Global News Podcast - Desperation in Afghanistan leads to sale of children

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

Afghanistan is facing a dire lack of food exacerbating a severe humanitarian crisis caused by dramatic aid cuts, the Taliban government’s policies and severe drought. Such is the desperation, Afghan fathers have spoken of their impossible choices: selling children to survive. Also: President Putin arrives in China for his 25th visit, hot on the heels of Donald Trump. As he left Russia, he said there was an “unprecedented level” of trust between his country and China. International concern mounts over the scale of the Ebola epidemic in Africa, with the World Health Organisation holding an emergency meeting. Police in Spain have arrested the son of the retail magnate, Isak Andic, as they investigate his death eighteen months ago. The founder of the Mango fashion group died after falling more than a-hundred metres during a hike in mountains near Barcelona. And worms living with a sponge called a glass castle and ghost sharks are just two of more than eleven hundred marine species scientists have discovered in the past 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: [e-mail]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson, and at 15 hours GMT on Tuesday the 19th of May, these are our main stories. We have a special report on Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin is visiting Beijing days after President Trump. The Kenyan government says a crippling transport strike over fuel price hikes has been suspended. Also in this podcast, the World Health Organization scales up its response to the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. This epidemic is caused by Bundibujo, a virus, a species of Ebola virus, for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics. Afghanistan is facing a desperate lack of food, a situation exacerbating a severe humanitarian crisis, made worse by dramatic aid,

the Taliban government's policies and severe drought. Winter has pushed 4.7 million people, that's more than a tenth of the population, to one step away from famine. Three out of four Afghans struggled to find food, jobs and access to health care. It's difficult for foreign journalists to report from Afghanistan. Our correspondent Yoghita Le Maai has been there where she traveled to the Gore province with Imogen Anderson, Mahfud Zubaiyid and Sanjay Ganguly. Some listeners, listeners might find their report upsetting. It's bright and early in the morning, and we've come to the central square

in the town of Chacharan, the capital of court province. And around me are hundreds of men who've gathered here. This is the spot they come to every morning, hoping to find work. Joblessness is a huge issue in this country. When they do find work, people have told us they get paid anything between 150 to 250 Afghani, which is roughly $2 to $4,000. And their families are really struggling so desperate that one man has broken down as he was speaking to us. We're starving and no one gives me work because I'm old.

So we've just started. suddenly seen a lot of people rush to a spot. We've followed them. And what we can see is one man on a motorcycle who's come to find one or two laborers. Dozens of men have actually thrown themselves at him desperate so that they can get one day of work, one day of wages. I'm just on the outskirts of the city of Chak Chiran.

And there's a man who's inviting us into his home. And we're going to speak to him to find out his story. Abdul Rashid Azimi calls for his daughters. Doquia and Rojila are twins, seven years old. Little girls with brown hair and dark eyes. Abdul holds them close, eager to explain why he's making unbearable choices, breaking down as he speaks. I'm ready to sell my daughters.

I am helpless and poor. I come home with parched lips, hungry, thirsty, distressed and confused. My children come to me saying, Baba, give us some bread. But what can I give? Where is the work so I can earn? It breaks my heart. But that's the only way to feed my other children.

We've just come out of speaking to Roshita Zimi. It was really tough witnessing that. It was something we were unprepared for, especially in this country, men tend to be very stoical. So to see a man weeping in front of us helpless, we were unprepared for that. but what it tells you is the severity of the situation here. There isn't an isolated story.

In another home, we meet Saeed Ahmed, who sold his daughter, 5-year-old Shaika, because he didn't have money for an appendicitis surgery that she needed. Little Shaika clutches onto her father, her small arms around his neck. He comforts her. In five years, when she's 10, She'll have to leave everything that's familiar

to go to the home of the distant relative who's bought her to marry his son. If I had money, I would have never taken this decision. But then I got scared. What if she died without the surgery? This way, at least, she will be alive. That is enough for me. We've heard from people in the community as well

as an elder from the village, that there's been an increased number of children dying in the past two years. He said of malnutrition. Roughly four to six children die every month here. Child mortality has really increased. From past experience, we know that because these deaths are not actually recorded anywhere, the only place you can see the evidence of that is in the graveyard. So we've come up to the community graveyard. What really stands out is that there is twice as many children's graves as adult graves.

more evidence of an invisible wave of deaths among Afghanistan's children and something that probably will never be counted, that will never be marked. As we record this podcast, President Putin is due to have arrived in China, just days after Beijing hosted Donald Trump. In a video address, released by the Kremlin as he left Russia, Mr Putin said there was an unprecedented level of trust between his country and China. Ahead of President Putin's arrival in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied a report in the Financial Times that President Xi told President Trump that Mr Putin might come to regret invading Ukraine. So what can we expect from this trip?

Here's our Beijing correspondent, Laura Bika. Ahead of his visit, Vladimir Putin released a video to what he called his dear Chinese friends. And in that video, he held an unprecedented level of trust and respect between Russia. and China. And what he said is that ties economically, politically and in defense are growing between the two nations. And please do once again visit Beijing at the invitation of my long-time good friend, President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping. The regular exchange of visits and high-level Russia-China talks are an important and integral part of a joint effort to develop the full range of relations between our two countries

and unlock that truly limitless potential. He will have talks with President Xi Jinping. Those talks will likely focus on whether or not China will agree to a power of Siberia pipeline. This is a second pipeline that would run all the way down through northern China and would really kind of focus on funneling gas supplies to China. But remember, China is on a path of, self-reliance when it comes to energy, trying to push towards more renewables,

the likes of wind power, solar power and hydropower. It does not want to become too reliant on one neighbour. So if that pipeline does go ahead, we will be, I think, watching that carefully. When it comes to this alliance, it's one that's perhaps misunderstood, because when it looks, when people see these two leaders together, Mr. Shea and Mr. Putin, they look like close allies. And they have certainly met a lot of times, 40 times. And then he's been here. Mr. Putin has been in China more than 20 times. However, there's a few caveats to that. This relationship is now really lop-sided. Russia is far more reliant on China since Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine after he was sanctioned by many Western countries. And so Mr. Putin will come

here as the junior partner. And in those discussions with Mr. Xi, he will have to push. for certain geopolitical advantages and he will also be wanting to know exactly what Mr. Shearie discussed with Donald Trump last week. For China, this is a real balancing act politically because China wants to maintain stable ties with the West, wants to maintain a neutrality

when it comes to the war in Ukraine, and yet it still wants those stable ties with its friend and neighbor Russia. So China will be looking for diplomatic room to manoeuvre. But there is no doubt for China now and for Mr. Xi, he will think and he will feel that he is portraying this vision

of a geopolitical axis here in China, saying goodbye to Donald Trump one minute and saying hello to Vladimir Putin. It does look to the world as if all paths lead to Beijing. Laura Bicker, and we'll have more on this on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on

YouTube and you'll find Global News podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available. weekday. There is growing international concern about the scale of the Ebola epidemic in Africa. Now there's confirmation that the number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo has shot up to at least 131. More than 500 people are infected. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adanam Gabriyasos, said the developments are deeply concerning and the WHO is to hold an emergency meeting. This epidemic is caused by Bundy Bujo,

a virus, a species of Ebola virus, for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics. In the absence of a vaccine, there are many other measures countries, of course, can take to stop the spread of this virus and save lives, even without medical countermeasures, including risk communication and community engagement. The WHO representative in the DRC, Dr. Anne Ancia, is at the epitaphysmal. the centre of relief efforts in Bunia in eastern Congo. And she says the lack of a vaccine is challenging. The way that we're going to have to work to be able to decrease and stop the transmission of this virus is working very closely with the local population to make sure that, you know,

they have the right behaviour. For example, if they feel the symptoms of the disease, they need to come directly to the health facilities to get treated. And then they need to give us the list of the contact, the people with the symptoms of the disease, they need to come directly to the health facilities, they've been in contact for the past days so that we can go and find those people and isolate them so that they themselves are not starting to transmit the disease when they become symptomatic and transmit the disease to other people. The WHO has released almost $4 million in emergency funding, declaring it an international emergency. As our correspondent in Nairobi, Thomas Macuana, explains. Over a few days, we've seen WHO delivering around 12 tons of medical supplies and

equipment into DRC, particularly that epicenter of Ituri province. But WHO insists that this was detected far too late. And the problem is Ebola virus is spread through bodily fluids in Africa. You'll know that greetings are not only by hand, they're done through hugging, sometimes through cheek kisses. And Ebola virus can be transmitted through sweat and blood. And when someone passes away in most of these places in DRC, they're not taken to a morgue because morg sometimes aren't available and so the body is washed by locals and the families and then this ends up transmitting the disease. And also there must be huge concern that it's going to spread outside the country as well and take off that wildfire. Yes, yes. So that concern remains very, very high.

