US to cut flights if government shutdown continues

Summary

---

Global News Podcast (BBC World Service)

Episode: US to cut flights if government shutdown continues

Date: November 6, 2025
Hosts: Charlotte Gallagher, Tristan Redman, Peter Bowes

---

Overview

This episode centers on the ripple effects of the ongoing US government shutdown, particularly its impact on air travel as flight cuts are announced. The program also covers several other global headlines, including an assault on Mexico’s first female president, elections in India’s poorest state, reporting from inside Gaza, a deadly Philippines typhoon, a major US Supreme Court case on tariffs, potential Russian nuclear testing, and a candid interview with author Margaret Atwood.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. US Government Shutdown and Air Travel Disruption (00:53–04:57)

• Longest US Shutdown: The federal government shutdown has surpassed five weeks, making it the longest on record.
• Flight Reductions Announced: The FAA will begin a 10% cut in air traffic at 40 major US airports starting Friday to maintain safety amid mounting staff shortages.
  • Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid, with many seeking side jobs and now calling in sick.
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (paraphrased by Tristan Redman) indicates controllers are under severe financial pressure, impacting staffing and safety.
• Potential Delays & Safety Concerns:
  • Peter Bowes: “This is going to have a huge impact given that the US system handles roughly 44,000 flights every day... a 10% cut... about 4,000 flights.” (03:00)
  • The flight reductions are expected to ramp up gradually, starting at 3–4% and reaching 10% by next week.
  • "There is no indication right now that air travel in this country is not safe. That's what they're trying to avoid." — Peter Bowes (04:08)
  • Pressure is rising due to fatigue and potential delays in critical maintenance work.

---

2. Sexual Assault on Mexico’s First Female President (04:57–08:44)

• Incident & Response:
  • Footage captured an intoxicated man attempting to grope President Claudia Sheinbaum during a public appearance in Mexico City; the man was arrested.
  • Sheinbaum has called for making sexual harassment a crime.
• Societal Impact:
  • Will Grant: “If that can happen to the president, what chance do ordinary women in the streets stand?… what happened to Claudia Sheinbaum happens every day to women in Mexico and it happens often.” (05:22, 07:59)
  • Security concerns are heightened, especially following the recent assassination of a prominent mayor.
  • The incident has sparked national outrage and intense media coverage, spotlighting Mexico’s machismo culture.
  • Sheinbaum vows charges will be pressed, but Will Grant notes little progress on femicide and gender-based violence since her election.

---

3. BBC Reporting from Inside Gaza (08:44–11:38)

• Controlled Access:
  • BBC journalists enter Gaza for the first time since a ceasefire, only allowed near a boundary under heavy Israeli military control.
  • Destructive aftermath of the war is evident—Lucy Williamson: “all I can see pretty much is rubble, buildings just smashed into piles of gray concrete and stones.” (09:33)
• Israeli Military Perspective:
  • Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani: IDF seeks Hamas’ disarmament and the release of hostages but notes “almost every house had either a tunnel shaft or was booby trapped…” (10:08)
  • The area remains tense and volatile, with ongoing hostilities.
• Hamas’ Tactics:
  • “Hamas is actually trying to arm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control over Gaza, is killing people in broad daylight…” — Tristan Redman (10:58)
• Fragile Ceasefire:
  • The situation remains unstable, with high risk if ceasefire collapses.

---

4. Critical Election in India’s Poorest State – Bihar (11:38–14:54)

• Election Context:
  • Bihar, India’s poorest state, sees millions voting in a crucial assembly election.
  • The BJP and regional ally JDU face strong opposition from RJD and Congress.
• Socio-economic Issues:
  • Reporter Davina Gupta highlights poverty, high infant mortality, gender gaps in education, and widespread male migration for work.
  • “Most of the men have to travel out from here in search of jobs. This is one of the poorest states. So what that means is the odds are stacked against them…” — Davina Gupta (12:13)
  • Welfare and job creation promises compete for votes; complex caste and religious factors also play a role.
  • Notably, more women than men are turning out to vote.

---

5. Typhoon Devastates the Philippines (16:12–17:50)

• Disaster Summary:
  • A typhoon brings catastrophic floods, killing at least 114, with over 120 missing, especially in Cebu.
  • Correspondent Jonathan Head describes conditions: “It dumped a month's worth of water on Cebu in just a day...” (16:27)
  • Massive infrastructure damage and delayed cleanup expected; storm now threatens Vietnam.

