Global News Podcast - Zohran Mamdani wins New York mayoral race

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

Zohran Mamdani has won New York’s mayoral election after defeating former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, making history as the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than a century. The 34 year old surged to victory with promises to tax millionaires to pay for expanded social programmes. Meanwhile, Democrats are projected to win governor races in Virginia and New Jersey. Also: a cargo plane has crashed at Louisville airport in Kentucky, sparking a huge fire and killing at least seven people; the UN says new restrictions by the Taliban have forced it to suspend operations at a crucial border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran; Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said his government will seek an independent investigation into a police raid in Rio de Janeiro that left more than 120 people dead; the American man who faked his own death and fled to Scotland after being accused of rape; and Paris residents are offered a chance to be buried alongside the rich and famous.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 Julia McFarlane and at 6 o'clock GMT on Wednesday the 5th of November. These are our main stories. A Muslim and democratic socialist, Zerran Mamdani, has won the race to be New York City's next mayor, the youngest person to hold the job for more than a century. In a further blow to President Trump, the Democratic Party is on course for victories in other polls across the US, including governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey. A huge fire has broken out after a cargo plane crashed at Louisville Airport in Kentucky,

killing at least seven people. Also in this podcast, the UN suspends operations on the Afghan border with Iran. And these are very beautiful places. You know, in a very, in the most dense city in Europe, these are places where you can have sort of pastoral walk. Although they're graveyards, they're very nice places to be. The Parisian neighbourhood with the quietest residents. Zaran Mamdani has won the race to be New York City's next mayor.

With the victory, the 34-year-old will etch his place in history as the city's youngest mayor in a century and the first Muslim to hold the position. This is the moment the news was announced at his campaign's watch party. Well, Mamdani, who described himself as a democratic socialist, led a campaign focused on making life more affordable for ordinary Americans. Several politicians have congratulated him,

with Barack Obama, saying the future looked a little brighter. But President Trump suggested the results were down to the government shut down, now the longest ever, and pointed out that he wasn't on the ballot himself. But even though his name isn't on there, the result is a reflection of the Trump administration's popularity, and the president will be watching closely, something Mr. Mamdani made a point of in his victory speech. Together, we will usher in a generation of change. If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city

that gave rise to him. So Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you. Turn the volume up. Our correspondent Peter Bowes has this assessment of Mr. Memdani's 30-minute speech. The powerful oratory skills of Zohan Mundani, therefore, all to see the skills that really became a hallmark of his hugely energetic campaign, laying it all out there. The dawn of a better day for humanity, he said, a mandate for change, a new kind of politics.

And directly talking to Donald Trump, the sitting president who has been so critical of him, describing him as a communist, someone who isn't fit and experienced enough to run. a huge city like New York. A democratic socialist, as he said just now, unapologetic for what he stands for. The challenge for him now is to live up to all of those promises. As he said, several times, he will take power in just a few short weeks time and he will have to come up with the goods. He's made a lot of promises as part of his democratic socialist agenda. and the people of New York but I think Democrats and the nation as a whole will be watching very closely to see what he can achieve and especially the Democratic Party

because I think clearly as we've been talking about for the last few days many in that party senior officials in the party have refused to back this new kind of candidate suggesting that socialism wouldn't work in New York City well they'll be watching very closely as well and perhaps just wondering whether this is the kind of candidate that they need to embrace in other parts of the United States, especially major urban centres,

to challenge Donald Trump's Republicans. The Democratic Party is also on course for victory in a series of other elections across the United States, including the contests for governor in two important states. Abigail Spanberger has declared victory in Virginia, and our partner station, CBS, projects Mickey Cheryl will win in New Jersey. It's also projected Californians have chosen to redraw the state's political boundaries

to counter Republican advantage in the midterms. Here's Peter Bose again. We're seeing these jubilant scenes, the Democrats celebrating as the governor-elect in Virginia said, this will send a message and it'll be a message that will be sent directly to the White House. Now, clearly Donald Trump's name wasn't on the ballot this evening. but the message will go straight to him and it remains to be seen how the President responds to this

and of course we are in the midst of this government shutdown which is increasingly beginning to affect in very serious ways people around the country and the question is will Donald Trump be listening will he be receiving the message that we're hearing out of New Jersey and Virginia

and perhaps modify his attitude towards this shutdown and perhaps encourage his Republican colleagues in Congress to negotiate with the Democrats and perhaps reach some sort of compromise. That is the immediate future. I think also on Donald Trump's mind will be what is still likely to happen in California on this measure to redistrict, which means it is very possible that there'll be more Democrats elected from the state of California. This could affect the House of Representatives at the midterm elections next year.

