Hope for Ukraine peace as Trump meets Zelensky in Washington

Summary

Global News Podcast – Hope for Ukraine Peace as Trump Meets Zelensky in Washington

Host: Valerie Sanderson (BBC World Service)
Date: August 18, 2025

---

Main Theme

This episode focuses on renewed optimism surrounding peace efforts in Ukraine as US President Donald Trump hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, joined by European leaders. The podcast covers developments from these high-level talks—including discussions on a possible ceasefire and security guarantees—as well as updates on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Croatia's controversial rock music scene, a high-profile diamond theft in Dubai, Jordan’s reinstatement of military service, and the African Union's campaign to reform world maps.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ukraine Peace Talks in Washington

[00:58 – 13:53]

• Setting the Scene:

  • President Trump hosted President Zelensky and European leaders for peace talks aimed at ending the war following Russia's 2022 invasion.
  • This meeting followed Trump’s prior summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
  • The atmosphere was markedly positive compared to previous tense engagements.

• Positive Tone from Leaders:

  • Zelensky described the talks as his "best meeting so far" and expressed hope for a future trilateral US-Ukraine-Russia summit.
  • Trump reiterated optimism about reaching a deal:

    “I don't think there's any issue that's overly complex. ... I think that President Putin wants to find an answer, too.” — Donald Trump [02:34]

  • European leaders, including the NATO chief and the German Chancellor, praised Trump’s willingness to engage, pushed for a ceasefire, and called for security guarantees for Ukraine.

• Security Guarantees & Ceasefire:

  • Trump pledged to help broker security guarantees for Ukraine if a peace deal materializes.
  • NATO Chief Mark Ritter:

    “Your willingness to participate in the security guarantees is a breakthrough and it makes all the difference.” [04:02]

  • European leaders, notably Germany and France, continued to advocate for an immediate ceasefire during negotiations, whereas Trump pushed for a "permanent peace," suggesting skepticism about the durability of a temporary ceasefire.

• Trilateral Meeting:

  • Plans discussed for a high-level trilateral meeting (US, Ukraine, Russia), with Trump possibly facilitating.
  • Trump reportedly called Putin during the talks, though official confirmation is pending.

• Concerns on Territorial Integrity:

  • Anxiety lingered among European diplomats that Zelensky could be pressured to cede territory, particularly given Trump's previous comments urging Ukraine to "make a deal."
  • Zelensky and Ukrainian officials remained adamant:

    “There will be no compromise on Ukraine's territorial sovereignty… It’s not possible constitutionally.” — Aruna Day Mukherjee, reporting [07:56]

• Skepticism over Guarantees:

  • Security analyst Justin Crump highlighted distrust due to past broken promises (e.g., the 1994 Budapest Memorandum).
  • NATO membership remains ruled out, with alternatives discussed:

    “What's being talked about is something called an Article 5-style guarantee… But is this force really going to be robust enough to deter a rebuilt Russian army?” — Frank Gardner [09:41]

• Ukrainian Perspective:

  • Former Defense Minister Andrei Zagorodnyuk warned about overreliance on unenforceable Russian promises:

    "Any promises you can't enforce coming from Putin—basically, we had many, many cases when he gave something and then changed his mind later." [10:52]

  • He stressed Putin’s broader ambitions beyond NATO or Donbas and the need for allied unity.

---

2. Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

[14:45 – 17:46]

• Developments:
  • Hamas claims to accept the latest Egyptian-Qatari mediated ceasefire plan unconditionally; Israel's official response is pending.
  • The plan, dating back to US proposals, calls for a two-stage exchange of hostages and prisoners, and phased withdrawal of troops.
• Obstacles:
  • Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly rejects any partial deals.
  • Internal and international pressures are mounting, with protests in Israel demanding a stop to the war.