---

6. US Supreme Court Hears Tariff Legality Case (17:50–20:59)

• Case Background:
  • The Court considers whether President Trump’s emergency powers allow for imposing tariffs—critics argue only Congress can levy taxes.
  • Senator Ed Markey: “This case is not enemies of the state versus Trump. It is small businesses versus Trump, it is Main street versus Mar a Lago, and it is mom and pop versus Trump's billionaire buddies…” (18:15)
• Implications:
  • About $100 billion collected; a reversal could require repayments to importers.
  • Peter Bowes: “It's hard to overstate, isn't it, quite how many people and companies have been affected by the tariffs in the US...” (19:36)
  • Conservative justices appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments.

---

7. Russian Nuclear Testing Threats after Trump’s Test Remarks (20:59–22:36)

• Russian Response:
  • After Trump hints at restarting nuclear tests, Russia’s defense minister urges preparations for “full-scale tests.”
• Putin’s Stance:
  • Steve Rosenberg: “President Putin did not say, full steam ahead... He told officials to draft proposals... and said Russia has always strictly adhered... to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty...” (21:47)
  • Russia's messaging appears a warning shot to the US but stops short of real action.
  • Confusion in Moscow over Trump’s statements.

---

8. Margaret Atwood Reflects on Her Literary & Feminist Journey (23:05–27:00)

• Early Career as a Female Writer:
  • Atwood: “I really did seriously get asked in about 1967, not whether I was going to commit suicide, but when I was going to commit suicide...” (23:05)
  • She describes 1960s literary expectations: tormented, “nun-like” women writers or “high priestess... do some human sacrifice.”
  • Success as a writer seemed unlikely: “It wasn’t considered a career. It was considered a vocation, like being a priest.” (23:48)
• Handmaid’s Tale and Modern Resonance:
  • “We are talking specifically about the United States... what form would it take? … it would take the form of a theocracy, at least in name.” (24:24)
  • Atwood believes Americans’ rebellious streak can resist true tyranny: “America is a very ornery place and... people in it dislike being told to line up and do as they're told.” (25:35)
• On Predicting the Future:
  • “Nobody can read the future because there isn’t one future. The future is multiple...” (26:13)
  • The Handmaid’s Tale was conceived as a cautionary projection from observable trends.

---

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “This is going to have a huge impact given that the US system handles roughly 44,000 flights every day…”

  • Peter Bowes describing the US flight cuts (03:00)

• “If that can happen to the president, what chance to ordinary women in the streets stand?”

  • Will Grant on the sexual assault incident in Mexico (05:22)

• “All I can see pretty much is rubble, buildings just smashed into piles of gray concrete and stones.”

  • Lucy Williamson reporting from Gaza (09:33)

• “Most of the men have to travel out from here in search of jobs. This is one of the poorest states…”

  • Davina Gupta reporting from Bihar, India (12:13)

• “It is small businesses versus Trump, it is Main Street versus Mar-a-Lago, and it is mom and pop versus Trump's billionaire buddies.”

  • Sen. Ed Markey, outside the US Supreme Court (18:15)

• “President Putin did not say, full steam ahead, please, with nuclear testing. He told officials to draft proposals...”

  • Steve Rosenberg explains the Russian stance (21:47)

• “I really did seriously get asked in about 1967, not whether I was going to commit suicide, but when..."

  • Margaret Atwood on literary stereotypes for women (23:05)

• “Nobody can read the future because there isn’t one future. The future is multiple…”

  • Margaret Atwood on speculative fiction (26:13)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• US government shutdown and flight cuts: 00:53—04:57
• Mexico’s president assaulted, gender violence: 04:57—08:44
• BBC inside Gaza: 08:44—11:38
• India’s Bihar state elections context: 11:38—14:54
• Philippines typhoon devastation: 16:12—17:50
• US Supreme Court tariff case: 17:50—20:59
• Russian nuclear test debate: 20:59—22:36
• Margaret Atwood interview: 23:05—27:00

---

Memorable Moments

• Unbelievable Reality: "This just sounds unbelievable to me that you can have people doing such an important job like air traffic control and they're not being paid." –Charlotte Gallagher on the US shutdown (03:57)
• Journalistic Restrictions: "Israel doesn’t allow international news organizations to report independently from Gaza." – Lucy Williamson’s contextual note (10:21)
• Historic Gender Moment: The widespread public shock in Mexico after the president’s assault becomes a catalyst for national debate.
• Resistant Americans: Atwood’s reflections on US resistance to autocracy provide both warning and hope.

