Global News Podcast - UN warning: Millions at risk after Sudan food aid cuts

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

The UN is warning that millions of Sudanese refugees fleeing war are at risk, after drastic cuts to food programmes. Also: Palestinians in Gaza report one of the worst nights of Israeli bombing in weeks and why Wimbledon is changing one of its oldest traditions.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jonathan Jaleel and at 13 Hours GMT on Monday the 30th of June, these are our main stories. The UN warns drastic aid cuts are worsening Sudan's hunger crisis, putting millions at risk. Palestinian health officials say at least 40 people have been killed in the latest wave of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, with many more displaced yet again.

A jury is considering its verdict in the case of an Australian woman accused of murder by mushroom. Also in this podcast, the end of an era for British tennis. Imagine Wimbledon with no strawberries and cream or no ivy up the building or without the unpassed chair. It's just not the same. Why the Wimbledon tennis tournament is getting rid of line judges after almost 150 years. It's been called the world's biggest hunger crisis, yet it's got far less global attention than conflicts like Gaza or Ukraine. But now there are warnings that the plight of millions of Sudanese refugees displaced

by two years of civil war is about to get even worse. As well as the millions displaced inside Sudan, more than four million people have fled to neighbouring countries, often arriving traumatised, malnourished and with little more than the clothes on their back. The UN's World Food Programme says drastic funding cuts could force its operations to grind to a halt in the coming months as resources run dangerously low. Karl Skaue is the WFP's Deputy Executive Director. These are people who left with nothing, they arrived with nothing and they come to places where there is basically nothing and so we were early on able to step up and support them with food whether in Uganda, Chad or in any other of the other neighbouring

countries. Now funding is running short and so we are having to cut people but we're also having to reduce the amount of food that we are providing. And so the situation is really dire. Our Africa regional editor is Will Ross. It is dire. And the problem is that the war rages on inside Sudan. So, of course, more people are going to flee the fighting. But the World Food Programme is most worried about the situation in Chad because that's the border where it's right next to Darfur, which is where a lot of the fighting is going on

now and it's a pretty difficult environment at the best of times. Those villages in eastern Chad, it's kind of a desert-like territory. There's not much water. The host communities are basically absorbing all these people. The UN says a thousand people are still fleeing over the border every day. But the UN is also concerned that malnutrition amongst children is just going to get worse and worse. And this we're obviously hearing bad things inside the country, but also outside. As the UN says, it's having to cut the amount of food it's giving and the number of people receiving that food. It's saying they're cutting from the hungry to give to the starving. And it does sound like a grim situation for so many families

who are, you know, basically fleeing their homes with absolutely nothing in all kinds of different directions. So you've got Chad, there's also some that are heading south into South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, places that just aren't, don't have the infrastructure and the help available for these families when they arrive. And the UN, the WFP is saying this is so big now it's turning into a regional crisis. Well it is a regional crisis and you know the fact that there are seven countries that these people are fleeing to that gives you an idea of the scale of the problem but if we look at what's going on right now inside Sudan

and what I said earlier about more people are bound to flee. In Darfur at the moment we're hearing more reports of shelling by the rapid support forces on a market inside a displacement camp. There's a doctor's network working in Darfur. They're saying that more than 200 children have died in recent months from malnutrition. And they say that nutrition warehouses, so the warehouses where nutrition is stored to help children, those warehouses have been bombed. And there's this siege that's gone on for well over a year of El Fasha city. that's contributing to the the grim situation there then there's also fighting going on further south in West Kordofan nearer to the oil

fields with the UN saying on Friday alone more than 3,000 families fled one village so you're talking about a huge crisis that just is getting worse and worse by the week. Will Ross, Israel's recent 12-day conflict with Iran saw hundreds of civilians killed, most of them in Iran. In its latest update, Tehran says at least 935 people are now known to have died in Iran, among them 38 children. But it wasn't just Iranians caught up in the confusion and chaos as millions fled the Iranian capital and other cities. The UN says close to a quarter of a million Afghans left Iran in June, most of them forcibly deported. More than half of them left after the Israeli airstrikes. But there was already a deadline for early

