Global News Podcast BBC Podcasts

Ursula von der Leyen says the result comes with great responsibility for the parties on the political centre. The reactions in France following a surprise parliamentary election. Plus analysis on why voters have backed far right parties in such large numbers. Also: the BBC speaks to the widow of the IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi about the persecution of Yazidis in Iraq, and the South African photographer who's won international acclaim for challenging discrimination.

The French president Emmanuel Macron has called elections on 30 June and 7 July, after exit polls show his party is set to be trounced by National Rally in the European elections. Also: Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quits the emergency government, and tributes are paid to the popular TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley who was found dead on the Greek island of Symi.

The high representative of the EU, Josep Borrell, said that reports of -- what he called -- "another massacre of civilians" were appalling. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than two hundred Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raid, to rescue the four hostages. Also: President Biden says France remains America's best friend, after a wide-ranging discussion with his French counterpart in the Élysée palace, and tributes are paid to the Nasa "Earthrise" astronaut William Anders who has died in a plane crash aged 90.

Christian nearly drowned while swimming in the sea in Italy as a child. He returned to the beach with his wife and child - only to find that Yuri, the man who saved his life, was still there. The two men tell us about their emotional reunion and the profound effect the experience has had on them.
Also: The New York couple who found a safe full of cash, and get to keep it, thanks to the increasingly popular hobby of magnet fishing.
We speak to Yazzy Chamberlain and her grandad John, whose duets of classic songs have earned them millions of online viewers -- including Coldplay.
How the powers of nature are being used to help solve water shortages in Mexico City by cleaning polluted rivers.
The skull of a giant prehistoric bird known as the demon duck has been found in Australia.
And don't waste a moment - the final message from Rob Burrow, rugby league star and Motor Neurone Disease campaigner.
Our weekly collection of happy news and positive stories from around the world.

Israel's envoy to the UN says he's been informed of the decision, which has not been confirmed by the UN. The report on children and armed conflict will also include Hamas and Islamic Jihad. President Biden has spoken in defence of democracy, and against isolationism, on the site of a Nazi stronghold stormed by American troops on D-Day. We explore the impact of YouTube's new restrictions on gun videos in reducing youth violence. And, the stress suffered by students in China as they face end-of-high school exams.

President Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have been meeting in Paris, a day after they both attended commemorations of the Second World War D-Day landings. Mr Biden apologised for delays to the delivery of military aid, caused by some Republicans in Congress, but stressed that the US would not walk away from Ukraine. Also: the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologises for skipping the main D-Day commemoration event in Normandy; and workers at the tech giant Samsung go on strike for the first time.