Global News Podcast - Houthi fighters seize control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast

Episode Date: September 12, 2026

Houthi fighters seize control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, following a lightning military offensive that's cemented their grip on a vital maritime corridor. Also: Despite efforts to control the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials have confirmed that the virus has now spread to another region in the North West of the country. The British parliament votes against changing the law on assisted dying. The proposed legislation would have allowed adults, with fewer than six months to live, to apply to end their own life -- subject to certain safeguards. Leaders of the BRICS group of nations are attending a summit in the Indian capital Delhi this weekend. It looks set to be dominated by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges. 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: Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, delivers a televised statement in Sana'a, Yemen Credit: Al Masirah TV

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Growing businesses deal with the same problem, too many tools, too much back and forth and not enough time. Odu helps bring it all together. It's an all-in-one business management platform, fully integrated from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, so your team can spend less time chasing information and focus on growth. Whether you're in retail, manufacturing or service, Odu gives you one place to manage your business. Visit Odu.com to book a demo. It's O'DOO.com. Did America's War on Terror work?

I'm Asma Khalid, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. In the words of a former U.S. official, on September 11, 2001, the terrorists hijacked not just airplanes, but also the direction of U.S. foreign policy. 25 years on, what were the unintended consequences of the war on? terror. For the full story, listen to the global story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jenat Jalil, and in the early hours of Saturday, the 12th of September, these are our main stories. Iranian-bat-houthi fighters in Yemen cement their control of a key waterway, seizing control of the country's entire Red Sea coast.

The Democratic Republic of Congo says the Ebola outbreak, its battling, has spread to the country's northwest. A bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales is rejected by MPs. Also in this podcast, India hosts a BRICS summit. Will it challenge a Western-dominated world? And a museum in England removes an ancient Egyptian mummy from public display because they think that's what she would have wanted. Some visitors, though, aren't happy. It's half of an exhibit if you just have the exterior without the interior of it. You're missing out on kids coming in and learning what mummies look like. I do understand the point of view of the

people who it's been taken from. Yeah, it definitely was a right decision to take it off. Iranian-backed Houthi fighters have now seized control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive that cemented their grip on a vital maritime corridor. An eyewitness said gunmen were deploying along a key international shipping route, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and driving around in military vehicles. Officials in the Saudi-backed Yemeni government say the Houthis have also seized several. several islands in and near the Bab al-Mandab. This has become an increasingly important route for Saudi Arabia's oil exports since Iran blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz

after the US and Israel launched their war on it. The Hithfi military spokesman, Yaya Sari, had this to say. Navigation remains safe for all shipping companies, except Saudi vessels in the strait of Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it's shut down a major oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones launched from inside Iraq. The UN says the latest fighting in Yemen has killed hundreds of people

and displaced tens of thousands more. Our correspondent, Li Zissette, explained how significant the Hussi advance was. This is hugely significant. It essentially opens up a second front in this crucial area. We have, of course, been focusing on for many months. The main theatre of war is in the strait of Hormuz.

And there's been observations, including from US officials, in recent days, about how they've been able to loosen Iran's grip on that strategic choke point, that they're now managing to get many, many more tankers through, exporting many, many more millions of barrels of oil. whereas the Iranians are being prevented from exporting their oil. So we see in this move by the Houthis who are not completely tied to Iran. They have their own interest in the region.

But on this, they seem aligned that Iran now wants to exercise even greater leverage geographically and politically by maintaining a hold over the second choke point, just south of the Persian Gulf. Now you have the Babel Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea. But you heard from the spokesperson making it very clear, They don't want the Americans to be drawn in. They promise not to disrupt maritime trade except for the Saudis. And just how crucial is that Babal Mandab Strait?

We've heard so much about the Strait of Hormuz. How about this particular choke point? It's particularly important for Saudi Arabia because Saudi Arabia being prevented from exporting through the Strait of Hormuz has been turning to the Red Sea, which is the link between the Suez Canal in the north and the Gulf of Aden. And I know from recently speaking to Saudi officials, they were putting all their efforts into developing these alternative routes.

