BBC News Podcast

The Duke of York says he is stepping back from royal duties because the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become a "major disruption" to the Royal Family. Also: US diplomat says Trump directed Ukraine pressure, and what is the best passport to own in the world?

Simon Chen says he was abused for allegedly inciting unrest in Hong Kong. Also: Malta businessman arrested in an investigation into killing of journalist, and a nine-year old is set to become world’s youngest university graduate.

Lt Col Alexander Vindman told Congress that President Trump made "inappropriate" political demands of his Ukrainian counterpart. Also: Sweden drops Assange alleged rape investigation, and does Marie Kondo's online store spark joy?

The protests in Iran started on Friday and were sparked by a sharp rise in petrol prices. US and Australian hostages are freed in a Taliban prisoner swap. Do you know what the gayageum is?

The United States reverses four decades of foreign policy in a move seen as a boost to Israel. Also: Brazil's Amazon deforestation 'highest since 2008', and rare Charlotte Bronte miniature work returning to UK after sale in French auction.

Protesters trapped inside the Polytechnic University are attempting to escape a police blockade of the campus. Demonstrations across Iran over fuel price rises have left at least twelve people dead. A rare Charlotte Bronte book is coming home.

Police had warned protestors in Hong Kong that they could use live bullets if violence against officers continued. Also: Sri Lanka wartime defence chief wins presidency, and the British photographer Terry O'Neill dies aged 81.

The Queen's second son discusses his relationship with convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, and denies ever meeting the teenage girl who says she was forced to have sex with him. Also: Chinese Communist Party documents leaked to the New York Times reveal new details about the mass detention of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, and we hear from the man some call the Indiana Jones of the art world.

The US president tweeted his contempt as Congress interviewed a key impeachment witness. Donald Trump attacked the former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, in the middle of her testimony to the Congressional impeachment inquiry. Also: echoes of the Cold War with a spy swap on the Russian border, and is broadband internet access really an essential human right?

Second day of public hearings in impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, is giving her testimony. Also, how African migrants are brutally mistreated by traffickers shipping them to Europe, and should the office meeting be seen as a form of therapy ?

Investigators allege a top aide of President Vladimir Putin was in contact with rebel leaders on a regular basis. Also: Italy declares a state of emergency in Venice, following catastrophic flooding, and the young scientist that's made a new form of plastic out of fish waste materials.

Palestinian militants in Gaza launch rockets towards Israel, hours after ceasefire begins. The truce was meant to end two days of intense fighting, in which 34 Palestinians were killed and dozens of Israelis injured. Also, India's Supreme Court to review landmark judgement allowing women of menstruating age to enter a Hindu shrine, and how a group of cows in the US showed some remarkable survival skills.

The first public hearings heard Mr Trump cared more about Ukraine investigating his rival, Joe Biden, than the country itself. Also: The importance of coffee to the Swiss, and cherry blossom to the Japanese.

Parts of the territory are paralysed for a third weekday in a row due to street battles. Also, people in Venice battle the highest water levels for fifty years, the public hearings into the impeachment inquiry of President Trump get underway, and the curious case of the cat and the airline.

Attempts to choose an interim leader to replace Evo Morales are thrown into confusion. Also: The Zimbabwean dollar makes a come back, and how cocaine washed up on French beaches has the police baffled.

Dozens of rockets hit Israel after Palestinian Islamic Jihad vows to avenge Baha Abu al-Ata's death. Also: American IS suspect "stranded on Turkey border", and Lilou - the world's first airport therapy pig.

Mexico says the decision was taken for "humanitarian reasons" after a request from Mr Morales. Also: A vast area of Australia's east coast is bracing itself for one of the nation's worst ever bushfire threats, and the co-founder of the White Helmets aid organisation has been found dead in Turkey.

Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam has warned that protestors will not succeed in getting their demands. Also: Brexit Party rules out standing in Tory seats, and shopping frenzy in China's Single's day event.

Evo Morales quit following his disputed re-election last month. Also: the drunken man trying to dispose of his murdered lover, and Sesame Street at 50.

Germany celebrates 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall; Powerful cyclone forces thousands of people from their homes in Bangladesh; India and Pakistan agree visa free corridor to allow Sikhs to visit a holy site: