BBC

There’s an awkward customer at The Orangery, and Henry gets a boost.

What next for Ukraine? EU leaders have said they intend to travel to Washington as President Zelensky prepares for talks with Trump.

Also in the programme: Hostage families have called a general strike in Israel; and the great Mayan forest and efforts to save it.

(Photograph: President Zelensky and Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels. Credit: Shutterstock)

Qarabag FK is not only a refugee football club but also the most successful team in Azerbaijan. Located in Baku, they originally hail from the 'ghost' city of Aghdam, in the Nagorno Karabakh region of the South Caucasus. When a war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the late 1980s, Armenia forces seized Nagorno Karabakh - a disputed territory that both countries claim - and laid waste to Aghdam. The club relocated to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and rebuilt. But after the second Nagorno Karabakh war, which Azerbaijan won, the government has begun to rebuild Aghdam at breakneck speed. The centre-piece will be Qarabag's regenerated former stadium. The football club is a symbol of an Azerbaijani return to lands the government describes as "unlawfully stolen". But as one team returns, another has been forced out. Lernayin Artsakh FC was based in Stepanakert. As Azeri troops bore down on the city in September 2023, its players, officials and families fled for Armenia, an act that the Armenian government called "ethnic cleansing". The team is now based in Armenia, playing in the second division.

As one team prepares to return to a city they once fled, another prepares for a life in exile. James Montague travels to Nagorno Karabakh to visit the two refugee football clubs who once played in the same league but who have come to represent division and displacement in the region.

Presenter: James Montague

Producer and Sound Mix: Ben Wyatt

A Comuniqe production for the BBC World Service.

Vladimir Putin is reported to have told President Trump that he wants Ukraine to hand over more of its sovereign territory in the east, in return for Moscow freezing front lines elsewhere. According to sources involved in Friday's talks in Alaska, the Russian president said it should gain all of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including parts that Ukraine currently controls. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said he will not give up sovereignty of any territory. On Monday, he is due to meet the US President Donald Trump in Washington. Also: Orwell's "Animal Farm" at 80, and are mangoes good for diabetes?

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [email protected]

Qarabag FK is not only a refugee football club but also the most successful team in Azerbaijan. Located in Baku, they originally hail from the 'ghost' city of Aghdam, in the Nagorno Karabakh region of the South Caucasus. When a war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the late 1980s, Armenian forces seized Nagorno Karabakh - a disputed territory that both countries claim - and laid waste to Aghdam. After the second Nagorno Karabakh war, which Azerbaijan won, the government has begun to rebuild Aghdam at breakneck speed. But as one team returns, another has been forced out. Lernayin Artsakh FC was based in Stepanakert. As Azeri troops bore down on the city in September 2023, its players, officials and families fled for Armenia. James Montague travels to Nagorno Karabakh to visit the two refugee football clubs who once played in the same league but who have come to represent division and displacement in the region.

Vladimir Putin has reportedly demanded a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for a freezing of front lines elsewhere. The Russian president made the demand during Friday's meeting with President Trump in Alaska, according to sources involved in the talks. We speak to Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Also in the programme: Environmentalists have welcomed a deal signed by Mexico, Belize and Guatemala to protect the second large rainforest in the Americas; and are mangoes good for diabetes?

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

In the Swiss mountains, handwritten notes left on mountain peaks have been turning scenic climbs into unexpected matchmaking journeys, bringing nature lovers together one hike at a time.

Dubbed “Mountain Tinder”, couples are meeting through notebooks tucked into mountaintop letterboxes. The movement is spreading beyond Switzerland, inspiring similar efforts as far away as Argentina. With no swipes or algorithms, it’s a love story written in the clouds.

Also: the couple in Tasmania who have taken tackling homelessness into their own hands; a group of actors who bring the joy of theatre to remote communities in Finland -- by touring on a boat; and how Strictly Come Dancing's first celebrity with Down's Syndrome is inspiring others.

نروژ در میان کشورهای کامیاب مثال‌زدنی‌ست. ثروت فراوان و رتبهٔ عالی در زمینه‌هایی چون اعتماد اجتماعی و رعایت حقوق اقشار مختلف. اما آیا این تمامی حقیقت است؟ آیا مشکلات و چالش‌های نروژ را می‌دانیم؟

میهمان‌ها:

آسیه امینی، روزنامه‌نگار

امانوئل شکریان، پژوهشگر روانشناسی

Donald Trump has said he, along with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, have determined that a peace agreement was preferable to a ceasefire in the conflict between the two warring nations.

The announcement comes after Mr Trump's high-profile summit in Alaska with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin ended without an agreement.

We'll hear a Ukrainian response to the sight of President Putin being given a red carpet welcome in Alaska and get reaction fom the foreign minister of the Czech Republic.

Also in the programme: Violent clashes erupt in Serbia's capital after demonstrations by pro-government and anti-corruption groups; and we mark 80 years since the publication of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

(Photo shows US.president Donald Trump at a press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska,on 15th August 2025. Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they introduced many controversial measures, including a ban on music. How do people celebrate special occasions, like weddings? BBC Pashto’s Payenda Sargand recently attended a wedding in the southern city of Kandahar and tells us about the other forms of entertainment that were on display, including poetry, singers performing without music and stand-up comedians.

The tradition of ‘money spraying' is a major part of Nigerian wedding celebrations, but now you could face a hefty fine or even a prison sentence if you’re caught doing it. Make-up artist Abdullahi Musa Huseini, also known as Amuscap on social media, was recently sentenced by a high court in the northern city of Kano for throwing cash at his own wedding, and he’s currently serving a six-month jail sentence. Mansur Abubakar from BBC Africa has been reporting on this story.

Tuareg communities in North Africa traditionally celebrate weddings with a 7-day party. The BBC Arabic's Xtra TV producers were invited to a wedding in Gath, in the south of Libya, and got to know the groom, Jamal, a young man who said he had to save for years to be able to afford such a feast in the current cost-of-living crisis. Saif Rebai reports.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. This is an EcoAudio certified production.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)