Global News Podcast - US and Iran travel to Pakistan for peace talks

Episode Date: April 25, 2026

US and Iran delegations are travelling to Pakistan for further peace talks - but there might not be a direct meeting between the two sides. We ask our world affairs editor about the likelihood of progress in Islamabad, and what a deal to end the war might look like. Also: the key suspect in Syria's notorious Tadamon massacre, Amjad Youssef, is arrested; Gazans battle disease-carrying rats in displacement camps; we hear from the Israeli man detained for wearing a kippah embroidered with the Palestinian flag; an interview with a Jeffrey Epstein survivor; a film review of Michael Jackson's controversial new biopic; and could a hairdryer have helped rig a $34,000 bet?The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Motherhood isn't a highlight reel. It's not always the big moments. It's the little ones you almost miss. As we head into Mother's Day, Little Belly celebrates your little moments and the big feelings that come with them. We are here to support those everyday experiences

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I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story Podcasts from the BBC. Donald Trump last week announced that he'd be releasing the U.S. government's UFO files. So why the renewed interest in life out there? And what deeper spiritual meaning might people be searching for? Check out the global story. we are serious journalists on BBC.com or wherever you get your pods. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and in the early hours of Saturday the 25th of April, these are our main stories.

US envoys will travel to Pakistan for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran. Tehran's foreign minister is already there. Elite email suggests Washington is considering punishing allies for not supporting its war in Iran. Also in this podcast. I believe in a two-state solution. I believe that just as the Jewish people have a right to self-determination and statehood, so do the Palestinian people have a right to self-determination in statehood.

A British-Israeli academic describes the moment he was confronted by Israeli police for wearing a Jewish kippa embroidered with a Palestinian flag. And survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are calling on King Charles to meet with them during his upcoming visit to the US. We begin with the latest peace talks between the US and Iran set to take place in Pakistan. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to fly to Islamabad for negotiations. The Iranian delegation led by the foreign minister Abbas Tharagchi arrived in the Pakistani capital on Friday. It follows President Trump's decision earlier this week to extend the current ceasefire indefinitely at the

request of Pakistan so Tehran could come up with what was described as a unified proposal on issues such as the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran's nuclear program. The White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt suggested progress had already been made. The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person. And so the president is, as I've said, many, many times to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance. So Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will. be made and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting and we will see and the president, the vice president, the secretary of state will be waiting here in the United States

for updates and the vice president, I understand, is on standby and will be willing to dispatch to Pakistan if we feel it's a necessary use of his time. On a separate issue, reports suggest the U.S. is considering punishing NATO allies it believes have failed to support its war on Iran. Spain and Britain are two nations thought to be on the blacklist. Our North America correspondent is David Willis. I firstly asked him about whether progress was likely in Islamabad. Maybe a little, maybe none at all, really, Alex, given that Iran is saying that although its foreign minister Abbas Aranchi has arrived in Pakistan in the capital Islamabad, he has no plans to meet with US negotiators. And they say that he's there for bilateral

talks with Pakistan and will then be traveling to Oman and Russia for bilateral talks there as well. It's always possible, of course, that Mr. Ranchi could then circle back to Pakistan to meet Steve Wittkov and Jared Kushner, but that doesn't appear to be on his itinerary. The White House, for its part, is striking a more upbeat tone, however. The press secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters that the last few days had seen what she called some progress towards negotiations, but I think it's significant, Alex, that the US Vice President J.D. Vance, who led that first round of talks with Iran currently has no plans to travel to Pakistan, although the White House said that he's on standby, should there be what it called, any major

developments. Yes, because a lot of the major sticking points remain, not least the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Is Washington under any kind of pressure to revise its position? It is, I would say so. There are some indeed who would say that President Trump has painted himself into a corner here since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February. The Iranian regime hasn't collapsed, as some predicted it would. There's been little sign of a popular uprising in Iran. And militarily, the country has proven remarkably resilient, added to which Iran's blockade of ships entering and leaving the Strait of Hormuz is driving. up global oil prices, and the US blockade of Iranian ports that was intended to bring Iran to the negotiating table doesn't appear to have succeeded. So the US and the world is arguably in a worse position than it was before this war was launched. And the priority is, for Donald Trump, getting the straight of hormones open once again, before the two sides can hammer out some of the key issues, chief among them the future of Iran's nuclear enrichment process.

