Newshour

There have been clashes between protesters and police in several French cities, as demonstrators call for more investment in schools. Police fired teargas in the southern city of Toulouse, while in Lyon police say they responded when missiles were thrown at officers. The student protests - over a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings - started last month in Paris then spread. Hundreds of schools have been closed.
Also in the programme: OpenAI apologises to the Australian government, but is it enough? Germany's former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of espionage; and a Nobel Prize for the Belgian scientist who discovered ghost particles at the South Pole.
(Photo: French police officers pictured with a burning street barricade in Lyon. Credit: Reuters)

Downing Street says it won't comment on foreign nations' military operations - after the US removed twelve bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire - which has been the subject of an investigation into a suspected terror plot. But officials insist the base is safe. Six men have been arrested by counter-terrorism police, but they've all been released on bail. The US Vice President JD Vance said the move was a precaution.
Also in the programme: The Saudi backed government in Yemen says it's launched an offensive to retake the capital, Sanaa, from the Iran-backed Houthi movement; Spanish PM Sánchez calls early election after housing protests; and an American neuroscientist and two German biophysicists have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine for revealing how nerve cells shape memories and feelings.
(File photo dated 29/09/26 of a United States Air Force Rockwell B-1 Lancer Bomber at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Credit: PA)

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has announced a snap election in November - saying he needs the support of the people to push through reforms. Also on the programme, Brazil's presidential election is going to a run-off in three weeks, with the challenger Flavio Bolsonaro leading President Lula; and the humble Australian phone box that's been granted heritage status.
(Photo: Spain's Prime Minister calls early elections for November 29, Madrid - 05 Oct 2026. Office of the Prime Minister of Spain/HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock)

As voting ends in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, we hear from supporters of the two main candidates, Flavio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Also in the programme: a resident of the Tigrayan regional capital, Mekelle, in northern Ethiopia describes the city now that pro-government forces have taken control; after the FlyDubai near-disaster, will pilots now face further vetting? And we hear from the Facebook whistleblower who inspired a film.
(IMAGE: People wait in line outside of a polling station to cast their votes during Brazil's general election, in Salvador, Brazil, October 4, 2026 / CREDIT: REUTERS/Antonello Veneri)

A woman who froze pieces of Ovarian tissue at the age of 19, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, gave birth to a baby boy 25 years later. We speak with Kassandra Bacon, whose tissue was frozen for 23 years ago.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is in Ukraine today on a surprise visit. And we hear from Frances Haugen, who exposed how Facebook’s algorithms fostered hate and triggered depression and suicidal feelings among teenagers by leaking internal documents to the Wall Street Journal in 2021. Her testimony is the basis of an new movie by Aaron Sorkin called, The Social Reckoning.
(Photo: A doctor holds a stethoscope, August 15, 2014. CREDIT: Lynne Cameron/PA Wire)