Global News Podcast - Ex-Bangladesh leader sentenced to death

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. A tribunal in Dhaka found she had ordered security forces to kill protesters during student-led anti-government demonstrations in 2024. The UN estimates up to 1,400 people died during the uprising, most by gunfire. Sheikh Hasina was tried in her absence and has been living in exile in India since being forced from power. She has dismissed the court's verdict as politically motivated. Also: a plea from the UN aid chief to stop the supply of weapons to the rival armies in Sudan. A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence raising doubts about the trial of US marines over the killings of Iraqi civilians in 2005. Researchers look to artificial intelligence to treat a type of brain cancer, by detecting early signs that tumours are returning. And we drop in on a knitting session in Denmark to find out why young people are driving a boom in traditional crafts.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: [e-mail]

You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Monday the 17th of November. The ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is sentenced to death over the killings during last year's uprising. The UN humanitarian chief calls for aid workers and investigators to be allowed urgent access to the devastated Sudanese city of Elfasha. And a U-turn from President Trump on the Epstein. files. Also in the podcast? This is a room where my whole family was killed. Even though it's painful for me to come to this house, I insist on coming here to remember my siblings, my parents and the life we used to live. A BBC investigation raises doubts about the trial of

Americans accused of killing Iraqi civilians two decades ago. A court in Bank of Bangladesh has sentenced the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death. She was found guilty of crimes against humanity over the killing of hundreds of people during the uprising against her last year. She was tried in absentia after fleeing to India and called the verdict biased and politically motivated. As the judge announced the death penalty, there were cheers inside the court in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence that is sentence of death. Security was tight in Dhaka following a series of crude bomb attacks in recent days. Fawarama of the Asia Society Policy Institute says the verdict will deepen the political divide in Bangladesh. There is largely going to be a polarised reaction. Of course, there are certain factions within the country that are still very much pro-Hasina, of Army League supporters on the ground, and you could see some instability and unrest, as you've been seeing in the last week.

And in any case, the Hwami League is not allowed to contest in the elections that are coming up in the February. And her son has come out and said that there could be confrontations, serious confrontations in the leave up to the February elections, if the Hwami League is not given a seat at the table. Shortly after the verdict was announced, our correspondent Arunaday Mukajeepe gave us an update from outside the court. The first thing that the judge announced was the fact that Chefisino was found guilty under those charges. of crimes against humanity. After that, he detailed all the various incidents that have taken place, talking with the people in court through specifics of the allegations and charges that she was facing, following which he said that there is only one sentence that is death. She, along with her

former Interior Minister or Home Minister, have been sentenced to death. The police chief, who was also standing trial, in fact, incidentally, he was the only person who was actually present in court, Both of the others have been tried in absentia. The police chief has been sentenced to five years. The judge said he will be getting a more lenient sentence given that he was present and he cooperated with the investigators. But the scenes inside and outside court are truly fascinating. As soon as the verdict was read out, it was met with applause within the courtroom,

forcing the judge to actually intervene and say, we must maintain decorum in the court. Outside as well where I'm standing, I've been seeing a small group of people erupt in joy, and sort of chance, sloganeering, saying we demand that Sheikh Husina be hanged. There are also sort of chance in support of the verdict that I can hear just outside the court premises, a very loud chance, in fact, as soon as the verdict came out. So it has certainly been an emotive trial and the verdict equally eliciting those kind of emotions

that I can pick up here on the ground. Yeah, we can hear the security forces in the background there. What does this verdict mean for a divided nation? Well, a couple of things. One, that most importantly, I think we need to figure out how this is going to be executed. Shea Hasina and her former Interior Minister are not here. Sheh Hasina is in India and, you know, she has refused to return. Whether this verdict will give the Bangladeshi authorities more ammunition to go to the Indian authorities and say, look, this is a special tribunal that has ruled against Sheikh Hasina.

