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Nuclear weapons: who has them and how do they work?
What in the World
Apr 24, 2024

Nuclear weapons have been back in public conversation recently - partly due to rising tensions between Iran and Israel. Outside of the news, they have also been featured a lot in films and TV shows. (Think Oppenheimer and Fallout).

But, what are nuclear weapons? And is it likely they’ll be used again? Or, have we learnt from what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera explains. We also hear from a nuclear studies student in Islamabad, Pakistan, about why young people should care about them.

Plus, Alex Rhodes from the team talks us through some nuclear close calls. This includes how the actions of one Stanislav Petrov could have saved us all.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison, Alex Rhodes and Maria Clara Montoya Editor: Verity Wilde

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USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


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Nuclear weapons: who has them and how do they work?

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