Historic win for far-right in Germany

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1:27Looking for the Saudi government might have been involved in the 9-11 attacks. Also in this podcast. I remember it often. It makes me feel sad and angry. We hear from Nigerians who survived a school abduction. And we take a look at sleep-maxing. We begin with what could be a significant moment for post-war Germany. supporters of the AFD celebrating a landslide election victory in the former East German state of Saxony and Hals. It was the biggest win for the far right in Germany since the Nazi era. The party more than doubled its support taking 44% of the vote. That felt just short of a majority of seats in the state parliament. It was a very bad result for the German Chancellor Friedrich Mats.

2:27His party's vote was halved. The man who now hopes to become the first AFD Chief Minister of any German state, 35-year-old Ulrich Seagmund, said they'd made history. This won't be a sad news for the people. This election victory is a vote of confidence from the people of this country. And we will live up to that trust. We will not compromise our principles. We will not give up on ourselves. We will never become like those who rightly been punished this evening. We are alternative for Germany. The AFD tapped into a wave of nostalgia for communist East Germany and managed to secure support from at least 150,000 previous non-voters. The party wants to heavily restrict immigration, restore ties with Russia, quit the euro, and promote unashamed German patriotism, defunding so-called anti-German art and teaching children less about Hitler.

3:28Mainstream politicians have refused to work with the AFD, but a small left-wing pro-Russia party might provide support if it can get into the state parliament. As our correspondent, Jessica Parker, told Tim Franks. All on is wrong whether the small party, BSW or BSV, as it's known here, whether it's going to reach the 5% threshold that could allow it to get into parliament. The reason that's important is BSV have signaled that they would maybe be able to helping the AFD actually take power in this state, even if it wouldn't be any kind of formal coalition. If the BSV didn't make into the parliament, the small and the AFD would potentially get more seats, more likely to get state-level power. Still some convoluted German political maths going on here, but the big picture is they've won in terms of voters, the AFD, they've won and they've won big here in Saxony and Halter. In terms of both the state,

4:28I mean, obviously states in Germany have a considerable amount of power, not unfettered power, so that could be important, but nationally. What does this huge victory for the AFD mean, do you think? Nationally, I think it means the AFD feels there on the march, and they have been growing in popularity. They're leading the polls nationally, even though they're a support with heavily skewed to Eastern Germany. I think as well it's a bad night for Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor, CDU, who was already very embattled, but this could potentially further destabilise him and his government. Now remember, his government is, for example, a key supporter of Ukraine, whereas the alternative for Germany, I want to end support to Ukraine and have pro-Russia policies. Now, as you say, it's important to understand the states, they don't set foreign policy state governments, but they do run things like education, policing, culture. So as well, I think, for the AFD, they see this as a potential blueprint for how they would look in power in other states,

5:29or indeed nationally, something that they aspire to. So they're seeing it as a stepping stone for their aspirations, whereas other people, I think, critics of the AFD, of which there are many in Germany, this is a party cost as rightly extremist in this state, by domestic intelligence. Critics of the party fear this is a moment of peril for the country. If indeed, there is some kind of domino effect. Jessica Parker in Saxony Unhelt. President Trump's envoys have left Ukraine after talks with President Vladimir Zelensky. Steve Wittkov and Jared Kushner visited Kiev after talks in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. As expected, there was no breakthrough on ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Our diplomatic correspondent, James Landel, is in Kiev. This is the first time Steve Wittkov and Jared Kushner have set foot on Ukrainian soil since Russia's full-scale invasion. And they arrived by train because they couldn't risk flying and running the gauntlet of Russian drones. But the welcome they got was warm,

6:29a chance for President Zelensky finally to give them his assessment of the war first hand here on the ground in Kiev. He chose to greet the U.S. envoys in the city's famous St. Sophia Cathedral, not only a symbol of Ukraine's ancient past, but also only yards from where Russia attacked the headquarters of the country's security services on Friday. Both sides said the talks were substantive and they appeared good humid, including jokes at Russia's expense. They were joined later by European national security advisers, but was anything actually agreed while they discussed new ideas to end the war in a fresh round of U.S. break-and-talks. But President Zelensky's focus was on his need for more energy and air defenses now. We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners. And we are counting on support of our European partners if the war continues in winter.

