Global News Podcast - One killed and dozens injured in Kuwait by Iranian drones

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

Kuwait says one person has been killed and at least 63 injured after Iranian drones strike a terminal building at its international airport. Officials say the dawn strike damaged civilian facilities, including diplomatic missions. Kuwait’s foreign ministry called it an act of aggression. Also: Ukraine says a Russian warship was among targets hit in a large-scale drone attack on St Petersburg ahead of the Russian city's annual economic forum. Malawi becomes the latest country to offer to repatriate its citizens from South Africa, following incidents of xenophobia. Japan is being battered by tropical storm Jangmi. The government urges more than 400 thousand people to evacuate because of the risk of flooding and landslides. Voters in six US states choose candidates for mid-term elections in November. Scientists at Harvard University say weight lifting or strength training for two hours a week could increase your life span. And ahead of the men's football World Cup, a 92-year-old illustrator brings out a new book out about the history of the competition. 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: Debris lies on the floor as fire burns in the background in the aftermath of Iranian strikes at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City. Credit: Social Media/via REUTERS

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson, and at 16 hours GMT on Wednesday the 3rd of June, these are our main stories. Kuwait's international airport is hit by Iranian drones as US-Iran talk stall. Ukraine targets the Russian city of St. Petersburg as an investment summit known as Putin's Davos gets underway. Malawi prepares a return program for its citizens. in South Africa, impacted by migrant attacks. Also in this podcast, I Can't Breathe, words shouted at British police

during violent protests, sparked by the murder of a stabbed student handcuffed after his killer accused him of racism. Countries in the Gulf have once again come under attack from Iran as the Islamic Republic and the United States exchange fire, making their ceasefire ever more fragile. Kuwaita said that one person was killed and at least 63 others were wounded when a passenger terminal at the international airport there was hit by an Iranian drone. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they carried out the attack described by Kuwait's foreign ministry as an act of aggression. Yoland Nell is in Jerusalem monitoring developments for us.

Kuwait has repeatedly come under attack by Iran since the start of the war and during the fragile ceasefire as well. It has two air bases and Iran accuses. and Iran accuses U.S. forces base there of carrying out some of the recent attacks on its territory. A number of hostile drones hit the airport, according to Kuwaiti authorities. There is this video footage circulating and someone shows where a drone entered. You can see all the glass overhead has been smashed in the night sky. There's a fire. There's a lot of damage. And Kuwait Airways is now flying but just out of a neighboring terminal.

A lot of flights have been suspended from there. This is an airport that only just opened on. Monday after being closed at the height of hostilities during the war with Iran. But Bahrain is the head of quarters of the US naval fifth fleet, and it was also attacked with missiles and drones. The authorities there are saying they were intercepted, working jointly with US forces. And all of this is happening now in the Gulf. I mean, this is after several times where the ceasefire has been strained in just the past week. Now you've got officials in the Gulf, a senior Emirati diplomat, Amwar Gajaragash, for example, talking about the need for a firm united, a cohesive Gulf position, saying the aggression

does not just target a specific state, but us all. You can see things really heating up there now. Yeah, I mean, can we still call this a ceasefire? I mean, I think in many ways what has happened in recent months in this region has sort of changed the definition of what counts as a ceasefire. When you look at what's been going on, I mean, there's the background to what happened in Kuwait and Bahrain as other exchanges of fire that have gone on. between the US and Iran. It seems that the US Central Command fired a tanker that was getting into an Iranian port, disabling it.

And Iranian media say the Revolutionary Guards then targeted a vessel in response. The US went on to down drones and target the Iranian military ground station on Kashem Island, saying that was self-defense. Iran's supreme leader's military advisor saying that Iran will not allow the US to overreach in negotiations or ceasefire agreements. And you've got to the semi-official Iranian news agencies saying, that the country has stopped communicating with mediators about extending a ceasefire in the war with the US and Israel. Regional officials saying that Tehran wants the truce in Lebanon enforced before returning to talks. President Trump has been saying these negotiations are continuing.

