Outline emerges of Putin's offer to end war in Ukraine

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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Jackie Leonard, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 17th of August, these are our main stories.

Vladimir Putin is reported to have told President Trump that he wanted a Ukrainian withdrawal from two eastern regions in return for Russia freezing front lines elsewhere.

Thousands of people have fled Gaza City's Zaytoun neighborhood, where Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks.

And heavy rains and flooding are now known to have killed at least 300 people in northern Pakistan.

Also, in this podcast, man serves the interests of no creature except himself.

And among us animals, let there be perfect unity.

All men are enemies.

It's 80 years since the publication of Animal Farm by the English novelist George Orwell.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is reported to have told his U.S.

counterpart Donald Trump that he wants Ukraine to hand over more of its sovereign territory in the east in return for Moscow freezing front lines elsewhere.

According to sources involved in Friday's talks in Alaska, Mr.

Putin said it should gain all of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including parts that Ukraine currently controls.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has always said he will not give up sovereignty of any territory.

On Monday, he's due to meet Donald Trump, who says further talks should lead to a full peace deal.

Mr.

Zelensky has stressed that Kiev should be included in future discussions with Moscow.

European leaders have offered their help to President Zelensky.

They issued a joint statement welcoming President Trump's promise to give security guarantees to Ukraine.

The statement, which we have voiced up, came from the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and had been agreed with several EU nations and the UK.

We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We welcome President Trump's statement that the US is prepared to give security guarantees.

The Coalition of the Willing is ready to play an active role.

No limitation should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries.

Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to EU and NATO.

It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory.

International borders must not be changed by force.

The Czech foreign minister is Jan Lipovsky.

We maybe see a beginning of some negotiations, and there's a few things which are very important.

It's understanding that Europe and the USA have to cooperate all the time before and after such meetings.

The other thing is that we need to stick together and understand that it is the force which we generated and the Ukraine army and Ukraine nation has generated to stop Putin invasion which brought him to negotiation table and we should not give it up.

But what can the Europeans do about Mr.

Putin's demands and how likely is it that he gets his way?

Our correspondent James Waterhouse is in Brussels.

The question of land is central to these peace efforts and there are reports and that Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelensky in a subsequent call after Alaska that Vladimir Putin said if Ukraine gives me the rest of the east of Donetsk region, which is about 70% occupied, then I would agree to a frozen conflict and peace could finally be delivered.

It's a departure, yes, from his demands of the complete control of four entire Ukrainian territories, which he is nowhere near, but it's still a proposal that Ukraine will almost certainly reject.

You know, handing over this third of the Donetsk region it still has would amount to the handing over of cities like Kramatorsk, Kostantinivka, Slovyansk.

You know, these are places that people have been able to still live in, that soldiers have used as a transport hub, and that haven't come close to falling.

Also, the handing over of territory in this way is something that Ukraine would have to change the law, change its constitution in order to carry out.

And I think this is why we're seeing Europe unite around Ukraine and say, look, the current front lines are the starting point for a negotiation, not the handing over of more Ukrainian territory.

So it's a sign of movement by Russia, but it's also Vladimir Putin's own view of what a concession is.

Yes, it's a very strong statement by the Europeans, and they're talking about ironclad security guarantees.

But what might that mean?

How would it be enforced?

How effective can it be, seeing as it's a statement that comes from the sidelines?

First off, Donald Trump saying, I'm going to bypass a ceasefire, we're going to cut straight to a lasting peace deal, that is a huge blow for Europe and Ukraine, because that just means fighting will carry on.

That is a win for the Kremlin, and the war carrying on in that sense suits Russia and not Ukraine, because of its superior size and resources.

So Europe is kind of clinging to strands of optimism in that Donald Trump reportedly proposed to Vladimir Putin a NATO-style deterrent, which the US would be a part of, which would be: if you reignite your invasion, us Western allies, including the US, would step in and take direct action.

Now, it's unclear to what extent Donald Trump broached this, but it's music to European ears.

