First female prime minister appointed in Japan

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1:29If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau. Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 15 Hours GMT on Tuesday the 21st of October.

2:17Japan gets its first woman prime minister. The US Vice President J.D. Vance arrives in Israel to help shore up the Gaza ceasefire. And after Louis XVI and Marshal Pettin, Nicolas Sarkozy becomes only the third French leader in history to go to jail. Also in the podcast...

2:45How Diwali fireworks sent pollution sky-high in Delhi.

2:54But we start in Japan.

3:05The announcement that the Japanese parliament had elected its first ever woman prime minister, Sanei Takeichi, a former heavy metal drummer whose parents refused to pay for her university education because she was a girl, she has now broken through the glass ceiling. But despite promising high levels of female representation, she only named two other women in her 19-member cabinet. They are Japan's first woman finance minister and a hawkish economic security minister. We heard more about the new prime minister from our Tokyo correspondent, Shaima Khalil. Sanai Takeuchi is now Japan's iron lady.

3:43A long-time ambition of hers, being an admirer of the late Margaret Thatcher. It's a historic moment, but what does her leadership mean for the country? Simply put, with her in power, Japan's politics has shifted to the right. She's a staunch conservative, and while she's now broken new ground in a patriarchal society, many women say that she herself represents the patriarchy and Japan's male-dominated politics. The new prime minister has long opposed same-sex marriage. She's against women being in line of succession in the imperial family and has opposed the legislation that would allow married couples to have separate last names.

4:17One woman told me, look, it's great that she's Japan's first woman leader, but she's not really going against the grind. She's saying the same thing as the men. Still, for girls growing up here, the optics are significant, even if the politics is the same. Remember also that she comes to power voted in by parliament, not by the people, after her predecessor stepped down and she won the leadership of the ruling party. She will preside over a minority government. The public are watching closely because they want to know what she'll do to handle inflation and help with the cost of living crisis. The economy will be a tough challenge, as well as rebuilding trust among an angry and frustrated electorate.

4:55One big moment happening very soon into her leadership is the upcoming Donald Trump visit in about a week's time. He described her as a woman of great strength and wisdom, and they're on the same wavelength politically. Japan is, of course, America's biggest ally in the region. But the two countries still need to hash out details of the tariff deal they struck in August. Sanai Takeuchi will also have to make a good impression and work on building a rapport with President Trump, whose diplomacy is based heavily on personal relationships. Shima Khalil in Tokyo. The US Vice President J.D. Vance has arrived in Israel just two days after the Gaza ceasefire was severely tested by the deadliest clashes yet.

5:35The fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military was an indication of how much outside support is needed to keep the truce alive, never mind agree a permanent peace. I asked Yolan Nell in Jerusalem what to expect from J.D. Vance's visit. Well, he's here for two days and really, on the one hand, he's trying to shore up the ceasefire, make sure that it doesn't break down as it looked like it could on Sunday. But he's also here to try to push things on to the next stage, because, of course, this is a very ambitious 20 point post-war vision for Gaza that President Trump has. And, you know, it requires a lot of concessions to be made by both Israel and Hamas.

6:19And so far, the talks on the second stage haven't really got going in earnest. So he's looking at issues like post-war governance, how to have this independent Palestinian administration, a multinational force for Gaza. And actually, one of his first stop offs was meeting US troops. There are about 200 who are currently based in Israel and they're in a kind of coordinating role for security when the multinational force will be on the ground with troops coming from Arab and Muslim countries. That's what the US envisages. He's also been meeting already the two US special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, getting an update on their conversations that they've had with the Israeli prime minister.

7:06They've been here already for a day. And when he met them, they had just come from what looked like a very emotional meeting with the hostages who were freed just one week ago. And of course, these two men were instrumental in getting that ceasefire deal across the line. There's another meeting that's actually been happening as well, which is important, which is between the Egyptian intelligence chief. He's been meeting the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and they have also been talking about President Trump's plan. And the Egyptian intelligence chief came here just fresh from conversations that he's been having with Hamas.

7:44They've been meeting mediators in Cairo. Now, part of this agreement is to get more aid into Gaza. After that fighting at the weekend, an Israeli security official announced the suspension of delivery. Some aid is now getting in, but agencies say they can only transport limited amounts. Abeya Etefa is from the World Food Programme in Geneva. The biggest challenge is that we still have two crossings only, operational, and the northern crossings are yet to be opened, which is limiting the access to the most vulnerable areas. Roads are blocked and destroyed, which is a huge limitation to transport.

8:23And Yolande, when might Israel reopen those northern crossings? Well, we've already heard from the UN in recent days that the paths to those crossings have largely been cleared. The roads, of course, had been strewn with rubble. And there is a lot of pressure for those crossings to reopen because that would really help in the north of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City. This is an area that people have been going back on. It's devastated. And that's, of course, where famine has already been declared in Gaza. Yeah, now in Jerusalem. Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first ex-president of France to go to jail and only the third head of state there to be incarcerated after Louis XVI during the revolution and the Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain.

9:09Mr Sarkozy is serving a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund an election campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He said he would take two books with him, A Life of Jesus and The Count of Monte Cristo, the story of a man wrongly imprisoned who escapes to wreak vengeance on his prosecutors. Just before travelling to the prison in central Paris, Mr Sarkozy posted, the truth will triumph, but the price to pay will have been crushing. Our correspondent in Paris, Hugh Schofield, has more details. It's a big, big moment. This is a former president of France who's a man very active still politically with his network, still regarded by many on the right as the last, once upon a time, the last chance of the right.

9:52The last time the right was united was behind Sarkozy 10, 12 years ago. So a man who still counts. And here he is imprisoned in an 11 square metre cell in a wing near drugs dealers and convicted terrorists. For the whole of France, this is a shocking and quite unusual moment, whether you are for him or against. And so, yes, he's gone in making quite clear he does not want to have any special favours done. He did not ask to be put in the isolation wing, but he was put there for his own safety by the prison authorities, because they know that he would be a potential target for other inmates who would, you know, find pleasure in beating him up or whatever.

10:30And he's going to have the regular prison routine, one hour exercise all by himself in a courtyard, a television in his room, a lavatory and a shower in his room, but not much else. and then he'll have to wait and see. I mean, there will be early an appeal to get him out by his lawyers, so it's most unlikely he will serve, probably no more than a few months. But, you know, he doesn't know that. Hugh Schofield in Paris. On Monday, millions of people in India celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

11:08Fireworks lit up the sky in the Indian capital last night but they came at a huge environmental cost Air pollution in Delhi was recorded at 40 times the World Health Organisation recommended limit The city is frequently cited as the most polluted on earth So what's it been like in the past 24 hours? I asked our reporter Ishadrita Lahiri. The air quality here has been in the severe to hazardous levels as per World Health Organization standards. The morning after Diwali, there was a blanket of grey hairs all across Delhi. The air smells like ash. The visibility is very poor. And, you know, I, like most other people, can feel it in my throat and in my lungs.

11:49So the air quality has been really bad. Now, the Supreme Court said that only green fireworks could be used. Did you notice any difference? Not really. In fact, even if you look at the data, it's just as bad as it has been every year since 2020 when the first ban on firecrackers happened. Anecdotally, or also in terms of data, there is not much difference in the pollution levels. And also, I was going around the markets yesterday, as have our other colleagues in the BBC, and getting normal firecrackers was not very difficult. So it's not just like only green crackers were available in the market.

12:28There were normal firecrackers as well, and they were also being used last night. And what do people make of the pollution? Do they just see it as something you have to put up with if you're going to have a proper Diwali celebration? But, you know, this is also a social and political issue. Of course, people in cities like Delhi, which sees terrible pollution every year, it's an issue that they talk about. It's something that they don't look forward to. There are people who go out of Delhi during this time to just avoid the pollution. You know, kids can't go out to play. But especially in terms of Diwali, it's also like a social issue because there are people who believe that bursting firecrackers is a part of Indian tradition and Hindu tradition.

13:10And there should be no curb on that on this particular day. So it's a double-edged sword. But yeah, I mean, in terms of the pollution, people most definitely not enjoying that in Delhi right now. And I understand Pakistan is also affected by polluted air at the moment. Yes, well, that's true, because both in India and Pakistan, there's also the problem of agricultural stubble burning, which is a problem in states like Punjab and Haryana in India and also in Pakistan, which contributes significantly to the air pollution in these areas, especially in the winters. And it has been a problem that governments in both countries have been trying to curb for a very long time.

13:51But because of economic reasons and also, again, for social reasons, it's been very difficult to curb this problem. So it is something that adds to the already bad air pollution during this time of the year. Mishadrita Lahiri in Delhi. Today sees the release of a new documentary, Space Woman, charting the remarkable journey of American astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a space shuttle. Would a woman crack under pressure? There was a large part of the community that didn't just think she couldn't do it, but were probably actively rooting against her. She once told me you had to be better than the men to be equal.

