US National Guard troops arrive in Illinois

Summary

Global News Podcast – US National Guard Troops Arrive in Illinois

BBC World Service | October 8, 2025

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Overview

This episode centers on the controversial deployment of US National Guard troops to Chicago by the Trump administration, amid legal challenges, political tension, and a backdrop of federal government shutdown. The program also covers major world events—including violent unrest in Ecuador, a breakthrough Nobel Prize in quantum physics, technological innovations in malaria prevention, a daring museum heist in Wales, an exploration of a notorious case of mass poisoning in Hungary, and a quirky story about one of the world’s largest teapot collections.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. US National Guard Deployed in Illinois

(01:09 – 07:14)

• Summary:
  Hundreds of US National Guard troops have arrived on the outskirts of Chicago—a Trump administration move opposed by Illinois officials, sparking a lawsuit. This is part of a broader federal crackdown on what the administration terms “lawlessness,” with stated aims to protect federal immigration facilities.
• Mayor's Response:
  Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls the deployment “illegal, unconstitutional, and dangerous,” refusing to welcome the troops.
  • Notable Quote:
    “I pray for Donald Trump. His soul, he's lost... that's why it's important that we help find a way to protect our democracy and our humanity, not some brittle, insecure human being who has express a degree of lawlessness that would make Vladimir Putin blush.” – Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago (02:52)
• Federal Rationale & Legal Context:
  Trump administration claims intent is to protect federal personnel amid a crackdown on illegal immigration.
  US Attorney General Pam Bondi defends the move:
  • Notable Quote:
    “I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.” – Pam Bondi, Attorney General (03:42)
• Analysis by David Willis (North America Correspondent):
  • Roughly 700 troops were authorized; around 200 have already arrived from Texas.
  • Cites federal rationale: protecting immigration facilities for 60 days, but stationing details are unclear.
  • Notes that similar troop deployments have occurred in other cities—Los Angeles, Washington DC—with varying legal outcomes. Some states (e.g., Oregon) managed to block deployments via court order.
  • Raises constitutional concerns and the political backdrop: opponents accuse Trump of manufacturing crises for political leverage, using protests against deportations as a pretext.

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2. US Government Shutdown and Its Impact

(07:14 – 09:57)

• Summary:
  The ongoing government shutdown is worsening, with significant impacts on federal workers and essential services.
• Aviation Crisis:
  • Chronic staff shortages among air traffic controllers have led to severe flight delays (over 3,000 flights impacted, possibly more).
  • FAA has been forced to temporarily ground flights due to empty control towers.
  • Quote:
    “The shutdown has basically pushed an already overstretched workforce to breaking point... staffing has at times dropped to around 50%.” – Stephanie Prentice, BBC Reporter (07:43)
• Broader Societal Impact:
  • Closure of national parks, disruption of social welfare programs, and shortages in food assistance.
  • Maryland Food Bank CEO Megan Kimmel describes a rapid rise in demand from federal workers:
    • Quote:
      “Federal workers, it will take time for their family finances to stabilize again... We are definitely taking it day by day, but if this is done in two weeks, it's going to be a small blip. If we're still talking about this five weeks from now, it's going to be a much more serious situation.” – Megan Kimmel (09:27)
  • White House signals that back pay for affected workers might not be guaranteed.

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3. Ecuador: Protests, Violence, and Alleged Assassination Attempt

(09:57 – 11:29)

• Summary:
  Nationwide protests continue in Ecuador, sparked by cuts to diesel subsidies, led by the indigenous community. President Daniel Noboa’s convoy was attacked—allegedly an assassination attempt—causing government alarm.
• Government Response:
  Police arrested five, charging them with terrorism; Minister Ines Manzano condemns the attack and vows punishment.
  • Quote:
    “This will not go unpunished.” – Ines Manzano, Ecuadorian Minister (10:21)
• Details by Ione Wells:
  Protests have lasted more than two weeks. The cut is defended as fiscally necessary, but protesters accuse the government of arbitrary arrests and using brutal force against dissent.

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4. Nobel Prize in Physics for Quantum Tunneling

(11:29 – 13:56)

• Summary:
  John Clark, Michael Devereux, and John Martinis awarded the Nobel Prize for demonstrating quantum tunneling and energy quantization in electrical circuits—discoveries foundational to quantum computing.
• Explained by Palab Ghosh (Science Correspondent):
  • Introduces the concept with accessible analogies, affirms the real-world technological impact.
• Winner’s Reaction:
  • Quote:
    “It has never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize. Many people are working on quantum computing and our discovery is in many ways the basis of this.” – John Clark (13:16)

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5. Tech Against Malaria: Drones & AI

(15:25 – 17:53)

• Summary:
  Japanese startup Sora Technology uses drones and AI to map and treat mosquito breeding grounds, aiming to make malaria eradication more efficient and cost-effective.
• Interview with Marina Ishikawa (Sora Technology):
  • How it works: Drones map water bodies; AI identifies high-risk breeding sites; only those are treated with larvicide—cutting costs and labor dramatically.
  • Quote:
    “By using our solution, we can just spray the 30% of those water bodies that actually has a high risk. So therefore the cost of larvaside and also cost of labor has been dramatically decreased.” – Marina Ishikawa (17:01)
  • Technology also piloted for dengue and Zika virus in the Philippines.

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6. Welsh Museum Heist: Stolen Bronze Age Gold

(17:53 – 19:25)

• Summary:
  Two suspects arrested after a quick, targeted heist at St Fagans National Museum of History in Wales—where priceless Bronze Age gold artifacts were stolen.
• Jane Richardson, Museum CEO:
  • Describes the swift, well-planned theft: the criminals were in and out in four minutes, appeared to know exactly what they were after, and evaded police despite rapid response.
  • Quote:
    “You can see it on the CCTV. They knew exactly where they were going... we’re absolutely devastated. These items, we want people to share them, to see them, to learn from them...” – Jane Richardson (18:14)

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7. “Angel Makers” of Hungary: True Crime & Social Context

(19:25 – 23:40)

• Summary:
  Explores the extraordinary story of mass poisonings in early 20th century Hungary, where a network of women murdered their abusive husbands with help from a midwife, motivating a new book.
• Interview with Journalist Hope Reese:
  • Sheds light on Auntie Xuzy, the midwife who allegedly provided poison (from flypaper) and guidance.
  • Details the context: systemic abuse, post-war trauma, and the use of poisoning as a rare avenue of female agency.
  • Quote:
    “We have a lot of evidence that shows that women sometimes were enduring abuse for decades before they began poisoning... There’s no way not to be sympathetic to their plight... But you could say they, you know, committed of course, mass murder.” – Hope Reese (20:05, 21:57)

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8. The World’s Biggest Teapot Collection: A British Quirk

(23:40 – 27:16)

• Summary:
  Sue and Keith Blazey, a British couple, recount 40 years spent amassing more than 8,000 teapots—everything from standard shapes to novelty designs. As they prepare to auction the collection for retirement, Keith reminisces about the journey with humor and warmth.
• Memorable Quotes:
  • “Everywhere we went we looked for teapots and we filled our house. We had them hanging from the ceiling, we had them up the walls, we had them everywhere. We made the museum and it’s gone crazy ever since.” – Keith Blazey (24:46)
  • On choosing favorites: “They’re called Mr. and Mrs. House, and one’s a house shape of a man and one’s a house the shape of a lady... We used to go and find teapots in some countries... we just want to keep them together because it’s taken us forever to collect these teapots.” (25:17–25:53)
  • Asked if he might start collecting again: “No, no, we’re definitely not buying any more teapots now. We're still going to have some... but we won’t have nowhere near as many as what we've got now.” (27:00)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “I pray for Donald Trump. His soul, he's lost... that's why it's important that we help find a way to protect our democracy and our humanity…”
  – Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago (02:52)
• “I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently the National Guard are on the way to Chicago...”
  – Pam Bondi, Attorney General (03:42)
• “The shutdown has basically pushed an already overstretched workforce to breaking point...”
  – Stephanie Prentice, BBC Reporter (07:43)
• “Federal workers, it will take time for their family finances to stabilize again...”
  – Megan Kimmel, Maryland Food Bank CEO (09:27)
• “This will not go unpunished.”
  – Ines Manzano, Ecuadorian Minister (10:21)
• “It has never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize...”
  – John Clark, Nobel Laureate (13:16)
• “By using our solution, we can just spray the 30%... the cost of larvaside and also cost of labor has been dramatically decreased.”
  – Marina Ishikawa, Sora Technology (17:01)
• “You can see it on the CCTV. They knew exactly where they were going... we’re absolutely devastated.”
  – Jane Richardson, St Fagans Museum CEO (18:14)
• “We have a lot of evidence that shows that women sometimes were enduring abuse for decades before they began poisoning...”
  – Hope Reese, Journalist (20:05)
• “Everywhere we went we looked for teapots... we had them everywhere. We made the museum and it’s gone crazy ever since.”
  – Keith Blazey, Teapot Collector (24:46)