She needs to be brought back to Bangladesh. Whether that will happen is something we need to find out and watch. reaction will India give to this given now we have this verdict also politically speaking Bangladesh has been functioning under a caretaker government since Sheikh Hasina left the country elections have been called in February given Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death the Avami League which is her party has not been allowed to contest in these elections this verdict is also a watershed moment for Bangladesh politics about what happens in terms of filling the political space in the country.

Arunaday Mukchi outside court in the Bangladeshi capital dash. Well, Bangladesh has called on the Indian government to immediately hand over Sheikh Hasina and her former interior minister under an existing extradition treaty. A statement from India's foreign ministry said simply it noted the verdict. Our global affairs reporter, Anbaran Etirajan, used to be based in Bangladesh and told me about Sheikh Hasina's relationship with the Indian government. She fostered very close ties with India during her 15-year rule. So India may find itself in a tricky situation because sending her back would be like letting down a one time a lie and at the same time if they find like many legal experts were pointing out

that if they say that the charges were politically motivated, the trial was not fair, she was not given enough chance, then Delhi can deny the extradition request from Bangladesh. But this will further worsen ties between Delhi and Dhaka because since the interim government took over after the fall of Sheikh Qasina, the ties have been deteriorating. See, for India, Bangladesh is not just a neighboring country. It is strategically important for its border security,

especially for its northeastern states, given that there were militancy in the past. And they also share close cultural and linguistic ties. So for the past one year, you know, there was tension in ties between India and Bangladesh. and there is also a political consensus within India, cutting across party lines, not to send her back. So it is going to be another diplomatic wrangle between India and Bangladesh. Now, speaking from India,

she has acknowledged that they lost control of the situation during the uprising, but at the same time, she says the verdicts are biased and politically motivated. How will all that go down in Bangladesh? Now, for the vast majority of people they witnessed or they saw, what happened during July, August 2024, when there was a violence crackdown, hundreds were killed, and a couple of thousand injured people were there. So the families are still suffering. So there is widespread anger within Bangladesh because neither Ms. Asina nor the Avami League party,

they have expressed any remotes, and there have been demand for apology. That has not come yet. So for the vast majority of the people and the families of the victims, It is not just about justice. They also want closure. And that closure can come, only when there is a remorse and then apology. So she will be seen as someone who left the country,

who fled the country, did not have the courage to apologize. Of course, Ms. Asina denied all these charges and say is politically motivated and she did not give direct orders. But it will continue to divide the nation because Awamili is still an influential party. There are some number of supporters

within that country. Our global affairs reporter, Amrasan Etirajan. Now it is a spectacular U-turn from President Trump. After putting heavy pressure on Republicans not to release the Epstein files, he has now said they should vote to do exactly that. The documents held by the Department of Justice are separate from the emails released last week and have been subject of intense interest from MAGA supporters.

During the election, President Trump promised to release the files before deciding against it once he came to power. Now in the face of a possible rebellion of up to 100 Republicans, including MAGA loyalists like Lauren Bobart and Nancy Mace, he has bowed to the inevitable, as Kelly Meyer from the News Nation website explained to Rob Young. It's really a reversal of what he's been saying over the past week, and that was really trying to urge House Republicans not to sign on to this discharge petition or bring this to a vote to release the Epstein files in the House.

And then on Sunday night, he took to true social and encouraged House Republicans to vote on it, to release it, saying that there's nothing to hide, as he says. Although at the same time, he does call this a hoax on the side of the Democrats, though he is also at the same time calling for an investigation into any type of files around Bill Clinton or others that may have been in the orbit around Jeffrey Epstein. So there's been some back and forth on this, a bit of a reversal, and this vote is coming up on Tuesday. Is it clear why Donald Trump appears to have changed his mind then? Just from covering him, he seems to be frustrated, of course, at the amount of coverage this is getting. And I think he's probably hearing the reporting and the commentary of, and the pushback, really, from many in his base, too, that also want to see he's released. and then kind of seeming as though he's getting fed up with fighting back on it and then just saying, okay, just release it then.

