Latest / The Rest of the World Podcast / The Rest of the World Report | October 26, 2026 — Evening Edition

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The Rest of the World Report | October 26, 2026 — Evening Edition · The Rest of the World Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Good evening from Paris.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez with The Rest of the World Report for Monday evening, October 26th.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: UN raises ethnic cleansing concerns.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: The United Nations Human Rights Chief said on Monday that Israeli threats to, quote,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: empty and erase entire neighborhoods,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: close quote, and Hebron raises serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Volker Turks at Israel's operations in the West Bank City,
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: which began Friday, has forcibly displaced more than 2,000 Palestinians.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: It has demolished homes and and commercial property and deprive residents of
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: the ability to move freely.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The lockdown confines many people to their homes or immediate neighborhoods, he said.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Declarations by senior Israeli officials indicate the measures are punitive
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: and meant to instill fear.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: He called collective punishment a grave violation of international law and demanded
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: that displaced residents be allowed home with compensation and reparations
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: for unlawful evictions and demolitions.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hebron's municipality said about 35 hectares have been demolished or marked
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: for demolition, mainly in the Andir Baja and Farsh Al Hawa neighborhoods.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: About 200,000 Palestinians live in the city.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Another 600,000 live in the wider governorate, the most populous in the West Bank.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: On Saturday, Hebron's mayor put the number forced from their homes at 2200.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that about 2,000 people had been displaced.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: They would not be allowed back,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: he added,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: until the army had finished with,
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: quote, all the Hamas issues in Hebron, close quote.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: The operation began after an attack on Friday,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: October 23rd, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed near the city.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Israel votes Tuesday.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Translators note, Hebron is being read as an election week operation.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Al Jazeera's West Bank correspondent says Netanyahu's bloc is behind in the polls
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: and that Israeli politicians are trying to capitalize on the attack.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Israeli military says a full closure of the West Bank crossings will be enforced
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: on Election Day itself.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Arab News commentary argues the vote offers Palestinians little either way.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Netanyahu rejects a Palestinian state,
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: and so does his main rival,
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Gadi Eisenkot,
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: who has said anyone thinking about a two-state solution
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: after October 7th is delusional.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: The United Nations human rights chief said Israel's operation
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: in Hebron raises concerns of ethnic cleansing.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: He cited statements by senior Israeli officials that indicate the measures are punitive.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: On Saturday,
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Israel's defense minister ruled out the displaced returning until
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: the army finishes its operation.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: France offers students some measures.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: France's government announced a package of school measures on Monday.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Student groups welcomed the first steps but called for the protests to continue.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu met high school and student organizations on Monday
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: after weeks of unrest.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Education Minister Edouard Giffray and Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: then set out the measures at a press conference.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The admissions platform,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: ParkourSoup,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: which students have criticized since the protests began,
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: is to be reformed in 2027 and replaced in 2028.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: ParkourSoup is the national platform through which secondary school students,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: apprentices,
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: and students changing course apply for the first year of higher education
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: and receive offers from institutions.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The change comes in two stages,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Batiste explained,
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: because Parcoursu is anchored in law and some of its parameters cannot change
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: without a new law.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: The government will create 15,000 additional higher education places
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: and cap first-year high school classes at 28 students within two years.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It will add 500 teaching positions and adjust student grants to inflation.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: It will also offer a €5 billion low-interest loan to renovate educational buildings,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: €4 billion for secondary schools, and €1 billion for universities.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: According to Jeffrey,
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: everything announced will be delivered within set timeframes and
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: against measurable targets.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: A consultation with students and staff unions on continuous assessment and
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: the baccalaureate starts Tuesday.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Student representatives welcomed the first measures but called for continued mobilization.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: They want new protests on Saturday, October 31st, and again on November 5th.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Trade unions have set that date for a general strike.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Louis Le Tublon,