---

This episode delivers a comprehensive and vivid global news briefing, combining incisive reporting with on-the-ground perspectives and thoughtful analysis on major world issues.

Transcript

[Peter Bowes]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Save over $200 when you book weekly.

[Margaret Atwood]

Stays with VRBO this winter.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

If you haven't seen your college besties.

[Margaret Atwood]

Since, well, college, you need a week.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

To catch up in a snowy cabin.

[Margaret Atwood]

Take a week long vacation and save over $200.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Book [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America is isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

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

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

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

[Charlotte Gallagher]

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and in the early hours of the 6th of November, these are our main stories as some flights are set to be grounded. We'll get the latest on the US Government shutdown that's now the longest in history. Outrage in Mexico after a man tried to grope the country's first female president in public. A key test for India's nationalist prime minister in an election in the country, country's poorest state. Also in this podcast, Hamas is actually.

[Tristan Redman]

Trying to harm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control, is killing people in broad daylight to make sure they understand who is boss.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

The BBC is allowed into Gaza where Israeli soldiers keep a close watch on Palestinian fighters. The federal government shutdown in the United States, which started more than five weeks ago, is now the longest on record. The failure of Republicans and Democrats in Congress to agree a new funding deal means that flights will have to be cancelled from Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration has said it will cut air traffic by 10% across 40 busy airports in order to maintain safety. Air traffic controllers have been working without pay for more than a month and some are now calling in sick. The Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, has said they're looking for work elsewhere.

[Tristan Redman]

What we're finding is that our air traffic controllers, because of the financial pressures at home, are taking side jobs. They need to put food on the table, gas in the car, pay their bills. And so because of that, we have seen staffing pressures throughout our airspace. Those who travel will see that we've.

[Peter Bowes]

Had more delays, we've had more cancellations.

[Tristan Redman]

We do not want to see disruptions. But our number one priority is to make sure when you travel, you travel safely.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

I heard more from our North America correspondent Peter Bowes.

[Peter Bowes]

This is going to have a huge impact given that the US system handles roughly 44,000 flights every day. That's passenger flights, cargo planes and private aircraft. So a 10% cut, about 4,000 fuel economy flight. So this is a proactive move to relieve the pressure on the air traffic controllers. So specific airports will be affected. We don't know at this stage which ones. And in fact, since the original announcement, the Reuters news agency has reported, quoting its sources, that these cuts will be rolled out from Friday, perhaps starting at about 3 or 4% and getting up to 10% by the beginning of next week. So I think what this tells us is that this is a moving situation. The airlines have only really just discovered that this is going to happen. And clearly we'll be working very hard to try to organize this and work out the implications for its passengers.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

I mean, this just sounds unbelievable to me that you can have people doing such an important job like air traffic control and they're not being paid. I mean, is this affecting the safety of air travel?

[Peter Bowes]

That is a key question. There is no indication right now that air travel in this country is not safe. That's what they're trying to avoid. In fact, the FAA as said the system is still operating safely, but they are warning about these staffing problems and the fatigue pressures, especially amongst its staff, saying that as time goes on, this is now a record breaking shutdown in terms of the number of days and the problems are only going to get worse as every day goes on. The other concern is that because of staff shortages, there could be delays in maintenance work on critical equipment. And again, were that to be causing a significant concern that equipment simply wasn't working properly, that could cause further flights to be delayed or indeed cancelled.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Peter Bowes, Mexico's first female president, Claudia Schoenbaum has called for sexual harassment to be made a crime in the country after footage showed a man trying to grope her in the street. She's filed a complaint against the man who she said was drunk. He's since been arrested. The attack happened on Tuesday when she met supporters near the Presidential palace in Mexico City. Will Grant is our correspondent there.