However, the infections have not manifested yet. Perhaps this is because it takes around 21 days for someone to show symptoms. But so far, one case, only two cases have been detected outside the DRC. That's in the neighboring Uganda in the capital of Kampala. And one of the two people who was detected of the virus passed away, a 59-year-old man. But the problem is he traveled from all the way from the epicenter in Ituri province in the city of Bunya, across the border into Uganda and all the way to Kampala and was taken into a hospital and was admitted for a few days before.

passing away. Now you can imagine the entire way from Bunia, then crossing over into Uganda, how many people might have come into contact with him. And the problem is also in hospitals within DRC. So far, according to the WHO, around four healthcare workers have been infected with the virus. So there's healthcare transmission that's also happening because if you imagine places in DRC and many places within Africa, hospitals are under-equipped and understaffed. And what ends up happening is transmission is quite easier because protection. gear isn't there. And so the concern remains very low, but Uganda has enhanced border surveillance and also screening between the borders. Same as Rwanda. Rwanda actually has completely

restricted access into the country for non-Rwandese people, according to reports. It's completely restricted border access. And Kenya is also heightening surveillance and screening at all ports of entry at airports and with the border with Uganda. Same with South Sudan and Tanzania. Aquana. The defence minister in Estonia says that a fighter jet has shot down a drone over its territory. It's believed to have been launched by Ukraine against Russia, but apparently was knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming. No damage has been reported. Moscow claims the Baltic states are allowing Ukraine an air corridor for its attacks on Russia. At Eastern Europe correspondent, Sarah Wrenzford reports. It was around midday when residents in southern Estonia got an alert on their phones,

warning of an attack drone heading towards them. Minutes later, it had been shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet, part of NATO's quick reaction force. The drone seems to have come from Ukraine, which has hugely increased its launches in recent weeks against targets in Russia, including energy facilities close to the Baltic states. Today, a foreign ministry spokesman in Kiev

accused Moscow of forcing some of those drones off course, on purpose, and into Baltic airspace, using electronic warfare. He denied Ukraine was using the Baltic as an air corridor, as Russia claims, all planning to launch drones from there against Russia. But disorientated drones are a security risk. This time, Estonia's defence ministry says the threat was removed with the first missile, and the drone debris landed on swampy ground. But earlier this month, two stray Ukrainian drones hit an empty oil storage facility in southern Latvia. The government there then collapsed over how that was handled. Sarah Rainsford. Still to come in this podcast, ghost sharks and glass castle worms.

New marine species are identified in a scientific study. It's estimated perhaps 90% of the species in our marine environments are left to be discovered. A nationwide transport strike in Kenya, sparked by a steep rise in petrol and diesel prices, has been suspended. On Monday, protests over high fuel costs caused by the conflict in Iran descended into clashes. Four people were killed and hundreds were arrested. But Tuesday's strike began with empty streets, shuttered shops and schools. A global affairs reporter Richard Kugoy is in Nairobi and told me more. There have been consultations that actually began yesterday but ended in now still made because both parties could interagree. That's the Kenyan government and the minibus taxi operators, very

popular in East Africa called Matatu. And so what they have said is that they have agreed to suspend the strike for another seven days just to allow for further negotiations between the two parties. The Interior Minister has said that the reason why they have decided to make this decision is just to mitigate the impact of the ongoing strike, which had really caused widespread disruptions, not just in the capital Nairobi, but in many other cities across Kenya. as what life is like for people. I mean, how have prices gone up? Well, you know, prices have really been increasing. And so in the last review, because they usually do a monthly review on the 14th of May, the price of diesel increased up by nearly 50%. And that's quite as significant. And because

there had been another review which are marginally increased at the price of fuel in the month of April. And so this has really cost a lot of anxiety amongst people, especially consumers, because you're seeing a rise in the cost of basic commodities and especially for transport. And because largely transport across Kenya is run and operated by private investors. People have really taken quite a bit of a heat. And so it's really pushed even the cost of living significantly higher. And shops and businesses actually have begun to close over this. Oh, actually, when the notice came out on Saturday, I think it must have been on Sunday night.

