabi, through interpreter (31:06)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ukraine Surrogacy Industry – [01:53–06:56]
• US–Iran–Israel War and Diplomacy – [06:56–11:06]
• Megatsunami in Alaska – [14:29–15:40]
• Ted Turner's Legacy – [18:00–21:34]
• Venice Biennale Protests – [21:34–25:55]
• Robot Monk in Korea – [30:37–32:15]

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Tone and Style

The BBC maintains a measured and thoughtful journalistic tone, balancing hard news with vivid human stories and global context. First-person accounts from affected individuals add emotion and urgency to complex issues.

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Summary Takeaway

Despite war and instability, Ukraine’s surrogacy market persists, leading to ethical dilemmas, proposed legislation, and difficult choices for both families and surrogates. The episode also reflects on seismic changes in world affairs—from shifting powers in the Middle East and legacies in global media, to cultural protests and the intersection of technology and spirituality. The episode’s range underscores the interconnectedness of modern challenges, whether in policy, personal dreams, or technology’s reshaping of tradition.

Transcript

[James Cameron]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankur Desai and in the early hours of Thursday 7th May, these are our main stories. A BBC investigation has found that couples from all over the world are still going to Ukraine and in search of a surrogate. Despite the war with Russia. President Trump says the US has had very good talks with Iran to end the war, but the signs from Tehran have been less positive. Also in this podcast, this news service

[CNN Announcer]

will be called the Cable News Network and will program continually updated half hour segments of national news, business news, sports and features.

[Ankur Desai]

24 hours a day we mark the life of Ted Turner, the media mogul who launched CNN who's died at 87. For years, Ukraine has been one of the world's leading hubs for commercial surrogacy, attracting couples from around the world with lower costs and more relaxed laws. Despite Russia's full scale invasion, the industry has continued to operate. But now a proposed law being debated in Ukraine's parliament could ban surrogacy for foreign parents threatening to dismantle one of the world's biggest surrogacy markets. A global health reporter, Sofia Batica, traveled to Kyiv to find out why foreign couples continue to travel to a country at war to have children and and what the proposed law could change.

[Sofia Batica]

We are in a so called baby room in the outskirts of Kyiv set up by a surrogacy agency. Here newborn babies wait for their Prospective parents to come and collect them from the uk, Turkey, Brazil and beyond.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

No, you can hear that. Can you hear that, son?

[Sofia Batica]

Every year, thousands head to Ukraine for surrogacy. The war disrupted this huge industry, but it didn't stop people like Himatraj and Rajve who have traveled from London to Kyiv to have a baby.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

So you weren't sleeping, you were worried all the time. You could hear explosions, you could hear drones. You could feel tremors and see smoke billowing in the skies from where the attacks were.

Definitely.

[Ankur Desai]

Definitely, definitely.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

I mean, being able to bring our son back and seeing him every day and being able to fill that dream of ours, it was worth every risk.

[Sofia Batica]

But not every surrogacy arrangement goes so smoothly. We found that in many cases, parents delay traveling to Ukraine to collect their newborns, sometimes for months. Svetlana runs a small surrogacy agency. So you had these twins for 11 months. The intended parents just left them with you. But don't you think that leaving their babies for nearly a year is a bit selfish and a bit careless?

[Svetlana (Surrogacy Agency)]

This is not normal, but unfortunately, we have had cases. It happens about 80% of the time. I cried when I handed them over. It hurt. They felt like my own. I was watching them grow up, learning to speak, getting their first teeth. It's still painful for me.

[Sofia Batica]

Not every baby is collected. At this children's home in Kyiv, we meet Wei, who was born through surrogacy. He was premature and has a severe brain injury. He cannot sit unaided, hold his head, or see properly. When his intended parents were told about his condition, they did not come for him. Cases like this are prompting calls for change. The Ukrainian parliament is now debating a new law that could ban surrogacy for foreign parents. How often are children born through surrogacy left behind?

[Valeria Soruchan (Health Ministry)]

There is a lot of children that are left behind.

[Sofia Batica]

Valeria Soruchan is from the Health Ministry.