And if it would be taken by the Democrats, that would significantly impact Donald Trump in his ability to pursue his policies in the final two years of his presidency. Our North America correspondent, Peter Bose. Staying in the US, and as we record this podcast, a huge fire is burning in the US state of Kentucky after a cargo plane crashed at Louisville Airport, killing at least seven people. The aircraft, which is owned by the delivery firm UPS, exploded during takeoff. It was carrying tens of thousands of liters of fuel. Huge plumes of smoke are billowing from the crash site, which is near a petroleum recycling business.

The local governor, Andy Beshear, described the incident as catastrophic. Anybody who has seen the images in the video know how violent this crash is. And there are a lot of families that are going to be waiting. and wondering for a period of time. We're going to try to get them that information as fast as we can. But if this is a family, you know, please give them your support. Governor Andy Bashir. The United Nations says new restrictions by the Taliban have forced it to suspend operations

at a crucial border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran. This means that UN aid is being withdrawn from thousands of Afghans, mainly women and children who've been flooding the area on their way home from Iran. There has been no comment yet from the Taliban. Our Global Affairs reporter and Barrasana Rajan has been following the story. I asked him, first of all, to explain what is going on at the border between the two countries. Tens of thousands of Afghans, more than 60% of them, women and children, those who are forced to leave Iran in the past year, they have been coming.

Now, the U.N. says the Afghan national women staff, they have been prevented from working by the Taliban authorities there. So this has caused a huge operational challenge to them. Women play a very key role in terms of talking to other Afghan women who are coming from Iran, nutrition, health, documentation, and also giving vaccines. In the past one year or so, both Pakistan and Iran, they have been. been forcing undocumented Afghans to leave the country. This is because of their internal politics. For example, in Pakistan, there have been increasing attacks on security forces. And also Iran, they have millions of people staying there. This is causing them a lot of

difficulty and burden. It is one of those undercover event, people, how they're struggling at the border, because, you know, where they will go, because they lived in Iran, for example, in Pakistan on for years. So they have to find a place where they had the relatives, where they had the roots. So it is a big humanitarian challenge which has gone probably, you know, escape the attention of the international media and the international community because of what else is going on around the world. So what's happening now with the restrictions on women? After seizing power in 2021, the Taliban, they have stopped girls from going to secondary schools, from attending universities. And the response from the

Taliban has been that they are devising a curriculum, suiting their culture and tradition, and that's why they have temporarily stopped. As far as women are concerned, there are a number of restrictions. They have to be accompanied by a male relative if they are traveling for a longer distance. They can't be going to gyms and public baths, and they can't work in most of the government offices.

In September, in fact, they even stopped women from going and working in UN compound. It was quite a strong warning from Taliban that they should not be going and working in these compounds. And now is the more harsher restriction according to the UN because this is like emergency services. The situation is really dire in the border area. Even there, they have been stopped.

So the restrictions on women and making them what some of the activists would call that erasing them from public life continues in Afghanistan, whereas the Afghan Taliban say they are following whatever that Islamic traditions they follow and that is the rules they are imposing and they will come back with the reopening of educational institutions with their own curriculum and people are still waiting for that. And Barasan Etirajan. A BBC investigation has found evidence that a controversial Russian recruitment program has been deceiving young African women into working in a military drone factory in the Tartastan Republic of

Russia. The Alibuga Start program recruits 18 to 22-year-old women from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. It promises to give them professional skills and international experience, but a woman who took part in the program last year told the BBC she was deceived into building drones. She suffered chemical burns and was paid less than she was promised. The program denies the allegations. Our Africa correspondent Maiani Jones sent this report. Alibuga work and travel is a program that will help you realize yourself and all your opportunities. Professional skills and international experience. That's what Russia's Alibuga start program promises young African women. Life in Alibuga is not limited only to work.