[Peter Bowes]

I think it really has shocked Mexicans because one thing of course, is that there might be a breach of security. But it's quite another that a member of the public with bad intentions could get so close to the president, could touch her body without permission, could attempt to kiss her, and that a good few seconds could pass before any member of her team stepped in and you could see on her face that she was visibly shaken by the incident. I think it says two key things to us, really, that this lamentable episode, as President Claudio Schoenbaum put it, shows just how ingrained machismo is in Mexican society, as people have been putting it. Ultimately, if that can happen to the president, what chance to ordinary women in the streets stand? So that is one side of it, and it's a very, very coherent argument which has been resonating around the country since this happened. And the other, of course, is the one you've mentioned, which is presidential security. It's happening just days after a very popular mayor of a municipality called Uruapan in Michoacan was murdered at a Day of the Dead celebration in a public square. Shortly after, he called for more support and more protection from Claudia Sheinbaum. So it just goes to show that while her team have always allowed her to mingle with crowds, to shake hands, pose for photos and hugs and so on, it does come at a real security cost, but one that she said in her morning press briefing that she was not prepared to change.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

The fact that this has happened to the president and the fact that she's speaking out about it now, do you think that that could make a difference?

[Peter Bowes]

It's such a public moment. It's such a shocking display of machismo, of assuming that a woman is there for him to be able to touch if he wants to, even if she be the president. I think the things that Claudia Schoenbaum said afterwards, that she was going to carry through with bringing charges against this man because he'd done it to other women that day, she was told, and also to say that enough is enough, that we as women in Mexican society won't put up with this. And she needs to be seen to be leading that charge. So I think it has the potential to do something. The difficulty is, of course, that even as a candidate, she was talking about clamping down on gender based violence, on working harder on femicide, which is notoriously bad in Mexico. And we're not seeing any significant improvement on those numbers. Since she's come to office and you're.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Out in Mexico City at the moment, is this something that people are talking about?

[Peter Bowes]

It is. It actually is. I've been listening on the radio stations and it was often the subject of conversation. You can see people talking about it in chat groups. It's something that people are shocked about. And it is, of course, leading all the newspaper coverage. It stands out because it's so brazen, but it also stands out because it's so ordinary. And I think that is what disheartens Mexicans, that even the head of state isn't protected from the machismo in this society. What happened the Claudia Shanebaum happens every day to women in Mexico and it happens often. It just so happened that on this occasion he was caught on camera doing so, was arrested and will face charges. But the vast, vast majority of those incidents around Mexico go completely unreported and unpunished.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Will Grant the BBC has been allowed to enter Gaza for the first time since a ceasefire was declared last month. The Israeli army took a group of journalists into the Palestinian territory on Wednesday. They weren't allowed to go beyond the Yellow line, which is the temporary boundary between the areas of Gaza controlled by Hamas and those controlled by Israeli forces. Military censorship laws in Israel mean that army personnel were shown our material before publication. The BBC maintained editorial control of this report from our Middle east correspondent Lucy Williamson at all times.

[Tristan Redman]

As you're seeing, in front of you is the battlefield of Saja. To the left is Gaza City, the yellow line. You can see it. It is a bit before the first line of buildings or after the first line of buildings.

[Margaret Atwood]

I'm just standing now on a ridge very close to the yellow line and for 180 degree around me all I can see pretty much is rubble, buildings just smashed into piles of gray concrete and stones. In the far distance to my left there are buildings of Gaza City, some of them still standing. That's of course where many people are still living. But the rest of it just shows what this two year war has done to Gaza.

[Tristan Redman]

It was not a goal. IDF's goal is to combat terrorists, to release a hostage and make sure Hamas can never carry out another October 7th.

[Margaret Atwood]

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani is an Israeli.

[Tristan Redman]

Military spokesman and when you ask the commanders fighting here how the battlefield looked like, they'll tell you almost every house had either a tunnel shaft or was booby trapped or had an RPG or sniper station.

[Margaret Atwood]

Israel doesn't allow international news organizations to report independently from Gaza. This visit with a group of journalists was a short, highly controlled trip with the Israeli army with no access to Palestinians or other areas of Gaza. Israel's forces say there are confrontations with Hamas in this area almost every day and that its troops will stay in Gaza until Hamas disarms and gives up power. It's not yet clear when or how that will happen. So what's the specific condition? I know you say Hamas disarmament But the process for that hasn't even been worked out yet.

[Tristan Redman]

Well, on the contrary, Hamas is actually trying to arm itself, trying to assert dominance, assert control over Gaza, is killing people in broad daylight to kind of terrorize the civilians and make sure they understand who is boss in Gaza. So we are actually seeing the opposite of it. And it's very clear that there will need to be pressure. We hope this agreement is enough pressure.

[Margaret Atwood]

The division of Gaza has left it in a tense limbo, and the Americans are pushing very hard to try and move quickly onto the next stage. But there are reminders every day of how fragile this situation is. And every time this ceasefire cracks, it threatens to bring the whole deal crashing down.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Lucy Williamson Polls have opened in the Indian state of Bihar, where millions of people will cast their votes in the first phase of assembly elections. Bihar is the country's poorest state. The outcome will be critical for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, the bjp, which is seeking to retain power with its regional ally. They face a strong challenge from an opposition alliance of the RJD and Congress parties. Steve Lai spoke to Davina Guptra, our correspondent in Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

[Davina Gupta]

We've seen a steady stream of people coming in this polling booth, which essentially is a school. So there are people coming from behind me where their identity cards are checked and then men and women are sent to separate booths. This is where men go and then press that button on the electronic voting machine to cast their vote. Out of 243 seats in this state, half of them are going to polls today. The next half will be on the 11th of November. And there are around 90,000 polling boots like this with security guards and election officials who are making sure that voters get their chance to cast their ballots. What we are expecting is a turnout which has traditionally been around 50 to 60%. In this state, women have turned out more than men. And that's what I've also witnessed in this polling booth. There have been more women coming in with their daughters to cast their vote. And this is also because how the demography of this state is shaped. Most of the men have to travel out from here in search of jobs. This is one of the poorest states. So what that means is the odds are stacked against them. Out of a thousand births, nearly 47 children don't make it to their first birthday. One in every five women have to drop out from their education and they are pushed into early marriages and men because of lack of job opportunities and industries. They have to migrate outside. And these are also the issues which are on top of mind of these voters here.

[Tristan Redman]

Yes, all challenging issues that they have to contend with and also think about when it comes to their voting. Just elaborate a bit more on on the issues that will be top of their minds.

[Davina Gupta]

Well, we've seen that this place also has a national aspect to it because the regional party here, the JDU, which has ruled this place for 20 years, is an alliance with the Hindu nationalist party, the BJP at the center. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been coming and campaigning here in the opposition, that is the congress with other local parties. And all of them have been looking at development in the state. They've been pushing that they would get more industries to invest here. But there is a problem of corruption. There is also a problem of making the labour stay here because the lucrative options elsewhere. So those, those are the main challenges for these political parties. They've also targeted welfare schemes towards women because they know they turn out in higher numbers than the men as we spoke about. So there have been promises of cash handouts and direct transfer to their bank accounts. There are scholarship schemes that have been introduced for them, promises of government jobs by different political parties. But one has to see how these voters will be looking at them. There's also an interesting matrix of caste and religion that plays out so a multiple and complex layers of India's democracy in play in the state elections.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

That was Davina Gupta. Still to come in this podcast.

[Margaret Atwood]

I really did seriously get asked in about 1967, not whether I was going to commit suicide, but when I was going to commit suicide. No way.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Margaret Atwood looks back at the start of her literary career. Save over 200 when you book weekly.

[Margaret Atwood]

Stays with VRBO this winter.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

If you haven't seen your college besties.

[Margaret Atwood]

Since, well, college you need a week.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

To catch up in a snowy cabin.

[Margaret Atwood]

Take a week long vacation and save over 200.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Book [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

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

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the global story.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

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

[Charlotte Gallagher]

A typhoon which has caused devastating floods across the central Philippines has killed at least 114 people. Official figures show that more than 120 others are still missing. Our Southeast Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, is monitoring the storm.