[Valeria Soruchan (Health Ministry)]

And it's not only children that are left behind. We don't know where the children go from there. As soon as they get picked up from this country, we don't know what happens to them. Surrogacy is one of the ways for children trafficking. It is.

[Sofia Batica]

Would this law solve that problem?

[Valeria Soruchan (Health Ministry)]

We do believe that it will minimize that.

[Sofia Batica]

But for those women who choose to become surrogate mothers, this is a lifeline in a country where war has stripped away their livelihoods. Karina is doing a scan. She's 22 and carrying a baby girl. For a Chinese couple, it was a decision she took after her home in Bakhmut on the front line was destroyed. She'll be paid $17,000.

[Svetlana (Surrogacy Agency)]

I'm going to do as many surrogate

[Sofia Batica]

pregnancies as it takes, as long as my health allows. This ban would ruin my plans. A vote on the proposed ban is expected this year, but for now, many will risk everything, even coming to a war zone to become parents while they still can.

[Ankur Desai]

Sofia Batica reporting from Kyiv next. President Trump has predicted that the war with Iran will be over quickly, but that wasn't long after he'd said there would be much more intensive bombing attacks if Tehran didn't agree to his demands. Tehran is reading the small print on those proposals and no doubt considering its options. But surrendering to the US military is hardly likely to be one of them, given that it has remained steadfast in its position for so long. Meanwhile, Israel has attacked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since the ceasefire was agreed. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said said he had personally approved the strike on Hezbollah targets in a suburb of the city. Iran has made clear that Lebanon must be part of any agreement to end the war, but Israel is obviously not interested in that. So are we close to a deal or not? A question I put to our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.

[Jeremy Bowen]

I'm confused, and I think everyone looking at it is confused. In fact, on the BBC this morning, the former head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir John Soares, said this was Alice in Wonderland stuff that's going on at the moment. So, you know, that is pretty clear that it's not the way that geopolitics and wars are meant to work. I think what's going on is that Trump wants to reverse out of a war that has become very unpopular in the United States. It's driving up the price of petrol. His supporters voted for him because they didn't want to be involved in foreign wars, and suddenly they are again. His problem, though, is that he needs something which he can say is a victory.

[Ankur Desai]

He wants the win.

[Jeremy Bowen]

Yeah, he wants the win, and he doesn't want people to be able to say, well, it smells just like the deal that Obama made back in 2015, which Trump ripped up in 2016, saying it was the worst deal ever in the history of the world. But he's got the Iranians wrong, I think, because they have a strong ethos of resistance and stubbornness in that regime. It's a really nasty, ruthless regime that kills its own people in the streets. But that also means that they're not going to be too concerned if the people of Iran are suffering economically or whatever because they want to preserve their system and they are not going to capitulate. I think that is now clear. But, but I think he's somehow still hoping that they might.

[Ankur Desai]

That's a big underestimation.

[Jeremy Bowen]

I think so. And the question mark now is they're talking about a so called mou, a Memorandum of understanding, basically a one page guide to the way talks might go, future of Iran's nuclear plans. What about the Strait of Hormuz?

[Ankur Desai]

And then there is still the enriched uranium as well, which is another sticking

[Jeremy Bowen]

point, which may or may not be under rubble in some bombed out mountain tunnel. But, but the assumption appears to be that it's intact. So if they get to a place where they do some kind of a deal on the future of enrichment, they start off by saying, never, that's a war aim, never ever. Then there's some talk about 20 years, Iran saying maybe five years without enrichment. But a deal with so called sunset clauses was one of the things that Trump hated about Obama's deal with Iran. The point is that it's very hard to stop these things happening when the knowledge is out there. So what sensible diplomats would try to do is try to manage the situation, not try to issue an edict and hope that the other country involved just says, okay then, yeah, sorry, we're frightened. Iran doesn't work like that.

[Ankur Desai]

With this proving to be unpopular at home, midterms on the horizon, how quickly does this need to accelerate for Donald Trump in order to try and win back favor with especially his core supporter base too?

[Jeremy Bowen]

Tomorrow, I think he wants this to be over as soon as possible. That's why he keeps hyping up the chances of a deal while backing that up with threats that he probably won't carry out, but he might. It's a terrible self inflicted mess. And if Iran comes out of this with some acknowledgement of its place in the Strait of Hormuz, its power over it, some kind of a deal on enriched uranium, the lifting of sanctions, so they get money coming in to start with. That is political kryptonite for Benjamin Netanyahu. And I think for America, it would actually add up as a strategic defeat, very serious for their position in the world. Because whatever Donald Trump says, America's allies and adversaries and enemies will look at that and think, they haven't done well here, have they?

[Ankur Desai]

Our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, next to a lawsuit in the US that's questioning the lines between using a muse to inspire art and stealing someone's likeness to make money. The BBC's Wool Chalk has the details.

[James Cameron]

When we say to make money, we mean a lot of money.

[Ankur Desai]

The concept is to drive these remotely

[James Cameron]

controlled bodies because this is to do with the highest grossing film of all time, Avatar.

[Hugh Schofield]

You're not in Kansas anymore. You're on Pandora.

[James Cameron]

Across three movies, the franchise has taken more than $6 billion worldwide. But this lawsuit goes way back to its inception and the inspiration for the appearance of most of its characters.

[Bret Wood Higman]

Can we just talk a little bit about Avatar? There is the drawing that is deep.

[James Cameron]

That's the director, James Cameron, speaking to the French website Combini back in 2024. He's standing in front of a sketch he made that went on to be the model for the film's famous blue aliens, the Na'.

[Ankur Desai]

Vi.

[Nika Kaziuszka]

The source for this was a. Was a photograph that was in the LA Times as part of the promotion for the New World as a young actress named Koreanka Kilcher, who played Pocahontas in the New World. So this is actually her, her lower face. She had, she had a very interesting, interesting face.

[James Cameron]

Now that actress Corianka Kilcher is suing both Disney and James Cameron, saying they extracted, replicated and commercially deployed her facial likeness, violating her publicity rights. The lawsuit says the filmmakers took the unique biometric facial features of a 14 year old girl, ran them through an industrial production process and generated billions of dollars in profit. And without ever once asking her permission. It adds that in doing this, Avatar, which is based around themes of colonial exploitation of indigenous people, exploited a young actress who is herself of indigenous Peruvian descent.

[Ankur Desai]

We have an indigenous population called the Na'.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Vi.

[Jeremy Bowen]

They are very hard to kill.

[James Cameron]

But this isn't an isolated case. Taylor Swift is among the stars who've started filing trademark applications for their voice and likeness and to try and combat the power of generative AI to replicate someone at the click of a button. In this context, James Cameron's alleged defense, taking inspiration from a real face when drawing a real sketch is relatively archaic. But it shows that the battle for control over who has the right to use your image and how is one that's deeply entrenched across the entertainment industry. In short, if you want to be the only person who makes money from you, you need to keep control of your avatar.

[Ankur Desai]

We'll chalk with that report. Scientists say they verified the existence of the second largest wave ever to sweep the earth. A megatsunami that topped 481 meters, which is taller than the Empire State Building in New York. The wave was created when part of an Alaskan mountain crumbled into the sea last year. Researchers say megatsunamis are made worse by climate change and are a reminder of the risks posed by melting glaciers, our Science and Environment correspondent Helen Briggs reports.

[Helen Briggs]

Last summer, a giant wave swept through a fjord in southeast Alaska, a region known for its natural beauty and popular with cruise ships. The event went largely unnoticed at the time, but scientists have now analyzed the megatsunami, a massive wave caused when a landslide crashes into the water. They say it was the second largest ever recorded and was partly driven by climate change. Melting glaciers are making slopes less stable and increasing the risk of collapse, the researchers say. It was only the early morning timing that spared nearby tourist ships as they were anchored offshore at the time. The study, published in Science, is prompting calls for wider monitoring in regions at risk of future megatsunamis. Geologist Bret Wood Higman, who visited the site, called it a close call.

[Bret Wood Higman]

We know that there were people that were very nearly in the wrong place, and it worked out just barely, and I'm quite terrified that we're not going to be so lucky in the future.

[Helen Briggs]

Alaska is particularly vulnerable because of its steep mountains, narrow fjords and frequent earthquakes.

[Ankur Desai]

Helen Briggs still to come in this podcast, the far right populist and the Princess.