But this is coming after, you know, the talks have really dragged on for weeks. And there have been these repeated exchanges of strikes in the Gulf. Israel's war in Lebanon is widening. And that is all complicating the efforts. Yoland Nell. Drones also seem to be playing an increasingly prominent role in the war in Ukraine and proving to be a thorn in the side of Russia. Now, a regional Russian official says they've brought down 50 unmanned devices

during an attack on the area around St Petersburg. It comes as a major conference opens in the city. The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, is in St. Petersburg. The Blackspo is the result of an overnight drone attack, a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on the St. Petersburg area. Last night, the governor of Leningrad region, just outside the city of St. Petersburg, issued an air raid warning. This morning, he announced that more than 50 drones had been shot down.

Local officials say that infrastructure was hit. They're not specifying what. But we know that in recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have been targeting oil facilities, for example, in many parts of Russia. And this comes just hours before the opening of the big set-piece event here, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which Russia uses to try to promote itself on the world stage. Vladimir Putin is due to take part in the forum later this week.

He will deliver a keynote speech. But today, this is the view from the forum venue, the black smoke rising above St. Petersburg, just hours before the start of this event. Steve Rosenberg in St. Petersburg. Vitaly Jeffchenko is the chief analyst at BBC monitoring and is in the Ukrainian capital Keev. The strikes could not have come at a more embarrassing time for Russia. And the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, said, yes, these were our drones.

And he called the strikes long-range sanctions against Russia. And he said they yielded good results. And footage circulating in social media appears to show, fires raging at St. Petersburg oil terminal. Vladimir Zelensky also said that a military facility has been hit at the port of of Granstadt, which is outside St. Petersburg. There are claims that it was a warship, a Russian warship. So what Ukraine is trying to do is show to Russia and all the international guests

arriving at the forum in St. Petersburg that were. Well, we can do it. We have the cards. And Ukraine is feeling something like it's a bit on the front foot on the front line. So this is the message from Ukraine to Russia and the world at this stage. Vitaly Shevchenko. For years, South Africa has witnessed waves of violence against migrants from other parts of the continent. Now, Malawi is the latest country to offer to repatriate its citizens.

These Malawians living in Western Cape, in South Africa, said they feared for their lives. The people, they just asked away, they didn't ask us that we have documents of north. Just chest us away, like dogs. So that thing's unfair because actually I'm a human being. If maybe the government, they can speak with our government also. To beg, maybe we can find a transport.

It's better to go home without anything than it lost our life. The move by Malawi followed. those earlier announcements by Ghana, as well as Mozambique, whose nationals were caught up in skirmishes in the coastal town of Mosul Bay at the weekend. I heard more from our global affairs reporter Richard Kagoi, who's covering the story from Nairobi. Malawi is concerned about the safety of its nationals who are currently based in South Africa

because of what has been widely reported as attacks targeting African migrants in the country. Now, most of those who are affected, as you've just had there, have been seeking shelter in a community hall, specifically in the South Coast area. And some fringe groups that have been holding anti-migrants demonstration in parts of the country, including the Port City of Darban and in Johannesburg. They have given African migrants who are undocumented up to the 30th of June for them to leave the country.

So there's really concern about the safety of the nationals based on recent events. that have been documented across the country. What is the deeper cause of this xenophobia? I think the bigger picture here is the fact that South Africa is the biggest economy in Africa. So it really attracts a lot of people who are seeking job opportunities, you know, from neighboring countries and even as far as countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Now, we've had this type of attacks, you know, recurring over the years. So ordinary South Africans are blaming migrants for economic.

make challenges such as huge unemployment. They blame some of them for involvement in crime, involvement in illicit activities like artisanal mining, and also things like drugs. And so there's been just general discontentment or a sentiment that has been growing over the years. They're competing with them even for services like in health and even in education. So I think it's just the fact that ordinary South Africans are feeling that the government hasn't done enough to stame the wave of illegal immigration into the country.

And that's why some of them have really sort of like taken this up in their own hands. So they're going to be pleased? Well, it depends with who you talk to. But I've just been monitoring basically reactions and conversations, especially online on what people think about this. There are people who feel that South Africa is still open for, you know, people who are in the country legally, but those who are coming into the country illegally should leave.

So it's a debate that's currently ongoing, but that's just the general sentiment are prevalent across the country. Richard Kegoy. Next week, the Football World Cup kicks off, and as usual, sports illustrators and photographers will be on hand to capture all the fast-paced action and emotion on the field. One sports illustrator who will be watching the games closely is Paul Trevillian, After a decades-long career, the 92-year-old has a new book out about the history of the World Cup.

