Suspect due in court after shooting at Trump press dinner

Summary

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Global News Podcast (BBC World Service)

Episode: Suspect due in court after shooting at Trump press dinner
Date: April 27, 2026
Host: Ankur Desai

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Episode Overview

This episode covers major global news headlines with in-depth analysis and firsthand reports. The central focus is the armed attack at a Washington, D.C., dinner attended by President Trump, including the ongoing investigation and security implications. The episode also features reports on diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran, the upcoming state visit of King Charles and Queen Camilla to the U.S., legal drama in the tech world between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, a historic moment at the London Marathon, and new research into the science behind ghostly experiences.

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Key Stories & Insights

1. Suspect Due in Court After Trump Press Dinner Shooting

[01:29 - 06:54]

• Incident Recap:

  • A man identified as Cole Thomas Allen, age 31, is due in court after an attempted armed attack at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, attended by President Trump and high-level officials.
  • The suspect, a part-time tutor and Caltech computer science graduate, managed to reach the security perimeter heavily armed with a shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives.
  • The FBI is investigating how security was breached in what was considered one of the most secure venues in D.C.; one Secret Service agent was wounded but is expected to recover due to a bulletproof jacket.

• Profile and Motive:

  • Allen was known in his community as "an ordinary person" and "down to earth" ([03:36]).
  • “You never expect it coming from this guy … I got a lot of help in my physics homework and prepared for tests with him.” – Anonymous community member ([03:36])
  • Authorities found a document outlining potential targets, including Trump and members of his administration. This document was sent to family members, who notified the police.
  • President Trump, in a Fox News interview, described the perpetrator as "a sick man" with "hatred in his heart" and said he was "anti-Christian" ([04:33]), but the exact motive remains unclear.

• Security Questions:

  • Despite quick action by the Secret Service, officials are scrutinizing how the suspect breached such high security:
  • “It's still the fact that he got so close ... one of the most, if not the most, secure, sealed-off rooms, not just in Washington, D.C. but in the country." – Shaima Khalil, BBC Correspondent ([06:08])

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2. King Charles State Visit & Security Concerns

[06:54 - 09:11]

• Response to the Attack:

  • The British monarch’s visit to the U.S. marking 250 years of American independence will proceed, despite increased security concerns following the attempted attack on Trump.
  • Statement from Buckingham Palace: "The king and queen are most grateful to all those who’ve worked at pace to ensure [the visit] remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway." – Daniela Ralph, BBC Royal Correspondent ([07:30])

• President Trump's Remarks:

  • “He’s very brave, actually, and he’s a friend of mine for a long time. ... He represents his nation like nobody else can do it.” – President Trump ([08:20-08:23])

• Security Adjustments:

  • While public events will see heightened precautions, the overall schedule will see only minor modifications.

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3. U.S.-Iran Talks: The State of Diplomacy

[09:11 - 12:19]

• Diplomatic Developments:

  • Iranian FM Abbas Saraqchi visits Russia after failed U.S.-Iran peace talks, citing Washington's "excessive demands."
  • Iran is proposing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and delay nuclear talks; the U.S. sees this as weakening its negotiating leverage.
  • Israeli concerns are significant, fearing loss of U.S. leverage and calling for a strong negotiating posture.

• Red Lines and U.S. Stance:

  • Iran has conveyed its "written red lines," insisting on postponing nuclear restrictions ([10:54]).
  • President Trump has publicly insisted: "Iran must make this commitment to having no nuclear weapon … before it was going to return to any kinds of direct talks.” – Yolande, BBC Middle East Correspondent ([10:54])

• Ceasefire Tensions:

  • Despite a fragile ceasefire extension between Israel and Lebanon, ongoing violence includes drone and rocket attacks. "Ceasefire is extremely shaky," with both sides trading accusations of violations. – Yolande ([11:44])

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4. London Marathon: Sebastian Sawyer’s Historic Run

[12:19 - 14:10; 22:52 - 27:21]

• Record-Breaking Moment:

  • Kenyan runner Sebastian Sawyer finishes the London Marathon in under two hours, an unprecedented feat in competitive history.
  • “Watching Sebastian Sawi … was nothing short of breathtaking. The sense of joy and astonishment was overwhelming.” – Paul Turgat, former world record holder ([23:27])

• Technological Advances:

  • Sawyer’s shoes featured a carbon fiber plate, creating a "diving board" effect to enhance speed ([24:10]).
  • “A super shoe … has a thin carbon fiber plate embedded in the sole. In some sense, this acts like a diving board … springs you forward.” – Nicholas Smith, shoe expert ([24:10])

• Kenyan Running Culture:

  • The achievement sparked widespread celebration in Kenya, attributed to high-altitude upbringing, cultural traditions, and the drive to escape poverty.
  • “People start running from as early as, you know, primary school. … People see it as an opportunity to get out of poverty.” – Richard Kagoi, BBC Nairobi correspondent ([12:33], [26:14])

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5. Musk vs. Altman: Tech Drama Heads to Court

[16:47 - 20:24]

• Background:

  • Elon Musk sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging he was deceived about the nonprofit mission after the launch of their for-profit arm.
  • Musk seeks over $130 billion in damages and Altman’s removal from the board, framing the case as “altruism versus greed” and claiming “deceit … of Shakespearean proportions” ([17:16]).

• OpenAI’s Counter:

  • OpenAI claims Musk was aware of plans to monetize and that the nonprofit arm still exists and is highly valuable.
  • The case will reveal internal communications and includes expected testimony from both Musk and Altman.

• Expert View:

  • “For fraud, he has to show that the OpenAI defendants deceived him at some point in time, and that's what led him to … become … their most significant donor.” – Rose Chan Loy, UC School of Law ([19:51])

• Memorable Line:

  • Musk’s January post: “Can’t wait to start the trial. The discovery and testimony will blow your mind.” ([20:06])

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6. Tribute: Nedra Tally Ross of The Ronettes

[20:24 - 22:52]

• Legacy:

  • Nedra Tally Ross, last founding member of The Ronettes, passes at 80. The group pioneered the ‘garage pop girl group’ sound.
  • “Billy Joel called them the toughest. … The real classic songs like ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Baby I Love You’ … exemplify that Phil Spector wall of sound.” – Lucy O’Brien, Music Journalist ([20:55])

• Industry Challenges:

  • The Ronettes faced industry sexism and controlling management from Phil Spector, leading to creative and personal frustrations.
  • “She said, ‘I hated the dog eat dog side of showbiz … they were pitted against each other.’ … [She] became a Christian and had reservations about the music’s direction.” – Lucy O'Brien ([22:22])

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7. Science and Ghosts: Infrasound Research

[27:21 - 30:33]

• New Findings:

  • Canadian research suggests that sensations often attributed to ghostly presences are physiological reactions to infrasound (low-frequency sound below 20Hz, inaudible to humans).
  • “This idea, that low frequency sound, infrasound, can affect us physiologically … we may think it’s some sort of paranormal experience.” – Kieran O’Keefe, Parapsychologist ([02:04], [28:12])

• Effects and Sources:

  • Infrasound can heighten irritability, sadness, and elevate cortisol (the stress hormone); it's produced by both natural (thunder, volcanoes) and man-made sources (boilers, air conditioning) ([29:12]).

• The Role of Priming:

  • Psychological context amplifies effects: “If you walk into a big cathedral … there’s an expectation ... in both those environments, you can be exposed to infrasound, but your interpretation… will vary.” – Kieran O'Keefe ([30:05])

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Notable Quotes

• “It’s just something you never expect … a nice, down-to-earth guy.” – Torrance community member, on suspect Cole Allen ([03:36])
• “He’s very brave, actually, and he’s a friend of mine for a long time.” – President Trump, on King Charles ([08:20])
• “I think for fraud, [Musk] has to show that the OpenAI defendants deceived him at some point in time…” – Rose Chan Loy, legal expert ([19:51])
• “People start running from as early as, you know, primary school. ... People see it as an opportunity to get out of poverty.” – Richard Kagoi, BBC ([12:33], [26:14])

