BBC

Nolan talks to Alliance MLA Eoin Tennyson and Ulster University's Prof Deirdre Heenan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will speak to Donald Trump in the coming days about the new peace deal put forward by the US. Mr Trump's plan includes significant concessions to be made by Kyiv. What is his strategy with this provocative proposal? Also: Schools have been closed in parts of Nigeria after a new wave of attacks and abductions. Spain's attorney general has been found guilty of leaking confidential information about the boyfriend of a leading politician. And the old VCR gathering dust in your basement could be worth good money at auction.

Canada is home to thousands of Sikh truck drivers, crossing North America in cabs that double as kitchens, bedrooms and places to pray. In a single week, some will see more of the continent than most people will in a lifetime, from major cities to mountain ranges and endless miles of road. But the road can be a hard place to practise faith built on family, community, and a vegetarian diet. Journeys can be long, food options limited, and drivers say discrimination is rising. Yet many choose to respond with acts of kindness, carrying their faith with them. Megan Lawton travels to Ontario to join Sikh truckers on the road. She stops at a local Gurdwara, where drivers reconnect with community, and come together to instill the values of their faith in their children.

The UK response to Covid was "too little, too late" and led to thousands more deaths in the first wave, an inquiry into government decision-making has found. The report said lockdown may have been avoided if voluntary steps such as social distancing and isolating those with symptoms along with household members had been brought in earlier than 16 March 2020. A minister during the pandemic years tells us some of the criticism is "unfair".

Also on the programme: as Spain marks 50 years since the death of dictator Francisco Franco, a leading historian of the country on why some young people are growing more favourable towards him.

Broadcaster Terry Christian reflects on the passing of his friend, The Stone Roses bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield, who has died aged 63.

And turning a tennis match into opera. Shaun Ley visits the set of 'Balls', an musical rendition of the famous 1973 Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.

Is the “Trump Effect” working on the US economy? New figures show 119,000 jobs were added in September, sharply beating expectations after a slow summer. We’ll look at what’s driving the pickup.

Also, novelists are increasingly worried that AI could replace them. Andrew Peach asks one writer whether a computer could ever produce a book as good as a human.

And how seafood has become a weapon in the latest row between China and Japan.

Photo by WILL OLIVER/EPA/Shutterstock

A member of the public passes the US Department of Labour in Washington DC, USA, 05 September 2025.

US President Donald Trump has accused Democratic legislators who urged members of the armed forces to disobey unlawful orders of sedition and suggested they should face the death penalty.

Also on the programme: a journalist who has followed the Epstein story for years tells us what might be in the files to be released; and American filmmaker Wes Anderson on the pros and cons of AI in the movies.

(Photo: President Trump gestures after speaking during a meeting of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia on September 30, 2025. Credit: Reuters)

Kate has important news, and Leonie comes to the rescue.

As the US is reported to have drafted a deal with Russia on Ukraine, we look at the impact the war has had on Ukrainian children.

Also: Facebook and Instagram start closing Australian teenager's accounts ahead of the social media ban next month. A court in the Philippines has found a former mayor, Alice Guo, guilty of human trafficking linked to a scam centre in her town. As fears mount of a Chinese invasion, Taiwan issues instructions to its citizens of what to do if war breaks out. We hear from the son of one of the Nazi war criminals sentenced to death in the Nuremberg trials, 80 years after they began. And a new exhibition explores the quirky, stylised world of the American film director, Wes Anderson.

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Senior EU politicians say Kyiv and Europe must be involved in any peace plan for Ukraine, as the US pushes for proposals that reportedly echo Russian demands.

Some of the reported plans being discussed involve Ukraine giving up territory and dramatically shrinking its military.

Also in the programme: We'll hear about the Filipino mayor busted as a human trafficker and online scammer; one of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking network on the promised major release of new information; and social media networks are turned off for Australia's under-16s.

(Photo shows A Russian flag waving in front of a US flag at the US Embassy in Moscow. Credit: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA)

A special BBC investigation has collated data which shows there have been thousands of reports of rape between July 2023 and May 2025, in the conflict between militias and Ethiopian government forces in the Amhara region. We hear a personal testimony and also find out more about the scale of the abuses.

Also in the podcast, why the advocacy and campaigning organisation Child Online Africa is pushing for a new continent-wide eSafety Commission.

And what is it really like to own a football team? We hear from Cameroonian sports entrepreneur, Kingsley Pungong, whose portfolio includes at least two clubs.

Presenter: Audrey Brown

Producers: Sunita Nahar and Yvette Twagiramariya in London. Plus Madina Maishanu in Abuja

Technical Producer: Jonathan Greer

Senior Producer: Patricia Whitehorne

Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi