You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway.

We're recording this at 13 hours GMT on Tuesday, the 10th of October.

UN agencies have expressed concern over Israel's siege of Gaza,

warning it's illegal to deprive the population of vital supplies.

Israel says it's recovered the bodies of 1,500 Hamas fighters,

meaning the total death toll has passed 3,000.

And three days after the invasion began,

Israel says it's finally regained control of the territory around Gaza.

Also in the podcast,

when we consider that 9 out of 10 of our medicines come from plants,

what we're potentially staring down the barrel of is losing up to half of all of our future medicines.

A warning that 45% of the world's known flowering plants could face extinction.

The pioneering mouthguard that could help solve rugby's concussion problem and

he was in his own words, a man who'd be happy with a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

The modest lifestyle of the Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney,

who's died at the age of 92.

Footage of the attacks in southern Israel over the weekend has already highlighted

the brutality of the Hamas gunman, but now we're getting more of an idea of the

ferocity of the battles between the Israeli security forces and the Palestinian fighters.

Video released by the Israeli police of an operation to rescue wounded soldiers

under heavy fire near the cabuts of near-arm.

...