Global News Podcast

Social Democrats are on course for a narrow victory in parliamentary elections in Germany. Also, UN watchdog says Iran has not allowed its inspectors full access to its nuclear sites, and Swiss voters back legalisation of same-sex marriage.

Huawei's Meng Wanzhou flew into Shenzhen -- hours after two Canadians freed by China also returned home. Also today: Germans go to the polls to elect Angela Merkel’s successor; Kabul’s schoolgirls demand a return to class; and Britain performs a Brexit u-turn to attract more lorry drivers.

The senior Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, is expected to return home to China under a deal with US prosecutors; Mixed reaction to plans to hold the football world cup every two years? and a Kenyan policeman is re-instated after being fired for failing to turn up for work - whilst in a coma.

Jitender Gogi was in court in Delhi when two people opened fire. Also the European Commission urges Poland to give the necessary care and assistance to migrants caught in a stand-off on the border between Poland and Belarus, a campaign in the UK to help female judges get out of Afghanistan, and an Australian doctor comes up with a new technique to save the lives of shark-bite victims.

Daniel Foote said he resigned in protest at the treatment of Haitian migrants. Also, the main candidates to be German Chancellor have clashed in a final TV debate before the election, and scientists say a fossilised rib bone discovered in Morocco is part of the oldest armoured dinosaur ever discovered.

Save The Children calls for help for more than 27,000 children in detention-centres. Many are citizens of EU nations, and the charity accuses those countries of failing to have them repatriated. Also, the EU wants new laws pushing for a universal phone-charger, and the BBC investigates how extremism is tainting some of the most popular online games.

The US President told a virtual Covid-19 summit another 500m doses would go to developing countries. Also: WHO warns air pollution is more dangerous than previously thought; Netflix offers Kenyans free streaming; and could an app cure your fear of spiders?

One group described it as a potential game changer. But the pledge didn't include a ban on new coal-fired power stations in China. Also; parts of Australia are hit by the strongest earthquake in centuries, and Netflix has bought the rights to Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books.

The leaders of China and the US - Xi Jinping and Joe Biden - have announced new commitments to tackle climate change at the UN General Assembly. Also: there are further signs that the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region is spreading to neighbouring areas, and why was an athlete disqualified after running a half-marathon in England?

Third Russian to be charged over 2018 poisonings in UK which left one person dead. British police believe all three suspects worked for GRU - Russia's military intelligence service. Also, Sudan blames 'forces of darkness' for failed coup attempt, and Pakistani PM Imran Khan says a ban on women's education in Afghanistan would be 'un-Islamic'.

Paul Rusesabagina, who saved hundreds of people during the 1994 genocide, has been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison by a Rwandan court for terrorist offences. Also, we hear from a teenager in Afghanistan about her fears that she will never be able to resume her education. And, Chinese social media has been following the story of the first deaf lawyer in the country.

A man has been arrested after deadly shooting-spree in Perm, a city in the Urals. Police believe he acted alone and had no political or religious motives. Also, 'Hotel Rwanda' hero Paul Rusesabinga is convicted on terror-charges, and celebration-time for the UK at this year's Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party is on course to win amid allegations of fraud. Also: Australia denies lying to France in submarine deal, and a volcano on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma erupts after a week on alert.

The UN calls on the Taliban to re-open girls' secondary schools in Afghanistan. The US moves thousands of migrants away from a Texas border town. And a new twist in the case of the missing travel blogger - as her fiance also disappears.

An inquiry finds that the strike, days before the US pullout, killed ten members of a family, not militants. Also: France recalls envoys amid security pact row, and New Zealand abandons Pakistan cricket tour over 'security alert'.

Google and Apple remove a tactical voting app from their online stores on the first day. Voting will last three days. Also: the Austrian government is taken to court over its handling of a covid outbreak at a ski resort, and the secrets behind the best ocean photograph of the year.

The US tries to calm French anger over the new security pact with Britain and Australia. Iran sends fuel supplies to Lebanon, as the economic crisis deepens. And an early work by Vincent Van Gogh is discovered by art experts in the Netherlands.

Beijing says new security pact is 'extremely irresponsible' and 'narrow-minded'. The alliance is widely seen as an effort to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Also, France says its troops have killed the head of the Islamic State group in the Sahara, and how some Dutch people are changing their names - to reconnect with their African heritage.

She was joined before the US Senate by other athletes who were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar. Also: Rodrigo Duterte faces crimes against humanity investigation and the preacher promising to help anti-vaxxers.

The departure of the football team from Afghanistan comes as part of a wider exodus of female cultural and sporting stars. Also: the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU needs the "political will" to intervene militarily without the US, and the Inspiration 4 space mission is ready for lift-off.

Ariel Henry fires his chief prosecutor after attempt to charge him over killing of president in July. Also: Europe tries to avoid winter Covid and cows trained where to pee.

New global survey shows high levels of anxiety among young people over climate change. Over half of those interviewed think that humanity is doomed. Also, BBC analysis reveals the world now sees twice as many days with temperatures over 50 Celsius compared with 1980s, and remembering George Wein - the jazz promoter who pioneered the modern music festival.

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres says the Afghan people are facing perhaps their most perilous hour. Also:turmoil in cryptocurrency markets after a fake news release purporting to be from the US retail giant Walmart, and the Pope's mission to Slovakia.

The United Nations is seeking more than $600m in aid following the Taliban takeover last month. Also: tens of thousands of people in England are to take part in a "game-changing" blood test trial for cancer, and Britney Spears announces engagement.

The memo records contact between Saudi nationals and hijackers but doesn't implicate the government. Also: a deal is reached on monitoring Iranian nuclear sites, and some gorillas have tested positive for Covid.