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Trump Press Dinner Shooting: [01:29 - 06:54]
• King Charles State Visit: [06:54 - 09:11]
• U.S.-Iran Diplomacy & Middle Eastern Tensions: [09:11 - 12:19]
• London Marathon Record: [12:19 - 14:10; 22:52 - 27:21]
• Elon Musk vs. OpenAI Court Case: [16:47 - 20:24]
• Nedra Tally Ross Tribute: [20:24 - 22:52]
• Science of Ghostly Experiences (Infrasound): [27:21 - 30:33]

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Summary

This episode provides critical updates on breaking political events, international diplomacy, tech industry turbulence, cultural tributes, sports milestones, and scientific discoveries—all delivered with the BBC's trademark depth and precision. Whether it’s a dramatic courtroom battle, a royal visit overshadowed by security fears, or the revelations behind 'haunted' feelings, listeners get the facts, analysis, and human stories behind global headlines.

Transcript

[Narrator]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankur Desai and in the Afternoon of Monday 27th April, these are our main stories. A man accused of an armed attack at a dinner in Washington attended by Donald Trump over the weekend is due to appear in court. Meanwhile, President Trump says Britain's King Charles will be very safe during his state visit to to the us. Also in this podcast have you ever seen a ghost? Well, new research suggests that if you think you have, you might be wrong.

[Kieran O'Keefe]

This idea, that low frequency sound, and that is infrasound, it can affect us physiologically, so it can affect our bodies in such a way that we may think it's some sort of paranormal experience.

[Ankur Desai]

And we look back at the life of Nedra Tally Rose, the last surviving founding member of of the legendary American pop group the Renettes, who's died at the age of 80. First, the man suspected of trying to shoot President Trump or members of his administration will appear in court later charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. The FBI have been investigating Thomas Col Allen as well as how he managed to get so close to the White House Correspondent's Dinner on Saturday while heavily armed. One Secret Service agent was shot as the part time tutor rushed at security, causing chaos at an event normally known as a friendly mixer between the White House and the press.

[Commercial Announcer]

Chaotic SCENE A gunman bursting through a security checkpoint. The D.C. police chief said the suspect appeared to be a lone actor, was believed to be staying at the Washington Hilton.

[Shaima Khalil]

The suspect now facing seat serious federal charges.

[Commercial Announcer]

Investigators say he traveled across the country to carry out this targeted attack.

[Ankur Desai]

The 31 year old is from Torrance, a quiet coastal suburb of Los Angeles. One member of the community we spoke to knew the suspect well.

[Commercial Voice]

He seemed like a very ordinary person. You know, it's just you never expect it coming from this guy. He was a nice guy, down to earth guy. I got a lot of help in my physics homework and prepared for tests with him as well as one of my other, my other buddies. So, yeah, it's kind of, you know, it's just something you never expect.

[Ankur Desai]

So our correspondent Shaima Khalil is in Washington and told me more about Cole Thomas Allen.

[Shaima Khalil]

Cole Allen describes himself online as a mechanical engineer, game developer and teacher. We know that he's a computer science graduate from Caltech, one of the most prestigious technical institutes in the country. We know that the investigation is continuing into his motive, but that officers who are investigating him that they found a document that apparently was written by him by the alleged gunman that included plans to target Trump administration officials, but also likely the president himself. President Trump, when speaking to Fox News on Sunday, described him as someone with hatred in his heart. He described him as a sick man and that he was anti Christian. We also understand from authorities that before the attack on Saturday, the document was reportedly sent by the suspect to his family who alerted the police. And that Cole Allen, who is from California, had traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, then to Washington, D.C. and we also know that he had stayed in the Washington Hilton Hotel in the days leading up to the events. We're still unsure about the exact motive. What led to this mechanical engineer as he describes himself, this computer science graduate, someone who's just been described by a university professor that has dealt with him as a decent person, someone who, you know, when people, neighbors in his area heard about this, were shocked, what led him to then storm by security services, breach the security detail and tried to storm the ballroom where Donald Trump, the first lady, the vice president and senior cabinet members were armed with shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. He was heavily, heavily armed and got awfully close.

[Ankur Desai]

And Sharma, do we know any more about how he's able to get so close to the president?

[Shaima Khalil]

Look, I think this is really what's at the heart of this investigation because while the director of the Secret Service, the president himself will tell you that the way that the events unfolded have meant that the security plan actually worked, that he was apprehended really quickly, that he wasn't allowed to get in, and that he was taken away, albeit after shooting one officer who is expected to recover. Well, because he was wearing a bulletproof jacket. It's still the fact that he got so close. It's still the fact that he has managed to breach the security detail in a room and in an area that was described to me as one of the most, if not the most secure, secured, sealed off rooms, not just in Washington, D.C. but in the country because of how high profile it is.

[Ankur Desai]

Chaim Khalil in Washington well, the attack on that event in Washington, D.C. has raised concerns about the security of officials in the U.S. just as King Charles and Queen Camilla head there for a state Visit to mark 250 years of American independence, the British monarch is keeping calm and carrying on with the planned state visit. As Britain's ambassador to the US has said all appropriate security measures are in place and Buckingham palace has said the visit will go ahead as planned. The BBC senior royal correspondent Daniela Ralph reports from Washington, D.C.

[Daniela Ralph]

ready to welcome a king and queen. Events last night have caused all security plans for this already challenging trip to be reviewed, led by the UK Government alongside the White House and Buckingham Palace. After discussions, the palace confirmed the visit would go ahead. In a statement, it said, following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their Majesties will proceed as planned. The king and queen are most grateful to all those who've worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway. Earlier, the president had spoken on the phone to Fox News and was confident the visit would not be postponed as

[Kieran O'Keefe]

he praised the king and he's been amazing, actually.

[Ankur Desai]

He's very brave, actually, and he's a

[Kieran O'Keefe]

friend of mine for a long time.

[Ankur Desai]

So he's coming and we're going to have a great time and he represents his nation like nobody else can do it.

[Kohler Cast Iron Ambassador]

Thank you very much, everybody.

[Ankur Desai]

He's a great gentleman.

[Narrator]

A great gentleman and a great king.

[Daniela Ralph]

When President Trump visited the UK Last September, the level of security was unprecedented. The usual elements of a state visit were abandoned and the president's schedule kept him within the walls of Windsor Castle. This week, the king does have some public facing events. They have been the focus of the security review. There will be some modest adjustments made, but they will not significantly impact events over the next four days.

[Ankur Desai]

Danila Ralph reporting from Washington, D.C. as diplomatic efforts continue to jumpstart the stalled negotiations between the United States and Iran, the Iranian foreign Minister, Abbas Saraqchi, has moved on to Russia for talks with President Putin in St. Petersburg. In recent days, he has had meetings in Pakistan and Iran's Gulf neighbour, Oman. Arriving in Russia, he said peace talks with the US earlier this month had failed because of what he called Washington's excessive demands. Reports from the US suggest Tehran is now proposing ending the war by reopening the Strait of Hormuz while delaying talks on its nuclear program till later. President Trump has insisted any deal must involve Iran renouncing a nuclear weapon. Our Middle east correspondent Yolande now told me more.

[Yolande]

This is a report that's from the US News site Axios, and it's quoting an unnamed US official and other sources basically saying that Iran's latest proposal focuses on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the war and postponing nuclear talks. But the commentary there is really saying that if that was to happen, if the US Was to accept that, it would leave it with a lot less leverage in any nuclear talks. And what Israeli media analysts are saying is that they don't believe that, you know, Israel is in favor of that at all. It worries that the US Would lose in that kind of a deal. And it's weighing up different scenarios. The Israeli security cabinet met yesterday in case things do really sort of fall apart there and there is a return to war with Iran.

[Ankur Desai]

How would Donald Trump feel about the fact that the production of nuclear weapons is still something that Iran want to postpone and talk about later?

[Yolande]

Yeah, I mean, there is a report from the Iranian Fast News Agency saying that Iran has sent these written red lines via mediators on the nuclear program and on the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump was very clear when he was speaking to Fox News on Sunday. He said, if they want, we can talk, but we're not sending people. And he said on social media all they have to do is call. And his point was that Iran must make this commitment to having no nuclear weapon. That that was, you know, really what the US required before it was going to return to any kinds of direct talks.

