Global News Podcast

Former French president Sarkozy is given five-year sentence

Thu, 25 Sep 2025

The former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in jail after he was found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case related to millions of euros of illicit funds from the late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Also: the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the United Nations General Assembly via video link, the BBC releases a film calling for international journalists to be allowed into Gaza, and Bolivia’s former anti-drugs chief is arrested after cocaine lab was found on his property. Fake Labubu dolls make up 90 per cent of all counterfeit toys seized at UK borders, Zimbabwe’s quest to become Africa’s blueberry capital, and how yoghurt might have helped the late Maria Branyas Morera live to 117.
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

Fatal shooting at Texas ICE facility

Thu, 25 Sep 2025

President Trump says US immigration staff are facing an unprecedented increase in attacks by what he called 'Deranged Radical Leftists'; he made his comment after a deadly gun attack at an immigration centre in Dallas. 'Anti-ICE' messaging was found on ammunition at the scene. Also: Syria's first head of state to speak at the UN General Assembly for nearly sixty years calls for all sanctions on his country to be lifted, China commits to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by up to ten percent, and we meet the history-making astronauts headed for the Moon.

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

Kremlin: Russia is a real bear

Wed, 24 Sep 2025

Russia hits back at the US President Donald Trump, after he called the nation a 'paper tiger'. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said 'Russia is generally associated with a bear. There are no paper bears. Russia is a real bear.' We unpack the importance of words in the US-Russia relationship and whether President Trump’s comments will have any impact on the ground in Ukraine. As Syria’s interim President, Ahmed Al Sharaa, addresses the United Nations General Assembly, Syrians in Damascus give us their opinion. Also: Super Typhoon Ragasa causes chaos in southern China, a landmark deal to slash the price of injectable HIV prevention drugs, and a breakthrough in treating Huntington’s disease. Plus: Denmark’s prime minister apologises to the victims of a forced contraceptive programme in Greenland and Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show returns to our screens, after being suspended by ABC.

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

Trump says Kyiv can win back 'all of Ukraine'

Wed, 24 Sep 2025

President Trump has said Kyiv can 'win all of Ukraine back in its original form', marking a major shift in his position on the war with Russia. His comments came after talks with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Also, a super typhoon is heading towards the southern Chinese coast, where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. We hear from Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who says he has survived attempts on his life and is a target of Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group affiliated to Al-Qaeda. And, one of the greats of Italian cinema, Claudia Cardinale, has died at the age of 87. We look back at her life.

Guterres opens UN Assembly accusing countries of 'flouting international law'

Tue, 23 Sep 2025

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has opened the eightieth General Assembly in New York with a warning that some countries are flouting international law. Donald Trump used his address to dismiss the UN as an organisation that had lost its purpose. We also break down the US President and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's unsubstantiated claims linking the use of paracetamol during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism in children. Denmark's prime minister says she's not ruling out Russian involvement after Copenhagen and Oslo airports were closed by drones flying nearby. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, at the same time as increasing ties with Russia. Hong Kong and southern China are bracing for 'super typhoon Ragasa', with schools and businesses closed and shelves reportedly stripped of goods. NASA has announced 10 new astronaut candidates - selected from a pool of eight thousand, and the curious case of a man in South Korea who was prosecuted for taking a snack from an office fridge without permission.