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Additional Segments of Interest

• Malaria eradication and climate tech (15:25–17:53)
• Nobel Prize science explained for lay audiences (11:29–13:56)
• Quirky British teapot culture and museum tales (23:40–27:16)
• True crime history with a gender and social justice lens (19:25–23:40)

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Conclusion

This episode weaves together breaking US political developments, global unrest, science breakthroughs, innovation in public health, criminal intrigue, and uplifting human interest stories. Staying true to the BBC World Service’s mandate, the reporting is wide-ranging and nuanced, giving listeners both the headlines and a deeper understanding of the currents shaping today’s world.

Transcript

[Ankar Desai]

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[Ankita Sai]

This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Ankita Sai and in the early hours of Wednesday 8th October, these are our main stories. Hundreds of US National Guard troops are now in Chicago in a move that caused the state to sue the Trump administration and the city's mayor isn't rolling out the red carpet.

[Ankar Desai]

I pray for Donald Trump his soul he's lost and that's why it's important that we help find a way to protect our democracy and our humanity, not some brittle, insecure human being.

[Ankita Sai]

The US Government shutdown hits air travel with severe delays at major airports and Ecuador is rocked with violent clashes and protests and an alleged assassination attempt against President Daniel Noboa. Also in this podcast, how AI and drones are helping tackle malaria by eliminating high risk mosquito breeding grounds.

[Jane Richardson]

And so it looks like they'd been scoping out in advance and that they'd come for specific items. These items they took are very, very special. Were absolutely devastated.

[Ankita Sai]

Police make arrests, but the search continues for Bronze Age gold jewelry stolen from a museum in Wales.

[Karen Martin]

Foreign.

[Ankita Sai]

We begin in the US where Donald Trump appears to be executing his plan to put National Guard troops on the streets of Chicago. The state of Illinois is currently suing him over it, but hundreds of troops have been gathering at an army facility just outside of Chicago. The Trump administration has portrayed certain Democratic led cities as war ravaged and lawless. And amid its crackdown on illegal immigration, the Mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, has called the move illegal, unconstitutional and dangerous.

[Ankar Desai]

I pray for Donald Trump. His soul, he's lost. And that's why it's important that we help find a way to protect our democracy and our humanity. That's what I'm motivated by, not some brittle, insecure human being who has express a degree of lawlessness that would make Vladimir Putin blush.

[Ankita Sai]

Earlier, at a tent's Senate hearing, the US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was asked about the move, one usually reserved for extreme emergencies in the U.S. senator Dick Durbin, the senior Democratic representative from Illinois, criticized the action as an unconstitutional overreach and accused the Justice Department of politicizing law enforcement to target President Trump's political opponents. This was Ms. Bondi's response.

[Karen Martin]

I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.

[Ankita Sai]

Our North America correspondent David Willis gave me the latest.

[David Willis]

Well, over the weekend, Ankara, President Trump authorized about 700 National Guard troops to be deployed to Chicago. And it's understood that around 200 of them have now arrived, sent there from Texas. And they're currently holed up, it appears, at an army training center on the outskirts of Chicago. They're due to be joined by fellow officers from Texas and hundreds of other officers from the state of Illinois. National Guard and a Pentagon official has been quoted as saying that the National Guard troops are being deployed to, as that spokesperson put it, protect federal government immigration facilities and personnel for an initial period of 60 days. Precisely where they'll be stationed in and around Chicago, however, isn't entirely clear.

[Ankita Sai]

And why is the president so determined to deploy his troops to different US Cities and in this case, Chicago?