Mike Williams spoke to him about how he combined his two loves of football and drawing. I was born in Whiteout Lane, Tottenham, which is a two-minute walk to the Tottenham Hospital Ground. I decided that I was going to draw footballers in 1937 when I saw Dixie Dean. How old were you then? I was older than then I was three. My father was a bus conductor. He changed his shift. It was a cup replay.

It was on a Wednesday. And I left that ground. Then I said to my dad, I said, Dad, I'm going to draw footballers. And he said, what do you mean draw footballers? I said, I'm going to draw them. I'd scribbled a few, the dog and the cat and that. But this time, I really did want to become a football artist.

When you look back on your body of work, of all the characters in the whole of world football over the last six, seven decades, Who have you enjoyed drawing the most? Pelley. In the middle. Here's Pelley number 10. Rivolino, watch Pelley now. What a beautiful goal called Pelley.

L100 goals for Brazil. In World Cup competitions and Brazil take this one-nothing lead. I love drawing Pelley so much that I went to Stanley Palles and they said we're published a book, King Pelley. And every drawing in that book was mine. I went to a signing session for the book and sit next to me was Pelley. and he looked through it and he said Give me your name

And I gave you my name He said give me your address I gave you my address And from that moment on Every time Pelley got a job Which he cried out I was the man He was the man who phoned me up

And I said come for the World Cup 94 I went there and worked with Umbro That was for Pelley See I've learnt my lessons Not from our teachers But from players Who have told me What I was doing wrong

And why I hadn't captured That person completely I had to work at it and work at it and work at it. And you are still drawing now into your 90s? Do you enjoy drawing? Is it a release for you? Look at that hand. Look at that hand. It's very straight. Look at it. Very straight.

That hand doesn't shake. Not one bit. And I do eye exercises. I look at my hand and I look at something 200 yards away. I look at my hand. I do that three times a day. My eyes are sharper than the average premiership referee. Who do you enjoy drawing from the current England squad? Harry Cain.

Is a North London boy? Just like you. I've drawn him. He's the captain of England. And in a few weeks' time, he may well have the World Cup in his hands. Would that be a fitting last portrait for you? If Harry Cain wins the World Cup, you pick up the newspaper. I'll be in one.

Your picture will be in a paper. I promise you that it'll be in a newspaper. Illustrator Paul Trevillian. Still to come in this podcast. We've always known that it's good for building muscle, but there's more and more research coming out about how it's going to support your cardiovascular health, neurological health, and really importantly, particularly for women, but even your bone density.

Scientists say the type of exercise you should choose if you really want to live longer is weightlifting. This is the Global News podcast. voters in six states in the US have been choosing their candidates for the mid-term elections in November, which could have huge implications for the rest of Donald Trump's presidency. The big race is in California where polls have closed. 61 candidates are competing in what's known as the jungle primary to decide who stands for governor. The two highest vote winners will advance regardless of their party.

Oliver Conway heard more from Shama Khalil, who was outside a voting vote. Center in Hollywood. The California governor is one of the most consequential jobs in American politics. California is the most populous, is the richest state in the nation. It is the big engine behind big technology in Silicon Valley, the entertainment industry, agriculture. But it's also been mired by many, many issues like homelessness, like house affordability, rebuilding here in parts of Los Angeles after the Palisades, fires, and of course the rise in fuel prices made worse after the U.S.-Iran war. So this is a big job for whoever gets it,

whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, but it's also a very demanding job and a challenging job with a very long to-do list and a very urgent one for all the voters that I'm looking at right now. Yeah, it's been held in the past by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, more recently by a Democrat Gavin Newsom, who's thought to be running now for U.S. president, Who's likely to be the candidate for the next government?

I think this is one of the big issues with this race. It's been described as dramatic, as messy at times, as wide open, because for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, it was cast wide open after the front run for the Democrats. Eric Swalwell had to bow out because of accusations of sexual misconduct that he denies. We've got three leading names now, two Democrats, Havier Bacera and Tom Steyer, and we've got a bro. Republican, the British American, Steve Hilton.

