Global News Podcast

Some 800,000 passengers affected after three high speed rail lines into Paris targeted by arson attacks. The French rail operator, SNCF, says disruption is expected to continue throughout the weekend.

Also: In the US, former president Barack Obama backs Vice President Kamala Harris in her election campaign, Open AI launches its rival to the long dominant Google search engine, and two leaders of one of the world's most dangerous and powerful crime syndicates have been arrested in Texas.

President Nicholas Maduro has asked voters to support him to secure peace and stability, a week after saying there would be a "bloodbath" if he lost. The opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, leads most opinion polls but there are fears the vote won't be fair.

Also, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met President Biden to discuss efforts towards a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in Gaza, and why Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, is no friend of the Hollywood star, Jennifer Aniston.

Authorities in the Philippines are racing to contain a major oil spill from a capsized ship in Manila Bay. Clean up operations are being hampered by strong winds and high waves brought by Typhoon Gaemi, which is now making landfall in southern China. Also in this podcast: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with US President Joe Biden as pressure builds for a hostage deal. The Israeli army has recovered another five bodies from Gaza. Accusations that Sudan's bloody civil war is being fuelled by the illegal trade in weapons, how the battlefield in Ukraine has been...

The Israeli prime minister's speech to a joint session of Congress received standing ovations from mostly Republicans but it was boycotted by several Democrats. Also: the British equestrian, Charlotte Dujardin, has withdrawn from the Olympics after a video emerged of her whipping her horse, and why Komodo dragons are such dangerous predators.

A public inquiry finds 200,000 people suffered abuse over the past 70 years. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, called it "a dark and sorrowful day in the country's history". Māoris and people with disabilities were particularly affected. The publication follows a six-year investigation. Also: Typhoon Gaemi is battering Taiwan with powerful winds and torrential rain, and Janet Jackson on growing up in one of music's most famous families.

Kim Cheatle said she took 'full responsibility' for the security lapse surrounding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. She had faced calls from Democrats and Republicans to step down. Also: scientists push for a new HIV vaccine to be made available across the globe, and sharks off the coast of Brazil test positive for cocaine.

The US vice-president's campaign has secured a record amount of donations. Also, China says Hamas, Fatah and a dozen other Palestinian factions have agreed to set up an interim administration for Gaza, and the first blind Barbie doll goes on sale.

Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of taking the US backwards. She promised more gun control and protection for reproductive rights. In his first public comments since pulling out of the race, Joe Biden urged Democrats to embrace Ms Harris. Also: an oxygen discovery has defied knowledge of the deep ocean, and with life expectancy increasing, China will raise its official retirement age.

Major Democrat politicians and donors - including the Clintons - support Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party's new presidential nominee. Also: soldiers deployed as student protests continue to ramp up in Bangladesh, and the BBC confronts a convicted South African who killed dozens of black men during apartheid.

US President Joe Biden has ended his re-election campaign. He says it’s in the best interest of his party and the country. Mr Biden has endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic nominee. Donald Trump says Biden “was not fit to run for president”.