  • “He [Netanyahu] did seem to acknowledge huge pressure on Hamas… but members of his cabinet claim a ceasefire would be surrender.” — Emir Nada [16:42]

---

3. Croatia’s Controversial Rock Scene and Fascist Symbols

[17:46 – 20:51]

• Event:
  • Rock singer Thompson drew half a million fans in Zagreb; his shows feature ultra-nationalist and banned WWII-era fascist symbols.
• Political Fallout:
  • The Prime Minister attended, sparking criticism for normalizing neo-fascist sentiment.
  • Courts and rights groups condemn Thompson’s use of the slogan "Zadom Spremni" ("For homeland ready").
• Analysis:
  • The slogan’s rehabilitation is contentious, reflecting Croatia’s unresolved reckoning with WWII-era atrocities and the 1990s war.

  • “Kids singing not just that song but also others... connected with mass crimes... [The] government is creating kind of atmosphere now when this is okay to do.” — Tena Banyaglav [19:35]

---

4. Pink Diamond Heist in Dubai

[20:51 – 22:04]

• Incident:
  • Rare $25M pink diamond stolen by an elaborate fake-buyer scheme; AI-assisted Dubai police tracked and recovered the gem within eight hours.
  • The criminals were apprehended as the jewel was about to be smuggled to Asia.

---

5. Jordan’s Conscription Announcement

[22:04 – 23:37]

• Background:
  • Jordan reinstates mandatory military service amid rising regional tensions tied to the Israel-Gaza conflict and increased regional instability.
• Official Line:
  • The program is framed as strengthening national identity for youth, though the context makes underlying security concerns clear.

  • “We’ve been witnessing a real ratcheting up of tensions… but officially, it’s about national identity.” — Hesham Shawesh [22:04]

• Initial call-up is 6,000 males, expanding to 10,000.

---

6. African Union’s Push to Fix World Maps

[23:37 – 27:02]

• Issue:
  • Africa appears much smaller than it is on the commonly used Mercator projection; the African Union wants world maps to reflect true landmass proportions.
• Expert Opinion:
  • Mary Spence (British Cartographical Society ex-president):

    "This wasn't a very good projection because of... distortion. With Greenland appearing to be the same size as Africa." [24:26]

  • Map reforms (e.g., Equal Earth projection) discussed as more accurate alternatives; Mercator seen as outdated.

  • "It's almost very important... we're always railing against this because these maps are being created by people who... don't understand the significance." — Mary Spence [26:30]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ukraine Talks:

  "The talks have been focusing on Ukraine. President Trump said he'll help European nations provide Ukraine with security guarantees in the event of a peace settlement." — Valerie Sanderson [01:38]

• On Ceasefire Tensions:

  "The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones." — Emir Nada [04:36]
  "Let's try to put pressure on Russia." — Donald Trump [04:59]

• On Security Guarantees:

  “Ukraine senses very much that promises have been broken in the past.” — Guy Deloni [09:28]

• On Gaza:

  “It could have untold catastrophic consequences for the million Palestinians who are in Gaza City.” — Emir Nada [16:42]

• On Map Reform:

  “Would you say it’s time to move on from the Mercator projection?” — Evan Davis [26:04] “Oh, totally, totally. I mean, that’s long since!” — Mary Spence [26:30]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• White House Ukraine Peace Talks – [00:58 – 13:53]
• Gaza Ceasefire Proposal – [14:45 – 17:46]
• Croatia and Neo-fascist Symbols – [17:46 – 20:51]
• Dubai Diamond Heist – [20:51 – 22:04]
• Jordan Reinstates Conscription – [22:04 – 23:37]
• African Union Challenges Map Projection – [23:37 – 27:02]

---

Tone

The episode maintains the BBC's signature calm, authoritative, and analytical tone, mixing matter-of-fact reportage with cautious optimism (especially on Ukraine), expert skepticism (on security guarantees), and a clear-eyed warning about unresolved historical tensions (Croatia). The contributors reflect relief at positive diplomatic signals but also underline risks and obstacles on multiple fronts.

---

This summary captures the breadth of world affairs covered in the episode, with special attention to the unprecedented possibility of a peace process in Ukraine.

Transcript

[Malika Bilal]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

[BritBox Advertiser]

Vanity Fair calls Britbox a delicious streamer. Collider says everyone should be watching. Catch Britain's next best series with Britbox. Streamer claim new originals like Code of Silence, you Read Lips Right and Lynley, based on the best selling mystery series.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Take It From Here.

[BritBox Advertiser]

And don't miss the new season of Karen Pirie coming this October.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

You don't look like.