next month as Iran, like neighbouring Pakistan, tries to force undocumented Afghans to leave. Many have passed through the Islam Qala border crossing back into Afghanistan. Some families are being helped by UNICEF officials who have set up a reception centre there. Our South Asia regional editor, Ambar Athar Nettirajan, told us more about this exodus of Afghans from Iran. Ambar Athar Nettirajan, South Asia regional editor, UNICEF, UNICEF, UNICEF Now, Iran has already instructed or given orders for those who are illegally living

in the country, those without any valid documents to leave by the 6th of July. And this has now increased this exodus of Afghans and the recent bombing campaign by Israel and the United States has only added to this anxiety among many of those Afghans living. Now Iran says that about 3.5 million to 4 million people, foreigners, are living in the country and out of which more than 2 million could be without documents mainly from Afghanistan. These are all estimates and that is why it has asked many of those undocumented people to leave and

especially in the last two weeks the numbers have increased and what the UN agencies are saying is that about 30,000 people crossing back into Afghanistan and the UNICEF says that they are arriving tired, disoriented, hungry, anxious and they are in need of urgent support including healthcare and nutrition. The important thing here is many people in the previous months came, individuals or a couple of men coming up or thousands of men coming in. But now what they say is they are seeing women, children and families are coming back. So for many of these girls who come from Iran, it will be a very uncertain time within Afghanistan because they can't go to schools, they can't have any big ambition, they can't go out without

someone accompanying them. So these are some of the difficulties they are going to face here. So very difficult, 30,000 a day at some points have been going back and Afghanistan's already struggling to manage a huge influx of returnees from Pakistan which is also forcing Afghans to leave. Yeah, Pakistan has been saying that all undocumented Afghans should leave because of security concerns and the attacks on security forces. They linked it to some Afghan national. So that has also triggered tensions between the two countries. So it's going to be a huge challenge for the Taliban authorities when you have millions of

people coming back at a time when the country is already grappling with various economic challenges and shortage of international aid. AMT – Amrassan Eti Rajan. And the Global News podcast team have put together an explainer to answer some of the questions on Iran that you've been sending us. Search youtube.com slash BBC World Service and you'll see our very own Oliver Conway pushing your questions to the BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner and Berang Tajdine from BBC Persian. Or you can search, why did the US get involved in the Iran crisis? That's on the Global News Podcast. Now let's turn to Gaza, where there's been a wave of

deadly Israeli airstrikes across the territory, described by people there as the worst for months. Palestinian medical officials say at least 40 people have been killed. 13 of them were reportedly killed while waiting for aid in Raffa in the south. This follows a sweeping evacuation order issued at the weekend by the Israeli military. Our correspondent, Wirri Davis, is following developments from Jerusalem as Israel doesn't allow international journalists to report from Gaza. He told me more about the strikes there. And much of this has happened overnight. Some people said it is the biggest wave of airstrikes since the resumption of Israeli attacks in March. We know they've hit particularly

eastern neighbourhoods, very populated eastern neighbourhoods, including a strike on a school in the Zeytun area being used to shelter displaced families. But at the same time, Benjamin Netanyahu is saying that the recent conflict with Iran has opened up opportunities to free the hostages still in Gaza, a statement that's been welcomed by their relatives. Yeah, we're still interpreting the statement from Netanyahu because he's always emphasised, first of all, the need to militarily defeat Hamas. Netanyahu's accused by many people, including hostages' families, of treating them almost

as like a second consideration. But last night in his statement, a pretty bullish Netanyahu who's basking in the glory of victory in the war against Iran, said it presented new opportunities. And he then said first of all to release or free the hostages. Now, that was the first time he emphasized hostages over a military defeat of Hamas. And that was welcomed by the families of the hostages, 23, 24 of whom are still thought to be remaining alive in Gaza with a further 20 bodies of captives as well. Whether or not the signals a change in policy from Netanyahu I think is too early to say. As I said the background to this is increasing military attacks, perhaps an

intensification of military strikes in Gaza overnight. How long this will last is a key thing because Netanyahu is also coming under increasing pressure from home and abroad to try and strike a new ceasefire deal that will bring an end to the war in Gaza. We're a Davis. One of the world's most famous music festivals, Glastonbury, has been making the headlines, not for the joyous reasons you might expect, but for controversial comments made by one of the performers live on stage, which were broadcast by the BBC. During his set, the singer of the punk rock hip hop duo Bob Villain encouraged the crowd in a chant of Death to the Israeli Military. We won't play that clip

for obvious reasons, but here's how it unfolded. We're seeing the UK and the US be complicit in war crimes and genocide happening over there to the Palestinian people. And I know we're on the BBC that we're not going to say anything crazy or right. Leave that for them lads. You know what I mean? A BBC spokesperson said the anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Bob Villain were utterly unacceptable and that it regretted broadcasting The Chance. The footage has since been removed from BBC streaming services. So should this have been allowed to go on air?