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: vice president of the high school union L'Elysien, called the government afraid.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: This fear gives us an opening, he said.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Clement Villalot, co-founder of the Cachon 94 Collective, called the measures not enough.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Students had asked for 250,000 additional higher education places, he added.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Saturday's marches drew 410,000 people nationwide by the government's count.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: The General Confederation of Labor,
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: which organized the authorized marches, said it was almost twice as high.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported 267 police officers and gendarmes injured,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: while 150 protesters were hurt,
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: three of them seriously in Toulouse, Reims, and Clermont-Ferrande.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: The National Police Oversight Body is investigating, he added.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking in Marseille,
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Macron said public order was being maintained without a state of emergency,
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: though one remains possible if things deteriorate.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: It is not normal, he added, for France to be in such turmoil six months before the election.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The Senate begins debating on Tuesday the Make Rioters Pay Bill,
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: which Le Cornu has called absolutely essential.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amnesty International France urged the government to abandon it,
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: saying it poses a serious threat to the right to protests.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: France's government offered a school spending package on Monday after weeks of student protests.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: It includes replacing the Parcoursu University admissions platform by 2028
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: and capping first-year high school classes at 28.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Student groups welcomed the first steps but urged new protests on October 31st and November 5th.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan strikes southern Syria.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Jordanian fighter jets struck what the military called terrorist hideouts
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: in southern Syria late on Monday,
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: three days after the attack on a church funeral in Karak.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan's armed forces linked those responsible for Friday's attack at the church
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: in Hamoud to the groups targeted without naming them.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: The strikes destroyed several structures and vehicles and killed or wounded members
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: of the groups, the military said.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: They gave no casualty figures or precise locations.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Khalid al-Amyan,
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Daraa's health director told Syria's state news agency
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: that five civilians were killed.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: He said they included women and children and were caught in strikes on several sites
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: in the province's countryside.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Syrian social media users and
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: a Facebook group called Daraa 24 reported three airstrikes they believed were
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: carried out by Jordanian warplanes in western Daraa province.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: They also reported two earlier explosions.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: One of them attributed to an airstrike near the town of Nasib in eastern Daraa.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier on Monday,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan's public security director had said it had arrested three suspects over
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: the attack, which killed nine people.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Public security director Major General Al-Maitah named them as brothers Hazza
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: and Mishal Zaydan Mohammed and their relative Ahmed Sami Hussain and called Hazza
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: the planner.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: They were wounded in a dawn raid and shootout at an abandoned house and are Islamic extremists.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan's interior minister said all three were Jordanians and
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: that there is no indication of any external contacts or collaborations
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: with foreign parties.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan bombed targets in southern Syria on Monday night.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Its military said those responsible for Friday's attack on
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: a church funeral were linked to groups it targeted.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Syria says five children died and Jordan has not named the groups.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Its interior minister said the three arrested suspects are Jordanians
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: with no known foreign contacts.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Egypt-backed Saudi defense mandate.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Egypt's parliament voted on Monday to authorize President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: to take the necessary measures to defend Saudi Arabia.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: The House of Representatives approved the mandate by a two-thirds majority.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Its statement says,
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: the aim is to defend the kingdom's territory,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: sovereignty,
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: and holy sites against any external aggression,
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: following coordination between the two countries.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Under Article 152 of Egypt's constitution,
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: a decision to send armed forces on combat missions abroad needs two-thirds approval.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: The authorization follows a resolution of Egypt's National Defense Council on October 18.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Foreign Minister Badr Abdeladi said Cairo's support for Saudi Arabia is for defensive purposes.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: The vote comes amid an escalation this month in deadly Houthi attacks from Yemen
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: on civilian locations in Saudi Arabia, including its airports.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sisi had asked for approval as the Houthi advances raised concerns about
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: the security of Bab el-Mendeb Strait.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: The narrow waterway What American readers need to know.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Egypt's parliament approved a mandate for President el-Sisi to act to defend Saudi Arabia.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: The kingdom has come under Houthi attack from Yemen this month, including at its airports.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: The measure passed by the two-thirds majority required for sending troops abroad.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sudan drone deaths.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: The UN Human Rights Office has documented at least 306 deaths from drone strikes
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: in Sudan in the first three weeks of October.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Bolker Turk said on Friday that strikes attributed to the Sudanese Army and
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: the Rapid Support Forces hit civilian sites.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: They included homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power stations, and water sources.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: He said drones already account for the majority of conflict-related civilian deaths
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: in Sudan this year.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: The deadliest strike the office documented was on October 18.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: At least 139 people were killed and dozens more were injured.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: When a transport truck was hit in a repeat or double tap strike in Dabab,
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: West Kordofan, an area controlled by the RSF.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: On October 9th,
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: an alleged RSF drone struck displaced people mining gold near a displacement site
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: in Abu Shendi, Blue Nile.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: It killed at least 31, most of them women and children.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: RSF drones also struck the Bajon gold mining area in South Kordofan on October 9th
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: and 16th, killing 42 civilians.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Between October 6th and 10th,
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Army drone strikes on displacement shelters in Gubayesh and El Nuhud,
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: West Kordofan, killed at least 25 civilians and injured 31.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Markets in Aldaba, Nayala, and Al-Adia were hit, reportedly killing 23 civilians in total.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: An RSF-attributed strike on October 11th left the Umdarfa Hospital in Blue Nile non-operational.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: The office also noted a trend of retaliatory strikes.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: RSF drones reportedly hit Khartoum,
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: including the airport area, in response to alleged army strikes on Nayala.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Turk urged both sides to commit to a ceasefire and called for an end to the transfer
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: of arms used in disregard of international humanitarian law.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: The UN Human Rights Office says drone strikes by both sides in Sudan killed
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: at least 306 people in the first three weeks of October.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: The deadliest documented strike on October 18th killed at least 139.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: The UN rights chief urged a ceasefire and an end to arms transfers.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Machado returns to Venezuela.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: after more than 10 months in exile.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: I am here.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: With you, she wrote on social media.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: She arrived at a church in Lara where supporters greeted her.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Edmundo Gonzalez, the current opposition leader, confirmed her return.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Machado was briefly arrested in January 2025 and re-emerged in Norway last December,
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: where she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. military removed President Nicolas Maduro from Caracas in January.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Vice President Delcio Rodriguez has served as acting president since with
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Her time in office has run well past the 90 days she was authorized to serve.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: She promised at the UN General Assembly in September to call an election and has not done so.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. maintains the country is not yet ready.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S. maintains the country is not yet ready.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier this week,
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: thousands of Venezuelans marched to demand elections in
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X that conditions
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: for Machado's safe return were,
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: quote, the direct result of the U.S.-supported reconciliation talks, close quote.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Those talks,
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: he added,
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: have freed hundreds of political prisoners and brought hundreds
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: of opposition figures back from exile.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Asked about her return,
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: President Trump said, quote, I don't know anything about it, close quote.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: She had given him her Nobel Prize, he added, and he had hoped that she was safe.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know,
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Machado,
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Venezuela's Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader,
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: returned home on Sunday after more than 10 months abroad.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: removed Nicolas Maduro in January,
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: and acting president Delcio Rodriguez,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: whom Trump endorsed, has not called the election she promised.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Rubio credited U.S.-backed talks for Machado's return.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Tehran talks.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Iran said officials from Saudi Arabia,
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Pakistan, and Turkey agreed in Tehran on Monday to continue talks and seek peace.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Iran's security chief,
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Mohsen Razai,
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Said the officials agreed that security in West Asia must be homegrown
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: and any foreign intervention prevented.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry stressed the importance of opening channels
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: of negotiation to prevent a return to military escalation.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: It supported mediation by Qatar and Pakistan to end the U.S.-Iran war.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for tonight's edition of The Rest of the World Report.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you all again in the morning.
• 13:58
  [music]