Western Europe hit by record-breaking heatwave

Summary

Global News Podcast — Western Europe Hit by Record-Breaking Heatwave

BBC World Service | Aired: June 23, 2026 | Host: Nick Mars

---

Episode Overview

In this edition of the Global News Podcast, the BBC World Service covers the record-breaking heatwave gripping Western Europe, tying the extreme temperatures to climate change and exploring the wide-ranging human impacts. Additional major stories include EU-Taliban talks over Afghan migration, a hospital ransomware attack in Romania, a dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka, and a new study about fast-aging generations. The episode also highlights Cape Verde’s historic debut at the World Cup and its economic and social effects.

---

1. Record-Breaking Heatwave in Western Europe

The Current Situation

• Europe is experiencing unprecedented heat:
  • France endures its hottest night in 80 years, with temperatures set to exceed 41°C. (02:00)
  • Similar conditions in Spain, Italy, Germany, and the UK.
  • Heat waves are expected to intensify and last until the end of the week. (06:56)
• Official warnings and measures implemented:
  • Italy issues "heat red alerts" for 15 cities.
  • Germany faces increased forest fire risk.
  • France: Half of regions under the harshest weather warnings. Hundreds of schools closed, and outdoor alcohol consumption restricted. (03:14)

Human Impact: Voices from the Region

• France (Anastasia, Nîmes):

  “We just go outside at night because during the afternoon it’s really hot and very hard to be outside… it’s going to be harder and harder now.” (03:40)

  • Adaptation is the new normal: increased use of air conditioning; facing second heatwave already this year.

• Spain (South):

  “It’s horrible… It feels catastrophic.” (04:23, 04:29)

  • Severe challenges for both businesses and daily life, worsened as schools are still open.

• Paris Perspective (Hugh Schofield, Correspondent):

  “It's a kind of Middle Eastern style of heat which …the country is not equipped for.” (04:40)
  “People realize that it's for real. It isn't a one-off. It's going to be part of our lives.”

  • Rush on air conditioning units; adaptation as a recurring theme.

• Madrid Perspective (Guy Hedgco, Correspondent):

  “The big shock for people is seeing these kinds of temperatures earlier in the year… before the end of June. That comes as quite a shock.” (05:44)

  • Legislation introduced to protect manual workers, e.g., restricting work during the hottest period of the day.

Scientific Explanation and Climate Change Link

• Weather Phenomenon: Heat Dome (Simon King, BBC Weather):
  • Describes a "large area of high pressure" that traps heat, causing temperatures to rapidly rise.

  “It doesn't move, and all that heat builds… It's trapped underneath it.” (07:16)

• Role of Climate Change:

  “Climate change is making it worse… Europe is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world.” (08:16)

  • Heat waves now more frequent, intense, and prolonged.
• Global Perspective:
  • India and Middle East face even higher temperatures, sometimes approaching 50°C.

  “You’re really stretching the limits at where the body can cope with that sort of heat.” (09:16)

  • Increased risk of deadly impacts and excess deaths worldwide.

---

2. EU-Taliban Talks on Afghan Migration

Event Summary

• Belgium hosts a Taliban delegation for migration talks—the first EU-hosted such meeting since the Taliban retook Afghanistan.
• Aims: Discuss deporting Afghans as part of the EU’s crackdown on irregular migration.
• Controversy:
  • Rights groups criticize the move, arguing it implies recognition of the Taliban.
  • The EU insists the talks don’t equate to formal recognition. (11:08)

---

3. US Diplomacy in the Middle East

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Visits Gulf Allies

• Purpose: Reassure Gulf allies about the recent US-Iran peace deal and address concerns regarding regional stability and reconstruction funds.
• Key Quote (Daniel Bush):

  “There are deep concerns among allies... whether the United States and Iran can reach a long-term deal and whether or not the US gave up too much to Tehran in the bargain.” (12:39)

• Regional Skepticism:
  • Allies wary due to previous attacks and doubts over US commitments.
  • Major issues include missile programs and the proposed $300B in reconstruction funds tied to Gulf allies. (14:26)

---

4. Cyber Attack on Romanian Hospitals

What Happened

• Massive ransomware attack in February 2024 affected the medical software “Hippocrate.”
• To contain the spread, authorities ordered more than 100 hospitals offline, forcing a return to pen and paper. (18:30)
• Result:
  Despite the chaos, the response is considered a success. Quick action prevented greater catastrophe and loss of life.

