Historic win for far-right in Germany

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1:33And the BBC investigates a claim that individuals working for the Saudi government might have been involved in the 9-11 attacks. Also in this podcast... I remember it often. It makes me feel sad and I cry. We hear from Nigerians who survived a school abduction, and we take a look at sleep-maxing.

2:02We begin with what could be a significant moment for post-war Germany.

2:13Supporters of the AFD celebrating a landslide election victory in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was the biggest win for the far-right in Germany since the Nazi era. The party more than doubled its support, taking 44 % of the vote, though it fell just short of a majority of seats in the state parliament. It was a very bad result for the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz. His party's vote was halved. The man who now hopes to become the first AFD chief minister of any German state, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, said they'd made history.

2:51This election victory is a vote of confidence from the people of this country, and we will live up to that trust. We will not compromise our principles. We will not give up on ourselves. We will never become like those who've rightly been punished this evening. We are alternative for Germany. The AfD tapped into a wave of nostalgia for communist East Germany and managed to secure support from at least 150 ,000 previous non-voters. The party wants to heavily restrict immigration, restore ties with Russia, quit the euro and promote unashamed German patriotism, defunding so-called anti-German art and teaching children less about Hitler.

3:37Mainstream politicians have refused to work with the AFD, but a small left-wing pro-Russia party might provide support if it can get into the state parliament. As our correspondent there, Jessica Parker, told Tim Franks. All eyes are on whether the smaller party, BSW or BSV as it's known here, whether it's going to reach the 5 % threshold that could allow it to get into parliament. The reason that's important is BSV have signalled that they would maybe be open to helping the AFD actually take power in this state, even if it wouldn't be any kind of formal coalition. If the BSV didn't make it into the parliament, the AFD would potentially get more seats, more likely to get state-level power.

4:23So still some convoluted German political maths going on here. But the big picture is they've won, in terms of voter share, the AFD, big. They've won, and they've won big here in Saxony-Anhalt. And in terms of both the state, I mean, obviously, states in Germany have a considerable amount of power, not unfettered power. So that could be important. But nationally, what does this huge victory for the AFD mean, do you think? Nationally, I think it means the AFD feels they're on the march and they have been growing in popularity. They're leading the polls nationally, even though their support is heavily skewed to eastern Germany.

5:00I think as well, it's a bad night for Friedrich Mertz, the chancellor, CDU, who was already very embattled. but this could potentially further destabilise him and his government. Now, remember, his government is, for example, a key supporter of Ukraine, whereas the alternative for Deutschland want to end support to Ukraine and have pro-Russia policies. Now, as you say, important to understand states, they don't set foreign policy state governments, but they do run things like education, policing, culture. So as well, I think, for the AFD, they see this as a potential blueprint for how they would look in power in other states or indeed nationally, something that they aspire to.

5:42So they're seeing it as a stepping stone for their aspirations, whereas other people, I think, critics of the AFD, of which there are many in Germany, this is a party class that's right-wing extremist in this state by domestic intelligence, critics of the party fear this is a moment of peril for the country if indeed there is some kind of domino effect. Jessica Parker in Saxony, Anhalt. President Trump's envoys have left Ukraine after talks with President Vladimir Zelensky. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kiev after talks in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. As expected, there was no breakthrough on ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

6:17Our diplomatic correspondent James Landale is in Kiev. This is the first time Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have set foot on Ukrainian soil since Russia's full-scale invasion. And they arrived by train because they couldn't risk flying and running the gauntlet of Russian drones. But the welcome they got was warm. A chance for President Zelensky finally to give them his assessment of the war firsthand here on the ground in Kiev. He chose to greet the US envoys in the city's famous St. Sophia Cathedral. not only a symbol of Ukraine's ancient past, but also only yards from where Russia attacked the headquarters of the country's security services on Friday.

7:04Both sides said the talks were substantive and they appeared good-humoured, including jokes at Russia's expense. They were joined later by European national security advisers, but was anything actually agreed? While they discussed new ideas to end the war and a fresh round of U.S. broker talks. But President Zelensky's focus was on his need for more energy and air defences now. We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners. And we are counting on the support of our European partners if the war continues in winter. And this is how it appears at the moment.

