Global News Podcast

Israel has been remembering the deadliest single day in its history on 7th October 2023 when Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups stormed communities along the border with Gaza, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. The anniversary comes weeks before an election in which the question of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal culpability for the country's worst-ever security failure will be a central issue.
Also: the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described Moscow's latest round of attacks on his country as ''the Russian army's birthday gift for Vladimir Putin''. The World Health Organization has requested more information from Russia following unconfirmed reports that a second employee at a plague research lab in Siberia has contracted pneumonia. Malaysia pushes ahead with a ‌controversial move to repatriate thousands of migrants from Myanmar, where they could face persecution. The BBC visits a men's community group in South Africa where participants are encouraged to speak out about violence against women, and confront their own behaviour. Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for solving the mystery of life's asymmetry. And could the gender pay gap extend to AI agents?
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Israeli family members at a memorial site for victims of the Nova music festival on the third anniversary of the 7 October attacks near Re'im, southern Israel
Credit: EPA

President Macron holds an emergency meeting after more than a quarter of a million French people take part in fresh school protests. Although most gatherings were peaceful, there were sporadic clashes, with police using batons and tear gas to disperse crowds. Lawyers for Christa Pike, the American woman who survived a botched execution attempt last week, say she's regained consciousness and is able to talk. They say she's receiving critical care and remains handcuffed to a hospital bed. Events are being held in Israel to mark the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks that triggered the war in Gaza.
The Oscar-winning actress and one of the last survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Eva Marie Saint, has died. She was 102. And one of football's greatest ever players, Lionel Messi, makes his final international appearance for Argentina.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: A masked student kicks a tear gas canister amid clashes with French riot police during a demonstration in Paris.
Credit: Reuters/Abdul Saboor

As fighting surges again in Yemen, government forces supported by Saudi Arabia say they've been making significant gains in an offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis. We hear how the conflict is affecting people in one of the key battlegrounds - the southwestern city of Taiz, which is surrounded by the Houthis. Also: protesters and police clash in several French cities, as students, parents and unions join demonstrations across the country calling for more investment in schools. The space scientist Dame Dr Maggie Aderin on the remarkable story of the Hubble Space Telescope - the subject of a new podcast. Protests spread in Japan over the murder of a woman on the island of Okinawa, allegedly committed by a US marine. We hear tributes to Jeffrey Archer, the British politician and author who died on Monday, and look back at the rises and falls in his life. And a study finds that book bans are on the increase in US public schools.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: a mother with her 11-year-old injured son, Taiz, Yemen.
Credit: BBC World Service

Iran-backed Houthis claim they hit several targets in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh Airport, while Saudi-led forces attacked Houthi military strongholds on the Red Sea coast. The Yemeni government has launched an offensive against the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa. Also: Student demonstrations intensify in France ahead of a national day of protests. The Nobel Prize in Medicine is awarded to Karl Deisseroth from America and Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel from Germany for their work in the field of optogenetics. Russia downplays reports that a lab technician who died last week may have been exposed to pneumonic plague. The bestselling British author and politician, Jeffrey Archer, has died. A concert pianist invents a "Standing Grand" piano and dust off your CV if you'd like to be Finland's official 'smeller'.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Saudi-backed Yemeni government fighters advance against the Iran-backed Houthis, near Dhubab.
Credit: Southern Giants Brigades/Reuters

Investigators believe the co-pilot accused of trying to take over a Flydubai plane heading for Israel was a "lone wolf" extremist who wanted to fly the aircraft into an airport or tower block. Also: why did the US military withdraw expensive bombers from a base in the UK? Oil exports from the Middle East are getting back to levels last achieved before the US began bombing Iran. Spain's prime minister calls an election over a housing crisis. Researchers try to find out why more young people are getting cancer, and what lemurs in Madagascar and trained human singers have in common.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Flydubai aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport. September 30, 2026.
Credit: Reuters