Lessons Learned (Joe Tidy, Cyber Corres.):

• Institutional memory of manual methods helped mitigate the disruption.
• Quote:

  “Quick thinking and heroics from people in the cybersecurity center… these healthcare attacks are becoming a real problem.” (19:49)

• Contrasts with a similar attack in London which resulted in patient death.

---

5. Sri Lanka’s Worst Dengue Outbreak in Years

Outbreak Overview

• Over 44,000 infections and 28 deaths since early 2026, with cases spiking between April and June.
• Key Factors (Prof. Nilika Malavige):
  • Climate changes, unplanned urbanization, viral adaptation.
  • Previous chikungunya outbreak reduced focus on dengue vector control. (21:49)
• Severity:

  “When you have this plasma leakage, then the mortality rates have been over 20% and that's, you know, pretty high.” (23:42)

• Solutions:
  • Integrated vector control, vaccination, and new prevention efforts.
  • Current measures insufficient without new technology and strategies. (24:05)

---

6. Are Today’s Generations Aging Faster?

Research Findings

• Study (Nature, Washington Univ. School of Medicine): People are biologically aging faster than previous generations, even accounting for chronological age.

• Implications (Dr. Anisha Patel):

  • Could explain rising rates of early-onset cancers like bowel, lung, and womb. (25:29)
  • Quote:

    “We are biologically aging faster and this may be causing cancers in the young…But it doesn’t show a definite cause. It’s a clue.” (25:29)

  • Multi-factorial causes: inflammation, environment, Western lifestyles, epigenetics.

• Public Health Concern:

  “This is a major public health issue… a global epidemic.” (26:56)

---

7. Cape Verde’s World Cup Debut: Social and Economic Impact

Local Reaction

• Cape Verde draws with Spain, sparking national pride and celebration.
• Fan Interviews:

  “For the first time they will see Cape Verde playing a so big game like this… the Cape Verde already won.” (29:20)

• Economic Benefits (Paulina Diaz, Economist):
  • Exposure is boosting tourism and consumption.
  • “This feeling of pride, of unity, will have a huge impact at the economic side, I would say forever, perhaps, because there will be a Cape Verde before today and a Cape Verde after today.” (30:08)

Lasting Effects

• Surge in visitors, global attention (viral influencer videos).
• Increased investment, sales of flags, t-shirts, and hospitality sector revenue.

---

8. Listener Correspondence: Language Usage in UK Politics

• Correction on the use of “coronation” instead of “investiture” in coverage of the new British Prime Minister.
• Rob Watson (BBC Correspondent):

  “Prime ministers absolutely are not crowned. They do not have coronations…they are appointed by the monarch.” (33:18)

---

Key Quotes & Moments

• Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General:

  “Climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes.” (02:50)

• Simon King, BBC Weather:

  “Europe is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world…” (08:16)

• Hugh Schofield, Paris:

  "It isn't a one off. It's going to be part of our lives." (04:40)

• Paulina Diaz, Cape Verde:

  “There will be a Cape Verde before today and a Cape Verde after today.” (30:08)

• Dr. Anisha Patel:

  “We are biologically aging faster and this may be causing cancers in the young…” (25:29)

---

Useful Timestamps

• Heatwave Coverage: 02:00 – 09:02
• UN/Climate Change: 02:50 – 03:14 (Guterres), 07:16 – 09:02 (Simon King)
• EU-Taliban migration talks: 11:08 – 12:06
• US Mideast Diplomacy: 12:06 – 15:28
• Romania Cyber Attack: 18:09 – 21:05
• Sri Lanka Dengue Outbreak: 21:05 – 24:53
• Biological Aging Study: 24:53 – 28:15
• Cape Verde World Cup: 28:15 – 32:25
• Language in Politics: 33:18 – 34:35

---

Tone and Delivery

The reporting remains measured and analytical, favoring scientific explanations and global expert perspectives, while field interviews provide authentic, emotional responses from those directly affected by the events. The podcast blends urgent news with human stories, striving for clarity and an accessible, matter-of-fact tone throughout.

---

This summary captures the essential content, key moments, and instructive details for listeners who missed the episode, providing both factual context and the voices of those on the ground.

Transcript

[Ryan Seacrest]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

That sound could mean a lot of things and when something's going wrong at home, the hardest part can be figuring out what the problem actually is.

[Ambrasan Etarajan]

At thumbtack you can upload a voice

[Ryan Seacrest]

message or a photo and our AI powered search will help diagnose your project. Plus, the pros we know have over 14 million 5 star reviews so you

[Nick Mars]

can hire with confidence.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Thumbtack we no homes hire the right pro today. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this summer. Stock up on your favorite brands for both you and your home. Now through June 23rd. Get big deals on everyday essentials from Procter and Gamble. Shop in store or online for savings on items like Swiffer Power Mop, Febreze Plug Warmer, Herbal Essence shampoo, Old Spice 2 in one, Crest Scope toothpaste, Secret Deodorant Spray and Head and Shoulder Shampoo. Get these deals before they're gone. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. All offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Nick Mars]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Mars and at 15 hours GMT on Tuesday 23rd June. These are our main stories. As a record breaking heat wave continues in Western Europe, the head of the United nations has warned that fossil fuels are driving a climate crisis. Afghan Taliban officials have held talks about migration with the European Union in Belgium, the first the bloc has hosted such a delegation since the group seized power in Afghanistan five years ago. Also in this podcast, how Romanian health officials went back in time to deal with a devastating hospital cyber attack and

[Dr. Anisha Patel]

diet, exercise, smoking, sleep, stress, being overweight, chronic inflammation. And these can then affect the way our dreams express themselves later on in life.

[Nick Mars]

We look at the factors that are making current generations age faster and faster. Temperature records are continuing to break across Europe. France has just sweated through its hottest night in more than 80 years. It's expected to peak on Wednesday afternoon at more than 41 degrees. It's a similar story across Spain, Italy, Germany and even up as far north as the uk. A funnel of air has been drawn in from the Sahara because of a persistent area of high pressure that's loitering stubbornly over Western Europe. More on the human impact of that in a moment. But first, here's the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on the link between what's happening and climate change. Climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes.

[Paulina Diaz]

We have just lived through the 11 hottest years ever recorded and today this City and far beyond are experiencing the hottest day of the year with higher temperatures to come. London isn't just going, it's cooking. We must act with far greater urgency to strictly limit the magnitude and duration of any overshoot beyond 1.5 degrees.

[Nick Mars]

Italy has declared a heat red alert in 15 cities while rising temperatures are increasing the risk of forest fires in Germany. Half of France's regions are currently under the harshest weather war. Hundreds of schools have been closed and drinking alcohol has been restricted outdoors. Just a couple of the measures officials are introducing to deal with what is already a record breaking heat wave. Anastasia spoke to us from southern France.

[Professor Nilika Malavige]

Nimes is one of the hottest city in France. We just go outside at night because during the afternoon it's really hot and very hard to be outside. I think we have to adapt now. We have to use AC to change because I think it's going to be harder and harder now. We, we know now because we, it's the second heat wave we have. Like we had one in May, now we have one in June and I don't know what is going to be in July and August.

[Nick Mars]

Spain has already been dealing with the heat for weeks. Now it's getting even more intense. Large parts of the country are under weather warnings. This woman describes the conditions in the south.

[Daniel Bush]

It's horrible.

[Nick Mars]

It feels catastrophic.

[Rachel Wright]

I don't know what temperature we're at, but it feels horrendous.

[Nick Mars]

It feels awful.

[Rachel Wright]

The heat right now is really, really, really bad.

[Nick Mars]

Our correspondent in Paris, Hugh Schofield, told us more about the impact the heat's having.

[Hugh Schofield]

Gradually over the last few years we have been becoming accustomed to periods like this and the forecasters have been telling us, everyone believes it now, that they are going to become more regular and therefore part of our lives. We were reporting in very similar circumstances about a month ago with a very similar period of unprecedented heat. And back then, all the people we were speaking to were saying what they're saying now, which is this is something we're just going to have to learn to cope with. It's not pleasant. It's a kind of Middle Eastern style of heat which the country is not really, certainly the northern part of the country is not equipped for. Here in Paris, private home schools don't tend to have air conditioning. And that's something which people are beginning to think more and more of. I know that there's been a rush on buying air conditioning units from suppliers. So yeah, I mean more and more every time this happens, people realize that it's for real. It isn't a one off. It's going to be part of our lives and they're having to adapt now to Spain.

[Nick Mars]

Our correspondent in Madrid is Guy Hedgco.

[Guy Hedgco]

We heard there from someone down the south of the country, and it's normally the south which sees the worst of the heat. Today, for example, we're expecting temperatures up to 44 Celsius down in the Guadalpivir Valley. I think, as Hugh mentioned there, I think the big shock for people is seeing these kinds of temperatures earlier in the year, before the end of June. That comes as quite a shock because many people, you know, they're trying to work as normal or, you know, children are at school. And when you have a heat wave in the middle of July or August, it's slightly different because much of the country tends to shut down. Even many businesses shut down. Certainly there's no school or no university classes in the middle of summer, but this is not the middle of summer. So that presents a series of challenges. Now, the government a few years ago did introduce some legislation aimed at this, for example, making sure that manual workers are not allowed to work during the hottest time of day during a heat wave. We've seen a number of measures like that being gradually introduced and we've seen a spike in the sale of air conditioning this year, the same as France as well. But I think the fact that it comes so early in the year, this kind of heat is presenting a lot of challenges for businesses and for ordinary people here in Spain.

[Nick Mars]

Guy Hedgco well, across much of Western Europe, forecasters have warned that the heat wave will be widespread, long lasting and intense, with temperatures not expected to drop until the end of the week. Something called a heat dome is being blamed for the scorching temperature temperatures. For more details on that weather phenomenon, here's Simon King from BBC Weather.

[Simon King]

The heat dome is essentially a large area of high pressure. So in meteorology, when you've got a high pressure, that essentially means that air is descending down the atmosphere. So when you've got the air coming down through the atmosphere, it's drying out as it does so, and it's heating up as it does so as well. So that drying out, that heating up means that you've got more sunshine and therefore more sunshine is reaching the ground, heating the ground and heating it up from below. But it's also, as the air is descending, it's compressing. So think of a bicycle pump. As you pump up a bicycle tire and you put in the pump, you feel your hand getting Warm. And that's the air compressing and heating up. So this heat dome is essentially this process of a large area of high pressure which becomes static. It doesn't move, and all that heat builds and it just doesn't get released anywhere. It's trapped underneath it. And that's why we see those temperatures rise, sometimes really quite rapidly.

[Nick Mars]

Now, this is clearly a weather event. To what extent is it made more likely by climate change?

[Simon King]

Well, climate change is making it worse. Climate scientists have been very clear over the last few decades that heat waves in the future will become more intense, more frequent, more prolonged. They'll get hotter. And this is exactly what we're seeing. So the temperatures in Europe have been rising gradually over the last decade or so. In fact, Europe is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world. So when you think about the baseline temperature just increasing by just a few degrees, it means that when you get these, these heat dome scenarios or this, this weather pattern we've got, the temperature then is allowed to go higher than it would have done in the past climate. So the new climate that we're facing ourselves in at the moment is just essentially adding on to the weather patterns and making those hotter.

[Nick Mars]

And I suppose we should mention at this stage, we're talking about temperatures in the low 40s. In other parts of the world, we're increasingly seeing temperatures into the low 50s, aren't we, in areas that are even less able to cope with those kind of increases?

[Simon King]

Yeah, of course, in India, as just one example, it has been extremely hot there. And of course, India does get extremely hot ahead of the monsoon. You see that heat really building up. But again, in other parts of the world, like India, heat waves again are going to get more intense and prolonged. So we're going to see those temperatures again approaching the 50s in degrees Celsius. The Middle east also, of course, sees those sort of temperatures, but you're really stretching the limits at where the body can cope with that sort of heat. And in places like India, when, you know, people have to be working outside, they have to be exposed to that heat. They can't cool themselves down. These sort of heat waves, you know, are deadly, unfortunately. And we're going to see more excess deaths in the future because of these higher temperatures.

[Nick Mars]

Simon King. On the Fourth of July this year, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of independence in 1776. In the run up to those celebrations, we will have a special podcast looking at the state of America today. If you have thoughts or questions on the matter, we'd love to hear from you. Please email [e-mail] and if you can include a voice note, so much the better. Thanks very much. Since the Taliban took back control in Afghanistan five years ago, it has banned girls from schools beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women pretty much from public life. The European Union hasn't recognized the Taliban government, but despite that, Belgium has just issued five single day visas to a Taliban delegation to attend an EU meeting in Brussels on migration. The Afghan Taliban government says a delegation has met European Union officials in Brussels to discuss the topic. Our global affairs reporter Ambrasan Etarajan is following the story.

[Ambrasan Etarajan]

A spokesperson for the Belgian Foreign Ministry said visas given to the Taliban delegation were restricted, allowing travel only to Belgium and for a single day. The EU has not formally recognized the Taliban administration, but wants to discuss deporting Afghans as part of a crackdown on irregular migration. The decision to invite the Taliban has drawn criticism, with rights groups urging the commission to cancel the planned meeting. However, Brussels has denied that hosting the group is tantamount to recognizing the government in Kabul. Earlier this month, the European Union's migration chief, Magnus Brunner, said the bloc had no other option than to talk to the Taliban about returning irregular migrants to Afghanistan. Figures show that EU countries received about a million asylum applications filed by Afghans between 2013 and 2024. About half as many were approved over that period.