[Ilaria Grillini]

It all helps him because he's the little guy who manages to get the

[Ankur Desai]

princess a very French love story. But will it have a fairy tale ending?

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to save the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission have returned home safely after successfully completing their groundbreaking voyage around the moon.

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Splashdown confirmed.

[Sarah Rainsford (Commentator)]

Humans are back in the business of

[Ankur Desai]

going to the moon.

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But while the mission is over, the Artemis space Program is just getting started. 13 minutes the BBC Space podcast is looking back on their epic journey and discovering what the future holds for the Artemis Space Program.

[Jeremy Bowen]

Just imagine what we as humans can do.

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Next 13 minutes presents Artemis 2 from the BBC World Series Service. Listen now. Wherever you get your BBC podcasts,

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the global news podcast. The American broadcasting mogul Ted Turner has died. He was 87 and was known for many things, but. But primarily as the founder of CNN the First Round, the clock TV news channel launched back in 1980. Here he is announcing the network.

[CNN Announcer]

This news service will be called the Cable News Network and will program continually updated half hour segments of national news, business news, sports and features 24 hours a day.

[Ankur Desai]

The grandson of poor farmers, Ted Turner was also a major philanthropist, donating over a billion dollars to create the United Nations Foundation. It's a public charity aimed at boosting American support for the UN. Christiane Amanpour is CNN's chief international anchor. She knew Ted Turner from when she began working at CNN in 1983. She spoke to my colleague Evan Davis.

[Christiane Amanpour]

His presence will live forever. He changed the world. You know, BBC is a great operation with the world service, but Ted created the, the first ever global television service, you know, 24. 7 TV. And it was fundamental. It just changed the world.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

It really did. And it became a huge thing at the first Iraq war when suddenly it exploded really into wow, this is covering it all the time and you can turn it on. And he had absolutely seen it. Is it true, as Wikipedia says, he famously said, we won't be signing off until the world ends.

[Christiane Amanpour]

He absolutely did. He absolutely did. We have it on videotape as they. And how wonderful, you know, the reason he said it and it created such waves and such like. Yes, right, yeah, really was that CNN started June 1, 1980. That's when he signed on publicly and said he was, you know, creating this for the world. And it was very difficult because there were occasions when they run out of budget when the funding was difficult. And we were called at the very beginning and I started in 1983, which was just three years after the launch of this startup called CNN Chicken Noodle News. So that meant people were deriding us. Nobody expected CNN to last. And now 46 years later, we're still here. And that's thanks to Ted. And so I guess he said, and we're not signing off, you know, just because my bank balance doesn't look too good today. We'll be here till the world ends. And there was another aspect to that. He was absolutely devoted to world peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

Yeah, well, he wasn't your typical billionaire mogul. He had. There was a lot to the guy. He thought outside the box.

[Christiane Amanpour]

Absolutely he did. He was bold and he was courageous and he wasn't afraid to really go where nobody had strode before. He busted so many barriers, you know, when he took CNN Television International in 1985, he also started to break down the walls of state controlled media, state controlled information. In many of these nations, people who could afford satellites or somehow got their version of vpn, you know, all those years ago could see a different telling of what's happening in their world. Not just controlled information. And that was a huge, huge thing. He was ahead of so many curves, not just on media, but on climate and philanthropy. You know, he was the first of the post Rockefeller, Carnegie Mellon generation that said, okay, I'm going to give a billion dollars to the un and then all the other rich people followed. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them. He was the one who did all those things.

[Ankur Desai]

Christiane Amanpour, remembering the broadcasting legend Ted Turner. For more than 130 years, the Venice Biennale has been synonymous with high arts and culture. But this year it's making headlines for protests, resignations and boycotts over the inclusion of Russia and Israel. In the latest incident, protesters from the Russian punk band Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian feminist group Femen, wearing pink balaclavas set off pink smoke bombs, causing the Russian Pavilion to be shut down. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford was there. Please move over.

[Sofia Batica]

Please move over.

[Protester/Activist]

Pushing through the crowd, pussy riots descend on the Russian pavilion. The women start punching the air and shouting in protest at Russia's return to one of the biggest art events in the world.

That's the Russian Pavilion behind me. And right in front of it, these activists have come with their balaclavas and with their protests and with their flares. They believe that Russia's presence here at this Biennale is an act of propaganda and should never have been allowed.

[Sarah Rainsford (Commentator)]

Russia wages hybrid war. It's not just tanks and drones in Ukraine, but also it is cultured art language, so called soft power. It's part of Russia's strategy. And so far they're winning because they're drinking vodka and champagne in their pavilion soaked in blood.

[Protester/Activist]

Before the protest, I'd stepped inside the Russian Pavilion.

[Sarah Rainsford]

They are Intoning, singing, playing their percussion. And in the center, there's a tree covered in purple and yellow flowers.

[Anastasia Karna]

I'm responsible for the pavilion. I'm the Commissioner.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Could I ask a question from pbc?

[Anastasia Karna]

Could you send me your.

[Protester/Activist]

Anastasia Karna wasn't keen to talk.

[Sarah Rainsford]

You're responsible for Russia's presence here?

[Anastasia Karna]

Yes.

[Sarah Rainsford]

You think that Russia should be here?

[Anastasia Karna]

This is our house. We come to our place.

[Sarah Rainsford (Commentator)]

Sorry.

[Sarah Rainsford]

What do you think about the protests? Saying that Russia shouldn't be here during the full scale invasion of Ukraine?

[Anastasia Karna]

I don't think about protests.

[Sarah Rainsford]

You don't? I mean, they're pretty strong.

[Anastasia Karna]

Because I'm very busy with organizational part.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Your father's a very senior figure in Rostec.

[Anastasia Karna]

Can we stop this conversation? Thank you.

[Sarah Rainsford]

I mean, that's why there's so much protest.

[Protester/Activist]

Rostec is the state owned weapons company that's arming Russian troops. The EU isn't happy that Russia is back here in Venice. The Commission is pulling a big chunk of funding for the Biennale. And Italy's Culture Minister is also boycotting the events. There have been daily protests too, over Israel taking part. And last week the entire jury resigned, saying the leaders of both Russia and Israel are wanted in the Hague as suspected war criminals. But the President of the Biennale is defiant. Pietrangelo Butafuoco accuses his critics of intolerance and of supporting censorship.

[Bret Wood Higman]

If the Biennale began to select not works, but affiliations, not visions, but passports, it would stop being what it has always been.

[Sarah Rainsford]

We just stepped outside into the beautiful paved streets of Venice. And I'm here with an art critic from Ukraine, Zoya, who's come to show me what they're calling the Invisible Biennale.

[Ankur Desai]

This is Nika kaziuszka.

[Sarah Rainsford (Commentator)]

She was 18 years old, writer and artist in Kharkiv.

[Protester/Activist]

We're standing in front of a poster for an imaginary event marked as canceled because the author was killed by Russia. And this writer isn't the only one.

[Sarah Rainsford (Commentator)]

They are all people of culture. Some of them was killed in the street. Some of them fight for Ukraine in Frontline.

[Protester/Activist]

That's why there are protests. Some of them noisy like this, and some quietly symbolic, like the main exhibit that's been brought to the Biennale from Ukraine. It is a concrete statue of a deer that was evacuated from Pokrovsk in the east to escape the advance of Russian troops. It's now hanging from a crane just a few meters from the Russian pavilion, displaced by war, like millions of Ukrainians.

[Ankur Desai]

Sarah Rainsford reporting. In France, celebrity watchers have been Tracking the latest romance linking the worlds of royalty and politics revealed in the carefully choreographed pages of Paris Match magazine. The young presidential hopeful Jourdan Badella, from the Hard Right National Rally Party has revealed his relationship with Maria Carolina of Bourbon, Two Sicilies. She is the heiress to a historic noble family that once ruled southern Italy. So how is this alliance of the populist and the princess going down with French voters with one year ahead of a presidential election? Hugh Schofield reports.

