Global News Podcast - Russian strike on buses in Ukraine kills at least 30

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

At least 30 people have been killed in a Russian air strike at a bus stop in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Eighteen others were wounded. The attack follows a dramatic surge in Russian attacks across the country and a heavy increase in civilian casualties. President Volodymyr Zelensky says the attacks will not go unanswered.Also: Israel has downgraded the British consulate in East Jerusalem, after threatening to close the site completely over the UK's decision to sanction Israeli goods from illegal West Bank settlements. It’s been nearly a year since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but most of Gaza remains destroyed as a peace deal continues to stall. Recent successful recovery efforts show that species loss can still be reversed, according to a report by the environmental group WWF. The veteran Indian actor Nana Patekar, one of the most outspoken figures in the Indian film industry, has died aged 75. A BBC investigation has found workers in South East Asia are being paid less than $2 an hour to make official football shirts. Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who helped land US astronauts on the Moon, has died aged 90. And a man who spent 28 years walking from the UK to Chile has finally returned home.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. Part of why I blew the whistle was I didn't want to lay in bed in 20 years. Having seen another million people die, I know that I could have done something when I had a chance. This week on the Interface, we're talking to Frances Howigan. The Facebook whistleblower who leaked the documents that changed how the world saw social media. And now she is the subject of Aaron Sorkin's latest movie, The Social Reckoning. So join me, Thomas Germain.

And me, Jess Maddox, for The Interfx. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Charlotte Gallagher and 1,300 hours, GMT, on Thursday, the 8th of October. These are our main stories. At least 30 people are reported to have been killed by a Russian strike on two buses in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Israel has downgraded the British consulate in East Jerusalem after threatening to close it completely over the UK's decision to sanction Israeli goods from illegal West Bank settlements. Also in this podcast, how people making Premier League football shirts are paid less than $2 an hour and say they're working in dangerous conditions.

I got electric shock for the second time by a bare wire, but they only did. took action after the second time I got shocked. And recovery efforts for the world's animals reverse species loss as bluefin tuna returns in huge numbers off the British coast after almost disappearing from UK waters. Really dramatic to see this recovery of a species that was around in Britain about 70 years ago but then kind of vanished. You know, it was incredibly rare to see tuna off the coast of Britain as recently as 10 years ago. We start with the latest deadly attack by Russia on Ukraine.

This time on buses in the strategic eastern city of Kramatarsk. Officials say more than 30 people have been killed. So why has Russia launched this attack? I asked our correspondent Abdul Jalil, Abdurislav, who's in Kiev. Kramatarsk is one of the key hubs in eastern Ukraine, the key logistical hub and one of the so-called fortress belts in the region of Donbas. And the Russian forces are trying to cut off all the logistical routes

that support the Ukrainian forces at the front line. And so perhaps that's one of the reasons why the city of Kramatos gets regularly hit by Russian drones, missiles and aviation bombs. So this is not the first time when they hit the city. It happens quite regularly. And today, according to the Ukrainian authorities, those passenger buses were hit by a guided bomb, which suggests that the attack was deliberate.

And the images of the wreckage depicts a very miserable story because it looks like those passengers were trapped in the bus and they were burnt alive. And President Zelensky today said that the bodies that were recovered from the wreckage were burnt to such a degree they were not even recognizable.

And there is a sharp increase of civilian casualties in Ukraine. In fact, according to the UN, this year already the number of civilian casualties has exceeded the total number of civilian casualties that was registered last year. And just yesterday, there was another attack on a residential building in the city of Preluki in Chernigo region where more than 20 people were killed.

And today, President Zelensky, with the Foreign Secretary at Meliband, visited that site. And again, it was a direct hit by a missile and the residential building was destroyed. And Abdul-Julil, as winter approaches, How are the Russian strikes intensifying? The Russians are trying now to target the energy facilities again. They did that quite regularly in the past last year.

When they hit the power plants and substations, they already started doing this kind of campaign again ahead of the coming winter. And already just yesterday, President Zelensky said that one of the targets of the attack that happened yesterday was the energy infrastructure of the country. So Russia continues launching this campaign and Kiev says that they're basically trying to weaponise the weather

in order to force the Kiev government to accept the peace deal that is favourable to Russia. Abdul Jalil Abderasilov. Next to the row between Britain and Israel, which escalated last month when the UK announced sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. All the settlements are illegal under international law. Israel has retaliated by announcing that the British consulate in East Jerusalem has been downgraded to a UK mission after threatening to close it completely. Gideon Saar is the Israeli foreign minister.

