Global News Podcast - US launches 'heavy' strikes on Iran

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

The US military says American forces hit dozens of targets across Iran in a two-hour wave of strikes after Iranian missile attacks on US forces in Jordan were intercepted. Iranian state media reported that the islands of Qeshm and Abadan, both central to the oil industry, were among the areas hit. Jordan and Kuwait have come under further attack from Iran in retaliation. Also: More than thirty people are known to have died in Japan's earthquake. An object that violated Polish airspace overnight was 'most likely' a Russian missile, according to the Polish Prime Minister. African migrants forced to leave South Africa after a wave of anti-immigration protests speak about their difficulties in rebuilding their lives. A French teenager falls foul of laws in Singapore over an incident with a straw, and in a world dominated by devices how small moments can help us reconnect with the physical world.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] Photo: A U.S. military aircraft takes off from an unknown location during what U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) says are strikes on Iran, in this screengrab from a handout video released on July 29, 2026 Credit: US Central Command

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Cyberhack, Season 4, The Conti Files. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and at 15 hours GMT on Thursday the 30th of July, these are our main stories. Jordan and Kuwait have both come under Iranian attack after the United States carried out another wave of strikes on Iran. More than 30 people are known to have died in Japan's earthquake. An object that violated Polish airspace overnight was most likely a Russian missile, according to the Polish Prime Minister. So, how significant is the escalation?

Also in this podcast? My business was attacked and it felt like I couldn't afford to take care of my family. It was painful for me to leave one person who's my best friend. It hurt me so much. The African migrants forced out of South Africa, some leaving behind a spouse. And the last straw, how a French teenager fell foul of the law in Singapore. After a short period of relative calm, the US-Israel war with Iran has reignited. The US military says it's completed a heavy wave of strikes in retaliation for Tehran

targeting American bases in Jordan on Tuesday. In the last few hours, Jordan and Kuwait have both come under Iranian attacks. For days, both Iran and the US had halted strikes as talks apparently restarted in hopes of some type of diplomatic solution. James Menendez has been speaking to our Middle East correspondent, Yolánel. So US forces are said to have bombed dozens of sites in Iran, which they say are linked to the Revolutionary Guards. Military command centres, missile and drone sites, coastal surveillance sites, they say. Iranian state media say three Revolutionary Guards members were killed, but also a couple of and their child when a residential building on Keshem Island in the Strait of Hormuz was hit.

Now, retaliation came fairly quickly. Kuwait said that one worker was killed in an Iranian attack on a Chinese firm in the north of the country. And then in Jordan, again, five missiles shot down. The armed forces there say no reports of casualties. But this U.S. attack earlier on Iran was said to be a powerful response to Iranian attacks one day ago on U.S. forces in. Jordan, which are also said to have been unsuccessful. Does it feel like this war, certainly in the moment, is spreading geographically? Certainly, first of all, you know, the lull that we saw at the end of last week now seems to be over.

It remains to be seen, though, if the pattern of, you know, nightly US strikes, Iranian retaliation against US forces and US allies in the region is going to resume, You've still got talks going on in the background via mediators, but in recent days the war has widened and it has become more complicated. You know, Saudi Arabia launched those attacks with the US on Iran-backed groups in Iraq. Although we are told from reports that when the Saudi Defence Minister was meeting President Trump last night, he was passing on a message that says Saudi Arabia is calling for a de-escalation. but I don't think we've heard at the last of Iraq. Some 20 members of this pro-Iranian militia said to have been killed, as well as several Iranian advisors.

And then, of course, you've had in the past week, a lot of attention switched as well to the Houthis in Yemen, their threats to Red Sea shipping. And the Egyptian authorities saying that a fire which broke out in a port yesterday, they're saying that was a drone attack. I mean, do we know where that drone came from? That has not been confirmed yet. party said to have claimed responsibility. There was a big fire that started off the port of

