The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has agreed to pay $3.5 billion to buy the gaming division of Niantic, the Pokémon Go publisher. It’s the latest in a string of entertainment and gaming investments by the PIF. BBC tech reporter Tom Gerken tells us why the Saudi government is spending billions on gaming and what the Kingdom stands to gain from it.

Plus: BBC Arabic’s Abdirahim Saaed explains where the PIF gets its money and why the gaming scene is so big in Saudi Arabia right now.

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

An estimated 700 million people visit zoos every year. Some people see these facilities as a great way to teach people about nature and to save species from extinction. Others think they’re cruel and unnecessary. It’s a heated debate. And now, as more and more people are watching animal rescue videos on Instagram and TikTok, it feels like the debate is hotter than ever.

William Lee Adams from the What in the Word team talks us through the history of zoos, including how England's Queen Charlotte (who was featured in Netflix’s Bridgerton) came to have twenty kangaroos, and how zoos have evolved. We also discuss their pro and cons. We hear from Tonya Lander, a biology lecturer at the University of Oxford in the UK, 19 year old animal rights activist Nikita Dhawan, and Delcianna Winders, Director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at Vermont Law and Graduate School in the US.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Elena Angelides Video Journalist: Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde

In November, fifteen people were killed at the Novi Sad railway station in Serbia when a concrete canopy collapsed. Students in the country have been protesting ever since, claiming that government corruption contributed to the tragedy. The protests have brought the country to a standstill, and on Monday students occupied the public TV station RTS. Slobodan Maričić from BBC Serbian tells us about the student protests, what he’s seen when out reporting and the criticism faced by President Aleksandar Vučić.

We also hear from several student protestors and Konstrakta, a popular singer. She explains why students have been so effective leading and organising the protests and how their movement has expanded to include people of all ages.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams, Emilia Jansson and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Two weeks ago $1.5 billion vanished from a cryptocurrency platform - it’s thought to be the biggest crypto heist ever. They had fallen into the hands of some infamous hackers - the Lazarus Group. These hackers have alleged ties to the North Korean government and have managed to steal huge amounts of money from other crypto platforms before.

The BBC’s Cyber Correspondent, Joe Tidy, takes us through all the details and explains why North Korean hackers are so untouchable.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Emilia Jansson Editor: Verity Wilde

Plastic pollution has been highlighted as an environmental issue for several years. But experts are now researching whether it poses a potential danger to our health. Microplastics specifically are found in our bodies - even in our brains.

The BBC health reporter Smitha Mundasad explains to us what they are and whether we should be worried. And 25-year-old microplastics researcher and influencer Dana Zhaxylykova shares her top tips on how to avoid plastics.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Emilia Jansson Editor: Verity Wilde

Just like seemingly all aspects of life these days, AI is going to become more and more present in our dating apps. Match Group, the dating company that owns Tinder and Hinge and has a market value of over $10 billion, recently announced they would increase investment in AI. They’re hoping to use AI for a spoken interview with the user to work out what they want to get out of their dating experience, and also provide “effective coaching for struggling users”.

Some newer apps focus entirely on AI models and choose your matches for you. As annual downloads of some of the biggest dating apps are going down, could these AI elements improve things? Or will AI cause more concerns?

Tamzin Kraftman, a BBC journalist, downloaded one of these new apps, iris, to check it out.

We also hear from the app’s CEO - Igor Khalatian. He explains what it’s all about.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Josh Jenkins Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

Most people in the world speak more than one language and many countries have more than one official national language. But what is it like living as a polyglot? And what advantages can it bring to your health? Studies have shown that speakers of multiple languages get dementia later and even recover better after a stroke.

BBC journalist Victoria Uwonkunda describes what it was like growing up as a polyglot and how she deals with speaking multiple languages in her daily life. Turkish polyglot İclal Dağcı , who speaks nine languages, tells us how she uses music to learn languages she finds difficult.

