Netanyahu says pilot tried to crash Israel-bound plane and other top stories | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast from the. BBC World Service. Here's what's [music]. coming up. An Israelbound passenger jet. sends out a hijack alert as one pilot. reportedly stabs the other before being. overpowered. We'll go to Ke where Russia. has been pounding Ukraine's energy. facilities. We'll hear how children in. Gaza are coping as Israel launches near. daily strikes in the territory. >> Why are you crying? >> I'm fed up. >> From what? life.

>> and the US withdraws its last troops. from Iraq after more than 20 years. [music]. >> We start with a dramatic incident on a. flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A plane. with around 170 people on board was. forced to land in Saudi Arabia after a. serious altercation. Israeli media say. the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and. attempted to crash the plane. This video. is believed to have been recorded by a. passenger while the incident was. unfolding and was posted on social.

media. >> We're here the plane. We've just taken. control of the terrorists. We're about. to land. Anyone who hears me, we need. help. We're landing in Tabuk, apparently. in the area of Saudi Arabia. Not. familiar with it. Unknown. All aboard. the flight are healthy and in one piece. aside from the pilot. We need help. As you heard, that passenger referred to. the incident as terrorism, but there has. been no confirmation of a motive. We. heard more from another passenger on the.

flight. There were two pilots in the. front. One stabbed the other. And there. were two spare pilots who were supposed. to operate the next flight. The relief. pilots are European, one of them. British, who entered and pulled the. aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilized. the plane, and landed us in Saudi. Arabia. >> Earlier, our global affairs reporter, Sebastian Usher, told me what we know so. far. >> Everyone's trying to piece together the. narrative at the moment from all the.

elements that are there. I mean, of. course, passenger testimony being. verified is going to be key to it. Um we. I mean essentially this was something. which was set off several hours ago when. there was a code uh emergency warning. from this flight uh which one that there. was trouble on board and the other that. it was a hijack code. So there was an. immediate response both from the Saudis. and the Israelis this was over Saudi. airspace to scramble uh jets to try and.

deal with that. As you were saying your. instruction there, it was brought down. safely in a Saudi airport, um, Tabuk. airport. Uh, there is some damage to the. back of a plane that's that's visible. It also plunged at one point uh, by. about 10,000 ft. So, this was an. extraordinary incident. Whatever the. reason, whatever motivation behind it, one of the videos that we've just. verified at the BBC shows two bodies. lying on the floor. Now, not bodies of.

dead people, bodies of people who have. been wounded. They appear to be the. pilot, potentially the co-pilot. Uh. there is blood spattered around them. We've heard from the airport authorities. that both the pilot and the co-pilot are. in hospital and being treated. So, we. know that a very serious incident. happened. We know that there have been. no actual deaths. We don't think from. what we know so far that in that it. involved other people directly in the. confrontation, but we don't know 100%. how it was subdued. Report we heard.

there um from that passenger has been. backed up by other reports that we've. heard that other crew managed to get. into the cabin and resolve the situation. and then the plane was able to be flown. to a safe landing. President Zalinski. says at least five people have been. killed and 14 injured across Ukraine in. the latest Russian overnight attacks. They involved both drones and ballistic. missiles which the Ukrainian air. defenses tried to shoot down. Lilian. Bivings is business editor at the Kev.

Independent. >> For the last few hours, everyone's been. pretty exhausted here uh in Kev after. another sleepless night. It's been, you. know, sleepless nights for the last. several weeks, uh, largely, uh, you. know, along with constant daytime. attacks. Uh, we were just actually. talking in the newsroom about how this. air raid alert, this last one, uh, lasted 12 hours, right? So, it just. ended about an hour ago. Uh, it went. from yesterday all up until about, yeah, an hour ago. And we, um, even continued.

to hear explosions this morning as well. So the attack uh continued well until. late late morning and we have a brief. pause right now but I imagine attacks. will start again as they have been you. know even as a newsroom at an. organization we've had to shift how we. work uh you know where we work uh it's. very disruptive it's very disruptive to. daily life of course to businesses uh. that you know rely on being able to stay. open so that they have customers and.

things like that um you know I think as. everyone has here for the last almost 5. years of war. You know, people have kind. of found ways around it, found ways to. continue living to kind of uh you know, as one of my colleagues put it recently, kind of stretch the limit of what we. consider normal constantly. Um and you. know, in doing so, continuing to live. life, which is, you know, what we all. want to do. But uh it has been. complicated and certainly people are.

exhausted, certainly people are stressed. and certainly you see that more and more. people are making the decision to. relocate temporarily out of Kev uh to. safer parts of the country in the west. or abroad. >> Vitali Chevchenko from BBC monitoring. told me where the Russians had hit. >> energy infrastructure first of all. Um, in fact, the Ukrainian Prime Minister. Siki Kitki says that this was this was. the worst attack on Ukrainian energy.