[David Willis]

Well, that's a good question. And President Trump has made no secret of his desire to send troops to Chicago. He's consistently claimed that the country's third largest city is a war zone, as he's put it, riddled with violent crime. Indeed, the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, claimed recently that protesters were being paid to disrupt the operations of federal officials who've been sent to Chicago as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. And this follows the deployment, of course, of National Guard troops, thousands of them, to this city, Los Angeles, as well as Washington, D.C. other cities or both cities where the president has claimed that crime and law lawlessness are running amok. The president's opponents, however, accuse him of manufacturing a crisis by first sending in federal immigration officials to round up and deport illegal migrants. We've Seen a lot of these mass deportations prompting protests against the presence of those agents, which the president himself has then used as a pretext for deploying the National Guard. While today, President Trump threatened to use emergency powers, that's authority granted to him under the US Insurrection act, which would allow him to deploy the military within the country over the head of local officials in order to suppress rebellion.

[Ankita Sai]

Okay. And just briefly, you touched upon the Insurrection act there as well. But we talked about the other states, the likes of California suing Trump for sending troops there. Oregon were able to get a judge to block a deployment there. In terms of the legal protections, how would that work for the states that have targeted.

[David Willis]

Well, as far as this latest deployment is concerned, officials there in Illinois have accused President Trump of using U.S. troops to punish his political enemies. And of course, he's made no secret President Trump, that is, of wanting to send troops into the city of Chicago. And he's also ordered troop deployments in Memphis and Portland as well. A judge has temporarily blocked the deployment of troops to Portland.

[Ankita Sai]

However, North America correspondent David Willis. Well, there's a high chance that the troops currently setting up outside of Chicago won't be getting paid. As the US Government shutdown enters its second week. During the stalemate, some federal employees are still expected to work without pay or a guarantee of being reimbursed later. In the US Most air traffic controllers are employed by the government and the impact is now being felt. Stephanie Prentice has been following this and told me more.

[Stephanie Prentice]

The US Was already facing a massive shortage of air traffic controlled as it's, of course, a key role there. Preventing collisions in the sky. They're managing safe takeoffs and landings. But the workforce has been running short after recruitment challenges and now even more issues are arising. So this association that represents them has said the shutdown has basically pushed an already overstretched workforce to breaking point. The Transport Secretary, Sean Duffy, said some are now calling in sick due to stress and fatigue. He estimates that staffing has at times dropped to around 50%. And flight trackers seem to indicate that more than 3,000 flights have been delayed so far at major airports. Some estimates are actually double that. And the Federal Aviation Administration has had to order temporary ground stops because the control tower of some airports has been completely empty. Now, what's interesting is that canceled flights do have political clout. So back in 2019, during that 35 day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers went up in line with missed paychecks. And the slowdown of air traffic into New York was One of the reasons attributed to lawmakers eventually ending the standoff.

[Ankita Sai]

Okay, interesting stuff. So it's not just the aviation industry, though there are other sectors also struggling.

[Stephanie Prentice]

Yeah, across the board. So federal land like national parks, national forests shut down, social health programs being impacted by a lack of staff, food assistance programs are predicted to rapidly run out of money. And at least one of those programs, the Maryland Food bank spoke to us and said it's already seen a rise in federal workers turning up to get food support. Megan Kimmel is the CEO.

[Karen Martin]

Federal workers, it will take time for their family finances to stabilize again. If you think about the government shutdown, several people with jobs who are now finding themselves looking for food resources. We are definitely taking a day by day, but if this is done in two weeks, it's going to be a small blip. If we're still talking about this five weeks from now, it's going to be a much more serious situation.

[Stephanie Prentice]

And actually the latest we have heard from the White House is that federal workers who are being impacted by the shutdown may not be entitled to back pay once it all gets resolved.

[Ankita Sai]

The newsroom, Stephanie Prentice reporting. The Ecuadorian president's convoy has again been attacked amid nationwide mass protests. According to the government, about 500 people threw rocks at President Daniel Noboa's car and there were reportedly signs of bullet damage on his vehicle. The top minister, Ines Manzano, said it was an attempted assassination.

[Jane Richardson]

This will not go unpunished.

[Stephanie Prentice]

The police have arrested five people and they will be charged with a crime of terrorism.

[Jane Richardson]

We will not allow this.

[Stephanie Prentice]

Ecuador says yes to peace, yes to work.

[Jane Richardson]

But these kinds of demonstrations, which are.

[Karen Martin]

Not peaceful, are not what we need.

[Stephanie Prentice]

At a time of progress and development.

[Ankita Sai]

The president was not hurt. Protesters accused the government of cracking down on dissent. Our South America correspondent, Ione Wells has more details.

