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Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

The US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned that the threat from China to Taiwan could be imminent at a major security gathering in Singapore. Mr Hegseth has called on US regional allies to help increase defence spending as he believes Beijing is seeking regional domination.Also in the programme: We discuss the latest on the humanitarian situation in Gaza as the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA says 2 million Palestinians are being left to either starve or be killed by Israel.(Photo: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers his speech during Shangri-la Dialogue Defence Summit in Singapore, 31 May 2025. CREDIT: Photo...

After a very high profile period in proximity to Donald Trump Elon Musk today steps back from working for the government on DOGE - the department of government efficiency - and goes back to running his businesses. So what has he achieved? Also on the programme: Will the Romanian golden helmet that was stolen from a Dutch museum ever be found? How come Western countries are paying more to Russia for oil and gas than they are paying to Ukraine for its defence? And we look back at the life of the man who invented the abortion pill.(Photo: Elon...

There has been a new warning from the UN that Gaza's entire population is at risk of famine despite the partial lifting of an Israeli blockade.Hamas is still considering its official response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza while insisting the plan does not meet its core demands. The United States says Israel has accepted the draft. Also on the programme: as a US court reinstates Donald Trump's tariffs, how do trade negotiators deal with the switchback ride?; and an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which men with prostate cancer can benefit most from a drug that...

Trump’s tariffs were initially banned – before being overturned within a day. A federal court had blocked the tariffs on Wednesday night after three judges ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority when introducing them. But just a day later the decision was temporarily paused after a federal appeal court reinstated the tariffs. The White House now says they will “win this battle in court”. We explain what it all means and dig deeper into the legal aspect of the economic measures.Also on the programme: Israel has announced a major expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. More tha...

The Israeli government has announced twenty-two new settlements in the West Bank, which would be illegal under international law. We explore how the move would affect the future of a two-state solution.We also look at the distribution of desperately needed aid in the Gaza Strip, where there are questions over the ability of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to continue operations.Also in the programme: a US court has ruled President Donald Trump exceeded his mandate when he imposed tariffs on global trade; and the Swiss village destroyed by a massive landslide.(Photo: an Israeli solider in the West...

A French court has sentenced a doctor thought to be the country's most prolific ever paedophile to a further twenty years in jail. Joel Le Scouarnec had admitted abusing nearly three hundred people, many of them children under sedation.Also in the programme: on the front line in the east of Ukraine; and the Czechs accuse the Chinese of a state-sponsored cyber attack.(Picture: A man carries a banner reading 'Listen to us' during a demonstration in support of Joel Le Scouarnec's victims on the verdict day of the trial of the French surgeon in Vannes, France, 28 May 2025. Credit: EPA)

The Trump administration regard many of the US’s most prestigious universities as hotbeds of antisemitism and left-wing ideology. In addition to threatening to remove millions of dollars in funding the State Department has now issued a ban to American embassies around the world to stop holding student visa appointments. Social media vetting is also expected to be introduced for prospective students from abroad.Also on the programme: the V&A museum in London is giving the public the opportunity to choose which objects they want to see at the brand-new East Storehouse, a site that combines storage space with ar...

Palestinians crowds storm a Gaza aid distribution hub, backed by the US and Israel, on its first full day of operation; and the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells Newshour that Israel is committing war crimes.Also in the programme: King Charles III address Canada's parliament; the forty-thousand-year-old fingerprint.(Picture: A man carries a box as Palestinians seeking aid gather near an aid distribution site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 27, 2025. Credit: Reuters)

The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid group, backed by Israel and the US, claims to have started delivering food to Gaza - but who's actually running it, and why? We also hear from a doctor in Gaza on the impact of the shortages, and from one of over 800 British lawyers calling on the UK government to fulfil its international legal obligations in relation to Israel.Also in the programme: King Charles prepares to address the Canadian parliament -- in what's been seen as a show of support for the country in its dispute with President Trump; and high expectations for...