Nick Robinson spoke to two former top media executives in the UK, Dorothy Byrne, former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, and Craig Oliver, a former senior editor at the BBC. People in our sort of business say how on earth could this happen? And the answer in part is this, isn't it? Music producers are not news and current affairs executives. Exactly. One wonders what research the BBC did about Bob Villain, because if you look online he had previously made radical statements about Israel, which is his right, of course, but it calls into question the decision to stream him live. And then I think in view of what was happening in Glastonbury, they should really have had

a politics producer in the gallery ready to advise them when and if something went wrong and But would you literally press a button at the moment? He started that chant Dorothy as you say I think that's practical and should have happened nowadays. It's very easy to cut from one feed to another They should have had I would have expected them to Have an alternative feed so Craig. it's clear that people did have… …from the streaming service. Forgive me, I'm turning to Sir Craig now. It's clear that BBC producers there did have some sense of who this duo were and the individual in particular, because they actually put up on screen a warning saying, a warning of very

strong and discriminatory language. Yeah, I think that it's a danger that that's kind of token coverall though, and I'm not sure that those people who were covering it yesterday really, really did understand. The Israel-Gaza conflict is by some distance the most sensitive issue the BBC faces. I do agree with Dorothy. It's clear that for its viewers and actually for the BBC's own reputation, that there does need to be some form of mechanism that whenever there is a hint of hate speech, that you can cut the feed. And I suspect that next year's Glastonbury there's going to have to be a senior editorial figure who understands the

sensitivities of this, who is ready to cut the feed. And of course, as well as going to an alternative feed, there is also the possibility of running on a delay. And I'm surprised that it wasn't running on a delay. There was actually no need for this to go out at all. The difficulty here though is this, isn't it Dorothy Byrne, it's pretty clear as you say that calling for death to anyone crosses a line. But let's say you'd let a chant fall from the river to the sea, which is regarded as anti-Semitic by some Jews, but on the other hand is regarded as a perfectly legitimate part of Palestinian aspirations by others.

At what point does the BBC start saying, well, that is and that isn't quite acceptable? I think the problem is that you're not, when you're covering a music festival, able to balance up another perspective in a duly impartial debate. And coverage of a music festival is not the same as a discussion on the Today program. But it does mean that yet again we are discussing BBC coverage of Gaza when we should be discussing events in Gaza, grave problems with Gaza. For example, the fact that it's decided not to broadcast a film it commissioned itself on Gaza when Channel 4, which is covered by the same regulations, is going to be showing that film which the BBC wouldn't show tomorrow night.

Yes, and Sir Craig, that in a sense illustrates part of the reason the BBC gets itself in a mess is it offends people on both sides very, very deeply indeed. 100%. Look, what the BBC needs to do is recognise, look, this is unbelievably sensitive and it actually needs to show much greater care for its own reputation. It is going to be used as a political football. It does need to make sure that it is not in a position where the coverage is all about whether or not it's sensitive or not or getting it right or not. It needs to be in a position where it can cut that feed. And I think that the fact that we're talking about it again

today shows that actually next year there is going to have to be much more serious way of dealing with this having a senior editorial figure who is ready to take those decisions. Craig Oliver and Dorothy Byrne and reports say that Bob Villain have been dropped by their agency United Talent. The Wimbledon tennis tournament has begun here in London without a long held tradition. Don't worry, strawberries and cream are still available but for the first time ever the traditional line judges known for their smarter tire and familiar calls of out and fault are being replaced by

high-tech ball tracking cameras known as Hawkeye. Pauline Eyre, who's called the lines at Wimbledon for 16 years, says it's the end of an era. Look, I think it's one of those jobs that you take for granted until it's gone. And you don't particularly notice them. But when you look out on the television today, there aren't those three bodies at the back of the court that you're so used to. It just is different. It's just a little bit of something special that's gone. Imagine Wimbledon with no strawberries and cream or no ivy up the building or without the umpire's chair.

It's just not the same. The British women's number one, Emma Raducanu, faces a British 17-year-old Mimi Hsu in the first round. Raducanu is playing down her chances because of a back problem. She's been talking to Kaafi Niana Seagram. I had one day off so that helped. There's never much time, especially around this time of year, but it's OK. It's not really the time to rest and also being here at Wimbledon,

it's amazing. It's such a nice feeling to be back. So yeah, I'm looking forward to being here and I'm grateful to be in the draw. You have a very exciting teenager to play in your first round. Mimi has been talking about when she found out about you in the draw. She was very excited about it, particularly as you've obviously hit with her a few times and she feels that she looks up to you, which maybe sounds a little bit strange when you're only 22. But what are your thoughts about her? I think for her it is exciting.

It is a great match where she can go out and swing and no pressure. I remember when I was 18, you know, you're completely fearless. So I'm expecting a really difficult match. She's a really tough opponent. I practiced with her a few times and she hit a great ball, a lot of weapons. So yeah, I'm doing all I can to be ready. And you are the British number one at this tournament, your home Grand Slam. How much can you use that?

How much does it help you? Yeah, it helps a lot playing here. It's always special and especially being a Brit, you know, it's amazing. It's such a great feeling and I'm lucky and privileged to have had two great runs here and making second week. So yeah, I'm really happy to be back. And to be honest, not expecting much from myself

this winter, but going forward, I want to be putting the work in to hopefully in the future do better things here. A very modest Emma Raducanu. Still to come in this podcast. Why people in La Rioja are using red wine not to soak their sorrows, but to soak each other. The jury in the high profile murder trial of an Australian woman accused of cooking

a deadly beef Wellington lunch for relatives is now considering its verdict after hearing weeks of testimony. Erin Patterson is accused of deliberately putting toxic death cat mushrooms into the meal that she served to her estranged husband's family and lying about it afterwards. Three of them died and one was seriously ill. But she denies any wrongdoing, saying it was just a tragic accident.

Our reporter, Katie Watson, was in court. Here in Morwell, the the jury has now finished deliberations but they're not allowed to go home. They are being sequestered until there is a verdict and that means they're put up in a hotel, their phones have been removed from them, they won't be able to have contact with family or friends and they will be returning to the jury room every day for the working hours to deliberate until they come up with a verdict. They've had nine weeks of legal arguments and evidence, more than 50 witnesses. And earlier today, before they retired, the judge finished up giving his directions to the jury, reminding the jury of the case of the prosecution, the case of the defense team,

and telling them that they needed to look at the facts in front of them, that it's understandable to have empathy for the victims, but they also needed to make sure that they were clear-headed and looking at this and looking at the evidence in front of them. And that was something that was very important. And that's something that's been drilled into the jury

from the very beginning, because this is such a highly scrutinised trial because of the media interest. Katie Watson, it's been just over three years since the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was taken by Russian forces after a brutal siege and indiscriminate bombardment, a key moment in the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of people were killed and the UN estimates that 90% of residential buildings were either damaged or destroyed. It's extremely hard now to get information out of Maripol, but the BBC's Yulia Gita-Lemayye

has managed to speak to some Ukrainians living under Russian occupation in the city and has got a sense of what life is like there now and what people there fear a possible peace deal will mean for them. Celebrations for World War II Victory Day, military costumes, parades and performances. Soviet-era traditions that Ukraine had increasingly shunned now imposed in occupied territories. The exteriors of the buildings on the main street, including this drama theater, where hundreds were killed as they sheltered in a targeted Russian bombardment,

show barely any sign of the brutal war fought to capture Mariupol. But from just outside the city center, large areas still in ruins. A reality that Olha Onishko, who escaped from Mariupol after more than two years of living under occupation, also testifies to. She's now in Ukraine's Ternopil. The Russians constantly lie. They have repaired the central square, but the rest of Mariupol is still destroyed. They cleared the debris in some places. Dead bodies were piled onto trucks along with the rubble and taken out. This footage is secretly filmed by Ukrainians in Mariupol waging a resistance against Russia, showing how they're living, with dirty tap water,

barely any electricity and poor phone networks. And, in schools in and around Mariupol, young students are being taught Russia's narrative of events, the annexation of Crimea presented as the Crimean Spring, in which Russia liberated it from Ukraine. It's too risky for Ukrainian activists in Mariupol to speak out openly. We communicated with them over a messaging platform. Children are told that Mariupol is eternally Russian land and that Russia saved it from the Nazis.

Teachers who refuse to take these lessons are fired or intimidated. It's like a reprogramming of the minds of our children. The activists also told us about their operations. I document information about Russian weapons, ammunition depots and soldiers. I also paste leaflets and spray paint messages on walls. One leaflet says liberate Mariupol and this video of a railway signalling system being set on fire by resistance groups disrupting a key train line into the city.

But Russia is trying to crack down on the resistance. In Ukraine's Dnipro, we met Andriy Kozhushina, who worked for one of the groups. He escaped Mariupol when the Russians found out about him. ANDRIY KOZHUSHINA, Ukrainian President I was at a store buying bread when I saw a soldier showing my photo to the cashier asking if they knew the person. I realized then that I had been exposed and decided to leave. And from inside Mariupol a message.

Giving away territory for a deal with Russia will be a betrayal. Dozens risk their lives every day to pass information to Ukraine. Not so that some diplomat in a suit will sign a paper that will hand us over. We don't want peace at any cost. We want liberation. Ukrainians from Mariupol speaking to our correspondent, Yegita Limaye. The BBC has asked the city's Russian administration for a response to their allegations, but has not so far got any answer.

Days after his unexpected release from a Belarusian prison, the opposition activist Sergei Tikhonovsky has told the BBC that he's still determined to fight for democracy in his country, despite having been held in solitary confinement for years for daring to stand up to Belarus' autocratic ruler Alexander Lukashenko. In an emotional interview, he said he wanted the hundreds of other political prisoners still being held to also be freed. He was speaking to our correspondent Zara Rainsford in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where he's now in exile. For five years, Sergei Tikhanovsky was kept in solitary confinement with long spells in

a tiny cold punishment cell. His family had no word from him at all, no letters or calls. Then last week the Belarusian activist and husband of the opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was freed after a surprise visit to Minsk by a delegation from the United States. Now Mr. Tikhanovsky has told the BBC he will continue to fight for democratic change in Belarus, despite what he's already suffered for challenging the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko. The cell could be three square meters, which includes a hole in the floor for a toilet. A small cell where there's no mattress, no sheets and no pillows.

It's really cold. You have to get up at night to keep warm. Were they trying to break you? They'd say, you will die in prison. We're going to keep extending your time constantly and you won't get out. He said the enforced silence was the hardest thing, even more than the physical restrictions. There are still hundreds of political prisoners in Belarus and Sergei Tikhonovsky says ending their ordeal must be a priority. But he doesn't want that to be an exchange for reduced sanctions by America.

Sarah Rainsford, with much of Europe in the grip of a heat wave, Spain is scorching hot right now. But not everyone went to the beach to cool down over the weekend. Thousands headed to the province of La Rioja for the annual wine festival. But forget about standing around sipping elegantly from a glass. This festival is all about getting absolutely soaked in red wine, as Wendy Urquhart reports. Dressed all in white, around 10,000 festival goers of all ages meet in Aro, just north of La Rioja, at seven o'clock in the morning. Between 8.30 and 9 they follow the mayor to the chapel of San Felices de Bolibio. At the top of the cliffs the mayor ties a banner to the rocks and a mass is held. Once that's

over the mayor fires a rocket into the air to mark the beginning of the festival. Absolute chaos follows. While many people are dancing, singing and celebrating, others run around flinging gallons of red wine at everyone and the party doesn't finish until the wine runs out. I'm having a very good experience and I hope to repeat it in other years, says this boy. This is madness, absolute madness. All day partying, it's crazy, adds this man. There are wine battles like this all over Spain and this one is thought to date back to a legal dispute with the town of Mirando de Ebro over the ownership of some cliffs. It's become so popular that

around 10,000 people travel from far and wide just to take part. They come prepared with water pistols, buckets, bottles and cartons of wine and drench each other in around 40,000 litres of red wine. So, needless to say, everyone ends up bright red by the time it's all over. Wendy Urquhart. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Philip Bull. The producers were Stephanie Prentice and Ari

Nkotchi. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janet Jaleel. Until next time, goodbye.