Global News Podcast - Uncertainty over US-Iran peace talks

Episode Date: April 21, 2026

Iran's chief negotiator has cast fresh doubt on whether a second round of peace talks with the United States will go ahead in Pakistan. Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said Tehran would not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and was prepared to show "new cards on the battlefield". The US vice president, JD Vance, is expected to lead the American delegation. Also: outrage after a social media image shows an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon. One of the most influential figures in the technology industry, Tim Cook, is stepping down as the chief executive of Apple. The American singer D4vd pleads not guilty to murdering a teenage girl whose remains were found in his car.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 Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Tuesday, the 21st of April, these are our main stories. Mixed signals from Iran and the US as uncertainty continues over whether planned peace talks in Pakistan will go ahead. Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, is stepping down. We'll look at his legacy and tell you about the new man who's replacing him. The American singer, David. pleads not guilty to the murder of a 14-year-old girl whose remains were found in his car. Also in this podcast?

She is doing fantastic. She hiked up Mount Etna last year to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary. She is a picture of vibrancy. A new vaccine against pancreatic cancer gives hope to patients. With less than 48 hours to go as we record this podcast before the ceasefire deal between the US and Iran expires, it's still not clear whether peace talks between them will go ahead. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, roadblocks are in place and key sections of the city have been sealed off in anticipation of a meeting. But Iran has yet to officially commit to more talks.

Its chief negotiator, Mohamed Baga Kalebaugh, said Tehran would not accept discussions under the shadow of US threats. However, our correspondent in Tehran, Lee Doucette, says there are growing indications that the Iranians will go. There's still radio silence from Iranian officials about whether they will go to Islamabad for a second round of high-level, high-stakes negotiations. But with every hour that passes, there is a growing sense. sense that the talks will take place. The Iranians have to make their point. The Iranian media said that the Iranian officials hadn't actually made a decision about going as long as the U.S. Naval blockade was in force. And when we speak to officials here, they say they have their reservations about this negotiating process, even though President Trump continues to talk about

great progress, a deal even within days. There is still concern here that the way the negotiations are taking place tend to be demands made of the Iranians that they are not ready to make. But they do want this process to continue. And so at the end of the day, there may well be talks in Islamabad this week. We just have to wait for that confirmation from both sides. Lise Doucette in Tehran, who's reporting from there on the condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran. On the U.S. side, the Vice President J.D. Vance,

who's expected to lead the American delegation, is reported to be preparing to leave for Pakistan just over a week after he first held talks there with the Iranians. Our U.S. correspondent David Willis is also following developments. It's coming down to the wire, and the big question, as Lee's was just saying there, is will Iran attend? President Trump has said that, as far as he is concerned,

the Iranians promised to turn up, he expects their negotiators to do so. But Iran has accused the United States of continuous violations of the ceasefire agreement, including with its blockade of Iran's ports and sending unconstructive and contradictory signals, in the word of one Iranian official. And Iran is saying that it will refuse to submit to force. Now, the Vice President J.D. Vance is still, we believe, in Washington, He is due to leave for Islamabad in the morning,

but he obviously won't be going if there's nobody there for him to negotiate with in Islamabad. Now, Tehran had earlier ruled out its attendance at those talks, but there has since, as at least hinted there, been some evidence that it may be prepared perhaps to review its stance on that. And against that background, we've had further mixed messages from President Trump, himself, who said both that he is under no pressure whatsoever, whilst also saying that when all this happens, it will happen relatively quickly. So it could come down ultimately to whether he, President Trump, agrees to end the blockade of Iran's ports, something that he has

promised to consider doing. And assuming these talks do go ahead, the two sides are still a long, long way apart. They are and President Trump of course is eager for a deal that will help avoid a further surge in oil prices. A concern surrounding the possible collapse of these ceasefire talks have sent prices rising again by around 5%. Mr. Trump was the state of Hormers reopened. Traffic of course through that vital waterway has all but ground to a halt and the US also wants Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, which is something that Iran has declared a non-starter. The Iranians are seeking a pledge from the United States and Israel

that the conflict won't resume, wants reparations for damages caused by the war and relief from long-running sanctions. And, of course, on Sunday, President Trump again warned that the United States would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if it rejected the United States terms. David Willis. Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, an image of an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer has been widely condemned after it was shared online. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he's stunned and saddened by the incident and has promised that the military will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action.

