Ukraine accuses Russia of torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war

Summary

Global News Podcast Summary Episode: Ukraine Accuses Russia of Torturing Ukrainian Prisoners of War
Host: BBC World Service
Release Date: May 24, 2025

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1. Ukraine-Russia Prisoner Swap and Allegations of Torture

In a significant development amid the ongoing conflict, Ukraine reported that nearly all Ukrainian prisoners released by Russia in the latest prisoner exchange were subjected to torture and brainwashing. Oliver Conway introduces the segment at [01:08], highlighting the emotional atmosphere as families awaited the return of over 300 prisoners of war.

Personal Plea from a Family Member: Yana, a Ukrainian family member, expresses her anguish:
“I'm looking for my husband. He went missing six months ago. There is no information whatsoever where he is, how he is. Maybe the released prisoners will recognize his photo and share any information. No one recognized him yesterday. We are here for a second day, waiting.”
([02:30])

Expert Analysis on Prisoner Conditions: Petro Yatsenko from the Ukrainian Headquarters for Prisoners of War details the dire conditions faced by the released prisoners:
“Our released former prisoners of war have no sufficient food. They have no medical care in Russian captivity. And no one representative of the International Red Cross can visit them to check their health, condition and conditions for life.”
([03:26])

Yatsenko further elaborates on the psychological impact:
“They were isolated from any outer information. And they were brainwashed by Russian propaganda too.”
([05:36])

Correspondent’s Insight: James Waterhouse in Kiev provides a broader perspective on the prisoner exchanges:
“Prisoner of war exchanges have been the sole area of cooperation... any suggestion or hope that this could lead to further cooperation to bring a ceasefire at this moment in time feels like a bit of a reach.”
([06:51])

Despite the ongoing conflict, this exchange marks the largest of the war, with both sides slated to release 1,000 detainees each. However, the allegations of mistreatment raise significant concerns about compliance with international laws and the humanitarian impact of the conflict.

2. Cannes Film Festival: Iranian Director Jafar Panahi’s Victory

Amidst sabotage-induced power cuts, the Cannes Film Festival concluded successfully with Iranian director Jafar Panahi winning the top prize for his film "It was Just an Accident," which draws from his experiences in Iranian prisons.

Director’s Statement: Jafar Panahi, presenting his award, urged unity and freedom in Iran:
“I thought about my friends I spent time in prison with... how I could participate in a small way in everything they've done.”
([10:00])

Behind the Scenes: Mariam Zohti of BBC Persian Service highlights the film's sensitive nature:
“The film is about former political prisoners in Iran, challenging societal norms by featuring women without compulsory hijab.”
([11:18])

Panahi’s courage is further emphasized as he plans to return to Iran despite potential risks:
“I'm going back to Iran after the Cannes Festival is finished.”
([13:47])

His achievement has been met with widespread acclaim in Iran, inspiring younger artists and drawing praise from figures like Nobel Peace Prize winner Nargis Mohammadi.

3. Hungary’s Opposition Leader Challenges Viktor Orban

Peter Mogyar, Hungary’s main opposition leader, made headlines by trekking 300 kilometers from Budapest to Arad, Romania, to garner support from the ethnic Hungarian community abroad.

Mogyar’s Mission: Upon reaching Romania, Mogyar stated:
“We have come to visit our brothers and sisters outside of Hungary, to support them now and anytime and anywhere because they are Hungarians too.”
([18:27])

Political Implications: Nick Thorpe, reporting from Budapest, analyzes Mogyar’s impact:
“Peter Modiya... is leading in opinion polls. He is challenging Viktor Orban by accusing him of failing on education, inflation, and health services.”
([19:15])

Mogyar’s movement seeks to position himself as a patriotic alternative within the European People's Party, potentially reshaping Hungary’s political landscape if he unseats Orban in the upcoming elections.