But we've spoken to Adao. a South Sudanese woman who says she was lured to Alibuga with the promise of a full-time job. So I read out to them on WhatsApp. That's where I first went out about it. She asked us not to use her surname as she didn't want to be associated with the program. She first heard about it in early 2023.

I wanted to work in tech and I also wanted to touch in fields that is not normally done by female workers. You say you were interested in industries that men traditionally do. Why was that? Because this feels, it's very hard for a female to come across, especially within my country. Adau went through a year-long application process and eventually traveled to the Alibuga Special Economic Zone in March of last year.

It was very cold. I hated it. I was so sure. We went during the end of winter. Second, we stepped out of the airport. It was freezing cold. After three months of language classes, she started work. We were making drones at the factory. So right from the beginning, they put you in a drone factory? Yeah. You start work, you get your uniforms. You don't even know what work you're going to do.

Like you step in and then you just see drones everywhere and people working. How did you feel about being part of Russia's war machine? It felt terrible. I also heard that was a time. I went back home and I cried like, I can believe this is. what I'm doing now. It feels horrible. Having a hand, having a hand

in constructing something that is killing people. Taking so many lives. Yeah. The reality of the Al-Buga Special Economic Zone is that it's a war production facility. Spencer Farragassu works for the Institute for Science and International Security. Russia has openly admitted that they are producing

and building Shothead 1-3-6 drones there in videos that they've released publicly. They boast about the site. On the surface, this is an amazing opportunity for many of these women to see the world to gain work experience and to earn a living wage. When in reality, when they're brought to Alibuga, they have a harsh awakening that these promises are not kept. And the reality of their work is far different from what they're promised. Adal says she knew straight away that she couldn't keep working at the factory. Like, it all started clicking, like, all the lies that we have been told to since the time of application.

So that was, I felt like I couldn't work around people who were lying to me about those things there. And you mentioned that there were chemicals in the factory. Did they affect you? When I reached home, like, I checked my skin. My thighs were all peeling. My skin was peeling. Did you not have protective gear?

What was your uniform? We did have this protective stuff, this white cloth, the overall. But the stuff, the chemical would still pass through it. And there were other dangers. In early April 2024, a Ukrainian drone struck Alibuga, hitting the staff hostel next to a dows. It was the farthest Ukrainian drone strike into Russian territory at the time. As I'm walking, I see some people pointing up.

So I look after the sky. And I see a drone coming. That's when I started running as well. I ran so fast. I left the people who ran before me, like I left them behind. She handed in her notice and her family sent her ticket home. Although the program advertised the salaries of up to $600 per month, she only got a six of that. We put her Dow's allegations to the Alabuga Start program. They denied using deception to recruit employees, said they provide all necessary protective

equipment, and that salaries were tied to staff's performance and behavior. They did not deny that recruits built drones at the size. That report by Miami Jones. Still to come. Like every bubble, it's hard to know when you're in one until it's popped. I think that's why there's so much trepidation around Silicon Valley right now. It's been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution, but can America's AI bubble last? Brazil's president Luis Nacio Lula de Silva has said his government will seek an independent investigation

into a police raid in Rio de Janeiro that left more than 120 people dead. Four officers and at least 117 other people were killed when police raided two of Rio's largest favelas last week in what they said was an operation against a notorious criminal gang, but which some families and human rights groups have condemned as a massacre. From Rio, here's our South America correspondent Ione Wells. The government of Rio de Janeiro, led by the right-wing governor, Claudio Castro, has described the operation as a success, despite it being the deadliest raid ever in the city. Brazil's national government previously said it was not made aware of the plans

to execute 100 arrest warrants in this manner. The left-wing president of Brazil, Lula de Silva, did not hold back in his criticism of the raid on Tuesday. The judge's order was for arrest warrants to be served, not a mass killing. And yet, there was a mass killing. I think it's important to verify the circumstances under which it took place. The hard fact is that, in terms of the death toll, some may see the operation as a success. But from the standpoint of state action, I believe it was disastrous. He described it as a massacre and said an investigation was needed to verify the conditions under which it occurs. He was speaking in the Amazon city of Baleem, where Brazil is about to gather world leaders for the COP 30 climate summit.