And we've seen from the messaging they've been expressing their eagerness to take an active role, boots on the ground or otherwise, if that was to happen.

That was James Waterhouse in Brussels.

So, as mentioned, President Zelensky will be heading to Washington on Monday to have talks with President Trump.

But will he be prepared to sacrifice land for peace?

And how is that possibility seen by Ukrainians?

With Russia slowly advancing, albeit at great cost, there is the fear that Moscow may want to carry on grabbing what territory it can before serious peace negotiations begin.

Aleona Kildisheva is originally from the city of Mariupol in the southeast of Ukraine, an area now occupied by Russia.

Since the full-scale invasion of her country began, she's been living here in Britain.

She told the BBC what she thinks of the meeting in Alaska.

I was enraged to tell the truth, starting from the very first greeting of Putin, who was greeted with the red carpet.

I felt

disgusting watching this, to tell the truth, because he's a war criminal and he's greeted like a superstar, you know.

The only thing is like officially they can't really decide anything without asking Ukraine to take part in these conversations as well.

Plus, to that, Mariupol is my native town where I'm from.

It's definitely a part of this plan in order to be left with Russia.

And, you know, this is what they wanted from the very beginning.

Olga is a Ukrainian living in Kherson, a city which was occupied by the Russians for more than eight months.

And she talked to us about the dangers she faces day by day.

Our Kherson is already ruined half of it.

Each day, people are killed.

They send drones.

They are flying all over our city.

We are scared of walking in the streets right now.

It's a very dangerous situation.

Every day, day and night.

I haven't been in the center of the city for more than two years already.

I'm scared of going there.

I go to local markets, supermarket, and walking under trees, looking up whether these FP drones are flying.

You cannot imagine in what atmosphere our people are living here.

I was in captivity here.

I was in occupation.

I lived through horrible almost eight and a half months.

And I can imagine how people are living there now in the rest of our region, which is now occupied.

How hard it is, how humiliating it is.

Nobody never will understand what it is to be occupied.

Olga, in the Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Our correspondent, Katie Watson, is in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

She told us what people there have been saying about Friday's meeting in Alaska.

I think, you know, they went to bed looking at Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shaking hands, the red carpet rolled out for the Russian president, the fact that he was given a platform.

Many people here were probably wondering what might come out of this.

And they woke up to find that there wasn't a deal done.

So I think some kind of relief because President Zelensky insisted insisted that if there was any kind of deal, then Ukraine needed to be there.

But, you know, there's also a lot of uncertainty.

When is this peace deal going to happen when there is still a war very much raging here?

How popular is Mr.

Zelensky right now in Ukraine?

He's certainly on the back foot with what we've seen in Alaska, and he's got to now go and prove himself in the White House after we know there was a dreadful meeting in February with Donald Trump.

But I think, you know, speaking to people here in Kyiv, there was a lot of support for him that, you know, he's been put in this difficult position and a lot of concern that perhaps nothing will get done, but still support that Zelensky can still try.

How much alarm or concern is there among the people that you've been speaking to about the possibility that a sort of land grab will be made before any serious peace negotiations can begin?

Well, that's exactly what Zelensky has said earlier.

He predicts that the Russian army could try and increase pressure strikes against Ukrainian positions in the coming days, especially now that there's no deal that's been made in Alaska.

I think people here just don't really know or see certainly a clear path to peace.

That was Katie Watson in Ukraine.

Thousands more Palestinians have fled a district of Gaza City which has come under intensified attack by the Israeli military.

This follows Israel's announcement that it intends to occupy the city.

More from our correspondent Emir Nada in Jerusalem.

Israel's plan to invade Gaza City provoked international outrage and concern for the fate of the one million Palestinians that would be forcibly displaced.

A spokesperson for the municipality told the BBC that the situation in Zeitoun, the largest district in the city, is catastrophic, with mass displacement taking place after six days of relentless Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and demolition operations.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it was eliminating terrorists and destroying their infrastructure in Zeitoun.

Prime Minister Nesanyahu is reported to want the whole city under Israeli occupation from the 7th of October.

The municipality spokesperson told the BBC that 80% of Gaza city's infrastructure has been damaged, while the four remaining hospitals are operating at less than 20% of their capacity due to severe shortages of medicines and supplies.

That was Emir Nada.

The English novelist George Orwell's Animal Farm was published 80 years ago today, Sunday.

This most influential of stories follows the anthropomorphic animals of the fictional manor farm as they rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where all animals can be equal, free, and happy away from human interventions.

Here's an early excerpt.

Man serves the interests of no creature except himself, and among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle.

All men are enemies.

All animals are are comrades.

However, by the end of the story, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a far worse state than it was before.

George Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin, and as experts reflect on this anniversary of the book's publication, many are pointing to the animal character's pathetic weakness to believe political mantras, which they say remains horribly relevant in 2025.

Julian Warwicker spoke to Sir Jonathan Bate, professor of English literature at Arizona State University.

So how big an impact did the novel have when it first came out?

It's interesting, actually.

It didn't have much impact.

All had trouble publishing it because his publisher, Victor Galanx, was a very left-wing figure who had published his earlier books of social commentary, like The Road to Wigan Pier, Down and Out in Paris and London.

So Galanx, as a kind of pro-Soviet publisher, didn't like it.

And others didn't like it because, of course, at that time, the Soviet Union was an ally of Britain and America in the war against Nazi Germany.

So it wasn't really until the 1950s, when the Cold War began to sort of heat up, that the book became influential.

By which time, of course, the Soviet Empire, expanding west as it did in 1945, was then running in charge of a whole array of countries in Eastern Europe, and people were knowing what that felt like.

Exactly.

And here's the really fascinating thing.

Would you believe it?

The CIA bought the translation rights for Animal Farm from George Orwell's widow.

He had died in 1950, commissioned translations of it into Polish, Czech, and Hungarian, and then flew balloons across the Iron Curtain that would land so that people could read copies of Animal Farm and see how the world of communism had gone from all animals are equal to all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

What of its relevance today, do you think?

I think what's relevant today is that although, as Orwell specifically said, it was

an allegory whereby Napoleon, the dictator, is Stalin, Snowball, the co-revolutionary who was exiled, was Trotsky,

the old horse,

the old pig who's died and whose skull is left as a monument was Lenin, whose body, of course, was left embalmed for the public to see.

That although although it's got that specific focus, it's actually about the way that all revolutions, all radical movements tend to begin with great ideals, but to end up with corruption and division that is just as bad as what came before.

Sir Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at Arizona State University.

Still to come.

Praise Jimmy!

I feel glad I've done that because it's always always a possibility I wouldn't.

She's known as Amazing Grace, a 97-year-old athlete who's become the oldest person in Europe to complete 250 five-kilometer park runs.

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The ocean feeds us.

Others find nourishment in its bounty.

The ocean teaches us how our everyday choices impact even the deepest places.

The ocean moves us, whether we're riding a wave or soaking in its breathtaking beauty.

The ocean connects us.

Find your connection at Monterey BayAquarium.org slash connects.

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It's now known that more than 300 people have died in flash floods in northern Pakistan in just 48 hours.

Homes, roads, entire villages have been swept away and as casualty figures keep rising, the worst-hit province of Khaybah, Pakhtun Khwa has declared a day of mourning.

One survivor described his experience.

25 people from our family have died fighting the floods.

My nephew was coming from Malaysia,

so one of my brothers went to pick him up, and I was at school.

So we survived.

The heavy monsoon rains that triggered the floods are forecast to last last until at least Thursday.

Our correspondent in Islamabad, Azadeh Mushiri, told us how people in the affected areas have been faring.

Even if they've been granted some respite from those heavy rains, they're still coming to terms with not only the wreckage in these places, but they're also still searching for the missing.

Particularly in Khyber Fartunois, there's a real problem for emergency teams and rescue teams because some of these areas not only are they mountainous, some other areas are also plagued by violence and instability.

