Author: BBC World Service

Iran says water supplies in Tehran will suffer scheduled cuts, as the country struggles with severe shortages. The announcement came after President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of rationing and suggested the capital might have to be evacuated if there's no rainfall in the next two weeks. Also: Bolivia and the United States agree to restore diplomatic relations - at ambassador level - after a 17-year break; a storm bearing down on the Philippines has intensified to a super typhoon; and Saudi Arabia's plans to attract 150 million tourists a year.

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: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The Iranian government says water supplies in the capital Tehran will suffer periodic cuts, as the country struggles to cope with its worst drought in decades. The announcement came two days after President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested Tehran might have to be evacuated, if shortages continue. His comments have prompted widespread criticism in Iranian newspapers and on social media, with the president accused of scaremongering and conducting "a narrative of despair." We speak to a resident in the capital and a former Environment Department official.

Also in the programme: Curtis Sliwa who came 3rd in this week's election for New York mayor tells us he was offered bribes to pull out of the race; and the woman who took up golf in her 50's and hit three holes in one in a month.

(Photo: Iranians picnic inside an almost dry river, which was once full, in the Fasham area, north of Tehran, Iran, 25 August 2025. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock)

US president Donald Trump has announced that Hungary will not have to face sanctions for importing Russian oil, following a White House meeting with Hungary's right-wing prime minister Viktor Orban.

It comes after the US effectively blacklisted two of Russia's largest oil companies last month, threatening sanctions on those who buy from them.

Also in the programme: 10 years after the Paris climate change conference agreed to limit global warming, we'll analyse what has been achieved by the agreement; we'll look at how Tunisian opposition leaders are supporting each other by going on hunger strike; and we'll hear from the woman who took up golf in her 50s and just hit three holes in one in a month.

[Photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral lunch with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Vice President JD Vance, at the White House in Washington DC on 7 November 2025. Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

In this Happy Pod special we're in Munich, Germany for One Young World. We speak to survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and their families as they turn their painful memories into a call for peace and the end of nuclear weapons. They're part of a group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. Also: The young Argentine harnessing Artifical Intelligence to spot wildfires; Zaynab Mohamed - the first Muslim woman elected to Minnesota's Senate at just 25; the 'TikTok Mayor' using social media to show life in charge of a tiny Spanish village; and the England football star, Georgia Stanway, who's using Euros success to change the game for the next generation of female players. Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.

Presenter: Holly Gibbs. Music composed by Iona Hampson

President Trump grants Hungary a one-year exemption from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas purchases during a visit to the White House by his right wing ally, Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. The sanctions were introduced in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Also: Senators fail to agree a compromise to pay essential federal workers, including air traffic controllers, during the US Government shutdown; more than 200 people have been charged with treason after protests against the disputed election in Tanzania; Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, has died aged 97; and archaeologists have compiled the most detailed map yet of the roads that criss-crossed the Roman Empire from Great Britain to North Africa.

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: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The president of the Pacific island nation, Palau, considers whether COP is still worth it. Also on the programme, thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed in the US on the first day of reduced air traffic caused by the government shutdown; and, the so-called "Google Maps" of Roman Roads -- the most extensive digital map that reveals hundreds of thousand of kilometres of old roads.

(Photo: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez embrace next to European Council President Antonio Costa and Para state Governor Helder Barbalho as delegates attending the Belem Climate Summit ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) gather for a family photo, in Belem, Brazil, November 7, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado)

The Sudanese government calls for international guarantees that RSF rebels will stick by a ceasefire they have signed up to, before it agrees to do the same. Fears grow of a return to conflict in neighbouring Ethiopia, where government forces and rebels from the northern Tigray region accuse each other of launching attacks. A 17-year-old student in Indonesia is suspected of carrying out a bomb attack at a school in Jakarta, which injured more than 50 people. The EU tightens visa rules for Russian citizens amid growing security fears, after nearly four years of war in Ukraine. The musical composition inspired by a world-leading space observatory. And the government tax lawyer in Washington who is using the federal shutdown to realise a childhood dream: to run a hot dog stand.

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: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Tesla shareholders have approved a pay package that could make Elon Musk the world's first dollar trillionaire. We discuss whether that’s an obscene sum or a fair reward for success.

Also in the programme: as world leaders meet ahead of the UN climate conference in Brazil, we ask a supporter of Donald Trump why the US president isn't there and why Mr Trump now says climate change is all a hoax; and the challenge of writing a piece of music to mark 80 years of Britain's Jodrell Bank Observatory.

(IMAGE: Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025 / CREDIT: Reuters/Daniel Cole)

What can Africa expect from the COP 30 climate conference? Sudan's paramilitary RSF agrees to a humanitarian ceasefire, but the government wants guarantees from the international community And why are marginalised cultures being celebrated during Fashion Week in Namibia? Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Tanya Hines and Yvette Twagiramariya in London. Todah Opeyemi is in Lagos and Madina Maisanu in Abuja Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Technical Producer: Jonathan Greer Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi