Global News Podcast BBC Podcasts

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?

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.

President Zelenskyy says a fierce battle is underway and people are being evacuated in the Kharkiv region. Also: tensions grow between the US and Israel over the war in Gaza and Israel's offensive on Rafah, the BBC tracks down one of Europe's biggest people smugglers, and is there a future for the African penguin?

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will "stand alone" and "fight with its fingernails", after the US warned it could halt arms shipments if Israel ordered a full-scale invasion of Rafah in Gaza. Also: Israel heads to Eurovision final despite protests; and the tech company Apple faces a backlash over the destruction of musical instruments and books in an iPad advert.

The Rapid Support Forces in Sudan are facing allegations of war crimes and genocide in West Darfur. The New York-based Human Rights Watch says the leaders of the RSF and its Arab allies should be sanctioned for deliberately targeting non-Arab communities. It says the international community has failed to respond to the scale of the crisis in Sudan. Also: Saudi Arabia is accused of using lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city, why Russia is opening an embassy in Sierra Leone - after more than three decades, Japan announces expansion of whale hunting, a supplier to the aircraft manufacturer Boeing says major parts left its factory with serious defects, and a trial to send a former Paralympian into orbit.

President Joe Biden has warned that if Israel launches a ground operation into Rafah he will not supply the offensive weapons that have been used in the past. Also: European Union to give profits from Russian assets to Ukraine, and Malaysia offers trade partners "orangutan diplomacy".