7:31And this is how it appears at the moment. President Zelensky reiterated Ukraine's red lines for peace, security guarantees and a strong army, something Russia opposes. Mr. Wykhov, a deal could be done. It's going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them. And we think we have the ingredients to get to that place. But in the Kremlin yesterday, there was little sign of compromise. President Putin insisting the root causes of the war must be addressed, short-hand for Ukraine giving up territory and self-determination. Today, his forces launched yet another attack on a town in Western Ukraine, hitting an apartment block, injuring seven. Talk of ceasefires and diplomacy, not saving them from Russian drones. James Landau in Kiev. 25 years after the September 11 attacks, new evidence is raising questions about a man

8:32who helped two of the hijackers after they arrived in America. Saudi National Omar Al Bayumi was arrested in Britain just days after 9-11. He was never extradited back to the US, although compelling evidence against him was uncovered by British police and shared with the FBI. This report from Jane McMullen. It's a day that I would like to only think of my husband. And we can't do that if the truth remains buried. Terry Strader's husband, Tom, with whom she had three children, was working in New York's World Trade Center when the attacks happened. I had a newborn in my arms. He was four days old. Tom went down the stairs, turned around, said, I'll be home by two. I love you. I love you. Tom was one of nearly 3,000 people who were killed that day. The plane has crashed into the World Trade Center and the passenger plane crashing into the South Town Hall. Within days of the attacks in which four planes were crashed,

9:34investigators had identified the 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers. Two of them, now our follhazmi in Haledar Mita, had lived for months in San Diego. The FBI quickly discovered that they had received help from a Saudi man called Omar Al-Bayumi. We needed to know everything about them. Danny Gonzalez was an FBI special agent. You focus on who helped them, who assisted them. It was a network. But when you see who's the principal of this network, it's Omar Al-Bayumi. Bayumi helped the two men secure an apartment, co-signing their lease. But before 9-11, he moved to the UK and 11 days after the attacks, British police arrested him in Birmingham. They took him to London where he was questioned for seven days. This interview is being audio and video recorded. At first, Bayumi denied knowing the hijackers. I didn't have any link with any hijackers.

10:34But investigators already knew he had guaranteed two of the hijackers rent. I was the man and I was speaking with him. Eventually, he admitted to helping them after what he said was a chance meeting in Los Angeles. Bayumi claimed to be a student who had no links to extremists. But panoramas obtained Bayumi's personal videos never broadcast before, a vanois al-Aulaki who would go on to lead Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. When questioned in 2021, Bayumi denied knowing Al-Aki but the videos show them paintballing and also embracing at a meeting. After 9-11, the FBI uncovered evidence and information suggesting Bayumi might have been working on behalf of Saudi interests. Rick Lambert oversaw the FBI investigation in San Diego. It was a general consensus of people in the San Diego Muslim community that Bayumi was an operative of the Saudi intelligence service. He was a spy.

11:35He was a spy. Bayumi has always denied being a spy. British police also seized evidence from his Birmingham home, including a video he filmed around the Capitol building two years before the attacks. At the time, Al-Qaeda was deciding which targets to hit. The time is 6 pm. Bayumi later claimed it was tourism, but in it, he talked about a plan. The police also seized a handwritten diagram of a plane with descent calculations. He is Jodi Westbrook Flowers, a lawyer representing the families of 9-11 victims in a lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It's the mathematical calculation of the crash. When we figured out what it was, we knew that it was smoking gun that we've been looking for. I would have agreed to work with that. Jeff Brineholt was an official at the Department of Justice. The flight designs and calculations

12:36are the worst, less-the-most inconvenient evidence for him. In my opinion, we've convicted people for less. When they found the diagram, the Met marked it up as top priority and handed it to the FBI. But neither the FBI nor the Met told the detectives interviewing Bayumi about it. He wasn't asked about the diagram while it was in custody. It's not clear why. FBI documents show it was decided there was insufficient evidence to extradite Bayumi to the United States. He was released and returned to Saudi Arabia where he remains. September 11th, when it comes around every year. As they mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the families hope they can take their case against Saudi Arabia to a trial and get all the answers to what happened. The FBI declined to comment. While the US Department of Justice says, it's unable to comment or matters and decisions from 25 years ago involving staff who no longer work there.