Obviously monsoons are this huge force of nature but there is growing criticism of the authorities too isn't there?

Every year there is criticism from residents of the authorities because they argue that this is something that could be predicted, that Pakistan goes through a very difficult monsoon season.

But it's worth saying that this year some have said that the monsoon rains, some of the scientists have said that they've started earlier.

And there's also the fact that a lot of these areas were huge tourist attractions as well.

Swat is known as the Switzerland of Pakistan.

There are lots of tourists there.

So you're also dealing with populations, people who are affected by this and aren't familiar with these areas at all.

And you mentioned the massive infrastructure damage.

It's going to be incredibly difficult to rebuild, isn't it?

Yes, and they've already started trying.

In Khyber Partunchois, the local government has already already allocated emergency funds to rebuild roads and infrastructure, but it is a huge effort across very large swathes of land.

And in the meantime, knowing that there are warnings for more flash flooding in the coming days, the federal government has imposed restrictions on any tourist travel to some of these affected areas, as well as areas in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in particular.

And how many people are still missing?

What is the human response to the people who live in these affected areas?

There are many people who are still missing, according to local authorities.

The numbers are not that reliable, and this is why many of these areas are reporting that family members who've suddenly lost loved ones, who were in areas that perhaps they don't know very well, are still staying there in case the bodies are found, searching for the ones that are missing.

And so, in terms of those specific figures, some districts are aware that some of the people they're counting missing are simply still staying in these affected areas, not traveling back home because they're still hoping to find the loved ones that they have missing right now.

Azadeh Mashiri in Islamabad.

In southern Europe, it's been another summer of wildfires, which have killed three people and displaced thousands more across Greece, Spain, and Portugal.

The European Commission has warned that in the last week alone, it's received the same number of requests to help fight the fires as it received during the whole of 2024.

Greece is among the worst affected countries, with 152 wildfires erupting across the country this month, destroying homes, businesses and vehicles.

Krupa Padi heard more from Daphne Tolis, a Greek journalist in Athens.

As of now, Greece is no longer battling one major active wildfire front, but firefighting crews are currently focusing on the scattered hotspots across the country.

But the day after remains critical as authorities are on high alert because there are flare-ups and they remain a constant threat due to the dry conditions and the high winds.

So approximately over 100,000 acres have been scorched across several regions over the past few days, including the island of Gios, Zakyntos, Sante, Preveza on the mainland, and the Patras area.

Patras is Greece's third largest city and it was

among the worst affected.

Now in these other regions the fires have largely eased but not without leaving a trail of destruction.

So we've seen images, fires severely impacted forests, farmlands, livestock facilities and homes of course.

Now what's interesting is that authorities have arrested three individuals in connection with the recent blaze in Patras specifically.

Now, one of the suspects has reportedly confessed to deliberately starting the fire in one of the districts in Patras.

But of course now it's a mix of uh factors that authorities are um looking into which is also negligent sometimes, deliberate arson as I said, and the aging infrastructure.

Do um forces there, do rescue operations there, do they feel like they've got enough resources to tackle the scales of the fire?

Well, the the response side, and that's very important.

I think it's the first year that we've had, you know, the largest number of firefighters.

There were about 5,000 operating on the same time.

And then there's volunteers and volunteer firefighters.

But we've had more aerial assets and we're expected to have more in the coming years, more fire trucks as well.

And the drones, which have been very important.

Last year was the first time they were deployed to monitor fire movement and provide real-time data so that teams can be guided more effectively.

Daphne Tolis, a Greek journalist in Athens.

There are more than a thousand varieties of mango grown in India, and the fruit is so central to the culture of the country that hundreds of books have been written about its appeal.

But the tempting, sweet flavour of most mangoes has some people wondering if it's actually a good idea to eat them because they're worried about diabetes.

Well, now, two new clinical trials are being published, which may help ease those concerns.

Dr.

Suganda Keha is a nutritionist and author of both studies.

She told Julian Morica what she discovered.