Yeah, and this leaked memo about US threats to NATO allies, what has Washington been saying? Yeah, this relates to an internal report that was leaked to the media here, which suggests that the US could review its position on Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands in retaliation for the UK, as the US sees it failing to support the war on Iran. That same leaked report also suggests that Spain, whose government has been fiercely critical of the conflict with Iran, could be kicked out of NATO. It was clearly meant to be leaked to this report.

Downing Street has said the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is not in question. But all of this puts a further strain, of course, on UK-US relations, only days before King Charles arrives here for a state visit to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, Alex. David Willis. So if there was peace between the United States And Iran, what would that look like? And what about the lasting effects of the Trump administration's aggressive rhetoric towards its NATO allies? I've been getting the thoughts of our World Affairs editor, John Simpson. First, the possible peace deal.

I think we know the broad outlines of it. One element will be lifting the sanctions on Iran or some of them and on the Iranian side, opening the straight of Hormuzis is an obvious one. and so is some kind of willingness to talk about, to re-enter negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear industry and where it takes us. And I think, frankly, Iran will be lucky to get a sizable number of controls over its economy and its exports and so on lifted. I think he can't hope for too much. And I think President Trump would be extremely lucky if he gets anything like as good an agreement as President Barack Obama got in 2015-2016 with Iran over the nuclear issue. But the way you're talking, the Iranian regime survives.

What's the future for the Iranian people? Is it more of the same? At the moment, I think that's all we can say. And of course, one of the sort of side issues in Iran has been the strengthening of the revolutionary guards and their line, their view. It was already strengthening. but the destruction of the old guard of the supreme leader Ali Khamani

that now removes somebody who was actually less aggressive and assertive than the IRGC want to be. So if you've got that change of government to that extent, the extra powers that the Revolutionary Guards have got, it doesn't bode very well for a peaceable future for the people of Iran. You've been reporting on world events for the BBC for a long time now. How does this crisis rank up there with the ones that you've seen over the years? Well, you mustn't forget that I did a lot of coverage of the, in some ways, the most disturbing period of the Cold War in the 1970s and 80s,

when really there were moments when somebody actually had the choice of pressing the button to the law. an all-out nuclear war or not doing it. And this isn't anywhere near up there. What this is is much more disturbing for kind of traditionally minded people, perhaps like myself. We've got used over the decades ever since I was a kid, ever since I was born to the notion that the West is a big force,

that it's an moral force, that its leadership was the United States, And the United States looked after the membership, and the membership backed the United States fully. That now, I think, has gone. Of course, a new president will come in in 2008, and he'll be, or she, but it always seems to be males, doesn't it, will no doubt reverse everything that Donald Trump's done, including strengthening NATO, better relationships. But no NATO government, no sensible government in Europe and Canada. will ever forget what Donald Trump's done,

and they will always have at the back of their minds a possibility that another president might do that or even worse. So we've come to the parting of the ways. It won't be an extreme parting, but we all know in NATO that the relationship isn't what it was and nobody will, I think, trust the United States in the way that we trusted them implicitly for, what, 60, 70 years. John Simpson.

In the Gaza strip, rotting bodies underneath more than 61 million tons of rubble have created a new crisis. There's been a surge in rats, rodents and other pests compounding the misery of hundreds of thousands of displaced people who've endured more than two years of war. The newsroom's Ira Khan reports. Around three quarters of Gaza's 2.2 million population are currently living in makeshift accommodation. Entire families are cramped into thin tents made of old blankets and fabric. scraps. They use open fires to cook food and holes dug in the ground as makeshift bathrooms. Tense wedged among rubbish, open sewage, and rubble have created fertile breeding grounds for rodents and insects, leading to a steady increase in rat bites, especially amongst children and the elderly.

