Global News Podcast - US promises 'unwavering support' for Israel's Gaza goals

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he doesn't rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders "wherever they are," despite being criticised for launching an attack on Qatari territory last week. Israel's decision to target senior Hamas leaders in Qatar - a close US ally - drew international outrage and criticism, even from US President Donald Trump. Mr Netanyahu was speaking after meeting the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who blamed Hamas and urged Qatar to continue to play a constructive role on Gaza. Also: a Turkish court has adjourned its hearing into allegations of vote-buying by the leader of the opposition CHP party, and we hear from young people demanding a voice ahead of Malawi's elections. 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]

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Your idea of banking that's personal happens here. RBC, ideas happen here. This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Mars, and at 17 hours GMT on Monday the 15th of September, these are our main stories. Israel's Prime Minister won't rule out strikes against Hamas leaders wherever they are. The Spanish Culture Minister calls for Spain to boycott Europe. Eurovision, should Israel not be excluded, and a partial victory for Muslims in India's Supreme Court. Also in this podcast.

Fishermen goes for fishing and instead of catching fish, they catch most of this waste. The problem that tons of donated used clothes cause in Ghana. But first, in Jerusalem, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, and the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, gave a joint news conference on Monday. The two met less than a week after Israel's surprise strike on Qatar, which is also a key U.S. ally. Israeli forces had been trying to assassinate senior Hamas leaders who'd been meeting in the Qatari capital at the time

to consider the Trump administration's peace plan for Gaza. America expressed some displeasure at the attack, but speaking alongside Marco Rubio, Mr. Netanyahu said the U.S. and Israel stood together and paid this tribute to President Trump. America has no better ally than Israel. It's obvious that Israel has no better ally than America. You've been a remarkable partner. Our remarkable alliance, I think, has been forged for ages. And I'd like once again to extend our deepest gratitude to a great friend of Israel, a personal friend of mine, President Donald J. Trump. The president has shown consistent leadership,

moral clarity, and bold actions that have strengthened the alliances between our nations as never before. The American-Israeli alliance has never been as strong as it is now. Whatever misgivings, Marco Rubio, might have had about the attack, he said the United States would provide what he described as unwavering support for the Israelis. He also said the people of Gaza could not live in peace until Hamas was eliminated. There should never have been hostages. This should never have happened. This happened because on October 7th, these animals,

these barbaric animals, conducted this operation and against innocent people that had nothing to do with any of this. And that's why this all started. We've forgotten that. People have forgotten that that's where this all began. So this is what brought us to this point. It needs to end. And how does it end?

It ends by eliminating the people who did it, by ending them as a threat. It ends by releasing every single hostage, both living and deceased, and then when all of that is done, then we can begin the work, I hope, internationally, to providing the people of Gaza the kind of future that they deserve, but that they will never have as long as a group like Hamas exists. Well, the news conference was a very public show of support from the U.S. for Israel, but were there any signs of tension in that relationship after Israeli forces carried out the strike in Qatar?

A question for our correspondent in Jerusalem. No, not in the last couple of days. The last two days has all been about a massive show of unity and mutual support. Yesterday, both men were down at the Western Wall, one of the holiest places in Judaism. Secretary Rubio is holding meetings with a succession of Israeli leaders. And that is despite, as you say, last week's falling out in private and partially in public over that audacious strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar, to which America appears not to have been told at all, which is very, very rare, given the stakes, given what normally happens in the region. And I think the Israelis today glossed over those disagreements last week, even though Donald

Trump had reportedly admonished Mr Netanyahu in a phone call. Mr. Netanyahu again reiterated his right, Israel's right, to go after its enemies, particularly Hamas, of course, who were behind the October 7th attacks, even though, again Donald Trump had promised the Qataris it would not happen again. And although he said he wanted the war in Gaza to end, there was no criticism from Mr Rubio about the way that Israel is not only still fighting, but actually stepping up the war in Gaza. And we're just to focus on Gaza for a moment.

I mean, meanwhile, Israel's increasing attacks on Gaza City continues. It's intensifying. Netanyahu has made it absolutely clear that part of their strategy now is to defeat Hamas militarily to control the whole of the Gaza's city. strip unless of course Samas surrenders completely and hands over all of the hostages and its weapons. If that doesn't happen and that is not happening, then this aerial bombardment of Gaza is continuing. Tall buildings are being flattened even as we speak. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing Gaza City because much of the city is being systematically destroyed. Israel says

it's not doing that. Netanyahu said today that isn't happening to frighten or punish the civilian population of Gaza, he says it's being done to flush Hamas out of these buildings. But the net result is that much of Gaza City is being flattened. Tens of thousands of people are being forced to move further south towards areas which are categorically unsafe. One area called Almwasi, which Israel has designated as a humanitarian zone, there were attacks there this morning and people were killed there. No public criticism from the Americans of what Israel is doing in Gaza at all. Wira Davis, who was speaking to Celia Hatton. Meanwhile, in Doha, Qatar's capital, a summit of Muslim and Arab leaders is underway

to try to work out a possible joint response to those Israeli airstrikes. Our correspondent Nafisa Konavad joined us from there. It is kind of a show of solidarity in the region for Qatar. This is what Qatar wanted to show to Israel that it is not alone. and it is not going to sit tight against such attack. One after another planes carrying the leaders of Islamic, Arabic countries from the region, or landing in Qatar airport, and the meeting continues. And it's expected that at the end there will be a resolution.

Although some countries like Iran, Iraq, and according to some local media, even Egypt. They are coming to this summit with kind of ambitious suggestion to create a joint operation center to deter such attacks and such threats by Israel. But a draft of the resolution that was prepared by these countries, foreign minister, that their summit happened yesterday here leaked to media and it shows that the final resolution that is expected to be signed by the leaders and announced as the conclusion of this summit is not going behind such kind of just condemnations showing solidarity towards Qatar and also warning Israel that such actions will jeopardize any normalization for their normalization in the region with

Israel, and it's affirming that Egypt, Qatar and the US are working together to stop the war in Gaza. This is what we know now, but we are waiting that final resolution to come out. That was Nafisa Konavart. Well, the war in Gaza has had diplomatic, humanitarian and cultural impacts. Well, that was Spain's entry in last year's Eurovision song. contest. But we might not hear the Spaniards again in 2026. That is if the Spanish culture minister Ernest Rostan gets his way. On Monday, he said that Spain should boycott the contest if Israel is allowed to take part. Well, Spain automatically qualifies for the finals as one of the competition's biggest financial contributors. It follows Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands

who have already said they won't take part if the Israelis join the contest. Earlier, we asked Guy Hedgeco in Madrid what Spain's boycott could mean. Spain is a very enthusiastic participant in Eurovision. It's a big deal here. What they're suggesting here, what the minister, Ernest Urdassouin, the culture minister, is suggesting, is that Spain would simply pull out if Israel would remain in the competition. So he's saying that every possible pressure should be exerted in order to ensure that Israel doesn't take part in the next edition. And he's saying that that is completely coherent with what this left-wing banished government believes. It certainly has taken quite a strident

position overall on the issue of Israel and Gaza. So it believes that that is completely coherent with this proposal that it's making. And Guy, the Prime Minister wants to take this idea even further, doesn't it? He wants Israel banned from sporting against? Can you talk us through that? Yes, that's right. I mean, that's something which has just been announced by the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez this morning as well. He said that Israel should be treated in a similar way to the way that Russia was treated after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, when it was excluded from many international sports events. It said that Israel should be treated in the same way. Shouldn't be able to have teams or individuals taking part under the Israeli flag in international competitions. Now, you have to remember

that at the weekend we had this very chaotic scenes on the streets of Madrid where the Vuelta cycling race was meant to be finishing. The race in the end was suspended. The first of the weekend, the final stage of it was suspended because there were thousands of people out on the street protesting. Those protests were triggered initially because of the involvement an Israeli cycling team in the race itself. So that's at the root of all of this with Prime Minister Sanchez saying that that kind of situation shouldn't happen where you have an Israeli team involved in whatever it is, cycling or any other sport, because it's going to trigger protests and they should not be included in those kinds of events. What's the public reaction to all of this?

there are a lot of support for Palestinians in Spain? Well, we saw yesterday during the cycling protests, there were around 100,000 people who took to the streets, according to official figures. The government certainly seems to feel that it's on side with public opinion. A think tank recently published a report saying that 82% of Spaniards believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. That's up from just over 70% a year ago. So it does seem that the Spaniards feel very strongly about this issue. Guy Hedgko there talking to Celia Hatton. Now, to Ghana, which is the world's largest importer of used clothing

with about 15 million garments arriving every week. Donated from Western countries like Britain and the US, many end up with market vendors. But about 40% are too damaged to resell and find their way into landfill or strewn across the country's beaches. From where the BBC's Hannah Gelbar starts this report. You can hear the waves crashing down on Usher Fort Beach in Accra. All around me, there are piles of waste, colourful pieces of fabric,

there's a stripy sock over there, someone's hat. About 150 people in high-vis jackets, rubber gloves and wellies, are here for a clean-up. They pull tangles of fabric out of the sea, cutting out waistbands, tags and labels, so they can name and shame fashion brands. The rest is bagged up to be taken to a rubbish dump further. away. Joseph Ayyesu is from the Orr Foundation. It's an environmental charity that tries to solve the problems caused by the fast fashion industry in Ghana. I grew up at the coast and so we wake up most at times to see sea turtles laying eggs and stuff. Lately you don't see them coming. I think

they can't find ways to dig and lay eggs. And also fishermen goes for fishing and instead of catching fish, they catch most of this waste. We've just got to the offices of the or foundations. And I'm here with Tammy Oeteng, who is head of fashion development. Why is it the Ghana has so much of this textile waste that comes from countries like the UK, US? The issue is something like we like to call waste colonialism. And it's when like, you know, a more richer, more dominant, a more wealthier company colonizes another country with waste. They ship it elsewhere for someone else to deal with. We are working on a textile transformation technology where we shred.

some of the garments and then turn them into fibre boards. We turn some of the materials into cushion fillings like the ones we are sitting on right now. So these are all ways that we are trying to divert these garments into another income stream which can benefit the community as well. It's also an important source of income. Cantamanto, just up the road,

is the world's largest market for second-hand clothes. Thousands of vendors and upcyclers buy bales of clothing and sell it on. But many of the items they get are unusable. Ruth is an upcycler who makes boxer shorts out of second-hand cotton pillowcases. Look at this. Most of it is wastes. Then if you invest your money in it, at the end of the day, you lose.

We don't want the waste anymore. Back on the beach, I ask Joseph if there's anything that can be done to break the cycle. I think yes. So that is why it starts from the brands. if they can use ecological-friendly materials in producing and also focus more on doing quality rather than competition and doing quantity, then there wouldn't be more waste coming.

People buy stuffs and they wear it once and they don't wear it again. Ever. Joseph, ending that report by Hannah Gilbert. Under the name Zapad, which means West, a joint military exercise of Russian and Belarusan troops is underway on land, in the air, and at sea. Well, the purpose of the exercise is, according to officials, to prepare to repel any aggression against the two allied nations and neighbours. But recent drone incursions

into NATO territory from Russia means it could be the West that's most nervous. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, is watching the manoeuvres. I'm in a military training ground about 45 miles from Minsk, and these are joint drills involving troops from Belarus and Russia. is called Zuppert 2025, or West 2025. It's a planned exercise, and Moscow and Minsk insist that it's purely defensive in nature. In other words, they're simply defending their country's potential external aggression. Although having said that, the last time I came here to report on a joint Belarusian Russian military exercise in February 2022, the exercise ended, and Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Belarusian territory. Now these drills come at a time of high tension. To the south, Russia's

war on Ukraine continues. And in recent days, Poland and Romania have accused Russia of violating their airspace with an incursion of drones. Across Europe, there's concern that Russia may be using drones to test NATO's resolve. And I think the fact that we've been invited here today, Western media has been inviting here to see this, suggest that Belarus and Russia have a message for the West, in particular for Europe. And that message, I think, is this. Watch and consider the firepower on your doorstep.

Confrontation with Russia is not in your interests. Steve Rosenberg. Still to come on this podcast, how will the votes of disillusioned young people affect the presidential election in Malaysia? I hope has been lost to the past elections, but I'm hoping that this time around when we vote, that the next leader whoever comes in will radically transform Malawi, especially for young ones. A court in Turkey has adjourned a hearing examining allegations of vote buying against the leader of the opposition CHP party.

There was a heavy police presence outside the courtroom after a protest on Sunday by party supporters. The case comes after a year-long campaign against the centrist party that's seen hundreds of members jailed for alleged corruption and links to terrorism, which they deny. Hylken Boran from the BBC's Turkish service is in Istanbul. It is being described as a turning point that may be the last nail in the coffin of multi-party democracy in the country as we know it, according to opposition voices and experts that we've been talking to. Essentially, this case is weighing whether a 2023 Congress of the main opposition Republican People's Party should be annulled or not. If it is an old, the current leadership

will be removed from their posts, and the former chair will likely be appointed as a trustee instead. And this is only the latest chapter in a month's long crackdown against the CHP, in which scores of mayors and senior officials, including Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate Ekram Imamu, have been detained. The CHP claims that all these legal cases in the last year against them are a result of President Erdogan and his ruling party trying to, quote, unquote, redesign them into a more compliant and less threatening political entity. And what we know so far is that there are possibly two outcomes. One is that the leadership gets purged and then the former chair is leading the party.

And the other is that the party will go to an extraordinary Congress during which they will be electing new leadership. And if that will be the case, the current leadership is expected to stay because there has been tremendous support from within the party to the members of the old. opposition leadership. That was Helkan Boran in Istanbul. A few months ago, Parliament in India approved a law that changed the way Muslim properties worth billions of dollars can be passed on. There was an outcry from the Muslim population, and now India's Supreme Court has suspended certain provisions of that law. But will this be enough to calm the anger? We asked our global

affairs reporter Ambrasan Eterajan, what exactly the court had decided. Now, the court has refused to suspend the entire law, but what it has done is given some relief to the Muslim groups, which argue that this particular law making changes to the management of these properties as unconstitutional, uninfringing upon their rights. Now, what is it? It's called waqv. A Muslim can donate a land or a property for a charitable purpose that can be used only for the Muslim community, like building a religious school or a mask or any other institution. Now, this goes back to centuries, first time in the 12th century. So which means the huge amount of property has been accumulated.

We are talking about 900,000 acres and property, which are worth in modern times $15 billion. The government has argued based on a committee's report, but this is not being managed properly because if you look at the Muslims in all social indicators, they are below national average. The properties are mismanaged and corruption. So that's why the Hindu nationalist BJP government brought these changes.

On the other hand, the Muslims argued, now some of these masks do not have any title deeds, which means anyone can claim if it is being put on dispute. So that means the government is trying to take over some of our properties. That was in a simple way to explain the whole problem. So now the court has said, for example, a person should be a Muslim for five years before he can donate, given any land for endowment. So that is one of the things the court has gone in favor of the Muslims. and also for the boards which are governing these properties.

Now, the court has asked the government to have restrict the number of non-Muslims in the board. So in a way, partial victory but not full victory for the Muslim groups. And Beresam, we have to remember this court decision comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Hindu government and the Muslims. That has been the case for the last 10, 11 years since the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power with the Muslim community saying they are being treated as second-class citizens, they are increasing attacks on them

and also on their properties and businesses. And now these kinds of law further restricts the rights. But the government and the Hindu nationalist BJP both deny these accusations. Amrassan Etirajan. Now let's remind ourselves of a story we covered in an earlier podcast about Afghanistan. We looked at the impact of America

cutting all aid to what is already one of the poorest countries in the world. The BBC has gained rare access to Afghanistan and gathered firsthand evidence of the impact of these cuts on maternal mortality in the northeastern province of Badakshan. Abdul Vakil spoke to the BBC while standing by the grave of his wife who died whilst giving birth to their baby just a few months ago.