4. Israel-Gaza Conflict: Death of Children and Shifting Israeli Public Opinion

A tragic incident in Gaza involved an Israeli airstrike that reportedly killed nine children from the Al Najaz family, leaving one child severely injured. Dr. Milena Angelova Chee discusses the dire circumstances faced by civilians caught in the conflict.

Personal Account from Gaza: Dr. Chee recounts the mother’s resilience:
“We were bombed and my husband is a doctor and I have 10 children. Nine of them are dead...she was incredibly calm through all that.”
([22:50])

Medical Challenges: The surviving child and injured father face critical conditions with limited medical resources:
“His condition is life-threatening... we hope for the best for his sake and her sake and the one surviving child.”
([23:31])

Israeli Public Sentiment: Weira Davis discusses the evolving Israeli public opinion:
“Recent opinion polls in Israel do suggest that a majority of Israelis now do favor an end to the war, a ceasefire agreement...”
([26:18])

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains steadfast in his stance to continue military operations until Hamas is fully defeated, reflecting a complex interplay between public desire for peace and governmental policy.

5. Brazilian Farmers on Social Media and Climate Disinformation

As the COP30 climate summit approaches in Brazil, a wave of social media content from farmers has sparked debate over environmental impacts and misinformation.

Influencer Spotlight: Camila Tellis, a farming influencer, portrays rural pride while addressing alleged disinformation:
“People who oppose soybean production are actually opposing the development of Brazil.”
([28:14])

Criticism and Impact: Researcher Deborah Salis from Netlab accuses Camila of spreading environmental disinformation:
“Camila was listed as one of Brazil's leading influencers spreading disinformation about environmental topics.”
([29:48])

Despite her defense against the allegations, Camila’s portrayal of agriculture as a villain-less industry is contested by environmental experts who highlight the significant deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions associated with Brazilian agribusiness.

6. Nepal’s Caterpillar Fungus Economy and Education Impact

In Nepal’s Karnali Province, the harvest of the rare caterpillar fungus, valued for its medicinal properties, has led to the closure of numerous schools as families prioritize gathering this lucrative resource.

Economic Dependence: Anbarasan Etirajan reports on the importance of Yarsa Gampa for local income:
“Gathering the caterpillar fungus is a significant source of income.”
([32:40])

Social Consequences: The focus on fungus collection results in educational disruptions:
“Learning had stalled due to lack of students.”
([32:53])

The high demand for Yarsa Gampa in markets like China drives economic activity but also exacerbates social issues, including educational neglect and community conflicts over resource access.

7. Boggle Game Record-Breaking Board

In a lighter segment, software engineer Dan Van der Kam achieved a milestone by discovering Boggle’s highest possible scoring board through extensive computation.

Achievement Details: Cindy Crawford explains the accomplishment:
“I've proven that one of these particular boards is in fact the very best board. The two things that really made this possible were coming up with some clever algorithms and having cloud compute resources available.”
([34:46])

Record-Breaking Board: The board generated contains over a thousand words, with the highest-scoring word being “replastering,” totaling 3,625 points. Despite its theoretical existence, Crawford notes the improbability of such a board appearing in actual gameplay:
“Your odds of rolling this board are something like one in the number of stars in the universe.”
([34:32])

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Conclusion

This episode of the Global News Podcast delves into pressing global issues, from the harrowing realities of war and political upheaval to cultural triumphs and environmental debates. Each segment provides a comprehensive view of the complex interplay between human experiences and broader geopolitical dynamics.

For more detailed discussions and updates, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Global News Podcast by BBC World Service.

Transcript

[Oliver Conway]

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[Oliver Conway]

You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Sunday, 25 May. Ukraine says almost all the prisoners released by Russia in the current swap were tortured and brainwashed. Nine children from one family are reported to have been killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza, and Hungary's main opposition leader has trekked 300km to Romania to rally support from ethnic Hungarians. Also in this podcast, a film shot secretly in Iran wins the top prize in Cannes and our Brazilian farmers turned TikTok stars planting disinformation. But first, amid the brutality of Russia's invasion, a small moment of hope in Ukraine on Saturday as more than 300 prisoners of war were handed back by the Russian military. Families gathered to welcome the buses home, some holding portraits of soldiers missing or in captivity. Yana is hopeful she'll get news of her husband.

