Global News Podcast - Trump: Israel agrees Gaza withdrawal

Episode Date: October 5, 2025

President Trump says Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line in Gaza. He says the details have been shared with Hamas and once the Palestinian group confirms it agrees with the line, there will be an immediate ceasefire and an exchange of hostages and prisoners. Also: Japan is on track to get its first ever female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi; Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for an explosion near a high-security prison in the Somali capital, Mogadishu; anti-government protests in Georgia and Madagascar; we look back at the life of the Czech novelist Ivan Klima, who's died aged 94; the US takes on India at a speed chess tournament; and the British and Irish film festival taking place in Dinard in France. 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]

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It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is the global story. Every weekday will bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Global News Podcasts from the BBC World Service. I'm Chris Barrow and in the early hours of Sunday the 5th of October, these are our main stories. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems to be closer than ever, but people affected by the war in Gaza are cautious.

Japan is on track to get its first ever female prime. Prime Minister. There's been a large explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu near a high security prison. Also in the podcast, the influential Czech writer Ivan Klima has died at the age of 94. He had this incredible life, the really transformational experience of being a child in Terrazine. And he said actually in an article later, life can be snapped like a piece of string. And? The idea is to reimagine chess as an interesting. entertainment sport. And to do that, what we decided to do is create a format with very fast time

controls. There will be a winner. There will be a loser at the end of the evening. Well, do we have a winner? We'll find out who's taken the crown at the speed chess tournament described as a full-throttle arena spectacle. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems to be closer than ever, at least according to Donald Trump, who posted on social media, saying, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line when Hamas confirms the ceasefire will be immediately effective. Earlier on Saturday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded optimistic when he addressed the nation. We are on the verge of a very significant achievement.

It is not final yet. We are working on it diligently and a hope with God's help that in the coming days we will be able to announce the return of all our hostages, both the living and the deceased, while the IDF remains deep in the strip and in the areas it controls. These people in Gaza and Tel Aviv are desperate for an end to the conflict. It's happy news.

It saves those who are still alive. It saves our people. And thank God they agreed. We're tired. I swear to God we're tired. This is enough what we've lost. Everything's been damaged. What's left? Nothing.

We're living in a desert. I'm really happy if the plan comes to action and the hostages come free, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'm very reluctant to think that something might not go wrong along the way before it actually happens. We are happy that the war will stop because we're tired of hunger, displacement and bloodshed. We're tired of hearing bad news.

We just want to hear happy news to regain the feeling of safety and God willing to return to our homes. Our correspondent in Jerusalem, Barbara Platt Asha, told us that Donald Trump has been playing a significant role in the peace talks. He initially gave a very strong warning to Hamas saying, you've got to agree to the peace plan by the end of Sunday or else. And then when Hamas came through with its response, he accepted it quite emphatically and said this means that Hamas wants peace.

and therefore Israel should stop bombing Gaza and we can start negotiating something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't used to. And the next Truth Social Post he put out was to say to Hamas, don't delay, we want to get this done quickly. And now he has put out another one, apparently in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech in which Mr. Netanyahu was making the point, we are going to get all our hostages back without having to withdraw from Gaza, which has always been the equivalent. Asian in the past, but this time it's not happening. This is a big deal for Hamas. That's what they have always pushed for that the Israelis will withdraw from Gaza and Mr. Trump now onto social. Apparently in response, said, well, actually Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line which we have shown to and shared with Hamas. So there's been an extraordinary level of personal involvement

by Mr. Trump through social media, putting pressure on Hamas, but also in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu was giving this televised address. What did he say? during that? He said the intention was for the hostage release to happen quickly, the talks to happen quickly, again repeating Mr. Trump's warning that a delay from Hamas would not be tolerated. He mentioned a time frame of a little bit more than a week to bring the hostages home. He confirmed that he was sending negotiators to Egypt to finalize the technical details. I think the timing will be an issue because Hamas, although it has agreed to the proposal to release all of the hostages at once rather than in phases. They've also indicated

it will be difficult to meet the 72-day deadline in Mr. Trump's proposals because of the conditions on the ground, presumably meaning that it will take some time to find all the hostages, especially the ones who have already died. So that will probably be not as swift as Mr. Netanyahu would like, but he did spend a lot of his speech talking about that this was an achievement, that the Israelis would be getting the hostages back in a way that did not cause to compromise militarily and promising that in the end, Hamas would disarm either peacefully and diplomatically through the Trump peace plan or militarily. I know that the families of some of the hostages have been watching these addresses on TV.