[Ankur Desai]

And meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanon are continuing. Lebanese officials say at least 14 people were killed on Sunday, while Israel says one of its soldiers was killed by a Hezbollah drone strike in southern Lebanon. All this, I guess, despite ongoing ceasefire. What is the current state of that right now, Yolanda?

[Yolande]

Extremely shaky. In short, I mean, Hezbollah fired drones and rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and into northern Israel. After that extension of three weeks was announced by President Trump, saying that both Israel and Lebanon had agreed to that. The Israeli prime minister then over the weekend came out and said that he had given the Israeli military this directive to powerfully target Hezbollah. Then he told his cabinet meeting that Hezbollah was dismantling the ceasefire. Ceasefire. Hezbollah has been accusing Israel of ceasefire violations, too, and saying that it is reacting to its continuing occupation of southern Lebanon.

[Ankur Desai]

Yolande Nel reporting. Still to come in this podcast, after Kenya's Sebastian Sawyer made history in the London Marathon, we asked why the country produces such good distance runners.

[Richard Kagoi]

People start running from as early as, you know, primary school, and also people see it as an opportunity to get out of poverty.

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the global news podcast. The feud between ex owner elon Musk and OpenAI boss Sam Altman has so far, perhaps fittingly, played out largely on social media. But that's about to change. A case brought by Musk against Altman reaches court in Oakland, California, later. Over the course of the trial, some of the biggest names in tech are expected to give evidence, and it could have big implications for the AI boom as a whole. Our reporter will chalk. Tell me more.

[Narrator]

Elon Musk and Sam Altman. They worked together back in 2015 to found OpenAI. And that was back when a time when, you know, the AI driven world we live in now was still just a dream for them. And the company was founded with quite kind of benevolent purposes, at least on the. On the surface of it, it was supposed to save the world from a dystopian future. I've got their first mission statement in front of me. It said, our goal is to advance the digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. Now, since then, the company has restructured its launch chat GPT, and it's also launched a for profit arm which is valued at around $850 billion. The company as a whole. Now, Elon Musk left in 2018 after relations turned sour. And in this court case, he's alleging that he was conned, that the $40 million he put in at the start was basically taken under false pretenses and essentially the OpenAI were dishonest by starting to make money. Now, his original complaint contains some quite powerful language. It describes the case as a textbook case of altruism versus greed. It says that Musk's humanitarian nature was preyed on and that the deceit here is of Shakespearean proportions. Now, he's pushing for more than $130 billion in damages, but he says that will be reinvested into the not for profit arm of the business. And he also wants the removal of Sam Altman from the board. So that's Elon Musk's side. As for OpenAI, they say Musk knew about these plans to make money all along, and this is just a smear campaign motivated by jealousy and regret for walking away, as well as a desire to derail a competing AI company. They also say that they' nonprofit arm still exists and is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

[Ankur Desai]

And what is at stake here, exactly?

[Narrator]

Well, I think on one level, a lot of people will just be invested in this for the drama at the heart of it, you know, these are huge characters who've been trading insults for years in public, and they're also two men who, like it or not, could have huge impacts on the whole world as AI gets better. On top of that, we're expecting diary entries, texts and emails to be read aloud in court. But there are practical implications, too. Musk win the case. It will have a huge effect on OpenAI. However, Rose Chan Loy from the school of Law at the University of California doesn't think that will be easy.

[Commercial Host]

I think for fraud, he has to show that the OpenAI defendants deceived him at some point in time, and that's what led him to become one of their, if not their most significant donor

[Narrator]

now we're expecting both Musk and Altman to testify in court. And given the personalities, I think one thing we can be certain of is that it's going to be dramatic. I'll leave you with an X post from Elon Musk. Back in January. He said, can't wait to start the trial. The discovery and testimony will blow your mind.

[Ankur Desai]

Will Chalk reporting. Nedra Tally Ross, the last surviving founding member of the legendary American pop group the Rettes, has died at the age of 80. The group were known for a string of hits as well as their trademark beehive hairdos, and toured alongside other legendary acts of their era, including the Beatles, and at one stage had the Rolling Stones as their support act. Lucy o', Brien, a music journalist and author of the book she the Definitive History of Women in Popular Music, has been speaking to Rebecca Kesby.

