Global News Podcast - Iran renews attacks on Gulf countries

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Tehran has fired missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours causing blazes at a Kuwait refinery and a Bahrain warehouse. Israel has launched more air attacks against Iran. Powerful explosions were reported in the capital. Iranian media said sixteen of its cargo ships anchored in the Gulf had been burnt out after being targeted there. There's been a warning that the world faces its greatest ever energy threat from the Iran war. Also, weight loss drugs are set to become much cheaper as patents expire in India and elewhere. A cyclone has hit Australia's northeastern coast bringing fierce winds, heavy rain and floods. An international aid convoy arrives in Cuba. Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris dies at 86. And Mission to the Moon, NASA’s huge rocket - now repaired - heads back to the launchpad at Cape Canaveral in Florida in preparation for the first crewed flight in more than half a century.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]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. How did fake rumors about the death of Benjamin Netanyahu spread around the globe? So far that he was even forced to post multiple proof of life videos to quash the rumors. To be very clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not dead. But what does this episode tell us about disinformation in the age of AI? I'm Asma Khalid with the global story. Listen on Spotify. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Janet Jalil and it's 16 hours GMT on Friday the 20th of March. These are our main headlines. Gulf countries come under renewed attacks from Iran as Israel continues to bomb Tehran but pledges not to attack any more Iranian energy sites. But with oil and gas prices still high, the International Energy Agency calls for people to work from home more drive slower and fly less to reduce demand for fuel. Also in this podcast,

with the patent about to expire in some countries on weight loss drugs like Ozympic and Wagovi, could cheaper generic products transform the battle against the bulge. And mission to the moon. We will have the earth at the window as a single ball, something none of us have seen. And then we're going to travel a quarter of a million. miles away. NASA's huge rocket now repaired heads back to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida in preparation for the first crude flight in more than half a century. But first, nearly three weeks since the US and Israel began their war with Iran. It is continuing to fire missiles and drones at its

Gulf neighbors, causing fires at a major refinery in Kuwait and a warehouse in Bahrain. Blasts were also heard in Jerusalem. At the same time, Israel has again struck targets in Iran, but after a rare rebuke from President Trump, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged not to hit Iranian energy sites again. The Gulf states have been stunned and angered by the scale of Iran's response, not just hitting U.S. bases on their soil as expected, but also energy infrastructure, airports and even hotels. The Saudi foreign minister said his country reserved the right to take military action against Iran. I got more on that with our security correspondent in Doha, Frank Gardner. But first, he told me more about the latest Iranian attacks.

Overnight and over the last 24 hours, there have been a series of Iranian missile attacks on what could only be described as economic targets up and down the Gulf. Kuwait, for example, the Mina Abdelah and Mina al-Lahmedi refineries have been hit. Saudi Arabia's petrochemical industries have been hit. In Qatar, where I'm speaking to you from, they are still reeling from yesterday mornings and overnight attacks on Rastafan, which is the world's largest gas processing plant. The Qataris are furious. The knock-on effect of this, in diplomatic terms, is that the Qataris have complained to the United States. Donald Trump has said, we knew nothing about this. The Israelis say, yes, they did. We told them. They knew everything about it. We're doing everything

in concert with the Americans. So somebody. isn't being entirely truthful here. And for the time being, the Americans have told Israel not to do any more, hit any more economic targets. So let's see if that sticks. Yes, because the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, came out yesterday to say that President Trump didn't know about this Israeli attack on the Iranian gas field that sparked this latest escalation, in fact, contradicting his own officials. It does sound like it, doesn't it? I mean, I took a call specifically yesterday from an Israeli official to tell me they did know. They did tell them. So the longer term picture here is, are they both on the same page as to when this war is going to end? And I think that

Israel has a desire to keep working its way down through a target list in Iran of missile sites and IRGC, Revolutioning Guards commanders that it wants to eliminate. Whereas for the US, time is running out. You know, every day that this goes on, it's going to become less. and less popular with Donald Trump's MAGA, his Make America Great Again, base, which didn't vote him into office to get involved in another Middle Eastern war, and certainly not to drive up petrol prices, gas prices at the pump. We've heard from the Saudi Foreign Minister that his country is reserving the right to take military action against Iran. How likely is that, do you think, Frank? Well, the Saudis have got a powerful air force, and of course they've got a huge ally in the United