Also in the programme: English police have arrested a man after a car ploughed through a crowd after the victory parade for Liverpool football club. And as Venezuela's government congratulates itself on a huge victory's in Sunday's election, the leader of the opposition tells us why she ordered a boycott of the vote. (Photo: Palestinian girl suffering from malnutrition is watched over by her grandmother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 26th May 2025. Credit: Haitham Imad/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate Khan Younis in southern Gaza ahead of what it calls an "unprecedented attack". We hear the latest from Jerusalem as the fighting - and suffering - intensifies.Also in the programme: President Trump accuses Vladimir Putin of going "absolutely crazy" for attacking Ukraine, and repeats his threat of more sanctions. We ask what effect new sanctions might have on Russia’s economy? And we remember German-French film-maker Marcel Ophuls, whose work revealed the extent of French collaboration with the Nazis. (IMAGE: A girl crying during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Khan Yo...

Spain's foreign minister has called for an arms embargo against Israel, at the start of a meeting in Madrid aimed at bringing an end to the war in Gaza.Also in the programme: Events across the United States are marking the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd - whose murder by police sparked mass protests for racial justice; and Venezuela is holding parliamentary and regional elections - but opposition leaders have urged people not to vote, calling the process a sham.(Photo: Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares addresses the media ahead of the second meeting of the...

We get the latest accounts of the deaths of nine children in one medical family in Gaza - we speak to a doctor who recounts what the mother of these children told her. And we hear a response from the Israeli government to the deaths of the children. Also on the programme: Is Israel beginning to lose the backing of some Western governments? Grammy-nominated musician Anoushka Shankar tells us about her latest album; five years after the death of George Floyd, how much has changed as a result of the Black Lives Matter Movement? And the South Korean woman whose...

A Palestinian doctor was at work in Nasser hospital in Khan Younis when nine of her ten children were killed and her husband wounded by an Israeli airstrike. It is the latest tragedy as Israel’s military campaign continues to place a huge toll on the civilian population. The Israeli military says “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review”. We hear from a Bulgarian doctor who is working at the hospital.Also in the programme: The dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for "It Was Just an Accident" -- a m...

The biggest prisoner swap to date has continued for a second day, with three hundred and seven POWs released from each side. A total of 2,000 prisoners could be allowed to return to their homes over three days. A Ukrainian official involved in coordinating the treatment of those returning home says over 95% of them were tortured. Also in the programme: the Gaza doctor and mother who’s lost nine children in an airstrike; and could the Vatican have a role in bringing peace to Ukraine? Photo: A Ukrainian soldier released from Russian captivity is reunited with his family Credit: MARIA SENOVILLA/EP...

The warning against the EU came just hours before the two sides were set to have trade talks. Trump last month announced a 20% tariff on most EU goods, but had halved it to 10% until 8 July to allow time for talks.Also on the programme: A US judge has suspended the Trump administration's decision to block Harvard University from enrolling foreign students; and Sebastião Salgado, regarded as one of the world's greatest documentary photographers, has died at the age of 81.(Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he is expected to sign executive orders at the White House in W...

The Israeli military says it's struck more than seventy-five sites that it described as 'terror targets'. Medics in Gaza say at least 22 people have been killed. Newshour hears from Moshe Lavee, a professor at Haifa University on how his opposition to the war reached a wider audience.Also in the programme: programming language Java turns 30; and a tanker's near miss in Norway.(Picture: The remains of a destroyed car sit among the rubble of a building following an Israeli airstrike west of Gaza City, in Gaza Strip, 23 May 2025. Credit: EPA)

President Trump has welcomed a vote in the US House of Representatives approving a bill which extends huge tax cuts, and spending increases. It will be funded by government debt.Also in the programme: A gunman kills two Israeli embassy staff in Washington; and competition for resources on the Svalbard archipelago.(Picture: President Donald Trump with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A young Jewish couple who worked for the Israeli Embassy have been shot dead leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington DC. The gunman was arrested at the scene. We hear the latest from DC, plus reaction from Israel.Also in the programme: the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passes a mammoth piece of legislation to deliver President Trump's domestic agenda; and Germany stations a military brigade abroad for the first time since World War Two.

In an extraordinary Oval Office meeting, President Trump ambushes the South African president with claims of white farmers being persecuted.We hear a response from Mzwanele Nyhontso, the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development for South Africa. Also on the programme: how the Italian authorities dealt a blow to a powerful international arm of the mafia – the 'Ndrangheta; and a conservation success story from India, saving the Asiatic Lion.(Photo: US President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article that he said it’s about white South Africans who had been killed in the Oval Office. Credit: Reuters)

As Gaza residents wait for aid, health officials say more than 40 people have been killed by air strikes overnight, as Israel continues its new offensive. We hear from a man who lives in Gaza City and from Israel's ambassador at the United Nations.Also in the programme: The Sudanese army says it now controls all of Khartoum state - recaptured from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces; and we talk to the winner of the International Booker prize, Indian writer Banu Mushtaq.(Photo: Israeli security forces stand near trucks with aid entering Gaza from Israel, near the Kerem Shalom crossing, close...