7:44President Zelensky reiterated Ukraine's red lines for peace, security guarantees and a strong army, something Russia opposes. Mr. Wyckoff hoped a deal could be done. It's going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them. And we think we have the ingredients to get to that place. But in the Kremlin yesterday, there was little sign of compromise. President Putin insisting the root causes of the war must be addressed, shorthand for Ukraine giving up territory and self-determination. Today, his forces launched yet another attack on a town in western Ukraine, hitting an apartment block, injuring Seven.

8:27Talk of ceasefires and diplomacy, not saving them from Russian drones. James Landale in Kiev. 25 years after the September 11th attacks, new evidence is raising questions about a man who helped two of the hijackers after they arrived in America. Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi was arrested in Britain just days after 9-11. He was never extradited back to the US, although compelling evidence against him was uncovered by British police and shared with the FBI. This report from Jane McMullen. it's a day that i would like to only think of my husband and we can't do that if the truth remains buried terry strada's husband tom with whom she had three children was working in new york's world trade center when the attacks happened i had a newborn in my arms he was four days old tom went down the stairs turned around said i'll be home by two i love you Tom was one of nearly 3 ,000 people who were killed that day.

9:32The plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. The passenger plane crashing into the South Tower. Within days of the attacks in which four planes were crashed, investigators had identified the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers. Two of them, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khaled al-Midar, had lived for months in San Diego. The FBI quickly discovered that they had received help from a Saudi man called Omar al-Bayoumi. We needed to know everything about them. Danny Gonzalez was an FBI special agent. You focus on who helped them, who assisted them. It was a network. But when you see who's the principal of this network, it's Omar al-Bayoumi.

10:17Bayoumi helped the two men secure an apartment, co-signing their lease. But before 9-11, he moved to the UK, and 11 days after the attacks, British police arrested him in Birmingham. They took him to London, where he was questioned for seven days. This interview is being audio and video recorded. At first, Bayoumi denied knowing the hijackers. I don't have any link with any hijacker. But investigators already knew he had guaranteed two of the hijackers' rent. Eventually, he admitted to helping them after what he said was a chance meeting in Los Angeles. Bayoumi claimed to be a student who had no links to extremists, but Panorama has obtained Bayoumi's personal videos, never broadcast before, of Anwar al-Awlaki, who would go on to lead al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

11:10When questioned in 2021, Bayoumi denied knowing Awlaki, but the videos show them paintballing and also embracing at a meeting.

11:21After 9-11, the FBI uncovered evidence and information suggesting Bayoumi might have been working on behalf of Saudi interests. Rick Lambert oversaw the FBI investigation in San Diego. It was a general consensus of people in the San Diego Muslim community that Bayoumi was an operative of the Saudi intelligence service. He was a spy? He was a spy. Bayoumi is always denied being a spy. British police also seized evidence from his Birmingham home, including a video he filmed around the Capitol building two years before the attacks, at the time Al-Qaeda was deciding which targets to hit. Capital. Time is 6pm.

12:05Bayoumi later claimed it was tourism, but in it he talked about a plan. The police also seized a handwritten diagram of a plane with descent calculations The plane diagram is a handwritten... Here's Jodie Westbrook Flowers, a lawyer representing the families of 9-11 victims in a lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia It's the mathematical calculation of the crash When we figured out what it was, we knew that it was the smoking gun that we'd been looking for I would have agreed to work... Jeff Breinholt was an official at the Department of Justice. The flight designs and calculations is the worst, that's the most inconvenient evidence for him, in my opinion.

12:51We've convicted people for less. When they found the diagram, the Met marked it up as top priority and handed it to the FBI. But neither the FBI nor the Met told the detectives interviewing Bayoumi about it. He wasn't asked about the diagram while he was in custody. It's not clear why. FBI documents show it was decided there was insufficient evidence to extradite Bayoumi to the United States. He was released and returned to Saudi Arabia, where he remains. September 11th, when it comes around every year... As they mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the families hope they can take their case against Saudi Arabia to a trial and get all the answers to what happened.