[Tristan Redman]

I think it's a, it's a big mess they've got to clear up, particularly on the island of Cebu, which is the worst affected. Of course, it has quite a high population, at least in Cebu City. I mean, this typhoon was a very strong one, but it was the amount of water it carried that seems to have caused the most damage. Effectively, it dumped a month's worth of water on Cebu in just a day. And the Philippines is mountainous, very deforested. It can't absorb a lot of water. And that water just churned down right into urban areas. From the pictures, it almost looked like a tsunami had hit. So it's left behind in enormous amounts of damage, completely blocked roads, massive amounts of rubble. I mean, in amongst that rubble, you've got broken parts of building, you've got cars, you've got shipping containers all piled up, making it very hard to clean up, and a huge amount of mud as well. Now, President Bomber Marcos is due to arrive there today to at least symbolically show his support for the population and perhaps to encourage the cleanup effort. But that's going to take an awful long time and we do think the casualties are going to rise. And that storm is still very, very strong. It's measured as a Category 4 typhoon, which is exceptionally strong for a typhoon that's already been through the Philippines and is now moving west across the South China Sea, so South Central Vietnam, which expects to feel the brunt of it later this evening. People there are stocking up on food. People in more vulnerable areas are evacuating because by Vietnamese standards, this is still a very, very strong storm and potentially a very, very damaging one.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Jonathan Head. The U.S. supreme Court has been hearing arguments over the legality of President Trump's use of EM powers to impose tariffs on imports. A number of small businesses and a group of states say most of these are illegal and should be struck down. If the court agrees, Mr. Trump's trade strategy would be upended. Outside the court, the Democrat Senator Ed Markey had this to say.

[Tristan Redman]

This case is not enemies of the state versus Trump. It is small businesses versus Trump, it is Main street versus Mar a Lago, and it is mom and pop versus Trump's billionaire buddies, Nick Miles.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Heard more from Gary o' Donoghue in Washington.

[Tristan Redman]

The court spent a couple of hours going through these arguments with the lawyers, oral arguments effectively. And essentially those that oppose these tariffs say, look, there's only one instance institution in this country that can raise revenue, raise taxes. Tariffs are a tax and that institution is Congress. And the president can't do this. It's simply not part of his constitutional powers. On the other hand, the proponents and the Trump administration say, look, there are these emergency powers, this Emergency Economic Powers act, under which the President can take measures to what's called regulate importation. And they say regulating importation can mean, among other things, imposing tariffs. So that is the essential argument. It's an argument about a particular statute in one case, this emergency act and how it's being implemented. But it's also a constitutional argument about where the line is drawn between the powers that Congress has versus the presidency.

[Peter Bowes]

And Gary, it's hard to overstate, isn't.

[Tristan Redman]

It, quite how many people and companies.

[Peter Bowes]

Have been affected by the tariffs in.

[Tristan Redman]

The US how much is riding on.

[Peter Bowes]

The outcome of this case for them and also for Donald Trump?

[Tristan Redman]

Well, so far, in purely financial terms, you're looking about $100 billion, which if the Trump administration loses, it's going to have to pay back to importers and various companies that have paid these tariffs. So that's a big hit. When you look at the level of taxes that have imposed on pretty much every country in the world, the lowest rate is 10%. Most of them are much, much higher than that. And of course, you know, at the end of the day, some of that may be absorbed by importers, some of it may be absorbed by foreign manufacturers, but certainly a chunk of it's going to be absorbed by American consumers. And at a time when the economy is showing some signs of slowing down a little, certainly the labour market slowing down, that is something they can't afford. So a lot rides on this for Donald Trump in terms of the rest of his time in power. And very briefly, Gary, when can we.

[Peter Bowes]

Expect a decision on this?

[Tristan Redman]

Well, normally with big cases like this, you have to wait in the until the middle of the following year, so next June. But there is some suggestion that this is considered so important by the court that they may come back sooner than that. And a very quick thing to add. A lot of the conservative, or at least a couple of the conservative judges on this conservative dominated court were sounding slightly skeptical about the government's arguments.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

That was Gary o', Donoghue. Russia's defense minister has advised President Putin he should prepare for full scale nuclear testing after President Trump said the US would see start testing nuclear weapons. Mr. Trump's energy secretary later clarified this, saying the tests would not involve nuclear explosions. But Mr. Putin is remaining Cautious, as our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg explains.