[Karen Martin]

There have been protests and violent clashes in Ecuador for more than two weeks. They started after the country's largest indigenous group announced a national strike in response to the government cutting diesel subsidies. The government has defended the cut, saying the money saved will go towards farmers and transport sector workers. The president's office shared a video with the BBC showing people throwing rocks at the president's convoy and three holes on a car window. The BBC hasn't confirmed independently if bullets were fired. The government says those arrested would be processed under terrorism and attempted assassination charges. The indigenous group has accused the government of arbitrary detentions and a violent crackdown on protesters.

[Ankita Sai]

Ione Wells reporting. This year's Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three Scientists for their pioneering work in. Stay with me. Demonstrating macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in electrical circuits. Yes, made it Britain. John Clark, along with Michael Devereux from France and the American John Martinis, made the discoveries in the mid-1980s. The Nobel jury said their research had created opportunities to develop the next generation of quantum technology. Our science correspondent Palab Ghosh reports.

[Ankar Desai]

This year's prize is for demonstrating that something called quantum tunneling can occur in electrical circuits. The arcane terminology belies quite a straightforward phenomenon and its implications are profound. There is no advanced technology used today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, including mobile phones, cameras and fiber optic cables. But Professor Clark and his team's achievement with quantum tunneling paves the way for even greater advances. Quantum mechanics are the bizarre rules that tiny particles like the electron follow in the subatomic world. Such as seeming to be insane several places at the same time. Another odd thing that happens in the quantum realm is that particles go through energy barriers that they don't have the energy for. The barrier can be thought of as a hill, with the electron not having enough energy or petrol to go up it. But using quantum tunneling, it burrows through it. Professor Clark and his team demonstrated that tunneling can be reproduced not just in the quantum world, but also in our world in an electrical circuit that can be held in the palm of one's hand. He told a news conference that he was shocked to receive the award.

[Keith Blazey]

Well, first of all, it might be completely sparked. It has never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize. Many people are working on quantum computing and our discovery is in many ways the basis of this.

[Ankar Desai]

Professor Clark and his team's discovery has enabled technologists to study and refine quantum tunneling at non subatomic levels. The race is now on to fully harness it and to develop a new generation of vastly more powerful computers. Nobel Prize science awards are given years, often decades after the discovery has been made in order to fully assess its long term impact on the field.

[Ankita Sai]

Palab Ghosh reporting.

[Keith Blazey]

Still to come, everywhere we went, we looked for teapots. We had them hanging from the ceiling. We had them up the water walls. We had them everywhere.

[Ankita Sai]

Yes, Governor, we spill the tea on a couple selling their museum collection of 8,000 teapots. This is the story of the 1.

[Ankar Desai]

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[Ankita Sai]

Facility, he knows keeping the line up.

[Ankar Desai]

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That's why he chooses Granger, because when a drive belt gets damaged, Grainger Makes.

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Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgranger.com or just stop by.

[Ankita Sai]

Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Stephanie Prentice]

America is changing and so is the world.

[David Willis]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval.

[Ankita Sai]

It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Stephanie Prentice]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington D.C. i'm.

[David Willis]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the global story.

[Karen Martin]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story.

[Stephanie Prentice]

From this intersection where the world and America meet.

[David Willis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ankita Sai]

Every year about 250 million people get malaria primarily caused by being bitten by an infected mosquito. And 600 people die from the disease. Most of the cases are in Africa. Now one Japanese startup is trying to combat the illness by using drones and AI to identify and eliminate high risk mosquito breeding grounds. Marina Ishikawa works for Sora Technology who made the tech.

[Marina Ishikawa]

We fly drones, we create the map of the landscape of the land that we're trying to target. We basically capture the photos of the water bodies there, especially the puddles, and we send that landscape data to our AI. And then after our AI decides that it is a high risk water body, then we spray the lava size there so that we can kill the mosquito larvas there.

[Jane Richardson]

So how does the AI identify high.

[Ankita Sai]

Risk bodies of water?

[Marina Ishikawa]

We look at like temperature, depth, the size of the water body, the vegetation around and there's so many factors that I cannot say all of them. And we also have sent the people to check each of the water body that we captured to see if AI was precise or not. And we have a data that more than 80% of our AI has very high accuracy.

[Karen Martin]

And before drones and AI, how were.

[Jane Richardson]

People looking at potential malaria sites and bodies of water? Was this work being done at all.