Many residents say they find rat droppings in their food and mice eat their clothes, destroying the few belongings they have left. The World Health Organization has said that more than 17,000 cases of rodent-linked infections have been reported this year. Here's what one resident has to go through. I've suffered greatly from weasels and mice. My children have been bitten. One of my sons was even bitten on the nose. I'm unable to sleep throughout the night

because I must constantly watch over the children. The weasels have eaten through my tent. Added to this, 80% of shelters are reporting skin infections such as scabies, lice and bedbugs. These can cause fever, infections and rashes. In the Gaza Strip, where hospitals have been destroyed and access to medicine is limited, the consequences can be severe. We're living in tents and schools flooded with sewage,

and you never know what you might find. My son is suffering from a rash covering his body. I've taken him to doctors and hospitals, but they're not helping with anything. When President Trump announced the Israel-Gaza ceasefire in October 2025, his peace plan pledged the immediate resumption of full aid to Gaza, with the rebuilding of its central infrastructure, including water, sewage and electricity. A new report released this week by the European Union and United Nations stated that more than $71 billion will be needed over the next 10 years

for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza. But there's no idea yet of who'll pay for it. Ira Khan. Millions of men in Israel put on Akhpa, the Jewish religious head covering every day. They do so in the belief that living in the Jewish. state means they won't be harassed for wearing one, which could happen in any other country. But this wasn't the case for Alex Sinclair, a British Israeli academic at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who was detained by the police for wearing a kipper embroidered with the flags of both

Israel and Palestine. He said that he had his kipper confiscated, and when he got it back, it only had Israel's flag. My colleague James Kumrasami spoke to Mr. Sinclair. I live in Israel, I'm in Israeli, I call myself a Zionist, and Israel is trying to make Israel better, who believes in Israel's right to exist along with the right to the Palestinians to exist and have a state. I live in a small town in the middle of Israel called Modi Inn, and I have a key part, a Yarmulka, a Jewish cap, a Jewish ritual hat that I wear the whole time as a religious Jew as somebody who is an observant Jew. But because I'm a left-leaning Jew, I believe in, I'm a left-leaning Israeli, I believe in a two-state solution. I believe that just as the Jewish people have a right to self-determination and statehood, so do the Palestinian people have a right to self-determination in statehood.

And so because of that, for many, many years, I've worn a Kipa, Yarmulka, with both the Israeli flag and the Palestinian flag on it. I have them both woven into it. Yeah, so that's the background. Just tell us then what actually happened on Monday. I was sitting a cafe in my town, a cafe where I often sit. I called it my second office, and somebody came up to me and started shouting me to my Kipa, my Yarmulka is against the law.

It's not against the law in Israel to have a Palestinian flag. There are attempts by the Minister of Security, of Internal Security, Itimar Ben-Gvir, who's a cabinet minister who I don't find particularly pleasant or whose politics don't really represent mine at all. There have been attempts by him to ban that flag, but it isn't against the law. Anyway, this guy called the police, and the police, who unfortunately have become more and more infused by the politics of Ben-Gvir. Took me to the police station, put me in a cell,

and to cut a long story short, they let me go after 20 minutes or so, but they cut the Palestinian flag out of the Kippa. The only way they would let me go is to cut that flag out. Just tell us about what happened at the station, because we turned to the police to get their side of this, and their statement, they say that the individual, you, was brought to the police station, but was neither interrogated nor arrested.

They said that you were brought there, and following clarification, these are the words of the police, the individual was subsequently released. Is that how you would view your experience? Sitting on a cell on your own, not being allowed to speak to your wife or to a lawyer, and not knowing for how long you're going to sit in that cell, it may be technically correct to say that I was not arrested or interrogated

and it was just a clarification process, but it doesn't feel much like a clarification process when you're in that. So it felt to me like I was in a situation where I didn't know what the end result was going to be. I didn't know how long I was going to be there. And like I said, somebody who was a Zionist, believes in Israel and certainly loves Israel and certainly loves parts of Israel, although there are a part that drive me absolutely crazy and frustrate me and infuriate me like this kind of thing. But to be a citizen of a country and feel that the police are seeing you as a problem,

that's not a very nice feeling. So what now? Will you wear another Kippa with a Palestinian flag? Yeah, I mean, I have to get a new one made. It's not a common item, so I'll have to go back to the shock. As far as the specifics of what happened to you in the police station, is it right that you've filed a complaint, have you? I filed a complaint in the official police investigation department for internal investigations.

I've received the kind of official, you know, you get an SMS to your phone that the fire has been opened. I've not received any official response to the file yet, to the petition yet. You know, what's this place? I'm hopeful that common sense might prevail. I want them to pay for a new key part for me. And I want a letter from the police saying that I'm allowed to, you know, to walk around with it without further harassment in the future. And that others as well may be. Alex Sinclair from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Still to come in this podcast.