13:35The FBI declined to comment. while the US Department of Justice says it's unable to comment on matters and decisions from 25 years ago involving staff who no longer work there. The Metropolitan Police says it can't comment because of the ongoing legal case. Panorama attempted to reach Omar al-Bayoumi through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Neither he nor the Saudi government responded to our request for comment. He has previously denied knowing that Hazmi and Mihtar would go on to be hijackers, said the plane diagram was just an equation, and denied any involvement in the 9-11 attacks.

14:15Jane McMullen reporting. How well did you sleep last night? Well, these days, many of us use smartwatches, rings and apps to get a precise answer to that question. But experts are warning that the pursuit of the perfect sleep, a trend known as sleep maxing, could actually end up keeping people awake. Doctors call it orthosomnia, an unhealthy obsession with getting the perfect night's rest. Dr Alana Hare is a sleep medicine consultant. What I'll often see is individuals who are very focused on high performance, well-being, maybe they're going to the gym, and quite understandably, they also want to address their sleep and improve that.

14:55Unfortunately, sleep doesn't respond in the same way as diet and exercise do. When we really focus on our sleep and we try and optimise or max our sleep, actually often that can create the opposite issue where our sleep becomes worse. In a study at the University of Oxford, scientists gave participants trackers which displayed a score each time they woke up. These were actually just random numbers, but participants with low scores said they genuinely felt more tired and less mentally alert. James Wilson, or the sleep geek, works with professional sports teams to improve athletes' rest. What we believe about our sleep is often the thing that comes true.

15:33So there's lots of things that feed into how we sleep. We have an underlying sort of genetic make-up when it comes to sleep in terms of how much sleep you need, in terms of how good and how much. Your sleep type, when you're more suited to go into bed and waking up. But then we also have the world around us, our lives around us. And if you've been a poor sleeper all your life, often it's that story of, you know, I'm not going to sleep tonight because of X, Y and Z, that then causes you, not to sleep that night. And a big cause of that, and a big cause of something that's become known as orthosomnia, is tracking your sleep.

16:04You know, if you're a poor sleeper, you know you're a poor sleeper, you don't need a device to give you a score. That might actually not be quite true. You know, you can wake up feeling okay, but if the score says you've slept poorly, that can really change how you view your sleep. If we actually acknowledge that sometimes sleep is a little bit difficult and our jobs can affect how we sleep, but know that our bodies can get us through it, then it doesn't have the same impact so a lot of my work with the people i work with is actually getting to reconfigure how they see their sleep and accept that sometimes we will sleep poorly because you know we've got kids we've got pets we live in a noisy neighborhood we're shift workers we've got a disability or neurodivergence or we're living with menstrual cycle or menopause all these things can impact our sleep and if we start to sort of obsess over it and think that sleep's got to be perfect then you won't perform well so the athletes i work with a lot of the work is actually giving a bit of context around their sleep and trying to get them to see, you know, you're an elite athlete, sleep will not always be perfect.

17:00Sleep expert James Wilson. And still to come in this podcast... As a woman, I thought it was wonderful because I feel safer. I just put some of my drink on it to test it. A wristband that can detect whether your drink has been spiked.

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19:23You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Iran's top negotiator has warned of a faster, heavier and more painful response to US attacks as hostilities escalate. Mohammed Baghdad Galibaf said the Americans must understand, quote, before it's too late that the rules of the game have changed. Charlotte Gallagher spoke to the BBC Persian Service's Paham Gobadi. In the past few days, Iranian commanders have been saying that Iran has shifted its military doctrine from defensive to offensive. They laid out some of the features of it, saying that responses are going to be fast, are going to be broad.

19:59Iran may resort to preemptive strike. And this disproportionate response, it appears that it's the fourth feature of Iran's new military doctrine. Why do you think they are doing this? Because Iran feels that it is losing its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. This is really important. The other thing, because the naval blockade, US naval blockade is hurting Iran's weak economy really hardly. And, you know, people are bearing the brunt of it. Iran has two options, technically. One is going back to negotiating tables from a weaker position. The second one is that to escalate further. So it appears that Iranian authorities have chosen the ladder and they have decided to go up the escalation ladder, which has a risk that is going to have unintended consequences and things spiral out of control.

20:52And is that the leverage ramping up the escalation? Yeah. So from the data that we have, like U.S. authorities have for the first time put out a figure saying that they are transferring almost nine million barrels, a million dollars of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, it was somewhere around 20 million barrels. So that's something around 45 percent of oil transfer has been restored by the Americans. So Iran feels that, yeah, obviously it's not like the pre-war. It is, you know, it's really costly for the Americans. They have to deploy troops, warships, etc., etc. But they've managed to transfer some oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

21:3245 % of that is already restored. So Iranians feel that they're being targeted. They're losing their most important leverage. And at the same time, the naval blockade is continuing. So Iran cannot, according to reports, Iran's oil sales has dropped to zero. And that is Iran's main income and main revenue. And this is what some Iranian authorities had warned already, that we should not overplay our hands, including Mohamed Bogher Ghalibov, who mentioned this today. He was one of those people who were saying that our benefit is in the Strait of Hormuz functioning and ships going through it. I'm Gabbadi of the BBC Persian Service.

22:11At least five people have been killed after an Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway as it tried to land at Miami International Airport. I got the details from the BBC's Anna Aslam. This cargo plane took off from San Juan in Puerto Rico. It was coming into land at Miami International shortly before 2 p.m. local time when it overran the runway. Flight data shows it was going about 200 kilometers per hour when it hit the runway, kept going, then just went off the runway completely. It crossed a large road, hitting several vehicles there and then burst into flames before grinding to a halt in what it's called the field, but really just a grassy area sort of in between that road.

22:50and a parking lot. Videos and pictures online show the tilted plane. So you've got the damaged nose on the ground, tail high up in the air with the Amazon logo visible, and then large plumes of smoke just coming off of it. Firefighters arrived pretty quickly, extinguished the flames, leaving soot on the wreckage. The fire chief, Ray Jadala, said it was a complex situation. The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles that required a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles. So a complex extrication with our technical rescue team started to occur. In addition to that, we had a very complex fire engine compartments that were on fire, including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft.

23:34So as you said, we know five people have been killed. Another five are injured, three in critical condition. Do we know what caused the plane to run off the end of the runway? Not yet. It's still an active scene and federal investigators have said they've sent a team to go out there. Amazon released a statement. It said it's working with local authorities to gather details about exactly what happened. And a spokesperson said the loss of life was heartbreaking. A dedicated hotline has been set up for the relatives of those affected. County Mayor Daniela Levine-Cava said the community is grieving.

24:10Today is an incredibly difficult day for all of us here in Miami-Dade County. My heart is with all of the families who were affected and to everyone who is grieving tonight. And we're also praying for the injured and for their families. The airport was obviously completely shut down after that incident. Now, as it reopens, travelers have been told to expect delays and possibly cancellations. Miami International is one of the busiest airports in the U.S., especially this weekend because of Labor Day bank holiday. So there will be a lot of disruption in the coming hours. Ana Aslam. Meanwhile, ash sent into the sky from an erupting volcano has closed eight airports in Indonesia, leading to the cancellation of more than a thousand flights.

24:55Lisa Tambunin reports from Jakarta. The eruption began late on Friday and sent ash nearly 10 miles into the sky. Mount Anakrakatau, which sits in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, was active once again. The seismic activity has continued through the weekend, with two more eruptions triggering widespread flight disruption. These passengers at Indonesia's main international airport near Jakarta didn't know how long they would have to wait for a flight.

25:28If a volcano erupts, I understand that. The problem is, why weren't we informed? That way passengers wouldn't have needed to come here. It has caused problems for me. People are waiting for me. But this is nature. I have to accept it. Routes to and from Singapore, along with major international flights to Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, have all been affected. On the ground, residents of Jakarta and other cities have been sweeping up the ash outside their homes. They've been advised to wear masks and eye protection and to remain indoors. Fishing boats and other vessels have been banned from within three kilometres of the active crater.