Russia to pause attacks on Ukraine as temperatures plummet
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US President Donald Trump says Russia's Vladimir Putin has agreed not to attack Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and other cities and towns for a week due to "extraordinary cold" weather. Also on this podcast, Venezuela’s parliament has passed a new bill that will roll back decades of tight state control over the country's oil sector. In Afghanistan, new research has shed light on the impact of the Taliban's informal ban on birth control services for women. Scientists say polar bears living in the Norwegian Arctic are getting fatter despite declining sea ice levels. We hear from Iranians around the world who are fearful for the safety of their loved ones in Iran. British boxer Anthony Joshua has spoken publicly for the first time since two of his friends were killed in a car crash in Nigeria. Millions of potatoes are being given away in certain parts of Germany.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.9 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.7 | I'm on criticise and in the early hours of Friday the 30th of January, these are our main stories. |
| 0:18.9 | Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed an attempt by President Trump |
| 0:22.5 | to get Russia to pause attacks on Ukraine for a week |
| 0:25.4 | because of the extreme cold weather. |
| 0:27.9 | But the Kremlin hasn't commented. |
| 0:30.5 | Venezuela's National Assembly has voted to open the oil sector to foreign investment, |
| 0:35.4 | one of the Trump administration's key demands after it ousted Nicholas Maduro. |
| 0:42.2 | Also in this podcast, polar bears in Norway have changed their diets. |
| 0:47.4 | Eating more reindeer, they are eating more bird eggs. They are likely eating more valluses |
| 0:53.2 | because they are a lot more valluses they're on. |
| 0:55.8 | We found out why those polar bears are becoming fatter and healthier because of it. |
| 1:00.9 | And why some parts of Germany are being offered free lunches, the only catch is you eat nothing but |
| 1:06.8 | potatoes. In recent weeks, Russia has been exploiting Ukraine's harsh winter to pummel energy |
| 1:18.7 | infrastructure across the country. Repeated strikes have plunged millions into the dark and the |
| 1:24.4 | freezing cold in their own homes. Some people are even pitching tents inside |
| 1:28.8 | their flats and heating bricks as makeshift radiators in an effort just to keep warm. But according |
| 1:34.9 | to President Trump, there's a potential brief reprieve on the cards. Because of the cold, |
| 1:41.3 | extreme cold, they have the same that we do. I personally asked President Putin |
| 1:46.1 | not to fire on Kiev and the cities and towns for a week. And he agreed to do that. And I have |
| 1:53.6 | to tell you, it was very nice. A lot of people said, don't waste the coal. You're not going to get that. |
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