Global News Podcast - France remembers terror attacks ten years on

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

A series of events are being held in Paris to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the worst attacks on French soil in modern history. The Islamist terror attacks, in which 130 people died, began at the Stade de France with three explosions caused by suicide bombers. They then spread to restaurants, cafes and bars, and to the Bataclan theatre where 90 concertgoers were killed. Also: new figures show that the world's burning of fossil fuels is this year set to release more carbon dioxide than ever before. Climate scientists say that efforts to cut emissions are moving too slowly to meet international targets. But a growth in renewables is giving hope that the world's warming trend can still be curbed. What new DNA analysis tells us about Adolf Hitler. A swatch of fabric with the Nazi leader's blood was taken from the sofa on which he killed himself and apparently reveals that he suffered from a genetic disorder that stunts normal puberty. And the new drug raising hope in the fight against malaria. 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]

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And don't miss the new season of Karen Piri coming this October. You don't look, let, please. I'll take that as a compliment. See it differently when you stream the best of British TV with Britbox. Watch with a free trial today. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles and at 16 hours GMT on Thursday the 13th of November, these are our main stories. Commemorations are taking place in Paris to mark 10 years since France's worst ever Islamist attacks.

New research has warned that global carbon emissions from coal, oil and gas are set to reach a record high in 2025. And Chinese police offer a cash bounty for information that helps arrest two Taiwanese influencers. Also in this podcast, we hear from Ukraine where people are preparing for a fourth winter at war. I can't describe with words the animal fear when you take your child to the shelter during the explosions. I have never felt anything like that in my life. And this is the blood stain. That whole little corner here is all Hitler's blood.

The extraordinary DNA revelations about the Nazi leader. And we start in Paris. The French national anthem being played in the city where a series of events are being held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the worst attacks on French soil in the country's modern history. The day started at the Stard de France in the north of the city, where the attacks began. Sophie Diaz paid tribute to her father who was killed there.

I'm speaking today with huge emotion. As a daughter, a parent, a brother, a sister, a friend, a person who loves. lost someone we loved deeply. Since that 13th of November, there's a void that will not be filled, an absence which has been felt each morning and each night for the last 10 years. But there are also the memories which nothing can erase. My father loved life. He believed in freedom, the pure joy of being together to share precious moments with those close to him, and he impressed on us, the values of the Republic.

The attack in which her father died was the first in a terrifying series across Paris. In total, 130 people were killed in the rampage by Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers. In the stadium, bars, cafes, and finally, the Bata clan concert hall. Tibot Morgon was at the theatre that night. Mostly, I can say that I am fine,

but these days, every year, it's always a kind of heavy to participate in the commemorations. What I want the most for the people of France and most of all for people all around the world who got attacked by terrorism is to never, never, never renounce the core values of the country. In France, we have principles, liberty, equality, fraternity. And if we were to renounce these values,

the terrorists would have won. And we can't have that. And to do so, we need to remember what happened on that night and we need to pay tribute to the people who died or got hurt during the attacks. My colleague Jeanette Jaliel reported on the attack. She's been talking to our Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield

who's been outside the Bata clan today and was in Paris exactly 10 years ago. I was in a bar on the other side of town with some friends and the first rumours started coming through on phones and on the rolling TV news in the bar of something very, very strange. happening. And at first we were minded to just push it to one side and say it was probably a scare. But then it gradually began to become clear that this was something big. How big we had no idea.

When I came immediately over to this side of town, there was talk of a massacre, you know, of many dead, but many at that point was 20 maybe, 25. So a huge story, but not as huge as it became. And it was only then in the subsequent hours, midnight, one o'clock in the morning, and as news filtered out from Bataklan at the concert hall where the three had burst in and held so many hostage for three hours, it was only when that denouement happened with the men blowing themselves up and we could get a clear picture of what had happened inside, that we realised that this was a night like no other night. 130 people killed overall, and it was truly shocking. And the scenes in the streets of this part of Paris were apocalyptic, people wandering.

around in a daze. No one understanding what was happening, just wild rumours abounding of gunmen on the loose. It was absolutely unforgettable and it's the 10th anniversary. Significantly, one of the two associations which represents victims and their families has decided that after today they're pulling up. For them, their work is done. And it's a reminder for people like me, Andy, if you were here, of quite how deep the feelings attached to this night are. I've been up at the Tathar Republic just up the road here where there's a memorial flowers, people have been encouraged to bring tributes and lay wreaths and so on. And up there, we've met people who were in the Bata clan and they are incredibly moved

by this display of public spiritedness and concern and solidarity which the city has put on and the country has put on. I mean, the one positive thing that came out of all of this, if anything positive can come out of something as horrific, is this feeling of togetherness of pride in over. overcoming adversity, this sense that the terrorists tried to divide us and destroy and ruin our system and our values, but they haven't done it. And that feeling is expressed on days like today by the coming together, the unity that you see here. President Macron, who's a most unpopular figure in the country, is not being booed or whistled at. He's there representing the nation

as a head of state to be the figurehead, which can be the focus of all this feeling. So, yeah, A big day, as President Macron and his wife, Brigitte, have led commemorations and moments of silence and the readings of names at each successive place associated with that night of massacres. And Hugh, I remember the morning after the attacks. As I was being interviewed, people were asking whether Paris was a ghost town,

whether people were carrying at home. But actually, what I saw was a mood of defiance, people were out and about. I saw a woman pushing her baby in a push tear right next to me, next to the Bataklan where I was standing. So there was that real spirit of not giving up, not giving in, not letting the Islamist win. Yeah, but Paris is an ancient city. Paris has been through turmoil and grief and strife for the commune, the Second World War. You know, it's been

through a lot. So yes, of course life went on. But behind that was this feeling that it was important to go out and lead your ordinary life to show that the terrorists had not won. The other great moment of the last few years related to this was, of course, the trial three years ago now of Salahab to Islam, the only survivor of the jihadists. And there again, there was this sort of triumph, but of self-satisfaction in a way, in assuredness, that democratic processes were proceeding as they should do in bringing him to justice rather than an arbitrary bullet in the head, which is what would have been his end in a non-democratic system. So yes, that is the positive story that the French have been telling themselves about all this ever since.

And there is some truth in it. The France is a country that values its sense of identity and its history. It takes these very seriously indeed. They're inculcated in schoolchildren from an early age. And so when there's a chance to demonstrate that by coming together after a tragedy like this, then they do it and they mean it. Hugh Schofield. And to hear more from Hugh and Jeanette, just search for the Global News podcast on YouTube. The world's biggest report into carbon emissions has just been published. The global carbon budget is released annually and compiled by climate scientists around the world. They warn that global fossil fuel emissions will hit a new record this year. But on a positive note, the rate of increase has slowed as renewable energy

has taken off. Corrine Lequery is an environmental science research professor here in the UK. We had been hoping to be close to a peak emissions, but we're not yet there. the patterns are quite different. It's not China and India as it is usually because extraordinary growth in renewable energy in those countries are really starting to pay off. But we have a global rise in energy demand. The US emissions are going up, possibly also Europe, because of a cold winter and other factors. So we're not yet there. What we are seeing is that we've been flat or increasing a little bit in emissions. That's a very different picture from 10 years ago where the emissions were rising very fast.

What's happening in China is very interesting because they're investing massively, 10% of their GDP is on clean technology. So they are now able to match their rise in global energy demand almost completely from renewable energy. So in the coming years, we should start to see a turnaround in those regions, but we're not yet there.