The British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has announced the suspension of negotiations with Israel on a new trade agreement - due to what he called its "intolerable" and "abominable" recent actions in Gaza. The World Health Organisation says two million people in Gaza are starving. As Israel allows some aid in after an eleven week blockade, the British government says it's nowhere near enough. Also on the programme: Tanzania detains two prominent human rights activists who had travelled to Dar es Salaam to observe an opposition leader’s treason case. And we'll have an appreciation of a ballet maestro with an...

The United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has told the BBC that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within the next two days unless aid can reach them. He said baby food brought into the territory by five trucks on Monday was "a drop in the ocean". Israel has blocked all aid from entering Gaza for the past 11 weeks, saying it was putting pressure on Hamas, which it accuses of stealing aid. The UN says permission has now been given for a further 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza on Tuesday. Medical workers in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 60...

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have spoken by phone to discuss the war in Ukraine and how to end it. So what's changed? We'll get analysis from Moscow and Washington.Also on the programme: a very limited re-start of aid to Gaza from Israel, after an eleven-week blockade; and as a new exhibition opens in London, featuring a replica of John Lennon's childhood bedroom, we hear from his sister. (Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with students and teachers at a concert hall of a music school as he visits the Sirius educational centre...

Britain and the European Union have agreed a series of deals aimed at resetting relations following Brexit, which saw the UK vote to leave the bloc in 2016. The new agreements on issues including trade, fishing rights and defence co-operation were unveiled at a UK-EU summit in London.Also in the programme: Joe Biden is diagnosed with prostate cancer and; we find out about a special exhibition about John Lennon in London…from his sister.(Picture: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. Credit: Getty Images)

The Romanian presidential election run-off has pitted a hard-right, nationalist candidate - a self-declared fan of Donald Trump and critic of the European Union - against an avowedly PRO-EU, liberal candidate. Despite exit polls projecting a win for pro-EU Nicusor Dan, once polls closed, his opponent George Simeon claimed victory. We speak to a backer of Nicusor. Also on the programme: Former UN official Martin Griffiths shares his thoughts on the humanitarian situation in Gaza following recent Israeli offensives; and a look at the London musical that pays homage to rock n’ roll star Sister Rosetta Tharpe.(Photo: Bucharest mayor an...

Health authorities in Gaza say the Israeli military has killed dozens of people in another wave of strikes. They say all public hospitals in the northern Gaza strip are now out of service. The offensive is continuing even as in direct negotiations on a ceasefire are being held between Israel and Hamas in Qatar. We speak to Martin Griffiths, who was up until last year the most senior humanitarian official at the United Nations.Also in the programme: voters in Romania are voting in a second round run-off in their presidential election; Pope Leo XIV has held his inauguration mass...

Hamas has confirmed it's started a new round of ceasefire talks with Israel, as the IDF continues its new offensive in Gaza. Newshour hears from Gaza City itself.Also in the programme: Voyager 1 reactivates its thrusters; and Eurovision gets underway in Switzerland.(Picture: A Palestinian makes his way with belongings as he flees his home, after Israeli air strikes, in the northern Gaza Strip. Credit: Reuters)

The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) has announced they have mobilised troops to defeat Hamas and secure the freedom of the remaining hostages. Bombardment has intensified and troops are gathering near the borders. We get an on-the-ground update and speak to a father whose son is being held hostage in Gaza.Also on the programme: Romanians return to the polls tomorrow for a defining Presidential election which will shape the country's future, and, we speak to the producer of a Taiwanese TV show which depicts a fictional Chinese invasion on the controversy surrounding the programme.(Photo: Israeli tanks stand near the...

The UN's human rights chief Volker Turk has condemned Israel for its escalating bombardments of Gaza, saying it's apparently seeking to permanently displace the population and that this amounts to ethnic cleansing. We speak to a young mother and aid worker in Gaza and a politician from Israel's ruling party.Also in the programme: A breakthrough in gene editing therapy, after a promising treatment of a baby in the US; and how just appearing on the Eurovision Song Contest can be enough to help new talent taste success.(Photo: Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee their homes...