infrastructure since the end of the. previous heating season. So, he says. that Russia's uh relaunched its campaign. against uh Ukrainian electricity heating. and and water supplies. So far, um, electricity supplies have. been restored to about 8,000 households, uh, in in the Ukrainian, uh, capital. The Russian defense ministry says that.

it hit, um, the Trailska power station. outside of Kiev, the largest supplier. um, of electricity to the Ukrainian. capital. So the Ukrainians, they knew. that this coming winter is is going to. be really really tough. And it looks. like it's going to be much tougher than. the previous winter when the Russians. also attacked energy infrastructure. But. this time around, they're also hitting.

uh supply chains, um warehouses, supermarkets, and over the past month and a half, they've also knocked out a key sector of. the Ukrainian uh economy, steel making, which used before the war, it used to. account for 10% of GDP and employed half. a million uh people. So things are. looking pretty grim. uh for Ukrainians. >> Yeah. What what is the atmosphere in Kev.

like given that context? >> You can tell that there's a difference. Um whoever. uh could leave or whoever wanted to. leave, my impression is that they have. left, but in the Ukrainian capital, millions are still there and they are. well weighing up their their options. um. the uh Ukrainian capital which is right. in the center of the country. It's. pretty much been turned into a frontline.

city. Its advantage is that it's it's uh. much richer than um frontline cities. such as Zaparisia. uh and and Nicop and uh those cities. which used to rely on steel making. pretty heavily. I'm hearing panicked. announcements by the authorities in. those cities saying, "Well, look, up to. 70% of our local government spending.

used to be covered by taxes paid by the. steel industry. Now it's there no more. How are we going to survive? how we're. going to repair uh heating plants for. example which will be targeted by Russia. are already being targeted by Russia. energy supplies. So one um uh steel. making executive that I spoke to um. earlier this week he said if we don't.

manage to restart metaly i.e the metals. making in Ukraine. European money will. not be enough to keep Ukraine afloat. >> Nearly a year after a ceasefire was. supposed to end the fighting in Gaza, Israeli forces still conduct near daily. strikes against what it says are Hamas. targets. For ordinary Palestinians in. Gaza, life is precarious. The Hamasr run. health ministry says more than 1,400.

people have been killed since last. October and doctors say that Israel is. restricting vital medical supplies to. patients in hospitals. Israel denies. this. The BBC's Emir Nada reports now on. how the children in particular are. coping. Rasil was sleeping in her tent in. Al-Mwasi camp in Kanunis, southern Gaza, when witnesses say she was hit by an. Israeli attack. >> Along with her family, she was rushed to. Naser Hospital. Her 9-year-old sister,

Ratil, was killed. But Rile's injuries. have brought another battle. Since she. was admitted, Rasil has undergone more. than 20 operations to clean her wounds. the infections are not responding to the. antibiotics she's been treated with. >> The solution is to try and clean the. wounds every day or every other day, washing them in the operation room and. trying as much as possible to control. the infections. Hospitals currently have high rates of.

multi-drug resistance. In the long run, people's immunity weakens. The patient. would need to undergo surgery every day. or every other day. Over the coming. years, you will see the number of. amputes rise daily, even if the war. stops. >> And is facing another serious. complication. >> She recently had a seizure that lasted. about four to 5 minutes. >> Doctors say the seizures are being.

caused by a piece of shrapnel lodged in. her brain. They say they cannot. currently remove it. Israel says it allows medicines, including antibiotics, to enter Gaza. without restriction. But multiple humanitarian organizations. and medical staff across Gaza have told. the BBC that there are major shortages. of essential drugs. >> Across displacement camps, much of the. water and sanitation infrastructure has. been destroyed or damaged.

Bacteria spreads through the water. system and rats and other pests are also. thriving, increasing the risk of. disease. >> And for children, the bombardment itself. remains a constant threat. On September the 1st, the Israel Defense. Forces carried out a series of air. strikes during a raid near a school. At. least four people were killed, including. two children. The IDF says its forces were capturing. the head of Hamas's internal security.

service in a ground operation. >> One of the students who was supposed to. go to school that day was Lara. >> It's a good thing you didn't go to. school today. >> They were going to throw you a nice. birthday party at school. >> They are going to celebrate me. >> There is school tomorrow. Are you going. to go? >> No. >> I mean, it'll be a day or two and after. that things calm down and life will go. back to normal. Hopefully, it will. return. >> Lara's father was killed last year while. searching for food. >> Why are you crying?

>> I'm fed up. >> From what? >> Life. >> UNICEF says nearly all children in Gaza. require urgent mental health and. psychosocial support. >> Back in hospital, Rile's wounds are. still not healing. The doll she's kissing is named after. her sister, Ratil. The IDF told the BBC. it has no record of the strike that hits. Rasil's family.

>> Rasil and her father have been given. permission to leave Gaza for her. treatment. But for the thousands of. children injured, the wait for essential. medical resources or evacuation. continues. Still to come, we'll find out why. Alaska's fat bear competition is an. important marker of brown bears. survival. >> Being fat, if you're a bear, is a. successful bear, because that's how you. survive hibernation. [music].