[Mary Spence]

Please.

[Hesham Shawesh]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[BritBox Advertiser]

See it differently when you stream the best of British TV with BritBox. Watch with a free trial Today. We live in a world where the news is at our fingertips, but how often do we stop scrolling and just listen? I'm Malika Bilal and this is the Take Al Jazeera's daily news podcast where we bring you the context and the people behind the global stories that matter. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Valerie Sanderson]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and in the early hours of Tuesday 19th August, these are our main stories. Talks have been taking place at the White House involving President Trump, President Zelensky and European leaders in efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Hamas says it's accepted the latest Gaza cease fire proposal from regional mediators while Israel is said to be reviewing reviewing the details. Also in this podcast, kids singing not.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Just that song but also others that Thompson used to sing before that are connected with mass crimes that happened during Second World War.

[Valerie Sanderson]

How symbols from Croatia's Second World War fascist party have infiltrated the country's rock music scene. As we record this podcast, talks have been taking place at the White House following a meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian President Zelensky, who were then joined by European leaders. The goal to move forward on ending the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in 2022. Monday's event came in the wake of Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska last week. The mood music in the Oval office was cordial. Mr. Zelenskyy called it his best meeting so far. The talks have been focusing on Ukraine' President Trump said he'll help European nations provide Ukraine with security guarantees in the event of a peace settlement with Russia. President Trump is sure a peace deal is attainable.

[Donald Trump]

I don't think there's any issue that's overly complex. It's at a point now where people want to do things. I do. I really do believe I've known him for a long time. I've always had a great relationship with him. I think that President Putin wants to find an answer, too. And we'll see in a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we're going to know whether or not we're going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue. We'll do our best to get it ended. And I believe you have two willing parties, and usually that's good news, but two willing parties that want to make a deal.

[Valerie Sanderson]

President Zelensky said he was looking forward to a future trilateral meeting with the American and Russian presidents.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

What is very important that all the sensitive things, territorial, etc. We, we will discuss on the level of leaders during trilateral meeting. And President Trump will try to organize such meeting. And he said that he will come or not come. Ukraine will be happy if you will be there. Yeah, thank you. And I think this is very important.

[Donald Trump]

Yes.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

So security guarantees bring kids back and all our people, not only warriors, first.

[Donald Trump]

Of all warriors and all the civilians.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Journalists, a lot of people in prison. So we need them back.

[Valerie Sanderson]

The NATO chief, mark Ritter, praised.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Mr. Trump, from today onwards, we get this thing to an end as soon as possible. I really want to thank you for your leadership, what you are doing for Lord Amir, but of course, also all the European colleagues. It is really crucial. And the fact that you have said, I'm willing to participate in the security guarantees is a big step, is really a breakthrough and it makes all the difference. So also thank you for that.

[Valerie Sanderson]

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, while praising the US President for meeting Vladimir Putin last week, emphasized his view that there should be a ceasefire in Ukraine as soon as possible.

[Emir Nada]

The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones.

[Donald Trump]

Now the path is open. You opened it last Friday, but now.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

The way is open for complicated negotiations.

[Donald Trump]

And to be honest, we all would.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Like to see a ceasefire.

[Emir Nada]

The latest from the next meeting on.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

So let's work on that and let's.

[Donald Trump]

Try to put pressure on Russia.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Our correspondent in Washington, Aruna Day Mukherjee, told us what had come out of.

[Malika Bilal]

The meetings so far in terms of progress. Well, I think given the kind of air of positivity and the statements that we've heard coming in from people who were involved in the conversations and the leaders who've spoken, it seems to be a fairly positive meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself, saying that these were the best conversations I've had on this. And then sort of smiling and later saying, well, hopefully there will be even better conversations. A lot of leaders essentially talking about how These were constructive conversations. Yes, in terms of progress, they seem to be all responding positively, at least. You know, there were fears, given what we saw the last time Volodymyr Zelensky was at the Oval Office. You know, we all know how that turned out. So this definitely is a marked change. There were concerns that, you know, what would have happened after the Alaska summit, you know, what kind of concessions they would be talking about. But clearly, today, given the statements, the body language, things seem to have gone relatively well, at least for now.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Interesting, though, that we're getting reports that President Trump called President Putin to during the meeting with European leaders. He didn't wait till that had finished.