States. They are getting hit almost daily by Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at Prince Sultan Air Base, south of Riyadh, at a place called Al-Kharaj. And they're getting fed up with this and not being able to retaliate. But they also know that if they were to join in this war, effectively on the side of Israel, that brings two risks. One, their own population are not going to be happy at them appearing to side with Israel, a country that has been embroiled in the Gaza War since 2020. 23, and secondly, there is the risk of massive Iranian retaliation. And the Saudis had a bit of a wake-up call in September 2019 when having joined in the Yemen War to try and beat the Houthis, they then got hit by a flurry of drones launched from Iraq by Iranian-backed proxies. Iran always denied it, but I think

everybody assumes it was Iranian-backed proxies that launched these drones at Saudi Arabia's petrochemical facilities, and that knocked out half of Saudi's export capacity for several days. Now, that was just a taste of what could possibly come. So the Saudis know that they are vulnerable. They've got good air defences. They were able to shoot down the eight ballistic missiles that Iran fired at Riyadh a couple of days ago, but not everything is able to be shot down. Some things get through, and the damage to their critical national infrastructure could be catastrophic. Frank Gardner in Doha. Well, we've already seen how damaging attacks on energy infrastructure can be, with this week's soaring gas and oil prices and stock market falls after that Iranian attack on Qatar's main site for producing liquefied natural gas.

Our business reporter, Nick Marsh, told me more about the extent of the damage at this highly important gas facility and the impact it's likely to have on our energy bills. Qatar's energy minister said that it would take between three and five years to totally repair the damage sustained in those Iranian attacks on Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday morning. There are 14 what's known as trains, so basically these huge processing units in which natural gas is cooled to a very, very low temperature and it's turned into liquefied natural gas. and that's the stuff that gets exported all around the world. Two of those 14 trains have been really, really severely damaged to the point where you need to rebuild the whole thing, and that takes a very, very long time indeed.

That means that, according to his calculations, Qatar's LNG output is going to drop by 17%, so nearly a fifth over the course of the next three to five years. Now, that's obviously a huge blow to Qatar and its finances and its economy, but also to all of the countries that rely on its liquefied natural gas. Lots of countries out here in Asia, China, India as well, big customer, Japan, South Korea, but also increasingly Europe, given that Europe's trying to buy less Russian natural gas after the invasion of Ukraine.

So, yes, some pretty significant damage we're talking about. And briefly, we saw energy prices spike yesterday. What's it like today? It has stabilized in relative terms, especially compared to yesterday, where things really, really shot up. I mean, natural gas going up by about 30%. Brent crude, you know, the benchmark for oil, a barrel of that hitting around $119, which is very high indeed.

They've gone down a little bit, but still really, really high. You could argue that they went down because Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump were talking about no further attacks, but the facts on the ground mean that production is severely compromised. Nick Marsh. And there's been a warning that the world faces its greatest, ever energy threat from the Iran War. The International Energy Agency says the disruption to supplies is the largest in oil market history and it's urged governments to look at ways of reducing

demand, such as cushing speed limits and encouraging people to work from home more and to fly less. Here's the head of the IEA, Fati Birol. Our world is facing the greatest global energy security challenge in the history. It is much bigger than what we hit in the 1970s, the oil price shocks. It is also bigger than the natural gas price shock we have experienced after the Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is not only oil and gas, fertilizers, petrochemicals. These are all facing major problems.

The head of the IEA, Thati Birol. As well as the growing economic cost, there's also been a heavy, personal cost for millions of people forced to flee their homes in Iran and in Lebanon. The Lebanese authorities say more than a thousand people have been killed there by Israeli attacks in the past three weeks. There are no official figures for Iran, but the US-based human rights activist news agency says more than 3,100 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war. This comes as Iranians are marking the Persian New Year, Nauru's. Even as they mourn those, they've lost in the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on protesters in January and the ongoing war.

Dan Johnson has been speaking to some Iranians who've recently crossed into Turkey. A centuries-old celebration this year has a very different soundtrack. In the corner of a restaurant in Varn, the closest city to the border, Ali Reza Muli Horseni plays the Daph, a traditional Persian drum. So many lives have been upended, but after crossing to Turkey, Ali Reza is reproducing the familiar sounds of harm. In Iranian culture, sadness and happiness often go hand in hand. Iranians haven't been able to speak out or protest freely, and that's what let us hear.

War is never a good thing, not for Iran, not for any nation. Children are waking up to the sound of missiles, filled with fear. Families are leaving their homes just to survive. I'm absolutely heartbroken by what is happening in Iran. The new years welcomed with hope of fresh beginnings. In the lobby of one of the hotels, sheltering displaced Iranians, Anita Mohamed Pana, approaches the table laid with candles and the Haft Sin display, seven items symbolizing health and renewal.

Nehroze is not being celebrated by anyone, but we hold onto the hope of freedom. Anita, 24 years. old, left Iran last summer. But now, when families are supposed to be coming together, just keeping in contact is difficult. For days, I have no naves from anyone. My sister gave birth and we didn't even get to talk. For those of us who left the country, our only comfort was being able to speak to our families over the internet. Every day, more people take to the road and leave Iran. But at the border crossing, high in the snowy mountains, many still speak quietly for fear of reprisals. There is no norus this year.

Many people are mourning because two months before the killing of people. Will you celebrate at all? No, no, no, no, no. We want people of the world to understand my country. Very hard, very. We can't celebrate Norah's this year unless we are sure of the fall of the regime and that the families of the fallen can celebrate with us. But there are people heading the other way, carrying opposing views.

Listen to this man we met who supports the regime. America and Israel should keep their hands off Iran. We just came to Turkey for three days. Now we have Naurus, so we came to buy things and we are going back. Long live Iran forever. Back in the city, Ali Reza has a message of healing and optimism. This celebration can be a time of renewal, but doing so with a thoughtful eye on our past. But that history makes new beginnings difficult and lasting peace even harder.

That report by Dan Johnson. The Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has ended what she's described. as a very difficult official visit to the U.S. after deflecting President Trump's request for Japanese military assistance in his war against Iran. Mr. Kajichi, who's established a warm rapport with Mr. Trump during their first meeting in Japan last October, lavished praise on the U.S. President but insisted that Japan's post-war pacifist constitution limited its ability to deploy its armed forces. Jonathan Head reports. Sanai Takahichi had one job on this visit to avoid a public row with President Trump,

and in that she succeeded. She deployed a full arsenal of flattery and defection on Mr. Trump, calling him my best buddy to deflect his calls for Japanese military help in the Gulf. It worked. The US president said he still expected Japan to step up, pointing out its heavy dependence on oil from the Gulf, but did not subject her to the scorn he's poured on NATO allies, for their refusal to deploy forces in support of his war against Iran.

There was one awkward moment when Mr. Trump, responding to a question over why the US failed to warn its allies about the Iran plans, compared it to Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The two leaders did, however, agree on pushing forward, with Japan's promise made last year to invest $550 billion in the US in return for lighter tariffs. The Japanese Prime Minister's visit to Washington had originally been timed to proceed Mr Trump's planned summit with Chinese leader Sieging Ping

to get across Japan's concerns over China's increasing belligerence in East Asia. The Iran conflict has now forced the US to postpone that meeting. Jonathan Head. NASA is rolling out its giant moon rocket to the launch pad for a second time ahead of a mission to send astronauts around the moon, something not attempted in more than 30. 50 years. The move to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida comes after a problem with the rocket's helium system forced NASA to abandon a launch attempt earlier this month. The hope is the rocket

will launch in early April. So it's time, tentatively perhaps, to get excited again. And here's a reminder of the extraordinary nature of this mission from one of the crew. We're going to be going into an orbit almost right away. That is 40,000 miles, like a fifth of the way to the moon, just in and of itself, we will have the earth at the window as a single ball, something none of us have seen. And then we're going to travel a quarter of a million miles away. Our science editor, Rebecca Morel, told us more. This is the second time the rocket's been rolled out to the pad. The first was back in January. And the rockets had a few technical problems. First of all, hydrogen leaks. Later, it had helium leaks.

And engineers are really confident that they have fixed this. So the rocket is rolling back out to the launch pad today. I mean, this thing is huge. It's nearly 100 metres tall. It weighs 2.5,000 tonnes. So it's being carried on top of a vehicle called a crawler transporter. It's being carried vertically. So it can reach top speeds of about one mile an hour

while it's being carried along, much slower going uphill and round corners. So the whole four-mile journey takes about 12 hours in total. But once it's there, engineers will complete the final sort of checks and tests, but they really want to get this rocket launched at the start of April. And the earliest date for a launch window to open is actually the 1st of April. And the astronauts have entered into quarantine now, so to prepare for the mission.

So, you know, limiting their exposure to bugs and viruses. So they're in peak health for their 10-day mission. I mean, remember, this is the first time any humans have been to the moon in more than 50 years. And these astronauts will be flying around the far side of the moon. So they're not going to orbit around it. They're going to go around the back of the moon and come back. to Earth again. But this launch is actually, this mission is paving the way for a future lunar landing and then a future moon base because the difference between the Artemis missions and the

Apollo missions that NASA wants to sort of build a sustained presence on the moon to have astronauts living and working there. And they're not the only ones. China are wanting to do the same. I mean, China are aiming to get astronauts down to the lunar surface by 2030 and they're making very steady progress indeed. So the race is really on to get to. the moon. Rebecca Morel. Still to come in this podcast. We are going to experience loss of electricity and the damage is likely to be significant with a system of this size. A cyclone hits Australia's northeastern coast, bringing fierce winds, heavy rain and flooding. How did fake rumors about the death of Benjamin Netanyahu

spread around the globe? So far that he was even forced to post multiple proof of life videos to quash rumors. To be very clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not dead. But what does this episode tell us about disinformation in the age of AI? I'm Asma Khalid with the global story. Listen on Spotify. This is the global news podcast. Weight-loss drugs are set to become much cheaper as patents on drugs like a Zempeg and Wigovie start to expire in India and a number of other countries. This means that Millions of people who are overweight or have diabetes will now be able to afford them. Our reporter, Achana Shukla, spoke to me from a factory in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, which has already begun manufacturing generic versions of the drugs.

The generic versions start coming into the market from tomorrow. So these factories over the last few months have actually put in a lot of capacity expansion, put in a lot of investment to ramp up capacities. And I could see packed boxes already ready to be shipped to the market. This particular factory is making these generic versions for almost a third of the 50 brands that will come into the Indian market. But the opportunity doesn't just rest in India. India is the pharmacy of the world. And these factories already have approvals and licenses in various other markets.

Semiaglutide, which is the molecule that powers Ozempic and Wegovi. These are two blockbuster weight loss drugs that actually earned Novo-Nodis $26 billion in revenue just last year. Now, the generic semadlutide is going off patent, meaning the exclusivity is ending. That also means that multiple other companies can launch generic versions, cheaper alternatives of this drug. And the access to this drug, to diabetic patients, to patients who are struggling with weight management, especially for medical conditions, that will become easier. So over the course of next few months, the patents would also expire in Canada, China, and to all those patients around these countries,

generic versions of these weight loss drugs at much more affordable prices will be available. So if I give you an example of India, these drugs have been available for over a year, but just a small section of the population could afford it because it would cost about $120 to $150 for a month's dose, which is a big amount for the socioeconomic conditions in India. But it is a market where diabetes and obesity is fast rising.

