Author: BBC World Service

Argentina's President Javier Milei has led his party to a landslide victory in Sunday's midterm elections, after defining the first two years of his presidency with radical spending cuts and free-market reforms. Also on the programme: Cameroon's 92-year-old President Paul Biya has been declared the winner of the heavily disputed presidential election; and scientists in India have discovered that playing music to unconscious patients significantly reduced the amount of anaesthetic needed to keep them under. (Photo: Argentina's President Javier Milei reacts after the La Libertad Avanza party won the midterm election. Credit: Reuters)

The BBC visits camps and a prison in north-eastern Syria where Islamic State fighters and their families are being held. The caliphate has been regrouping in the vacuum left by the collapsed Assad regime. Also: Victory for President Javier Milei's party in midterm elections in Argentina; tensions rise as another US warship joins those floating off the coast of Venezuela; two arrested in connection with the Louvre jewel heist; India and China resume direct flights; mechanics take on Tesla in Sweden; and the importance of rebuilding Gaza's heritage sites.

Another US warship has sailed into waters near Venezuela, adding to the growing presence of American warships and warplanes. The US has said it is fighting against drug traffickers, but there is a growing sense it might not be the full picture, as a US Senator has said they could soon launch a military attack on Venezuelan soil.

We speak to Venezuela's attorney general and close ally of President Nicolas Maduro about what he thinks the United States is up to.

Also in our programme: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces claim they have captured the army headquarters in the besieged city of El Fasher; and we hear about Argentina's most controversial mid-elections.

(Photo: The US Navy destroyer USS Gravely arrives in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, a few miles off the coast of Venezuela. Credit: Andrea de Silva / EPA / Shutterstock)

US President Donald Trump has overseen the signing of an agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to normalise relations after their short border conflict earlier this year. We'll hear from our Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head who is in Kuala Lumpur.

Also in the programme: Police in France have detained at least one man in connection with the theft of millions of dollars of jewels from the Louvre museum; and voting has begun in Argentina in midterm elections that are being seen as a de facto referendum on the president Javier Milei.

(Picture: U.S. President Donald Trump applauds as Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet hold up a ceasefire deal in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 26, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

The Louvre Museum in Paris was closed for 2 days as the police investigated a brazen heist which resulted in the theft of France's “priceless” crown jewels. Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world's most visited museum in broad daylight, before escaping on scooters with eight items of jewelry of great historical significance.

Erin Thompson, Professor of Art Crime at The City University of New York, tells us about the crime that has stunned France - and the rest of the world.

With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Image: A security employee near the glass Pyramid of the Louvre Museum, Paris. Benoît Tessier/Reuters

President Trump attends ASEAN summit in Malaysia, and oversees an agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to normalise relations after their short border conflict earlier this year. Also: Hurricane Melissa bears down on Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; the anniversary of floods that killed more than 200 people in Valencia; groups of indigenous peoples may be wiped out in the next ten years; voting for the next mayor of New York; a former world chess champion denies bullying; the release date of a Japanese film about a bear attacking humans is delayed - because of real bear attacks; and the row over a new Chinese embassy in London.

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The Sudan Doctors’ Network is calling for the reopening of aid corridors in the besieged city of El-Fasher in North Darfur, where it says at least three children are dying daily in 'catastrophic' situation. The Rapid Support Forces have been fighting the Sudanese army for control of El-Fasher, one of the last government-held areas in the Darfur region. We hear from a man who has been in the city since the start of the conflict.

Also in the programme: Research suggests advanced AI systems are resisting attempts to shut them down; and growing tensions in Venezuela as President Maduro accuses the United States of 'fabricating' a new war.

(Photo: A ceiling damaged by shelling shrapnel at in El Fasher, Sudan, October 7, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro warns US against war, after the Pentagon orders top aircraft carrier to join its campaign against drugs gangs in the Caribbean. We ask what is Trump's endgame in Venezuela.

Also in the programme: The difficulties of getting thousands of sick and injured Gazans for urgent medical treatments abroad despite ceasefire; and how a German company made a risky, but pretty funny, advert for itself out of the Louvre jewel heist.

(Image: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro attends a press conference in Caracas; Credit: Photo by MIGUEL GUTIERREZ/EPA/Shutterstock)

Doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London have used microchips to help blind patients regain the ability to read. Also: the woman who played the clarinet during brain surgery, helping the doctors fine tune their treatment for Parkinson's; Thailand's water buffalo beauty contest; and how polystyrene boxes that keep fish fresh are being replaced... using mushrooms. Happy stories and positive news from around the world - our weekly collection.

Presenter: Jannat Jalil. Music composed by Iona Hampson.