Broadcast timeline
BBC News
Friday 18 September 2026 · 05:00 BST · 30m · 7 stories · 15 annotated moments · 21 of 30 min on news stories (71%)
Broadcast overview
An AI-generated overview based on this broadcast's transcript.
The broadcast opened with new allegations from Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, in a book serialised in the Daily Mail, claiming that the then Prince Charles sounded "giddily elated" in a phone call hours after Diana's death; Buckingham Palace has not responded to this extract but reiterated its previous statement. It then reported that voting began in Russia's first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with President Putin's party all but guaranteed to win and protests banned, while critics dismiss the vote as neither free nor transparent. UN investigators said there are reasonable grounds to believe the US carried out war crimes in early days of its war on Iran, citing two missile strikes that killed at least 178 civilians; the State Department rejected the findings.
President Trump said major progress was being made towards establishing a US Army base in Poland, while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, meeting UK leaders, described Russian drone strikes near Poland as evidence of Russia's desperation and said NATO would not be naive about Putin. Other news included more than 30 suspected illegal miners dying in custody in northwest Nigeria, flash flooding in Tunis closing schools, Indonesia's president calling slash-and-burn land clearance ecological terrorism amid its worst fires in 11 years, and US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr addressing vaccine sceptics as a measles outbreak continued. In South Africa, police confirmed the ninth discovery of a woman's body near Johannesburg in two months, with officials urging women to take precautions.
Marks & Spencer made its debut at London Fashion Week as it celebrated 100 years of its clothing range, with the broadcaster noting its comeback in UK retail. Finally, a new cat species was discovered in Bolivia through DNA testing, having previously been mistaken for a tiger cat.
- 1:21
- 3:07
Claim Earl Spencer book and comments renew royal tensions over Diana
Buckingham Palace responded that grief can cloud a person's memory.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 3:07-3:22
- 4:23
- 5:18
Claim US imposes new sanctions on Russia during Duma elections
The election is fake and the Kremlin controls the results.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 5:18-5:21
- 5:39
Claim US imposes new sanctions on Russia during Duma elections
The Supreme Court barred the anti-war party Yabloko from the ballot.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 5:39-5:51
- 9:11 Story begins UN finds grounds for US war crimes in Iran
- 11:58
- 12:43
Claim Rutte says UK has credible path on defence spending after meeting PM Andy Burnham
Mark Rutte said Russian drone strikes near the Polish border showed Russia's desperation.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 12:43-12:54
- 15:29
Claim Rutte says UK has credible path on defence spending after meeting PM Andy Burnham
Rutte said a credible path to defence spending targets is required.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 15:29-15:31
- 18:29
- 18:47
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 18:47-18:51
- 18:59
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
Police found a ninth body in a series of killings near Johannesburg.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 18:59-19:03
- 19:03
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
Police found a ninth body in a series of killings near Johannesburg.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:03-19:12
- 19:03
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
Police believe the woman was murdered elsewhere and her body deliberately dumped.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:03-19:12
- 19:20
Charged quote South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
The recent spate of killings has sparked public outrage and fear, raising new questions about the scale of gender-based violence in South Africa. Yo, I'm scared, I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm nervous, I am everything, I'm shattered. This is bad in the country where there is democracy, but we experience, we are faced with this challenge of meddling with men.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:20-19:27
- 19:27
Charged quote South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
raising new questions about the scale of gender-based violence in South Africa. Yo, I'm scared, I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm nervous, I am everything, I'm shattered. This is bad in the country where there is democracy, but we experience, we are faced with this challenge of meddling with men. We are parents, we are young, we are even scared now to come out of your house.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:27-19:38
- 19:48
Charged quote South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
We are parents, we are young, we are even scared now to come out of your house. We are scared to go to the shop, you are scared to go anywhere. We are no longer free in the country where we are supposed to be free and to be safe as we men. There's widespread speculation that the recent murders have been committed by a serial killer,
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:48-19:52
- 19:52
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
Police are investigating whether the deaths are linked but cautioned against assuming a serial killer is responsible.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 19:52-20:00
- 20:22
Claim South African police investigate possible serial killer after ninth body found
A forensic team was assembled to assess the case.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 20:22-20:40
- 21:13
- 24:28 Story begins New wild cat species Tilkayo discovered in Bolivia
- 25:29
Charged quote New wild cat species Tilkayo discovered in Bolivia
It belonged to a species previously unknown to science. For the researchers involved, the discovery is a reminder there are still surprises waiting to be found. For me it's amazing that there is still new species waiting to be discovered. So we don't have to go to a volcano or an island or deep in the sea.
BBC News, 18 September 2026, 25:29-25:33
- 25:56 ~4 min without annotations
Source: BBC NEWS, "BBC News", Friday 18 September 2026. Transcript excerpts and stills are shown only to support the analysis annotated alongside them. Search-result excerpts are distinct from the editorial annotations — see our copyright basis. The full broadcast is not reproduced.