Yoland Nel in Jerusalem told us more. The Israeli Prime Minister was quick to come out with his comments in English on his ex-account. I think understanding very well the international damage that this could do, this photo that's been shared widely on social media over the past couple of days. The Israeli army has confirmed it's a soldier who is at the moment in southern Lebanon or has been in southern Lebanon in recent days. He's holding what appears to be a sledgehammer or an axe poised just over the face of this statue of Jesus on a crucifix that's been toppled.

The understanding is that this is in the village of Dabal, which is in southern Lebanon, a Maronite Christian village. This was a family's own shrine on the edge of their land at the edge of the village. It's not clear exactly at the moment what damage was ultimately done, but the Israeli army is saying that they will help the Christian community there to repair this statue. The foreign minister of Israel, Gideon Sa, came out and said that he apologized for this incident. and to every Christian who had been hurt by it in their feelings. So you can see that this has really sort of, you know, had a big effect and that the local priest there told the BBC in Beirut

that this was a desecration and, you know, really extremely upsetting for the Christian community in southern Lebanon, in this wide area which is currently occupied by Israeli forces, thousands of Israeli forces on the ground there. they see this as being a stronghold for the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah. Yoland Nell. When Tim Cook took over as chief executive of Apple 15 years ago from its legendary founder, Steve Jobs, he had a hard act to follow.

But he continued the smartphone revolution begun by the late founder, turning Apple into a multi-trillion dollar juggernaut. Now it's been announced that he's stepping down. He'll become the executive chairman of the company's board. Apple's head of hardware engineering, John Turnus, will take over as chief executive in September. A North America technology correspondent, Lily Jamali, told me more about Tim Cook's time at the helm of Apple. In his 15 years at the helm, Tim Cook has transformed this company from a $350 billion market cap to a $4 trillion company. That is extraordinary. On his watch, it was the first trillion dollar company.

So he has been seen as a steady hand after the departure of Steve Jobs. Very big shoes to fill, to say the least. But he has also been criticized for, you know, really moving the supply chain to China in a big way. That was a process that actually had begun under Steve Jobs. He has sometimes been criticized for his politics. You know, he's been sort of thrust into the political spotlight because of the diplomacy he has had to undertake as the head of Apple during tariff wars under Donald Trump being seen with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in elsewhere. But this is a transition that's been closely anticipated and watched for a long time.

And as you say, he will be the executive chairman after this summer. So given all that, tell us about the incoming chief executive, John Turner's, and what he's expected to bring to this very high-profile role. Yeah, so, I mean, by way of background, you mentioned his title, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. And when you think of Apple, the first thing you think of is hardware, right? you think of products like the iPad and the iPhone. And in their announcement today, Apple said he was instrumental in the introduction of products like the iPad and AirPods.

He's also been there for various generations of the iPhone and some other products. But the iPhone is really the bread and butter for this company more than any other product. He is considered a safe choice, John Ternis is. But I think there's a lot of questions right now about where is Apple going to land when it comes to having a footprint in AI, are they going to seed that territory completely to other companies, or do they want to make a splash there? And I think there's also some concern that Apple hasn't had a big product in a while. Can he make this a culturally relevant company once again? And how is this going down in the tech world? It is a very big deal. I mean, Apple is such a force in Silicon Valley.

So anytime you see a transition like this, people are talking about it. And people have been talking about it for several months. We've seen some pretty high-level departures at the company, so we kind of knew this was coming. But this is a guy who he's young, 50 years old. He has spent basically half of his life at Apple. So he's been there a long time. And I think people don't know him that well. You know, he's not a household name yet. Maybe he will be in two, three years' time.

But I think people are going to be watching here in Silicon Valley to see if he is somebody who is decisive who will make big, bold moves. And they want to see those early on. Lily Jamali. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer, in large part because symptoms often don't show up until it's too late. Only around a quarter of patients live for a year after diagnosis and just one in ten survive for two years. But now an experimental vaccine developed by scientists in New York is offering a glimmer of hope. It works by training the patient's own immune system to target the cancer.

And so far, it's shown striking results in a small. group of patients, with most of them still alive more than five years on. My colleague, Paul Henley, spoke to Dr. Vinod Balachandran, who's leading the trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. When we think of vaccines, we think of vaccines for infectious diseases. In that scenario, what you're doing is you're teaching the immune system to recognize a virus or a bacteria that has yet to infect your body. The majority of the majority of the immune system, you're teaching. The majority of cancer vaccines are used as a therapy. Most of them are given to patients who have cancer in some way or form with an intent to treat their cancer. In this particular scenario,

we use the vaccines to teach the immune system to recognize pancreatic cancers in an effort to prevent their reoccurrence after surgery. And they're described as personal. What does that mean? Personalized refers to the fact that each individual patient's cancer vaccine is custom designed for that individual based upon individual genetic analysis of their tumor as well as genetic characteristics of the patient. Why is pancreatic cancer such a killer? The figures are terrible for survival as they stand, aren't they? 90% of patients with pancreatic cancer die within five years of diagnosis with current treatments.

And it is projected to soon become the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States in the next year. Tell me why there's such cause for optimism about this treatment. In this study, part of the excitement is around the fact that, that you can in fact teach the immune system to recognize pancreatic cancer and not only that you can do it in a very potent and durable way so you can make a very strong immune response that has all of the requisite features you would think needed to be able to treat cancer and excitingly although this is a small clinical trial what we find is if we can make this immune response in patients, patients are living much longer.

So this is an exciting proof of concept that you can use the immune system to recognize pancreatic cancer and treat it, one of the most challenging cancers in oncology. We think it can provide a blueprint to do it in other cancers as well. Can you give us an example of how your treatment has worked on? on a particular patient? Sure. So the first patient on this clinical trial is Donna Gustafson. She was the first patient on our clinical trial

to receive this personalized RNA vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer. She had her diagnosis initially when she was vacationing in Australia to visit her daughter. So she flew back to the United States to our center at Memorial Stone Kettering where we performed surgery to remove her cancer, and then she became the first patient enrolled on this first pancreatic cancer RNA vaccine trial. And now six years later, she remains alive with very strong evidence of persisting immune response in her peripheral blood. So how is she doing now? She is doing fantastic. She hiked up Mount Etna last year to celebrate her 50th

wedding anniversary. She is a picture of vibrancy and is able to do all of the normal things she would do in life and more and really living her life to the fullest. That was Dr. Vinod Balachandran. Still to come in this podcast. He is a superb writer, very, very easy to read and an interesting writer. The sales of his books tell their own story. Tributes to the author of The Naked Ape Desmond Morris, who has died at the age of 98. This is the Global News podcast.

Pope Leo has told Angolan's on the latest stage of his tour of Africa that many people are being exploited by authoritarian and defrauded by the rich. It's just the latest example of the forceful speaking style he has recently adopted with sharp denunciations of war and inequality that, have angered the U.S. President Donald Trump. The Pope told worshippers at a mass in the Angolan town of Sorimo near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo that violence and oppression went against the Christian message. Nomsa Maseko sent this report from Angola's capital, Luanda. Pope Leo finalized the third leg of his tour of four African countries with a visit to a nursing home in the oil and mineral-rich country

where he decried the exploitation of natural resources. Tens of thousands of worshipers welcomed him in Kalamba near the capital Luanda on Sunday. He urged Angolan's to move beyond the divisions created by decades of war. We are one spirit and one body. I urged the people of Angola to build a country in which past divisions may end forever,

where hatred and violence disappears, where the sickness of corruption will be replaced by a new culture of justice. For many here, this message felt personal, in a country scarred by the legacy of a brutal civil war as well as inequality. The young people of Angola are still praying for a peaceful country and a world with more humanity.

