The Documentary Podcast Why does Moldova matter to Putin?
Moldova is a country torn between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions. In September this year, Moldovans will vote for a new leadership, and pro-European observers are worried that Russia will try to influence the outcome of these elections. Why? Natasha Matyukhina from BBC Monitoring explains.
This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.
Presented by Faranak Amidi
Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson
(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Newscast The Former Judge Challenging The Supreme Court Gender Ruling
Today we hear from the woman who was the UK's only transgender judge. Laura speaks to Victoria McCloud, who stepped down from the job last year, about her challenge to overturn the Supreme Court unanimous ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law. In an extended interview, Victoria talks about why she thinks she could succeed, and about the ruling's consequences. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast'. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Laura Kuenssberg. It was made by Chris Flynn and Rufus Gray. The technical producer was Daffyd Evans. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.
BreakingNews.ie
4 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Deadly Russian attack hits eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Russian attacks targeting the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv have killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others, officials said. The first wave on Ukraine's second-largest city was a large Russian drone-and-missile attack in the early hours. Advertisement It killed at least three people and wounded 21 others, according to local officials. I received a report from our team on their visit and meetings in the United States. Defense support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, diplomatic prospects, as well as the defense of freedom and countering Russian disinformation. We gave our partners a detailed overview of… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2025 In the afternoon, Russia dropped aerial bombs on the city centre, killing at least one person and wounding five more, Kharkiv's mayor said. The warring sides also accused each other of trying to sabotage a planned prisoner exchange, nearly a week after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. Saturday's barrage – the latest in near daily widescale attacks on Ukraine – included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the all-out war, which began on February 24 2022. Advertisement Ukraine's air force said that Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defences shot down 87 drones and seven missiles. Russian strikes hit a residential building in Kharkiv (AP) Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said in an X post. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. The Russian defence ministry said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations. There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv. Advertisement Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said that the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Mr Terekhov said that it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. At least four people were killed (AP) Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the morning's attacks saw two districts in the city struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the wounded were two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, he added. Six people are believed to be trapped under the rubble of an industrial facility in Kharkiv's Kyiv district, The Kharkiv prosecutor's office said in a statement on Telegram. Contact with those trapped was lost and rescue attempts have been ongoing since early afternoon, it said, without naming the facility. On Saturday afternoon, Russian aerial bombs struck Kharkiv again, killing at least one person and wounding five others, the mayor said. Advertisement Today, rescue and emergency operations continued all day across various regions and cities of our country. Over 400 drones, more than 40 missiles were launched by the Russians. 80 people were injured, and some may still be under the debris. And unfortunately, not everyone in the… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 6, 2025 The morning strikes also wounded two people in the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, according to local governor Serhii Lysak. Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said that its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital. Drone debris wounded two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, governor Andrei Vorobyov reported. A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, though the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs. But both sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Powys County Times
6 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of foreign aid on asylum support this year
The Home Office plans to spend about £2.2 billion of foreign aid to support asylum seekers this financial year, according to new figures. The amount of overseas development assistance (ODA) budgeted by the Home Office – which is largely used to cover accommodation costs such as hotels for asylum seekers – is slightly less than the £2.3 billion it spent in 2024/25. International rules allow countries to count first-year costs of supporting refugees as overseas development assistance (ODA). The figures, first reported by the BBC, were published in recent days on the Home Office website. The Home Office said it is 'urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs' which will cut the amount spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. It also said it was expected to have saved £500 million in asylum support costs in the last financial year, and that this had saved £200 million in ODA which had been passed back to the Treasury. A total of 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March this year. This figure is down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier. Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation if they are waiting for the outcome of a claim or an appeal and have been assessed as not being able to support themselves independently. They are housed in hotels if there is not enough space in accommodation provided by local authorities or other organisations. Labour has previously said it is 'committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time', adding that under the previous Conservative government at one stage 'more than 400 hotels were in use and almost £9 million per day was being spent'. Jo White, chairwoman of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday: 'We need to be looking at things like ECHR article eight. I don't think anything's off the table … including looking at new options such as processing abroad. 'So, we have to be open to see how we can move move that backlog as quickly as possible. I'm getting impatient. 'I know my colleagues in parliament are getting impatient and we're pressing the Government as hard as we can on this.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and are urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs. 'This will ultimately reduce the amount of official development assistance spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. 'We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4 billion by 2026. 'The Rwanda scheme also wasted £700 million to remove just four volunteers – instead, we have surged removals to nearly 30,000 since the election, are giving law enforcement new counter-terror style powers, and increasing intelligence sharing through our Border Security Command to tackle the heart of the issue, vile people-smuggling gangs.'