They're all vowing to do something about immigration. They're all vowing to make California more affordable. Another closely watched race is for mayor of Los Angeles. What should we look out for that? You should look out for three candidates. The incumbent, Karen Bass, and the reality TV star, Steve Spencer Pratt, and a progressive Democrat in Nitya Rahman. The incumbent, Karen Bass, is the most.

experienced, but she's been lambasted by the opposition, by the competition because of the aftermath of the fires in 2025 for not doing enough. She was influenceously abroad when that happened. And Spencer Pratt, the reality TV stars from the show The Hills, has really energized that race, not because of his experience, but because he has put himself as the fighter of the status quo. He's lost his house in the fires and again has been really critical of the incumbent mayor, many of the issues in California are really magnified here in Los Angeles, be it homelessness, be it the affordability or the price of fuel. And again, the test is going to be not just in getting elected and convincing people that people hear them. I think they need to convince voters that

they can do something about these issues and they can do it fast. Shaima Khalil and on the 4th of July this year, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In the run-up to the celebrations, we will have a special podcast looking at the State of America today. If you have thoughts or questions on the matter, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at global podcast at bbc.c.co.uk. And if you can include a voice note, so much the better. Police in the English city of Southampton say that 11 of their officers were injured during violent protests. They were demonstrating on Tuesday following a public outcry over the treatment of a white student, Henry Novak.

He was falsely accused of racism by a Sikh man who murdered him in Southampton last year. Mr Novak was handcuffed and arrested as he lay dying after being stabbed, despite telling the police that he couldn't breathe, words that were shouted by these protesters. Police in England are now having to defend themselves against accusations of unfair policing due to anti-racism guidance. The British Prime Minister, Kirstama, said that violence against the police was inexcusable.

No matter the pain we feel, there is no justification for more violence and disorder. The attacks directed towards police officers in Southampton last night were disgraceful. and completely unacceptable. This is a time for serious work, not rage. Peter Cook is a BBC reporter who was in Southampton on Tuesday where the protests took place.

It all started just after 5 o'clock as people started gathering outside Southampton police station, a number of protesters. Those numbers slowly built to around 250 to 300. They were there to see a number of people making speeches, including the far-right figure, Tommy Robinson and also activist Lawrence Fox. Now, the protest there was very peaceful.

The people stayed for around an hour or so before they slowly made their way through the city on foot, followed by a number of police officers, about a mile and a half to two miles outside of the city into the suburbs, into an area very close to where Henry Novak lost his life. And that area in the St. Denny's area was also quite close to the scene of the family home of Vikran Digwa. the man who was jailed on Monday for 21 years for stabbing Henry Novak. Another large crowd, probably at its peak around 250 to 300, a number, were chancing and also then began throwing missiles at the police,

which included bins, e-scooters, bricks and bottles. It was an ugly scene and a very tense atmosphere at the time. The police responded by blocking off both ends of the street and trying to force the protesters away from that. property. And ultimately, you know, the protesters who went there last night clearly knew where they were going. Many of them were streaming live on social media. They seemed to all know the address. The police obviously clearly seemed to anticipate the potential of trouble as they had followed them out of the city. So a number of residents I witnessed came out fairly horrified

and shot to see where they were seeing. And, you know, clearly Southampton slowly stirring this morning, people are waking up to seeing very ugly images of their city. BBC's Peter Cook. Japan is being battered by a powerful tropical storm, Jangmi. Fierce winds and torrential rain are disrupting transport and business, and tens of thousands of homes are without power. The government has urged more than 400,000 people to evacuate

because of the risk of flooding and landslides. Our correspondent in Tokyo is Karumi Mori. We don't know how many have actually left their homes. There are safety zones that have been set up by the government. So it is there for residents to go and evacuate. But at a presser earlier in the day, a government spokesperson did urge people that if they sense any danger, don't hesitate, take early action to protect your life. So the officials are pushing people to evacuate, even if there's even a little bit of danger.

