Trump halts military aid to Ukraine

Summary

Global News Podcast Summary BBC World Service | Episode: "Trump Halts Military Aid to Ukraine" | Release Date: March 4, 2025

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1. US Suspends Military Aid to Ukraine

In a dramatic turn of events, President Donald Trump announced the suspension of all military aid to Ukraine, a decision that has sent shockwaves through Ukrainian leadership and the global community. The White House's immediate blockade halts American supplies, including weapons and equipment in transit, until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demonstrates a commitment to negotiating peace with Russia.

Oleksandr Merezhko, a Member of Parliament from Zelenskyy's party, expressed strong condemnation of the decision:

"When you take away weaponry from a person, from a country which is fighting for its survival, you are helping the enemy... I think Mr. Trump should seriously think about how he's going to enter in history... it's a date that will go down in infamy."
(00:52)

James Waterhouse, BBC's correspondent in Kyiv, highlighted the immediate impact on the ground:

"It's a devastating blow to Ukraine's ability to defend itself. America is its single biggest military donor... Without American help, things could probably go south very quickly."
(02:10)

The suspension threatens to undermine Ukraine's defense efforts significantly, as the US has provided nearly half of the military aid since the invasion in 2022. Jeremy Bowen, BBC's international editor, described the situation as the "worst crisis in transatlantic relations" since World War II:

"The suspension of aid has put the US on the other side to its major NATO allies... America first is emerging as an idea which essentially treats the rest of the world as raw material for American business deals."
(05:18)

2. Trump Imposes New Tariffs, Sparking Global Trade Tensions

President Trump escalated trade tensions by imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, with retaliatory tariffs swiftly enacted by these nations. Additionally, tariffs on Chinese goods are set to double to 20%, exacerbating global economic anxieties.

Oleksandr Merezhko criticized the move as economically damaging:

"This is a deeply interconnected economic area in North America... everyone agrees that this is a lose, lose, lose scenario."
(07:46)

Mariko Oi, BBC’s business reporter, detailed the widespread economic repercussions:

"The impact on the Canadian economy, the Mexican economy, the Chinese economy, it will be really, really significant... These tariffs would likely push up prices of products being sold in the United States and that would feed into that cost of living crisis."
(08:23)

Investors are increasingly concerned about a potential global trade slowdown, with significant drops observed in Asian and European markets following the tariff announcements.

3. Global Obesity Epidemic Forecasted to Accelerate by 2050

A new study published in The Lancet predicts a staggering rise in global obesity rates, with over half of all adults expected to be overweight or obese by 2050. This trend is primarily driven by urbanization, dietary shifts towards higher-calorie and ultra-processed foods, and increased consumption of products like dairy in previously low-consumption regions.

Dominic Hughes, BBC’s health correspondent, explained:

"It's partly to do with big changes in society... changing diets... the spread of things like ultra-processed foods around the globe."
(14:10)

High obesity rates are prevalent in developed regions, such as the USA and parts of Oceania, but developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are projected to see the most significant increases. Nigeria, for instance, may see its obese adult population triple by 2050, reaching 141 million.

4. Mice Exhibit First Aid Behaviors in Recent Study

A groundbreaking study from the University of Southern California reveals that mice can perform rudimentary first aid on their unconscious peers. The research observed behaviors such as licking eyes, biting mouths, and attempting to clear airways, actions that facilitated recovery in over half of the cases.

Wendy Urquhart, BBC’s reporter, reported:

"After licking the eyes and biting the mouth of an unconscious mouse,... the mice appeared to pull out the tongue of their companion to try to clear its airways."
(26:28)

Dr. Hu Jung Witt Tel, the study's lead author, emphasized the significance of these findings:

"We found that the cagemate intensively interacted with the anesthetized one... biting the mouth and the tongue of the unresponsive peer."
(26:54)

This revelation sheds new light on animal behavior and the potential for empathy-driven actions in non-human species.

5. Deathonomics: The Financial Impact of Russian Military Casualties

The podcast delves into the phenomenon dubbed "deathonomics," where Russian soldiers and their families reap substantial financial benefits from casualties in Ukraine. Average compensation packages reach approximately $160,000, enabling families to significantly improve their socioeconomic status.

Oleksandr Merezhko highlighted the personal stories behind these statistics:

"The average payout is about four 14 million rubles. That's nearly US$160,000... If someone signs up to the army... gets killed, and all the compensations are paid to his, it would be definitely bigger sum of money than he could earn till the end of his active life."
(17:42)

Despite the financial gains for families, there are broader ethical and social implications. The Kremlin's strategy includes promoting returned soldiers as heroes and integrating them into leadership roles, though resistance from existing elites remains a challenge.

6. Colossal Biosciences Aims to Recreate Mammoths with Genetically Modified Mice

In an ambitious bid to restore ecological balance, Colossal Biosciences is pioneering genetic modifications to create mammoth-like traits in mice, with the ultimate goal of reviving woolly mammoths. These genetically altered mice feature bright orange hair and increased body fat, serving as preliminary models for larger, cold-adapted elephants.

Palab Ghosh, BBC’s science correspondent, provided an overview:

"Their first step has been to try it on mice. They've altered seven genes to do with hair growth... it's the first step towards recreating the mammoth."
(23:14)

Despite the innovative approach, critics raise concerns about the feasibility and ethical considerations of such genetic engineering:

"Going from a hairy mouse to an extinct woolly mammoth is a huge step... how are you going to get hundreds, if not thousands of them roaming across the tundra?"
(25:22)

The initiative aims to fill ecological niches and mitigate climate change effects by restoring permafrost stability through the presence of these hardy creatures. However, the scientific community remains divided on the practicality and potential unintended consequences of this endeavor.

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Conclusion

This episode of the Global News Podcast provided a comprehensive overview of significant global developments, from geopolitical tensions and economic challenges to breakthroughs in scientific research and public health concerns. Notably, the suspension of US military aid to Ukraine and the imposition of new tariffs by President Trump mark critical points in international relations and economic stability. Meanwhile, advancements in animal behavior studies and genetic engineering highlight the evolving landscape of scientific exploration. As the world grapples with these multifaceted issues, the BBC World Service continues to deliver in-depth analysis and reporting to keep listeners informed.

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For further insights or to share your thoughts on this episode, please contact [e-mail] or join the conversation on X using the hashtag #globalnewspod.

Transcript

[Bernard Ecchio]

This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Bernard ECCHIO and at 14 hours GMT on Tuesday 4th March, these are our main stories. The US is pausing military aid to Ukraine. The White House decision immediately blocks American supplies going into the country. New US tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China have come into effect, prompting immediate retaliation. Also in this podcast, a report claims half of adults worldwide are predicted to be obese or overweight by 2050. And can mice give first aid?

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

We captured detailed behaviors of the cagemate biting the mouth and the tongue and pulling out the tongue of the unresponsive peer.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Researchers in California say yes, you don't have the cards. That's what Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during that diplomatic blowout at the White House on Friday. Now Ukraine finds itself under huge pressure. The United States has suspended all military aid and says it will continue to do so until the Ukrainian leader demonstrates a commitment to negotiating peace with Russia. The suspension includes all American weapons and equipment that were in transit. Ukrainian officials are in shock. Oleksandr Merezhko is a member of Parliament from President Zelenskyy's party.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

You know, when you take away a weaponry from a person, from a country which is fighting for its survival, you are helping the enemy. Casualties and human lives lost because of this. I think Mr. Trump should seriously think about how he's going to enter in history to. To me, it's a date will go down in infamy.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Since the invasion in 2022, almost half of military aid going into Ukraine has come from the United States. Our correspondent in Kyiv, James Waterhouse, told me that the US announcement is already being felt on the front line.

[James Waterhouse]

It's a devastating blow to Ukraine's ability to defend itself. America is its single biggest military donor. It provides the scale and speed of military support that Ukraine needs to sustain its fight. We're talking about sophisticated missile launcher systems, armoured vehicles, ammunition. When you're near the western border, it's not uncommon to see military convoys under police escort coming in. It's like an artery. It's much needed armour and ammunition for exhausted troops on the front line. And other Western allies to this point have been unable to plug the gap. When American aid has slowed in the past, when it's happened in the past through political disagreements in the US Congress, President Zelenskyy says Ukraine has lost land and lives as a direct result. And I remember the eastern once fortress town of Avdiivka falling early last year because you had troops there that were dug in, but they just ran out of kit. And this as a political lever, puts enormous pressure on President Zelenskyy to play ball with Washington. And it challenges that existential belief that if Ukraine stops fighting, then it'll succumb to Russia, because without American help, things could probably go south very quickly.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Is there a real risk then that Russian forces could make big gains further into Ukraine?

[James Waterhouse]

Very much so. There are a string of towns and cities in the eastern Donetsk region which come under increasing artillery fire that are sitting very uncomfortably as Russian forces target major supply lines. Now, Ukraine had been launching counteroffensives in some areas, pushing back, but the Russian forces are advancing slowly, albeit in several other areas. And how that is perceived, if you look at America warming its relationship with Russia, exploring the relaxation of sanctions, whilst putting Ukraine under this kind of pressure in the eyes of some, amounts to a switching of sides. Equally, there are MPs saying, look to President Zelensky, go to Washington, sign this minerals deal, say you're sorry, say thank you repeatedly, because that's clearly what they want if it's for the sake of the future of Ukraine.

[Bernard Ecchio]

James Waterhouse. The pressure is now firmly on Western European leaders to bolster Ukraine's defence. In the last few hours, the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced plans to relax EU fiscal rules on borrowing for defence procurement, a measure she says could raise hundreds of billions of dollars.

[Ursula von der Leyen]

We are in an era of rearmament and Europe is ready to massively boost its defence spending, both to respond to the short term urgency to act and to support Ukraine, but also to address the long term need to take on more responsibility for our own European security.

[Bernard Ecchio]

For more on what this means for the war and the state of Western diplomacy, here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.

[Jeremy Bowen]

What is actually going on right now is the worst crisis in transatlantic relations since the alliance between the US and Europe was created after and during the Second World War. It is absolutely that serious because essentially this suspension of aid has put the US on the other side to its major NATO allies. All the American pressure has been on Zelensky. Putin's position has not changed because what he has been demanding consistently since the full scale invasion and before is effectively for Ukraine, a capitulation. If you look at what Trump and his people say, it's America First. America first is emerging as an idea which essentially treats the rest of the world as raw material for American business deals, for American supremacy, for America trying to extract as much money, including from their allies, and the implications of that, while Trump is in the White House, the rest of us really are, I think in his mind, an adjunct to try to make America as rich and powerful as possible. Which is one reason why, and this I think even you know, for the British as well, they, they would say that it leaves a sour taste. They are saying to, to Zelenskyy, you have to go back and talk to Trump and sign that deal.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Jeremy Bowen, if you've got questions about the fast moving situation with Ukraine, Russia and the involvement of President Trump and European leaders, we'd love to hear from you and get some answers from our correspondence. Send us an email to globalpodcastbc.co.uk US tariffs are up and markets are down. Late on Monday, President Trump went ahead and slapped 25% import taxes on Canadian and Mexican goods entering the U.S. the Canadians are hitting back by imposing their own levies on US Exports. Mexico is likely to also reply in kind too. And trade barriers are extending beyond the Americas. Washington's tariffs on China are set to double to 20%. But stock markets are jittery, Asian markets have fallen and European exchanges have opened lower. Andrew Wilson is the Global Policy Director at the world's largest business organisation, the International Chamber of Commerce.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

The President has chosen to use Oscars Week to serve up a cliffhanger of a drama on the tariffs followed by a very dramatic ending, but one that I think will have severe negative ramifications for business, including in the United States. This is a deeply interconnected economic area in North America backed by 40 plus years of policy integration. And I think what we see very clearly from the modeling, economists tend to disagree on many things, but everyone agrees that this is a lose, lose, lose scenario.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Our business reporter Mariko Oi gave me this assessment of the US Move.

[Mariko Oi]

The impact on the Canadian economy, the Mexican economy, the Chinese economy, it will be really, really significant. But at the same time, the impact on the US Economy is also something that economists have been warning about as well. But let's start off with Canada and Mexico because the three countries, they have deeply integrated economies with an estimate of $1.2 billion worth of manufactured goods crossing the borders every day. So you can see the sheer volume, the amount of products that get exported imported between those countries. So, for example, if you look at Mexico, for example, it accounts for nearly 80% of delivery trucks being imported into the United States. As for Canada, it accounts for, of course, about 60% of crude oil. So for Canada, they do actually have a nuclear option of restricting access to energy, but that would be really contentious. So they haven't gone down that road. Canada has so far announced retaliatory tariffs on certain products worth about US$100 billion. China has also announced retaliatory measures. But for China, of course, this is they already had the 10% tariff earlier last month and that has basically been doubled. So it's now 20% tariffs on everything that gets imported from China into the United States. But this is, of course, in addition to all the tariffs that have been in place since the first term of Mr. Trump's presidency. So the impact on the Chinese economy has been quite significant. And of course, not to mention they have their domestic challenges facing the economy. So the impact on them would be quite significant. But let's also not forget about the U.S. economy, because these tariffs would likely push up prices of products being sold in the United States and that would feed into that cost of living crisis that we've been talking about. And inflation has calmed down a bit. But this could actually feed back into inflation. Though Mr. Trump has so far shrugged off the potential damages to the US Economy.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Is there a real worry that this actually could end up in a global trade slowdown?

[Mariko Oi]

MARIKO I think that is what investors are worried about. And that's why even before these latest tariffs kicked in at about 05:00 GMT, which was midnight the US time, when Mr. Trump said that these tariffs would go ahead. Because of course, remember those tariffs on Mexico and Canada, they were kind of put on hold while they negotiated all these deals. But when Mr. Trump said that these tariffs would kick in, we saw U.S. shares falling. And then when those tariffs kicked in, we saw an impact on the Asian markets which were trading at the time. And of course we're going to start seeing some impact on the European market as well. And that is all because investors are worried, as you said, about the global trade war, which would impact, of course, the US Economy and that would of course impact the rest of the world. And it just, it's just not something that investors wanted to hear about because, you know, China has repeatedly said that they didn't want a trade war because in their words, nobody wins a trade war. But of course, Mr. Trump sees tariffs as a negotiating tool and that's what he's going ahead with.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Mariko Oy, the leader of the rebel group that swept through eastern Congo, has told the BBC his fighters will go all the way to the capital, Kinshasa, some 1500 kilometers away, if confronted by government forces. Kone Nanga heads an alliance including The Rwandan backed M23 rebels. They currently control the two largest cities in the mineral rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This report from our senior international correspondent, Ola.

[Ursula von der Leyen]

The M23 rebels portray themselves as liberators who have come to clean up corruption. But they have been advancing at the point of a gun and have forced almost half a million people to flee from camps around Goma. In a BBC interview, Corne Nanga said the rebels would take their fight all the way to the capital if, as he claimed, the government keeps attacking them. If the threat is in Kinshasa, he said, we will go there. He denied the M23 are backed by Rwanda, though this has been documented extensively by UN experts.

[Jeremy Bowen]

I don't know anything about Rwanda. If they say that there are 4,000.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

Fighters from Rwanda, I don't know. I didn't see them.

[Ursula von der Leyen]

So you don't receive any assistance from Rwanda?

[Jeremy Bowen]

I don't see the military assistance from Rwanda.

[Ursula von der Leyen]

He said he had never read reports about human rights abuses by the M23, so couldn't comment, adding that he wasn't worried by the allegations. Human rights groups have accused the rebels of systematic shelling of civilian areas, mass rape and summary executions. The M23 leader denied there was a plan to join the east of the country to Rwanda and said he did not want to be the next president of the drc, which he called a failed state. The lightning advance by the rebels has stoked fears that the country could once again be at the center of a regional war.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Allagiran reporting. Coming up, modified mice that mimic mammoths.

[Palab Ghosh]

It's got bright orange hair, about 5 cm long. This mouse is supposed to be a first step towards recreating the mammoth.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Our science correspondent explains. This is the global news podcast. For years now, the World Health Organisation has warned that obesity is a global epidemic. But a new study covering more than 200 countries predicts obesity levels will accelerate rapidly over the rest of this decade. The report in the Lancet Journal found that by 2050, more than half of adults around the world are predicted to be overweight or obese. So what's driving this worsening problem? I spoke to our health correspondent Dominic Hughes.

[Dominic Hughes]

Bernadette, it's really complex. It's partly to do with big changes in society that we've seen in recent decades. So, for example, people moving from rural areas to the cities. But it's partly also to do with changing diets. Basically more calories are being consumed, but not necessarily better quality food. So in some countries, like China, we've seen a big shift towards dairy Products that perhaps weren't so common in the diet 30 years ago. But also experts have pointed to the spread of things like ultra processed foods around the globe. And they seem to be having a real impact on people's diets as well.

[Bernard Ecchio]

And it's mainly developing countries that are affected.