We have 35 countries that are able to decrease their emissions for over-decade while growing their own. economy. The UK is one of them. And we also see progress on deforestation. And that's not negligible because that's another big aspect causing climate change. The COP in Brazil this year, we're hoping is going to be able to make progress on a lot of elements. Signaling is a big deal, especially with the US, retracting from the Paris Agreement, the fact that the other countries will hopefully state at the end of this conference that they're continuing in tackling climate change. change because not only it's good for the planet, but it's also clean energy, electricity's clean

energy, it's versatile, it's efficient, and it's really the economy of tomorrow. Climate researcher Corin Le Quarry. For decades, rumors have swirled about medical conditions the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, may have suffered from, and that might have explained his psyche. Now, that appears to be a degree clearer. It has emerged that he had a genetic disorder that stunts normal puberty. Researchers have extracted his DNA from a piece of fabric with Hitler's blood

from the sofa on which he killed himself. The revelation comes in a new documentary. This is the swatch and this is the blood stain. That whole little corner here is all Hitler's blood. The American soldier just took out a knife, cut a piece off, put it in his pocket,

and off he went. He didn't think a lot about it. He didn't think 80 years later, people are going to try to extract DNA off of it. Well, the research for the documentary entitled Hitler's DNA, blueprint of a dictator, was led by Professor Turi King from the Milner Center for Evolution. Justin Webb asked her how certain she was that it was, in fact, Hitler's DNA. This is where you use both non-genetic evidence, so where is this swatch from, what's the provenance of it?

Does it look right? So if you look at the swatch and then you look at the sofa on which Hitler killed himself, the fabric's very distinctive and it looks the same. You do the genetic research in various labs. We had a perfect DNA match for the Y chromosome matching a known relative. And then you have to ask yourself, okay, how common is this Y chromosome type? It's incredibly rare. You don't find it in the forensic Y chromosome database. And then you ask, so how likely is it that another male line relative of Hitler would have got himself into the bunker after the war and then bled on the sofa? And once you put all of that evidence together, yes, we can be able to.

very confident that this is the blood of Hitler. Right. And it tells you what? I have some wonderful colleagues at the Pastor Institute who found that he has a deletion in a gene which we know is strongly associated with a condition known as Kalman syndrome, which is characterized by low testosterone levels, by abnormal development of the sexual organs, and in five to 10% of cases, a micropenus. Now, we cannot say for certain about the state of his genitalia, and I can't believe I'm now on national radio talking about this, but there are historical documents which talk about him having right-sided cryptorchidism, so an undescended testicle, and rumors about him having underdeveloped genitalia. So it's really lovely where you marry the genetics with

the history. And then the second thing is a wonderful team at our host university who do a lot of psychiatric genetics, and they do what's known as a polygenic score. And this is where you take individuals with a particular condition, and you go, right, what genetic variants have these people got, that these people over here who don't have the condition, they don't have? And then what you can do is you can look at somebody's DNA, you can place them on that particular spectrum. And he's in the top 1% for schizophrenia, autism, and bipolar. And we are at pains to say, this does not mean that he had any of those conditions. It is not diagnostic. But it is, of course, fascinating, given who this individual is, that he does have that genetic predisposition towards

those conditions. But can you say then with complete certainty that he wouldn't have had anything like a normal sex life? Well, the genetics can only take you so far. It's always been conjectured that he probably didn't have a normal sex life. The thinking is that he may never have had normal sexual relationships with a woman at all. There's another rumor and another a complete myth, but I think this one you have been much more certain about, that he was in some way, shape, or form of himself, of Jewish descent. He wasn't. The question has always been about Hitler's grandfather, where there was a rumor that went around, because Hitler's father was illegitimate, and there wasn't a father's name on the birth certificate originally.

It was always thought that his father was actually a Heidler, but there was this question as to whether or not he was actually. The fact that we have a genetic match between the blood and a known male-line relative shows that Hitler was part of the Hitler family and that lays to rest that rumor about the Jewish grandfather. Professor Turi King, police in China have placed a financial bounty on the heads of two Taiwanese social media influences after accusations of separatism.

Both influences are well known for their public criticism. of China and have both dismissed the threats online. Police say a reward of up to $35,000 is on offer to anyone who helps in their capture. I heard more from our China media analyst, Kerry Allen. Audiences in China, if they're looking at newspapers or they're turning on the TV, it's quite hard to escape these wanted posters. So people are seeing images of these two internet celebrities from Taiwan who are called Wunzai Yu and Chumboi UN.

