BBC

BBC

By BBC
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BBC episodes

  • The English We Speak: Off base
    This expression is a way to say someone's idea, guess or opinion is far from the reality. Learn it here with Beth and Feifei.

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    4 min
  • Criminal cases against Trump critics dropped
    A federal US judge has dismissed the criminal cases against the former FBI director James Comey and the New York Attorney General Letitia James, who've both led high-profile investigations into Donald Trump. The judge found that the prosecutor overseeing both cases, Lindsey Halligan, had been hired unlawfully. The White House has said the Justice Department will appeal against the ruling. President Trump has denied accusations that he uses the criminal justice sytem to target his enemies.

    Also: Mexican police arrest a man accused of recruiting people involved in the murder of a popular mayor, Carlos Manzo. We look back at the life of the singer Jimmy Cliff who helped popularise reggae around the world. Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads tributes to the Bollywood actor Dharmendra who has died at the age of 89. A new location feature on the social media platform X raises questions about the origins of politically provocative content. And a woman in Thailand has been found alive in her coffin moments before she was due to be cremated.

    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]
    28 min
  • Stemming the tide in Normandy
    Coastal erosion has become a serious problem for many seaside communities, no more so than in Normandy, in north-west France, where rising sea levels, strong tides and stronger storms have swept away homes, sand dunes and beaches.

    Every year the sea here is reclaiming several metres of coastline. But there are arguments over what to do about it.

    In the area around Coutainville beachfront homeowners, oyster producers and campsites are confronting local and national authority plans for some of them to move and to allow nature to take its course. Some locals, suspicious of outside influence, argue this is a conspiracy by environmentalists to get rid of them. And yet others say the growing impact of climate change on coastal erosion is there for all to see.

    Carolyn Lamboley speaks to those on both sides of the debate about what can be done to stem the tide.

    This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
    31 min
  • BBC chairman faces MPs after high-profile resignations
    The chairman of the BBC, Samir Shah, faced scrutiny in the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee over his handling of the recent crisis over Panorama's edit of US President Donald Trump's speech, as well as other allegations of bias. The chair of the committee told us she's not convinced the BBC is "in safe hands".

    Also on the programme: a French government minister says talks over a peace deal for Ukraine are getting closer to an agreement.

    And the trombonist who helped define funk music, Fred Wesley, joins us in studio ahead of two live performances in London.
    42 min
  • Zelensky warns against giving away territory
    President Zelensky has hailed what he called "important steps" in peace talks for Ukraine, but said making territorial concessions to Russia's leader would be rewarding him for theft.

    Also in the programme: A judge has dismissed charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James; we meet the 3 year old with a deadly genetic disorder who's been treated with a pioneering new therapy; and Gaza food kitchens still missing essential products despite ceasefire.

    (Photo credit: Getty Images)
    40 min
  • Goodbye Doge
    The US federal government's Department for Government Efficiency, Doge, has ended its cost-cutting mission eight months early. Bisi Adebayo examines whether it achieved what it set out to do.
    And as the latest iteration of the Wicked movie franchise hits the big screen, we ask what its success can tell us about the resilience of Hollywood.
    27 min
  • The Animal Employment Agency
    We live in a time of automation and robotics; the machines run the factories, and AI will soon take all the jobs. And yet, even today, there are certain niche jobs where only an animal will do. Comedian and biologist Simon Watt is out to meet some of them, and the people who train them, study them, and love them. And he asks the key questions: HOW do they do what they do, and WHY, with all our ingenuity, haven't we invented anything that can compete with them?

    We start with a business of ferrets (yes, that is their collective noun) at the National Ferret School in Derbyshire, who have swapped rabbit holes and trouser legs for drain-clearing, re-wiring, and laying fibre optic cables. Ferret Trainer James McKay demonstrates why they're perfect for the job, as he casually folds one trainee into a tight pretzel.

    Simon visits the HQ of 'Medical Detection Dogs', a training facility in Milton Keynes where dogs are being trained to sniff the tell-tale signs of a host of diseases. You may have heard of their 'cancer dogs', but it goes much further: epilepsy, malaria, Parkinson's, even Covid-19. Dr Claire Guest explains.

    Can technology keep up? Maybe. Although we have no real idea exactly HOW dogs do what they do, AI may be on the cusp of solving this puzzle for us. Simon speaks to Dr Andreas Mershin from start-up Realnose, which is developing “electronic noses".

    Finally, Simon meets some real heroes. 'HeroRats', to be precise. Not the same species that haunts our sewers, these are African Giant Pouched Rats, and their job as landmine detection specialists is saving lives across Thailand, Mozambique, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Dr Cynthia Fast from UCLA trains them for the job.

    Presented by Simon Watt, and produced in Cardiff by Emily Knight
    27 min
  • Nigeria to recruit extra police officers after abductions
    The Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria says 265 people are still missing after a mass kidnapping from a school in Niger state on Friday. Among those unaccounted for are dozens of nursery and primary school children and 12 members of staff. The Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, ordered the recruitment of an extra thirty thousand police officers in the latest attempt by the federal authorities to bring an end to the chronic insecurity in the north of the country. Also: American-led hopes of a breakthrough in the Ukraine peace talks have been tempered by European leaders who have stressed that Russia must come to the table. A suicide bombing attack kills several people in Pakistan at a paramilitary headquarters in Peshawar. Police said the bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the compound and two other attackers were shot dead. The US designation of the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation comes into force as Washington ramps up its pressure on the president Nicolas Maduro. South Korea's most prolific online sex criminal is sentenced to life in prison, after being convicted of exploiting dozens of people by spreading thousands of sexual abuse materials using an encrypted messaging app. And how conservation efforts in Kenya are starting to revive the fortunes of endangered Black rhinos.

    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]
    34 min
  • Vodafone boss on the threat to the world’s internet
    We hear from Vodafone's boss Margherita Della Valle on rising threats to vital undersea internet cables.

    We're days out from the UK's budget, what do we need to know? Britain's finance minister, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, is under presure to balance the country's books.

    And Japan once dominated the chip industry, but decades of decline left it trailing behind the likes of Taiwan and South Korea. Now, Tokyo is investing billions of dollars to try and turn that around. We hear from our Asia Business Correspondent Suranjana Tewari in Japan, to find out if the country can reclaim its tech.

    Presenter: Leanna Byrne
    Producer: Haider Saleem
    9 min

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