[Hugh Schofield]

St. Denis, the gritty, multi ethnic north Paris neighborhood from where the young Jourdan Badella emerged, unknown on his ascent to political fame, is also the home of this architectural gem, the Royal Basilica, where for hundreds of years, kings and queens of France were interred. Among them, many ancestors of Bardella's new girlfriend, Princess Maria Carolina of bourbon, of the two Sicilies, Duchess of Calabria and Palermo. Yes, here in St. Denis, it's a strange coming together of two worlds that somehow feels very mid 21st century. Brought up between Paris, Monaco and Rome, the 22 year old Borman Princess was educated by private tutors, speaks six languages and works today as. What else? An online influencer helping sell haute couture. Her website says she's concerned about the environment and women's issues in Italy. They've been following her relazione with Bardella very closely. Rome based journalist Ilaria Grillini writes and broadcasts about European royalty.

[Ilaria Grillini]

Maria Carolina has been brought up in a certain way. She has manners, education. It is an excellent family she comes from. All that can only bring good things to this young man because if he's going to rise in politics, he will need an image.

[Hugh Schofield]

As for Bardella, the obscure Saint Denis commoner with a decent shot at being next French head of state, he says they decided to go public with their affair because they were being besieged by paparazzi and they're very happy. But politically speaking, people are asking, is this such a good move? After all, he's from a right wing populist party that's supposed to speak up for the impoverished masses. Isn't linking up with the jet set going to put people off? For Hugo Drouchon, politics professor at Nottingham University, the answer is no, not nowadays.

[Hugo Drouchon]

Why I think it works for Bardella is that that princess is not considered to be part of the establishment. She's on the one hand, a link back to a Nancy regime, which is against perhaps the regime that's in place today. And then her appeal, she's an influencer, which is very contemporary, and the social media. So it's a smart move in many ways.

[Hugh Schofield]

And on a trip to hard right territory in Montagy, south of Paris, that's borne out, these Bardella supporters all say that same thing. It's his private affair. Good luck to them. They're so good looking, they're bound to have beautiful babies. And even this non Bardella supporter said that nabbing a princess could only help his political fortunes.

[Ilaria Grillini]

It all helps him because it let him come across as a human being. He's the little guy who manages to get the princess, and people adore that sort of stuff.

[Hugh Schofield]

Back in the Royal Basilica, a guide is showing visitors around the tombstones of Maria Carolina's ancestors. Could the fairy tale end with a fairy tale wedding? Here, with the gothic rose windows looking out over the multicolored streetscape of what some call New France, House Bourbon and House Bardella. Two worlds.

[Ankur Desai]

Hugh Schofield reporting from Paris. Robots have been taking over roles performed by humans for decades now, from factory work to cleaning and even some types of surgery. But here's a new one. Robot monks. That's right. For the first time, a humanoid robot has become a Buddhist monk. Gabi, as the machine is known, has just been ordained at a ceremony in South Korea. Helena Burke has the story.

[Helena Burke]

He cuts a striking figure, 130 cm of metal and plastic, wearing traditional orange robes as he waddles towards a temple. Gaabi then completes the full ritual sequence for new monks. He joins his palms in prayer, bows to the Buddha and receives a rosary before swearing his devotion to Buddhism.

[Ankur Desai]

Robot monk, please reply with palms together. Yes, I will devote myself.

[Himatraj or Rajve (Intended Parents)]

Yes, I will devote myself.

[Helena Burke]

The ceremony in Seoul was organized by the Jogge Order, the Korean sector of Buddhism. It's believed the order decided to ordain Gabi as part of an effort to appeal to younger generations and to help address a shortage of monks. The number of new initiates into the Jogge Order dropped from 319 in 2005 to just 99 in 2025. GA B was welcomed with open arms by his fellow monks. The ultimate goal of Buddhist monks is to achieve complete spiritual awakening and peace, known as enlightenment. It's unclear how a robot with no sentient thoughts could achieve this. However, the Jogya Order has tweaked its ethical guidelines, known as the Buddhist Five Precepts, to better suit Gabi's unique circumstances. According to the rules, Gabi must protect life, refrain from damaging other robots, respect and obey humans, avoid deceptive conduct, and conserve energy by not overcharging. The humanoid monk is expected to appear at another ceremony later this month to celebrate Buddha's birthday.

[Ankur Desai]

Helene Burke reporting. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email [e-mail] you can also find us on X@BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Chris Lovelock and produced by by Paul Day and Wendy Urquhart. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Ankur Desai. Until next time, goodbye.

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