A hair dryer applied to the sensor being, according to the accusers, the most obvious weapon of choice. Did this everyday household item play an important role in suspicious bets placed on the weather in France? The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission have success. successfully completed their voyage around the moon. This is what we've been waiting for for 50 years. Traveling further from the Earth than any human has ever gone before. And 13 minutes, the BBC Space Podcast told the inside story with audio from the mission. We can see the moon.

And insight from experts at NASA. That's the way it is in spaceflight. There are a lot of tough questions. And we could never fly a perfectly safe mission. The safest mission is just staying home in bed. From Lift-Off to Splashdown, catch up with 13 Minutes presents Artemis 2 from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. What makes people want to believe in aliens?

I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story Podcasts from the BBC. Donald Trump last week announced that he'd be releasing the US government's UFO files. So why the renewed interest in life out there? and what deeper spiritual meaning might people be searching for? Check out the global story. We are serious journalists on BBC.com or wherever you get your pods. This is the Global News podcast. When King Charles visits the United States next week, starting on Monday,

he will not be meeting the survivors of Geoffrey Epstein, despite calls by some US lawmakers and survivors themselves. The family of one of the most prominent accusers of Eppes, Epstein and former Prince Andrew, Virginia Giffray, has asked people to gather in Washington, D.C. on Sunday ahead of the King's visit to pay tribute to her on the first anniversary of her death. The BBC's Nedda Torfick has been speaking to one of Epstein's survivors, Teresa Helm, who told her that she really hopes the King changes his mind. I do feel like it potentially is a missed opportunity.

Teresa Helm is one of the Epstein survivors who, along with some lawmen, is disappointed King Charles won't be meeting them during his state visit to the United States. Many have even written him letters urging a private meeting. Teresa believes it would be a grand humanitarian gesture. It would really support and demonstrate this gesture of human dignity that we are seen and acknowledge and respected and worthwhile, worth the king's time. And can I just ask what you would want to take? tell the king. First and foremost, thank you for the steps that he has taken. And then I would also ask him not to ignore any of the claims that have been made against his own brother. For Buckingham

Palace, there are serious concerns that even a symbolic meeting could jeopardize the legal process underway following the arrest of the king's brother, Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. But some lawmakers have rejected that. Representative Roe Kana, co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told the BBC News Channel that a private meeting wouldn't compromise the King's legal standing. He doesn't have to discuss the specifics of his brother's case, but he would show that the modern monarchy actually listens to the people who've been discarded and abandoned. The former Prince Andrew has denied any wrong, doing our knowledge of Epstein's crimes. King Charles has said that the authorities have his full

support and cooperation and that the law must take its course. Teresa says she doesn't know if the legal concerns are a legitimate factor stopping a meeting. Could it be sort of a deflection? Yes, it could be. And would that be further disappointing? Of course it would be. I think that there's been some of that, you know, throughout this entire process, this kind of deflection of, well, we can't do this because of that. And sometimes I just don't think that that's really the full truth. Some Epstein survivors and the family of Virginia Jafrey, one of Epstein and the former Prince Andrew's most vocal accusers, will be in D.C. before and during the state visit, sharing their perspective from the sidelines as the ceremonial engagements between King and President, take center stage. Editorfic with that report.

Officials in Syria say the main suspect in one of the most notorious massacres of the country's civil war has been arrested. Amjad Youssef was wanted over the mass killing of civilians in 2013 in the Tadamon District of Damascus. Human rights groups say uniformed Syrian army officials and members of a militia loyal to the then-President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 41 people in just one day. This report from our senior international correspondent, Ola Geren, contains details which you may find distressing.

The sound of celebrations rising up from the streets of Damascus as news broke of the arrest of Amjad Yusuf, one of Syria's most wanted men. The full horror of what happened in Tadamon in 2013 was revealed in footage leaked by a whistleblower almost a decade later. A series of videos showed Syrian army officials and members of a pro-Assad militia

leading bound and blindfolded civilians to a pit and shooting them dead. The killers were laughing and smoking as they pulled the trigger. Then they set the bodies alight. Today at the site of the massacre, roses were scattered on the ground amid calls for Yusuf to be hanged. in a public square.