[Malika Bilal]

We have seen some of these reports, but we haven't gotten an official confirmation on this. But, yes, I did see some of the conversations, but what I did hear President Trump say is that he is going to be having a direct conversation with President Vladimir Putin. After the conversations, he said, vladimir Putin is expecting a call from me now. He is relaying all the developments of today now to Vladimir Putin. Now, this is where it's going to be critical, because the next steps that a lot of people are hoping to expect is that possibility of a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the US if they are able to get to that point, is when we will be able to confidently say that, yes, there has been progress, visible, tangible progress that has been made. But at the moment, Donald Trump himself saying that, I'm not sure whether we're going to have a trilateral meeting. I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin, and then let's see what comes off it.

[Valerie Sanderson]

The leaders of Germany and France, they want an immediate ceasefire. They say that is necessary while negotiations with Russia continue. Is that any closer?

[Malika Bilal]

This is where we saw President Trump sort of depart from his earlier stand, right when he had said that, look, I don't think a ceasefire at the moment is required. We're looking at a permanent peace because he felt a ceasefire may not hold. He reiterated that during a press interaction today with Volodymyr Zelenskyy sitting right next to him. He said that, look, I don't think a ceasefire is necessary. And again, he pointed out why they need a permanent peace. The fact that European leaders continue to push for that suggests that there are diverging voices when it comes to this very critical issue. But it doesn't seem, at least in the conversations for now, that Donald Trump has changed his mind.

[Valerie Sanderson]

And another point of concern is, of course, the pressure that President Zelenskyy is under to cede territory as a price for peace.

[Malika Bilal]

There was a huge concern among European diplomats that when President Zelenskyy comes, President Trump might just sort of pressure him into agreeing into some sort of deal. And given the interview that President Trump had given to Fox News, he'd said that, look, I would urge Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal, which is why you saw this kind of rallying of support around Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of they all sort of came together, sending out the message that we have your back. So they are united in this. We haven't heard much about conceding territories or territorial swaps, something that President Trump has talked about in the past. We haven't gotten any kind of confirmation about where they stand on this conversation. But Vladimir Zelenskyy has made it very clear on two points. One, there will be no compromise on Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. That's something that they have been very clear about. And two, he's also cited constitutional constraints. He said that is not a possibility because it's not going to be allowed by the Ukrainian constitution. So we can't even go on discussing that.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Aruna DEI Mukherjee in Washington. Well, for any peace deal to be agreed, Ukraine will need to be certain it's safe from future Russian aggression. With his assessment of how such a guarantee might work, here's our security correspondent, Frank Gardner.

[Frank Gardner]

When is a security guarantee not a security guarantee? The answer that Ukrainians point to is the failure of the us, Britain and Russia to honour the promised assurances given to Ukraine when it agreed to give up its Soviet era nuclear weapons in 1994. Justin Crump, a military analyst who runs the private intelligence firm Sibylline, says the history of distrust will be hard to surmount.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Ukraine senses very much that promises have.

[Guy Deloni]

Been broken in the past. And also the two areas west of.

[Valerie Sanderson]

The Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, have also.

[Guy Deloni]

Both been formally taken by Russia. So in theory, that's unfinished business for the Russians anyway.

[Frank Gardner]

All right, so what would a security guarantee for Ukraine look like in 2020? Membership of NATO is off the table. Donald Trump has made that clear. Instead, what's being talked about is something called an Article 5 style guarantee that would come into force once the fighting stopped. The idea would be that if Russia attacked Ukraine again, then a multinational force, possibly including the US would come to its defense. But even with US involvement, which with Donald Trump in the White House may be a movable feast, this prompts a number of awkward Do Europe and the west collectively have enough troops and weapons to deploy to Ukraine, perhaps indefinitely. And most critically, is this force really going to be robust enough to deter a massive rebuilt Russian army if President Putin decides to come back for more in a few years time?

