Julia McFarlane

The Democratic Party is also on course for victory in a series of other elections across the United States, including the contests for governor in two important states. Abigail Spanberger has declared victory in Virginia and our partner station CBS projects Mickey Sherrill will win in New Jersey. It's also projected Californians have chosen to redraw the state's political boundaries to counter Republican advantage in the midterms. Here's Peter Bowes again.

Nyt nähdään näitä jubileeja. Demokraatit järjestävät, kuten Virginiaan valtuutettu sanoi, että tämä antaa viestiä. Ja se antaa viestiä Yhdysvalloille. Tietysti Donald Trumpin nimi ei ollut tullessa tänä päivänä.

but the message will go straight to him. And it remains to be seen how the president responds to this. And of course we are in the midst of this government shutdown, which is increasingly beginning to affect in very serious ways people around the country. And the question is, will Donald Trump be listening? Will he be receiving the message that we're hearing out of New Jersey?

Ja ehkä muodottaa hänen tuntemuksensa tähän lopputulokseen ja ehkä vahvistaa hänen republikaanin kollegiaan kongressissa, jotta he voitaisiin keskustella demokraattien kanssa ja ehkä saada jonkinlainen kompromissi.

the immediate future. I think also on Donald Trump's mind will be what is still likely to happen in California on this measure to redistrict, which means it is very possible that there will be more Democrats elected from the state of California. This could affect the House of Representatives at the midterm elections next year. And if it were to be taken by the Democrats, that would significantly impact Donald Trump.

North America-korrespondent Peter Bowes.

Staying in the US, and as we record this podcast, a huge fire is burning in the US state of Kentucky after a cargo plane crashed at Louisville airport, killing at least seven people. The aircraft, which is owned by the delivery firm UPS, exploded during takeoff. It was carrying tens of thousands of litres of fuel. Huge plumes of smoke are billowing from the crash site, which is near a petroleum recycling business.

The United Nations says new restrictions by the Taliban have forced it to suspend operations at a crucial border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran. This means that UN aid is being withdrawn from thousands of Afghans, mainly women and children, who've been flooding the area on their way home from Iran. There has been no comment yet from the Taliban.

BBC Investigation has found evidence that a controversial Russian recruitment program has been deceiving young African women into working in a military drone factory in the Tartustan Republic of Russia. The Alabuga START program recruits 18 to 22 year old women from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

It promises to give them professional skills and international experience. But a woman who took part in the programme last year told the BBC she was deceived into building drones. She suffered chemical burns and was paid less than she was promised. The programme denies the allegations. Our Africa correspondent Mayani Jones sent this report.

Alabuga Work and Travel is a program that will help you realize yourself and all your opportunities. Professional skills and international experience. That's what Russia's Alabuga Start program promises young African women. Life in Alabuga is not limited only to work. But we've spoken to Adau, a South Sudanese woman who says she was lured to Alabuga with the promise of a full-time job. So I reached out to them on WhatsApp. That's where I first found out about it.

She asked us not to use her surname as she didn't want to be associated with the program. She first heard about it in early 2023. I wanted to work in tech and I also wanted to touch in fields that is not normally done by female workers.

You say you were interested in industries that men traditionally do. Why was that? Because this field, it's very hard for a female to come across, especially within my country. Adao went through a year-long application process and eventually travelled to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in March of last year. It was very cold. I hated it.

Se oli todella varmaa. Me menimme loppuun loppuun. Toinen, kun menimme loppuun, oli kylmä. Viikonloppuun loppuun, hän aloitti työtä. Me olimme tekemässä drone-faktoreita. Joten aivan alussa tehtiin drone-faktoreita? Kyllä. Aloitetaan työtä, saa uniformit, eikä edes tiedä, mitä työtä teet.

Olen tullut. Silloin aloin mennä myös.

Minä menin niin nopeasti, että jätin ihmisiä, jotka menivät ennen minua. Minä jätin heitä takaisin.

They did not deny that recruits built drones at the site. That report by Mayeni Jones. Still to come. Like every bubble, it's hard to know when you're in one until it's popped. I think that's why there's so much trepidation around Silicon Valley right now. It's been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution, but can America's AI bubble last?

Hyvät kollegat, mikä hämminki on sloganissa We have little prizes? Eikö meillä pitäisi olla Prisma Prizes? Little Prizes on parempi. Laita joo toi sloganiksi. Ei huono. Prisma Selection, Little Prizes. Hyvää stormausta, jengi. Prisma. Big Selection, Little Prizes.

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said his government will seek an independent investigation into a police raid in Rio de Janeiro that left more than 120 people dead. Four officers and at least 117 other people were killed when police raided two of Rio's largest favelas last week.

In what they said was an operation against a notorious criminal gang, but which some families and human rights groups have condemned as a massacre. From Rio, here's our South America correspondent, Ioni Wells.