[Lucy O'Brien]

They were absolutely huge. And it's partly because they were, along with the Supremes. They were seen as the pioneering girl group, really pioneering this new sound, quite garage pop, released on a small independent label, kind of quite gritty. And Billy Joel called them the toughest. They had the toughest sound of all the girl groups and the real classic songs like Be My Baby and Baby I Love you, which really exemplify that Phil Spector wall of sound.

[Music Commentator]

Yeah, they had quite complex harmonies as well, didn't they? I mean, they were really proficient musicians in their own right. But I guess it was quite difficult to be women in the music industry back then.

[Lucy O'Brien]

Oh, yes, it was. In the 60s. Women were seen as decoration. And Ronnie Spector in particular, even though she was such an amazing talent, she literally placed in the back seat by Phil Spector after they got married. He was very jealous about her being in the limelight, so he kind of deliberately sat on recordings of the Ronettes. So after their initial, the. The initial amazing success, they kind of started to fade by by the late 60s.

[Music Commentator]

And Nedra did talk about that, didn't she? Because in the band it was her and her two cousins. One of the who was Ronnie Spector. Of course, they're both dead now. But, you know, she did talk about that breakup and why it was so traumatic.

[Lucy O'Brien]

Yeah, she. She said, I hated the dog eat dog side of showbiz. And she hated the way that they were pitted against each other. She also had reservations because she became a Christian and she felt that the Ronettes didn't quite have the Christian inspired music that she wanted to sing. But it was. There were so many ways that the group were Frustra and it was mainly through Spectre not releasing their records and kind of really limiting what they could do.

[Ankur Desai]

Author of Music journalist Lucy o' Brien A day on from one of the most famous marathons in the world, it's fair to say some people in the running community are still in shock at what they saw. At yesterday's London Marathon, Kenya's Sebastian Sawyer broke a record many had thought impossible and finished the race in under two hours. It's the first time that's ever been done in a competitive marathon. Fellow Kenyan and runner Paul Turgat knows a thing or two about long distance running. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon back in 2003. And he's still getting to grips with what took place on the streets of London.

[Richard Kagoi]

Watching Sebastian Sawi go through the beautiful streets of London and cross the tape was nothing short of breathtaking. The sense of joy and astonishment was overwhelming. Like many across the globular distance running community, I'm still absorbing what we witnessed.

[Ankur Desai]

Even though technological advances in running might not be as obvious as, say, Formula one, we're told the tech did still play a part in breaking this record. Nicholas Smith, an expert on trainers, says the shoes Sebastian Sarwe was wearing are at the cutting edge.

[Commercial Voice]

Well, a super shoe probably isn't the same thing that everyone's wearing when they go to the supermarket or for their Sunday jog. What makes it different is it has a thin carbon fiber plate embedded in the sole. And in some sense, this acts like a diving board. It springs you forward. Now you can imagine making a shoe three feet tall with all kinds of foam and springs and other things might make you run faster. Completely legal. So this is kind of where everyone has drawn the line. Everyone's shoes have to be a certain thickness, and the athletic shoe companies have to work within that thickness to make their shoes as bouncy as possible.

[Ankur Desai]

A huge moment then for running, but also for Kenya, a nation that has produced some of the best distance runners of all time. Our correspondent Richard Kagoi in the capital of Nairobi told me how it had gone down there.

[Richard Kagoi]

Well, I mean, there's been lots of celebrations because this was just an incredible story. It was really awesome to see him, you know, shattering the record in Kenya. Everyone has just been talking about this, you know, yesterday, going even into the night, including also in my house. My wife is a budding athlete. And so this was something that really dominated even our conversations within our dinner table. The watch parties across the capital here in Nairobi, people just watching and following, you know, the marathon as it happened, it was quite an exciting moment. But I think just to paint the picture, especially for Saw's family, you know, the dad and the mom just came from church and got home. And this is basically what they were just doing, you know, watching the London Marathon as it happened on live television. They were joined by a few neighbors and relatives and they really broke into song, into dance. And this went also into the night. A lot of people joining in in celebration. So it was quite a bright spark. Even just amid, you know, the doom and gloomy, all the news from around the world.

[Ankur Desai]

Absolutely. Look, football is in the heart of Brazilians. It feels as though long distance running is very similar for Kenyans. How is it that they're able to produce just so many incredible long distance runners over the years?

[Richard Kagoi]

I'm sure that's really been the lingering question in the minds of many people who've been following, you know, Kenya's and Ethiopia's dominance, especially in athletics. But just in the case of Kenya, if you look at where Saue hails from, so this is on the west of the Rifty Valley, so this is towards the western Kenya. So it's a bit elevated, you would say it's about 8,000ft above sea level. The weather is temperate, you know, very hilly terrain. But it's sort of like a culture that has been adopted by people living within, especially the Kalenjin tribe from where he comes from. So it comes from this area called Was in Gishu. So the weather is really good. So people say that probably it sort of like forces your body to adapt and increase, you know, your red blood cells and your EPO production. So the temperature and the altitude has also been a factor. It's a cult. It's something that people have grown up seeing because it's something that's been passed on from one generation to the other. People start running from as early as, you know, primary school. It's something that they've been doing. And so this really sort of like builds on, you know, that capacity. And also people see it as an opportunity to get out of poverty.

[Ankur Desai]

Richard Kagoi reporting from Nairobi. Right, brace yourselves because we're about to get spooky. Have you ever walked into a building and immediately got an uneasy feeling as if you're not alone, like you're being watched? Do you believe in ghosts? Well, if you do, bad news, because research just released by a group of Canadian scientists proves that often those feelings can be attributed to. To infrasound. Now, a sound that we humans can't hear. But can feel on a vibrational level, which triggers other psychological and physiological effects. Parapsychologist Kieran o' Keefe explained more to my colleague Rebecca Kesby.

[Kieran O'Keefe]

First of all, I'm genuinely excited by the research because it supports an area of study that I've been looking at now for over 25 years. This idea that low frequency sound, and that is infrasound, it's below 20 hertz, but it can affect us physiologically, so it can affect our bodies in such a way that we may think it's some sort of paranormal experience. Especially if you put that in a context. The research idea is not new. It's been around for about 25 years. But the lovely thing about this recent experimental work in Canada, it's a controlled way of showing that not only our mood can be affected, that we can actually get more irritable and even kind of increase sadness as a result of presence of infrasound, but it also increases our levels of cortisol, which is the stress hormone.

[Music Commentator]

Okay, so that would explain maybe why you get a sense of doom or fear when you're in a building where you can hear infrasound, but only on a physical level.

[Kieran O'Keefe]

Yes, exactly. A lot of people will be familiar with ultrasound, which is at the very top of our hearing. We can't hear it, but of course, if you blow and a dog whistle that's ultrasonic, we can't hear it, but a dog can hear it. Way at the bottom of our hearing spectrum is infrasound. And it's only if it's incredibly loud could you then actually hear it is obviously a natural source for it that can come from thunder and volcanoes. But in our modern world, there are man made sources of it, and that includes old types, boilers, ventilation systems, air conditioning units, anything like that, basically.

[Music Commentator]

Now, you said earlier that it's also the context where you're hearing these infrared sounds. I mean, I guess if you go into, let's say an old spooky church or something like that, are we already kind of picking up other signals that might make us feel a bit spooked?

[Kieran O'Keefe]

Absolutely. There's this idea of psychological priming. So if you walk into a big cathedral, for example, there's an expectation of the sort of experience you might have. If you walk into a spooky looking, you know, dilapidated haunted house, there's an expectation, so you're primed to have a sort of experience. Now, in both of those different environments, you can be exposed to infrasound. But your interpretation of what's happening to you will vary.

[Ankur Desai]

Parapsychologist Kieran o' Keefe there. And if this is the type of thing you're into, Kieran is a regular contributor to the podcast Uncanny, which is available wherever you get your BBC podcasts from. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email [e-mail] you can also find us on XBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global newspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Zabiola Kourouch and the producer was Will Chalk. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Ankar Desai. Until next time. Goodbye.

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