Global News Podcast

A new personalised skin cancer vaccine has been found to reduce the risk of patients dying or their cancer returning by 42%. As part of a global two-year clinical trial, more than 1,000 patients who had already had their tumours removed were given a widely used immunotherapy drug. Around two-thirds were then given the experimental vaccine, which was developed using cells from their own tumours. Researchers say the results could mark a turning point in cancer treatment.
Also: How a man achieved his goal of becoming a world-famous singer without even knowing it. The neighbours who rallied together to fulfil an autistic boy's dream. The "brain bank" giving hope to Parkinson's patients. A ballet school offering a brighter future for children living in one of the poorest parts of the world. And how one conservationist's determination helped save the threatened African manatee.
Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.
(Photo: A man receives a personalised vaccine as part of a global cancer treatment trial. Credit: Addenbrooke's Hospital)
Presenter: Helena Burke
Music: Iona Hampson

The US State Department says it has approved the sale of more than two billion dollars' worth of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. The 500 missiles have been paid for by contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway. Ukraine needs the interceptors to defend itself from escalating Russian attacks, but there is a global shortage due to their use by the US in its war against Iran. Also: Russia's most prominent independant paper closes after years of state persecution. Shares in US technology companies fall sharply for a second day on Wall Street as concerns rise over the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in AI. Police Scotland confirm that they're looking into the time the King's brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor spent with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the British Royal Family's Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire. A row in South Korea over pictures from a deadly crush being used in the latest Call of Duty video game. And Ken Russell fans gear up to see a newly restored and uncensored classic by the late acclaimed British film director.
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: U.S. Army MIM-104 Patriots, surface-to-air missile (SAM) system launchers are pictured at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Poland March 24, 2022
Credit: Reuters

Officials confirm the evacuation of the Ukrainian city of Oleshky is under way. Russia and Ukraine have agreed a temporary local ceasefire. People who decided to leave Oleshky had a four-hour window to do so.
Also: Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, has been hit by what could be the biggest hack in history. We report from Syria, two years on from the fall of the Assad regime. Experts say the online “manosphere” should be treated as a public health issue. We look at what role Israel’s president will play in the outcome of the general election. And researchers say eating fruit and vegetable scraps could provide a health boost that most of us are missing.
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: Residents in Oleshky, Ukraine, 30th October 2026.
Credit: Reuters

The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has questioned a massive oil deal agreed between Caracas and Washington earlier this year. The accord will see Venezuela hand over twenty per cent of its oil reserves to the US. Speaking at a news conference after her return from exile over the weekend, Ms Machado insisted elections would be held next year, as part of the democratic transition she said was backed by the US. Also: Spanish families desperately search local hospitals in the hope of finding relatives who were hurt in the Toledo train disaster on Wednesday. America's First Lady, Melania Trump, says the ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Olezhky has been expanded within the Kherson region. The British actor, Patrick Stewart, who gained fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek, has died at the age of 86. The Republican governor of Alaska has ordered an investigation into an alleged scheme which led to two men named Dan Sullivan standing in the state's US Senate race. Mike Dunleavy said he was responding to a New York Times story alleging that Democratic party operatives recruited a spoiler candidate. At least 300,000 people could be at risk of future natural disasters in the Himalayas, and we hear from Iranians planning to celebrate Halloween despite the risk of arrest.
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: Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses the press in Caracas.
Credit: Reuters/Gaby Oráa

More than a dozen people are killed by a jet-powered drone from Russia as they board a train from a crowded platform in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Also: following the election in Israel, Arab-led parties could hold the balance of power. Would they ever agree to join a coalition government? Rescuers are still searching the wreckage of a crash involving two high-speed trains in Spain. There's been outrage in South Korea after the makers of the video game Call of Duty include footage from a real-life tragedy that killed nearly 160, most of them young people. And Britain is looking at ways to verify the age of teenagers ahead of a social media ban for under-16s - but will it work?
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: emergency workers at railway station in Dnipro, Ukraine after Russian drone strike 
Credit: Reuters