[Nick Mars]

Amrasan Etirajan up until now, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a longtime Iran hawk, has been largely absent from public discussions surrounding the peace deal between Washington and Tehran, instead leaving that role to the vice president, J.D. vance. But that looks to be changing. Mr. Rubio is now in the Middle east for a series of high stakes meetings during which he will speak to Arab Gulf allies from the ua, Kuwait and Bahrain. Our correspondent Daniel Bush is in Abu Dhabi and told me why the trip mattered.

[Daniel Bush]

Well, this is a critical trip for the Secretary of State, Nick. He's the first senior US official to visit this region since the ceasefire extension deal was reached. And it's an important moment for the US because Secretary of State Rubio essentially is being sent here to assuage allies in the Gulf region that this deal is good for the broader region. He will be visiting the United Arab Emirates. He arrives here shortly, a little later today, as well as Kuwait and Bahrain. These are all key allies of the US that have in general welcomed this deal. But there are deep concerns among allies in the region about this Memorandum of Understanding about whether the United States and Iran can reach a long term deal and whether or not the US Gave up too much to Tehran in the bargain here. You know, in the short term, of course, these are countries that came under attack directly from Iran before the ceasefire was reached. And these are also countries that may be on the hook potentially to compensate Iran in the form of reconstruction funds. The Memorandum of understanding, this US Iran deal calls for 300 billion in reconstruction funds. It's unclear where that money is coming from, but the US has suggested that it could come from regional allies, even as the President has insisted that it won't be paid for at all by the United States. That's another issue on the agenda. And of course, this will be a difficult test for Marco Rubio himself, who has been fairly quiet about this deal so far. He's allowed Vice President J.D. vance, who was in Switzerland, to begin the next round of negotiations, be the face of this agreement. But now Rubio is going to have to be a little more vocal about what he sees as a positive in the deal for allies in this region here.

[Nick Mars]

It is going to be very difficult, isn't it, for America to give reassurances that it can back up, because as you were saying, these Gulf allies were attacked considerably in the opening days and weeks of the war.

[Daniel Bush]

That's right. And these are countries that have been dealing with Iran for decades, you know, and who regard Tehran with suspicion. This is not the first moment that the US And Iran has been been locked in some sort of a diplomatic negotiation that has then fallen apart. That's happened now multiple times since the US And Israel launched this war back in February. So these allies regard Iran with suspicion and frankly, they're going to come to these meetings with Rubio with a good deal of wariness about the US as well, as I said, because they need reassurances that the US Is serious about, you know, a long term deal with Iran that includes multiple things that the US Claimed were priorities at the beginning of the war that are also very important for these allies, such as limiting Iran's ballistic missile program to make it more difficult for Iran and its proxy groups in the region to attack these countries. So these allies are gonna be looking for these reassurances and Marco Rubio is going to try and deliver that message, and we'll see how these meetings go.

[Nick Mars]

Daniel Bush still to come in this

[Paulina Diaz]

podcast, this feeling of pride, of unity will have a huge impact at the economic, economic side. There will be a caveat before today

[Nick Mars]

and a convert after today and a footballing minnow. Come good.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through June 23rd. Shop for you Save days and get great savings on all your favorite personal care Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on items like Head and Shoulder shampoo, Pantene Shampoo, Tresemme Conditioner, l' Oreal Hair Dye, Tresemme Hairspray Rate and Aussie Miracle Curls and earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Nick Mars]

Bro from the show last night to

[Ryan Seacrest]

this drive, why is it never chill?

[Nick Mars]

Because this is our life backstage on the road.

[Paulina Diaz]

It's loud, messy, real.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And that's the best part. Whole crew, no plan, just moving. Good thing Nissan builds for that kind of chaos.

[Nick Mars]

Not just test tracks, real life scenes,

[Paulina Diaz]

late nights, road trips.

[Nick Mars]

All of it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's why it holds up. Nissan was ranked number one in initial quality among mainstream brands by J.D. power.

[Nick Mars]

Yeah, you can tell.

[Ryan Seacrest]

2026 Nissan Rogue built for what really happens.

[Paulina Diaz]

For J.D. power 2025 US Initial Quality Study Award information, visit JDPower.com Awards Awards based on 2025 model year.