13:37The Metropolitan Police says it can't comment because of the ongoing legal case. Panorama attempted to reach Omar al-Bayumi through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Neither he nor the Saudi government responded to our request for comment. He has previously denied knowing that has Min Mithra would go on to be hijackers, said the plane diagram was just an equation and denied any involvement in the 9-11 attacks. Jane McMullen reporting, How well did you sleep last night? Well, these days many of us use smart watches, rings and apps to get a precise answer to that question. But experts are warning that the pursuit of the perfect sleep a trend known as sleep maxing could actually end up keeping people awake. Doctors call it author Somnia, and on healthy obsession with getting the perfect night's rest. Dr Alana Haer is a sleep medicine consultant. What I'll often see is individuals who are very focused on high performance, well-being, maybe they're going to the gym

14:40and quite understandably, they also want to address their sleep and improve that. Unfortunately, sleep doesn't respond in the same way as diet and exercise do. When we really focus on our sleep and we try and optimize or max our sleep, actually often that can create the opposite. Where our sleep becomes worse. Linda study at the University of Oxford, scientists gave participants trackers which displayed a score each time they woke up. These were actually just random numbers, but participants with low scores said they genuinely felt more tired and less mentally alert. James Wilson, or the Sleep Geek, works with professional sports teams to improve athletes' rest. What we believe that our sleep is often the thing that comes true. There's lots of things that feed into how we sleep. We have an underlying genetic makeup when it comes to sleeping in terms of how much sleep we need in terms of how good and how much. Your sleep type when you're more so it's going to put them waking up. Then we also have the world of hours, our lives of hours. If you've been a poor sleep for your life, often it's that story

15:42of, you know, I'm not going to sleep tonight because of X, Y, and Z. That then causes you not to sleep that night and a big cause of that and a big cause of something that's becoming known as also some is tracking your sleep. If you're poor sleeper, you know you're poor sleeper. You don't need a device to give you a score that might actually not be quite true. You can wake up fully and okay, but if the score says you've slept poorly, that can really change how you view your sleep. If we actually acknowledge that sometimes sleep is a little bit difficult and our jobs can affect how we sleep, but know that our bodies can get through it, then it doesn't have the same impact. A lot of my work with the people I work with is actually getting to reconfigure how they see their sleep and accept that sometimes we will sleep polycos. We've got kids, we've got pets, we live in a noisy neighborhood, we shift workers, we've got a disability or neurodivergence, we're living with a menstrual cycle or the menopause. All these things can impact our sleep and if we start to sort of obsess over it and think that sleep's got to be perfect, then you won't perform work.

16:42So definitely what I work with a lot of the work is actually giving a bit of context around their sleep and trying to get them to see, you know, sleep will not always be perfect. Sleep expert James Wilson. And still to come in this podcast. As a woman I thought it was wonderful because I feel safer. I just put some of my drink on it to test it. A wristband that can detect whether your drink has been spiked. Music Your network was successfully breached by Comtty Team. One of the most notorious gangs of hackers that ever existed. All of your files were encrypted with military grade algorithms. Making outrageous demands. Let them pay millions. I'm Jeff White and I'll take you inside a business like no other. Where cybercriminals piled up the cash until divisions grew and somebody took revenge. I already do your grain.

17:44Cyber hack season four, the Comtty files. All episodes available now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Also enjoy a range of our podcasts, add free with an Amazon Music subscription. Incredible true stories shared by people from around the world. Something really strange happened to me. It was getting more and more bizarre. I didn't know who I could trust. I did not think we were ever going to make it out of life. Life's less ordinary is the podcast where real life is often stranger than fiction. Today my name is Brawger and I am a full time kangaroo mother. Lives less ordinary from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

18:49You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Iran's top negotiator has warned of a faster, heavier and more painful response to US attacks. The hostilities escalate. Mahamed Baghha Ghalibaf said the Americans must understand, quote, before it's too late that the rules of the game have changed. Ghalagha spoke to the BBC Persian services, Paham Ghabadi. In the past few days, Iranian commanders have been saying that Iran has shifted its military doctrine from defensive to offensive. They laid out some of the features of it saying that responses are going to be fast, are going to be brought. Iran may resort to preemptive strike. And this disproportionate response, it appears that it's the fourth feature of Iran's new military doctrine. Why do you think they are doing this? Because Iran feels that it is losing its leverage over the straight of Hormuz. This is really important. The other thing because the naval blockade, US naval blockade is hurting Iran's weak economy really hardly.