And it's been the same with other partners in the Gulf, saying, OK, right, Iran's going to continue to exercise control there. We're going to outsmart them by making the straight-of-form moves less important. It's very difficult to say just how much of the traffic goes through there. And it's not just oil and gas. There are other really important commodities as well. So this is why you've seen today another spike in oil prices. The markets are nervous.

and I think it's a very unpredictable and a very volatile situation. What will the Saudis do? They're already bombing today. There are reports that they've asked the Americans to help. So far, they're not, but the discussions are continuing. Lee's Ducet speaking to Anka Desai. Despite efforts to control the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo,

officials have confirmed that the virus has now spread to a new part of the country. So far, more than three. 3,000 people are known to have died, with thousands more infected. I've got more details from our reporter, David Bamford. Up until now, the virus has been mainly in the northeast of Congo in about six different provinces. It's now slightly further to the west on the borders of the Central African Republic and Congo in what's called the South Ubangi region.

So it is still spreading, and up until now we've had 7,000 cases nationwide, wide, it's about nearly half of those died. So it's 3,300 dead. And the fear is, of course, that it could spread across the borders into the other countries. Although that said, when it did spread into Uganda, for instance, they dealt with it very efficiently. That's because they have quick contact tracing systems and so on, very modern, in a way that Congo just doesn't. And what role have the major cuts in USA played in all this? Because the virus did spread undetected for some weeks? That's right, it did. It is true that the Americans under the Trump administration have withdrawn funding for the little clinics that were spread right across

the Congo. But it's not just the Americans, of course. The Europeans have also withdrawn a lot of aid as well. And dealing with the country like Congo is difficult at the best of times, but with money disappearing the way it has, it's almost impossible. And what progress has there been towards developing your vaccine? Well, remarkably, there has been a lot of work on the vaccines and human treatment has begun already, but it's still in the early stages and it's going to be months before they can actually put together

significant quantities of the vaccine to make any difference. David Bamford. A number of countries have legalised assisted dying in recent years, but it seems England and Wales won't be joining their ranks anytime soon after the British Parliament voted against changing the law on this emotionally charged issue. The terminally ill adults' end-of-life bill would have allowed adults, with less than six months to live, to apply to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards.

One of those who has long campaigned for assisted dying to be allowed in the UK is 86-year-old broadcaster Esther Ranson, who's terminally ill with cancer. She has said she is now too physically fragile to travel to, another country like Switzerland where she could legally end her life. She gave her reaction to the no-vote on a mobile phone. I'm so sad that people in this country won't have the choice of shortening their own deaths by asking for help. I am sure a change in the law will come. I am deeply sad that it will come soon enough for many of the people who need it. But one of the MPs who voted against was Ashley Dalton,

who is living with stage four cancer. She said she was worried people like her could be pressured or coerced into ending their lives. It's nothing short of irresponsible to scaremonger people like me into believing our deaths will be horrific. When all the evidence suggests that with access to good palliative care, deaths are on the whole gentle. The answer is not to terrify people and their families. It's to sort out palliative care and social care first. It's the second time in two years that MPs have voted on the issue. The lower House of Parliament, the Commons, voted in favour of assisted dying last year,

but after the Upper House blocked it, concerns have grown that safeguards may not be robust enough. When the result of this latest vote was announced, our medical editor, Fergus Walsh, was outside the Parliament building, where supporters and opponents of the bill had gathered. Joy and relief from no campaigners who'd argued that the bill would lead to the coercion of the vulnerable and undermine support for the disabled. Sophie Clianthus is a disability rights campaigner. The fact that MPs listened, they spoke to us, they heard us, they know that disabled people were terrified of this bill. Thank you to every MP that voted against. But there was dismay among pro-campainers who only last year were celebrating when MPs backed the same legislation.

They argue terminally ill people deserve choice and a pain-free death. Sarah Burns' sister, Elise, died of breast cancer in July. It just feels like a massive slap in the face. We had to watch her go through hell. Essentially, she'd be devastated. that after it passed once and then it ran out of time, that it's come back and now it's no vote.

A growing number of countries have legalised assisted dying in recent years, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and just last month, France. This is not the end of the assisted dying campaign in Britain. Supporters say they'll be back, but it looks like they'll have to wait until after the next general election to have any hope of changing the law. Fergus Walsh.

A new weather record was set on Friday, and it's good news because September the 11th, 2026, marked the furthest point into an Atlantic hurricane season without a single hurricane being formed. James Kumasami asked Dr Ryan Trishelot, a meteorologist and president of the consulting firm Weather Tiger, if this was down to the El Nino weather phenomenon. It absolutely is. And, you know, El Nino is a kind of global climate pacemaker. It's defined by

warmth of tropical ocean waters in the Pacific Ocean, but it certainly has weather impacts worldwide. And in terms of tropical cyclones, when there is an El Nino in effect, you tend to see more tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and many fewer than average tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, it's not unusual to see zero hurricanes forming at what's generally regarded as about the halfway point of hurricane season here in the North Atlantic Ocean. But this is no typical El Nino. It's one of the strongest of all time. Does it mean that there is just a delay? I mean, could things come back with a vengeance in the second half of the season? Never say never in this business. I've been forecasting hurricanes for the last 20 years,

and it really and truly does only take one hurricane to make it a bad hurricane season. And 1992 was a very quiet hurricane season other than Hurricane Andrew, which was a category five that hit South Florida. That being said, the conditions that are causing the hurricane season to be so quiet in the Atlantic are highly unfavorable upper level winds over the Caribbean Sea. I do not think that those are going anywhere over the next couple months. El Niño is only intensifying, and I think those unfavorable upper level winds will continue to be in place. Now, of course, that doesn't rule out that a storm could form closer to the continental United States and cause problems. So we may see some mean reversion, but I think this hurricane season is going to end well below normal and has a shot of being the quietest hurricane season of all time in the North Atlantic. Well, as you say, it's a different story in the Eastern Pacific. Well, it absolutely is. And in fact, if you integrate all the tropical cyclone activity in the Northern Hemisphere, we're actually running about 25% above North.

for 2026. So it's kind of a seesaw. You'll see this when there's a lanina. Typically, we'll have more travel cyclone activity in the Atlantic and less in the central and eastern Pacific. So in worldwide terms, 2026 travel cyclone season is quite busy, but it's very, very historically quiet here in the Atlantic. Since 1950, there have been at least two hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean every hurricane season. Dr. Ryan Trish Lutt. Still to come in this podcast, one year after the assassination of the prominent right-wing U.S. activist Charlie Kirk, we assess his legacy. He changed the way U.S. conservatives talk to Gen Z and future generations. And I think his legacy will be this concept of having an open dialogue is a good thing. Your sales order says one thing. Your inventor says one thing.

says another. Your spreadsheet says, good luck. Odu brings your business together on a single platform, from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. Visit odu.com to book a demo. It's OD00.com. Did America's War on Terror work? I'm Asma Khalid, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. In the words of a former U.S. official, on September 11, 2001, the terrorists hijacked not just airplanes, but also the direction of U.S. foreign policy. 25 years on, what were the unintended consequences of the war on terror? For the full story, listen to The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast.

Between them, they represent about half the world's population. Leaders of the Bricks Group of Nations are attending a summit in the Indian Capital Delhi this weekend. It looks set to be dominated by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges. It's being hosted by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. China's President Xi Jinping's visit to India will be the first since deadly border clashes between the two nations seven years ago. Bricks was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by the West. Our global affairs reporter, Ambarasan Etirajan, told us more. It's a much expanded bricks.

Initially, it was mainly Brazil, India, Russia, China and then South Africa, now it has expanded with 11 other members. It is happening at a critical time. You have the tensions in the Middle East, Russia's war on Ukraine, and also the US President Trump's tariff, particularly targeting those countries which are doing business with Russia, see, for example, and China, India and many other countries. And why they founded this?

