Author: BBC World Service

South Africa's municipality of Ekurhuleni's attempt to expropriate land without compensation is under mediation after the private owners of the land sought compensation. The outcome of this landmark case will shape the future of land ownership and property rights across South Africa. Why illegal mining is a public health concern in Ghana.

Are young Africans really among the most lonely on the planet?

Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Elphas Lagat ,Mark Wilberforce, Bella Hassan and Makouchi Okafor in Lagos. Technical Producer: Jonny Hall Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Editors Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been sworn in for a second term after an election marred by violent protests and rejected by the opposition as a sham. The inauguration ceremony was closed to the public. The president was declared the winner on Saturday with 98% of the vote. She faced little opposition with key rival candidates either imprisoned or barred from running. International observers have raised concerns about the transparency of the election and its violent aftermath, with hundreds of people reportedly killed.

Also in the programme: The former top lawyer for the Israeli military is arrested in a scandal over a leaked video; and the actor Sir Anthony Hopkins opens up about his tough upbringing in a biography.

(Photo: A Tanzanian riot police officer throws a used teargas canister near a vandalised campaign poster of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, after a protest following a general election marred by violent demonstrations, October 30, 2025. Credit: Reuters Thomas Mukoya)

Donald Trump has suggested the US could deploy troops to Nigeria or carry out air strikes to stop what he called the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents. Unfounded claims of a Christian genocide in Nigeria have been circulating in American right-wing religious circles for months. A Nigerian presidential adviser said jihadists in the Muslim-majority north of the country were attacking all religious communities, but that Abuja would welcome US help in tackling the Islamist insurgents.

Also: the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash has told the BBC that he feels he is the luckiest man alive. Officials in Iran warn the main source of drinking water for residents of Tehran is at risk of running dry within two weeks. Flight delays continue across the US, as air traffic controllers working without pay due to the government shutdown are now calling in sick. The Maldives brings in the world's only generational smoking ban, and cricket fans across India celebrate the women's national side winning their first ever World Cup.

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

British police say a 32-year-old man is now being treated as the only suspect in a mass stabbings on a train in England on Saturday. A second man detained at the scene has been released.

Also in the programme: New York is about to grab the headlines all over again - we look forward to a mayoral election for the ages on Tuesday; the Maldives brings in the world's only generational smoking ban; we speak to acclaimed South Korean author Bora Chung about her latest book, 'The Midnight Timetable'; and the wartime message in a bottle found ashore after more than 100 years.

(Photo: Police met the Doncaster to London King's Cross train as it made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon. Credit: PA MEDIA)

British police say there is nothing to suggest a mass stabbing incident on a train on Saturday was a terrorist incident. Doctors continue to treat seven passengers, two of whom have life-threatening injuries. Armed police arrested two suspects at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire, where the train made an emergency stop after terrified passengers alerted the crew.

Also in the programme: we'll speak to Nigeria's presidential adviser after US president Donald Trump threatened to take military action to protect the country's Christian population; and the wartime message in a bottle found ashore after one hundred years.

(Picture: Forensic teams work at the scene at Huntington railway station in Britain after a number of passengers were stabbed on a train. Credit: Tayfun Salci/EPA/Shutterstock)

In the UK, counter-terrorism police are leading an investigation into a mass stabbing on a train near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Nine people are in critical condition after an attack described by witnesses as ‘like a horror film’ with passengers trying to flee through carriages and barricading themselves in bathrooms. Armed officers boarded the train and arrested two men at the scene. Also: President Donald Trump threatens military action in Nigeria, saying an attack would be ‘fast, vicious and sweet’, after accusing the government there of allowing mass killings of Christians. Spain’s foreign minister has offered one of the country’s clearest acknowledgements yet of the brutality of the sixteenth-century conquest of Mexico, and we hear from Jamaica, where Hurricane Melissa has killed at least nineteen people and left hundreds of thousands without food, power or clean water. Plus, the Pushkin Institute in Moscow unveils what it says is the longest word in the Russian language.

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

Egypt has officially opened the Grand Egyptian Museum with a lavish inauguration, which it intends as a cultural highlight of the modern age.

Also on the programme: Jamaicans confront the stark reality of how Hurricane Melissa has changed their lives; and as baseball's World Series goes to the wire, we preview the deciding game with a Blue Jay and a Dodgers fan. (Photo: A girl wears a costume as people gather to watch the official opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian. Credit: Reuters)

The museum displays, for the first time, the entire contents of Tutankhamun's tomb, along with some 100,000 artefacts covering seven millennia of the country's history. We hear from the renowned Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass, a former Egyptian minister and one of the prime movers behind the museum.

Also in the programme, the incumbent president of Tanzania has been declared the official winner of controversial national elections, after days of violence; the sixty-something British man who is running the equivalent of 200 marathons in 200 days; and an interview with the writer Kiran Desai, whose latest novel, her first in almost twenty years, is on the shortlist of the Booker Prize.

(Photo: Final preparations ahead of the opening of Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza, Egypt - 01 Nov 2025; Credit: MOHAMED HOSSAM/EPA/Shutterstock)

Messages in a bottle from two Australian World War One soldiers have been found on a beach and are now back with their relatives. Debra Brown's family were cleaning up on Wharton Beach when they found a thick glass bottle with the notes inside. Herbie Neville, the great nephew of one of the soldiers, says it's unbelievable to receive the letters. Plus, the memorial unveiled in the UK for veterans who were expelled from the armed forces because of their sexuality. The oldest woman to finish the Iron Woman competition. The students here in Britain helping to restore an Ancient Egyptian mummy. Happy stories and positive news from around the world - our weekly collection.

Presenter: Alex Ritson. Music composed by Iona Hampson.