19:52And people are bearing the brunt of it. Iran has two options, technically. One is going back to negotiating tables from a weaker position. The second one is that to escalate further. So it appears that Iranian authorities have chosen the latter and they have decided to go up the escalation ladder. Which has a risk that is going to have unintended consequences and things spiral out of control. And is that the leverage ramping up the escalation? So from the data that we have, like US authorities have for the first time put out a figure saying that they are transferring almost 9 million barrels of oil through the straight of Hormuz before the war was somewhere around 20 million barrels. So that's something around 45% of oil transfer has been restored by the Americans. So Iran feels that, yeah, obviously it's not like the pre-war. It is, you know, it's really costly for the Americans. They have to deploy troops, warships, etc., etc.

20:54But they've managed to transfer some oil through the straight of Hormuz. 45% of that is already restored. So Iranians feel that they are being targeted. They're losing their most important leverage. And at the same time, the naval blockade is continuing. So Iran cannot, according to reports, Iran's oil sales has dropped to zero. And that is Iran's main income and main revenue. And this is what some Iranian authorities had warned already that we should not overplay our hands, including Muhammad Bukhariq Ali Bafu mentioned this today. He was one of those people who was saying that our benefit is in the straight of Hormuz functioning and ships going through it. But I'm Gabbadi of the BBC Passion Service. At least five people have been killed after an Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway as it tried to land Miami International Airport. I got the details in the BBC's Anna Aslan. This cargo plane took off from San Juan and Puerto Rico. I was coming into land at Miami International shortly before 2pm local time when it overrun the runway.

21:57Sight data shows it was going about 200km per hour when it hit the runway, kept going and just went off the runway completely. It crossed a large road, hitting several vehicles there and then burst into flames before grinding to a halt in... It's called the field, but really just a grassy area sort of in between that road and a parking lot. Videos and pictures online show the tilted plane, so you've got the damaged nose on the ground, tail high up in the air with the Amazon logo visible, and then large plumes of smoke just coming off of it. A firefighter arrived pretty quickly, extinguished the flames, leaving a seat on the wreckage. The fire chief Ray Jadala said it was a complex situation. The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles that required a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles. So a complex extrication with our technical rescue teams started to occur. In addition to that, we had a very complex fire engine compartments that were on fire, including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft.

23:00So as you said, we know five people have been killed, and other five are injured three in critical condition. Do we know what caused the plane to run off the end of the runway? Not yet, it's still an active scene and federal investigators have sent a team to go out there. Amazon released a statement. It said it's working with local authorities to gather details about exactly what happened. And a spokesperson said the loss of life was heartbreaking. A dedicated hotline has been set up for the relatives of those affected. County Mayor Daniela Levinkava said the community is grieving. Today is an incredibly difficult day for all of us here in Miami-Dade County. My heart is with all of the families who were affected and to everyone who is grieving tonight. And we're also praying for the injured and for their families. The airport was obviously completely shut down after that incident. Now as it reopens, travelers have been told to expect delays and possibly cancellations.

24:01Miami International is one of the busiest airports in the U.S., especially this weekend because of Labor Day, Bank Holiday. So there will be a lot of disruption in the coming hours. Anah-Azlam, meanwhile Ash sent into the sky from an erupting volcano has closed eight airports in Indonesia, leading to the cancellation of more than a thousand flights. Lisa Tambunin reports from Jakarta. The eruption began late on Friday and sent ash nearly 10 miles into the sky. Melt Anakrakatau, which sits in the Sunda Street between Java and Sumatra, was active once again. The seismic activity has continued through the weekend, with two more eruptions triggering widespread flight disruption. These passengers at Indonesia's main international airport near Jakarta didn't know how long they would have to wait for a flight. If a volcano erupts, I understand that. The problem is why weren't we informed? That way, passengers wouldn't have needed to come here.