Now with about 50 brands wanting to come into the market from tomorrow onwards, prices are expected to crash by nearly half. And over the next few months, it could come down much more than that. So it sounds like there could be huge benefits. But there are also concerns about greater risks because these substances could be abused. There are already cases and reports that these drugs are being misused. Suddenly these weight loss drugs became very popular. And everybody realized that, you know, if you're not... are on these drugs, you could lose weight fast. So while this is supposed to be used under medical

supervision and only for treating and managing diabetes and weight for certain patients, a large number of gym trainers, beauty clinics, etc., have started dispensing these drugs for quick and fast cosmetic use. I've been speaking with doctors who say that a lot of people come to them saying that, you know, I'm going to get married in three months and I need to lose weight. Can you prescribe me this drug? And that is something which is all right. already a risk which is happening, a misuse. And doctors are sounding caution on that. Archana Shukla in southern India.

A severe cyclone has hit Australia's northeast coast, bringing fierce winds, heavy rain and flooding. Ahead of the cyclone making land in a remote part of Queensland, the state's premier, David Krissafouli, gave this warning. Wind is intensifying. In many cases, it'll be the strongest wind that people have experienced in this part of the state for a long, long time. But look, I don't want to show you to coat this.

We are going to experience loss of electricity and the damage is likely to be significant with a system of this size. As we record this podcast, there are no reports of casualties and the authorities have praised residents for following orders to shelter where they can. Our correspondent in Queensland, Simon Atkinson, told me more. Cycle and a rail which crossed the coast here, about 7 o'clock in the morning local time, and with gusts of about 220 kilometres an hour,

at one point. It seems it hasn't been as damaging and perhaps as bad as had been feared. Certainly there are no reports at this stage of any loss of life and nothing of severe infrastructure damage. I've seen pictures of roofs, damage on houses, lots of trees down and that kind of thing. But certainly it seems the areas so far where the cyclone have passed over seem to have had a lucky escape. I mean, it's worth saying that these are areas with pretty small populations, which has certainly helped. Yet there had been big fears that this could be the worst cyclone Australia had ever experience. It's all part of a pattern, isn't it, of more and more extreme weather events affecting Australians? That's right. I think around the world, don't we see more and more of these severe events?

And this is a warning for this particular part of Australia that it could be one of the worst that people had seen in living memory. We do get a lot of cyclones up here in North Queensland. It's the cyclone season. The big fear now, I think, is going to be the rainfall. There's certainly lots of rain in this whole tip of Cape York, the Cape York Peninsula to the north of Queensland. What we tend to get is in the days after these cyclones is lots and lots of flooding. Rivers bursting their banks, creeks, roads overflowing. So actually a lot of the aftermath can be as troublesome as the cyclone coming over itself.

But the authorities have praised residents for following orders to shelter in place. It sounds like the authorities are dealing with this as effectively as they can. Yeah, I think it's getting the message across. A lot of the communities in far north Queensland are indigenous communities. There's a lot of issues around language, for example, about getting the message to these groups to get communities which are perhaps quite isolated to stay indoors. A lot of these towns don't have proper kind of cyclone shelters,

so there's been a lot of preparation for that. So certainly there's been some messaging over the last few days that this is what people need to do. The cyclone is about 20 kilometres off the island. other tip of North Queensland now, it's then going to go across the Gulf of Carpentaria. The concern is, as it passes over those warm waters, it's going to intensify again. It's dropped down to a level two cyclone. It started as a level four.

But it's then going to go back over Australian landmass in Northern Territory into Saturday. So it isn't over by any means. Simon Atkinson in Queensland in Australia. For years, Cubans have lived a precarious existence, suffering food and medicine shortages and power cuts, partly because of the long-running U.S. economic embargo and partly because of the mismanagement of their communist rulers. But the plight of people living in Cuba further worsened after the U.S. seized the Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in January.

This meant Cuba lost its main oil supplier with the island experiencing a total blackout at one point. Now an aid convoy called Noestra America has arrived on the island, part of an international effort to deliver badly needed aid supplies and to protest at the American oil blockade. Ilaria Salas is an Italian member of the European Parliament and was on the convoy. She spoke to Krupa Padi from Havana.

The situation is quite complicated. You know, life is going on quite slowly in the city. The impression is, I don't know, something like cities in Italy, for instance, during the pandemic. I visited on the first day, also health centers and hospitals for children. And so I could see that there is problems in finding some kinds of medicines because of the embargo. Medicines that are produced in the US cannot be sold to Puba. And for this reasons, the lives and health of many children,

in Cuba are under threat. And there is also, of course, a problem that regards energy. And so it's also a problem to make all the machineries from the hospital work properly and with the correct speed. So they managed to do it, but it's quite a hard job. And they also have to be very careful about how much energy there is left. Let's just expand for a moment on that energy collapse. You've mentioned the situation at the hospitals.

We're really talking about the most vulnerable there. But on a day-to-day basis, people are battling with these daily blackouts. What do you understand the impact that has been on daily life? So how people are resisting and they are trying to make everything work. It's quite difficult. The impact on the day-by-day life, it's quite complicated. And, of course, it's more complicated for families who have children. or for ill people or for old people, it's very difficult to live day by day life in the situation.

There are not so many people around in the street. There are just a few cars going around. Just before our arrival, there was a 30 hours long blackout in the whole island, and it was the first time this happened. it's totally against human rights to put this kind of embargo that looks like a collective punishment for the whole people

it's actually against international right and against human rights when you assess the situation on the whole you've got the lack of food lack of access to so many goods and as you say the embargo has simply made things worse what do you think the people of Cuba need the most? Well, the first thing is to stop immediately this embargo. In this moment, they need

electricity because electricity and oil is fundamental for a day-by-day life. The machinery in the hospitals and the school and all the other needs cannot be provided without energies. You are part of this flotilla that has arrived. What did you bring? I came here with a convoy from Europe and we're expecting also some boats to arrive in the next days. But we have to see when and if the boats will actually arrive or if the boats will be blocked on their way. And on the boats there is more humanitarian aid, more medicines and other goods. That was Ilaria Salas, an Italian MEP.

And we have more on this on our YouTube channel. News on YouTube and you'll find Global News Podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. Chuck Norris, the Hollywood actor and martial artist who starred in action films, including The Way of the Dragon with Bruce Lee and the series Walker, Texas Ranger, has died. He was 86. A symbol of rugged masculinity to his fans. He also in later years became the subject of a string of internet memes, including

Chuck Norris Fax, which jokingly exaggerated his strength and toughness. Peter Coffin looks back at his life. America had no more heroes. Until now, Chuck Norris. Karate Master, turned action star, turned internet meme. Chuck Norris remained a hero of B-List pop culture for more than five decades. He gained entry to Hollywood as a martial arts teacher to the stars, including Steve McQueen, who recommended Norris try acting himself.

Norris landed his first substantial role in 1972 in the cult classic Kung Fu film, Way of the Dragon, squaring off against Bruce Lee in an epic eight-minute fight scene. But it was the explosion of low-budget action films in the 19th. 80s that turned Norris into a star, using roundhouse kicks and usually a machine gun to fight injustice. Films like Delta Force and missing in action were generally panned by the critics, but loved by fans of cheesy action movies. Time Magazine once called Norris the most successful, really terrible actor of his generation. Norris's fame peaked with the television program Walker, Texas Ranger, which ran for eight series ending in 2001. But some five years later, he enjoyed a career resurgence, thanks to the internet phenomenon of Chuck Norris facts.

Tongue and cheek claims about Norris's prowess as an all-American tough guy. Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants. Chuck Norris does not own a microwave because revenge is a dish best-served cold. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard. There is only another fist. Norris parlayed the online jokes into a lucrative business that included TV appearances, a book, even a computer game. However outlandish, the facts only slightly exaggerated the character Norris had always played, that of a hard-punching but unshakably moral man, standing up for good in the face of evil. Peter Goffin, with that look back on the life of the American actor Chuck Norris, who has died at the age of 86.

And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.co. com. And don't forget our sister podcast, the global story, which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Chris Lovelock. The producers were Ari and Codchy and Oliver Burlough. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jean-Ullulil.

Until next time. Goodbye. How did fake rumors about the death of Ben Affiope? Benjamin Netanyahu spread around the globe. So far that he was even forced to post multiple proof of life videos to quash the rumors. To be very clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not dead. But what does this episode tell us about disinformation in the age of AI? I'm Asma Khalid with the global story.

Listen on Spotify.