Are they hopeful that there will be some kind of resolution? They are newly hopeful. They are afraid of being too hopeful, some of them have said, because they have been disappointed did so many times before. And many of them are very angry with Benjamin Netanyahu because they accuse him of sabotaging efforts that ceasefires before or of not prioritizing the safety of their loved ones. He pushed back on that in the speech. He said that he thinks about them all the time and that they are a priority, but that hasn't convinced the families so far. So they see this as an opportunity that they haven't had before. And again, it boils down to the direct involvement

of President Trump, who seems to really want this to be resolved. He's very much focused on getting the hostages back and ending the conflict. There's, of course, another part to the plan, which is talking about what will happen in Gaza and how it will be rebuilt and how it will be governed. I think Mr. Trump is less interested in that. By that, I mean monitoring it as closely as he's doing now. But in terms of what matters to the hostage families, he is, does seem to be involved and they are appealing to him directly.

Barbara Plattasha in Jerusalem. In Japan, the governing Liberal Democratic Party has elected its first female leader and if everything goes to plan, Sana'a Takaichi will become Japan's first woman prime minister. She addressed fellow MPs following her victory. I believe that I can bring about a bit of change in the Liberal Democratic Party's image this time. I will do my utmost to work diligently with my whole heart to show the people a bright, energetic, positive and dedicated party. Arfia Erie is an MP in the Liberal Democratic Party.

So what does she think about having a woman leader? For young girls growing up, for example, in my constituency in urban areas, it will be very different just to see a female leader lead our country. And so just by the default of representation, I think there is meaning, and I think we have to give credit to that. As for policy, I also think that just because she's a woman doesn't mean that she should take a certain stance on a certain issue. She has the right to advocate for the policies in the way that she wants.

And I think the strength of the LDP is that we are a very diverse wing party. I'll take her correspondent Shyama Khalil told Jeanette Gillil more about Ms. Takaichi. During her campaign in the last few weeks, she was speaking to a group of school children. She said, my goal is to be the Iron Lady. And there are similarities, but there are big differences. Like Margaret Thatcher, she could be a divisive figure. She's not afraid to disagree with people in her own camp. So it will be interesting to see how she handles internal party politics,

especially that she sits on the conservative right wing of the party and she blames the liberal camp for the failures of the ruling party. So that internal dynamic is going to be really interesting to watch. When she was announced as the leader of the LDP, she said, a new era had come. The ruling party needs to change to give people hope instead of anxiety. thing touching here on how hard it has been for Japanese households with the cost of living crisis. And then she said, I will have everyone work like a workhorse. I will abandon the

idea of work-life balance. I will work, work, and keep working. And I thought that was in true Sanai Takachi fashion, to be honest. It just sound very intense. And apparently she used to be a heavy metal drummer. And she herself will be work, work, working, weren't she? She will, because she has a lot to do. And famously, actually, as a drummer, she carried many sticks because as intense as she was, she broke a lot of them while drumming. And she does have a lot of work to do because the new LDP leader faces many challenges. I think leading this party that is struggling to win back voter trust because of the cost of living crisis, but also remember, this is a party that even though has governed Japan

for most of their post-World War II era, they have been marged by a series of corruption scandals. They've lost majority in both houses of parliament. So there are a really scarred party that she needs to heal. And how is she seen by female voters? Is it fair to say that, like Margaret Thatcher, she's not seen as a strong advocate for women's issues? Oh, very much so. And it's really interesting. I called one of my friends when she was announced as the party leader and she says, gosh, you know, we're doomed if she does well. We're doomed if she fails. And I think many women voters don't see her as an advocate for progress. Ms. Takaichi, she's long maintained that women should have a more traditional role in society. For example,

she's opposed legislation allowing women to keep their maiden names after marriage, saying this is against tradition. She is against same-sex marriage. She's also dismissive of the idea of reigning empresses. And so many women say, while this is an important moment in Japanese history, the person herself, Sanai Takayichi, doesn't stand for much in terms of women's progress in society. Chaima Hale in Tokyo. In the Somali capital Mogadishu, there's been a large explosion at the site of a high security prison. Heavy gunfire erupted as smoke billowed above the site on Saturday. The prison is known to house high-profile criminals and suspected militants. Our global affairs correspondent Richard Kagoe is following events from Nairobi. He spoke

to Bernadette Kehoe. It is one of the prison attacks by the al-Shabaab militant group which has claimed responsibility for the attack. What state media has reported so far is that a vehicle disguised as one of the security forces approached the gate of the center, the cell, and exploded. And then that was followed up by heavy gunfire. It's difficult to establish whether there have been any casualties because all roads leading to the facility have been closed and security forces are responding to that attack. In fact, they're saying that they're not currently working to eliminate the attackers. And now this is just coming hours after the country, Prime Minister opened some of the keyroads within the Capital Mogadishu that had been closed for

years because they're saying security had been improved. So this has really sent out a lot of mixed signals about the state of security in the Capital Mogadishu and its environs. Well, indeed, al-Shabaab had been losing territory to government forces. What's the group's position now within the country? Well, since early this year, the group has seized control of dozens of towns and villages since they started launching an offensive. And what we have seen is that they have been able to undo all the progress that the Somali government made during its military campaign in 2022 and 2023, because the president, when he came to office in August 2022, what he pledged was that he was going to wipe out the al-Shabaab within five months. Well,

of course, that's taken quite a bit of time. But what analysts are saying is that the military has been disenfranchised, you know, low morale. So in terms of capacity and just encouraging the teams, it's really been quite difficult. And the al-Shabaab have been advancing. In fact, just about a month ago, there were indications that there were about 40 kilometers from the capital. But of course, the government forces have been pushing back. And a lot of people saying it's not quite possible that they're going to make advances into the heart of the capital. But this incident was taking place not too far from the presidential palace. And now that also raises concern.

Richard Kugai. One of the foremost dissident writers of his generation, the Czech novelist Ivan Klima, has died at the age of 94. He was known for his powerful writing style and works based on his own experience of totalitarian rule and came to prominence after the Soviet Union crushed the pro-democracy movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968. During the communist era, his novels were banned,

but by the end of his life, his works were translated into 30,000. languages. The BBC's proud correspondent, Rob Cameron, met him back in 2005. He's been speaking to James Kumarasami. I went to interview him for the World Service, and I no longer remember the subject of that interview, but it was just a fascinating encounter with this man who was really, you know, one of the giants of Czech post-war, 20th century literature alongside a Milan Kandera and Bohemil Harabal. He had this incredible life that was a reflection of the really turbulent century for Czechoslovaks and for Czechs. He was 10 years old when he was sent to

Terrazine-Tarizenstadt concentration camp. He didn't even know that his parents were Jewish. He was sent there with his father and his mother and his brother. They all survived. They weren't transported to Auschwitz. They came back to Prague, but it had such a profound effect on him. And I remember going to see him at his house just on the edges of Prague, going for a lovely walk in the woods and him talking about that completely transformational experience of being a child in Terrazine and living with life and death every day. He said actually in an article later, life can be snapped like a piece of string. That was my daily lesson as a child in Thereseenstadt. Remarkable life story. What about his writing? What would you point to?

I moved to Prague in the 90s and obviously Klima was one of those authors along with Kunderer and Jose Skoretsky that we really just soaked up and absorbed. And I remember reading judging judge on trial, which is about, you know, man struggling against totalitarianism, but also a summer affair, which is more about relationships between men and women. It was such a Prague book. It was so deeply steeped in the city that I had moved to. He was so prolific. He wrote more than 20 books, translated into 30 languages,

and he really never forgot his life and what the century had done to you. What about his politics? During the Prague Spring itself in 68, he was, I think he was living in London, wasn't he? but he was very much a leading figure in that dissident movement. He was. I mean, he did join the Communist Party after the war, remarkably, because it was the same party that sent his own father who'd survived the camps. The Communist Party sent his father to prison.

Ivan Klima still joined that party. He was active in it, but he was always a dissident critical voice, and he was then expelled during the 1960s. He was, as you say, in London, and when the Soviet tanks rolled in on his way to America for a teaching position, but he came back to Czechoslovakia. He was then as a dissident against the communist regime

deprived of his passport and he was always a member of the underground here, very much a member of the dissident movement alongside his great friend Vatslov Havr. Rob Cameron. And still to come? I've observed there's been a return to social realist films or films really about the subject of contemporary life in Britain.

Why British and Irish film is being celebrated in France. America is changing. And so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere. I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. I'm Tristan Redman in London. And this is the global.

global story. Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. In Georgia, tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets as part of a so-called peaceful revolution which aims to overthrow the government. Protesters are angry after the ruling Georgian Dream Party announced it was pausing talks on joining the European Union life. year. The latest demonstration coincided with local elections and was extremely violent with reports of mass arrests and police brutality. Riot police in the capital used pepper spray and water cannon on those who try to storm the presidential palace. Our correspondent in

Tbilisi, Rahan Dmitri, gave us this update. Protesters remain in the streets. There's a relatively large group of protesters outside the country's parliament in central Tbilisi and some form of confrontation is still ongoing outside presidential compound. This was the main place for clashes earlier when protesters attempted to storm the presidential building and there is an ongoing confrontation with the police. This is a completely different turn of events. Georgians have been protesting nightly for over 300 days. several weeks ago people started talking about

the 4th of October and the opera singer turned political figure Pata Burtzaladze he's 70 years old he emerged as one of the leaders of this protest movement and they announced

that there will be a peaceful overthrow of the government this was their slogan for today's protest a declaration was made by Pata Burtjoladze He proclaimed that the power is in the hands of the people and he called on the Ministry of Interior to be on the side of the people,

read out the names of the main politicians from the ruling party and demanded for them to be arrested. And a short while after this declaration, protesters were seen storming the presidential palace. We've seen already a reaction from the government and the country's prime minister, Iraq Likobahidzehi announced a total victory for his ruling Georgian Dream Party

in Saturday's municipal elections that were held across the country and were boycotted by the main opposition parties because the leaders of those opposition parties are in jail. And he commented on what happened on Saturday night. He said that it was a criminal act to storm the presidential compound and warned that everyone would be held responsible.

So I think protesters who remain in the street, they are a bit confused perhaps because there is no leader. And the opera singer, he had to get some medical assistance and left the scene. So it leaves people in disarray. They believe that their government is pro-Russian and that it's doing everything to sort. stop Georgia from ever joining the European Union, that's what makes people very, very angry.

Rahan Dimitri. There have also been anti-government protests in Madagascar, the largest the East African island nation, has witnessed for more than 15 years. Thousands of young people, frustrated with poor infrastructure, poverty and corruption, have taken to the streets. Campaigners say 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured. The authorities dispute the figures. Aunt Rudzuel dismissed his government on Monday in an effort to calm the unrest, but he's denounced demands for him to step down. Our reporter Sammy Awami is in the capital. The capital city, Antonin Rivo, has witnessed the two protests today,

one in support of the government and another one, against it. The pro-government rallies were called in support of the President's speech that he made when he suggested that there are dangerous elements, both local and foreign, which are plotting to destabilize the country. The anti-government protest, on the other hand, have been very consistent in their demands since they started protest a week ago. They say why the protests were about water shortages and power cuts. They are more than that.

They are about a government which has failed its people. They cite rampant corruption, insecurity, and just general living conditions which they say have been worsening day after day. This is why, they say, it's not enough to just dissolve a government. They want the president himself to resist. We met a young organiser today and he told us they are willing to continue going to streets until their demands are met. These protests are purely led by young people who say they've been inspired by fellow young people in Morocco, Indonesia and Kenya. And while the protests started here in the capital a week ago, they have now spread into eight other major cities in the country.

Crystal Strong has been studying youth-led protests for 20 years with a focus. on the African continent. When we look to these recent protests, they have all sort of taken up the language of being Gen Z protests, right? And I think we should understand that as a very intentional articulation of how they understand their struggle as a generational one. We also see a number of tactical similarities, certainly social media, particularly TikTok, Instagram, even Discord, are allowing for young people to see the rise of protests. in different parts of the Global South in particular, and similar demands around government corruption,

inequities, especially wealth inequities, the lack of job prospects for generations of youth. Many of these countries are predominantly youth populations. So at least 50% are under the age of 30. We might look to these particular moments, especially ones in which there are massive forms of state repression, which is something to really keep an eye on here, What I've seen over the past 20 years, at least, is a continuous cycle of protests.

We can think all the way back to 2011 in Occupy Wall Street in the Arab Spring. We can think back to 2015 and 2016 with Fees Must Fall in South Africa and Black Lives Matter here in the U.S. We can also look to the 2019 to 2021 period with the protests in Hong Kong in Egypt, in Nigeria, in Uganda. And now here we are once again with a generation of young people who are fighting for a future worth living. I think we should absolutely expect them to continue to articulate their demands for a different reality. Crystal Strong from Rutgers University in the US. A chess matches are not traditionally quick affairs and even matches at an amateur level can last for hours. But a group of professional players is trying to change that image

by hosting a chess tournament in a stadium filled with cheering spectators. The organisers of Checkmate USA India are hoping that the shorter format of the games will also keep crowds entertained. The tournament's been taking place in Arlington, Texas this weekend, and Julian Warwicka asked the organiser Salim Belcardi to explain the thinking behind the event. Traditional chess revolves around long, slow games.

where players sit down on a chair and just look at the board with a very strict etiquette. And it's all very elegant, I'm a big fan of it. But that type of chess is not really packaged for broadcasting for live audiences. And the idea is to reimagine chess as an entertainment sport. To do that, what we decided to do is create a format with very fast time controls, a format that will always lead to decisive results. There will be a winner. There will be a loser at the end of the evening.

and that can be played in front of a live audience with a very different approach to how it's going to be filmed, how it's going to be played, the referee that's more active. And each player has, what, 10 minutes to play his or her side of the game? That's right.

Every player starts with 10 minutes and it's going to be pretty fast. But in case they draw the game, they will have to replay the game but with only 5 minutes per player. And if they draw that game, they have to replay the game one minute per player. That's the shootout.

That would be the equivalent of show. shoot out in football. Right. So one way or another, there is a winner. One way or the other, there will be a winner. Not only that, but they have to play the game all the way to checkmate. So typically, in a traditional chess game, when a player has a losing position, they would resign out of politeness, so to speak, and out of respect for the opponent.

In this format, they cannot resign. Everybody has to play and fight till the very last second. So the game goes on until there's checkmate on the board. That makes it very easy for the hobby chess player. follow. Yeah, and presumably the audience will be made up of a lot of hobby chess players. I wonder how you expect them to behave during this. I mean, are they going to be encouraged to sort of cheer and applaud as these matches unfold? So there will be no noise restriction. They can cheer, they can chant, they can support the team they like as much as they want. They can make as

much noise as they want. The only restriction is they cannot try to move to one of the players. If they do, they will be kicked out of the venue. But other than that, they can make as much noise as they want. It's the USA versus India. Chosen what? Because they are the two strongest nations when it comes to chess? They are definitely the two strongest nations when it comes to chess. India has the world champion, the word number four, the word number five. And the US has the number two in the world, the number three in the world. They are dominating chess at the highest level. Checkmate, USA India organiser Salim Belcardi, and we've just heard that the USA have won the best of five tournament. Now, you'd expect a British and Irish film

Festival to be held in Britain or Ireland. But every autumn, it's the French coastal town of Dinah in Brittany, which takes the spot. Big names and some of the best new talent is there. The BBC's Tom Brook reports from Dinah. The seaside resort of Dinah in Brittany is in many ways typically French. But once a year, cinema from across the English Channel comes to town by way of a British and Irish film festival, now in its 36 year. British actor Kristen Scott Thomas makes her directorial debut with the festival's opening night film in which she also appears. Here's the man I love.

It's called my mother's wedding and it's centred on three daughters returning to their childhood home where their twice widowed mother is getting married for the third time. Elsie, when you speak, you've got to press your button. Which button? Another British film at Dina is Dragonfly featuring two very respected actors, Brenda Blethen and Andrea Ryder. It's a film following the relationship between two neighbours, but it raises all kinds of questions to do with loneliness and care for the elderly. Nearly all the films featured at Dina are independently made. Andrea Reisbara thinks these type of pictures could become endangered species.

We're in a very strange place at the minute in terms of independent voices, really being lost, actually. And so being part of this sort of film that was filmed on-filmed, that is made by a writer-director that was in every way lovingly brought to life. It feels very special. Dominique Green, the festival's artistic director, notes many of the festival's UK and Irish films

depict a gritty reality. I've observed there's been a return to social realist films or films really about the subject of contemporary life in Britain, homelessness, addiction, family, disputes. And I think there's a new generation of filmmakers that are really feeling the difficulties in which Gen Z is growing up. Why would a French town post a British and Irish film festival? Well, if you look a little closer, you'll see that Dina has long had an affinity for all things British.

A red telephone box sits proudly on a main street. And a tall statue of British director Alfred Hitchcock stands in front of the beach. Wealthy Britons settled in lavish villas here in Victorian times. They made Dina their seaside resort. The British connection has endured, so when local bookseller Tieri de la Fornier founded the festival in 1989, he says the town was receptive

and the festival gave Dina a burst of energy. Dina back on the map with the festival. It was an whole sleepy city, nice but living with the past, and I think it was a sort of new start for Dina. On the eve of the festivals opening, the organisers were buoyed by some good news. Advanced ticket sales for festival films were said to be unprecedented,

and some individuals willingly waited for hours to buy a ticket at the box office. In Dinar, it seems, the love affair with British and Irish cinema just continues. That was Tombrook. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later on. If you'd like to comment on the podcast and the topics we're covering, do send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. This edition was mixed by Zaveholokarush. The producers were Paul Day and Nikki Varico.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Chris Barrow. And until next time, thanks for listening. Goodbye. Thank you.