Global News Podcast - French protesters return to the streets

Episode Date: October 25, 2026

Protests against poor economic conditions have been held across France. Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested after clashes with riot police in cities including Paris and Marseilles.Also: campaigning intensifies ahead of the US mid-term elections. We have a special report from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Gianni Infantino claims the "vast majority" supports his bid for re-election as head of world football's governing body, FIFA. Final rallies are held in Brazil ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off election between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro. One man has been arrested after Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat in Bavaria was engulfed in flames. And Europe's busiest shopping street, Oxford Street in London, prepares to go traffic free.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] Photo: People clash with police during a demonstration against the high cost of living in Bordeaux, France, 24 October 2026. Credit: EPA/Shuttershock

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Odu gives you one place to manage your business. Visit Odu.com to book a demo. It's ODbolo.com. The Hubble Space Telescape was designed to peer deeper into the universe than ever before, unlocking some of its greatest secrets. But after launch, a devastating flaw emerged. A significant spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics. National disaster.

Hubble launched with flawed mirror. The BBC Space Podcast 13 Minutes is telling the inside story of how NASA rescued Hubble. The future of space astronomy depends on it. From the BBC World Service, 13 minutes, trouble with Hubble. Listen now on BBC.com, the BBC app, or wherever you get to your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Antri Peach and in the early hours of Sunday the 25th of October, these are our main stories. French police arrest nearly a thousand people during a day of mass protests over the cost of living that saw clashes in many cities.

The Palestinian Authority calls for international action to stop Israel displacing more people from their homes in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. And the final rallies have taken place in Brazil ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff. Also in this point, podcast, Janney Infantino dismisses calls for his resignation as the head of world football's governing body FIFA. And from this Monday, so that's the 26th of October, Oxford Street will become permanently traffic-free. There will be no buses, no taxis, no cycles on the street. Europe's busiest street gears up to go traffic-free. Let's begin in France, where an estimated 400,000 protesters took to the streets of several cities on Saturday

to vent their anger over the cost of living in conditions in schools and universities. 70,000 police officers were deployed nationwide to contain the demonstrations, and there were violent clashes. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to break up crowds and arrested at least 1,000 people. Nick Beek filed this report from the streets of Paris. France's protests are not running out of steam. Tonight, the police have been trying to wrestle back control of the streets after losing them. last weekend. Once again, a violent young minority hijacked peaceful protests. The police are on the charge here in Paris. This had been a peaceful protest, but now more

reinforcements are being brought in because a lot of officers have been attacked with fire, crackers, some protesters picking up barricades. But officers themselves have been accused of using unacceptable force against those doing nothing wrong. Elsewhere in France, including Marseille, there were more clashes and a few shops looted. But this disorder was nowhere on the scale of seven days ago. The interior minister, Laurent Nunes, said there would be more than the 1,000 arrests made so far. The marches went smoothly, he said, adding that radical far-left and ultra-left activists formed at nearly every gathering.

Earlier, at least 100,000 marches. peacefully through the capital. This was the only rally allowed in Paris, arranged by a trade union and rerouted at the last minute to avoid the city centre. People expressed anger at the economy, inequality, the state of schools and at the police. One 18-year-old, his face masked, said he could see how these peaceful protests are descending into violence. We want to really talk, not just a punch, but if the government doesn't listen to. I understand some people do violence, but it's not a good solution. There was a reduction in violence, but the government can hardly call this a victory.

There is no end in sight to this protest movement, which began in crumbling classrooms in the capital and has spread far and wide. Will this be the soundtrack to the last six months of Emmanuel Macron's time in office? Nick Beak in Paris, you can see video of some of those clashes at BBC.com slash news. In Albania, anti-government protests over corruption, education and living standards that began in May have gathered pace. There have been several clashes between demonstrators and police on the streets of the capital Tarana. On Saturday, those protests descended into violent confrontations. The freelance journalist Alice Taylor told us what she saw. The police really fought back with a zero tolerance sort of approach to the protesters. And I was trapped at one point.

surrounded on all sides by police who were firing tear gas directly into a cafe that I was trying to get shelter in. People were expecting tear gas and water cannons and things like that. They've all got sort of swimming goggles and ski masks and various sorts of bits of equipment, but they were quite shocked at how hard the police came down on people. There were gas canisters flying sort of from every angle. It's a bit scary. The prominence has been clear he's not going to resign. So it's a time of great uncertainty, not just for people. people within the protest movement, but, you know, the average people on the street, they just don't know what's going to happen. Many people, sort of my age, have lived through

very difficult times in Albania in the early 90s and they're worried of sort of a repeat of history. It's a very unnerving time to be here. You have to have dialogue at some point, but I don't see it happening. They don't believe that any attempted dialogue would be honest or made in good faith by the Prime Minister. They don't believe their demands would be met. They are asking, not just that the government resigned, but the entire parliament, so both parties, they're asking for a non-political transitional government for six months, which would oversee a complete reform of the electoral laws and various other laws in the country and then fresh general elections after that six-month period. So they've got very specific demands, but honestly, I don't see that it's going to happen,

and I couldn't say who's going to give up. Alice Taylor in Tirana. The Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, says his forces in the occupied West Bank, have displaced around 2,000 residents in the city of Hebron. The military has launched a sweeping crackdown, demolishing buildings in what it's called a major security operation after two Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint on Friday. From Jerusalem, our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale.

The sound of Israeli bulldozers destroying buildings in his country, Hebron, part of the massive security crackdown following yesterday's attack. The Israel Defence Forces said they were conducting precise and targeted searches in the area where the two gunmen came from. They said they were also destroying what they called terrorist infrastructure. What this meant in practice, said Yusuf al-Jabari, the mayor of Hebron, was a collective punishment and a disproportionate response. Issa Amro, a human rights campaigner, said he'd been trapped in his flat in the city since yesterday's lockdown. He told the BBC thousands of families were unable to get food or medicines and suggested Israel's response was driven more by politics than security.

We all know and understand that we are part of a Netanyahu election campaign to win more votes. So it's about election. We are election materials without being able to vote as Palestinians in the occupied territories. Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting to survive. as Prime Minister in next Tuesday's closely fought election and has made security a central issue of his campaign. He's promised a wider military crackdown across the West Bank. And in an interview with I-24 News released today, he also threatened a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority.

In a statement, the PA called for urgent international action that went beyond condemnation to prevent further forced displacement of people. James Landau reporting. Brazil's president Luisinacio Lula de Silva and his conservative challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, have been holding their final rallies ahead of Sunday's runoff election. Opinion polls show their neck and neck.

President Lula jumped up and down on the back of a campaign truck waving a massive Brazilian flag, making his way through an enormous crowd in Rio de Janeiro, brimming with confidence. I am certain that we are going to win elections. I'm telling you and you can write it down. Tomorrow I will be elected President of the Republic once again. Our correspondent Ione well spent Saturday with Mr Bolsonaro's supporters.

This is the home's right-wing presidential candidate, Flavio Bolsonaro, in a wealthy suburb of Rio de Janeiro. All his supporters are out on the streets here for the final day of campaigning, wearing the yellow Brazilian football shirt, which in the last couple of years has become a bit of a de facto uniform for the right in Brazil, much to the displeasure of left-wing Brazilian football fans. There's many posters here of his face, but also the face of his father, Jaïr Bolsonaro, who's serving a sentence for plotting a coup after losing the last election. Flavia Bolsonaro has promised that if elected, he would free his father. There's also a lot of banners and flags saying, Lula out.

Many of Flavia Bolsonaro supporters here are optimistic that he is going to win on Sunday because he won that first round of voting earlier this month. But in the last couple of days, the polls have been really tightening, suggesting this could be a very, very close race. And earlier today, in another part of town on Gopacabana Beach, there was also an enormous rally of President Lula's supporters trying to mobilize his fans to get the vote out on Sunday. That's Ione Wells in Rio.

To Germany next, where Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps, has been gutted by fire. Police say the building, known as the Eagle's Nest, and used in Nazi propaganda films wasn't likely to be salvageable. One man has been arrested. After the war, the House became a restaurant despite some opposition from those concerned

it might become a place of Nazi pilgrimage. Our global affairs reporter Paul Moss told my colleague Charlotte Gallagher about the fire. Well, flames were spotted at the Eagles Nest on Friday, but there was a problem for firefighters. This building is perched on top of a mountain nearly 2,000 metres high. So it was hard for fire engines to reach,

and even when they got there, they had trouble getting water for their hoses. So the building carried on burning into Saturday. And, well, just looking at the damage in pictures, it does look pretty bad. Meanwhile, police saw a man leaving the scene on a motorcycle. And what they noticed was that the motorbike didn't have number plates. When they stopped the man who was riding it, there were reports he smelled of smoke. He's now been arrested. And the investigators are already suggesting this is someone who may have had