25:02It has caused problems for me, people are waiting for me, but this is nature, I have to accept it. Roots two and from Singapore, along with major international flights to Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, have all been affected. On the ground, residents of Jakarta and other cities have been sweeping up the ash outside their homes. They have been advised to wear masks and eye protection and to remain indoors. Fishing boats and other vessels have been banned from within 3 kilometres of the active crater. The sea level has been monitored, but the authorities say the likelihood of a tsunami is low. Lisa Tambunin in Jakarta Reports of people being sexually assaulted after having their drinks spiked have risen substantially in recent years, prompting a search for a simple way of testing whether drugs have been added to a drink. Well over the weekend, thousands of date-rape drug detecting wristbands were handed out at a concert in Portugal,

26:04more details from Wendy Irkut. Imagine the horror of waking up in a strange place with people you've never met and realizing you've been sexually assaulted or raped. That happens to many people, especially women whose drinks have been spiked with drugs that cause dizziness or make them pass out, and remember nothing about what's happened and the majority of these attacks are never reported. It's become such a major problem that countries all over the world are trying to come up with a solution that not only protects people, but is also fashion friendly and easy to wear. At the weekend, 5,000 wristbands that were developed by researchers at Lisbon University in collaboration with the University of Valencia and the Spanish company Celenters were handed out at a DJ called Cox concert in Lisbon, and there are plans to distribute thousands more at other events in Portugal.

27:04So how does it work? Well, all you have to do is put a tiny amount of liquid from your glass onto a spot on the wristband. If it turns orange, everything's fine, but if it turns a greenish color, it means your drink has been tampered with. It's an idea that's gone down very well with these users. I think it's a good thing, because it ends up giving us some peace of mind. The pressure is on women because they end up being the victims of more situations where their drinks might be spiked. As a woman, I thought it was wonderful because I feel safer. I just put some of my drink on it to test it. I think the City Council's initiative is great. Several other countries have used jewelry, straws and even magnets to detect drugs such as GHB, ketamine and MDMA, and Portugal is hoping this wristband will also help protect people from dangerous predators.

28:04Wendy Harkhart In recent years, Nigeria has been scarred by a series of mass school abductions. As gum and launch lightning rate and take dozens, even hundreds of children away to captivity. The country is already struggling with poor access to education. The UN says about 19 million kids are missing out on school, and many parents are simply too scared to send their sons and daughters to class. Ymesee de Go-K has been to Northwest Nigeria to meet two young people caught up in an attack on their school. So we've just arrived at the school and the senior girls are out in the courtyard. They're wearing bright green uniforms and it's raining a little bit, but they're just carrying on my godless. One of the people singing and dancing here ahead of the end of school is Hanatu.

29:05Like many teenage girls here in Gassal in Northwest Nigeria, she's nervous about her exam results. The BBC has followed Hanatu's story closely ever since a shocking, life-changing incident. I remember it often. It makes me feel sad and I cry. Reports say a large number of schoolgirls have been abducted after gunmen stormed a government school and kidnapped them from their dormitories. This part of Nigeria has been plagued by motorbike riding gangs of bandits who abduct people for ransom. In Zambara State, almost half a million children are out of school, partly driven by fears over abductions. After the attack, Hanatu spoke to BBC Africa Eye. We heard con shots, people crying for help and shouting. Here come the bandits. About five of us ran and locked ourselves in the toilet.

30:06There were about 350 students in the school, but only 32 of us escaped. Umu was another people at the school and was one of those abducted. She now studies early childhood education at a nearby university, but she was deeply affected by the incident. I had a month's voice shouting, come out, I'll kill you. I was thinking that the old killed us. Nearly 300 girls were taken, they were eventually freed, but it's disputed as to whether a ransom was paid for their release. But the girls school remained closed, threatening their futures. Nigeria already has one of the highest rates of out of school children in the world. Lissing out on education can have devastating consequences, especially for girls. After the BBC filmed with Hanatu and Umu, donors reached out via the Illymeer Children's Fund.

31:06They offered to help some of the girls affected. This allowed them to attend a secure school in the state capital. Both Hanatu and Umu now dream of careers where they can help others. I want to be a doctor so I can help the community and my relatives and the people that have supported me. The attack on their old school changed their lives, but Hanatu and Umu are determined that it will not define them. You may see Adegouke. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Sydney Dundan, our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway, until next time, goodbye. Your network was successfully breached by Conti Team. One of the most notorious gangs of hackers that ever existed. All of your files were encrypted with military-grade algorithms.

32:09Making outrageous demands. Let them pay millions. I'm Jeff White and I'll take you inside a business like no other, where cybercriminals piled up the cash until divisions grew and somebody took revenge. Cigarette to Ukraine! Cyberhack, season 4, the Conti files, all episodes available now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.