NewsHour

US President Donald Trump denies he's out for revenge, after the former FBI director James Comey is charged with lying to the US Congress. The president says he wants more prosecutions.

Also on the programme: Israel's prime minister tells the UN General Assembly that he's fighting Hamas on their behalf; and two centuries of passenger travel on the train - still going strong.

(Photo: The former FBI director posted a video to Instagram asserting that he is innocent and comparing Trump to a "tyrant". Credit: James Comey Instagram)

Israel leader Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly in Geneva just days after several leading countries announced the recognition of Palestinian statehood. We speak to the father of an Israeli soldier who was captured on 7 October 2023. The father was at the UN and turned his back on the Israeli prime minister.

Also in the programme: the former FBI director James Comey, who led the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Trump campaign, has been indicted. We hear the latest; and after a breakthrough in the treatment of Huntingdon’s disease this week, we speak to Arlo Guthrie whose father Woody, the celebrated folk singer, died of the condition.

(Photo: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the General Debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA. Credit: SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock)

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in jail after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case related to millions of euros of illicit funds from the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Also on the programme: the havoc caused by drones closing airspace and airports in Denmark; and the musician Arlo Guthrie - whose family has been wrecked by Huntington's disease - on the promise of this week's medical breakthrough.

(Photo: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for the verdict in his trial at the courthouse in Paris. Credit: Reuters)

The former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy. Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy had allowed close aides to contact Libyan officials with a view to obtaining financial support for his election campaign. Mr Sarkozy insisted he was innocent and said he would appeal the ruling.

Also in the programme: three days after several world powers recognise Palestinian statehood, Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the United Nations General Assembly via video link, having been barred from entry to the US by President Trump; plus how Zimbabwe aims to become the world’s top supplier of blueberries.

(IMAGE: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, leave the courthouse in Paris, France, 25 September 2025 / CREDIT: YOAN VALAT/EPA/Shutterstock)

Syria's interim president has told the UN General Assembly that his country has reclaimed its "rightful place" on the world stage. Ahmed al-Sharaa is the first Syrian leader to address the assembly since 1967. Last December, the former Islamist fighter headed a rebel alliance that overthrew the Assad regime. Twenty years ago, Sharaa was a devotee of al-Qaeda and detained in an Iraqi prison. As a leader of Islamist militants, the US Government put out a bounty of $10 million for his arrest.

Also in the programme: A generic HIV drug for $40 US dollars per person per year; and from Adam Ant to Culture Club - a look back at London's influential Blitz Club of the 1980's.

(Photo: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, September 24, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Jeenah Moon)

Typhoon Ragasa has made landfall in southern China, where nearly two million people have been evacuated in preparation for its arrival.

It comes after authorities said at least 17 people had been killed and more missing in Taiwan after a lake burst on Tuesday, causing severe flooding in the island's east. We hear from a reporter in Taiwan

Also in the programme: Syria's interim president is due to address the UN General Assembly, making him the first Syrian head of state to do so in nearly 60 years; and for the first time, doctors have used gene therapy to significantly slow the progression of the deadly, degenerative disease Huntington's.

[Photo shows a drone view of buildings and fields submerged in flood waters in Guangfu, Hualien County, Taiwan on 24 September 2025. Credit: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters)

President Trump has delivered a blistering speech to the United Nations General Assembly, telling European countries they were “going to hell” if they did not stop mass migration.

We’ll analyse what the US president said and how it is being received in European capitals.

Also on the programme: health groups push back against President Trump's linking of vaccines to autism; and Palestinians react to the wave of countries including France and the UK recognising their state.

(Photo: US President Donald Trump speaks during the General Debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

International pressure is ramping up on Israel over the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza and settlement building in the West Bank.

France has formally recognised a Palestinian state, becoming the latest in a wave of countries to take the step. We’ll hear from Gaza.

Also in the programme: After President Trump told pregnant women they shouldn't take paracetamol, claiming the painkiller was linked to autism, we'll hear from an autistic activist who fears it could lead to greater stigmatisation; and we'll find out why the world's most valuable company, Nvidia, has announced it's investing up to a hundred billion dollars in another tech giant for what it calls the next generation of Artificial Intelligence.

(Photo shows the seat of the Israeli delegation at the United Nations in September 2025. Credit: Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA)

President Macron of France has formally recognised a Palestinian state. He made the announcement at a UN summit aimed at rallying support for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. He began his speech by calling for the release of Israeli hostages and an end to the war in Gaza.

Also in the programme: Egypt's president has pardoned the jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who played a key role in the Arab Spring uprising of 2011; and South Korea's president tells the BBC of his hopes that North Korea will pause it nuclear weapon programme.

(Photo credit: EPA)

France is due to be the latest country to recognise the state of Palestine. But could it spark a backlash from Israel? Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said recognition gives "a huge reward to terrorism".

We hear from a member of France's national assembly, and from both Israelis and Palestinians.

Also on the programme: the Egyptian president pardons the dual British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after years in prison; and the literature professor who stumbled across lost stories from one of the most important writers of the twentieth century - Virginia Woolf.

(Photo:The Grabels mayor's house flies the Palestinian flag next to the French and European Union flags, in Grabels, Southern France on 22 September 2025. Credit: Photo by GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/EPA/Shutterstock)