We seek good relations with all countries around the world. However, any country that acts against Israel should understand that there will be a price to pay. It will not benefit from such actions. On the contrary. Our Middle East correspondent, Yoland Nell, spoke to me from outside the British Consulate building. The signage for the British consulate in Jerusalem was taken down from here. That was just ahead of the 30-day deadline that Israel had set for the British consulate to completely cease its operations. There is still a British flag that is on display.

And then in terms of explanation, because we had still seen a number of staff, apparently some Brits heading into the building without any comment, there was a long statement that was posted on social media by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar. And he was saying that Israel had established a clear principle that no country could act against Israel without Israel having an appropriate response. And he said what measures had already been taken against the UK in retaliation for its announcement last month of these major sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Now, he says kind of buried in this long statement, that there will be seven diplomats, what he describes as a task force,

that will be allowed to stay at this building. He is insisting that the consulate remains closed, says that this is a result of dialogue that has been going on, and that the diplomats here, their work will have what he describes as a very limited scope. There was then quite a different message that came out, a briefer one from the British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. He too was saying that the UK had stuck by its preempt. principles in the dialogue that have been going on and that the UK does not recognise Israel's jurisdiction over this part of Jerusalem, occupied East Jerusalem, in accordance with international law.

But he said, too, that there had to be conversations that took place with Israel about the security and the protection of this building. For the moment, he said that a number of the diplomats with their families, the diplomats who are working here, they have led. left for their own safety, but he said that there would be staff that would carry on what he called vital services to the Palestinian people. Because it has been the British consulate in Jerusalem that has really been responsible for that communication with the Palestinian people, but also Palestinian officials, whether in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip. That was Yolan Nell in East Jerusalem. Nearly a year since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, most of Gaza remains destroyed and no reconstruction has begun because of a deadlock over a peace deal

between the two sides. But despite the ceasefire, Israel has launched strikes on Gaza almost every day that it says are targeted Hamas and other groups. More than 1,400 people have been killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, taking the overall death toll in Gaza since October 2023 to more than 74,000. The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed. Israel blocks international journalists from going into Gaza to report freely. With the help of journalists in Gaza, Yogatil Amai reports from Jerusalem. A grieving 13-year-old, Es describes how his mother, Fidda al-Tuta was killed in her. her tent while she was combing his sister's hair.

Get down my children, my mother shouted, as recalls. She was so kind and generous. What did she do wrong? My little brother keeps asking for her. Outside their tent, Fidda's brother, Ibrahim, points to the holes made by a volley of bullets he says were fired by Israeli forces. There was gunfire coming from the sky, from quad-copters, from tanks, from military vehicles, and it was directed at unarmed civilians.

Israel says it has no record of the incident. It now occupies just under two-thirds of Gaza. The West is still controlled by Hamas. The group whose actions triggered this round of violence continues to maintain a tight grip on Gaza, clamping down on descent, and it's still recruiting fighters. More than two million galsons are squeezed into a small area living amidst rubble and dust.

Dented cities have come up. In some areas, they literally touch the coastline. For now, I'm living in a tent. Over a video call, architect Amal Abadla showed us where she lives. That is my tent. It's not really protected. I feel very scared because when the wind is, so strong. Our tent sometimes, you know, get destroyed and damaged. Amal once lived in a comfortable

flat. Now she's raising her boys, Mohamed and Noah, in a tent. Amal's husband, who wasn't in Gaza when the war started, has in three years not been able to get in and even meet their youngest child. It really breaks my heart to get care of our two boys alone. It's not easy. I have no one to help me for the water, buy food, set a shelter, displaced from a place to another. So it's a huge responsibility. Aid and commercial goods cannot flow freely into Gaza because of strict Israeli controls and the policy of dual use, which means nothing is allowed into Gaza, which Israel believes could be used to make weapons.

Israel says it does allow in medical equipment. but inside Gaza's hospitals, critical services, including those required to save newborn babies, are severely hindered by shortages. In this incubator, we have two babies. Yesterday, one of them deteriorated quite significantly, needed intubation. We had to resuscitate the baby right next to the other baby,

which is inappropriate. Asiya Hanan is a British neonatal doctor working at Nasser Hospital. Across the last two weeks, I have seen very severe cases and multiple deaths, which is extremely unfortunate. One of the main issues which are leading to some of these deaths and illnesses is the lack of resources.

There is significant overcrowding on the unit. They are constantly working at overcapacity with multiple babies in single incubators when each one is for one baby only. Suffering has only changed form in Gaza from extreme anguish to chronic pain. And until the deadlocked between Israel and Hamas over a peace deal breaks,

there is little chance of a genuine way forward. Gaza remains frozen in ruins. That was Yogatil Amai in Jerusalem. A report by the Environmental Group, WWF, highlights how species loss can still be reversed as recovery efforts for tigers, bluefin tuna and elephants have been successful. But the charity warns that conservation alone

cannot reverse the decline. For more on this, I spoke to the BBC's climate editor, Justin Rowlett. It's really nice to be able to report successes in this area, because normally we get this relentless diet of kind of awful things happening to nature. But what this shows is with focused efforts, you know, bringing together people at the top at government level all the way down to kind of campaigners, activists. And in the case of, for example, Blufin, which I saw firsthand, you know, the kind of fishing communities,

you really can affect real change, really dramatic change. And I went out on a boat. to see, I mean it seems really paradoxical to see the UK's third bluefin tuna fishing championships and it's like, hold on a second, this species just recovered and people are going out and fishing it, but it kind of shows how robust it's been and the anglers were part of the effort to recover the tuna. But I went out from Falmouth in Cornwall and within kind of about an hour of getting out to sea, we saw the birds congregating and it was the first of three, they call the washing machines where the tuna

bring the small fish to the surface and then swim around them, taking the fish out. And there were dolphin around as well. It was quite extraordinary. It really felt like being in a kind of Sir David Attenborough series, you know, really dramatic to see this recovery of a species that was around in Britain about 70 years ago, but then kind of vanished. You know, it was incredibly rare to see tuna off the coast of Britain as recently as 10 years ago. So an amazing turnaround.

And this is what WWF is saying. They're saying, if you get in there and focus, as I say, bring all the parties together, you really can make change. And you said the other really dramatic species recoveries, tigers in Asia, green turtles all around the world, about 80 countries involved in the effort to recover the green turtle, downgraded from endangered to of least concern, which is very big step. The only turtle that's ever happened for. And then the last one was African elephants with the population has stabilized. So yeah, really good news. We can do it if we want to. And what about areas that need improvement, some species that are in decline?

Yeah, like everything else. I'm sorry to say, Charlotte. You know, they have this monitoring system, the WWF. They've got 36,000 populations of I think 6,000 different species that they follow. And the results from that are not encouraging. Take a listen to Tanya Steele, who's the chief executive of WWF UK. For monitored wildlife populations, we've seen an average decline of 73%. Some parts of the world, that's worse. In Latin America, we've seen a 95% reduction in freshwater species, for example.

but then in other areas we've seen some small recovery. So this is an average, but of course it is telling us a deeper story because when we lose wildlife and species, whether that's on land or sea, ultimately that means their habitat is being destroyed. So Justin, how can we help? If people are listening to this and thinking, I want to make a difference, how can they do that or can they do that? I mean, there's always a route of putting pressure on your political representatives,

say, play a big apart in the big international conferences on biodiversity where they try and hammer out rules and set aside areas for nature. That's obviously one way. Another way, and I hate to say this, because I don't want to sound like I'm kind of preaching, but if you speak to the scientists, they say, change what you eat. Don't necessarily stop eating meat, but maybe a bit less meat, a bit less fish, a bit less dairy, all of which weighs very heavily on, you know, the farming resources. It takes a lot more grain to produce a kilo of beef than it does, for example, to produce beans.

So if you change what you eat, that can have an effect as well. And they would also say, you know, find other ways to make your voice heard or become involved in conservation efforts yourself. So there are all sorts of things that we can do. That was Justin Rowland. Still to come in this podcast. A person's life was at stake. The astronauts' lives were at stake.

And that's when I began to worry about everything working together. We look back at the incredible. legacy of Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who helped land astronauts on the moon. Part of why I blew the whistle was I didn't want to lay in bed in 20 years. Having seen another million people die, I know that I could have done something when I had a chance. This week on the interface, we're talking to Francis Howigan. The Facebook whistleblower, who leaked the documents that changed how the world saw social media. And now she is the subject of Aaron Sorkin's latest movie, The Social Reckoning. So join me, Thomas.

Just Jermaine. And me, Jess Maddox, or The Interface. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast. Tributes are being paid in India to the veteran actor Nana Pataka, who's died at the age of 75. He had one of the most recognizable faces in Indian cinema and was known for his powerful screen presence and intense delivery. The prime man would have made him a vast void in the artistic world. As we record this podcast, preparations are underway for a state funeral in the city of Puna. The BBC's Jarnavi Mullah is in Mumbai and outlined his legacy. He was definitely one of the most versatile actors in India, be it cinema or theatre,

especially Marathi language theatre. But beyond that, Nana Batekar was seen as one of the few outspoken people in film industry and he would always express his views and opinions very bluntly and directly. He would often speak from heart and would not shy away from willingly challenging anybody beat people in power. And this is something quite rare in Bollywood. So apart from his dialogue delivery or the way he spoke or created an aura around himself through his acting, the real way where he connected with people was with his views

and with how he treated them when it came to social issues. He was very socially conscious and was vocal on many issues, particularly farmer's plight. He even formed an organisation to help people. And he was actually known for being a simple person and not the glittery and glamorous personality that any Bollywood actor would normally be associated with. So his roles also reinforced that perception in many ways. There was also controversy in his life as well, though, wasn't there? He was accused of sexual harassment and it really triggered the start of the Me Too movement in India. Yes, in 2018, the allegations were put up by an actor Tanushri Dattah.

She had actually raised concerns over how she was treated or mistreated. That was about a decade before 2018. But those concerns were not heard properly. And in 2018, when it came to light again, Nanapatikar had always denied those. allegations and later police also investigated the matter and they found insufficient evidence. So he was cleared of the charges. But the whole incident started a dialogue over how women are treated in Bollywood and resulted in a Me Too movement in India. That was Janavi Muna in Mumbai. A BBC investigation has found workers in Southeast Asia

are being paid less than $2 an hour to make official football shirts sold by some of the world's biggest clubs. While these shirts retail for around $100, workers in two factories in Cambodia told the BBC they struggled to make ends meet and made up to 700 items a day. Our sports editor Dan Rowan explains, we traced production of official Adidas kit to two factories in Cambodia's capital, Penhon Penh. There we found some workers earn a basic salary at or just above the local minimum wage. Their testimony is voiced by actors. get paid less than 10 US dollars to make around 400 to 500 church a day. They make a ton of money of that, but give almost nothing to the workers.

The factories aren't owned by Adidas, but are primary suppliers to the sportswear giant. Inside, we found official kit for some of the world's biggest clubs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Celtic, Rail Madrid and more. Workers also told us about the pressure they're under. People have to rush so hard to meet targets that they don't have time for a bathroom break, which leaves them exhausted. On top of that, you can get scolded if undone clothes start piling up on your table. More than 6,000 people work across the two factories, the vast majority of them women. Two more workers described conditions inside.

The factory is hot and humid. The company does not allow workers to take longer breaks to cool down. I got electric shock for the second time by a bare wire, but they only took action after the second time I got shocked. This all comes at a time when football fans are being urged to buy official kits rather than cheaper counterfeit products. But these findings will lead many supporters to question whether or not the real thing is worth the price tag and the role that the clubs play in all of this. These are conditions that exist across the sector for many millions of workers producing our clothes around the world. Anna Breyer is from Campaign Group Labour Behind the Label. Clubs need to send a really strong message that they won't. put its name on their shirt if workers are not treated with respect.

Adidas told us it's taken a variety of measures to ensure fair and safe working conditions across its supply chain, reviewing supplier conduct and working to address problems where necessary. It says workers are usually paid considerably more than the minimum wage, that specific guidance is in place to manage heat and that its standards do not permit any form of harassment. 6,000 miles from where these shirts are made, supporters may expect buying official kit to guarantee certain standards. But there are now fresh questions over what goes on at the other end of the supply chain. Dan Rowan with that report and none of the football clubs replied

to the BBC's request for comment. Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist who helped land US astronauts on the moon, has died aged 90. She's often credited with coining the term software engineering. Helen Briggs looks back at her life. It's the 20th of July 9.000. The world is transfixed as the lunar module the eagle descends towards the surface of the moon. Suddenly, the computer flashes alarms and, for a moment, the mission hangs in the balance. But with high confidence in the computer code developed by Margaret Hamilton and her team, the historic landing goes ahead. Her team at MIT had built the system to cope with exactly this kind of event, knowing lives depended upon it. Speaking years later to the BBC World Service podcast, 13 minutes to the moon,

she explained her approach. I began to get fascinated by errors because there were no tools for finding them. They almost didn't exist like they do now. We try to understand the errors and find new ways not to let them ever happen again. The astronauts' lives were at stake. Born in Indiana in 1936, Margaret Hamilton studied mathematics and joined the MIT Instrumentation Lab while raising a young daughter. She became the first software developer hired for the Apollo project and one of the few women at the heart of the endeavour to send man to the moon. Her brilliance as a software engineer was never in doubt. She's credited with coining the phrase and founding the discipline.

After Apollo, her work shaped later space missions and she went on to found her own companies and published more than 130 scientific papers on computer science. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama and even inspired a Lego figure celebrating women of NASA. Margaret Hamilton remained a role model throughout her life. Her advice to young coders was simple, do not let fear get in the way and never be afraid to ask questions. That was Helen Briggs, looking back at the life of Margaret Hamilton. Now, finally, a story to make your jaw drop, because on November 1, 1998, Carl Buschby flew from the UK to Chile with one goal in mind to travel back on foot. Now Carl is back on British soil after walking for 28 years. He's been speaking to Alex Ritson.

The plan was fairly straightforward. It was a case of we're going to get back from the sun tip of South America to the UK. unassisted by any form of transport. So the challenge was just to get from the furthest point on the planet back home. You know, we've been looking at maps and joinlines, and at one point we ended up connecting the continents, because theoretically speaking, it might be possible to cross this bearing straight, which would link the Americas to Asia.

The more excited I've become and the more pushback I got from the rest of the world, it just made it all the more enticing. And looking at the maps, there were these gaps, the Daurian gap between Colombia and Panama, this big swath of jungle, which is basically a war zone. And then you've got the Bering Strait. So there's 57 miles as the crow flies, stretch of ice and water, joining the continents that no one had actually managed to cross on foot at that point. Then ultimately, the English Channel to the UK. Which you just swam across. Yeah.

So, I mean, theoretically, we had this huge challenge. And then we just made two simple rules. Rule number one was that I cannot use any form of transport to advance. And rule number two, I can't come home until I arrive on flights. That's the most extraordinary thing. You didn't allow yourself any holidays from this. No trips back home. The last time you saw your home was 28 years ago.

Yeah. So then you start to question the concept of home. Because home for me becomes something very different. I mean, the UK, for half my life, has been a distant myth. My home was wherever I was. It was the road. It was the journey. It was the purpose behind it all.

What was the most dangerous moment of your trip? There were definitely some spicy moments there in the Darien gap. You're basically sneaking through the front line of the fighting between FARC and the Colombian Army and the right-wing paramilitaries. You end up at gunpoint a couple of times and it can get really interesting. And you're pushing through some real... challenging terrain. And then eventually you're pushing through a winter in Alaska to get to the Bering Strait, and then you've got to get over the Bering Strait, which is a formidable piece of

environment. Great if you're a polar bear, but terrible if you're not. And then Siberia, again, all winter travel. There was probably a number of, oh my God, I think I'm going to die moments there in Alaska for sure. And then, you know, there's just this amazing stories and adventures in between as you traverse massive expanses of the planet. You're back in England. In a few days you are going to be back home. You're going to see your family again. How is that going to be? I mean, this has been your life for 28 years. It's a process. I'm reconnecting with the UK. I'm doing the conversion of pounds to dollars in my head, so I understand the money. I'm walking around the shops, trying to understand what the products are compared to what I'm used to. For me, the UK right now is a foreign country. It's something I now have to learn how to. to do again. Any regrets? Absolutely not. And that was Carl Buschby. Before we go. Hi, I'm Celia Hatton, one of the presenters of the Global News podcast. The U.S. midterm elections are coming up soon, and so we're joining forces next week for a special joint edition with AmeriCast. We're pretty sure

that leading up to that vote will be hearing a lot of terms and phrases that are used by American election officials and analysts. Words like gerrymandering and battlegrounds, state. And so we're hoping to tackle some of the vocabulary to understand what it means and some of the fascinating background to some of those terms. And we're hoping you can get involved. If you have a suggestion for a word or phrase you'd like us to include, please send us an email or a voice message. It's the usual address, global podcast at bbc.co.uk. So please do get in touch if you've got any questions about the midterms. 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. You can also now watch our episodes in full. Just search for the Global News Podcast on YouTube. The producers for this were Stephen Jensen and Ira Khan. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye. Part of why I blew the whistle was I didn't want to lay in bed in 20 years.

having seen another million people die, and know that I could have done something when, when I had a chance. This week on The Interface, we're talking to Frances Howigan. The Facebook whistleblower, who leaked the documents that changed how the world saw social media.

And now she is the subject of Aaron Sorkin's latest movie, The Social Reckoning. So join me, Thomas Germain. And me, Jess Maddox, for The Interface. Listen on BBC.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.