[Dominic Hughes]

Dominic yeah, we've known for many years that developed countries have had a big problem with people who are overweight and obese. The usa, many European countries, not least the uk, where we're talking today. Among the high income countries, the USA has got like the highest rates of obesity. Around 42% of males and 46% of females were affected by obesity in 2021. But now we're seeing developed countries as well, especially high levels already in areas like Oceania, North Africa and the Middle East. 62% of adult males in Nauru, the Cook Islands and American Samoa, and over 71% of adult women in Tonga and Nauru live with obesity. In terms of raw numbers, China, India and the USA have the countries with the biggest populations. But weight gain varies wildly across the globe. More than half of the world's adults who are overweight or obese in 2021, they live in just eight countries. So as well as China, India and the USA, also Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt. And there are really significant numbers of people living with these conditions. But population growth means that forecasters are predicting the number in sub Saharan Africa will rise by more than 250% to 522 million people who are living with overweight or obesity. And Nigeria in particular really stands out. The predicted number there is projected to more than triple to 141 million people in 2050. And that would make it the country with the fourth largest population of adults who are overweight or obese.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Dominic Hughes Russians who sign up to fight in Ukraine earn big money in salaries and bonuses. And the money paid out by the Kremlin to the families of those killed in battle is even higher. Average compensation packages are worth about $130,000. Arseny Sokolov went to meet family members of men. Russia has lost in the war and finds out how they spent their money.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

Andriyno Tsarenko was 21 when he was killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine. At his old school in small town in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia, they solemnly unveiled a desk in his memory. He was a qualified chef, and when he called his mother Oksana from the front, he talked of using those skills. When he got back, he used to say, mom, let's open A cafe together. It'll be great. Now, though she's still grieving bitterly, Oksana's fulfilled his dream. Without him, she's opened a cozy little restaurant in his memory. We do lots of different cuisines. European, Caucasian, bit of Japanese, like sushi. And my signature dish, Well, I do like man, a rich noodle dish with meat, vegetables and spices. The business employs several people. Aksana couldn't have started it without the compensation money from the state. The average payout is about four 14 million rubles. That's nearly US$160,000. All over Russia, families of the fallen are using the money to buy property and rise up the social ladder. Economist Vladislav and Asyamtsev calls it deathonomics. If someone signs up to the army at the age of 35 from not the most wealthy Russian regions, gets the regional payment for the signature of the contract, serves there six to eight months, and is killed, and all the compensations are paid to his, it would be definitely bigger sum of money than he could earn till the end of his active life. At the age of 65, you could.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Buy a whole village on the proceeds.

[Mariko Oi]

From one man's death.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

That's lawyer and human rights defender Nadezhda Nyzovkina, speaking from Buryati on the Mongolian border. It's a poor, remote region that's provided a disproportionately high number of men to fight and die in Ukraine. But she says the newly acquired compensation money isn't always very visible.

[Mariko Oi]

Many people now are scared to flaunt.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Their wealth because showing you got rich on spilled blood. It means you or your relative didn't.

[Mariko Oi]

Sign up out of high moral principles.

[Bernard Ecchio]

The big recruiting posters don't mention money. They just say, stand up and defend the motherland. As a selfless gesture.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

The Kremlin is determined that those who return alive from the frontline will be treated as heroes. Vladimir Putin has even launched a scheme to fast track selected veterans into leadership positions in local administration and businesses. The real elite, he says, are those who serve Russia, loyal workers and warriors. It's still unclear whether that project will work. Existing local elites often resist admitting newcomers. But compensation payments have certainly catapulted a huge number of Russian families into a higher social class. If, according to rough but informed estimates, 150,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine, and if each of their families has actually received what they are due, that would mean the state has spent the equivalent of more than 2% of federal expenditure on such payouts over the past three years. Andrei's mother, Aksana, hasn't received her full payout yet. Like many other bereaved single mothers, she is battling her ex husband in court over who gets what share. But her new business, paid for with the Kremlin's compensation, has given her some comfort over the loss of her son. And every night when I go to bed, I talk to Andrey. I say I open the restaurant just like you wanted. And if you were still here, I know you'd be helping me.

[Bernard Ecchio]

That report from Arsene Sokolov. Could a modern day version of the woolly mammoth soon be walking the earth? That's what the US company Colossal Biosciences claim. They're experimenting on genetically modified mice that they claim have mammoth like traits. And that will pave the way they say for hairy elephants with increased body fat to survive in cold environments. The aim is to repopulate the Arctic tundra with these creatures. Ben Lamb, founder and CEO of the firm, spoke to the BBC.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

So this is a very long plan, right?

[James Waterhouse]

Like tomorrow we're not going to have.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

Mammoths and the next day we're not going to have a thousand of them. But over time, you know, we're going to have this entire lineage of cold adapted elephants that we put back into the wild that can interbreed and thrive.

[Bernard Ecchio]

So what's going on and how will it all work? I asked our science correspondent Palab Ghosh to tell me more.

[Palab Ghosh]

It does sound like an incredible story. So the story is about a company called Colossal Biosciences who have the stated aim of bringing back the woolly mammoth from extinction to roam the Arctic tundra. In time, they hope to have the first woolly mammoth in 2028. They're not going to be exactly woolly mammoths. They're going to be genetically modified elephants that are able to withstand the cold. And the reason they want to bring them back is to fill what they say is a vacant ecological niche. There's been an alarming loss of biodiversity all across the planet and what Colossal want to do is to start bringing it back. So in the case of the mammoth, they believe that, that having mammoths stomping across the tundra will restore it and slow down the melting of the permafrost and slow down the release of carbon dioxide, which would be good for the environment. They're also trying to bring back the dodo and the Tasmanian tiger, but in this instance to bring back the mammoth. Their first step has been to try it on mice. They've altered seven genes to do with hair growth and They've, unsurprisingly, you might think, got a mouse that looks quite like a mammoth. Apart from the fact that it's the size of a mouse.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Tell us what it looks like. Palab.

[Palab Ghosh]

It's got bright orange hair about 5cm long. If you're a Star Trek fan, you might be familiar with tribbles. So it looks like a little tribble and they just run around. Apparently they're healthy. They did also insert a mammoth like gene because they know what mammoth genes are like from studying frozen mammoths. That gene is supposed to increase fat levels. They don't know if that's worked or not. But this mouse is supposed to be a first step towards recreating the mammoth. But there is a lot of skepticism, a lot of concern about their work.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Tell me more about the concern, because there have been critics of this project.

[Palab Ghosh]

There's a huge amount of criticism. First of all, going from a, a hairy mouse to an extinct woolly mammoth is a huge step. And even if you do try it out on elephants, what kind of suffering will be caused if something that works is seen to work on mice? Will it work on elephants? Could there be malformed creatures forming? And even if the creatures are fully formed, then how are they going to be treated by their mothers, their surrogate mothers, how they're going to be treated by the rest of the herd? And if you go through all of that, how on earth are you going to get hundreds, if not thousands of them roaming across the tundra? So it does seem quite fantastic what they're trying to do.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Pahlab Ghosh, we're going to stay on the topic of those small rodents now. A study has found that mice will perform first aid on other mice if they're unconscious. Researchers at the University of Southern California say they've seen it happen and have released a video to prove it.

[Wendy Urquhart]

As Wendy Urquhart reports, putting mice back in their cages is something that researchers do every day. But when they put an unconscious mouse back in its cage after an operation, something very different happened. Its companion immediately started sniffing and biting the unresponsive mouse. Dr. Hu Jung Witt Tel, who is the lead author of the study, says they had to act fast to record what was happening.

[Oleksandr Merezhko]

We found that the cagemate intensively interacted with the anesthetized one. With careful setup of cameras, we captured detailed behaviors of the cage mate, biting the mouth and the tongue and pulling out the tongue of the unresponsive peer. We do know that mouth and tongue biting induces pain, which expedites recovery from unconsciousness.

[Wendy Urquhart]

Researchers at several laboratories have since carried out a series of tests and they found that after licking the eyes and biting the mouth of an unconscious mouse, in more than 50% of cases, the mice appeared to pull out the tongue of their companion to try to clear its airways. They also tried other tests, such as placing a non toxic plastic ball in the mouth of the unconscious mouse, and found that 80% of the time the companion mouse removed it. Experts say the reason it's taken so long to discover the caring side of mice is because they're not usually returned to their cages until they're awake.

[Bernard Ecchio]

Wendy Urquhart reporting. And that's all 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 or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk and remember to send any questions you have about what's going on with Ukraine, Russia and the involvement of President Trump and European leaders. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was produced by Harry Bly. It was mixed by Derek Clark. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Bernard Ecchio. Until next time. Goodbye.