So we conducted a study to evaluate the effect of mango ingestion in comparison to white bread on glycemic parameters in individuals with and without diabetes.

And we found that when consumed in small and controlled portions, mango did not cause significant spike in blood glucose.

Did that surprise you?

Because it is quite a sweet-tasting fruit, isn't it?

Yes, of course, it is.

And due to its perception of being sweet, because of its natural sweetness, it has led to many individuals with diabetes to avoid them.

But what we forget is it's a low-glycemic food.

So having it in moderation do not spike the sugar levels.

And many clinicians were surprised.

They were pleasantly surprised because there has always been a blanket restriction on it.

And now our study is perceived as a good news for the mangol lovers.

I wanted to ask you about the levels of diabetes in India because according to the World Health Organization, 77 million adults in India are estimated to have type 2 diabetes.

So why is it such a common health condition?

Type 2 diabetes is increasingly prevalent, not only in India, but worldwide also.

Particularly, it is in low and middle-income countries like India.

Many individuals with type 2 diabetes struggle with maintaining adequate blood glucose levels.

And what is the cultural significance of the mango in India?

I mean, it's such an important part of the country, isn't it, as well as the diet of the country?

Mango, they are considered as king of fruit in India.

So, it is not just a fruit but a part of our culture and even celebrations.

Families look forward to mango season every summer.

So, being able to say that even people with diabetes can enjoy mango in moderation is very meaningful.

And when we look at this now, can we regard this as a definitive study?

In so many other contexts, particular food items are looked at and a study might find one thing and then another study might come along and say something slightly different.

Is this a categorical appraisal of where we are with mangoes and diabetes in your view?

Yes, absolutely.

We have studies, we have references to back our studies, but not thoroughly, not as rigorously done as we have done.

Continuous glucose monitoring has never been a part of any mango study.

So, when we say that mangoes can be consumed by people with diabetes, we have to be very cautious as clinicians.

We do not want our findings to be misunderstood or leading people to consume mango in large portions.

Dr.

Suganda Kaha in New Delhi.

A 97-year-old woman has become the oldest person in Europe to complete 250 park runs, a community sporting event where participants walk, jog, or run five-kilometre courses.

Grace Chambers from Northern Ireland has earned the nickname Amazing Grace and says she has no plans to stop anytime soon, as Ella Baknoar reports.

Three, two, one, off you go.

Ormo Park in Belfast is always busy on a Saturday morning, but hundreds turned out to run alongside 97-year-old Grace Chambers as she completed her 250th park run.

She only took up jogging, aged 88, when a member of her rehabilitation team recommended she try park run.

Very soon, she became the talk of the event.

Even when park runs were cancelled during the pandemic, she continued the weekly habit, recording her times with her daughters.

And she has no plans on stopping, not till she turns at least 100.

I feel glad I've done it because it's always a possibility I wouldn't but I never look negatively at things wrong with you I would I would if I set a goal I try to achieve it

some were worried whether Grace could run on Saturday just four weeks after she had an operation to insert a stunt her friend Kathy helped her cross the line calling it a remarkable achievement it's absolutely phenomenal.

I mean, Grace really is a legend, and you know, she is like an incredible person, like she's an incredible motivator for everybody.

Like, everybody comes here, they know Grace, and they come and see her.

Ormo Park now has a bench in tribute of Grace.

The plaque reads, Grace's bench, Park Runner Extraordinaire.

On a typical week, you'll find her sitting on it after the run, posing for photos with her fans.

Grace says she doesn't really understand the fuss over her park run record.

She says if it inspires more people to get out running, then that's great in itself.

And our congratulations to Grace.

That report was by Ella Bicknell.

And that's it from this edition of the Global News Podcast, but there will be a new edition later.

If you would like to comment on this edition, all the topics covered in it, do please send us an email.

The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service.

Just use the hashtag globalnewspod.

This edition was mixed by Ben Andrews.

The producers were Liam McSheffery and Ed Horton.

Our editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Jackie Leonard, and until next time, goodbye.

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