[Valerie Sanderson]

Frank Gardner so we know that discussions have been focusing on security guarantees and prospects for a trilateral meeting involving Presidents Trump, Zelensky and Putin. Andrei Zagorodnyuk is a former Ukrainian Defense Minister and he gave his reaction to the talk so far to the BBC's Sumy Somaskanda.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

So there's been a serious worry about the possible pressure on Zelensky and basically that Putin had mentioned some of the terms which he wanted to promise some sort of ceasefire or a cessation of hostilities, at least for some period of time. And obviously that was quite dangerous for Ukraine because there is no single indication that Putin wants to stop the war, at least at the moment. And any promises, with verbal promises and especially promises you can't enforce coming from Putin, basically we had like many, many cases when he gave something and then changed his mind later. So, yeah, so that those words seems like we still have to assess what happened. But from the early indications that didn't happen. So there's been a very constructive discussion. They returned back to the ceasefire demand, which is obviously good because Putin, as you can see, uses his pressure, military pressure on Ukraine every day. So any demands of ceasefire will remove that card from him. But we'll see. That's much more difficult than many people thought, especially in D.C. and at least the process so far is not going in the wrong direction. That's, that's, that's very good. And I believe that that's also because there's been a very substantial representation there from Europe and also from NATO, eu, you know, like, like a massive allied meeting. And that that's a very good format to, to proceed with decisions, I think.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, Andre, we do get the sense of relief from many of the Ukrainian voices that this meeting so far is gone much better than back in February. At the same time we heard President Trump repeat again that Russia said for a long time that Ukraine should not be part of NATO. Are you worried that, you know, that is something that President Putin is insisting on and President Trump is perhaps standing behind at least appears to be at this point?

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Well, yes, because it's not about NATO and it's not about these terms. Putin unfortunately had much, much bigger goal than that. And we just need to understand that he brings up various kind of terms in order to derail the process and put the process in a different direction. In reality, it's not about NATO, it's not about Donbass, it's about him trying to destroy Ukraine and the Eastern European and probably European and security architecture. And Europeans know about that very well. All the heads of states, including the Prime Minister of UK and NATO General Secretary and so on, they know like what our real goals of Putin are. So we need to be careful when, you know, we discuss something which is not like really the issue, but we'll see where it goes. It's very difficult to predict where this process will go, but to see such a massive, you know, very powerful team working together on the resolution. Well, I mean that's the best. That's absolutely the best we can wish for.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister and now fellow at the Eurasia Centre, Andrei Zagorodnyuk.

[Mary Spence]

Still to come, this wasn't a very good projection because of that very distortion. With Greenland appearing to be the same size as Africa.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Why an African group wants to replace the traditional world map?

[BritBox Advertiser]

We live in a world where the news is at our fingertips, but how often do we stop scrolling and just listen. I'm Malika Bilal and this is the Take Al Jazeera's daily news podcast where we bring you the contacts of and the people behind the global stories that matter. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Could the latest Gaza ceasefire plan proposed by Egypt and Qatar succeed where previous ones have failed? Hamas says it's agreed to the latest proposal. Israel has so far not responded. The plan is based on one put forward by the US earlier this year in a bid to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is now lasted for 22 months. More than 62,000 people have died, according to the Hamas run health Ministry in Gaza. And out of 50 Israeli hostages, just 20 are still believed to be alive. A correspondent in Jerusalem, Emir Nada, told us more.

[Emir Nada]

This is a plan that was originally proposed by the US envoy Steve Whitcoff as early far back as June and was negotiated on as recently as last month in Qatar with the delegations there. And it broke down and it broke down over a number of key sticking points, we understand, including the withdrawal of troops, where Israeli troops would withdraw to in this initial 60 day ceasefire period and how it would ultimately lead to a permanent end to the war. So we understand that that is back on the table. It would involve two stages of hostages and Palestinian prisoners who are in Israeli prisons being exchanged over two stages. What we don't know is how Hamas's position has shifted. We have heard from a Hamas source who's been speaking to the BBC that Hamas has now agreed the current proposal unconditionally and without amendments. So it does sound like there is a softening of Hamas's position. Perhaps. What's unclear is how Israel will respond to this proposal. As we've heard in recent days from Prime Minister Netanyahu here, that a so called partial deal which would see hostages released in stages, he had ruled that out and it said that Israel was going just for a comprehensive all in deal.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Has there been any reaction from Israel at all so far?

