The United Nations Population Fund World has described the low fertility rates around the world as a ‘crisis’ . Their newest report shows that many people do want to have more children but the cost of raising them and not having enough time are bigger barriers than before. Finding an appropriate partner to have a child with is a struggle too.

The BBC’s Population Correspondent Stephanie Hegarty breaks down what’s in the recent UNFPA report. Plus she explains why it’s easier for countries to stop people from having babies, rather than helping them have more.

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For centuries, Indigenous people around the world have been fighting to reclaim lost land. In most instances, the term Indigenous is used to refer to the people who lived somewhere before colonisers and settlers from a different place arrived. In North America, nearly 99% of Indigenous land has been seized since European colonisers arrived.

These days, an online movement using the hashtag #LandBack is supporting Indigenous people who want to take back their ancestral land.

BBC journalist Vanessa Igoe explains what the movement is and talks us through the arguments for and against it. Marika Sila, an Indigenous Inuit in Canada, explains what the landback movement means to her. Ailsa Roy, a Wunna Nyiyaparli woman, tells us about the challenges they’ve faced trying to reclaim ancestral lands in Western Australia. And Vanessa Racehorse, a Law professor in the US, looks at the impact on the environment when indigenous people reclaim their land.

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The women’s football European Championship kicks off next week in Switzerland. The Euros have thrust a recurring issue into the spotlight: ACL injuries. Female footballers suffer tears to their anterior cruciate ligament, also known as the ACL, more frequently than male footballers. Kesewaa Browne from the What in the World team explains some of the theories on why injury rates are so high.

Research has lagged behind for years, but with the sport becoming more high-profile, focus has shifted to what can be done to prevent these types of injuries: from the shape of the football boot to the frequency of international breaks.

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You might have come across ads on your TikTok or Instagram feed for Chinese micro-dramas: short episodes lasting only a few minutes with highly addictive plots. Think scandalous affairs, hot vampires and over the top acting (and lots of slapping). They might be a little cheesy, but they’re big business, with China’s micro-drama market expected to be worth $14bn by 2027. The apps like ReelShort or DramaBox, that produce the dramas are racking up downloads around the world - but what does this mean for the TV and film industry as a whole? And what does it say about the effect our phones are having on our attention spans?

BBC Global China Unit journalist Mengchen Zhang joins us for a special micro-drama screening - and explains how they’re behind a growing multi-billion dollar industry.

Get out the popcorn and put up your feet!

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After twelve days of intense fighting, Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire that, for now, seems to be holding.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is the man in charge in Tehran. His current whereabouts are a mystery. As we wait to see what’s next in this conflict, we look into his leadership and how power works in Iran with the help of Ghoncheh Habibiazad from the BBC Persian team. Plus we explain what role President Masoud Pezeshkian plays in all of this too.

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Nitrous oxide or laughing gas as been used as a recreational and medical drug since the late 1700s. Dentists often use it as an anaesthetic. It’s been linked to hippie, festival and rave culture for decades. And in the last few years, American rappers like Kanye West, Young Thug and Gunna have been open about using it.

You might have seen the little metal cannisters, that people use to dispense the drug, littering the streets. But now, manufacturers of nitrous oxide are producing bigger cannisters with different flavours and bright packaging and in the US, they are being stocked in smoke and vape shops.

Experts say this is contributing to a rise in the drug’s misuse. Using nitrous oxide can have harmful effects. Inhalation of nitrous oxide can lead to hypoxia, where the brain does not get enough oxygen. This can result in death. Regular inhalation can also lead to a Vitamin B12 deficiency which can cause nerve damage, degradation of the spinal column and even paralysis. The number of deaths attributed to nitrous oxide poisonings rose by more than 110% between 2019 and 2023, according to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In this episode BBC journalist Eve Webster explains how the use of nitrous oxide has changed recently, especially in the US. We hear about the risks of using it and where bans are in place. Ezra Marcus, an American investigative journalist, tells us how nitrous has become so popular in the US since the pandemic - and its links to American rappers. And BBC journalist Chigozie Ohaka sets out the current situation with nitrous oxide in Nigeria, where authorities tried to clamp down on it in 2023.

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Whether you’re struggling to write an email, planning a holiday, or wondering what to cook for dinner: increasingly more and more of us are turning to AI for the answer. But some experts have raised concerns that people are becoming too reliant on the new technology - and that this will have implications for how we learn and communicate with each other offline. So what’s the best way to use AI, and what alternatives are out there?

Our BBC Tech reporter, Liv McMahon, debunks some of the myths around AI chat bots and talks us through what you should consider when using them regularly. And Antonio Weiss, an AI & Digital Expert, shares his top tips for how to get the most out of your AI chatbot.

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The K-pop industry is known for being super strict and encouraging idols not to share details about their private lives, especially their relationships. For LGBTQ idols, there’s an added layer of pressure, where they can’t reveal or talk about their sexuality at all, due to the stigma associated with homosexuality in South Korea. The country is deeply divided over LGBTQ acceptance.

So what happens if you do mention your sexuality as a K-pop idol? BBC Korean’s Juna Moon has been talking to Bain from the boyband JUST B, who came out as gay on stage during a show in Los Angeles earlier this year. We hear some of her interview with Bain, who talks about his fans’ reactions. And Juna explains why it’s so unusual for K-pop idols to disclose their sexual identity.

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Climate change is one of the biggest issues of our time. Warmer weather and melting ice is forcing people and animals to migrate but it’s also threatening traditions.

Myths, dances and national dishes - we’ve all got distinctive, defining customs that we would never want to lose. So what are people across the world doing to keep hold of their identities?

BBC journalist Abiona Boja explains how cultural heritage loss is affecting young people across the globe. We hear from Muntadhar Abdul Ali about the droughts in Iraq’s marshes. And Maya Natuk tells us how rising temperatures in Greenland are affecting people’s sense of identity there. They explain the actions they’re taking to save their cultural traditions from extinction.

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Ed Sheeran’s long-running copyright battle over his hit Thinking Out Loud is finally over. That’s after the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal to revive the copyright trial. It all started back in 2016 when Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge were sued for allegedly copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic Let’s Get It On. Sheeran, whose subsequent hits include Azizam and Shape of You, ended up winning that case, with the judge saying that lots of songs share similar elements and that Gaye’s chord progressions couldn’t be copyrighted. But the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the song with Gaye, appealed the case, and it dragged on for nearly ten years.

BBC music correspondent Mark Savage breaks down the case and gives a quick rundown of how copyright law works in music. He also discusses other famous plagiarism allegations and the rules around sampling music to create new songs.

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