[Marina Ishikawa]

In the traditional way? They were spraying to every single water body they can find. We have figured out that 70% of the water bodies that is there does not have the malaria mosquito larvas. So by using our solution, we can just spray the 30% of those water bodies that actually has a high risk. So therefore the cost of larvaside and also cost of the labor has been dramatically decreased.

[Jane Richardson]

How else can your technology be used.

[Marina Ishikawa]

To treat diseases Then the same solution can be used for other infectious disease such as dengue. So now we have already started a piloting in Philippines to see if we can eliminate the number of dengue mosquitoes and jika. Jika is also disease that can be carried by mosquito.

[Ankita Sai]

Marina Ishikawa, Speaking to Shona McCallum here in the UK, two men have been arrested on suspicion of burglary after artifacts thought to include Bronze Age gold jewelry was stolen from a museum in Wales. Police say they're still searching for the items. Jane Richardson, the chief executive of St Faggins National Museum of History, told us more about the heist.

[Jane Richardson]

I mean, it was just startling how quickly it all happened. They were actually in and out of the building in four minutes. We believe they entirely knew what they were after. They were so focused because we have CCTV everywhere. We could see them looking, making their approach. So my colleague called the police. The police were there within five minutes with a helicopter. But unfortunately they were so organized they got away before the police were able to apprehend them. You can see it on the cctv. They knew exactly where they were going. You know, they didn't look left and right and try and work out what's worth taking here. So it looks like they'd been scoping out in advance and that they'd come for specific items. These items they took are very, very special and they didn't bother trying to take anything else. We're absolutely devastated. These items, we want people to share them, to see them, to learn from them and to do that, you have to put them on display. And even with, you know, top notch, specially designed cases like we have at St Fagans, nothing can ever be totally secur. So there's always going to be an element of risk. But better that and that people can see the items that belong to them than to have them hidden away in cupboards.

[Ankita Sai]

Jane Richardson. At the turn of the 20th century, women in the small Hungarian village of Nigeriev became part of a mass poisoning network targeting their husbands. The women saw this as the only way to escape the violent behavior of these men, many who had returned from fighting in the First World War. Over a period of 20 years, an estimated 300 men died from arsenic poisonings and a number of women were eventually put on trial. Journalist Hope Reese has now written a book about why these women went to such extremes and how they got away with it for so long. She told Noola McGovern first about a midwife who played a major part in helping these women to murder their husbands.

[Karen Martin]

Auntie Xuzy was the lead midwife in the village. She had a position of Authority. She was paid a nice salary, had a nice, was treated with respect. Midwives at the time were one of the few roles women could have where they could lead an independent life. She would go to the Kochma. She would brag about her exploits. She would carry vials of poison with her. Men were afraid of her, but she would also listen to women. How the poison was made, Flypaper. It was basically boiled up and the liquid used, for example, give us an idea of how widespread this was in this particular area. We're talking about a small village. So, yes, the flypaper, common everyday item. They could go to the general store and just boil it in water. The earliest known poisoning was in 1911. That was connected to the midwife. However, the trials didn't happen until 1929. That's almost two decades of poisonings. People were very reluctant to bring attention to the authorities. They were afraid. Some were writing anonymous letters, but often they were fearful. Did the women take on poisoning their partners lightly? It's a really tough question to answer. We can't kind of get into their minds. We have a lot of evidence that shows that women sometimes were enduring abuse for decades before they began poisoning. Rosalia Takach was one of the older poisoners. She was married in 1886, I believe, and she had been abused for three decades before she. She turned to a neighbor for help. She poisoned her own husband, and then she started helping other abused women. There were about 5 of those that we know of who were later found to be connected with her. But that is also quite shocking that it continued for a couple of decades.

[Jane Richardson]

Yes.

[Karen Martin]

And Susie killed herself before she was caught, I think, with the police coming after. But some of the others were convicted. Yes. So we had 28 people on trial in 1929 for over 100 deaths. Although, as you said, up to 300 were killed. I won't. Maybe more even than we don't know about. So this is what people in the village say. Even today they're saying, okay, Nigeriev is the only town village that was found out. But I was also intrigued about the line that poison is often the choice of women. Right. I think they considered poison a bit differently. First of all, poison is the main way that women have killed. I think it was easier for the women to let themself off the hook, to have the illusion that they were helping the husband. They often use that language in the court. They would say, I was helping him or I was putting him to sleep. I think there's no way not to be sympathetic to their Plight in general to their plight. But you could say they, you know, committed of course, mass murder. They did. And the thing is that this is so intrinsically connected to the domestic violence and we see this even today. So many women are in prison today for protecting themselves from abusive partners. So really that kind of drove my interest in the story. There's this flip side, it's all connected. The men had experienced violence. They became even more violent towards their wives after the war and the women really were doing what they had to do to protect themselves. I can't imagine this was an easy situation to be in.

