Global News Podcast - Trump on Charlie Kirk shooter: 'I think we have him'

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

Donald Trump believes that authorities have caught Charlie Kirk's shooter. Also: the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro is sentenced to 27 years in jail; Israel steps up its military offensive in Gaza; 300 South Korean workers, detained by the US, arrive home; female representation in the upcoming Malawi elections; the growing flood emergency in Pakistan's Punjab province; Russia and Belarus begin a major joint military exercise; the world's first AI government minister in Albania and searching for a meteorite in the Scottish Highlands.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 is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson, and at 1,300 hours, GMT, on the 12th of September, these are our main stories. President Trump says the authorities believe, with a high degree of certainty, they've caught the suspect in the shooting of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Washington threatens further action against Brazil after the former president, Jaya Bolsonaro is convicted of plotting a coup. Israel intensifies its military offensive in Gaza City, issuing a new mass evacuation order for the territory's biggest urban area.

Also in this podcast, ahead of Malawi's election next week, the push to get more women involved in politics. Trust me in 2030, our generation, my people right now, our generation is going to ensure that this never happens again. We're working towards breaking down those barriers. We start in the U.S. where, as we record this podcast, President Trump says he believes the suspect in the shooting of the conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk is in custody. This is what the president said when interviewed on Fox News channels, Fox and Friends. Can I always say, I think, just to protect us all, and so Fox doesn't get sued and we all don't get sued and everything else?

But I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him. In custody, right? In custody, everyone did a great job. We worked with the local police, the governor. Everybody did a great job. Mr. Trump added, somebody very close to him turned him in. He said there'd be an announcement later. There's been a massive manhunt after Charlie Cook was fatally shot in Utah on Wednesday

as he was addressing a student gathering at a university campus. campus. Since then, people have gathered to pay their respects. Our correspondent, Ned Attaufec, has been speaking to people at a vigil in Oram, Utah. Let us pray. At an outdoor park, hundreds in Orham turned up to pay their final respects to Charlie Kirk. Around them, a large police presence to give them comfort. Some addressed the crowd to share their reflections. And some people maybe didn't agree with everything that Charlie Kirk said. One hundred percent behind everything he said regardless we're here together to help each other grow and to heal and i believe it's important to realize this is not a battle of right versus left this is a battle of good versus evil

mackay miller wore a shirt with charlie kirk's name drawn in large letters the 17-year-old said he became a Republican after listening to and meeting the right-wing activist. I'm really sad. I feel like people are feeling angry, but I'm just feeling sadness. My heart's broken. I really looked up to him. And how concerned are you about the direction of the country? And what have you made of all of the discussion around his death? I think it's not going the way that we want to go. I think we all need to really come together as a country and this is an opportunity for us to do that because we're so radically

left side and right side we're both radically positioned so far that we're going to extreme lengths for this and this is an example of that right here today you're quite emotional right now tell me what you're feeling my heart is broken Angie Huli was there with her son Dalton who witnessed the fatal shooting my son is 21 and he um is just coming into learning about politics. And I really think that listening and watching his YouTube videos helps him because he has the same values as Charlie Kirk does. So you agree, right?

Yeah. And we pray for our officers for the FBI that they can be blessed with insight and the skills needed to find the shooter and any that are involved. 30-year-old Aaron Lindsay connected with Charlie Kirk because of his faith. I respect his stance on allowing people to share their opinions when we have a platform where we are able to talk civilly that allows us to form a bridge and understanding. Charlie Kirk's casket arrived back in his hometown in Arizona as they gathered. This a final goodbye and a moment of unity during these tense times.

Ned Atofic in Utah. Brazilians are coming to terms with the news that their former president, Jayao Bolsonaro, faces 27 years in jail after being convicted of plotting a coup as the United States threatened to respond against a ruling President Trump called Very Bad for Brazil. This was the moment the Brazilian Supreme Court judge Carmen Lucia delivered the decisive vote to convict Mr. Bolsonaro.

