BBC

If you’re fortunate enough to have set some money aside for a rainy day the Government wants you to invest more rather than keep it all in cash savings accounts.

The Treasury, has appointed the Investment Association, alongside 19 financial services firms, to lead an industry initiative to persuade people with savings to move at least some of that money into shares.

As a nation, we invest much less than in other similar countries, but why? What puts you off and what would you need to take the plunge?

Presenter Felicity Hannah is joined by Karen Northey, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Investment Association, and David Dodgson, an Independent Financial Advisor with The Private Office to answer listener questions.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah

Producer: Craig Henderson

Editor: Jess Quayle

Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 3pm on Wednesday 20th May 2026)

President Trump has criticised Israel for continuing to strike Hezbollah targets ahead of the formal signing of a US-Iran deal in Switzerland on Friday. He said Israel didn't need to knock down an apartment block every time it was looking for someone from Hezbollah. Lebanese state media reported at least four deaths. Also: Britain's Ministry of Defence is investigating after a retired British couple said a Russian warship had fired warning shots near their yacht in the Channel on Tuesday; the US vice president JD Vance has a new memoir out - this time about religion; how illegal Iranian oil is smuggled across the mountains into Pakistan; and the Williams sisters return to Wimbledon at the ages of 44 and 46.

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: [email protected]

Photo: A car and ambulance belonging to Hezbollah's health unit damaged during an Israeli strike on the village of Al Shaabiyeh in southern Lebanon

Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

The documentary tells the story of scientific hubris through the extraordinary life of one chimp, Sheba. Now 44, she lives in sanctuary at Chimp Haven in Louisiana. Born in a cage, raised in a zoo, she spent twenty-four years in a research laboratory. Her life mirrors our evolving relationship with the animal world.

Sheba is the daughter of Nim, a famous chimp who learned sign language. Like her father, she demonstrated remarkable intelligence, learning to add, subtract, and paint. Her story traces back to a bold 1970s idea: if chimps are so genetically and behaviourally close to humans, could they help us learn about ourselves? Many scientists, like Bob Ingersoll, pursued that question through a series of behavioural and social experiments. Others pursued it through invasive biomedical research.

But the deeper they went, the shakier the premise became. As Bob reflects, much of the research proved not only scientifically flawed, but ethically troubling, often meaningless and cruel. That realisation sparked a shift. By 2016, biomedical research on chimpanzees in the U.S. had come to an end. In the UK and European Union, biomedical research ended a few years earlier.

Through Sheba’s journey, we hear about that turning point.

Featuring interviews with those who knew and worked with her, the documentary also includes zoologist Charlotte Uhlenbroek, who, drawing on years of studying chimps in the wild, guides us inside the world of primate research. The documentary confronts a question that is still unresolved: we have the need to experiment, but do we have the right?

Russia says one of its naval frigates fired warning shots near a yacht in the Channel, because the UK-registered vessel was on a "dangerous course". We hear from the retired couple on board who have spoken to the BBC's Newsnight programme.

Also on the programme - the world's leading economies meet at the G7 in France with the US-Iran war top of the agenda. And we hear about the enduring appeal of The Smiths 'The Queen Is Dead' 40 years after it became an instant indie classic.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable company after a surge in its share price. Why are people keen to invest in commercial space?

Also, Cuba's tourism feels the impact of US oil blockade as fewer people visit the country . We hear from a local tourist guide.

And will AI replace jobs of young people? We hear from a father and daughter about the challenges of finding work in the AI world.

Has Donald Trump just left the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with the biggest political headache of his life? We hear from Israel's governing Likud party.

Also on the programme:

The Russian caricaturist shot dead in Poland; the argument within the Church of England over reparations for historically profiting from slaver; and as the Williams sisters prepare to return to Wimbledon at a combined age of eighty-nine - the phenomenon of the never-ageing sports stars.

(Picture: People walk past rubble at the site of an Israeli strike in Tyre, southern Lebanon. Credit: REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra)

Disaster strikes for David, and Alistair has his work cut out.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky meet at the summit of G7 nations in Evian, as European leaders urge Washington not to pressure Kyiv into accepting concessions demanded by Moscow. Also: three years on from the Church of England's promise to spend millions on slavery reparations, not a single dollar has been spent. A new report by the UN has found that half of the world’s children are now exposed to at least three climate hazards, threatening their health, education and survival. Hundreds of cats in Vietnam are rescued from the illegal meat trade. We hear about plummeting trust in news across the world; and the story of an elusive Northern Soul music star who's been tracked down after more than a decade of searching.

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: [email protected]

Photo: Volodymyr Zelenksy at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France

Credit: Reuters/Denis Balibouse

Cape Verde's national football team, Blue Sharks, stunned 2010 champions Spain at their first ever World Cup match. From the stadium in Atlanta, to the streets of the archipelago's capital Praia, we hear what the tournament and the result means for fans.

And BBC Africa Eye hears from some of the last surviving soldiers of the Nigerian Civil War, who recall what they went through during the three-year conflict that left an estimated 500,000 to 3 million people dead.

Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna

Producer: Godwin Asediba

Technical Producer: Davis Mwasaru

Senior Producers: Blessing Aderogba and Keikantse Shumba

Editors: Charles Gitonga and Maryam Abdalla

China's consumer spending and investment have fallen to levels unseen since the pandemic but what does that mean for their economy going forward?

Also Donald Trump shares more details on that Iran-US deal at the G7.

And we'll be finding out why tourism is declining in the Caribbean island of Cuba.

Presenter Sarah Rogers

Producer: Barbara George and Aleeza Siddiq