Global News Podcast Families accuse Hamas of deliberately starving hostages
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: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Speaker Mike Johnson visits occupied West Bank to support Israeli settlers
Mike Johnson became the highest ranked US official to visit the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Republican House speaker drawing measures of praise and condemnation for his trip in support of Israeli settlements amid a worsening starvation crisis in Gaza. The excursion followed Johnson's arrival in Israel on Sunday on an unannounced visit with other Republican lawmakers, and his meeting with Israeli defense minister Israel Katz and foreign minister Gideon Saar. Johnson's visit to the West Bank is the highest profile by a senior US political figure since then secretary of state Mike Pompeo went to Psogat in November 2020 during the final months of Donald Trump's first presidency. It is a private trip hosted by a pro-Israel advocacy group, an Axios report said, and not an official congressional delegation. The outlet said Johnson traveled with fellow Republican representatives Michael McCaul, Nathaniel Moran and Michael Cloud of Texas, and Claudia Tenney of New York. Johnson told Israeli settlers on Monday that Israel was the 'rightful owner' of the contested Palestinian territory, according to a report published on the pro-Palestinian website Common Dreams, and separately, Marc Zell, the chair of Republicans Overseas Israel. Common Dreams quoted Johnson as saying that 'the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish people' and that the territory was at 'the front line of the state of Israel, and must remain an integral part of it'. 'Even if the world thinks otherwise, we stand with you,' he reportedly added, an apparent reference to recent proclamations by France and the UK that they would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel did not commit to a ceasefire in Gaza. His visit was immediately condemned by the Palestinian foreign ministry, which issued a statement calling Israel's annexation of the West Bank a 'blatant violation of international law'. Johnson's stance in support of the settlers, it said, 'undermines Arab and American efforts to stop the war and [the] cycle of violence, while flagrantly contradicting the declared US position on settlements and settler violence'. According to a post on X by Zell, Johnson also said the US should use the 250th anniversary of its independence next year 'to remind the American people of its Judeo-Christian foundations that were formed here in the land of Israel'. Johnson's trip comes as pressure builds on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the growing hunger crisis in Gaza, which some critics have called a genocide orchestrated by Israel. It also comes shortly after a Palestinian American from Florida was killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers while visiting family. The Trump-appointed ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the killing a 'terrorist attack'. Johnson is expected to meet Netanyahu before returning to the US on Sunday.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Gaza latest: Netanyahu to push for ‘full conquest' as 600 Israeli ex-officials urge Trump to help end war
Benjamin Netanyahu will push for expanding Israel's offensive in Gaza during a meeting of his security cabinet on Tuesday, local media reported. 'The die is cast – we're going for full conquest,' CNN quoted senior officials close to the Israeli prime minister as telling Ynet. 'If the Chief of Staff doesn't agree – he should resign.' Netanyahu's office was also quoted by local broadcaster N12 as saying: 'The decision has been made – we're going to occupy Gaza.' The Jerusalem Post similarly quoted a source in the leader's office as confirming plans for a full occupation. In a video message, Netanyahu said Israel was 'committing to free Gaza from the tyranny of these terrorists'. This came after indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas collapsed. The talks were centred on a US -backed proposal for a 60-day truce that would have allowed aid into Gaza and facilitated a partial hostage-prisoner exchange. Meanwhile, nearly 600 retired Israeli security officials, including former Mossad and Shin Bet chiefs, urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war, arguing that Hamas no longer posed a strategic threat and warning the hostages 'can't wait'. Netanyahu signals 'full conquest' of Gaza as civilian toll rises Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push for expanding Israel's offensive in Gaza during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday, local media reported. 'We must continue to stand together and fight together to achieve all our war objectives: the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,' he said. 'The die is cast – we're going for full conquest,' CNN quoted senior officials close to the Israeli prime minister as telling Ynet. 'If the Chief of Staff doesn't agree – he should resign.' Israel's continuing assault on Gaza killed at least 40 Palestinians on Monday, including 10 people who were reportedly seeking aid, according to local medics. Another five people died of starvation. Maroosha Muzaffar5 August 2025 04:45
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
More than 40 arrested at protest against Gaza war at Trump hotel in New York
More than 40 people protesting the war and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza were arrested outside the Trump International hotel in New York City on Monday evening. The protest, organized by IfNotNow, a Jewish-American anti-occupation group, had begun earlier in the evening at Columbus Circle. Hundreds gathered under the banner 'Trump: Jews Say No More' to demand an end to the war in Gaza and that the Trump administration pressure Israel to allow greater humanitarian aid to enter into territory, as health officials there continue to report deaths from starvation and malnutrition. 'Let's not mince words, the Israeli government's blockade of Gaza is a policy of ethnic cleansing by way of forced mass starvation,' said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow's interim executive director, during her speech to the crowd. 'It is an unbearable, unspeakable, unfathomable affront to our shared humanity and those who are carrying it out and are deploying our Jewish symbols, language and traditions to defend and justify it, which is why I'm heartened to see such a range of Jews and Jewish organizations coming together today to say with one voice that we oppose these atrocities, not in spite of our Judaism, but for many of us, because of it.' 'We need the US government to use its considerable leverage to end these horrors,' she added. Protesters held signs that read 'stop ethnic cleansing', 'never again is now' 'stop starving Gaza' and 'not in our name' and speakers included Ruth Messinger, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the T'ruah CEO, and Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller. 'Yesterday was the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av in which Jews mourn the destruction of the people of Israel,' Lander said, 'and what we're witnessing right now is destruction caused by the State of Israel.' 'Its been going on for many months,' he added. 'But to witness forced mass starvation, emaciated children and starving of families, on top of all the bombing and destruction and displacement, it is necessary for Jews to cry out louder, to do more organizing to make sure that we stop sending offensive weapons and bombs and guns that we demand an end to what Israel is doing in Gaza. That's why we're here tonight.' Also in attendance was Lily Greenberg Call, a former special assistant to the chief of staff at the US Department of the Interior under the Biden-Harris administration who publicly resigned in protest in May 2024 over the administration's handling of the war in Gaza. 'I was the first, and unfortunately the only official Jewish official to publicly resign in protest of the administration's unconditional support for Israel during the war in Gaza,' Greenberg Call said in an interview with Guardian. Greenberg Call said that she was noticing new people among the crowd protesting Israel's war in Gaza. 'There is something shifting,' she said. 'Showing up is really important, and our role as Americans especially – our government and our tax dollars are funding this.' 'We have an obligation, specifically as American Jews, to stand up against what's happening in our name,' Greenberg Call added. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Palestinian photojournalist, Motaz Azaiza, was also in the crowd and delivered brief remarks. Just after 8pm, the group began walking to the Trump International hotel. They gathered in front of the hotel, sitting in the street, singing and chanting. Around 8.15pm ET, New York police department officers began arresting protesters for blocking the street. It was unclear as of 9pm ET how many people were arrested but the Guardian counted at least more than 40 people. Those arrested were loaded on to police vans and the crowd dispersed shortly after. In a press release issued after the arrests occurred, IfNotNow said that this mobilization marked 'the broadest tent coalition in the Jewish community against the atrocities in Gaza in the last two years, representing the vast majority of US Jews who are outraged by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza'.