There's nothing to hide. It seems as though that's the position he's been taking, at least right now. But he does seem to go back and forth on this. So it's an issue which is frustrating him because of its coverage, people are talking about this rather than about some of the other issues he'd rather they talk about. Yes. And he even mentioned that, alluded to that in his true social post.

He said, can we just vote on this, move on and get back to talking about, what he wants to talk about now, which is affordability, which is the issue that came up in the election, that cost Republican seats and Democrats had wins that night. He was frustrated that Republicans weren't talking enough about affordability and what his administration's been doing. And he wants to focus in on that because he knows he's losing support on that when a lot of the oxygen in Washington is being taken up by the Epstein files. Thousands of pages have already been released. Do we know how much more there is? We don't really know exactly what more there may be. I believe the ones that were released just last week came more from the estate rather than

what the Justice Department may have. And you even hear Chuck Schumer posting on X tonight, that's why we're holding the vote is to have you release them. But then he's saying back to the House, just vote to release them. But then they're saying back, well, you can just release it. The Justice Department show us everything you have. I'm sure he'll be asked about this again. And if he could just take this in his own hands and why not just release everything he has right away.

Kelly Meyer, White House correspondent from News Nation. The Civil War in Sudan has brought huge suffering to civilians over the past two and a half years, but things have got even worse with the fall of the besieged city of Elfasha in Darfur. The UN's head of relief, Tom Fletcher, has told the BBC his teams need urgent access to the city to help civilians. He also called on the world to do more to stop the supply of weapons to the rival armies in Sudan. He has visited Darfur and been hearing harrowing stories. from people who fled to the relative safety of Tohila, 80 kilometres away. It's utterly grim right now. It's desperate. And I think Darfur is the epicenter of global

inhumanity right now. I'm meeting survivors of mass extrusions, survivors of mass rapes. A woman I met two days ago in Tohila, she'd seen her husband murdered in front of her. She'd escaped. Her neighbour had been murdered. She'd managed to scoop up the young, malnourished child of her neighbor and carry the child all the way to Tawila from Malfasha. But on the way she'd been attacked and her leg had been broken and somehow she managed to escape again. And yet she's somehow the lucky one because she got to us. She got to our medical center and the child is being looked after. The child will survive despite being severely malnourished and she will survive. But she's saying what happens when I'm here.

And she's also asking, where is the help? You know, where is the world? Tom Fletcher of the UN. The paramilitary rapid support forces or RSF took El Fasha from the rival Sudanese armed forces last month and are accused of committing atrocities there. Our Africa reporter Akisa Wanderra is covering the story from Nairobi. The Sudan doctors network, the medical group, said that they had 32 confirmed rape cases

among girls and women who were either trying to flee El Fashah to Tawila or inside El Fashah. some of their assaults happened in El Fasha or on their way to Tawila as they were fleeing. And this particular group say that they are holding the RSF accountable for these rape cases that they say they have confirmed in a period of just about a week. So these are the same stories that we've been hearing since before El Fasha fell back to the RSF and even after October 26th when they took over the town. The UN has continued to describe it as a very dire situation, very brutal. Tom Fletcher says that he's having very difficult conversations there with the RSF. He has arrived in that town on a mission specifically to break the deadlock when it comes to aid delivery.

But it's difficult to tell whether they will be able to break that deadlock with the RSF especially because they are in control of this particular area. and the needs are dire for the hundreds of thousands of people who are still either inside El Fasha and those who are currently fleeing to Tawila, almost 100,000 people have fled the city. So the need is certainly massive and the UN ones in, but there's a combination of reasons that make it difficult. One of them is the security risks, the blockade tactics that have been witnessed since this war began, and, of course, the underfunding that a lot of humanitarian organizations have consistently been talking about making access very difficult and uncertain for them.

