Global News Podcast

A US intelligence report has found that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The report said this conclusion was based on the crown prince's absolute control over the security apparatus, and his willingness to use violence to silence critics. Also, Myanmar's ambassador to the UN has condemned the military coup in his country and has sided strongly with mass protests, and we hear why fish in Kenya are dying in large numbers.

Unidentified gunmen abducted the girls in early morning from a school in Zamfara state. This is latest in a series of attacks targeting schools in northern Nigeria in recent years. Also, court rules that British-born IS recruit Shamima Begum cannot return to UK from Syria, and BBC investigation finds portions of Brazil's Amazon rainforest being sold illegally on internet.

Greece and Austria are urging other EU states to adopt coronavirus vaccination "passports". Also: jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny "moved out of Moscow remand centre", and the black browed babbler bird is not extinct after all.

PM Nikol Pashinyan leads crowds of supporters after the army says he must resign. Also: how elephants in zoos are helping their relatives in the wild, and the pandemic's impact on the German language.

A US intelligence report on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul will be published soon. Also: single-shot Covid-19 vaccine ‘stable and effective’, and Van Gogh painting on show for the first time.

Ghana is first nation to receive Coronavirus vaccines through sharing initiative. Covax scheme aims to encourage richer countries to share vaccines with poorer nations. Also, German court jails Syrian former intelligence agent for complicity in crimes against humanity, and the Texan truck-driver who rescued hundreds of people stranded by ferocious winter storm.

Testifying to a Senate committee, officials said that the rioters 'came prepared for war'. Also: suspect in Malta journalist murder pleads guilty. Thousands protest in Tbilisi after arrest of Georgian opposition leader, and the American Beat poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, has died at the age of 101.

The UN's World Food Programme says Pyongyang's strict Covid rules could halt its aid. Also: Facebook reverses its ban on news in Australia, and how wasps helped date cave paintings of kangaroos.

President Biden describes it as a truly grim heartbreaking milestone. Also: NASA releases videos of its Perseverance rover landing on Mars and the first audio recording from the surface of the planet, and the French electronic dance group Daft Punk announce a split after 28 years.

Luca Attanasio and two others died after a UN convoy was attacked near Goma. Also: Boeing 777 airliners are grounded after an engine falls apart in mid-air, and a Chinese tea shop chain apologises for calling women a 'bargain' on its mugs.

Thousands of Burmese activists held ceremonies and vigils for those killed by the military authorities as they try to suppress a campaign of civil disobedience against their coup. Also: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has agreed to extend UN inspectors' access to its nuclear sites for a further three months, and NASA is to reveal the first video footage containing the sounds of the Red Planet captured by the cameras onboard its rover in Mars.

Myanmar security forces open fire on protestors in the city of Mandalay, in the bloodiest show of force since the military coup earlier this month. Also, police in Barcelona clash with supporters of the jailed Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel. And Australian entrepreneurs look to the ocean for sustainable business opportunities.

The jabs will be distributed by the UN's COVAX scheme, also, a more lenient approach to drugs possession in Norway, and why a black footballer won't 'take the knee'.

Buckingham Palace has said Prince Harry and Meghan "remain much loved members of the family". UK Supreme Court rules Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed. The UN asks for proof that Dubai's Princess Latifa is alive.

The robot will spend the next two years looking for evidence of past life. Also: an inquiry in Colombia finds that the army under President Alvaro Uribe killed more than six thousand civilians, passing them off as combat deaths; and the scientists trying to create a robotic nose to detect cancer - inspired by dogs.

The life expectancy for the entire population dropped to 77.8 years. The Australian Prime Minister says his government will not be intimidated by Facebook blocking news feeds to users. New Tokyo Olympics chief is seven times Olympian Seiko Hashimoto.

Transfer is part of new president's reversal of his predecessor's policies, also, Britain to launch Covid trial with healthy young volunteers, and what mice learn of men.

Demonstrators used vehicles to obstruct major roads across city. UN's special rapporteur for Myanmar has warned of potential violence. Also, gunmen have abducted dozens of schoolchildren in raid in northern Nigeria, and former pop star Glenn Medeiros alleges that 1980s music business was rife with sexual exploitation and Mafia links.

Bennie Thompson who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee also accused Mr Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and far right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers of inciting the crowd to disrupt the certification of the election results by the use of force, intimidation and threat. Also: the Hamas authorities in Gaza have agreed to revise a controversial ruling that banned women from travelling without the permission of a male relative, and the European Space Agency says it's planning to recruit someone with a physical disability as a potential astronaut.

