Global News Podcast

OpenAI says some of its most advanced AI models went rogue and hacked a start-up after it lost control of them during a test. The AI agents managed to break out of a restricted testing environment to carry out the cyber-attack on Hugging Face. They stole information they needed to pass an internal evaluation. Aso: US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, says the US needs nearly $70 billion to fight Iran; the head of the UN nuclear watchdog urges Tehran to let his inspectors back in; Washington is reportedly on the verge of a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia; the wreckage from a 1952 Pan Am plane is found near Puerto Rico; men wearing shorts to work in Japan spark controversy, and a new study discovers chimpanzees and bonobos use touch to reassure each other before stressful events.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: The ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone.
Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired his army commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, in one of the biggest shake-ups of the country's military leadership since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. General Syrskyi had clashed with the popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, whose own removal from office last week triggered rare mass protests in Ukraine.
Also: France becomes the first country in the EU to ban children under the age of 15 from using social media. A special report from the school in Iran where 156 people, mostly children, were killed at the start of the US-Israeli war. As Venezuela's ousted leader Nicolás Maduro is due back in court in New York, Venezuelans tell the BBC they are too focused on trying to rebuild their lives after the earthquakes to give much thought to the criminal proceedings. The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, has launched legal action against its rival Eli Lilly, accusing it of false advertising in suggesting its weight-loss drugs perform better. Animal welfare experts in Britain are looking after a marmoset monkey that was found abandoned in a laundry bag on a London bus. And we look at the new developments in sleep health technology focusing on disease prediction.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Ukraine's President Zelensky and now former Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, visit an exhibition of new Ukrainian made drone-missiles Peklo in Kyiv.
Credit: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

In Indonesia, 19 people are convicted of trafficking at least 34 babies. The leader of the group, a 70 year-old woman, was sentenced to seven years in prison. The trafficking ring illegally bought babies in West Java and sold them for adoption in Indonesia and Singapore. Also: a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah faces its first test on the ground. US military says it struck at Iran's ability to launch attacks into the Strait of Hormuz, on the tenth night in a row of US strikes. A mansion in north London, which provided vital intelligence during the Second World War, opens to the public for the first time. The deadly Ebola outbreak continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo, affecting several provinces across the country. Why no Italian tour guides will be taking visitors up Mont Blanc this week. And we look at the rise of live shopping on TikTok.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Indonesia sentences members of a baby trafficking syndicate up to 7 years in prison, Bandung - 21 Jul 2026
Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

Houthis in Yemen are seeking to broaden the impact of the US-Iran war with a blockade of Red Sea ports. The Tehran-backed group warned it would impose an "embargo" on the top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, after the two sides traded fire for the first time in years. Disruption to maritime traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb could further compound the turmoil caused by the confrontation between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Also: Donald Trump announces 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. Italy's struggle with childhood obesity. How 3D-printed batteries could change the ability to store renewable energy from solar and wind. What will the UK's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's foreign policy look like? The social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate appear in court in the US in connection with new British rape and sex-trafficking-related charges. And how fitness trackers can alert women that they are pregnant before they know it themselves.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Aramco tanks and oil pipe at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia
Credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo

In his inaugural speech in Downing Street, the new prime minister Andy Burnham says Britain needs to show the world it can regain stability. He promises a new political and economic model including measures to help people with the cost of living. He indicates his first calls to foreign leaders will include President Trump and President Zelensky. Also: US carries out strikes on Iran for ninth consecutive night, after at least three US soldiers are killed in exchange of fire over the weekend. Iran says it attacked two oil tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Thousands of demonstrators march towards parliament in Delhi, demanding reforms to India's education system. And, a day after their victory over Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final, the Spanish team return home to be greeted by enthusiastic crowds. England finished third, but one Englishman keeps on winning in the US: David Beckham. We look at his enduring appeal to advertisers in the US.  
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Photo: Andy Burnham with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, outside 10 Downing Street, after he met King Charles III and accepted his invitation to become Britain's prime minister and form a new government.
Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC