Newshour

After the Sudanese army is blamed for killing more than 300 civilians in two separate drone strikes, we hear how both adversaries and their backers are using the country as a 'laboratory for drone technology'.
Also on the programme: US author Michael Lewis on his latest book "Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State", about career civil servants resisting the sweeping cuts sought by the short-lived Department for Government Efficiency; and a young Palestinian writer reflects on food in Italy, where she now studies, and back home in Gaza.
(Photo: Medical workers treat injured people at Ameth Bek hospital after a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan, 19 October 2026. Credit: Reuters/Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected as "scandalous" accusations that Ukrainians are dying because the US is withholding intelligence from Kyiv.
He was speaking after President Zelensky's military technical adviser, Serhii Beskrestnov, told the BBC that the lack of reliable US warnings meant lives were being lost.
Also in the programme: how many young Israelis appear to have tilted rightwards ahead of next week's election; how an AI tool can appear to predict cancer survival chances from a single selfie; and new research unlocks a Shakespearean mystery.
(Photo shows US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Mumbai, India on 20 October 2026. Credit: Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

A Kenyan court has found the doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 29 accomplices guilty of the murder of 190 children and one adult.
Also on the programme: the French government imposes overnight curfews in parts of central Paris and other major cities in a bid to end the violence and looting that has scarred France since Saturday; and as the western Canadian province of Alberta votes in a referendum on independence, we hear from one of the leaders of the separatist movement.
(Photo: Paul Mackenzie, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers, who were members of the Good News International Church, to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest, appears in court for his judgement at the Mombasa High Court, Kenya 19 October 2026. Credit: Reuters/Laban Walloga)

After a weekend of violent protests, the French prime minister has given some cities the power to impose curfews to try and bring order back to the streets. We hear from a French senator who is part of the Centrist Union Group.
The United Nations World Food Programme is warning that funding for its operation in Gaza has fallen by half, warning that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will go hungry this winter. We hear from a resident in Gaza City.
Also in the programme, the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan is hoping to travel to the planet - grab a sample - and be the first to make a return trip.
(Photo: Police clash with protesters during second day of high cost-of-living protests in Paris, France, Oct 18, 2026. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)
Mohammed Badra,

French President Emmanuel Macron has addressed the nation following days of violent protest. He claims his country feels ‘anger and shame’ and vows ‘full transparency’ over the disorder. We get the latest from a BBC journalist on the ground.
Also in the programme: A rare look at the frontline in Ukraine; the new project aiming to reduce sports clothing waste; and we head to Canada to get a preview of Alberta’s non-binding independence referendum.
(Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference of the European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, October 2026. Credit:Olivier Mattheys. EPA/Shutterstock)