Because they felt the Western-backed financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They were Western-dominated. And the UN and other agencies are, again, the influence of U.S. and Western Europe are too high. And to balance this, this alternative grouping was formed. But there are also issues, because even though they came together for a common purpose,

there are also bilateral issues and tensions, like India and China, and again, India's links with the US and Israel, how it is being seen, whether they can have any statement against President Trump. But it is important because it really represents nearly 50% of the world's population, 40% of the GDP, and these are some of the countries which are having the fastest-to-going economy. So what they say, whether to make trade easier among themselves, or to plan for something long-term, whether how they can look at trading in low currencies

rather than depending heavily on US dollar. So a kind of counterweight, if you like to the West, at a time when Donald Trump's policies, particularly on tariffs and trade, have caused a lot of concern around the world. This will be one of the topics discussed in this meeting because many of the countries feel that it is disrupting the global trade and they also feel that these tariffs are unjustified.

So now they want to take a common position. But at the same time, Trump has also clearly warned about some of the aims of this bricks. For example, he was categorically saying they shouldn't even think about an alternative currency to dollar. Then he will be imposing severe tariffs on the member states. He was also warning about individual agreements on any of the trade policies. You know, they're going to watch it. How far it is going to be beneficial to. each other. Here is the counter-narrative counter-voice, and it is also interesting, the Iranian

president, Matsud Peshinsky, and is also there in Delhi. So you have these people from different countries with a different agenda, and finding a common point if that's going to be a challenge. For example, Vladimir Putin, probably is one of the few countries where he can go freely without the fear of getting arrested because India is not a signatory to the ICC. And India and Russia, they maintain very close. and trade ties, especially in the military defense supplies, India heavily relies on Russia. Now, at the same time, this also has given an opportunity for India and China to reset the ties because it's a first visit by Xi Jinping to India after seven years.

So there is a thaw in relations between Beijing and Delhi, because that's a bilateral meeting on Saturday, is going to be seen as very crucial in improving ties. I'm Brassan Etirajan. President Trump is visiting Ireland this weekend to meet the country's leaders in Dublin and then to watch the Irish Open Gulf tournament at his resort in County Clare. Ireland has been a frequent destination for travelling US presidents, as Chris Page reports. Since the 1990s, Ireland has stood out among small countries as hosting a big number of US presidential visits, often with huge public welcomes for the visitors.

Over the years, storage of this place have become part of my soul. I am happy to be in Ireland. I am now a free man of Dublin. The roots of the relationship lie in emigration during America's formative years. Almost one in ten Americans now claim Irish ancestry. The wheels of the presidential airliner

were running on Irish soil. John F. Kennedy was in the land of his forebears. JFK was the first president to visit Ireland in 1963. This is the man whose great-grandfather somehow scraped together the four pounds for a sailing ship passage and emigrated to the United States. Barack Obama was another president with Irish heritage, and he paid homage with humor. My name is Barack Obama of the Moneygal Obamas.

And I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way. One of the most visible and diplomatically valuable outworkings of the country's links happens every year on the 17th of March in Washington. Let me wish everyone a very happy St Patrick's Day. On Ireland's national holiday, the Irish Prime Minister, the Taoiseach, has a meeting and a ceremony with the President. Time-honoured tradition. I'm going to present the ball of Shamrock to President.

Dan Woll Hall is a former Irish ambassador to the US. I don't know of any other country that has a guaranteed, annual outing in Washington, some of my European colleagues kind of puzzled as to how Ireland had managed to pull this off. Donald Trump's visit, here to Dublin and to the west of Ireland, will be different to most of his predecessors. He has no known Irish ancestry.

There won't be a large public rally involving him. Protests are being planned, focused on US actions in the Middle East. Dr Peter McLaughlin believes there are parallels with another visit, that of Ronald Reagan in 1984. The US was severely criticised at that point by people in Ireland and what was going on in the Cold War broadly, but very specifically in Central America. Many people in Ireland would have a cousin or someone who was serving abroad as a nun or a priest in Latin America and was able to bring back these first-hand reports of how there were very controversial associations there with US policy. And yet at the same time, this was the US president.

He needed to be courted. And that was the start of the real investment of the US in the Republic of Ireland and indeed Northern Ireland. I want you to know that for this great grand son of Ireland, this is a moment of joy. Ireland is more used than most nations to hosting the holder of the most powerful office in the world. This weekend of diplomacy and demonstrations will be another episode in a story dating back decades. That report by Chris Page. It's one year since the assassination of Charlie Cook, a right-wing American activist who was credited with helping to get young men to vote for President Trump, and who was talked about as a future president himself.

In the wake of his shooting on a college campus, his supporters thought his conservative movement, turning point, could only grow. But many now fear that no one will be able to fill the void. Kyle Bass is an American investor and founder of a private equity fund who knew Charlie Kirk. He spoke to Paul Henley. I met Charlie when he was 21 years old. He came into my office. in Dallas. A couple of friends suggested that I meet him, and I was just taken by his, his constancy of purpose, the fire that he had lit in him to change the way that youth politics is formed. And going to these college campuses around the U.S. was his mission to go talk about

the things that he cared most about, which was, you know, faith, family, and country. So we were in frequent contact. Charlie and I had plenty of things we disagreed on. But the one thing that I think everybody appreciates was his desire to engage in the dialectic. Ask questions and answer questions and let's talk about what our differences are and why they might be. And I think that did the U.S. and the world a service. He was always optimistic and he changed the way youth politics was thought about in America. So I think he has a lasting legacy. And what convinced you he could have been president of the U.S. one day?

I've met the last, I don't know, four or five presidents in America. And when you meet someone whose life mission is to make things better, and he has that charisma, he has that presence, that gravitas when he walked into a room, when he was 21 years old, he had it. And I think that's why he was so successful having that constancy of purpose and the desire to, as he always said, trying to get America back to the America that, let's say, we once had, the America that we had before September 11th. And I think that's why he had such a broad reach across America.

What do you think Charlie Kirk would make of his legacy now? He changed the way US conservatives talk to Gen Z and future generations. And I think his legacy will be this concept of having an open dialogue is a good thing. Kyle Bass. And finally, Manchester Museum in Northwest England has removed its ancient Egyptian mummy from public display to reflect what it describes as changing views. The remains of the woman, known as Arru, have been on show in the city for 200 years. The woman lived and died in ancient Egypt more than 2,000 years ago.

The museum said it had carried out research that showed she would not have wanted her body to be on public display. Roman Bridge reports. Since being unwrapped, Azru has been on almost constant public display. most recently at Manchester Museum, but no longer. Last year, the museum launched a public consultation on whether her mummified bodies should continue to be seen by visitors. Around 8,000 people responded, with views roughly evenly divided. And today, these visitors to the museum gave their reaction to the decision.

Might as well leave it. It's half of an exhibit if you just have the exterior without the interior of it. You're missing out on kids coming in and learning what mummies looked like. I do understand the point of view of the people who it's been taken from. Yeah, it definitely was a right decision to take it off. Having it in a separate room, so you make that choice about whether you go and see it or not, I think that would be a good compromise

because I think some people would want to see it. And we learn from the artefacts that are in museums. I mean, that's part of the reason behind having museums, isn't it? But the museum said the move reflected changing views about its responsibilities towards ancestors and the communities they represent it. and most closely reflect what Azru herself would have wanted. The museum's now considering what should happen to are in the long term.

The question of whether mummies should be publicly displayed as a live issue among museums. The British Museum still displays mummies, saying they provide an opportunity to examine how past societies understood death. Roman Bridge. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.com. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Hannah Montgomery.

The producer was Emma Joseph. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jeanette Jaliel. Until next time. Goodbye. Did America's War on Terror work? I'm Asma Khalid, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. In the words of a former U.S. official on September 11, 2001,

the terrorists hijacked not just airplanes, but also the direction of U.S. foreign policy. 25 years on, what were the unintended consequences of the war on terror? For the full story, listen to the global story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.