Global News Podcast BBC Podcasts
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- News
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The day’s top stories from BBC News. Delivered twice a day on weekdays, daily at weekends.
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Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen testifies at former president's criminal trial
Mr Cohen told the court he conspired to bury stories harmful to Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. Villagers close to Ukraine's north eastern border with Russia are moved away from their homes as Ukraine's military fights to contain recent Russian incursions. In Israel, fighting continues in parts of Gaza with clashes reported around Rafah. A big search and rescue operation is underway in Afghanistan after heavy rains cause flash flooding in the north. A former Kazakh economy minister is jailed for murdering his wife. A minute's silence is held in South Africa to mark one week since 30 people died when a building collapsed. A group of international politicians, named in the trial of the imprisoned democracy activist Jimmy Lai offer to testify as witnesses. A high court in Germany upholds a ruling that the intelligence services can investigate the far-right AfD party as a 'suspected extremist' organisation. One of Europe's most wanted people-smugglers -- nicknamed "The Scorpion" -- has been arrested in Iraq. And, Rome's Opera House stages a sleepover for 130 children. Top news and analysis from our correspondents around the world.
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Riot police face off against protesters in Tbilisi
Tens of thousands of Georgians demonstrate all night against a Russian-style foreign agents bill. Also: Release due for Chinese woman jailed over Covid reporting in Wuhan, how powerful is Hamas after seven months of war with Israel and raise a glass for World Cocktail Day.
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Russian reshuffle: Putin replaces defence minister
Russian President Vladimir Putin is replacing his long-standing ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister. Mr Shoigu, who has played a key role in the war in Ukraine, is to be appointed the head of Russia's Security Council. Also: The government crackdown on dissent in Tunisia, and the geologist who claims to have solved the mystery of where the Mona Lisa was painted.
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EU condemns Israel’s Rafah evacuation orders
Israel is planning an assault on Hamas fighters in Rafah and orders tens of thousands more Palestinians to leave. Also: Switzerland wins the Eurovision Song Contest while Israel came fifth, and mass demonstrations in Georgia over a controversial proposed law.
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The Happy Pod: From pollution to paradise
The volunteers restoring the beautiful beaches of Bali and beyond by clearing plastic pollution from Indonesia's rivers, and upcycling it into chairs. The profits are used to fund more river clean ups.
The deaf toddler who has near normal hearing after groundbreaking gene therapy.
Why are hundreds of sea lions gathering at Pier 39 in San Francisco?
After seagull boy, we bring you lion girl - the five year old whose amazing lion roar has been viewed millions of times.
We chat to two old friends who reconnected -- and then studied why old friends find it hard to reconnect.
And we meet the football fan who moved to a new country to support his team in the English Premier League.
Our weekly collection of the happiest stories in the world. -
UN assembly urges Palestine membership after vote
The United Nations General Assembly has enhanced Palestine's rights within the organisation and called for it to be accepted as a member. Also: India court grants bail to jailed opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal, and how important is it to read the small print?
Customer Reviews
Generally Unbiased
Excellent unbiased reporting on world affairs. Sometimes skews to the left on Climate and UK Politics stories. Random stories and the Happy Pod and generally irrelevant and have no bearing on world news.
Public broadcaster puts up paywall.
Shameful practice of locking out information to lower income people. Making news and nuanced perspective the purview of the privileged is corrosive and leads to the disintegration of an informed public. That BBC paywalls the information like this is a disgrace to its core mission of public broadcasting.
A Long Tradition of Careful, Thorough and Balanced Reporting
All news from professional journalistic sources once aspired to the caliber of reporting the BBC World Service routinely delivers still. The value of thorough, neutral fact finding from experienced and talented professional journalists cannot be overstated in the current “news” marketplace. The Global News Podcast is one of my most trusted sources for news and information. I rarely miss an installment. I choose to subscribe specifically because I want the BBC to realize your listeners value what you provide. Don’t tell the higher-ups, but I would pay more.
Do tell them, however, it is critical that you continue. Every western public broadcaster is periodically asked to make cuts. Please don’t cut this podcast when the next request comes. Remind those higher-ups that one of your American competitors has the mast-head slogan: “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. And while you could once be forgiven for thinking that a tad melodramatic and self-important, as I once did, I do so no longer. The January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in Washington shocked advocates of the rule of law and the democracies it underpins. The malignancy allowed to grow into that attack is a darkness of sorts, certainly, one with its roots in the real “fake news”.
This podcast, your BBC colleagues and the select few around the globe that adhere to the same standards of journalistic excellence, are the best protection democracies have against the spread of anti-democratic extremism around the world. Look no further than the number of democracies electing and re-electing authoritarian leaders. Without the understanding your journalistic rigor brings, ignorance and its progeny extremism, will spread. Remind those higher-ups of this, right after you extend to them my thanks for helping to push back that darkness.
Scott Nicoll
Vancouver, BC Canada