Irony Wells An American man who faked his own death and fled to Scotland after being accused of rape has been sentenced to at least seven years in prison in the US state of Utah. The court heard that Nicholas Rossi was a serial sex offender who was a danger to others. More details from our Scotland correspondent, Alexander McKenzie. Nicholas Rossi's past has finally caught up with him. The 38-year-old was convicted in two separate trials of raping two women in Utah in 2008.

The two sentences, each of five years to life, will run consecutively. He will only serve two years of the second sentence handed down today before being eligible for parole. Judge Poulin addressed Rossi in the courtroom. The jury found you guilty of rape, And today, sentencing is imposed in light of that truth. For all these reasons, the court sentences Mr. Rossi to a term of not less than five years in which may be for his natural life in the Utah State Correctional Facility.

Rossi attempted to evade justice after being arrested in the COVID ward of a Glasgow hospital in 2021. He claimed he was Arthur Knight, an Irish orphan, who had never been to America. He made a number of court appearances. in Scotland, seen in a wheelchair wearing a three-piece suit and an oxygen mask. He always maintained his claim of mistaken identity. I'm Arthur Knight. I am Arthur Knight. Born Nicholas Brown, I am Arthur Knight. Rossi was extradited to America last year to stand trial. Today in court in Utah, one of his victims said he had left a trail of fear, destruction and pain. Rossi, a car.

accused the woman of lying. A Utah parole board will decide when or if Nicholas Rossi is released from jail. Alexander McKenzie reporting. America's tech giants, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta have collectively invested hundreds of billions of dollars this year into artificial intelligence, specifically into new data centers needed to power what they're calling a fourth industrial revolution. It's largely responsible for most of America's GDP growth this year. But can it last? In the last few weeks, a growing number of the world's leading figures in finance have suggested that AI stocks are unrealistically inflated in value. Could this be turning into a massive economic bubble, at risk of bursting, and threatening the global economy? Ed Butler's been hearing the arguments from some who are concerned. more worried about that than others. I'm not saying next year. Could be six months, could be two years.

So I say the level of uncertainty should be higher most people's minds than what I call normal. Jamie Diamond, head of J.P. Morgan Chase, considered by many to be the most important banker in the world. History tells us this sentiment can turn on the dime. If a sharp correction were to occur, tight of financial conditions could drag down world growth, expose vulnerabilities and make life especially tough for developing countries.

And that's Kristallina Georgieva, head of the IMF, one of the biggest figures in international finance. Even leading Silicon Valley investors like Jerry Kaplan are now weighing in. We're in the middle of an enormous economic bubble. What we're seeing is this process of this thing feeding on itself, and when it collapses, it's going to be very bad. Shares of the internet appliance provider got hammered today, losing over 10 points after Bear Stearns issued some cautious comments on the stock. Technology stocks got trounced on the day of... Some of the new economy.coms are sinking as fast as the level of the tide on the Thames. As everyone in Silicon Valley remembers, we have been here before. This was March 2000, when many of the first generation of heavily backed internet firms were swamped in an avalanche of red as investors lost faith. $5 trillion were wiped off the US Tech Index over two years as shares crumbled.

Professor of Finance, John Danielson at the London School of Economics, has made a career out of studying economic bubbles. He says that new technologies have a way of attracting too much hype and investment. What happens is we all get sort of swept up in the bubble. Prices go up, we buy and we get wealthier, and that makes us feel smart and makes us feel rich. it validates our beliefs about ourselves. Every time when we have some fantastic new technology,

we know that some companies will end up becoming fabulously rich. Some companies will end up owning this space, if you will. And of course, that means a lot of people want to be a part of that. So we are trying to spot the winner, but because most of us make a big mistake. With the AI bubble, somebody will end up dominating this in the years and decades down the road. Will it be the current company?