Akisa Wanderer. And still to come on the Global News podcast. The actual knitting where you sit with your yarn and your knitting needles, you have to do that with your hands, and you cannot make AI do that for you. Unraveling the story behind the wrong. in slow hobbies like knitting. A BBCI investigation has uncovered evidence raising serious doubts about the trial of US Marines

over the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005. The shootings in the town of Haditha triggered the longest war crimes investigation of the Iraq conflict, but no one was convicted of the killings. Lara El-Gibali has this report. This is a room where my whole family was killed. Even though it's painful for me to come to this house, I insist on coming here to remember my siblings,

my parents and the life we used to live. Safa Yunus was just 13 when U.S. Marines stormed her house, shooting her father, mother, aunt, and five young siblings. The white door to their home is still riddle. with bullet holes. At six o'clock, allegations that U.S. Marines massacred Iraqi civilians. Congressmen ask, did the U.S. Army hide the truth?

On November 19, 2005, a roadside bomb blasted a U.S. convoy, killing one Marine and injuring two others. The Marines then launched a house-to-house assault that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead. They were innocent people. We hadn't been accused. of anything. We didn't even have any weapons in the house. I want the people who did this to be held accountable and to be punished by the law. Mike Maloney is a forensic expert who investigated

the case and examined the room where Sufah's family were killed. Time 1224, photography started checking for defects. We're going to be here longer than we thought. That backbedroom was horrific. We had what appeared to be two adults and five children that were basically killed on a bed. One of the Marines, Lance Corporal Mendoza, admitted to killing Saffa's father. Though crucially, Mendoza said in his courtroom testimony, he didn't enter the bedroom where the rest of the family were killed. When I opened the door, the first thing I see is women and kids laying down on the bed. I close the door. That was Mendoza's story for years. But Bibi's PCI has uncovered courtroom audio from another hearing four years later, when he gave a different account.

I went inside the room. I tried to take a better look at what's going on. You walked about how many feet into the room? I walked about eight feet. We played this to investigator Mike Maloney. This is the first time I've heard this. So this is just amazing to me. Now he's going eight feet into the room, which is the shooter position. What I'd say is Mendoza confessed to everything except for pulling the trigger.

Mendoza was never charged with any crime. He maintained that he never shot women and children. He did not respond to our questions. Saffa is now a mother with three children of her own. We showed her Mendoza's testimony for the first time. I didn't know who killed my father. This is the first time I'm seeing his face. This man should have been imprisoned from the moment it happened.

It should have been impossible for him to see the light of day. There should be justice. At the very least, I should get a small part of the justice my family are owed. Another Marine said in three statements that he took part in shooting Safa's family, but he withdrew those statements before the trial. The only Marine who was prosecuted was the squad leader, Frank Wutridge, but he took a plea deal and walked free. The Marine Corps has told the BBC.

it is committed to fair and open proceedings as set out under U.S. military law. Lara L. Gibali. And you can watch the BBCI documentary No Justice Just Kills on IPlayer in the UK and on the World Service YouTube channel. The US says it's planning to designate an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organisation. The group is accused of having links with major figures from the Venezuelan government, including President Nicholas Maduro. President Trump spoke to reporters in Florida before. Boarding Air Force One. We may be having some discussions with Maduro,

and we'll see how that turns out. They would like to talk. Our South America correspondent Ione Wells told us how the announcement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio fits in with the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. The U.S. has carried out at least 21 strikes so far on alleged drug trafficking vessels, killing at least 83 people. But this intense military buildup all seems

a bit much for an operation that the US says is about targeting these relatively small drug trafficking vessels, something that's normally in the remit of Coast Guards. And that's why many observers here in the region believe that this is also about putting military pressure on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro himself to leave office. From the 24th of November, the US intends to designate the Cartel de Losolas as a terrorist organisation. Now, Washington claims that this group is led by President Nicolas Maduro. are members of his inner circle. Maduro has always strongly denied this,

and the US has never published evidence publicly of Maduro's direct involvement in any drug trafficking. But it's why it's really significant because the US is essentially characterising Maduro as a drug trafficker, essentially giving itself licence, I think, to target him, or those close to him, as part of what it's described as its wider military campaign against alleged narco-trafficking.