[Tristan Redman]

The Russian state television showed Vladimir Putin sharing a meeting of the Russian Security Council with top security officials like the defense minister and the chief of the general staff, the Russian defense Minister, Andrei Belouseville. He was champing at the bed. He suggested that Russia should prepare for full scale tests immediately. However, in Russia, it's what Vladimir Putin says that counts.

[Peter Bowes]

So let's look very closely at the language he used.

[Tristan Redman]

President Putin did not say, full steam ahead, please, with nuclear testing. He told officials to draft proposals about a possible start on work to prepare for a nuclear test. He also said Russia has always strictly.

[Peter Bowes]

Adhered to and continues to adhere to.

[Tristan Redman]

Its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and we have no plans to deviate from these commitments. So it looks like the Russians were sending a message to Washington that if.

[Peter Bowes]

You really are planning to resume nuclear.

[Tristan Redman]

Testing, just be aware, Russia is not going to sit idly by. We'll do it, too. And I think there was a certain degree of surprise here in Moscow last week when President Trump made that announcement about nuclear testing, a certain amount of scratching of heads trying to work out what exactly Donald Trump meant.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Steve Rosenberg, finally, the first book written by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood was a collection of poetry published in 1961. In the 64 years since then, she's published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, including the Handmaid's Tale and now a memoir, Book of Lives, a memoir of sorts. She's been speaking to Nuala McGovern, who first asked Margaret Atwood about the difficulty she faced as a female author in the 1960s.

[Margaret Atwood]

What were the role models at that time? I really did seriously get asked in about 1967, not whether I was going to commit suicide, but. But when I was going to commit suicide.

[Peter Bowes]

No way.

[Margaret Atwood]

Well, it would show that you were serious.

[Tristan Redman]

Right.

[Margaret Atwood]

I understand that there was meant to be this torment that was attached to you. You're supposed to be very tormented and sor Nun like. Or else you could be a high priestess of the imagination and do some human sacrifice like the White Goddess in Robert Graves books which were circulating at the time. So those were the models. And it was somewhat daunting, but you persevered nonetheless.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Did you always feel that you would.

[Margaret Atwood]

Be successful as a writer? Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all. This was Canada. So no, you didn't think you were going to be successful. You thought you were going to be dedicated. So it wasn't considered a career. It was considered a vocation, like being a priest.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

The handmaid's Tale. I want to come back to that, your dystopian novel about a patriarchal society in which women are forcibly assigned to produce babies. It was heralded not just as a modern classic, but also prescient in the way that it warned what might happen in the future and that reproductive freedoms could be challenged. Some say that they are.

[Margaret Atwood]

Now we are talking, talking specifically about the United States. Yes, we are talking about the form an autocracy would take were there to be one in that country. So it would not be, hi, my name is Joe, let's all be communists. That would not fly in the United States. What is much more likely to fly, as we are seeing unfold before our very eyes and going way back to the 17th century, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was set up as a Puritan autocracy, not a democracy. Forget that part that came in the 18th century. So what form would it take? Were there to be one in the United States, and it would take the form of a theocracy, at least in name. People would say they were doing these things in the name of the Almighty. That's what they would do. And once they got into power, they would get rid of all the other religions, not just all the other non Christian religions, but all the other Christian religions, because autocracies are autocracies.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Do you ever worry about something like that happening?

[Margaret Atwood]

Of course I have a worry, and so do people who live there. But it is my contention that America is a very ornery place and that people in it dislike being told to line up and do as they're told. And that can have a plus and it can have a minus. But the plus is they're likely to be resistant to tyranny. They're not very deferential.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

But with the Handmaid's Tale, or indeed the Year of the Flood, people see it as preempting the 2008 financial crash. What do you say to people who say you can read the future?

[Margaret Atwood]

Nobody can read the future because there isn't one future. The future is multiple. So the decisions we make now will influence the future we get. But there are always going to be unexpected factors. You can make educated guesses. You can say, if we continue doing this, that will probably be the result, but that's all you can do. And the Handmaid's Tale was based on a theoretical question. If the tendencies that started to become manifest during the first years of the Reagan regime, if those continue, and America deepminds its own past, namely the 17th century, this is likely to be the.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Result that was Margaret Atwood. And that's all from us for now. But there will 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 you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Lee Wilson and the producers were Mazafa Shakir and Daniel Mann. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, Goodbye. America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

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

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global story.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

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