psychiatric problems. What was Eagles Nest used for by Adolf Hitler? Well, it was built for him in 1938. They raced to get it ready in time for his birthday. And here's one fact. They work right through the night, which might explain the fact that 12 people died just building it. Another thing is, it was originally just called the Kelstein House. Kelsstein being the name of the rock it was built in. It was the French ambassador who was visiting Hitler who came up with the name Eagle's Nest and it stuck. Hitler himself wasn't actually that keen on the place. He didn't spend a lot of time there. He used it mainly for hosting dignitaries

and also used it in propaganda films because it had this spectacular views. After the war in 1952, perhaps rather surprisingly, they decided just to convert it into a bar and restaurant and it was a very popular one because of these great views. Some people always felt just a little queasy about, you know, guests sitting there knocking back Bratvers and washing it down with lager in this spot where the Nazis had met. And so in 1999, they opened a museum of Nazi history so that if you do

go there, you can still go there, we were able to go there to eat and drink, but you did at least have to pass, if not take in a museum dedicated to some of the Nazis crimes. And have the authorities given any indication of what's going to happen to it now? Well, it's hard to say the police looking at the building are quoted as saying it was unsalvageable. But the Interior Minister for Bavaria, that's the state where it sits, has said that it's important that the building should be restored between order to continue what he called the work of remembrance. I mean,

it's interesting, isn't it, that this building has always been divisive. Hitler himself not so keen on it. There will be some who I think will look at the ashes of this building and say good riddance. Others, let's face it, will probably just want to say, well, let's have that restaurant back because it did have such nice

views. There we are. Nearly 90 years after the eagle's nest was built, the subject of what to do with it is still going to be divisive. Paul Moss reporting. And still to come in this podcast, I've come to an avocado festival. Small avocado is 65 to 85 cents. It used to be 25, 35 cents. What about everything else in your groceries? Groceries are expensive. Who do you blame for that being expensive? The president. Why some Latinos in Texas are abandoning Donald Trump ahead of those US midterm elections.

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From the BBC World Service, 13 minutes, trouble with Hubble. The story of the Hubble Space Telescape. Listen now on BBC.com, the BBC app, or wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast. The president of World Football's governing body, FIFA, as laughed off suggestions,

he'd considered resigning after his failed plan to sell off the World Cup. In a BBC interview, Janie Infantino claimed he had the backing of the vast majority of member associations around the world. He was speaking in Baku in Azerbaijan, where the under 15 World Cup is taking place. Our sports news correspondent Laura Scott asked him when he planned to provide answers to questions from the FIFA Council. There is a legal process going on, so we have to look into that. The lawyers have to look into that as well. But obviously we're working on it and we'll answer, of course, all the questions.

that are asked as far as the process allows. They said, though, that if they didn't get these answers, you were not fit to be the FIFA president. Firstly, are you fit to be FIFA president? And in all of the last few months, have you ever thought about standing down? Well, you know, I was elected by 211 member associations from all over the world.

I think what is important is that in an organization like FIFA, there can be different views. But if we are serious about the Democrats, process about believing that everyone has the same vote and the same voice all over the world. That football belongs to everyone. If we are serious about that, then we need to respect as well the views of the vast majority. I'm just coming back of Tokyo where the Asian Football Confederation has fully endorsed me. I was in Cape Verde.

All African countries as well. Cuff countries have endorsed me. I'm speaking to all associations everywhere in the world. There are different opinions on many topics. the World Cup, the size, the number, the slot allocation, the calendar, commercial matters, everything. There are different points of view. It's not always easy to bring them all under one roof. But we need to respect, and I do respect, all opinions.

And then it will be up to the FIFA member associations to decide who they want as a president and how they want FIFA to be run. And that's the president of FIFA Gianni Infantino. The former US Border Patrol Chief who ran the highly controversial deportation drive in Minneapolis earlier this year has defended the operation, describing the withdrawal of agents from the city as a surrender by the Trump administration. In a BBC interview, Greg Bevino also said he wasn't responding to a civil lawsuit far by the family of a woman killed by an immigration officer.

In January, René Good and another US citizen, Alex Preti, were shot dead by agents in two separate incidents during protests against the operation. Greg Bevino spoke to our correspondent Tom Bateman, who started by asking him what he thinks of President Trump's deportation campaign. I think it's at a virtual standstill, a very poor job right now. There are no mass deportations now. You can go in any area in the United States, and we're not mass deporting illegal aliens.

We're not ever going to get at the 100 million unless those mass deportations start in earnest. So right now it's an F. The surrender in Minnesota went from an A, well, I guess about a B, to a straight, F. And when you say a surrender of Minnesota, do you mean what happened to you? You were withdrawn from Minnesota when you were commander-in-lawed? I don't mean that. I mean it was the surrender of mass deportations. Mass deportations were occurring up until Minnesota. Still not fast enough,

but they were occurring up until Minnesota and then they threw the towel in. The administration surrendered. In terms of what happened in Minneapolis, two U.S. citizens were killed, Alex Prattie and Renee Good. Do you regret what happened? You know, the first thing I would say is the victims, those Border Patrol agents and those ICE officers were hurt. So first, before we address that, we'll address the real victims there. Those are those hero ICE and Border Patrol agents that were put into a position where they had to make split-second decisions and heroes, all of them. What I regret is not going harder in Minnesota and arresting even more illegal aliens.

But you'd really given a license for agents to act to use full force if they were touched, you said, by protesters. And I'm just trying to understand all these months on what you think of the fact that, and as you know, the events themselves are highly contested. There is no evidence to suggest that either of those people meant harm. No, there is evidence to suggest that. I think that the investigations are bearing that out. So to say that, again, is a gender-driven tripe.

No, it is. The evidence is that violence perpetrated against agents of the U.S. government. And this is a society of laws, and, you know, people need to follow the law. If not, there's consequences. In the case of Renegood, the video has been highly contested. It's not contested, Tom. I'm not contesting it. Are you? Well, the video shows that her wheels were turned away. She was trying to clear the officer. She was shot fatally through the side window into the side of the head. How did the officer get hit and go to the hospital with injuries then of what you just said, that agenda-driven statement that you just...

No, how does that happen? There's a civil lawsuit from the family of Renegger that names you and others. In terms of a campaign, they say, to silence people who were trying to speak up for immigrants in these cities. The argument there is that this was clearly an overuse of force. Are you responding to that lawsuit? What's your... Yeah, I'm not responding. People do lawsuits all the time. What I'll say is during those campaigns in those cities, you mentioned there was a strong use of force by me.

That's actually not true. There was no strong use of force. There was the most violence that any law enforcement... that any law enforcement mission ever in the history of the United States has been up against for a year straight. What happened to you in your position then after Minneapolis? Because we saw what appeared to be a change of tactics, you were pulled out or you left Minneapolis. Why did that take place? Sure. Well, you have to ask the administration that. I still haven't got the final word on that. But as you know, Tom Holman and the Commissioner Rodney Scott said they were going to conduct a softer

approach, which means no mass deportations and they left Minnesota. And that was the former border patrol chief Greg Bevino with our State Department correspondent Tom Bateman. Staying in the US, in just over a week's time, voters will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and just over a third of the 100-strong Senate. Opinion polls have consistently given Democrats a clear advantage, but that's happened before and the polls have turned out to be wrong. Recent surveys indicate substantial disillusionment among Latinos who make up 16. percent of the voting population. Some are switching from Donald Trump and the Republicans to the

Democrats. Our chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donohue has been to the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas to gauge the mood there. Dawn breaking at Lalomita Chapel, just 200 yards from the Mexican border. Good to have you here. They call you the cowboy priest. Yeah. I'm not sure where I picked that up. Poor Christo. Father Roy Snipes is something of a hero around here. He stopped the first Trump administration from seizing the chapel's land to build the border wall. But now his battle is over how migrants are being detained and deported. They said, we're going to seek out the worst of the worst. It's not an exaggeration to say many, many times it's the best of the best.

It's a concern shared by many of those who come to worship at Lalomita early every Friday morning. The cruelty that we're seeing, I think that that's turning the title, there. Where we are here, you can see the border wall on the right-hand side of the car. And this was one of the sort of hot spots for people coming across the border when the migration crisis was at its worst. Well, Donald Trump has solved that crisis largely. The problem is that the people who really backed him doing that are now turning on him in South Texas. This is Mario Guerrero's construction site where he's putting up dozens of new apartments. Mario voted for Donald Trump three times in a row. He was part of the major Hispanic shift to the Republicans, but says immigration

raids are frightening anyone with a brown skin. And he's voting Democrat in November because of the way his workers are being treated by immigration enforcement. It's very common to see that these guys get stopped out on the highways. It's having an effect on everybody's business. Because they're not showing up to work? Well, that's the biggest issue. I've come to an avocado festival. Avocados are a staple here in South Texas. No surprise then that a free giveaway draws a big crowd. A small avocado is 65 to 85 cents.

It used to be 25, 35 cents. What about everything else in your groceries? Groceries are expensive. Who do you blame for that being expensive? The president. The polls reinforce those views, having won 55% of the socially conservative Hispanic vote in Texas in 2024, Donald Trump now sees his approval ratings among Latinos in the low 30s,

according to one poll in September. Nationally, it's gone even lower. Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! Democrats are trying to seize an opportunity. Bobby Polido is a household name in the valley as a Tahano singer. He's also running in a district taken by the Republicans four years ago in an area where Democrats are dominated for 100 years. But note his caution about being too closely associated with the Democratic national brand. When you focus and you lead with social justice or climate or other things,

the people do not want you to lead with that. They want to hear economic first, figure that out. and then, you know, we'll look at the other stuff. Republicans redrew the Texas congressional map last year, hoping to take advantage of the swing among Hispanics, something that could now backfire. The Hispanic shift towards Donald Trump has been one of the most striking political facts of the past decade.

If polling is correct, even a modest swing back could reshape races across this state and beyond. In Texas, it could even be enough to put a US Senate seat in play. Democrats haven't won one of those here in more than 30 years. Our Chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donohue in South Texas. Since the department store selfridges opened a century ago, Oxford Street in central London has been the country's retail mecca.

Hundreds of thousands of people visit there every day. The omnibuses and horse manure might be a thing of the past. In their place, cars, buses, taxes and lots of deluxe. livery vans, but not for much longer, because as of Monday, more than half of Oxford Street is going to be traffic-free. So how will that work? My colleague, Sean Lay, has been to meet someone in the know. I'm with Katie Morrison, who is the Deputy Chief Executive of the Oxford Street Development Corporation, Katie, tell me what's planned along this stretch. And what is, after all, I think I'm right in saying, Europe's busiest shopping street?

It is indeed. And from this Monday, so that's the 26th of October. October, Oxford Street will become permanently traffic-free. So from that day onwards, there will be no buses, no taxis, no cycles on the street, and instead it will be for pedestrians only for a one-kilometer stretch from Great Portland Street to Orchard Street. Right, so traffic will still be able to cross Oxford Street at certain points. It will indeed, yes. But why are you doing this? I mean, it's a hugely successful street.

Half a million visitors a day, and as we walk along here trying to avoid the umbrellas, I can well believe it, it's not broken. It doesn't need fixing. Well, you're right. It remains a hugely popular street, but as you can see, it's not always the best shopping experience for people. It's crowded, and the pavements are very busy. And what we want to do is transform that.

We want to make it somewhere that is much more positive experience, but also has many more elements to it. So as well as people being able to come and shop, especially in the minute to Christmas, there'll be many more places to rest, to dwell, to eat your lunch, enjoy other activations happening around the street. There is traffic here at the moment. It's going to have to go somewhere.

Yes, we've been working very closely with Transport for London who have been doing a huge amount of work over the last year to redirect the traffic appropriately and the buses. I'm very proud to say that new bus stops have been put in in a series of enabling works around Oxford Street. What about people who, for example, the elderly, people with disabilities? I think some disability activists have already expressed concern about this. At the moment they can get a bus or indeed a taxi right outside to the shop they want

to go to, that's not going to be possible in the future. You're right to raise that. It's been a really, really important issue for us and accessibility considerations have been at the heart of our thinking. We've taken great care to make sure that there's no bus stops more than 200 metres from the street and taxi ranks 100 metres from the street and no loss to blue plaque spaces. How is it going to fare up in terms of competing with other global? cities do you think if you pedestrianise Oxford Street? Well, we have spent quite a lot of time as the Oxford Street Development Corporation talking to other cities that are doing similar schemes.

And we've learnt a huge amount, both in terms of the kind of economic impact, but also some of the real practicalities. So, for example, in Times Square, they were very keen to point out the need to really maximise the use of additional seating, which we are doing as part of our plans. We know that high streets are changing, they're changing around the world, and it's really important that London is ahead of that. change and is spearheading a new way of shopping and a new way of experiencing retail and Oxford Street will be at the heart of that.

Shawley reporting from Oxford Street in central London. And that's all from us for now. If you'd like to get in touch, drop us an email Global Podcast at BBC.com. You'll also find us on X. Go to at BBC World Service and use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget about our sister podcast, The Global Story, goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on One Big Story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Ricardo McCarthy.

The producer was Emma Joseph. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Andrew Peach. Thank you for listening. And until next time, goodbye. He's the founder of the Adani Group, one of India's major infrastructure conglomerates. And with interests ranging from ports to airports to power generation and green energy.

He's become one of Asia's wealthiest individuals. On Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service, delving into the life and fortune of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani. Listen on BBC.com, the BBC app, or wherever you get your podcasts.