Newshour BBC Podcasts

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is underway, with a flotilla of boats taking the athletes down the River Seine as an accordionist plays Piaf on a bridge. The rain has for now abated, sparing the hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered on the quays and bridges. Meanwhile, the French intelligence services are hunting those who disrupted the Olympic festivities by sabotaging the high-speed rail lines into Paris -- also affecting locals setting off for the summer holidays.
Hospital staff in Bangladesh say plain-clothes police have taken away three leaders of the recent student protests. They were being treated in Dhaka for injuries allegedly sustained in custody.
And we will hear about the nationwide women only student organization in America, that Kamala Harris hopes will help her win the presidency.
(Photo: A torchbearer runs atop the Musee d'Orsay during the opening ceremony. Credit: REUTERS/Peter Cziborra)

The French rail network has been disrupted by a series of acts of sabotage, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers - just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony gets under way in Paris. Also on the programme, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia's troubled Tigray region; and, a crisis for Japanese deer as tourists behave inappropriately.
(Photo: A SNCF railway worker carries cable wires at the site where vandals targeted France's high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, in Croisilles, northern France July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

President Biden is meeting the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Mr Biden has previously criticised Israel for the number of Palestinian civilians killed during its war against Hamas. He has made clear that he wants to ensure that a deal to end the war and free the hostages will be delivered during his last six months in office. We speak to Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son, Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was captured by Hamas on October 7th and has been held in Gaza for the past 10 months. Jonathan is part of a delegation of hostage families who have travelled to Washington to meet with Mr Biden and prime minister Netanyahu.
We have a special report on how drones are being used - close to the Ukraine-Russia frontline - our correspondent has been on that frontline.
And we will look at took ahead to Sunday's Presidential Election in Venezuela.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)

In his first address to the nation since he pulled out of the presidential race, President Biden said saving democracy is more important than personal ambition. Also in the programme: Rescue teams in Taiwan race to save the crew of a sunken ship in the wake of Typhoon Gaemi; and will Deadpool and Wolverine revive Marvel’s fortunes?

(Photo: Biden in the Oval Office. Credit: Reuters)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed both chambers of the US Congress in a bid to bolster support for his country's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Also on the programme: Germany bans an Iranian-linked group accusing it of promoting extremism; and we hear from the scene of two landslides in a remote region of Ethiopia, which have killed more than 200 people.
(Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the US Capitol. Credit: Getty Images)

Some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults suffered abuse while in social care in New Zealand over the last 70 years, a landmark investigation has found.
New Zealand's prime minister says it's a "dark day" for the country. We'll hear from a survivor of abuse in the system about the impact it's had.
Also in the programme: Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the US Congress in Washington DC today amid protests, and ahead of the Olympics in Paris, there is a spy-drone scandal.
(Photo shows survivors of the care system looking emotional in New Zealand. Credit: Getty Images)