The civil defence agency in Gaza says the Israeli military has killed almost one-hundred people in the past twelve hours in another intense wave of strikes in the north. The Israeli military said it had hit scores of "terror targets" and was trying to dismantle their infrastructure. We will hear why the medical charity MSF rejects a new plan to deliver some aid to Gaza by the US-backed organisation the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.Also in the programme: the first direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in more than three years have led to an agreement to swap 1,000 prisoners of war, and the American...

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he's still ready for talks with Russia's President Putin, but that Moscow is not serious about negotiations. He was speaking in Turkey, where he's met President Erdogan. Mr Zelensky accused Russia of disrespecting Turkey and the United States by sending a comparatively low- level delegation to Istanbul for talks, after Mr Putin decided not to attend. Mr Zelensky said he'd nevertheless send a delegation there, led by his defence minister.Also in the programme: More deadly Israeli airstrikes in Gaza - more than 100 people killed; and President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship is...

President Zelensky has arrived in Turkey for peace talks with Russia but Vladimir Putin isn't there - and the Ukrainian leader has accused the Kremlin of sending “stand-in props” instead.Also on the programme: how the expansion of renewable energy sources is now driving down China's emissions of greenhouse gases; and the surprise discovery of an original version of one of the earliest and most important bills of rights in history – the Magna Carta.(Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint media statement with Malaysia's prime minister following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 14 May 2025. Credit: EPA-EF...

Health officials in Gaza say Israel has killed more than eighty people on Wednesday as its bombardment of Gaza intensifies. We hear from Tomo Potokar, a surgeon at a hospital that's come under fire. The former head of Mossad, Danny Yatom, tells us why Israeli reservists are speaking out against the war in Gaza.Also, evidence from Uganda that chimps practice first aid with medicinal herbs. And the changing mood in Poland towards refugees from neighbouring Ukraine.(Photo: Gazans inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in the north of the Gaza strip on May 14, 2025. Credit: REUTERS...

Donald Trump has met the interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa -- a day after Washington announced it would lift all US sanctions placed on Syria. The meeting, which took place in Saudi Arabia, is seen as a significant moment for the new Syrian leader, who is a former jihadist, once linked to al-Qaeda. Newshour hears from US businessman Jonathan Bass, who led a US delegation earlier this month to Damascus, and from Syria's minister for social affairs and labour, Hind Kabawat.Also in the programme: chimps using first aid; and an interview with author Isabel Allende.(Picture: Syrian President Ahmed...

The US and Saudi Arabia say they have signed commercial deals worth $142bn during Donald Trump's ongoing trip in the Middle East. Also on the programme, the head of the UN agency for Palestinians has told the BBC that Israel's blockade of food deliveries to Palestinians inside Gaza constitutes a war crime; and, a self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.(Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman exchange a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during...

US president Donald Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia on his first major overseas tour of his second term. He attended a lavish lunch with some of America’s most prominent economic and tech leaders He will then fly on to Qatar - which has controversially gifted him an airliner to replace Air Force One - and then the United Arab Emirates.Also in the programme: the head of the main UN agency for Palestinians has told the BBC that Israel's blockade of food deliveries to Palestinians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, a claim that Israel denies; and we sp...

The Israeli military says Edan Alexander, the last living hostage in Gaza with US citizenship, has returned to Israel after being released by Hamas. Also on the programme, global stocks have risen after the United States and China agreed to reduce tariffs on each other's goods, pausing a trade war that's caused huge economic disruption; and, how Britain's prime minister is making a risky move on immigration.(Photo: A woman touches a picture of the Israeli-American hostage, Edan Alexander, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, on the day Edan Alexander is expected to be released from captivity by...

China and the United States have agreed to major tariff cuts during talks in Geneva. US tariffs on most Chinese goods will drop to 30%, while China will charge US products 10%. We hear from economist Alicia Garcia Herrero.Also in the programme: Kurdish militants PKK to disarm; Afrikaner refugees arrive in the US.(Picture: US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference after two days of closed-door discussions on trade between the United States and China, in Geneva, Switzerland. Credit: Photo by EPA)