We hope that the visit of the Holy Pope will help us to have everlasting peace in Angola, and we will be eternally grateful. The Pope is the messenger of peace, and we're living in a dangerous world, where we are seeing wars around the world. And we hope the Pope's visit will bring peace, not only for Angola, but for the entire world. I'm 15 years old, and I hope that one day I'll be consecrated. as a priest. Being a priest is a vocation, but being a bishop is not a vocation, but a calling. I always tell my prayers that we should dedicate ourselves to the church and

follow the footsteps of the Holy Pope and preach a message of peace here in Angola and the world over. The pontiff also visited a 16th century shrine in the city of Mushima, which was the epicenter of the African slave trade, and recalled the sorrow and suffering endured by generations of Africans. His remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of the complex relationship between Roman Catholicism and the exploitation of the African continent. The city of Mushima has become an important place of pilgrimage here in southern Africa. It also serves as a stark reminder of the horrors inflicted by Europeans on the native population.

The Angolan government is turning this area into a religious tourism destination with the construction of a basilica and a pilgrim square which is expected to attract millions of worshippers. The apostolic journey of the pontiff will end with a visit to Equatorial Guinea where 80% of the country's population is Catholic. Many hope Leo will address the human rights and justices in a country, by President Obiang Guemas' authoritarian government. That report by Nomsa Maseko.

Lawyers representing a man described by his supporters as the world's most important prisoner say he's been subjected to several violent assaults behind bars in recent weeks. Marwan Barguti was convicted in Israel of murder in a trial that's been criticised as flawed by legal experts. Barguti, who many Palestinians called, their Nelson Mandela has spent more than 20 years in prison, much of that time in solitary confinement.

He was seen for the first time in a decade last year when the far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gavir, released a video of himself taunting the imprisoned Palestinian leader. Mr. Barguti's last recorded interview from jail was with Britain's Channel 4 News back in 2006. The Israel succeeded to arrest my body, but not my head and not my soul. They will not succeed to do that. They will not broke our will for independence and for freedom. So I think we are freedom fighters. Finally will be get out from the prison.

And I see myself as a Palestinian resident who exercise his rights in Palestinian democratic state. this is my dream. Many former leaders and celebrities have called for Marwan Barguti's release. His son, Arab Barguti, told us more about what his father has suffered at the hands of the Israeli prison service. On April 12th, the lawyer was finally able to see my father after months, and we learned about very disturbing news. On March 24th, the Israeli prison authority in Majiddo Prison, they went to him and they

put him on the ground in his cell. They had a dog come and start kicking him with his paws, and that was the first assault. The second one was moving him from Majiddo to Ganoet Prison on March 25th, and a Nashon unit, which is responsible for transporting the prisoners, and known for being the most vicious, attacked him, and they assaulted him on the way. And then on April 8th, they came to him in Ganoet prison, in his cell. They started beating him up. He started to I started bleeding for two hours, calling for medical treatment, but no one gave him any medical treatment. Do you ever get to speak to him? No, I haven't been able to speak with my father directly for almost four years.

And he has no visitors in prison other than these visits by his lawyer? Yeah, and they're very rare. It's barely once every few months. The Israeli Prison Service says that all the allegations you've just quoted are false and baseless. You dismiss their version of events, do you? Let them get humanitarian organizations, international lawyers. Let them send anyone if they're claiming that they're baseless. Why do they prevent them from seeing anyone? They claim that all cases of systematic abuse on their part are baseless

and that any individual misconduct is always investigated. That's laughable for me. They have killed more than 100 Palestinian political prisoners only in the last two years. From your point of view, why is your father in prison? Why do you think he's locked up? Because they don't want Palestinian representatives. that is respected by the whole world. They don't want someone who's capable of unifying the Palestinian people

towards a political vision. And because he supports the two-state solution. Specifically, he was charged with 26 charges of murder and attempted murder stemming from attacks carried out by a group that he led. Yeah, but it's very important to show by whom, by the occupation itself. So the occupation, judicial system is an tool of the occupation. The Israelis obviously think, that it's important politically for him to remain in prison, him specifically. Many in the