As the dust settles, reactions inside Brazil reflect a nation-divided. This was the reaction of Paolo Figueredo, a Bolsonaro supporter, and grandson of the former president of Brazil's right-wing military dictatorship. This is obviously a very sad day for the country. We can't say also that it's very similar to what they tried to do in the United States with a former president, now President Donald Trump. The difference that they were, the institutions in Brazil weren't strong enough to resist the weaponization of the Supreme Court. So that's why we have right now the most popular leader in the country being sent to prison for 27 years, more than drug dealers, murders, and serious criminals.

To discuss what the verdict means for Jao Bolsonaro and for Brazil, I've been talking to our World Affairs reporter Mimi Swabi. This has been a highly divisive, highly polarising case from start to finish, and that has continued in the verdict. Supporters of Jeb Bolsonaro have taken to the street really pushing for amnesty. They're saying you can't send this 70-year-old man to prison where he will spend the rest of his days. Brazil has a long history with military dictatorships and rule, but it's always given a sense and have an ethos of forgive, give amnesty and move on. But this is a very different approach, a new path for Brazil, whereas critics of Georges Bolsonaro have said even plotting a coup, it didn't go through, but even plotting it

and being aware of the conspiracy to kill his rival left wing, the current president, Luis Ignacio Lula de Silva, that is enough to warrant such a absurdly excessive sentence according to Bolsonaro's lawyers. So does Jerry Bolsonaro, does it have options to challenge this? His lawyers definitely will challenge this. They are looking to appeal and his supporters in Parliament are really pushing for amnesty going through the National Congress, starting with the Chamber of Deputies. Although this will be really hard to appeal this verdict, as only one out of the five judges acquitted him, not the two needed to actually appeal the verdict. So that is a very important fact in this case, which makes the next steps for Bolsonaro to seek any kind of way out of this very difficult. Now, there have been strong words of support for Gioro Bolsonaro from the Trump administration. How is that going to play into this situation, do you think, in Brazil?

President Donald Trump has been a strong ally of Bolsonaro from the start. He came out with very strong discourse saying he was very surprised by the verdict, and it's very bad for Brazil. He likened it to his own experiences. And Washington have said they're going to take the appropriate action. And this comes after the US has already put 50. percent tariffs on Brazilian goods. They sanctioned one of the judges in the case as well. So it really has even widened the divide. You've got Bolsonaro supporters backed by the US,

the US imposing its economic and political might trying to influence this trial. And then Lula and his supporters and what he calls Brazilian democracy, which the foreign ministry today said will not be intimidated by these threats from the US who, like I said, have come out with some really strong discourse. They've backed Bolsonaro from the start. and seemingly are going to continue to do that. Mimi Swabi. Israel has issued another mass evacuation order for Gaza City as it steps up its military offensive there.

Thousands of people have already fled as Israel's military continues to target buildings and areas it claims are being used by Hamas. A correspondent Wira Davis is in Jerusalem. For several days now, Israel has been issuing pretty stark warnings to the one million or so people who live in or are in Gaza City to move further south to an area called Almwasi, which Israel says is a designated safe zone because of Israel's expanding and intensifying military campaign targeted on Gaza City.

But the problem is that Almawesi itself is not really a safe zone. It's been attacked and people have been killed there. Also, many people in Gaza City have very little money, very little means to travel. There is nowhere really in Gaza that can be categorized as safe. So what's happening is that hundreds of thousands of people are refusing or reluctant, to move. So Israel has now issued a new evacuation order and it says there are six areas in central Gaza and eight areas in southern Gaza towards which people can leave. And Israel again has designated these are safe zones. The reality is that many of them are very close to

Israeli military positions and, you know, there has been increasing military activity all over Gaza. So it will be interesting to see if this Israeli warning, which is again a very stark warning telling people they're not safe if they don't move, if it will be successful or not. Because a lot of them have moved time in time again already, haven't they? Yeah, you know, that people have been displaced six or seven times during this war. Specifically those who live in northern Gaza, they were moved south. During the ceasefire we had in February, March, some of them were allowed to go back north. Gaza City being the biggest conurbation, you know, people think it might have more food than other areas.