[Yana]

I'm looking for my husband. He went missing six months ago. It happened on the Kursk front line. There is no information whatsoever where he is, how he is. Maybe the released prisoners will recognize his photo and share any information. No one recognized him yesterday. We are here for a second day, waiting.

[Oliver Conway]

Maybe it will happen today. Well, it was the second stage of a three day prisoner swap, the largest of the war so far, in which Russia and Ukraine are due to hand over 1,000 detainees each. The exchange was the only successful outcome of the recent face to face talks between the two sides. The Kremlin says it will publish its conditions for peace once the swap is complete, but the Russians have been accused of brutal mistreatment of the Ukrainian prisoners. Ukraine says 95% of those released have been tortured. Petro Yatsenko is from the Ukrainian Headquarters for Prisoners of War. He spoke to Lis Doucet.

[Petro Yatsenko]

Our released former prisoners of war have no sufficient food. They have no medical care in Russian captivity. And no one representative of the International Red Cross can visit them to check their health, condition and conditions for life. Their life. And of course they experience in everyday tortures. They need a very long period of rehabilitation and reintegration in Ukrainian society because they were isolated from any outer information. And they were brainwashed by Russian propaganda too.

[Yana]

I know you want to guard the privacy of the prisoners, but can you share with us any of the details about what it was like in captivity, where they were kept, how many to assail, what kind of physical abuse, torture.

[Petro Yatsenko]

They endured Russian captivity, it's not a way to preserve their lives, way of survival. And we have the information that more than 95% of released prisoners of war experienced tortures on those scenes where there's a prisoner exchange.

[Yana]

What about the Russian prisoners? How do they look in terms of their conditions? Because they've been in captivity too.

[Petro Yatsenko]

In Ukraine we have five pretty special prisoners camp for Russian prisoners of war. And they are open for visits of International Red Cross, open for journalist visits. And we organizing every month visits of a small group of journalists there so they can talk with Russian prisoners of war and journalists. Red Cross organization can look how it looks like they have three meals per day, they have special medical care, they have a very strictly organized day. And of course we are trying to provide every point of sar, Geneva Convention for them.

[Yana]

You mention how you see how some of the prisoners have been brainwashed during their time in captivity. Can you explain what you've heard?

[Petro Yatsenko]

The brainwashed tactics of Russian places of detention, first of all is to isolate Ukrainians from any outer informations. They after three years in Russian captivity, they even don't know what happens. What's the actual news? When I ask what they know about the war conditions, they say that they had possibility to watch the Russian TV just one week or two weeks before they were released. Every time they have information from Russian side, nobody cares from Ukraine about them. Even their families refused to take care about them. So it's very, very total tactics. And they are forcing Ukrainian prisoners of war to study Russian nationalistic patriotic sons to study Russian nationalistic poetry. And in case they can't remember even one word or one sentence, they were beaten or tortured.

[Oliver Conway]

Petro Yatsenko of the Ukrainian Headquarters for Prisoners of War. I asked our correspondent in Kiev, James Waterhouse, about Those claims of torture and brainwashing and the prisoner exchange itself.

[James Waterhouse]

This is an agreement that seems to be holding, and one could argue that's unsurprising, as despite Russia's ongoing full scale invasion, prisoner of war exchanges have been the sole area of cooperation. There's been pauses in the past in patches, but overall both sides have agreed to engage in localized ceasefires on certain parts of the border or front lines, and prisoners are exchanged. Usually it's in a couple of hundred. So given that we are day two of three where we are seeing up to a thousand swapped, it's holding so far, that is significant. But here we are once again. You have human rights groups routinely accuse Russia of systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war. And we have Kyiv again accusing Russia of cutting Ukrainian soldiers off from the outside world, depriving them of essential food and medical care. It's always difficult to gauge how Ukraine treats Russian prisoners of war. We've been to camps, they put on, obviously put on a good show, but crucially, the Red Cross are given access here and not across the border. But it's not to be dismissed. You know, the size of the soldiers being swapped. But I think any suggestion or hope that this could lead to further cooperation to bring a ceasefire at this moment in time feels like a bit of a reach.

[Oliver Conway]

Yeah. Although it did continue this second stage, despite that big Russian attack on Kyiv overnight. After the first stage, Donald Trump said this could lead to something big, but by the sound of it, you don't think so.

[James Waterhouse]

Well, you can't rule that out. But this war is full of strange parallels, you know, and ultimately it'll be a paradox that ends this war where you will have the day to day fighting where hundreds of soldiers are killed or injured on a daily basis, but you will have the almost civility of delegates, representatives sitting across a table somewhere in the Middle east, in all likelihood to pause this war. And it's the same with prisoner of war exchanges. You have the elation, the relief of soldiers hugging relatives, making long awaited phone.

[Yana]

Calls.

[James Waterhouse]

Alongside, you know, case of Kyiv last night. I mean, this was a city on fire last night. Hundreds of drones were taunting those trying to sleep underneath them. There are 14 ballistic missiles launched at Ukraine as well overnight. These things pretty much happen in, in parallel. This is a conflict full of contradictions. And I think, you know, it is certainly a Western hope that these prisoner exchanges will snowball into something that resembles a compromise. But Russia, you know, it's saying we want these exchanges to be completed before we publish our terms and Those terms of peace still amount to these maximalist demands that equate to the essentially the capitulation of Ukraine.

[Oliver Conway]

James Waterhouse in Kyiv. And as we record this podcast, we're getting reports of more Russian drones flying over the Ukrainian capital. One official said we are in for a complicated night. Despite a power cut hitting Cannes in the surrounding area, which French authorities say was caused by sabotage, the last day of the international Film festival there still went ahead and a film shot in secret in Iran won the top prize. The president of the Cannes jury, Juliet Binoche, awarding the par door to dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi for it was Just an Accident, based partly on his experiences in Iranian prisons. In his acceptance speech, he urged all Iranians to unite and work for freedom. Afterwards, he was asked how he felt at this particular moment. I thought about many things. I thought of my friends I spent time in prison with, or the young girls who went onto the streets during the women's life freedom movement. In doing this film, I thought about how I could participate in a small way in everything they've done. I heard more about his win from Mariam Zochdi of the BBC Persian Service in Cannes.

[Mariam Zohti]

The film is about a group of former political prisoners in Iran. Two of them are women and they are in this film without compulsory hijab due to a simple accident in the street. These people encounter their former interrogator. Each one of these people in their own way seeks revenge on this interrogator. The point is all the women in this film are without the scarf and veil and Jafar panel he, in his press conference said he was not asking them to wear that or not to wear that.

[Oliver Conway]

Sounds politically sensitive. How easy has it been for him to work?

[Mariam Zohti]

Actually, it was not easy at all because he didn't ask for any permission, official permission from the government. Mr. Panay has been arrested several times in the past and he has spent some time in prison. He was given even a very heavy sentence, including 20 years of ban on working filmmaking, traveling abroad or giving interviews to foreign media. But recently the ban has been lifted. However, he made this film underground and without any permission. And he faced a lot of challenges, as he said through the process. He was always worried about the possibility of his work being stopped. But he managed to send the film material out of Iran and the editing was done outside of the country.

[Oliver Conway]

And how is the win likely to go down in Iran?

[Mariam Zohti]

You know, Iranians view him as a very brave and courageous artist who has stood up against the limitations and the pressure and censorship. Younger artists, when they see his style of work, they totally get inspired by him. Nargis Mohammadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner who is a political prisoner as well, she has recently congratulated Jafar panel he and praised his resistance and courage. And you can, if you go to Iranian, Persian, actually language, social media, you can see in all platforms, people are actually, they are really happy and they're congratulating.

[Oliver Conway]

And you have actually interviewed him. What's he like as a person?

[Mariam Zohti]

Actually he's really brave. He's calm and he knows what he's doing. And he said, I'm going back to Iran after the Cannes Festival is finished. It was really surprising to me because we all know that if he goes back to Iran, he may encounter some kind of pressure or they may take him to prison again or they potentially may arrest him because what he has done without their permission and making a film without a compulsory hijab. As you know, in the streets of Iran, there are young people trying to take off their scarves and they are getting arrested. So we don't know what happens. But he was actually very sure that he's going back and he was relaxed.

[Oliver Conway]

Maryam Zohti of the BBC Persian Service in Cannes. South Korea says it's voiced concern to China about Beijing's attempt to establish a no sail zone in a shared section of the Yellow Sea. Here's Celia Hatton.

[Cindy Crawford]

South Korea's Foreign Ministry has confirmed Beijing is trying to bar its vessels from sailing inside a western part of the Yellow Sea which lies between mainland China and the Korean peninsula. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Beijing was attempting to bar ships from sailing near three metal structures it's built in the sea. China has said two of the structures are deep sea fish farms, though some in South Korea believe Beijing is using them to expand its territory.

[Oliver Conway]

Celia Hassan still to come on the global news podcast, it is possible to.

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[Oliver Conway]

I arrived here on foot, not in a bullet proof Mercedes, the words of Hungary's opposition leader Peter Mogjar after he reached the Romanian city of Aradia on Saturday at the end of a 300 kilometer trek from the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Hungary holds elections next year. An opinion poll suggests he poses a serious threat to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's long hold on power. Romania has a significant Hungarian minority, but Peter Moggiar said he was not there to campaign.

[Yana]

We have not come here to get.

[Oliver Conway]

Votes or for politics. We have come to visit our brothers and sisters outside of Hungary, to support them now and anytime and anywhere because they are Hungarians too. So why is he in Romania? A question for Nick Thorpe in the Hungarian capital.

[Nick Thorpe]

Peter Modiya has been very successful really, at basically touring the Hungarian countryside. And now he's extended that because obviously, to get to this city, Oradea, just across the border, he had to pass through about 280km of Hungary first. So he was visiting on the way, different towns and villages, big crowds turning out to see him wherever he went. And those were followed on Facebook by tens of thousands of Hungarians now crossing the border into Romania. It's a pretty bold thing to do because Hungarians in Romania, mostly in Transylvania, 1.2 million of them, they can vote in Hungarian elections, and traditionally something like 90% of them do, back Viktor Orban and his Fides party. So he's basically reaching out to Hungarians in neighboring countries, especially to this largest community in Romania, and saying, look, I'm also a conservative. I'm also someone who stands up for Hungarian interests, and if you vote for me next year, I'll stand up for your interests. Interests as well.

[Oliver Conway]

Yeah. I've been reading that his campaign is the most serious challenge to Viktor Orban since he came to power in, what, 2010. Could he really unseat him?

[Nick Thorpe]

He could. And so far he's leading in opinion polls. Pro government opinion polls put him behind, but all the other more independent or critical opposition opinion polls tend to put him in front. One of the weaknesses for Victor Orban has always been that while he can turn criticism from the left or from the liberal side, he can turn criticism from Brussels or from the EU or in the old days, from the United States under Biden to his own advantage. His Achilles heel, Victor Orban's Achilles heel, in a way, is criticism from the right, from a fellow conservative. And Peter Modio came, he's really came out of the Fidesz party and is now accusing the prime Minister in this 14 year, but nearly 16 years in power, of failing on education, of failing to deal with inflation, failing the health service, and failing ordinary Hungarians. It's a sort of a very cleverly placed message from Peter Modyar saying that he's more patriotic than Viktor Orban, and.