And they're saying that they're accused of splitting the country and inciting national division. One official has said that they've been repeatedly publishing and spreading rhetoric, which is calling on people to resist Beijing and to protect Taiwan. And one of these figures, Chun Bo Yuan, he actually used to post a lot of pro-Beijing propaganda, but he's now coming out on his social media platforms and saying that he's been brainwashed by Beijing.

So it's interesting, I mean, you've presumably read their sites and what they do post. They have dismissed what Beijing is saying about their actions. What are their political persuasions, if you like? Well, one thing that's important to note is that people in Taiwan have a free press, unlike in China. So people can go on social media platforms and they can post openly. And there is a real fear, I think, from people in Taiwan at the moment, that China is trying to create this containment narrative. There's a lot of media at the moment in Beijing

and why do China talking about reunifying Taiwan and really putting pressure on people who speak up against Beijing because the environment within China is very much, pro-government and anything is censored that goes against the government. So people who are openly critical of Xi Jinping and his leadership, they are seen as almost traitors to the nation. And one thing that's important to note is that China regards Taiwan as a part of China. And this isn't the first time that bounters have been issued for people from Taiwan, is it? It's not at all. So literally only last month, the police in Fujian province issued a bounty notice for clues to the whereabouts

of 18 other Taiwanese people. And it was so. saying that they were connected to Taiwan's government's psychological warfare unit and they were involved in disinformation, inciting secession, intelligence gathering. So people have become quite used to seeing in China the idea that there are these Chinese people who are trying to incite separatism and basically stir up trouble between China and Taiwan to the extent that as China sees it, it sees it necessary to take the military in and control Taiwan. I was going to say, I mean, they're looking for clues to the whereabouts of these individuals.

Does that seem to suggest that they might imply agents from Beijing going in and snatching these people? Well, yes. I mean, ultimately it sends a message that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, that China is watching. So, yeah, China does try to spread this narrative. But there are people who openly say they're not afraid of the Chinese government, a lot of activists overseas. Kerry Allen, there are more than 10 million people who were born with type 1 diabetes, making it difficult for them to control their blood sugar levels. It can cause kidney damage and even blindness

and is more severe when it develops in young children. Scientists in Britain now say they know why that is. With more, here's our health correspondent, James Gallagher. Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed later in life. The study suggests it's down to the development of beta cells which make the hormone insulin to control blood sugar.

Researchers at the University of Exeter studied pancreas samples from 250 donors, allowing them to see how the beta cells formed normally and in type 1. They showed early in life that beta cells live in small clusters, which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy. Later, they mature into larger clusters, which are more durable and allow patients to still produce low levels of insulin. The researchers say it's a really significant finding, and that the future was looking much brighter

with drugs that can slow the immune systems attack. James Gallagher. Still to come on the Global News podcast. Baristas are tired and they want the fair contract that they've earned and they want the company that they work for to do the right thing and stop union busting. Starbucks union members in 41 cities across North America mark the coffee chain's popular Red Cup Day

by staging a nationwide strike. Kenya says about 200 of its citizens may be fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine. It comes after the Ukrainian foreign minister said more than 1,400 people from 36 African countries are involved in the war on the Russian side. More from our global affairs reporter, Richard Kagoy, who's in Nairobi. These Kenyans have been recruited by agencies that are operating both in Kenya and in Russia. They're said to be fake agencies because what they're doing is they're enticing a lot of young people. And majority of them, we are hearing former members of the military or the parliamentary units of Kenya. And they're being promised jobs in the hotel industry.