And a lot of people are living in tents. They're not even living in houses. And a lot of buildings, of course, are being destroyed. the Israeli Prime Minister acknowledged in a speech a couple of days ago that in recent days more than 50 buildings in Gaza City had been blown up by the Israeli Air Force. So even if people are living there, it's a very temporary existence. Is the Israeli military saying anything about their strategy?

Not yet. We haven't had this declaration yet, this expected big ground push by the Israelis, which will include one of the thought tanks and troops on the ground. But what Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu wants to do it's controlled the whole of Gaza and defeat Hamas completely before he is ready to end the war. We're in Davis in Jerusalem. More than 300 South Korean workers detained last week by the US immigration authorities have arrived home, marking the end of a saga that had threatened to disrupt the close relationship between the two countries.

The workers arrived at Seoul's International Airport to be greeted by a small crowd, including one person wearing a Donald Trump mask and holding a banner that depicts an ice agent carrying a gun and a chain. A correspondent in Seoul, Jean McKenzie, was at the airport. Honestly, they looked exhausted. I mean, they were very subdued. Bear in mind that they had just got off a 15-hour flight. They had spent a week now in detention.

And they had gone to the US to do short-term work to help build this car battery factory. Part of the US push really to get companies, foreign companies, to move their manufacturing to the state. States. And then they were ambushed by these immigration officials about a week ago and carted off in chains and handcuffs, which I think was probably the most shocking thing to people here in South Korea. But today they were brought through the terminal by one of the companies who'd organized their returns. They were brought through in very small groups. They were put them

onto buses and their families were waiting for them elsewhere. So we didn't get to see those emotional family reunions, which I'm sure they would have been. But one man did shout, I'm home, I'm free. So definitely a sense of relief. What has been reaction to this incident in South Korea? You say people have been shocked by some of it? Yeah, I mean, hugely shocked. If you think that South Korea is one of the US's closest allies, its companies have invested billions in the US. They've really subscribed to what the US wants, which is trying to move their manufacturing to the States. So when people hear saw those pictures of these workers not only being rounded up and taking a detention,

but as I said, like chained and with handcuffs on, they were absolutely horrified. And we did have, you mentioned it earlier, but these protesters at the airport, just a couple, but they were holding up these signs saying, you know, look, we invest in your country and you arrest us, you treat us like criminals. And I think that is what people here are struggling to come to terms with. You know, these people were here short term to build these factories in the States, to install this. Quite specialist high-tech equipment. They weren't planning to work in the United States long term.

The idea is that those jobs in those factories would go to American workers. And I think it's highlighted this tension between two of Trump's main aims. He wants these companies to invest in the United States, but at the same time he wants to cut immigration. And the US has said all along, well, these workers didn't have the right visas. But the South Korean government have said, well, yeah, but we've been trying for years to get them the right visas, and you haven't been granting them.

in Pakistan, rescuers say they're struggling to respond to the growing flood emergency in the province of Punjab. More than 4,000 villages have been submerged and 2 million people displaced in the country's most populous province, while across the nation more than 900 people have been killed since monsoon rains started in June. Our Pakistan correspondent, Azaday Mishiri, is in one of the worst affected areas. In our boat, we pass six men wading through the floods, dragging six of their buffaloes with them. But one of the animals breaks free and starts drifting away in the currents. The man can do nothing but look on, as their prized possession and part of their livelihoods disappears into the waters.

Sitting with us is Mohamed Arif. He's asking for directions. because he has lost sight of his entire village. It's submerged, and with vast amounts of water stretching out all around us, he just can't find it. People have been stuck for the past six days. There's no food. In the distance, we spot two minerals peeking over the edge of the water that guide him home. When we get there, many people are desperate to leave. But there isn't space in our boat for all of them.