[Oliver Conway]

If he wins next year, just tell us what that would mean for the direction of Europe.

[Nick Thorpe]

Well, Peter Modyar and the Tisa Party, they are strong members, allies of the center right European People's Party, which, of course, Viktor Orban's party used to belong to until they were forced out for being too radical. So it would be another voice for Europe, a sort of center right moderate conservative, a liberal conservative, if you like, kind of Europe, rather than the Europe of nations, this alliance of more far right or nationalist parties, which Viktor Orban now belongs to and represents Nick Thorpe.

[Oliver Conway]

Talking to me from Hungary now to Gaza where nearly an entire family is reported to have been killed in a single attack when an Israeli airstrike on Friday night hit the home of married doctors, the Al Najaz. According to the hospital where they work, nine of their 10 children were killed. Only 11 year old Adam survived. The father, Hamdi, was critically injured. Lise Doucet spoke to Dr. Milena Angelova Chi, a Bulgarian doctor who treated the father and spoke to the mother, Dr. Ala Al Najjar.

[Dr. Milena Angelova Chee]

This really, really tiny woman said to me, you know what happened? We were bombed and my husband is a doctor and I have 10 children. Nine of them are dead. Her only child that survives is 11 year old, is in a hospital and you can't imagine with what incredible stoicism she was behaving. It's really difficult to explain but she was incredibly calm through all that.

[Yana]

And your husband, what is his condition now?

[Dr. Milena Angelova Chee]

So it is life threatening and remember, in Gaza there are no things to really treat even survival conditions. So his condition is life threatening. He has a severe traumatic brain injury. He has a ruptured lung which was operated on with a chest tube. He also has a broken arm. A lot of things are not available here to monitor the treatment of those conditions. I can't say it's hopeless, but it will be challenging and difficult of course for him to fall through. We do everything possible and we hope for the best for his sake and her sake and the one surviving child, but we don't know exactly what will happen. She kept saying, like, you need to help him, help him, please. He's my family, he's all I've got.

[Yana]

And the, the 11 year old boy, do you have reports on his condition?

[Dr. Milena Angelova Chee]

So this is something I heard from colleagues, so I can't say for sure these are the right details, but I was told he has a brain injury with a broken bone, intestine, skull. The base of the skull is broken and one of the arms is significant. A very important nerve is damaged.

[Yana]

And the patients, you see the hunger they're going through.

[Dr. Milena Angelova Chee]

I can see their clothes are hanging. They are, when they have a minute of free time, they serve pictures of chocolates and ice cream and fresh fruits. They have not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables for months. You can see in their faces, how their temples are all gone and their cheekbones are all, you know, sharp and in the skin is gray and you know, despite all that, the girls come with night clothes and put an effort to put on makeup and Put an effort to put a nail polish, you know, it is incredibly humbling and inspiring to be around them.

[Oliver Conway]

Dr. Milena Angelova Chee of the NASA hospital in Gaza. Well, the Israeli Defense Forces said its aircraft struck a number of suspects who are identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Younis, and that it evacuated civilians from this area before beginning operations there. It is reviewing reports of civilian deaths. So will this incident affect Israeli public opinion compared to views at the start of the war? Our correspondent in Jerusalem is Weira Davis.