Commemorations have taken place on the 20th anniversary of the 11 September attacks. Also: tennis history is made as British teenager Emma Raducanu wins the US Open, and Peru's Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman dies.

Nearly three thousand people died in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001. Also: Lebanon gets a new government amid deepening crisis, and the tennis brand that is Emma Raducanu.

Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom says long-delayed pipeline is now ready for use. We examine why it's caused huge tensions within Europe. Also, woman who was former MP in Afghan parliament tells us she fled to escape being killed by Taliban, and how New Yorkers are coping - as 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

President Biden has announced sweeping federal Covid measures that require workers at large companies to be vaccinated or face weekly testing. Also: dozens of international passengers have flown out of Kabul in the first such flight since American forces left Afghanistan, and Morocco's ruling party suffers a crushing defeat in the country's parliamentary elections.

Women in Afghanistan protest against the Taliban, in defiance of a ban. Also: North Korea marks its anniversary with a military parade featuring hazmat suits, and is there a mystery illness attacking American diplomats?

Ashraf Ghani has issued a statement on Twitter three weeks after leaving Afghanistan. Also, the man believed to be the only gunman to survive the Paris attacks in 2015 appears in court at the start of his trial, and the world's biggest plant to extract carbon dioxide from the air opens in Iceland.

20 suspects on trial over attacks which killed 130 people in November 2015. The wave of shootings and bombings by Islamic State extremists was France's worst attack since World War Two. Also, Afghan women protest against all-male Taliban government, and will snow soon disappear from Africa's highest mountain ?

The all-male cabinet in Kabul includes figures linked to attacks on US forces and a leader wanted by the FBI. Also: Mexico decriminalises abortion in landmark ruling, and youngest Catholic bishop in Spain resigns from church to marry erotic novelist.

Protests are the the biggest show of defiance since the militant group took power in Afghanistan. Also: supporters of Myanmar's deposed civilian government call for a mass uprising against the military government, and Bitcoin becomes joint legal tender in El Salvador.

The US State Department said the group had crossed into an unspecified neighbouring country, and that the Taliban had known about the departure and did not impede it. Also: Poland's parliament approves state of emergency on Belarus border, and the French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo dies aged eighty-eight.

The Taliban say they've seized Afghanistan's Panjshir province, which would consolidate their control of the entire country, but resistance fighters dispute this. Also: The Belarusian woman who led mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko is sentenced to eleven years in prison, and soldiers who have seized power in Guinea call government ministers to a meeting.

Troops announced a takeover on TV, capturing the president Alpha Conde. Also: Taliban accused of killing pregnant Afghan police officer in Ghor province, and could seaweed be a key raw material for a sustainable future?

An Ethiopian general says the rebels were killed in fierce fighting, aided by airstrikes. Also: Taliban break up women's rights protest in Kabul, and Vladimir Putin gets corrected by schoolboy about Russian history.

Resistance fighters deny claims that the Taliban has overrun their stronghold in the Panjshir valley. Also, President Joe Biden urges US southern states to improve their infrastructure after Hurricane Ida. And, as Tokyo hosts the Paralympics, we look at the prejudice faced by people with disabilities in Japan.

AstraZeneca will give the EU 200 million doses by 31 March 2022, ending court action. Also: an Islamist under surveillance stabs 6 people in New Zealand and Para Taekwondo, the Paralympics' 1st full contact sport.

More than 40 people are dead after Storm Ida hits the US. Also, one of the alleged Islamic State members dubbed "the Beatles" has pleaded guilty to conspiring to torture and behead American and European hostages in Syria. And Russian regulators say Apple and Google are breaking the law by offering an app created by the opposition activist Alexei Navalny.

A 2-year-old died, with many victims trapped in flooded basements. Also: the US Supreme Court refuses to block the abortion ban in Texas, and Mikis Theodorakis - the composer of Zorba the Greek - dies.

The economy of Afghanistan collapses, while prices soar. Also: President Biden promises to fight to protect the constitutional right to abortion, and the British man told to avoid prison by going to the library.

World Meteorological Organisation issues stark warning about impact of climate-change. It says there's been 400% increase in weather-related disasters worldwide in last five decades. Also, Taliban prepare to announce new Afghan government - but women unlikely to have ministerial roles, and historians research the forgotten female army which helped shape West Africa.

The US president Joe Biden says staying in Afghanistan was not an option, as Taliban militants celebrate. Also: USAID says forces from Ethiopia's Tigray region have looted its warehouses in Amhara, and will Afghanistan's all-female orchestra Zohra ever play again?

After declaring victory belonged to all Afghans, the Taliban reaches out to former foes. Also: the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, has left Russia, after being labelled a threat to national security, and is being kind selfish ?

Taliban supporters fired into the air to celebrate the end of the 20-year occupation. Also: Brazilian bank robbers use hostages as human shields, and China cuts online gaming for under-18s to three hours a week.

BBC correspondents answer your questions about the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. We ask how did the Taliban overthrow the Afghan government so quickly? What now for human rights, the economy and international relations?

Forecasters say the storm, which has now made landfall, is extremely dangerous. Also: US says drone strike thwarts Kabul airport attack, and the Jamaican soul of reggae Lee 'Scratch' Perry dies aged eighty-five.

The US president Joe Biden says commanders have told him another attack could happen within the next thirty-six hours. The final UK troops, diplomats and officials have now left Kabul. Also: thousands flee as hurricane Ida closes in on the Gulf Coast and do you fancy being a teacher on the beautiful Scottish island of Fair Isle?

We team up with the award-winning Brexitcast team to bring you a special update on what Britain leaving the EU means for you. You’ve sent us questions from around the world and Jackie Leonard puts them to the experts from the podcast that’s all about Brexit. There’s also cake, phew. Spread the word! #GlobalNewsPod #Brexitcast Find the Brexitcast podcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/brexitcast