Plus, Professor Frédérique Liégeois, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London, explains the benefits speaking multiple languages has on your brain, and how it could help to maintain your brain health as you get older.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, William Lee Adams, Mora Morrison, Emilia Jansson and Elena Angelides Video Journalists: Beatrice Guzzardi and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde

One of the most eye-catching decisions by Donald Trump since becoming American President for a second time was to freeze foreign aid. USAID is the agency that’s given billions of dollars to global projects, from disaster relief to fighting malaria.

With this decision there will be a big hole in global financing, one that could potentially be filled by other leading global countries, such as China.

President Xi has already upped China’s foreign spending in places like Africa. Chinese investing in huge infrastructure projects abroad isn’t new, but could they use America’s decision to their advantage and extend their influence around the world?

Shawn Yuan, from the BBC’s Global China Unit, explains how Chinese aid models differ from the US. We also hear from Janice Nkajja, a Ugandan TikToker and social justice activist whose video went viral when USAID was frozen. And Daniel Dadzie, our reporter in Ghana, takes us through China’s funding strategy in Africa.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Josh Jenkins and Mora Morrison Editor: Harriet Oliver

Half of the Kenyan population use TikTok everyday. But when the sun sets, darker content appears on the platform. Girls as young as fifteen are advertising their bodies through livestreams and avoiding being caught by using coded messages. It’s a way for them to make money - but TikTok is also profiting, despite their strict rules on underage and sexual content.

BBC Africa Eye reporter Debula Kemoli has been to Kenya to investigate. She tells us what she uncovered, and shares insights from content moderators and the women and teens participating in the livestreams.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams and Emilia Jansson Editor: Verity Wilde

At the end of last year, astronomers detected 2024 YR4, an asteroid that could collide with Earth on the 22nd December 2032. It was dubbed the ‘city-killer’ and news reports warned of Armageddon, comparing the potential impact to a nuclear bomb explosion. But since YR4’s discovery, space agencies and scientists have been studying the asteroid’s size, potential path and what we can do to divert it. There’s only the tiniest risk it will hit earth and experts say there’s no need for alarm.

BBC science and climate reporter Georgina Rannard talks us through all the details of Asteroid 2024 YR4, and gives a quick history of how we’ve managed asteroids in the past.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Adam Chowdhury and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

The illegal drug trade is booming in Europe due to a growing and profitable demand for cocaine. It can be sold for almost double the price you can get for it in the US. Belgium and the Netherlands have been named as the new cocaine capitals, as the major container ports there have been infiltrated by drug smuggling gangs, and the US market becomes saturated and turns to opiates instead.

But how does cocaine get to Europe? And who’s operating these gangs? We speak to two journalists who’ve been looking at the illegal drug trade in Europe; Anna Holligan, BBC correspondent in the Netherlands, and Gabriel Stargardter, a Reuters journalist in Paris.

As more drugs are routed to Europe, countries in West and Central Africa are increasingly being used as key transit zones. Lucia Bird from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime tells us what impact it’s having on those countries.

Plus David Hillier, a freelance British journalist, explains what kinds of illegal drugs Europeans are currently taking.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Hayley Clarke and Benita Barden Editor: Rosanna La Falce

This podcast was edited on 28 February 2025.

Naomi Watanabe is a Japanese comedian, fashion icon and social media powerhouse. She shot to fame in 2008 with her viral Beyoncé impression, earning her the nickname ‘Japanese Beyoncé. Now, with 10 million followers, she’s one of Japan’s biggest influencers. But that wasn’t enough for her. Four years ago she moved to New York to do stand-up comedy on the global stage.

Hannah went to New York in October to see her debut stand-up show, speak to fans and meet Naomi in person. Naomi talks about adapting to life in NYC, the rats, and what it’s like on dating apps when you’re super famous.

She’s also a body positivity icon. In Japan, one in five young women is underweight and there’s immense pressure to be thin. Naomi shares her feelings on body image and explains why she set up her own fashion label, Punyus, which means ‘chubby’.

And Mariko Oi, a BBC reporter from Japan, tells us about her experiences with Japanese perceptions of the ideal body shape.

Watch out for the full interview between Hannah and Naomi on the BBC World Service YouTube channel.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Hayley Clarke and Rebecca Thorn Editor: Verity Wilde