[Ankita Sai]

Journalist Hope Rees and we end this pod with a terrific story for you. An old school tradition of teapot may have fallen out of favor in some parts of the world, but they're still very popular as collectibles. And while owning a few is one thing, a British couple are looking for buyers for their collection of eight and a half thousand teapots. Sue and Keith Blazey started collecting them 40 years ago and even opened a museum to show them off. They now plan to auction off these precious memories to fund their retirement. Keith told Tony Livesey how one gift resulted in such a large trove.

[Keith Blazey]

We had a house and we had a new kitchen put in it and it come with a glass cabinet. And the wife's nan came around to see the new house and we said, she said, what are you going to put in there? We said, I don't know yet. Well, about a week or so later she bought round a teapot. So we thought rightly, I will just put it in that cabinet. And then about a week later her aunt come round and she gave us a teapot as well. And I said, well, I don't believe this, this is silly. Two teapots.

[Ankar Desai]

Well, and it sucks fate off. And it's fake.

[Keith Blazey]

It's fake.

[Ankar Desai]

So you decided everywhere you went you were gonna buy a teapot?

[Keith Blazey]

Everywhere we went we looked for teapots and we filled our house. We had them hanging from the ceiling, we had them up the walls, we had them everywhere. We made the museum and it's gone crazy ever since. They're not just normal round teapots. We got teapots in the shape of a smoker's pipe. Cars, trains, planes and automobiles of all different size.

[Ankar Desai]

So you've got it over 8,000. Keith, what's the best one you've got? What's the most memorable? If there's a fire, which teapot are you picking up?

[Keith Blazey]

The teapots. I've got two teapots. That I'll pick up and run out. They're called Mr. And Mrs. House, and one's a house shape of a man and one's a house the shape of a lady. When we go abroad, we used to go and find teapots. In some countries, we bought so many teapots we've had to have boxes sent back to the house because we couldn't get them in our suitcases. And we've met so many famous people and so many people. We've had thousands of people come around and go around the museum. We've had Charles and Camilla, they come down and went around the museum and Camilla bought a teapot.

[Ankar Desai]

And now you. You're hoping what, you're hoping someone's going to buy the teapot museum collection as a whole rather than break it up?

[Keith Blazey]

Yes. I'd love to see the teapots be kept in England, but I know there is inquiries from other countries apparently about them, but we just want to keep them together because it's taken us forever to collect these teapots. We spent so many hours and miles traveling around picking up teapots, you know, it'd be a shame to let them be separated.

[Ankar Desai]

Now, dare I ask? I mean, how much is it going for, Keith? Can you tell me?

[Keith Blazey]

Well, we don't know. I don't know. He said whatever the bids go for, no one might bid on it whatsoever. But we've had so many people inquiring about it every day, the phones ringing. What we said is that, yes, we were buying all these teapots, but all they're going to be is our retirement savings. And we've had lots of enjoyment, as I said, with loads of people have been around and gone around the museum. They come out and even the men, we call it the wow factor. The men go in the door and you can see their faces. They do not want to go and look at teapots. I couldn't think of anything worse to go and look at. And I can't say I cannot believe that I've had so much fun just looking at teapots.

[Ankar Desai]

Well, it's the novelty, isn't it, Keith? I'm just hoping you're not going to retire and then start buying teapots again. I mean, have you got. Have you got the habit out of your system?

[Keith Blazey]

No, no, we're definitely not buying any more teapots now. We're still going to have some. We know we would not be able to have a house without teapots in them. No. But we won't have nowhere near as many as what we've got now. Only teapots that have got a special meaning to us, that we had a lovely story that went with them.

[Ankita Sai]

Teapot Stan, Keith Blazey there. And that's all from us for now. But there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast a little later. If you want to comment on this episode or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is global podcastbc.co.uk and you can also find us on X@BBC World Service. And you can use the hashtag global newspod. This edition was mixed by Philip Ball and the producer was Stephanie Zacharison and the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Ankar Desai. Until next time. Goodbye.