[Emir Nada]

Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made a statement, but hasn't directly addressed this news so far. But he did seem to acknowledge that there is huge pressure on Hamas, as he called it, appearing to refer to the plan by Israel to invade Gaza City, which has been extremely controversial both here in Israel and internationally. It could have untold catastrophic consequences for the million Palestinians who are in Gaza City. And it has indeed seemed to revitalize the energies of the mediators in Egypt who've brought now the discussion this far. However, we've also heard from members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet coalition, including one far right minister who said that it would be surrender to stop fighting now and not push for the total defeat of Hamas. So it is unclear how Prime Minister Netanyahu might respond. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of protesters here in Israel who've been on the streets this week calling for a deal and an end to the war.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Emir Nada in Jerusalem. It was Croatia's biggest ever music concert. Huge numbers of young people came to see Marko Perkovic, better known as Thompson, perform in Zagreb last month. But Thompson isn't just any rock singer. He's an ultra nationalist who performs a fascist salute at the beginning of his most famous songs. The Croatian government has defended him for his nationalist views, but human rights groups say he's normalizing neo fascism and creating dangerous divisions. Our Balkans correspondent Guy Deloni reports from Zagreb.

[Guy Deloni]

Thompson's management claimed they'd sold more than half a million tickets for last month's Megagig at Zagreb's Hippodrome. That's a startling turnout for an act who's been banned in multiple countries for his alleged Nazi sympathies. But Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic didn't see that as a problem. The left wing opposition and media are not happy. The 500,000 people came to this concert.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

That young people came in an atmosphere of unity.

[Guy Deloni]

But in fact, it's not just left wing groups who have a problem with Thompson's use of the phrase Zadom Spremni. It means for homeland ready and it was the call and response salute of the Nazi allied Croat nationalist Ustae movement during the Second World War. Croatia's highest court has ruled its use unconstitutional constitutional. That explains why rights groups were alarmed when the prime minister posed for a pre performance picture with Thompson and outraged when governing party MPs joined in the chants.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

That really opened as people are trying to describe it, Pandora's Box.

[Guy Deloni]

Tena Banyaglav works for Documenta center for Dealing with the Past.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

Kids singing not just that song but also others that Thompson used to sing before that are connected with mass crimes that happened during Second World War and the government is creating kind of atmosphere now when this is okay to do.

[Guy Deloni]

Thompson's supporters claim that his use of the chant should be viewed in the context of his time in the military during Croatia's war of independence in the 1990s. Matthias Stahan is a conservative commentator.

[Frank Gardner]

I think it would be best described.

[Andrei Zagorodnyuk]

As Croatian version of Slava Ukraini.

[Frank Gardner]

And just like Slava, Ukrainian today does not mean the same thing as in World War II. So Zadom Spremni also means something different.

[Guy Deloni]

But there's no altering the unsavoury history of Zadom Spremni. It was coined by the murderous USTAA, then revived in the 90s by an extreme right wing militia called the Croatian Defense Forces. But now the government seems keen to rehabilitate the chant. Thompson's popularity has ebbed and flowed over the past three decades. His detractors say his current peak is an unwelcome reminder that Croatia still has to reckon with the troubled past before it can truly move into the future.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Guy Delaunay in Zagreb Police in Dubai have recovered a rare pink diamond worth $25 million and arrested three people. Detectives said they used artificial intelligence to help them track down the gang in just a few hours. Joanna Keane reports. The criminals plotted for more than a year to steal the precious diamond. They rented luxury cars and arranged meetings at expensive hotels to convince a jeweler they were wealthy buyers. The trader was then lured to a villa where the gang stole the pink diamond. With the help of AI and specialist teams, police in Dubai carried out multiple raids and tracked down the criminals. Eight hours after the theft, they recovered the jewel from a refrigerator which was bound for Asia. The diamond is said to be so rare there's only a 0.01% chance of finding another like it. Joanna Keen Jordan's Crown Prince has announced the Kingdom will soon reintroduce compulsory military service more than three decades after it was suspended. The move comes as the country's forces face mounting security concerns tied to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and heightened instability across the region. Hesham Shawesh from BBC Monitoring told us more.