14:28That's exactly what I want to do. Three, two, one. I think until we are tested, we don't know what we're capable of. So what was Eileen Collins capable of? She's been talking to Nick Robinson. Looking back, I thought, well, I was quite a courageous young person, but I really believe in exploration. I believe in what we're doing. I looked at the risks and I felt that it was going to be OK. The risks were high, though, weren't there? I mean, there were missions in which the entire crew were lost. In the history of the space shuttle program, we've had two fatal accidents, and that's out of 135 missions.

15:08That is a very bad statistic. You certainly would not make that a commercial endeavor with those kind of numbers. The space shuttle was experimental, and we're going into space, which is a place that we're just now learning about. We're just now learning about the universe that we live in. Part of the story of this film is not just how you confronted those dangers, but what that meant for your family. and you talk very openly about the stress on your family. That's one of the things. I think Hannah Berryman, our director, really brought that out. If I had made the film, it would have been more like, hey, look at these really cool four missions that I flew.

15:41You know, the Mir space station, the International Space Station, a telescope. But no, Hannah brought out the family side of it. And I gave her all of our family videos and photos. And she interviewed my husband and my daughter and my son. And your daughter battled with anorexia. Yeah, she was nine years old when I flew my last mission. And you get the focus because you were the first woman to pilot and command a space shuttle. Now it is much more common, isn't it? I know when we look at Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 that we know that we're women on board both of those missions. Is it frustrating for you that it's pointed out that you're a woman first rather than simply the achievement?

16:19Well, I didn't want to focus on the fact that I was the first woman pilot and commander. I definitely wanted to focus on my job and what I was doing. but it was important for people outside of our agency. It's what people were interested in. And I have talked to women around the world. They struggle with being the only woman in the workplace and they want to know how I handle that. Tell us about the future of space. What excites you? Excited by the prospect of reaching Mars? Yeah, this is very exciting. We are living in a renaissance in space exploration right now. NASA and the international partners are going back to the moon to stay.

16:53Why? We're going to be testing the equipment that we will eventually use on Mars. The equipment that will keep us alive, our habitats, water recycling, air recycling, protection from radiation, and the ultimate goal is to go to Mars. NASA astronaut Eileen Collins. Still to come on the Global News Podcast.

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19:29If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This advertisement feature is paid and presented by Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Looking for the perfect place to grow your business?

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20:46So every day this week, the Global Story is joining forces with our BBC podcast friends around the world who have unmatched reporting expertise in their regions. What is a sphere of influence? Who's got one? And if you're not a predator these days, does that mean you're a prey? Listen to The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

21:15Under Joe Biden, the US spent hundreds of billions of dollars on climate and green technologies. But with President Trump back in the White House, the government is now pulling back some of those funds. It's affecting communities across the U.S., including the hometown of the Vice President J.D. Vance, as Erin Delmore reports. Look at it already, right? So that's what? A couple days worth. Heather Gibson used to change her air filters a few times a year. Now it's every two weeks. And this won't even, no matter how hard you, it won't come off. It's soot. From her home in Middletown, Ohio, we can see a plant that makes coke, a fuel used in the steelmaking process derived from coal.

21:57My grandparents lived in Kentucky. Back then in the 70s, they could burn coal in their fireplace. You would wake up in the morning and there'd be just that sweet smell of coal, and I love that smell because it takes me back. This is that smell times 5 ,000, though, and it's just not good. It's not good. The coke process just a few hundred feet away fuels Middletown Works, a steel plant owned by the country's second largest producer, Cleveland Cliffs. Environmentalists hoped this would be a blueprint for converting steel plants from coal to hydrogen-powered furnaces all across the U.S., thanks to partial funding from a$500 million grant from the Biden administration.

22:37But the Trump administration has moved to axe many of the Biden-era green initiatives and put the funds for this plant upgrade on pause, to the surprise of some who expected more from the town's most famous resident. This facility dominates the town of Middletown, Ohio, but it's no longer what the town is best known for. That's because it's where Vice President J.D. Vance was born and raised, and it's also where he set the memoir that made him famous. Scotty Robertson is a pastor in town and is running for Middletown City Council. I asked him whether residents thought J.D. Vance's political power would benefit them.