And we know that last week ahead of the storm, Japan ruled out a new disaster alert system to make it easier for people to understand the level of risk during these types of natural emergencies. Is your sense that people are going? Well, I went to the grocery store last night to grab some food in case things got bad, but I didn't really get any real sense of panic. There are parts of Japan that face worse rainfall. Right now, even they are dealing with the mud slides, which is, you know, the rain has passed over them, but some of them are being stuck because the roads are closed because of the mud. But I do think that for us, even for our BBC Tokyo studio, actually, my producer, Chika and I just ordered a new kit with food and some fresh first aid gear. So maybe residents

in Japan as a whole, maybe we are more prepared than before. We've experienced a fair share of natural disasters. So I don't sense any real panic. I didn't feel it last night. I don't really sense it this morning. It seemed like a lot of people stayed home, way less commuters on buses and trains. So not sure how many people did evacuate, but at least that urgency was there and maybe people are quite aware. Is this expected to be a lot worse than a normal tropical storm? You know, it's hard to tell. It seems like the worst has passed, at least in the major cities, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, but it's not over yet because it's continuing to move northeast. And even if it does, we still have to watch for mudslides and those strong winds that could

continue to cause some real damage even after the rainfall has stopped. Karumi Mari. If you do some form of weightlifting or strength training for two hours a week, you are likely to live longer. That's according to scientists at Harvard University, who looked at data from nearly 150,000 people over three decades. Those who did 90 minutes to two hours of such training a week reduced the risk of death from any cause by 13%.

The reduction for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or stroke was 19% and for neurological disease 27%. Sarah Montague took hold of some dumbbells which each weighed one and a half kilos and sought the advice of Ellie Breitmeier, a personal trainer based in London. The research coming out is fantastic. We've always known that it's good for building muscle. But there's more and more research coming out about how it's going to support your cardiovascular health, neurological health. And really importantly, particularly for women, but even your bone density, which keeping this high into later life can really support longevity because it can reduce the risk of osteoporosis as we get older.

Okay. And weights are not something that women historically have done as much as men. I think exactly that. I think there is always been the idea. that cardio exercise is more aimed at women and weight training is more aimed at men. Now what we're really starting to see is that actually we would all benefit from doing a combination of the two and that women belong in the weights room just as much as men. Okay. Now give me a guide. What's the simple thing that you do? First of all, do you need these dumbbells that I'm holding or could you be doing up with your own body weight? You definitely don't need any kit to start with. You can just do body weight exercises, you will get to a point where it's hard to progress with just body weight.

And that's where adding an additional form of resistance can be really beneficial. That could be dumbbells like you're holding there. It could be resistance bands. It could be using equipment at a gym. Right. So where would you start someone off? I would suggest most people start with body weight. It could be something as simple as a 15-minute workout that you do at home.

There's plenty of free resources online. What are you doing? What kind of things are you doing? Well, so with my clients, we are in a gym and we're lifting dumbbells, barbells and a piece of kit called a kettlebell. And we're looking at whole body exercises. So we want to, within one workout, try and train as many of the different muscles within the body as we can. Okay. So something like this, I mean, obviously I'm holding in my hands. Yeah. What am I doing with them? Something like this, we could look at, you could hold it at your shoulders. Yeah.

You're going to squat down, almost like you're sitting into a chair. and then as you stand back up, you're going to press the weights overhead. Right. So you're going to start from standing. That's it. We'll see how hard this is. And you're going to squat down just like you're sitting into a chair, holding the weights at your shoulders.

As you stand up, you're going to press them overhead. Okay. And you might do that five to 15 times depending how hard you find it. Okay, so, but I mean, I can feel it's very different from obviously just doing it without the weights because it's the whole pushing up from your legs as well as your arm. It's exactly that. So a movement like this, what we're doing is we're combining the lower body and the upper body so that we can work multiple muscle groups at one time.

Okay, so I had just thought this is pretty pathetic. It's just going to be my arms. But these weights in my arms are working my legs at the same time. Exactly that. Working your legs at the same time, even working your core, working your postural muscles because you've got to stay standing up tall. Right. The next exercise, I'm not going to do it.

I've had enough. But things like what, planks, press up. Yep, exactly that. So those are some of the well-known movements. Press-up notoriously hard. So I would actually, and this will surprise some people, but a press-up is a body weight exercise. But it's really tough because if you think about using your whole body weight, so actually this is an example of where using a dumbbell might be an easier movement pattern to start with. Very briefly. So that could be lying on your back, on your living room floor, holding the dumbbells in your hand, and you're going to press the arms. Push them away from you. away from you and then bring them back down. Okay.

Ellie Brightmeyer, thank you very much for that. We're all going to live very long as a result. Sarah Montague speaking with personal trainer, Ellie Brightmeier. 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. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. 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 Mark Pickett, and the producer was Muzaffa Shakir. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.