[Nick Mars]

Newer models may be shown.

[Rachel Wright]

Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to

[Professor Nilika Malavige]

see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, Filters ready to

[Rachel Wright]

clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind.

[Professor Nilika Malavige]

Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support.

[Rachel Wright]

Call 1-800-Grainger click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Nick Mars]

Cyber attacks are on the increase around the world. America's FBI says that health care is now one of the areas most targeted. One mass attack on hospitals in Romania was so serious that 100 hospitals were forced to shut down the Internet and use pen and paper instead. Our cyber correspondent, Joe Tidey. Tell me what happened.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, in a sense, this is a, this is a good news story because although it sounds really, really serious and it was, Romania did a fantastic job of coping with what could have been a really catastrophic situation. So I'm in Romania now. We've made an in depth report about exactly what happened and what were these sort of unseen heroics from doctors and cybersecurity professionals. It was in February 2024 when the attack and ransomware hackers got into a Romanian software maker. And they, they are the makers of this very popular piece of medical software called Hippocrate. And using that access, they infected dozens of hospitals across Romania. And in the chaos of not knowing which hospitals were infected or not, the dnsc, the cybersecurity center here, took a very, you know, important but also quite controversial decision to order all the hospitals to go offline. So that was more than 100 hospitals that went offline. That obviously forced doctors and nurses to go back to pen and paper. In the end, that was known and sort of looked at as a very wise move because it allowed them to, it bought them time to work out which ones were actually infected.

[Nick Mars]

I mean, going offline is one thing, but one imagines that in the short term it would have put some patients at risk of dying who were in particularly bad state of health. This happened two years ago. Why is it only coming to light now? Joanne? Well, we reported on it at the

[Ryan Seacrest]

time, but of course in, in the kind of melee of the breaking news story, we never really found out what happened behind the scenes. So I've come back here to do a, an in depth report on it, which is on the BBC News website. We've made a 10 minute YouTube documentary as well because there's just a really fantastic story here to be told about what can be done to, to keep these kind of things from affecting patient care. Because as you say, it could have been a deadly attack. And in the end, 26 hospitals were fully infected with ransomware and that a huge amount of disruption. But the doctors and nurses managed to find a way through. And I think one of the reasons that I've been told is that there is a kind of the institutional memory of working in an undigital way is quite fresh here because Romania is a more recently digitized country. So that may have been a factor. But also it was, you know, quick thinking and heroics from people in the cyber security center. Lots of Romanian experts offered their Time for free. And they got through it. And this, you know, these healthcare attacks are becoming a real problem. Only months after the attack here, there was an attack that affected hospitals in London and someone did die. And that was a direct result of the cyber attack from those hackers. It was one of the contributing factors. So it just goes to show how high the stakes are.

[Nick Mars]

Joe Tidey In Romania, Sri Lanka is reporting its worst dengue outbreak in years with more than 44,000 infections and 28 deaths since the start of 2026. Five children are among the dead. Health officials say cases nearly doubled between April and mid June. The mosquito borne disease causes high fever, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and in the most serious cases, bleeding that can lead to death. Health authorities are warning that hospitals are being overwhelmed with a thousand admissions daily. Health experts warn infections are likely to keep rising in the coming weeks. Professor Nilika Malavige is an immunologist from Sri Lanka. So what's driving this outbreak?

[Professor Nilika Malavige]

One would be of course, the vector. So we've had very diverse climatic changes. We had cyclones then followed by very extreme temperatures which would of course favor increase in vector breeding sites. And last year we had a massive chikungunya outbreak and of course less dengue. So then people are less worried about dengue. So because we didn't have a massive dengue outbreak for a while, so less, I would say attention towards eliminating vector breeding sites, that would be another reason. But also coming to other reasons is unplanned urbanization. And the other factors is the virus itself. You see, the virus evolves and as I mentioned, last year we had a massive chikungunya outbreak which actually led to a decline in dengue cases. Both chikungunya and the dengue virus use the same vector, which is Ed's mosquitoes to transmit. So I think the current virus, which has been around for a while, would have adapted for better transmission as well. All these things coming together leading to this massive outbreak we are seeing right now. And just for people who have not heard about it, how serious is dengue fever? Yes, so that's a very good question. The vast majority of dengue infections are mild. But let me define mild still. It's like a very painful illness. You have high temperatures and basically you are disabled and not being able to go to work. For some people with mild illness, when I mean mild, I mean not needing hospital admission, sometimes they can't go to work for 14 days because of the tiredness they feel. But the people who do require hospitalization, that is because when they have certain warning signs that alert clinicians that they might go into trouble, which is we are talking about plasma leakage and lowering of blood pressure, which they can go into shock. And when you have this plasma leakage, then the mortality rates have been over 20% and that's, you know, pretty high. So right now, because we don't have treatments and we don't know which patients are going to be developing this very bad plasma leakage, all patients suspected of going to develop complications need to be admitted to hospital. And, you know, the capacity reached the limit in some hospitals.