[Yana]

The start of the war, probably not as much because the overriding concern for most Israelis and probably still is the return of their hostages, you know, 20 of whom are thought to be, or maybe slightly more, living still alive in Gaza. But I think the plight of the Palestinians, Israel's increasing isolation internationally, and even the impact of the war on the Israeli economy, all of these things make a difference. And recent opinion polls in Israel do suggest that a majority of Israelis now do favor an end to the war, a ceasefire agreement, even if that means negotiating with Hamas, because perhaps all of Israel's war aims have been achieved. And that is the opinion not just of people in the street. And some politicians, but many former Israeli military leaders, former chiefs of staff of the IDF feel the same. The issue is, is that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is quite adamant. I mean, he's said many, many times the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed, is completely defeated. And, you know, Mr. Netanyahu hasn't commented specifically on this incident, but there is no sign at all that he is prepared to buckle and give in to public demand and call an end to the war.

[Oliver Conway]

Mohrah Davis in Jerusalem. The COP30 climate summit in Brazil is less than six months away. And social media there is awash with content celebrating rural pride and questioning the green agenda on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Some farmers turned influencers have been gaining new followers by celebrating the might of Brazilian agriculture While dismissing questions over the toll it's taking on the planet. Critics say they are spreading disinformation. Do they have a point? Here's the BBC's climate disinformation reporter, Marco Silva.

[Yana]

I was practically born on the farm. I am the third generation here on our rural property.

[Camila Tellis]

That is Camila Tellis, a self described rural producer with a background in public relations.

[Yana]

My farm is my little corner of the world.

[Camila Tellis]

When she's not tending to her farm, Camilla posts videos on social media. She's part of a new wave of farming influencers. In Brazil who post about rural pride. But Camilla has carved a niche for herself with videos supposedly debunking fake news, what she describes as disinformation about the agricultural industry.

[Yana]

When I talk about disinformation, I mean a lot of guesswork. It's people not really knowing what they are talking about.

[Camila Tellis]

These could be celebrities or politicians who, for example, criticize the toll Brazilian agriculture is taking on the planet. In one TikTok I watched, Camilla says people who oppose soybean production are actually opposing the development of Brazil. While soybeans remain one of the country's top exports, evidence shows hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests have been cleared to release land to grow them.

[Yana]

She has become this emblematic case of effective use of social media for agribusiness support.

[Camila Tellis]

Deborah Salis is the head of research at netlab from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

[Yana]

She has been a guest in several podcasts that are related to agribusiness. So she has been like an Expert.

[Camila Tellis]

In a 2022 report, Netlab listed Camila as one of Brazil's leading influencers spreading disinformation about environmental topics. Netlab cited the TikTok you heard as evidence, along with other clips from her podcast appearances and media interviews. Camilla rejects this accusation.

[Yana]

I don't distort the facts if people analyze my videos. I don't present agriculture as something without mistakes. My point of view is as a rural producer.

[Camila Tellis]

Critics say Camilla Cherry picks data to present a one sided view of the agricultural industry. And I struggle to find a single post where she criticized the industry's environmental record. Instead, Camilla suggests farmers have become a scapegoat for climate change.

[Yana]

So we have an example of COP 30. Several private jets will come to defend the environment, and then the blame always ends up falling on livestock farming.

[Camila Tellis]

By some estimates, Brazil ranks as the world's sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change. David Lapolle is a research scientist at University of Campinas.

[Petro Yatsenko]

If you look globally, most of the emissions come from burning of fossil fuels. In Brazil, most of the emissions come from land use, change, deforestation and agriculture. From a global perspective, yes, agriculture is not the villain. But from the national perspective, yes, there is a lot of emissions to be cut.

[Camila Tellis]

Ahead of COP 30, a group of Amazonian farmers will be holding a parallel event, an agro cop to, in their words, defend producers. But Camilla says farmers should instead be at cop 30 as protagonists. For Deborah, the Netlab researcher, it's never been more important to understand how social media influencers like Camilla are shaping this debate.

[Yana]

All these influencers, they have been key for spreading the messages that we need to protect agricultural production at any cost. The problem is that when they downplay the impact agribusiness have on environmental protection, they are misleading users and followers.