And there's not so much disclosure in terms of the nature of the work that they're going to be undertaking. and they're giving them great offers, and especially for majority of young people who are unemployed, I mean, this really gives them a huge prospect, you know, being offered almost nearly 18,000 US dollars, which covers the transport cost, covers their visas, and also accommodation. So this is how they have been able to find a way between Kenya and Russia, and it's really being spread through word of mouth, and this is really quite enticing and exciting for a lot of young people. And Richard, am I right to say that Kenya has rescued and maybe repatriated some of them? That's not quite clear because when these reports began emerging in September,

there were just indications from security sources that just two of individuals who had come recently from Russia were being treated with injuries at Kenya's main referral hospital. So the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that it's currently looking into this, They're conducting investigations and they're closely getting in touch with authorities in Moscow just to understand exactly how this has happened. But what we don't know is exactly those who have been able to come. But what we're hearing is that those who have come back have come back with injuries and majority of them are deeply traumatized and many don't make their way back home.

Richard Kagoy in Nairobi. Russia is stepping up its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving much of the country facing freezing cold homes and daily power cuts at the moment. This comes at a time when Donald Trump's pushed for a diplomatic solution to the war seems to have stalled. So, can Ukraine hold on

as it prepares for its fourth winter at war? One that some in Kiev say could be its worst yet. Our diplomatic correspondent James Landell sent this report from the Ukrainian capital. We're at the football and boy, is it noisy. Dina Moquiv are playing Shaktar Demeltz.

A capital city versus an occupied city. It's a rough partisan game, hardcore fans wearing scary masks, lighting flares, chanting aggressively. Behind me, rows and rows of fans packed to the rafter. But if you look just on the other side of the stadium, rows and rows of empty seats. That's because they only allow in 4,300 fans. That's the maximum number they can fit in the bomb shelters just out the back.

And amazingly, it's an evening game. Is it not odd to be standing in a floodlit stadium in a city that regularly gets bombed? I think that is just representatives of who Ukrainians are. Even though we get bombed every day, even though a drone can hit the stadium any time, we are still going, we are still keeping our football alive, we are still keeping our lives alive to carry on fighting, not to give up. The match came amid regular Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine cities and energy infrastructure.

Plunging much of the country into darkness, leaving hundreds of thousands, without heating or power, reliant on generators. Russia's aim, not just to break Ukraine's morale, but also its economy. A point I put to President Zelensky. Mr. President, good afternoon, James Landel, BBC. Is Ukraine facing the worst winter of this war? I don't know what winter will be, but we have to prepare in any case. And I think that we understand what to do.

We understand what we will need. And our partners also know from us what, in the case of difficulties, what volume of electricity we have to import. To see what these power cuts mean in practice, we've come to see Oksana on the outskirts of Kiel. The lift doesn't work for a start, so it's a climb to her flat on the 8th. floor.

Khrushita? Yeah, but think this is it's a krela may be her two-year-old daughter Katja plays with her toys by candlelight.

If we are speaking about microwave oven or some heating devices. Her husband, Yevgen, has a large rechargeable battery pack to keep appliances going.

But it costs them $2,000 euros and it only lasts so long. And then basically you can use it for cooking. for boiling water, for anything you need. Oksana said she in Yevgen

fear constantly for Katya. I can't describe with words the animal fear when you take your child to the shelter during the explosions. I have never felt anything like that in my life. She had, they said,

no choice but to endure. James Lander. It's estimated that in the 20th century alone, malaria claimed up to three million lives. The search for a working vaccine has been underway for more than a century and in the last few years we've started to see dramatic progress on that front. Now a new drug aimed at eradicating the mosquito-borne disease has shown more than a 99% efficacy in its

final stage of testing and crucially that included against drug-resistant malaria strains that are endemic in some parts of Africa. The drug has been developed by the multinational pharmaceutical corporation Novartis, together with an organisation called Medicines for Malaria Venture. James Copnell spoke to the ITS chief executive, Martin Fitchett. This is the first new mechanism of anti-malarial drugs since 1999. And the phase three study data presented today show it to be highly effective. But most importantly, it's shown potential to work against the parasites but are becoming resistant to the effects of the current gold standard of anti-malarial medicine.