Ione Wells. Brain tumours kill more children and adults. under 40 than any other cancer. One of the most aggressive types is glioblastoma, with an expected survival time of just 12 to 18 months. After surgery, some cancer cells can remain and tumours can grow back. Now, researchers in the UK are using AI technology, analysis of cancer cells and mathematical modelling

to predict the regrowth of tumours in the hope of improved treatment and life expectancy. Verity Phillips has already beaten the odds having been diagnosed in 2022. She needs brain scans every four months. Wondering every time, when will it happen, how long will I be looking for, or even the words, unfortunately, verity,

there is nothing more we can do for you. I've got four amazing children in my life and I want to be in their future. I know my tumour can't be cured, but as long as I am breathing, I will not give up. The research will be carried out at the University of Nottingham in central England. Dr Karen Noble from the Brain Tumour Research

research charity told us more. This is a grade four brain tumour, and it comes back, it recurs, and the research is going to try and find ways to stop that happening. We can better understand the glioblastoma cells which remain after surgery, because sadly it's impossible to remove all of those cells. We could intervene with new therapies before the tumour returns. And actually scientific evidence has indicated that the gliblastoma cells at the tumour's edge, So those are the cells that left after the surgeon has tried their best to remove all of it.

Infiltrate, and these infiltrate the healthy brain. And these closely resemble the eventual recurrence of that tumour. Sadly, there's been no treatment options since over 20 years. So 20 years ago, Temosolamide was introduced. That's still the first line of treatment. So it's surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. we know sadly for most patients with glioblastoma, their tumour will recur. The treatment isn't helping to stop the growth of the tumour. And so what's exciting about this research is

the scientists are going to understand more about the genes that are switched on or off in those cells that are left after surgery. The hope is the doctors will now know more about the biology of those cells left over and hopefully will then be able to identify earlier treatment based on the biology of the tumour, that that will lead to longer recurrence-free time. Hopefully then the patients will be able to live longer lives. This is a study at the moment, so this is a study to collect the data to inform the model, but they are hoping that within the next five years, the team at Nottingham will be able to roll out clinical trials using this approach. Dr Karen Noble.

Now, have you ever heard of granny hobbies? Well, crafts like knitting or crocheting are not just exclusive to older generations but have become increasingly popular among the young and a valuable industry. Much of the resurgence is down to the rise of knitting influences. Julia MacFarlane travelled to Copenhagen to meet one of the biggest in the business. Denmark is home to one of the most prolific and influential people in the knitting industry. This is Metter, better known by her online label, Petit Knit. I started knitting when I was like six or seven years old

and my grandmother's taught me to knit. I learned the most basic stuff from them and now I'm the one who teaches my grandmother, the new techniques. Her online patterns have racked up millions of downloads and are stocked in pretty much most knitting stores around the world. You'd be very hard pressed to find a knitter that hasn't heard of her. It seems like it's been a perfect storm. We have the pandemic, lots of people,

taking on new hobbies, wanting to learn something new. We have people increasingly being a bit disillusioned with consumerism. I think it makes people become interested in knitting because you get kind of a relationship to your sweater if you made it yourself. If you spend hours and weeks or months making it, you will not just throw it out when you get tired if you will keep it and mend it if it's broken or...

I think it's a really good... practice to make your own clothes. There are lots of studies coming out showing that slow hobbies, mindful hobbies, just like knitting, things that have long-term goals and require diligence and patients are good for mental health. I agree. Yeah, I really find that knitting is a kind of therapy in a busy everyday life with work and kids in school and kindergarten and activities.

I still use knitting. Even though I made knitting into my work, I still use it as a way to like sit down in the evening and just relax, calm down and like be with my thoughts. The actual knitting where you sit with your yarn and your knitting needles, you have to do that with your hands and you cannot make AI do that for you.

As much of the world becomes increasingly fast-paced, with AI gobbling up more and more of our daily lives, the knitting industry seems a curious outlier of people choosing to go back to the ancient formula of two sticks and a piece of yarn. Julia McFarlane. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Kai Perry and produced by Richard Hamilton and Stephanie Zackrison. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.