>> After more than two decades of American. military presence in Iraq, the last US. troops to be stationed there have now. been withdrawn. Iraq helailed the end of. the US-led anti-jihadist mission as the. start of a new chapter. Karen Geoni. spoke to Toby Dodge, professor of. international relations at the London. School of Economics and author of Iraq: From War to a new authoritarianism. What. did he make of the last few hundred US. soldiers leaving the country? >> Karat security services have been.

functioning uh pretty well for the last. five, six years. the Islamic State, Islamic radicalism is at a historic low. level. So the Iraqi system for all its. multiple weaknesses and flaws can uh is. self- sustaining and whether the. Americans go or not has got not got much. to do with the future trajectory of the. of the country. >> Right? So when we compare it say to the. US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, we saw such a dramatic turn of events.

after that that the Taliban sweeping. back to power. It's not like that. You. say. >> that's an excellent comparison and and. is is radically different. I think if. you look at Ali Zadi, the current prime. minister, he's been in the United States. twice um in uh July and in September, both in New York and Washington. He's. got good relations with President Trump. So, the current Iraqi government are. attempting to build as close relations.

with the United States as possible. They're offering oil deals to large. United States companies. So the the. departure of a few hundred, I think it's. probably about 500 troops here or there. doesn't make a difference. Now, that's. not to say that Iraq hasn't got profound. problems. It's a deeply corrupt country. Its population, high unemployment, uh I. think 700,000 young people joining the. job market each year without jobs to go. to. So there are profound problems, but. I don't think American troops or a good.

or a bad relationship with the United. States is going to make any difference. >> Right. And and you're not fearing any. kind of security vacuum as happened in. 2011 when the US. >> Not at all. The two situations are not. comparable. Now there is a profound war. going on. Uh the war that the United. States started with Iran in February, that's still very much ongoing. What. what the Iraqi government have tried to. do is work very hard not to get drawn. in. There have been periodic uses of. Iraqi territory to strike uh the Arab.

Gulf states and other set of American. allies, but the Iraqi government. themselves really don't want anything to. do with this conflict and are attempting. are attempting to keep out. >> Over the last few weeks, the media has. been dominated by warnings about the. dangers posed by artificial. intelligence. On Tuesday, President. Trump signed an agreement with top tech. leaders, saying they would implement. safeguards as a form of protection from. AI's potential risks. And now, the. Chinese company Moonshot has announced.

that it's conducting an internal review. after it discovered that an AI tool had. told researchers how to make boweapons. Our senior technology reporter, Chris. Valance, told me more. Uh what happened. here is there is an AI security company. called uh Mineguard and they figured out. a way to persuade two versions of. Moonshot's uh Kimmy uh model to. disregard its own uh safety guard rails. and pretty much discuss any topic um.

they wanted it to. In this case, um, some examples of the kind of things it. discussed were, uh, biological weapons, uh, chemical weapons and, um, uh, ways. in which, uh, you might carry out. assassinations to name but a few. Um, this kind of disregarding of its own. safety rules is called jailbreaking. And. the interesting thing about that is if. you look at for example last year's. report by the UK's AI security institute. they say they were able to uh jailbreak.

pretty much every model that they tested. and that will include some of the. bigname models. So uh you know. jailbreaking is something that the. industry uh is very aware of. It's a. risk that the industry takes very. seriously because obviously they don't. want people doing bad things with their. models p persuading them to do things. The safety rules are meant to stop, but. it's a problem that people find uh. they're certainly making it harder to. jailbreak these models, but they find it. very hard to remove the risk completely.

>> What has been Moonshot's response? >> Well, uh Moonshot says it's still in. discussions uh with Mine Guard over what. they found. It says it's conducting an. internal review as well. Uh it also says. it welcomes third-party input uh to help. make the model safer. And it says in an. email it it sent to uh Mine Guard which. it it shared part of that with us. It. said that in its experience the model uh. generally refused these kinds of.

requests. It's that time of the year. when we get to find out the winner of. the 2026 Fat Bear Week in Catmy National. Park in Alaska. He is Bear 89. also. known as backpack. 16 bears took part in. the contest and more than 2 million. votes were cast from a 100 countries. around the world. Being crowned top bear. is far more than a popularity contest as. we heard from Christine Loberg, a ranger. at Capmy. >> Being fat if you're a bear is a.

successful bear because that's how you. survive hibernation. And this event was. started a little over uh 12 years ago by. a ranger called Mike Fitz who just. thought it would be interesting to have. a little contest to see what bear could. be the fattest. And it does work. If. you're a fat bear, you're going to come. out from hibernation after not eating or. even urinating for half a year. That's a. long time. So they need that body fat in. order to survive all those months in the. winter to come out in the spring. >> And that's all [music] for this edition.

of the Global News podcast. If you'd. like to get in touch, our contact. details are below. Until next time, goodbye. [music].