In secretly recorded messages, the Dubai ruler's daughter says she's being 'held hostage'. Also: Cuba's coronavirus vaccine programme, and the big freeze on the Texas riviera.

The military says fines will also apply to those found to incite "hatred" towards the coup leaders. Also: World Trade Organization names its first female African boss, and high-altitude birds have evolved thicker "jackets".

The military has also warned protesters they could face up to twenty years in jail. Also: searching for the vanishing great white shark, and the new way of photographing subjects - without the photographer being there.

The leaders of Myanmar's military coup try to consolidate power, as they face continued protests across the country. Also, the World Health Organization plans a mission to Guinea, where an Ebola epidemic has been declared. And the Catalan region of Spain holds elections for the first time since its failed bid for independence in 2017.

Fifty-seven senators voted to convict Mr Trump - 10 short of the number needed to convict. Mario Draghi is sworn in as Italy's new prime minister. Fifty years on, why Carole King's Tapestry remains influential.

Lawyers for the former president, Donald Trump, argue that his remarks in the hours leading up to the storming of the US Capitol should be protected by free speech laws. Also, Iran reacts defiantly to warnings that it once again breached the 2015 nuclear deal. And the United Nations Security Council calls on the leaders of Myanmar's military coup to give up power.

UK Supreme Court ruling allows lawsuit by oil-polluted Niger Delta communities. People in this area say their lives and health have suffered because repeated oil-spills have heavily contaminated their land and water. Also, Russia warns it may cut ties with EU if the bloc imposes sanctions over treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and was Stonehenge originally built in Wales ?

They said the rioters who stormed Congress believed they were acting on Trump's orders. The Duchess of Sussex has won a privacy case against a British newspaper. Ten years on from the Arab Spring, what life like in Egypt?

There's been a fresh wave of arrests in Myanmar of officials linked to the former civilian government. Also: Tokyo Olympics chief to step down over sexism row, and are pigs clever enough to play computer games?

Democrats tell his impeachment trial his election fraud claims led directly to the riots. Also: we hear from young activists in Myanmar, and the reinvention of the Barbie doll.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly accepts criticism. She says EU was slow to authorise vaccines, overconfident about meeting production-targets, and 'still not where we want to be.' Also, why Serbia's achieved huge success with its vaccination-effort, and how a Texas lawyer became an internet star - as a cat.

The Senate found that the trial is constitutional, allowing full proceedings to begin. Also: the UAE puts a space probe into orbit around Mars, and the 82-year-old climber breaking records to pay tribute to the elderly victims of coronavirus.

A team of international and Chinese experts say more work is needed to identify the source of the virus. Also: rubber bullets used as Myanmar protestors defy ban, and the Supremes co-founder and singer Mary Wilson dies aged seventy-six.

The trial starts today, with Mr Trump's lawyers denying he incited supporters to riot. Also: Myanmar's military defends its coup, and Tesla buys more than a billion dollars of Bitcoin.

State TV tells protestors that action will be taken if they threaten 'rule of law'. Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated for third day following military coup. Also, rescuers search for 200 people who are missing after flood in northern India, and US Senate prepares for second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Officials say a bid to murder the president and overthrow the government has been halted. Also: protests sweep Myanmar, and rebuilding the old Iraqi city of Mosul.

The national blackout comes amid the biggest protest so far against this week's military takeover. Thousands of people took to the streets of the main city, Yangon. Also: remembering the 'Wuhan whistleblower' doctor a year after his death, and rare meteorites from the Moon, Mars, and beyond, go under the hammer in New York.

The International Criminal Court's decision could lead to an investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Also: Russia expels European diplomats over Navalny protests, and the Sound of Music star Christopher Plummer dies at the age of 91.

Mr. Navalny is accused of slandering an elderly Second World War veteran, which he denies. His lawyer says this is 'criminal persecution' aimed at preventing his client from standing in parliamentary and presidential elections. Also, how the pandemic has made life even harder for Bulgaria's Roma minority, and scientists discover a reptile the size of a sunflower seed.

In his first major foreign policy speech, Joe Biden said global challenges could be solved by nations working together. Also, the Brazilian mining firm, Vale, has agreed to pay seven billion dollars in damages for the collapse of the Brumadinho dam, and Denmark plans to build the world's first energy island.