My wife was very sick. She was in a lot of pain. So I rented a taxi to take her to the clinic. When we reached there, I saw that it was closed. I didn't know it has shut down. So we turned back. On the way, we had to stop and my baby was born. My wife died shortly after, bleeding profusely.

We also heard from Medina, a midwife who used to work at a medical facility shared by nine villages that has now been closed. We used to do 25 to 30 deliveries a month here. The closure has had a massive impact on the community. They can't make it to other clinics. Mothers are losing their lives during deliveries. Earlier, my colleague Celia Hatton asked our correspondent in Kabul, Yogi Tlimai, whether the Taliban government was doing anything

to alleviate the suffering for women. It's one of the questions that I asked their leaders, saying they've now been in power for four years and what are they doing on the ground to help their people. His response was that it's because of the international sanctions, against them, that they aren't able to provide the relief in services that their people need on the ground. Of course, it is the Taliban's policies, particularly their intransigence on women's rights, which is a big hurdle to international recognition and those sanctions being lifted.

And also recently, just in the past few days, we've had the UN saying that they're actually barring Afghan female staff from even accessing UN compounds and UN field offices, which will further affect the distribution of critical aid on the ground. Yagata, you've been to the country many times. What is the atmosphere like in Kabul now? Well, it is getting harder. It is difficult to access this country to do journalism. We do get permissions, and we did this time,

and we were able to be on the ground. But when you come to this country, and particularly with the issue of U.S. aid cuts, and when you speak to people and you talk about U.S. accountability, People will be quite quick to remind you that the U.S. was involved in this country even prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, that it was the first Trump administration that went to the negotiating table unilaterally with the Taliban and struck a deal in 2020. So people will say there is U.S. accountability as well. Of course, the U.S. has been, you know, the largest donor to Afghanistan for decades, and their justification is that money, some of the money, is going into Taliban hands. That was Yogata Limei in Kabul. Malawi will hold elections on Tuesday, with more than half of the country's population below the age of 35, there is a growing demand for the inclusion of young people in politics. The election campaign, which has been largely dominated by youth unemployment, poverty and inequality, has seen young people demanding their place at the table. The BBC's Nomsomaseko reports from the capital, Lilongue.

Hundreds of frustrated motorists and motorbike owners form long queues at fuel stations here in the capital Lilongue and in many other parts of the country due to prolonged fuel shortages. This has been a daily reality for quite some time and it often leads to fights as people rush to be the first at the pumps. opportunities are also hard to come by. This has forced young men to sell petrol and diesel

from small plastic containers at five times the official price just to put food on the table. Some voters have told the BBC that these shortages, coupled with regular power cuts and youth unemployment, have dampened their enthusiasm for the elections. Looking at the candidate, ah, that's a tough one. hope has been lost through the past elections voting voting and hoping to see things get better and they haven't gotten better

but I'm hoping that this time around when we vote that the next leader whoever comes in will radically transform Malau especially for young ones Malauians should think about the poverty crisis that we are going through in Malau

so the coming president I think should fix the employment late because many of the young people were here in Marawi they are unemployed. Young people also feel their concerns

are not being taken seriously as they are often excluded from rooms where decisions are made. The youngest presidential candidate is 38. He says the old guard can no longer be trusted to make sound decisions for Malawi's young population.

My name is Akwami Bandawe. Malawi's huge population is the young people. And if you're talking about being a young person ends at 35. So our constitution says you don't have to run for president until you're 35. So that's an honor already to the young people. And that doesn't go well with this country

because there's a lot of things that the government always miss out because the youth are not fully involved. A lot is at stake in this election, and Malawian's hope whoever becomes the new head of state will turn the country's fortunes around. Mr Maseko reporting from Lilongway. And that's all from us for now,

but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later on. If you want to comment on this podcast, or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. This edition was mixed by Derek Clark and the producers were Mickey Bristow and Oliver Burlough.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles and until next time, goodbye.