[Hesham Shawesh]

The official reason that was given was that it would reflect a profound national vision to strengthen Jordanian national identity and shape the character of young people. But we can't ignore the regional context taking place. The latest announcement comes amid mounting regional tensions in view of Israel's expanded offensive in Gaza and the announcement of of its latest settlement expansion plan in the West Bank. We've also seen Disraeli violations of holy sites in the west bank in Jerusalem, like the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, where Jordan still retains its custodianship of holy sites. So that is another reason why Jordan sees a threat, possibly from Israel. We've also seen remarks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week of a Greater Israel vision that was condemned in Jordan and by other countries in the region. So we have been witnessing over recent weeks a real ratcheting up of tensions. But in the latest announcement which was given by Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah, we didn't see any mention of Israel. Instead, the real focus of all the reporting was that it would strengthen Jordanian identity amongst the country's youth. The Jordanian government delivered a press statement and they said that that 6,000 males born in 2007 who will have turned 18 by the 1st of January will be called up and that will eventually rise to 10,000 over the next few years. And each conscript would receive a modest monthly stipend as well. And they will be trained in physical training, field skills and small arms training as well.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Hesham Shawish look at a map of the world and compare it to say a globe or a picture of the world on Google Earth or equivalent. The continent of Africa is too small on the map and Greenland is too big. Indeed, Greenland is almost the size of Africa. It's a well known flaw in the way we generally convert the three dimensional world to a two dimensional representation. No map projection can be perfect, but the much used Mercator method introduced in 1569 is now being challenged by the African Union which has thrown its weight behind the idea of changing that map map to better reflect Africa's size. The former president of the British Cartographical Society is Mary Spence and Evan Davis asked her why there are distortions in size on so many maps.

[Mary Spence]

Well, I think it's probably Historical, because the Mercator map was invented for navigational purposes, as most people know, because the distortions come into it land and south, north and south of the equator. But it was easy to draw. However, it was always recognized that this wasn't a very good projection because of that very distortion. With Greenland appearing to be the same size as Africa. There was an attempt in the 1970s to. Well, not an attempt, a successful attempt to create what the Gauls Peters projection, where every country was equal area. And that was very popular because it did exactly what underdeveloped countries wanted to see. The countries in their true size relative to the rest of the world. But it looked funny. Everything was very tall and skinny.

[Emir Nada]

Yeah, I remember that one, yeah.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Not the right shape, you know, sort of trendy.

[Emir Nada]

Students might have had it up on the wall in their. In their university bedroom or something, and.

[Hesham Shawesh]

But that.

[Emir Nada]

But the countries and continents didn't look like the. Yeah, you have to make some compromise though, don't you? If you're taking 3D into 2D, you.

[Mary Spence]

Can'T do everything correctly. But after the galls, Peters won, that ran for a long time, but then people got fed up of it not looking quite right. So the Robinson project and other equal area projections came along which were neither equal area, equal area being the thing that makes it comparable with another country, but the things just looked right. And now this equal earth projection that they're talking about adopting instead is good in that it is better than the Robinsons because it's actually equal area.

[Emir Nada]

Mary, talk me through where you think the kind of serious map people are, People like members of the cartographical society when it comes to. Which should be the default map, for example, used in schools and in atlases and in newspaper pictures of maps for purposes of where things are happening in the world. What would you say? Would you say it's time to move on from the Mercator projection?

[Mary Spence]

Oh, totally, totally. I mean, that's long since. And I mean so many newspaper blunders where they've used the wrong map projection to illustrate that, for example, North Korea couldn't get its missiles as far as North America. But if you put it on the right projection, you think, oh gosh, yes, we can go all the way to the other side of North America. So it's almost very important. And in the cartographic world we're always railing against this because these maps are being created by people who, through no fault of theirs, don't understand the significance of this.

[Valerie Sanderson]

Mary Spence speaking to Evan Davis. And that's it from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast of the topics covered in it, send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producers were Carla Conti and Oliver Berlau. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time. Bye.

[Mary Spence]

Bye.