Global News Podcast - Israel launches ground and air assault on Gaza’s Deir al-Balah

Aid agencies say the Israeli military's ground and air assault on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza has intensified. Also: air force jet crashes into a school in Bangladesh, and a camel learns to walk again with false leg.

Image: Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025 Credit: Reuters

Newshour - Israel launches ground and air assault on central Gaza

The Israeli military has launched a ground and air assault on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza just hours after Israel issued evacuation warnings for several parts of the town. Also on the programme, Ecuador's most notorious gang boss is extradited to the United States; and, a musical which tells the stories of two Iranian women who feel compelled to leave Iran and make dangerous journeys to Europe.

(Photo: Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)

Good Bad Billionaire - Howard Hughes: Eccentric aviator

The original weird billionaire, Howard Hughes was a filmmaker, a playboy and a world record-breaking aviator. He was also an obsessive germophobe who died a paranoid recluse.

Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack tell the story of one of the strangest billionaires in history. A wealthy child who was orphaned young, he dallied in different businesses but still became the richest man in America.

In this special series, Good Bad Dead Billionaire, find out how five of the world's most famous dead billionaires made their money. These iconic pioneers who helped shape America may be long gone, but their fingerprints are all over modern industry - in business trusts, IPOs, and mass production. They did it all first, but how did they make their billions?

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?

Newshour - Dozens killed by Israeli fire at aid point, Gaza health officials say

Health officials in Gaza say dozens of people have been killed and dozens more injured by Israeli fire as they waited for a UN aid delivery.

The IDF has not previously sent ground troops into the neighbourhoods because it believes that Hamas is holding hostages there.

Also in the proghramme: Syria's interior ministry says violence in the southern city of Sweida has "halted"; six months since Donald Trump returned to the White House. we'll check in with Trump supporters; and British men collect world relay gold medals 28 years late.

(Photo shows people waiting at an aid point in Gaza on 20 July 2025. Credit: Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

Newshour - Clashes in Syria despite ceasefire agreement

There have been further clashes in Syria's Suweida province where gunmen from the Bedouin community have continued to target the Druze minority in defiance of a ceasefire. Also today: another twist in the complex relationship between Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump; and a symphonic tribute to The Beatles.

(Photo: Bedouin fighters stand in the back of a truck at an Internal Security Forces checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Suweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Walgha, Suweida province, Syria July 19, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi)

Newshour - Syrian presidency announces ceasefire

Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has pledged to protect all of Syria's minorities as he sent security forces to the Druze heartland, after sectarian clashes left hundreds dead in Sweida.

We hear from a Druze woman whose whole family was killed by what she claims were Syrian government forces.

Also on the programme: Should Putin-aligned artists be welcomed at cultural events? And, a symphonic tribute to The Beatles.

(Photo: Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Aleppo, Syria May 27, 2025. Credit: Reuters)