Episode notes
French students set fire to bins and erected blockades outside schools, as they protest against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities. Hundreds of people have been arrested and dozens injured. Fires have broken out at some schools that are being blockaded. President Macron said concerns over funding and studying conditions were legitimate but do not justify violence. Also, from the US: the family of Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, is suing the Trump administration. The Tennessee prisoner who survived a botched execution, Christa Pike,…
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Global News Podcast
BBC World Service · News · English
The day's headlines and current affairs from around the world, twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends.
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4 Oct 2026 · 28 min
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4 Oct 2026 · 28 min
Failed US execution sparks death penalty debate
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3 Oct 2026 · 28 min
The Happy Pod: Fat Bear Week returns
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3 Oct 2026 · 26 min
Christa Pike: What next after failed execution?
Christa Pike's legal representatives say the convicted murderer is unconscious and on a ventilator in hospital in Tennessee, after surviving two lethal injections on Wednesday. They have requested that all evidence related to the incident be preserved. We hear the account of Nashville reporter Steven Hale, one of a small number of journalists who witnessed the botched execution. Also: G7 leaders agree to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude reserves, days after President Trump's threat to ban diesel exports from the US. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the woman at the…
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2 Oct 2026 · 28 min
Hero pilot tells his story from hospital bed
An Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, says he fought to open the cockpit door of the stricken Flydubai airliner because he was determined to save the lives of his passengers and crew. Also: Washington urges European countries to start using their diesel reserves. We look at the student demonstrations against school conditions in France, where there have been more violent clashes. Kenya is at a crossroads, as its young people challenge the political elites who've governed the country for decades. The English football club, Manchester City, files an appeal against an independent commission's ruling…
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1 Oct 2026 · 30 min
US death row inmate survives execution attempt
The US state of Tennessee fails to execute a woman on death row, who survived two lethal injection attempts. Christa Pike, who was convicted of murder thirty years ago, has been taken to hospital. The governor of Tennessee has ordered a temporary halt to executions. Also: A sell-off in global bond markets intensifies; government forces in Ethiopia appear to have captured the strategic town of Alamata, in the Northern Tigray Region; Cubans living in Florida create a new organisation to plan for investment in a post-communist Cuba; Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to the apparent attempt to crash a…
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1 Oct 2026 · 27 min
FlyDubai passengers recount terrifying ordeal
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it's too early to say who was behind the foiled attempt to crash an airliner travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Israeli passengers have described how they overpowered the co-pilot after he stabbed the pilot and sent the plane into a nosedive. Two other aircrew who were on board then took control and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Mr Netanyahu said investigators would examine whether the attacker had accomplices or ties to Iran. Also: Switzerland's glaciers lost more than five per cent of their ice this year as a result of…
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30 Sep 2026 · 28 min
Israel-bound flight diverted after fight between pilots
An Israel-bound flight with about 170 people on board has landed safely in Saudi Arabia after a fight broke out between pilots, triggering a hijacking alert. Two Israeli officials said the co-pilot is believed to have stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane. Officials from Tabuk airport, where the Flydubai flight landed, say they are being treated in hospital. Also; Russia has carried out another massive overnight attack on Ukraine's Kyiv region, hitting energy infrastructure and residential buildings. President Zelensky says seven people have been killed and 24 injured across…
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30 Sep 2026 · 28 min
AI bosses sign self-regulation accord
After talks with AI industry executives at the White House, President Trump says they've signed a deal to police themselves which is "morally binding". Meanwhile, he has ruled out a joint venture with China on Artificial Intelligence, saying it would amount to "giving away secrets" to Ameria's main economic rival. Also: South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation amid growing alarm about violence against women. The English Premier League confirms Manchester City have been found guilty of serious breaches of its financial rules. A man who spent 41 years on death row in the…
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29 Sep 2026 · 28 min
Israeli settlers attack West Bank village
More than 100 Israeli settlers have attacked a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, preventing the return of a family who'd been forced to flee their home. The Israeli army said settlers, defying a High Court order which allowed the return of the Palestinians, had hurled rocks, blocked roads and set fire to houses and vehicles in Jalud. Also: Spain's government has agreed plans to ban evictions until 2030, as it attempts to deal with a housing crisis. The proposal follows nationwide protests after an 87-year-old woman was forced to leave her home in Madrid because of a massive rent…
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