Palestinian world view him as a potential future leader, someone who could unite many sides of various Palestinian political movements. Do you? Of course, he's a leader. He knows his worth. He knows what he can't represent to the Palestinian cause, but he's always been very clear and consistent that he would only come in a democratic process. Your hopes of seeing him out while seeing him again must go up and down according to current events. Where do they stand at the moment? I never lost hope that one day my father will be back to meet his six grandchildren, that he will be part of our lives. He's been absent from, you know, my siblings, weddings, special occasions, and they represent almost 10,000 families who are going through the same

nightmare. Arab Barguti talking to Paul Henley about his jailed father, Marwan. Barguti. The American singer David has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a 14-year-old girl. The remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were found in the artist Tesla car last September. The 21-year-old musician, whose legal name is David Burke, has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Celeste. The Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hockman described the case as a parent's nightmare. I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste, and their grief is uncalculable as to what happened to their daughter. What they have demanded, what we have assured them, that the district attorney's office working with LAPD would give them is the proof beyond a reasonable doubt on who killed their daughter, on how their daughter was. killed when their daughter was killed and bring that killer to justice.

Our LA correspondent, Shama Khalil, was in court and told us more. This has been a day charged with emotion, with expectation. There was so many months of secrecy and speculation. And then we got to the day where charges have been leveled against David. And he's been charged with first-degree murder. And since then, he's pleaded not guilty. This was his first court appearance. And I was in court and the mood there was quite charged.

You know, there was emotion, but also when Celeste's parents stepped into the court, her mother wearing a black shirt, hanging onto her father's hand visibly upset. There was absolute silence. And then we heard earlier from the Los Angeles district attorney, Nathan Hockman. Now, we know that there are charges of first-degree murder, that his defense team say he is not responsible for, that they deny. But the charges against the 21-year-old singer also include numerous sexual acts with a minor mutilation of her body. The district attorney also accused the singer of murdering the 14-year-old to maintain his lucrative musical career that she was allegedly threatening.

This, of course, all started out when the teenagers dismembered and decomposed remains were found in September 2025 in David's Tesla, when someone reported a foul smell coming from his impounded vehicle in a holy, Hollywood impounded area. Now, the artist lawyers have said that the actual evidence in the case will show that he did not murder Celeste and that he was not the cause of her death. But for months, we understand that a grand jury has been hearing evidence. Now it all comes out in the opening in public court hearings. We know from the authorities that this teenager was last seen alive in April 2025, which had gone to Burke's house in the Hollywood Hills. And since then, she was never seen or heard from again. Shimer Khalil in Los Angeles. Tributes have been paid to the British

zoologist, television presenter and artist Desmond Morris, best known for his hugely popular book, The Naked Ape, who has died at the age of 98. Our science correspondent Helen Briggs looks at his life and legacy. In 1967, at the height of the swinging 60s, Dr. Desmond Morris caused shockwaves with his book, The Naked Ape, which defined humans as hairless apes not so different from their primate cousins and driven by the same urges. There are 193 living species of monkeys and apes. 192 of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens.

He's an intensely vocal, acutely exploratory, overcrowded ape, and it's high time we examined his basic behaviour. the book was criticised by some for oversimplifying the way we behave and reinforcing gender stereotypes but became a publishing sensation translated into many languages and selling more than 10 million copies. Born in the Wiltshire village of Purton in 1928, Desmond Morris trained in zoology at the universities of Birmingham and Oxford and worked at London Zoo as curator of mammals. He later used this knowledge as a presenter of TV programs on animal behaviour. You see, and immediately the chimpanzee put its arm around you and greeted you.

As well as a prolific author writing more than 70 books, he was a surrealist painter, still exhibiting art well into his 90s. Although some of his ideas have been disproved, he'll perhaps be remembered as a communicator of popular science and for exploring human behaviour through the lens of biology and evolution. Helen Briggs, the evolutionary biologist and zoologist, Richard Dawkins, himself a popular scientific author, knew Desmond Morris for many years. I would say his books were aimed at the general public.

I don't think they were major contributions to science. He did make some good, good, contributions to science in his papers in the ethological literature on animal behavior. and he was a very imaginative researcher. So he did make very valuable contributions to the science of ethology, the science of animal behaviour. He is a superb writer, very easy to read and an interesting writer.

The sales of his books tell their own story. Richard Dawkins, paying tribute to fellow author Desmond Morris, who has died at the age of 98. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global Podcast at BBC.co.com.uk.

This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Chris Ablaqua. The producers were Carla Conti and Arianchi. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jeanette Jaliel. Until next time. Goodbye.