Damieta on Egypt's northern Mediterranean coast. And now we're looking at it as another possible new front in the U.S. Iran War and that's causing jitters on the energy markets because, of course, of its proximity to the Suez Canal, which is really the last safe route out of the Middle East now for Saudi oil. You know, important to mention here that Egypt is a close ally of. the US, of course, in the region, but we've had no reports of it coming under attack in the past five months since the Iran war started, unlike other US allies across the Middle East. And that is really because Egypt does have this long-time national security policy of not allowing foreign troops to be based on its soil. But of course, Egypt does have significant US commercial interest

based there. Yoland Nel. Russian forces launched more than 70 missiles and almost 300 drones on Ukraine overnight, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more. The capital Kiev and western region of Leviv on Ukraine's border with Poland with the main focus of the assault. The deputy mayor of Leviv, Andrei Moscalenko, is visiting a residential area hit by a strike. 4 a.m. in our city was damaged by Russian missiles. So we right now on one of that sites where emergency service tried to find people who are under the building because two big buildings,

area was destroyed fatly, a few blocks of the buildings totally was destroyed. We praise that all people will be alive. And so now in a hospital more than 20 people, also children, it also was damaged to kindergarten in one school. Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace during the attack. And the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, said a 10-meter wide crater and debris in a field 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border was probably due to a Russian military. Raadik Sikorsky is Poland's foreign minister. He gave Sarah Montague his reaction to these latest attacks. The Russians may be counting that they might break Ukraine's resistance by

attacks on heating and power generation. They've destroyed 80% of Ukraine's electricity-generating capacity, which of course affects not only civilians, but also production capabilities in the defence sector and so on. So Putin seems to be desperate in throwing his hole at Ukraine. And what we've also seen is a missile land in Poland. How significant is that? Because obviously it's a violation of Polish airspace and so NATO airspace. Do you imagine that it was done deliberately? We don't know, but we've had these incidents before. At the beginning of the war, a similar missile landed 10 kilometres from my house, which is in Western Poland. It traversed two-thirds of my country. But you have no doubt that it was a Russian missile. It seems to have

been tracked across the territory of Ukraine and into Poland. And if it's the type of missile that our military thinks it's likely, judging by the speed and so on, only Russia owns and launches such missiles. So what should the response be, both to the idea that you're setting up that Ukraine is at a particular point where Russia is going to apply pressure, but also that there has been this violation of Polish airspace? Well, we need to stick to our plan of assistance to Ukraine. What's particularly needed is effectors to the Patriot system, the latest PAC-3s. As allies, we have rallied around Ukraine with supplies, but clearly there are shortages. Right. Shortages that make Ukraine much more vulnerable.

Indeed. And is that something that European nations should be addressing immediately? It's something that is being coordinated by NATO in Brussels with American leadership. These are weapons that are not in oversupplies, you know as well as I do that there is another war in the Middle East as well. Right. So there just aren't enough to go around, particularly given what's going on with America's war in Iran. Which is why we need to rebuild our defence industry base and why I welcome the announcement by President Trump in Ankara. I was there that licenses will be granted to make some of of this equipment in Europe. Poland's Foreign Minister, Radak Sikorsky.

African migrants have been forced to leave South Africa in the past few months after a wave of anti-immigration protests and growing fears for their safety. Diplomatic tensions between South Africa and some African countries have risen in recent weeks as people returning describe being forced to leave behind their homes, jobs, businesses and sometimes the South African-born spouses. Now back home, they face the difficult reality. of rebuilding lives from scratch. Thomas Nardi has met some of those starting over in Ghana and Nigeria.

This was the moment the first flight carried Nigerians from South Africa landed in Lagos and a voluntary repatriation program. For years, many had built lives in South Africa, but as anti-immigration protests grew, some felt they had no choice but to leave. For 15 years, Richard built a life in South Africa. He ran a vehicle refurbishment business, bought a house, got married and became the father of twin daughters.

He thought he had found stability. Then everything changed. By business was attacked. Protesters demanded undocumented migrants leave South Africa. But Richard, who claimed legal status, said he also faced harassment. He says his biggest loss is being separated from his family. especially his South African wife. It was painful for me to leave one person who is my best friend.

If I come back from work and she comes up, we are together. We tell each other things. So it hurt me so much that a situation that I wasn't in the course of the situation is now letting me lose life of 15 years of a journey that I loved so much. He says starting a business again has been difficult. I feel useless. I feel empty. The thing that broke me. me that could not provide.

We are tired of seeing African migrants moving all over the world, refusing to fix your own country. In April, Immanuel Asamua, a Ghanaian hairstylist, was confronted by a group of South Africans in a viral video. I'm in Ghana, now I'm fixing my country. The video sparked outrage online and prompted the Ghanaian government to start immediate evacuation of its citizens.

