Global News Podcast

Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney dies

Tue, 04 Nov 2025

Dick Cheney, who became one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history as George W Bush's number two during 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, died Monday. He was 84. Also: Sudan's military government meets to discuss its response after its last stronghold in the Darfur region was seized by paramilitaries; New Yorkers vote for their next Mayor, and scientists in Kenya find evidence that the first humans used stone tools.

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

US government shutdown forces food aid cuts

Tue, 04 Nov 2025

The government shutdown in the United States is set to become the longest in the country's history as Democrats and Republicans fail to agree on a new budget, leaving more than 40 million Americans who rely on food stamps facing great uncertainty. The White House says it will use emergency funds to provide reduced food aid. Also: the Israeli military's former top lawyer is arrested over the leak of a video allegedly showing Palestinian detainee abuse; dozens of people are killed after an earthquake in northern Afghanistan; the BBC visits India's Bihar state ahead of elections; what's causing an Antarctic glacier to rapidly retreat; Starbucks sells part of its operations in China; fast fashion giant Shein bans sex dolls on its online platform; the latest from Prince William's trip to Brazil; a conversation with Salman Rushdie; and Indonesians rail against "ugly" glass elevator on Bali cliff.

Tanzanian president sworn in after election unrest

Mon, 03 Nov 2025

Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, begins her second term in office following hundreds of reported deaths in violence linked to a contested election. Also, as the tentative ceasefire in Gaza continues, plans are being made to rebuild the devastated territory. Valencia's provincial leader resigns after criticism over his response to devastating floods last year. Three people will stand trial in Hong Kong accused of organising events to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen killings. And the actor Anthony Hopkins reflects on a life of highs and lows at age eighty-seven. He said it had been a laugh.

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

Trump's military action threat alarms Nigeria

Mon, 03 Nov 2025

Donald Trump has suggested the US could deploy troops to Nigeria or carry out air strikes to stop what he called the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents. Unfounded claims of a Christian genocide in Nigeria have been circulating in American right-wing religious circles for months. A Nigerian presidential adviser said jihadists in the Muslim-majority north of the country were attacking all religious communities, but that Abuja would welcome US help in tackling the Islamist insurgents.

Also: the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash has told the BBC that he feels he is the luckiest man alive. Officials in Iran warn the main source of drinking water for residents of Tehran is at risk of running dry within two weeks. Flight delays continue across the US, as air traffic controllers working without pay due to the government shutdown are now calling in sick. The Maldives brings in the world's only generational smoking ban, and cricket fans across India celebrate the women's national side winning their first ever World Cup.

Nine critically injured in mass UK train stabbing

Sun, 02 Nov 2025

In the UK, counter-terrorism police are leading an investigation into a mass stabbing on a train near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Nine people are in critical condition after an attack described by witnesses as ‘like a horror film’ with passengers trying to flee through carriages and barricading themselves in bathrooms. Armed officers boarded the train and arrested two men at the scene. Also: President Donald Trump threatens military action in Nigeria, saying an attack would be ‘fast, vicious and sweet’, after accusing the government there of allowing mass killings of Christians. Spain’s foreign minister has offered one of the country’s clearest acknowledgements yet of the brutality of the sixteenth-century conquest of Mexico, and we hear from Jamaica, where Hurricane Melissa has killed at least nineteen people and left hundreds of thousands without food, power or clean water. Plus, the Pushkin Institute in Moscow unveils what it says is the longest word in the Russian language.