shops were closed, schools were closed, offices as well, across, especially in Nairobi, in downtown Nairobi, it's sort of like a ghost town. There was nobody in town except for pockets of demonstrators. The reason why it's because there were violent demonstrations that really took place last year on the anniversary of the Gen Z protest that took place in 2024. And so a lot of people really do remember what that happened.

So literally across the streets, there are no people. So literally there's been nobody in town, very few people, and it's because people are really taking caution. Richard Kegoy. Now, is it possible to be both a victim of sexual coercion and an enabler of it? That's the question a powerful committee of the US Congress has been grappling with, following a call from one of its members for an investigation into four women who were named by prosecutors as potential co-conspirators of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. but were then granted immunity in a 2008 plea deal.

One is Nadia Morsenko, a former girlfriend of Epstein, and a model who went on to become a successful pilot. Tim Huell has been investigating her story. I participated in your life, your idea of fun. I stood by you for years of legal battles in jail time. There was nobody you could trust more or who loved you more. I've been perfect. It was August 22.

and a 25-year-old woman was writing to Jeffrey Epstein. Their relationship had just ended after nearly seven years. During that time, he'd served just over a year in prison for soliciting sex from an underage girl. And while he was there, the woman visited him at least 67 times. After he was released, email show, they planned to start a family together. The woman's name was Nadia Marzincol.

She was a model recently arrived from Slovakia when she first met Epstein, aged 18, and she became his main girlfriend after Gillesne Maxwell. Emails between them in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice make clear it was a love affair, though a very unequal one. He was 32 years her senior,

and he lectured her a lot. I want you to learn how to cook eggs, scrambled, poached, over easy. I want you to learn how to run a house. You cannot put anything in without letting me see it, First. Jay. But Marzincol had other duties, too, including as the emo show, finding other women for him. What do you imagine is a fun sex thing? I will do what I can, even though if this is simply about you having sex with someone else, I don't know how it makes our relationship better.

I will try to find girls whenever we are in New York. The BBC's found no evidence in the files that Marzincol recruited underage girls, but victims abused by upsteen. in his Palm Beach mansion claimed in their testimony that she was involved in the sex sessions with them. After Epstein's death, her lawyer told US federal investigators she didn't know they were underage, and her whole relationship with Epstein had been coercive. Referring to her as his sex slave,

insulting her and physically abusing her, including by choking her and throwing her down a set of stairs. Documents in the files show the FBI later said that Matzinko had been recruited, harboured and, obtained by Jeffrey Epstein and others for purposes of a coercive sexual relationship. But earlier this year, her victim status and that of three other women named as potential co-conspirators, was called into question by U.S. Congresswoman Anna Polino Luna, a Republican member of the House Oversight Committee.

All of these women engaged in the trafficking of minors as adults. They were working and complicit with Jeffrey Epstein's operation. Now, two of those women are about to give testimony. to the committee, Sarah Kellyn later this week and Leslie Groff next month. They were both salaried assistants of Epstein, whose tasks included scheduling girls' visits. But members of the committee have said they're divided about whether to treat them as victims or victimizers. And arguments are also continuing about whether to call the other two, Adriana Ross, another Epstein assistant, and Nadia Mardzincol. I think it's really important to think about power and control.

The question of whether a victim may also become an accomplice, one that lawyers regularly face. Bridget Carr is Professor of Clinical Law at Michigan University and has worked extensively with victims of human trafficking. I have a line that I draw, and that line is whether the victim has ever been away from the power and control of the perpetrator and whether the victim's vulnerability is no longer there to be exploited. In 2019, Motsynko told investigator she had been totally under Epstein's power

because she said he controlled her rights to stay in America and could have had her deported. She and her lawyers didn't reply when we asked to speak to them now. But one email she wrote to Epstein in 2012, after their relationship ended, seems to hint at its complexity and also at the blurry lines between different roles in networks like his. I do not want to be with you,

but it upsets me to see you use the exact same patterns to seduce, manipulate, and ultimately control and hurt other girls. I don't even like them and I actually feel guilty about knowing how they will end up. I know what you're capable of and I will always be protective of you out of pure loyalty and stubbornness. But my conscience is far from clear. And you can hear more from this story with Tim Huell on assignment here on the World Service and on BBC Sounds. At the end of 2024, Isak Andiq, the founder of one of Europe's leading fashion retailers, Mango, fell to his death from a cliff near Barcelona.