I was scared. What I was spraying in my mind is, they would leave me so that I'll get my... my life. I was very scared. Emmanuel was the first Ghanaian to be repatriated by the Ghanaian government. He has since started a business in Accra with the support of the Ghanaian authorities. Like Emmanuel, Ghanaian footballer Aidan Ariz, also joined Ghana's repatriation program, alleging authorities in South Africa are failing to stop vigilante attacks on migrants.

If I'm in a country and I'm being chased like an unworthy animal, then it becomes very, very, very worrisome. not backed by government or the government is looking away for all these things to happen. How can an individual become so powerful more than the state institutions? That is ridiculous. South African authorities have denied such claims. Richard in Nigeria and Aiding in Ghana are struggling to start life all over again. I'm lodging in a friend's house and it might take a while for me to be on my feet.

If I remember I was this okay. in Nigeria before I left, and now I'm on level zero. Nigeria says it will see compensation for abandoned businesses and property, but South Africa has ruled out payments. Yet amid the loss, Richard says there's also relief. I felt that welcome from the airport. I don't know the kind of joy that came into and I asked myself, why did I live in the first place?

Ghana has petitioned the AU over anti-immigration attacks, while South Africa has dismissed an ICC request by two Ghanaians. as opportunistic. Thomas Nadi reporting from Accra, Ghana. The International Criminal Court or ICC, has not said whether it will consider that request to investigate. Singapore is known for its enforcement of rules around public order, cleanliness, vandalism and disruptive behavior.

Now, a French teenager studying there has found out just how seriously the nation state views the adherence to strict regulations. Stephanie Prentice told me more. So this 18-year-old boy, he's called Didier Gaspard Maximilian, he was in Singapore studying business and he filmed himself, this was back in March, approaching an orange juice vending machine, taking a straw out of it, licking the straw and putting it back for someone else to find. He then posted that on his Instagram story with the caption,

City is not safe. He doesn't appear to have been an influencer and Instagram stories disappear, as we know, after 24 hours, but, Someone captured it, reshared it, and it started going viral, particularly in Singapore community groups and social media accounts. People were outraged. International coverage followed, and that led to his arrest. Now, he's just appeared in court. He pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance, and he was fined $450, which actually could have been a lot worse. So public nuisance offenders in Singapore can get fines of up to $2,000. Three months in jail or sometimes both.

But it seems the prosecutors and the defence were happy to agree to a fine. His team said he was very sorry. He thought he was being playful. He quickly admitted to the stun. And the judge said there was no real evidence of harm. Singapore does not mess around on issues like this, does it? Absolutely not. So Singapore is very strict on everything from drug laws

to even bringing a vape into the country. This April, an Australian man in his 60s who was accused of being drunk and disorderly on a flight. He was arrested when he landed. He faced five years in prison. Last November, quite a famous case, the court sentenced another Australian man to nine days in prison. That was after he jumped these security barriers at a premiere. He grabbed Ariana Grande, the actress and singer. That was at the premiere for Wicked. So he did nine days in prison and then once released, immediately deported. A Thai National who urinated inside a train carriage got a week in jail. But even matters like shouting in

public, singing loudly, smoking outside of designated areas, spitting on the ground, feeding pigeons. You can get fined, you can really get in trouble. One case I actually found involved a big fine over letting a dog urinate on a neighbour's shoe rack. And even in your own home, behavioural caution is advised. If you're seen walking around naked, you can also get fined. Now you know, Stephanie Prentice. Still to come in this podcast. In a world dominated by devices, how small moments like these can help us reconnect with the physical world. A vicious gang of hackers causing chaos for businesses, councils and hospitals.

What if I don't finish this treatment and his cancer grows? But they didn't care. I'm dying laughing. Making outrageous demands for money. They wanted millions. It was high tech and high stakes. The country's under attack. And it was highly secretive until someone exposed it all.

Cyberhack, Season 4, The Conti Files. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News podcast. In Japan, rescuers are still combing through the debris of a paper mill and a shopping mile to find survivors following Tuesday's powerful earthquake in Kumamoto in the south of the country. Aftershocks in the area are happening throughout the day and thousands of without power and water. Our correspondent in the region, Jake Kwan, gave me the latest.

We have heard from the Kumamoto Prefecture. This is where the earthquake epicenter was, and we are hearing now that the death toll has risen to 34. Now, many of these deaths are from the shopping center and the paper mill where the chimney had collapsed, trapping the workers beneath. And the rescue workers are still coming through the rubbles, trying to find the few missing people still there.

But what we are hearing is that, the aftershock has continued renewing the fear that, you know, there could be a day two or day three, a major earthquake, which is what happened 10 years ago in 2016, when an earthquake there, the second one was even bigger than the first, and that ended up killing 278 people. But thankfully, we haven't really seen something of that scale yet. But the picture that is emerging now is how much worse, how more deadly this earthquake could have been, because if you look at the shopping center where the second floor had collapsed, there was an explosion, a gas explosion likely, that happened an hour after the earthquake. And what we're

hearing from the operator of the shopping mall, that there were 3,000 customers inside when the initial quake happened, and they were evacuated very quickly. And the people who were killed or missing inside the shopping mall are mostly the employees. And what about the effect of the destruction? I mean, how many people are without power and water? So we're hearing that about 20,000 homes are still without electricity, and many of these government-designated shelters set up at government offices or stadiums are without air conditioning. Now, if you ever been to this region, Japan or East Asia, the summer can be quite brutal. It is very humid, and without air conditioning, a lot of people die of heat strokes. And we're talking about a country

where it is known for having a lot of elder population. So the government said its other priority is to get generators and air conditioning there. And we just heard from the defense ministry saying that they have just delivered 300 units of air conditioning and many more to the shelters at this point. And, Jake, are there a lot of questions now about how prepared Japan was for just such an event. So we have heard from the operator of the shopping mall, Aon, and they were saying that the building, the shopping center, was renovated recently and it was built to the latest earthquake resistance standard

that Japan had. And Japan is a place that really knows earthquake. They're very prone to it. They have a small quake every few minutes. And I think what we're seeing today is really talking to the preparedness of Japan when it comes to something like this. Jayquan. France, Spain and Greece are continuing to battle wildfires spurred by soaring temperatures, parched vegetation and strong winds. Around 8,000 people were evacuated on the Greek island of Crete as wildfires threaten a tourist resort and villages. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the crisis as extreme with at least 10 active wildfires causing concern. Two people were arrested in France on suspicion of arson, but the authorities say the fires near

Bordeaux have not spread overnight, despite flare-ups and a spike in temperatures on Wednesday. A correspondent in Paris is Eusecofield. The latest is good news, frankly. They've been stabilising over the last three or four days since the weekend really and now for the first time the authorities down there are talking about light at the end of the tunnel we're no longer seeing a fire in the conventional sense

certainly not like what we saw at the weekend with you know the vast swathes of forest burning it's now a child landscape with outbreaks of fire which are caused by embers you have what they call these zombie fires where smoke suddenly starts rising from the

peat which is very very super charged with heat and then that can burst into flames again and these have to be stamped on straight away but I really do think we're in the end game here now and they're talking for the first time the authorities of allowing people back these evacuees back already some people from very near bordeaux are allowed to go back the bulk though haven't and I think it'll be a few more days probably before they they're sure enough that they can let them back the weather is also looking good we had a very very hot day yesterday up at 40 degrees Celsius and I I think getting through that day was key, and they did get through that day,

and last night was no worse. Things are pretty stable. There's even a bit of rain predicted for today. So for the first time there's a note of optimism creeping in, and I noticed that the press, the national press here in Paris, is for the first time now not leading with this story. Uscofield. Australia's national airline, Qantas, in conjunction with Airbus,

has just completed its first ever test flight, lasting more than 24 hours. The flight from Melbourne to the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse in France is part of the airline's plan to reshape long-haul travel by cutting out stopovers on route from Australia to Europe. The plan is called Project Sunrise, and from next year, Qantas is hoping to launch the world's longest non-stop regular flight

from London to Sydney. The Airbus test flight pilot, Vincent Zabel, described the experience to the BBC's James' It was just amazing. Two sunset, two sunrise. The crew was super excited to do that. The two sunsets and two sunrise is clearly spectacular and not being done before. Beyond that, what are the advantages of being able to fly for so long? In one flight, you cross half of the world. Honestly, we have the feeling that it went fast. And the reason you're able to fly for these extra hours is because the plane's modified, it has this additional fuel tank, doesn't it?