[Oliver Conway]

Our climate disinformation reporter Marco Silva it's more valuable than gold. It only grows above 3,000 metres in the peaks of the Himalayas. And dozens of schools in a remote part of Nepal have been shut after hundreds of students and their parents left to gather this rare caterpillar fungus which is prized as an aphrodisiac. Our South Asia regional editor, Anbarasan Etirajan has the details.

[Petro Yatsenko]

For families living in Nepal's Karnali Province.

[Yana]

Bordering Tibet, gathering the caterpillar fungus is a significant source of income. The annual gathering season begins in mid May. An official said although the schools were not officially closed, learning had stalled due.

[Petro Yatsenko]

To lack of students.

[Yana]

Yarsa gampa is the mummified body of the Himalayan batmoth caterpillar that has been invaded by a parasitic fungus. A kilogram can fetch thousands of dollars in China. Although there is no evidence the small fungus is prized in traditional Chinese medicines as a tonic to increase vigor and called the Himalayan Viagra. The gathering of the highly priced Yasa Gampa also triggers turf wars between groups.

[Oliver Conway]

Finally, have you ever played the game Boggle? It's been around since the 1970s. The aim is to come up with the most words in a 4x4 grid of random letters. The randomization means some layouts generate more possible answers than others. And now, freelance software engineer Dan Van der Kam has worked out Boggle's highest possible scoring combination. Harnessing some 23,000 hours of computing power. His board has more than a thousand words, the longest being replastering. He told me how he solved this decades old puzzle.

[Cindy Crawford]

People have written computer programs over the years to take a Boggle board and a dictionary and find all the possible words on that Boggle board. You can make computer programs like this run very quickly and you can find out the score of all the words on the board. And so what I've done is I found the highest scoring board for a particular dictionary and I proved actually that it is the highest scoring possible board. Any, any other board you would roll, it'll have fewer points on it. So this is the one.

[Oliver Conway]

So it's a certain set of letters that land on the, on the Boggle board.

[Cindy Crawford]

That's right. It's 16 letters, it's a 4x4 grid and it is possible to roll this board, but you shouldn't bet on it. You'd be much better off playing the lottery. Your odds of rolling this board are something like one in the number of stars in the universe.

[Oliver Conway]

And how did you work it out?

[Cindy Crawford]

There's a technique called hill climbing that will produce high scoring boards, but you don't necessarily know whether it produces the highest scoring board. And so what I've done this year is that I've proven that one of these particular boards that you find with hill climbing is in fact the very best board. The two things that really made this possible were coming up with some clever algorithms to avoid having to check every possible board. So that really sped it up. And having cloud compute resources available made this a lot easier.

[Oliver Conway]

Yeah. And you've been doing this a long time?

[Cindy Crawford]

Yeah, I've been thinking about this problem on and off for about 20 years. You know, I like to play Boggle with some of my friends in college, and it just occurred to me one day, oh, I bet you could write a computer program to find the words on a Boggle board. And that was kind of the beginning of this. I certainly haven't been working on this constantly for 20 years. I haven't really touched this much in the past 15 years until it kind of came back with a vengeance this year. It's been a really fun problem to work on and have in the back of my head and I'm pretty excited that I've been able to make progress on it.

[Oliver Conway]

Yeah. And tell us a little bit about this record breaking board that you discovered.

[Cindy Crawford]

Yeah, it has, I want to say it's 1045 words on it, at least using the dictionary that I've been working with. And it has 3,625 points on it. So you get one point for three and four letter words, two points for five letter words, up to 11 points for eight or more letters. So the longest word on this board is replastering, which is a pretty great word. It's got a lot of really fun words on it. Has integral plate, replating, eating eateries. There's a lot of great words on this.

[Oliver Conway]

Software engineer and Boggle fan Dan van der Kam. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News podcast will be back at the same time tomorrow. This edition was mixed by Nikki Bruff and produced by Marion Straw and Siobhan Leahy. Our editors, Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time. Goodbye.

[Cindy Crawford]

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