[Nick Mars]

So how can people prevent it?

[Professor Nilika Malavige]

So there are many ways for prevention for dengue as well. It's integrated strategy that actually everybody, you know, accepts that that is the way forward. One thing of course, is the vector control. So when we say vector control, it is getting rid of breeding sites. But we've been doing that for the last 70 years and we see the dengue incidence increasing. So that alone is not going to be effective. We need better vector control methods. And there are other new novel techniques like spatial repellence coming in. The other one is a vaccine. So the good thing is we now have two dengue vaccines and many others undergoing phase three clinical trials. But still, despite these things, there will be people who still get symptomatic. Dengue need hospitalization. So all these strategies need to come together to find long lasting solutions for dengue.

[Nick Mars]

Professor Nelika Malavige, who was speaking to Anne Soy. Now, you may have heard the term biological age. That's how quickly our cells are aging and the overall state of our health, quite independent of the number of years that you've been alive for. Well, a new study just published in the journal Nature suggests that we are biologically aging faster than our parents. Researchers at Washington University School of medicine in St. Louis now questioning whether this could explain a rise in early onset cancers. Dr. Anisha Patel was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age and was involved in the study.

[Dr. Anisha Patel]

This is a big study that's done in the UK and the US, 160,000 people. And what they did was they analyzed blood samples and looked for various markers in the body to do with immune system, to do with the chronic inflammation, to look at wear and tear of the cells. And they have got a calculator called phenoage, which sort of works out the individual's biological age. And then they associated this with those of us that are born in more recent generations. We are biologically aging faster and this may be causing cancers in the young Particularly lung, bowel and womb cancer. But it doesn't show a definite cause. I think what's really important here is that it's a clue.

[Nick Mars]

Certainly some cancers are increasing at an earlier age than they were in the past.

[Dr. Anisha Patel]

Yeah, absolutely. And the work that we're doing with Team Prospect, which is funded by the Cancer Grand Challenges, is to try and establish what is the global rise and what is the cause of this global rise of early onset. And we're specifically looking at bowel cancer, but we know there are several cancers, 11 in fact, that are rising in the under 50s. And a study in the Lancet in 2024 showed that 27 out of 50 countries showed a great global rise in bowel cancer, for example, which is huge. And England is the fourth fastest rising. So we need to do something. This is a major public health issue,

[Nick Mars]

and that may or may not have anything to do with this speeding up of biological aging. What is the reason for biological raging. Speeding up?

[Dr. Anisha Patel]

Yes. So we think it's going to be multifactorial, as is the cause of why young people are getting cancer. And so it is the interplay of sort of chronic inflammation, our lifestyle, environmental factors that weren't such a factor many years ago. And these are called epigenetic factors. You know, diet, exercise, smoking, sleep, stress, being overweight, chronic inflammation. And these can then affect the way our dreams express themselves later on in life, potentially causing early cancers and causing biological aging, this cell wear and tear.

[Nick Mars]

There's no doubt that some countries are doing better than others in terms of this, aren't there?

[Dr. Anisha Patel]

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we are seeing it in developing and developed countries, which is really interesting. And, you know, developing countries are not only competing with their health inequalities and the disease that they have to deal with, they're now taking on the Western lifestyle as well, which is further adding to that. So I think. I think it's something that we really need to have further studies on to get the answers that we need to try and prevent this rise, to intervene earlier and to stop this global epidemic.

[Nick Mars]

Dr. Anisha Patel. In an earlier edition of the podcast, we covered the tiny country of Cape Verde becoming the talk of this football World cup, already achieving draws in its group games against former tournament winners Spain and Uruguay. Cape Verde is an archipelago of nine islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. For a nation with a population of around half a million people, to be on the world stage is obviously a big achievement. The country is football federation gets $12 million just for qualifying, but as well as the football. What impact is the World cup having on its economy? The BBC's Rachel Wright travelled to Cape Verde to find out.