Yes, exactly. That's the main novelty of this ULR version of J-350-1,000. We have an extra tank that allows onboarding more fuel, and that permits to do such flight. Now, I suppose people listening, wondering what the experience would be like if you are in an economy seat for 24 hours. Can you reassure people it would still be a, a, decent experience. Honestly, it's quite comfortable. And on top, what has been anticipated on this aircraft compared to others is that there is a social area that has been designed for passengers. It's different to a flight that's where you stay on your seat for 16 or 17 hours without any space to walk or to discuss or to stand up. Pilot, Vincent Sabelle. We live in a world of

devices and modern conveniences, from automatic cars to voice-operated entertainment and contactless payments. But some argue that it's made us too disconnected from the physical world. Ian Bogost is a contributing writer for the Atlantic and professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of a new book, The Small Stuff. He wants us to stop and think about the everyday actions we make, like some of these. Now, if you haven't guessed, the sounds there were of a can opening, a door closing, plastic wrapping, and a coffee machine. Through these everyday moments, Ian Bogos thinks we can reconnect and enjoy our physical world and find peace within. Donnie Diamond asked him what his favourite small things are.

They're not quite hobbies, they're sort of regular activities. I pull espresso with a manual espresso machine every morning, and I love doing that. But I also love just the feel of the warm cup in my hand. And of course, the taste of the coffee. I love the sound of the ice against the walls of the water bottle that I carry with me. I love pulling a satisfying door closed such that it clicks just ever so, ever so gently. I love mowing the lawn. There's really so many things.

And not all of them are things that I think of as a part of my life most of the time. But then when they reveal themselves, when they're revealing themselves, when they're revealing. available to me, I try to accept them. And that's an exercise that's been different for me as I've kind of been working on the book and also trying to, I suppose, evangelize the idea of gratification as an immediate, simple, easy pleasure that's always available. A fair number of the things that you've mentioned or the kinds of things that you might relate to are going as things become automated or things become driven by what we cannot see. and what we cannot control.

You're not harking back to a previous, more difficult world. No, I think it's easy to look at the past and notice how certain things, or maybe like a diversity of experiences, were available to us, and many of them got squished into computers. But others became disconnected through choices that we didn't really make that aren't exactly about progress, but are more about automation and efficiency. I think my favorite example of this is all of the automated sensors in a washroom.

You go into an airport or an office building or something and you don't turn on the faucet or pull a paper towel. You now wave your hands around underneath it and it's supposed to give it to you. You may think, well, I don't want to touch things in the public facilities. And that might be true. But also, that's not exactly progress, is it? You didn't really choose that life. It's one that was designed around you and you maybe didn't even notice. maybe licking a stamp.

And until you think of it as something that you once did, then it's easy to forget that that was one piece of contact with the world. I mean, the fair number of people love the ease of automation, whether it is, you know, calling out to a computer to turn the lights on in their house, or as you say, you know, dipping their hands into the air dryer rather than pulling down the paper towel. Are they missing something? I think what they're missing is what I would call diversity. It's so delightful to automate parts of our life. And it's delightful to touch a smartphone screen. I have my home lights on the kind of automation system you're talking about. And I put the whole house to bed with the touch of a button. But I'm still gratified by touching the button and feeling it give under my finger. It sits on my nightstand next to my bed. So it's not a choice between technology or no technology or the future or the past.

It's rather a matter of understanding that whatever you're doing, including some of those, kind of more automated or more efficient or more technological means of living, that one of the things that makes them pleasurable is not just getting the task done, but the experience of doing it. And we have somewhat lost track of the idea that experience is meaningful and maybe as meaningful, maybe more meaningful than just outcomes. The author Ian Bogost. And that's it from us for now.

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget, we have more on our YouTube channel. Just search for BBC News on YouTube, and you'll find Global News Podcast in the podcast section. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Martin Baker, the producer was Rebecca Wood. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time. Bye-bye. A vicious gang of hackers causing chaos for businesses, councils and hospitals.

What if I don't finish this treatment and his cancer grows? But they didn't care. I'm dying laughing. Making outrageous demands for money. They wanted millions. It was high tech and high stakes. The country's under attack. And it was highly secretive. until someone exposed it all. Cyberhack, season four, The Conti Files. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your BBC podcasts.