Some weep as they're forced to leave family members behind. Back on dry land, those who've been rescued still need help. Dozens of people run towards a truck full of food and water. Give me, one girl begs, desperate for a loaf of bread and competing for it with the other children and adults around her. Despite help from the army, rescuers are struggling to reach everyone who needs help. In two months, more than two million people have been evacuated in Punjab. One man, Obidullah, decides to take matters into his own hands. are still stuck and we are unable to bring our own belongings.

We built a boat for ourselves and we are doing everything ourselves. We're in a boat with rescuers in the middle of the Soutledge River. Dozens of families are in this boat. There are children sitting on their parents' laps. While many have chosen to go to shelters, stay with families on higher ground, many others are deciding to stay in their village. They say they've been through so many floods, so many evacuations over the years, but they just don't want to go through it all over again. They'd rather take their chances and face the floods. More than 40% of people live below the poverty line in Pakistan.

Millions live in areas that are destroyed again and again from annual floods. But they simply can't afford to move anywhere else. That's the reality of climate change. It hits the poorest, the worst. As the day, Mishiri. Coming up. So this fireball street across the sky and we think dropped up to 10 kilos at a time of space rock across the highlands.

Looking for the remains of a meteorite in the Scottish highlands. Russia and Belarus have begun a major joint military exercise close to NATO's eastern flank. It comes just days after what Warsaw called an unprecedented Russian drone incursion into its territory. Donald Trump has suggested the incursion might have been a mistake, but that was brushed off by the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake he wrote on X, but it wasn't, and we know it. Radik Sikorski is Poland's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. He's currently in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and he echoed Mr. Tusk's comments.

They've come from over both Ukraine and Belarus, the first one before midnight, the last one we shot down at 6.30 in the morning. So the firefight lasted for seven hours. The same night here in Kiev, over Ukraine, they've sent 400 drones and 40 missiles. These are no mistakes. We've had these tri-annual Zapat exercises before. They always have an aggressive scenario that includes invading NATO territory, and in the past, it also included launching a tactical nuclear warhead. Belarus and Russia have been conducting a hybrid operation of pushing thousands of migrants across the border of the EU. We've had to build a big and beautiful fence at great expense over half a billion years. and it's taking up thousands of servicemen.

So Belarus is being hostile and therefore we are taking appropriate action. That includes closing your border with Belarus, is that right? Yes, we closed border points before in response to Belarus taking hostages from amongst minority in Belarus. This is now an action that is meant to persuade President Lukashenko to stop the hybrid war and to release the political prisoners. Have you had any sense about whether this tactic is going to work? Any dialogue with President Lukashenko, for example?

Well, Russia has asked us to reconsider, and of course we would reconsider if Belarus finally does what we are asking, stops assaulting our border, releases people in custody who have done no crime. The Polish Foreign Minister, Radek Zikorski, talking to James Koppel. Voters in Malawi go to the polls next Tuesday to elect a president, MPs and local councillors. More than half of the African countries' 7 million registered voters are women, and yet female representation in elected positions remains alarmingly low.

The BBC's Nomsomaseko has been to Malawi to find out more. A group of rural women sit under a huge mango tree here at Tuluwa Primary School. more than 100 kilometres from the capital Lilongwe. They're attending a workshop on leadership and skills required for those with political ambitions. The September 16th election has been dominated by the cost of living, poverty and inequality, and women here want a place at the table.

Maggie Katawera Panda is the founder of the Women's Manifesto Movement. We have been implementing a project which we are calling promoting gender inclusive and a youth transformative project. So that project has been targeting women as parents. So women that have expressed interest to contest as MPs, as councillors. We have actually been training them. We have done a lot of trainings, the whole Malawi,

explaining to them what is the role of an MP, what is the role of a counsellor, how can they put up effective campaigns, how do they work with communities, how do they come up with manifestos that are going to appeal to the communities and all that. The majority of voters are women, and yet very few get elected. Many have said tradition has taught them that leadership positions are for men,

and for the most part, women have not been afforded the opportunity to go to school. As a woman, it's important to support fellow women who are contesting. In my case, if there was no problem, requirement to pay nomination fees at contest as a councillor. Access to funding also plays a huge role in limiting women participation in

politics. In communities like these, very few can afford to pay $50 U.S. dollars for nominations for being a counselor, let alone $700 for an MP. At the same time, presidential candidates are required to pay

over 5,500 U.S. dollars to stand a chance of being the head of state. As a result, former president, Joyce Bander, is the only female presidential candidate out of 17 contenders. Helen Chabunia is the vice president of the UTIM party. She said women must occupy rooms in which decisions are made. What we need to change is to have those critical discussions about in Africa, at a pan-African level, and trickle it down to Malawi.

What can these parties do? What can our legislation do? What can our party constitutions do to ensure that women do have a seat at the table? Right now for this election, I'm hopeful, even though the key for political parties, which the contest is for, none of them have got a female presidential candidate. But trust me, in 2030, our generation, my people right now, our generation is going to ensure that this never happens again. We're working towards breaking down those barriers. As Malawi plots a way forward to improve lives, a genuine desire to put women at the forefront of political leadership remains a top priority.

Nomsa Maseko, reporting from Malawi. Albania has appointed what's thought to be the world's first AI-generated government minister. The Ella is a digital assistant who already helps Albanians navigate government services online. Now she's expanding her portfolio to tackle public. procurement in an attempt to cut down on corruption. As Renayanga reports. Diella, an AI avatar, dressed in traditional costume, has since January been giving voice commands on the E-Albania portal,

helping people to access public services. She's performed so well that Prime Minister Eddie Rama has promoted her, boldly promising at his Socialist Party conference in Tirana that she'll make Albania a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption. Large public contracts have long been a source of scandal in the country. Diella means sun in Albanian. The PM hopes his newest recruit will focus a laser beam on bribes, threats and conflicts of interest as the country seeks to join the European Union.

And finally, to Scotland and hill walkers aiming to climb some of the most remote mountains in the highlands have been asked to look for fragments of a meteorite that landed there this summer. It was the first time a meteorite has come down in the area in more than a century. An expert say the remains could help further our understanding of the early solar system. As Lana Gordon reports. The bright burning light of the exploding meteor was captured on cameras across Scotland as it shot across the sky in July.

Using those images and data on the meteorite's trajectory, planetary scientists think the small distinctive fragments of rock from the fireball are likely to have landed across three mountains and a mountain pit. plateau near Dalwini in the Highlands. Their own efforts to find the remains were curtailed by bad weather. They're now in a race against time, warning the more the rocks are left exposed and weathering on Scotland's hills, the less they'll be able to tell about their composition and are asking walkers to get in touch with the University of Glasgow if they find any small, shiny, heavy black fragments of rock. Dr. Anya O'Brien from the UK Fireball Alliance

told us more about what happened when the meteorite landed. fireball on the 3rd of July in Scotland was so bright that despite it being at one in the morning, it lit up Scotland literally like the night sky. People saw it across the country. People heard a massive sonic boom that sounded like a bomb to some people. Apparently there are people in Fort William who thought that there was an explosion. And there was an explosion. It was just of space rocks and nothing more worrying than that. So this fireball street across the sky and we think dropped up to 10 kilos at a time of space rock across the highlands. So we're really keen to have this meteorite retrieved because scientifically there'd be so much value. So we think the kind of meteorite

it is is probably older than the earth, or at least lots of parts of it are. So what we're asking for is if anyone is out Monroe bagging, there are three Monroe's on the fall line. We're asking them to be thinking about meteorite bagging as well. So if you want to bag a Monroe, you can bag a meteorite And quite literally, we'd like you to bag it. So ideally, if you think you found a meteorite, you wouldn't touch it with your bare hands because then it might contaminate the stone. They're not toxic. Don't worry.

There's no risk there. If you think you've found one, what you're looking for is something dark and shiny, probably really listically, it's going to look quite different to anything around it. It's going to look out of place. Dr. O'Nea O'Brien. And that's it for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.com.com.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. This edition was mixed by Russell Newlove. The producers were Richard Hamilton and Ruzaffa Shakir. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye-bye.