He was hiking with his son, Jonathan Andeek, who's now been arrested on suspicion of possible homicide. He's always denied any responsibility, saying it was an accident. I got more in the case from our reporter, Charles Havelin. Yeah, just by way of background, Isaac Andeck had immigrated from Turkey to Spain as a teenager with his family in the... late 1960s, and he really was a self-made, probably multi-billionaire, one of Spain's richest men. He had founded the fast-fashioned retailer Mango in 1984, and it had become, of course, a worldwide brand of great fame. He was hiking in mountains in December 2024 near Barcelona, in very rocky country near Montserrat. I believe he was actually hiking with just one person, his son,

Jonathan, and his life ended in tragedy. He fell to his death in this kind of ravine-like landscape. And at the time the investigators treated his death as an accident, really just assuming that he had slipped. So why has the son been arrested now? Well, what seems to have happened is that in October, the case having been closed earlier, but in October last year, the Catalan Regional Police Force in Spain had reopened the investigation into his death saying that Jonathan Andick's testimony, he was the son who was with his father when he died, was inconsistent in terms of the circumstances of the death of Mr. Andeek Sr. And they had seized his mobile phone and started looking at the messages that had been sent and received at the time.

And at the time, the Andick family said they were absolutely confident that Jonathan was innocent. He has now been arrested. And the Spanish media are saying that he is suspected of involvement in his father's death. Now, he has always denied any responsibility saying that this was an accident, but as I say, the police appear to have pointed to inconsistencies in accounts as to how Mr. Andick died, whether it was a ravine or a cliff and other circumstances like that. Charles Haverland. You may not have heard of ghost sharks, glass, castleworms or even carnivorous tree sponges,

and don't worry, that's not a knowledge gap as these creatures have only just been discovered and logged by a group of scientists. Stephanie Prentice has this report. Are you being serious? Totally serious. Sounds of excitement and disbelief from a team that have been hunting for sea creatures on the edges of the world. The group working for the ocean census have identified 1,100 new marine species in the past 12 months, called the world's largest mission to accelerate ocean species discovery.

Dr Michelle Taylor is head of science at Ocean Census and told us about finding a glass castle worm for the first time in deep water off the coast of Japan. I'm a coral geek, so I love all coral. In the example of the glass castle, this worm, it's symbiotic, which means both of the parties get something from it. So the worm lives in this very spiky, and it is glass. It's made of silica, these silica needles.

And the sponge receives nutrients from the worms. So they're both gaining. And I just think those little stories in life, it's very rare to find them and discover them and especially to discover so many new ones. The landmark study used new technology to log creatures in deep waters on a series of expeditions that brought together scientists from all around the world. But even they would admit the new findings are a drop in the ocean

when it comes to understanding the complex ecosystems under the water. Species is a very foundational unit of, how we categorise life around us. And in the marine environment, we do understand less. It's estimated perhaps 90% of the species in our marine environments are left to be discovered. So we're making decisions with partial data, really. So the more we can discover these species, the more we can contribute and the more we can understand the world around us and make those decisions with knowledge.

That knowledge, the researchers say, is particularly pertinent in contentious environmental debates on things like deep sea mining, and they're encouraging further consideration of planetary blind spots and closing the gap on our understanding of the marine realm. Stephanie Prentice, and just before we go, my colleague, Olly Conway, is with me, and you have a favour to ask, haven't you? That's right. On the 4th of July this year,

the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence back in 1776. In the run-up to the celebrations, we'll have a special podcast looking at the State of America today. So if you have thoughts or questions on the matter, we'd love to hear from you.

Please email us at global podcast at bbc.co.uk. And if you can include a voice note, so much the better. Thank you. And thank you, Oli. And that's it from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global Podcast at BBC.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Tom Waterworth.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye-bye.