Newshour BBC Podcasts

The Palestinian President says only the US can prevent an Israeli attack on Rafah. Efforts are underway to negotiate a truce between Israel and Hamas to safeguard the southern Gaza city where more than a million have fled. The US Secretary of State is meeting Arab leaders to discuss the situation.
Also in the programme: South Africa's democratic credentials, 30 years after the country's first true elections; Sophie Trudeau, wife of the Canadian prime minister, on separation and survival.
(Photo: A Palestinian girl at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah last week. Credit: Reuters)

About 100 people have been detained at Northeastern University in the US city of Boston as police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest. It's the latest standoff in a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins at campuses around the United States.
Also in the programme: A resident of Haiti tells us he wants his country to be "occupied" to stop gang violence; and celebrations in South Africa marking 30 years since the first ever free and fair election in 1994.
(Photo: Police watch as pro-Palestinian students occupy a tent encampment in the grounds of Northeastern University while calling for the school to divest from Israel. Boston, USA, 26 April 2024. Credit: CJ Gunther/ EPA-EFE /REX/Shutterstock)

South Africa is marking 30 years since its first democratic elections, but the ANC could lose its grip on power due to endemic corruption, record levels of crime and unemployment, and infrastructure problems.
Also in the programme: thousands of people in Australia take to the street to demand action following a surge in violence against women; and a hole in the ozone layer is causing problems for wildlife in the Antarctic.
(Photo: Supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) in Soweto, South Africa. Credit: Reuters).

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

In an interview with the BBC, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China is “helping Russia perpetuate its aggression against Ukraine”. But is there anything the US can do to stop it?
Also in the programme: large scale trials begin of the first personalised anti-cancer mRNA vaccines, given in combination with antibodies as a treatment for the skin cancer melanoma; and Denmark abolishes a public holiday - to spend more money on defence.
(IMAGE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 26, 2024. / CREDIT: Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

At a hearing in Washington DC, Donald Trump's lawyers have been arguing that he cannot be tried for his alleged crimes, which include conspiring to overturn the 2020 US presidential election. We ask lawyer Amy Howe what this all means for him and his political future.
Also in the programme: a new transitional council is sworn in to lead Haiti amid continuing violence and chaos; and the so-called 'Pushkin plot' to steal rare books from libraries across Europe and replace them with fakes.
(Photo: US Supreme Court hears Trump immunity case, Washington. Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)