And added to this, it's also shown the potential to block the onward transmission of a parasite from person to person. Now, having a new medicine in itself is reason to celebrate, given the huge burden of this disease. But the malaria parasite is a master of survival. It constantly adapts itself to work around current medicines to become resistant to their effects. We last saw this in the health emergency of the 1990s, when malaria became largely resistant to the effects of the only treatment available than chloroids. And what we saw is over that decade, deaths doubling to 1.2 million, again, mainly children. We see evidence that history is now repeating itself. Although the current drugs work well right now, we see increasing and compelling evidence the parasite is adapting around them as well.

And that's particularly affecting some places, isn't it? Where are we seeing that most? We're seeing evidence particularly across East Africa, where we're seeing genetic evidence of resistance developing in the parasite to the current tools, we're seeing evidence of delayed healing, delayed cures, and in some cases, actual treatment failure. So although current medicines are working, we are seeing the evidence that history is beginning to repeat itself. But to be clear, we're not at the stage that you were mentioning

from the 90s where deaths are doubling. We're nowhere near that point yet. We are not, no. So deaths have remained essentially flat for the last 10 years. a tragedy, around 600,000, 75% of those children under five. This is nothing to be complacent about. The medicines we currently have are working well. However, it's a certainty over time. We don't know how quickly this will happen, but it will happen that these current medicines will become fairly ineffective and the parasite will become resistance. That's why it's

important to stay ahead of the parasite and to develop new medicines in our toolbox. We've brand new mechanisms of action that can treat these drug-resistant parasites. And that's why today is an exciting day. And this new medicine known as GANLUM, how quickly then could it be deployed, or are they still regulatory hurdles to overcome? Right now, we're looking at the last stage of testing. And this landmark study, which reports in an international medical meeting today, will show the positive data and effects that we've just described. This will now need to be submitted to global regulatory authorities, then approved. And when approved, we can expect that to be available in countries across Africa in 27, so not too far from now. Martin Fitchett

from Medicines for Malaria Venture. Today is a big day for the coffee chain Starbucks, but not necessarily for good reasons. Our business reporter Nick Marsh explains why. It's Red Cup Day, big promotional event in the US and Canada is every year on the 13th of November. You buy Christmas themed drink, you get a Christmassy Red Cup and you get refills. It's normally a really, really big sales day. You get queues all around the block. It's really good for Starbucks. This year, though, some Starbucks staff are going to be taking that opportunity on Red Cup Day to go on strike, to pick it outside stores. Some baristas, some staff, they're unionised back in 2021, they wanted better paying conditions. But four years on, there's still no agreement,

still no contract agreed between the staff and the executives. Their spokeswoman, Michelle Eisen, has actually been speaking with the BBC this week. Her message is basically that baristas, the staff, they're fed up. That's what she told my colleague, Michelle Fleury, in New York. Baristas are tired, and they want the fair contract that they've earned. And they want the company that they work for to do the right thing and stop union busting. Now, Starbucks, has been cutting costs, reducing staff numbers. That's what she's getting at there, Michelle Isson. But the message from their CEO, Brian Nicol,

is basically that baristas at Starbucks actually have very good working conditions. Here's a short clip from an interview he did with our US partner, CBS News. We have the lowest turnover in the industry. It's below 50%. We also have the best benefits in the industry, and we actually have the best wages in the industry.

The strikes are due to happen in 25 different cities, but if you look at the actual numbers, the number of unionised employees is very small, only about 5% of all workers of the stores that are actually directly owned by Starbucks. So impact on the bottom line, probably not much, but it's all about the optics, isn't it? It's a bad look. Who knows? The union might grow other employees might want to join. It's got political attention in Washington, 100 Democrats, have signed a letter. They've sent it to Brian Nicol, who you just heard from there, telling him to stop union busting and give better working conditions to this start.

ultimately the root cause of all of this is Starbucks has had poor performance, poor sales recently. That's why they've been cost cutting. Nick Marsh. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later on. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. This edition was mixed by Mark Pickett, and the producer was Nicky Verico. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles and until next time. Goodbye.