I sort of doubt that. While artificial intelligence technology offers world-changing promise, critics say the actual economic returns are still unproven. Already eye-watering sums, hundreds of billions of dollars, have been committed to new projects like this data centre in Louisiana. Total AI investment could reach $5 trillion by 2030. But for now, it's estimated there. that 95% of companies currently trying to deploy AI

are not actually seeing any profit from it. Of course, not everyone's a pessimist. Look, I mean, I've covered tax stocks since 90s, and this is not a bubble. This is a spending cycle unlike we've ever seen. The investor and AI enthusiast, Dan Ives, who scorns the naysayers, the bears, as he calls them. And look, the bears, they're always going to yell fire

in a crowd of theatre. saying it's a bubble. They've missed every tech name the last 20 years, saying the same thing. But I think this is actually the start of a fourth industrial revolution, not a bubble, which is why we believe this is a bull market for the next two to three years as these use cases play out and the AI revolution marches on. Whichever side you're on in this debate, the problem is partly the complex nature of the financing of some of the new investments. Tech giants are pumping billions into each other right now.

now to support the sector's growth, and that makes it hard to identify what, if anything, is genuinely profitable. The confusion is neatly summarised by the BBC's North America Technology correspondent, Lily Jamali. Like every bubble, it's hard to know when you're in one until it's popped. I think that's why there's so much trepidation around Silicon Valley right now. The BBC's Lily Jamali ending that report by Ed Butler. And you can hear more on that story on Business Daily, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And finally, they are some of the most celebrated areas of real estate in the French capital, Paris. And now the city's residents are being offered a chance to occupy their own part of them.

I'm talking about three of the most famous and most overcrowded cemeteries, including Père Les Ches, the resting place for such artistic superstars as the singer's Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, The playwright Oscar Wilde and the writer Marcel Proust. The city of Paris has launched a lottery which will give winners the chance to pay for repairs to existing graves and monuments in exchange for the chance to be buried alongside such starry company. Simon Cooper, a Paris-based journalist for the Financial Times, explained to my colleague Tim Franks why these cemeteries are so revered.

I think they're revered mostly for the people who are in them. So Pella Chairs, which is the most famous one, has famous for Anglos, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde, but it also has Edith Piaf, Marcel Poust, Bazac, and so many great people, and you go there to see their great graves. And in Montparnasse, Jean-Bosartre and Simon de Beauvoir, and so on and so on. And so it's partly that, and also these are very beautiful places. You know, in a very, in the most dense city in Europe, these are places where you can have sort of pastoral walks. So although they're graveyards, they're very nice places to be. Nice places, but also in many parts of them, quite run down, aren't they? Yeah, because what happens is that families die out or they forget the graves after decades or over a century.

And so you have a lot of tombstones, like in almost any cemetery, that you can't read the inscriptions on that have become very dilapidated. And so, you know, after a while the tomb will be regarded as abandoned and can be removed and replaced. But that is, you know, quite a bureaucratic hassle. It's obviously quite a big deal to remove somebody from eternal memory. So given that, what do you think there's sort of the feeling in in Paris is of this plan by the council? I mean, it's, you know, I'm sure Parisians who are enormously proud of their city are proud of these cemeteries. I mean, do they think that it's a good idea that people who, I mean, presumably need a fair bit of money to be able to afford to do this, get the chance to, you know, enter a lottery, pay for the right to both do up an existing dilapidated grave, but then also get the right to be buried among the real celebrities?

Well, it was voted unanimously in Paris City Council, which is quite rare. but yeah i mean anything that requires spending a lot of money which favors the rich doesn't tend to go down terrifically well in france and you know if you want to restore the old grave and then buy yourself a grave in perpetuity it will cost you somewhere over 20,000 euros which is not for everyone and it's all part of the status game of paris you know status is very important here status depends partly on where you live and status is also where you are buried and so yeah it's not reserved for everyone. You recently wrote a lovely piece for the Financial Times about the attraction of these

cemeteries, but in particular in a sort of rather haunting fashion, actually. Can you just give me a sense for you, and you're somebody who knows the city intimately, what the cemeteries sort of mean for you, were the place that they have in your image of the city? I mean, they're a place for reflective walks. And I think they also mean to me as an immigrants of Paris, you know, I expect now that one day I will die in Paris, I hope not soon. And 80% of people who die in the Paris region were not born in the Paris region. And so, you know, we think of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison as it being odd that they're buried here in the foreign land. But in fact, Parisian cemeteries are full of people like that from all over the world and from all over France. And so it's a of immigrants and migrants, and there's something very poignant about lying forever in a place where you never quite belong. And I think that's what I reflect when I look at those graves. Simon Cooper, speaking to Tim Franks. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later.

If you want to comment on this podcast or any of the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. This edition was mixed by Graham White and the producers were Alison Davies and Arienne Cotchy. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Julia McFarlane.

Until next time, goodbye.