[Rachel Wright]

I'm at one of the many fan zones with big screens that have been set up throughout the city of Prior and the excitement here is on another. We're just minutes away from the beginning of their first World cup game ever against one of the tournament favorites, Spain. And everyone is really excited, very confident,

[Paulina Diaz]

because for the first time they will see Cape Belt playing a so big game like this.

[Rachel Wright]

How do you feel about today?

[Paulina Diaz]

Say that she feel very proud because. Because the Cape Verde already won. It doesn't matter what happened there.

[Rachel Wright]

The Cape Verde team is known as the Blue Sharks and it's the second smallest country in this year's World Cup. Most of the squad are from the large diaspora. That's probably why a country of less than 500,000 people punches way above its weight and has qualified for the World Cup. And with Port Paulino Diaz, who's one of the country's best known economists and also a huge football fan. Paulina, tell me, how does the country feel today?

[Paulina Diaz]

I never saw something like this that we are witnessing today. This feeling of pride, of unity, will have a huge impact at the economic side, I would say forever, perhaps because there will be a cave word before today and a caveat after today.

[Rachel Wright]

And of course course, Cape Verde's economy is largely dependent on tourism. I went to see Professor Manuel Electro Ribeiro who studied tourism in Cape Verde.

[Paulina Diaz]

This is a great exposure for the country. For example, a very popular influencer from South Korea traveled to Cape Verde after the country qualified for the World cup. To know this country that everyone is talking about. This video is on YouTube. It has almost, almost 2 million views in two months.

[Rachel Wright]

I've come to the seafront in Cidade Vallad on the Cape Verde island of Santiago and I'm with Paulina Diaz again. What are the short term benefits that you think qualifying for the World cup finals will have?

[Paulina Diaz]

For the first time, everyone in the world is talking about Cape Verde for free. So everyone is trying to come to Cape Verde to know who is. Who the hell is this Cape Verde. This will attract for sure more investors to the tourism sector. And we also have the impact in the consumption. You'd see crowd of people just buying flags, buying T shirts in the restaurants, bars, small shops. Everyone is happy. When everyone is happy, you are more likely to consume. And this is a positive impact on the economy as well.

[Rachel Wright]

As you can hear, excitement is. Is at fever pitch as the game ends in a nil nil draw. Cape Verde, the second smallest country in the World cup, against one of the favorites, Spain. The party is only just getting started here on this group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic. I'm with Kenny Andrade, who manages one of the bars here in Praia. Kenny, a great day for you. You must be very happy.

[Paulina Diaz]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Very, very. We love, innit?

[Rachel Wright]

Tell me, roughly, since the World cup started, you have double the amount of people.

[Nick Mars]

I would say triple. I hope I get to see more

[Ambrasan Etarajan]

tourists coming this way. You know, stay little islands, but we

[Nick Mars]

make a lot of noise. That report was by Rachel Wright in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalp [e-mail] you can also find us on X at bcworldservice. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. Listener Richard Pembridge has contacted us to draw attention to the issue of journalists choosing the wrong words. He was referring to our story about the resignation on Monday of the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and a correspondent, Rob Watson, referring to the coronation of his likely successor, andy Burns. Vernon Mr. Pembridge says the correct word is investiture. The misuse of coronation, he says, is an affront to the King. He had this response from Rob Watson.

[Rob Watson]

Richard, thank you so much for getting in touch and you make an excellent point. And the BBC and others, I should say, should always be absolutely clear that in this country, prime ministers absolutely are not crowned. They do not have coronations. I think that the sort of technical, constitutional language is that they are appointed by the modern monarch on the basis of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons. I guess the excuse for why we've used coronation, and it's not just political journalists, but it's been the politicians as well, and I think we probably caught it from them. Richard, is that coronation was used to contrast it with the idea of there being a contest for the leadership of the Labour Party. And there are many supporters of Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, or outgoing mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, who think that it would be much better to have in inverted commas, a coronation to avoid some noisy, angry debate within the Labour Party. But of course, once he becomes leader of the Labour Party, if that indeed is what's going to happen and there is no contest, he will, of course, go to see King Charles, where he will be appointed by the monarch, he definitely will not be crowned at any point at all.

[Nick Mars]

All this edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Rob Fannah and the producer was Ed Horton. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Nick Miles. And until next time, goodbye.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Every story is a technology story in one way or another. And on the interface, we decode the tech that's rewiring your weakness and your world. On this week's episode, we look at the UK's teen social media ban and ask, what happens next? Why are AI companies so interested in nuclear fusion energy? And will the new iPhone AI update mean that Siri will finally be good? Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.