Syria's Islamist government will be hoping this high-profile arrest proves it is delivering on promises to bring a measure of justice for the dead. Some have their doubts and point to other regime officials who have done deals with the new authorities and remain free.

A film about the life of the dead pop star Michael Jackson has just been released. It's had mixed reviews and there's controversy about what it doesn't show. So while nostalgic fans can enjoy the music, others are unhappy that it depicts a sanitised version of the singer's life and career. The film controversially does not address the sexual abuse allegations that dogged Michael Jackson's later life. Critics have described it as a whitewash and soulless cash grab that ignores the elephant in the room. Emma Jones from BBC Talking Movies gave her review

to James Reynolds. This is the story of Michael Jackson up until 1988, really. So it starts off in his childhood with how they got to success with the Jackson 5 and then the making of his two first solo albums, particularly thriller, of course. And Michael is played by his own nephew, that's Jafar Jackson. Great performance, I have to say, by him. Really the story of how he becomes independent from his father, the patriarch of the family, Joseph Jackson,

played with very convincing menace, I suppose, by Coleman Domingo. They were originally intending to deal with some of the abuse allegations, but for legal reasons, those scenes could not appear in the final movie. So that led to a year of delays with the release of this biopic while they were readjusting it. So it finishes in 1988, well before the first allegations against Michael Jackson. But I wonder what audiences might make of the fact that large parts of his life are simply not covered. I have to say none of the allegations against Michael Jackson have ever dissuaded his fans from supporting him.

If you think about the fact that MJ the musical on Broadway and the West End has made a staggering sum of money, 300 million, his estate and his back catalogue is incredibly successful. I believe he's the most successful deceased celebrity ever. So he has legions of fans. And of course, he denied these allegations during his lifetime. In fact, he was acquitted at trial on some of those allegations. It's a kind of film like this about such a big star, essentially critic proof that it doesn't matter what the critics say.

There is still a welter of people who want to see a film and also who will really enjoy being in a cinema listening to those songs. On the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator sites, you know, of reviews and audience reviews, it is 96% positive for the audience. 40% for the critics. And I think... That's a real difference. I've never seen such a discrepancy

in what the critics are saying about it and what audiences are saying about it. And I think that this really shows in this case critical reviews are irrelevant. There is a massive appetite to go and see this movie. It's on course to possibly be the biggest musical biopic ever if pre-sales for tickets are anything to go by. Don't know yet.

Bohemian Rhapsody. is the most successful musical biopic so far, made 900 million at the box office. Will Michael make a billion at the box office? It's not impossible to imagine. And I think that shows the sheer scale of his fandom. Emma Jones from the BBC's Talking Movies. And finally, a story that involves sunshine,

an airport, a lot of money, and possibly a hairdryer. They all play a part in allegation. of fraudulent betting. Here's the BBC's Will Chalk with more. It's got everything to do with Polymarket, a crypto-powered platform where users can bet on, well, basically anything. It's been making the headlines a lot lately.

Just hours before news broke of the military operation, an anonymous user on the prediction market place a significant bet that Maduro... But the alleged rigged bet at the heart of this story is somewhat more low-key. French police are investigating after hundreds of thousands of dollars was made betting on temperatures in Paris over recent weeks. And as it happens, the winnings coincided with some unusual temperature readings

at the city's Charles de Gaulle Airport. Take the 5th of April as an example. Three separate users made more than $280,000 by betting that the temperature would reach 19 degrees Celsius. And the reading at the airport unexpectedly jumped by 5 degrees that evening, it's led to some online speculating that there may have been some tampering. A hair dryer applied to the sensor being, according to the accusers, the most obvious weapon of choice. French police have confirmed they received a complaint from France's meteorological agency

and they're investigating. Well, Chalk, we have contacted Polymarket for comment. We've had no response yet. And that's all from us. us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at bbc.co.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Joe McCartney. The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye. Motherhood isn't a highlight reel. It's not always the big moments. It's the little ones you almost miss. As we head into Mother's Day, Little Belly celebrates your little moments and the big feelings that come with them.

We are here to support those everyday experiences with wholesome, age-and-stage appropriate snacks so you can focus on what truly matters. Learn more about how Little Belly celebrates your little moments this Mother's Day. Capture, enter, and grab a chance to win a Lumix S-9 camera at littlebellies.com. Little Bellies.

Do what's natural.