Newshour BBC Podcasts

A BBC investigation has located one of Europe's most wanted people smugglers in Iraq. Barzan Majeed, nicknamed the Scorpion, admitted trafficking thousands of people, knowing it was illegal and dangerous. He is still operating, after being deported from the United Kingdom eight years ago.
Also in the programme: UNWRA closes it headquarters in Jerusalem following attacks; and why the future of the African penguin is threatened with extinction.
(Picture: Barzan Majeed. Credit: BBC)

Israeli tanks mass near the southern Gazan city of Rafah - as tens of thousands flee the area. Meanwhile US President Joe Biden faces fierce criticism at home for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel.
Also in the programme: a BBC investigation uncovers evidence that police in Saudi Arabia were authorised to kill people resisting the vast and controversial Neom development project. And we hear about Ukraine's plans to recruit prisoners for the frontline, after Russia's convict recruitment programme attracted widespread disapproval.
(IMAGE: Israeli military vehicles are seen near the Israel-Gaza Border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in southern Israel, May 9, 2024 / CREDIT: Reuters / Amir Cohen)

A British girl born deaf can now hear unaided after a ground-breaking gene-therapy treatment. Opal Sandy was treated shortly before her first birthday and six months on can hear sounds as soft as a whisper and is starting to talk. Opal is part of a trial recruiting patients in the UK, US and Spain.

Also in the programme: the advocacy group Human Rights Watch has accused Sudan's Rapid Support Force of possible genocide in the city of El Geneina in Darfur; and US president Joe Biden has issued his strongest warning yet to Israel against launching a full-scale military assault on Rafah in southern Gaza.

Picture: Opal Sandy, who has received a ground-breaking so that she can hear unaided, reads with her mother Jo at their home. Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

The US has confirmed that it suspended an arms shipment to Israel as its operation in Rafah intensifies.
Also in the programme: our Berlin correspondent investigates Germany's strengthening far-right; and the ancient rock found by a lockdown gardener in Britain.


(Picture: Destroyed houses and mosque between Khan Younis and Rafah. Credit: Shutterstock)

The US last week paused a bomb shipment for Israel over concerns it was going ahead with a major ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior US administration official said. Israel has not "fully addressed" US concerns over humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, the official said. An Israeli military official appeared to play down the US move. We hear analysis from the US and reaction from Israel.
Also on the programme: How emissions from ships may be contributing to higher ocean temperatures; and the man who shaped the personality cult of North Korea’s ruling family.
(Picture: Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah Credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Salem)

Israel vows to continue attacks in Rafah as the UN chief warns of worsening humanitarian situation; also in the programme, Stormy Daniels appears at Trump’s hush money trial; Putin begins his fifth term in office; and Sir Owl, the Nepalese man dedicated to conserving owls.
(Photo: Smoke in Rafah following and Israeli attack. Credit: Shutterstock)