Dominic Ongwen was abducted by the LRA in Uganda and had argued he was a victim. Also: the Myanmar military has blocked Facebook in a clampdown on the opposition days after the coup, and doctors in New York hail the first operation to transplant a face and hands from the same person to have been a success.

The Canadian minister Bill Blair said the decision was influenced by the group's "pivotal role" in January's riots at the Capitol in Washington. Also: the European Union warns there's a real danger of renewed civil war in Afghanistan, and expect a socially distanced Eurovision song contest 2021.

Police bring charges against elected civilian leader whose whereabouts are unclear. She and the President were detained during military coup on February 1st. Also, Uighur women detainees in China allege systematic rape and torture in 're-education' camps, and how a 110-year-old British great-grandmother became an internet singing sensation.

Alexei Navalny had returned to Russia after treatment in Germany for Novichok poisoning. Also: US Democrats lay out impeachment case against Trump, and a prize for those who invented LEDs - Light Emitting Diodes.

The court is deciding whether to convert a suspended sentence given to the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny into an actual prison term. Women struggle over their inheritance rights in Nigeria. Top tips on working from home.

The US president, Joe Biden, has strongly condemned the military coup in Myanmar, saying those responsible would be held to account. Also: the head of the UNHCR says the situation in Ethiopia's Tigray province is "extremely grim", and why are readers of the Times newspaper getting annoyed?

Myanmar's democratically-elected leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, detained, also: international condemnation of the military takeover, and: Silver rises to an eight-year high.

More than 5,000 people have been arrested amid demonstrations for the jailed activist. Also: AstraZeneca 'agrees to boost EU vaccine supplies', and the first commercial launch of a rocket powered partially by bio fuel.

The WHO says the controls on vaccines produced in the bloc could prolong the pandemic. Also: Vladimir Putin's judo partner says he owns the mansion said to be for the president, and a four-year-old girl finds a dinosaur footprint on a beach.

The controls will apply to vaccines made in the bloc, following a shortfall in deliveries. Also: the French village - left a fortune by a fugitive from the Nazis, eighty years after the residents there saved his life, and buying books to impress on a video call.

Warnings issued as Myanmar's military threaten to revoke constitution. This follows their poor performance in elections in November 2020. Also, EU publishes its contract with AstraZeneca as row continues over Covid-19 vaccine supplies, and pioneering African-American actress Cicely Tyson dies aged 96.

President Joe Biden says he is “undoing the damage” done by Donald Trump, as he reopens online enrolment for government-subsidised healthcare. Also, the European Union has sent inspectors to an AstraZeneca plant to find out why Covid-19 vaccine goals are not being met. And Facebook’s new oversight board hands down its first decision.

The shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union is being felt across the continent. Also: China tells the US not to interfere with a WHO investigation into the origins of the virus, and Alexei Navalny denounces his detention as illegal after a judge turns down his appeal for release.

He says the US will lead a global response to the climate crisis. Also: police in Russia search properties linked to Alexei Navalny, and a previously unknown work by Mozart has its world premiere.

Sanofi pledges to manufacture 125 million doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. European Union is currently struggling with vaccine supply issues amid a row over shortages. Also, a stark warning from South Africa about future danger posed by new Coronavirus variants, and how one man cheered up his US neighbourhood - by giving away free pizza.

The UK has one of the highest death rates in the world, Also: President Biden raises concerns in his first talk with Vladimir Putin and a former slave and abolitionist on the US 20 dollar bill.

The European Commission President has added her voice to the growing number of world leaders. Also: Chaos in parts of the Indian capital as thousands of farmers converge on the Red Fort to demand that the government drop its agricultural reforms, and the Thai parliament has voted to allow abortions in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy.

US Democrats have delivered an impeachment charge to the Senate - accusing Donald Trump of inciting insurrection - and triggering the process of putting him on trial. Also: Covid-19 has cost global workers $3.7tn in lost earnings, and baby tyrannosaurs - the size of Border Collie dogs.

A whistle-blower has raised fresh concerns about the safety of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft. Also: President Putin condemns protesters demanding the release of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the international appeal of Scotland's National Bard.

President Biden has implored Americans to wear masks, warning that the death toll could get worse. Also: clashes erupt during Dutch Covid curfew demo, and SpaceX sets a world record for the number of satellites launched.

Tens of thousands joined some of the largest rallies against President Vladimir Putin in recent years. Also: Italian PM brands Covid-19 vaccine delay "unacceptable", and the veteran talk show host Larry King dies aged eighty-seven.

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