Hi, Namalanta Kumbh here with some exciting news. My award-winning podcast, DearDota, is back for a second season.

We're bringing you more moving personal stories and more letters of advice from people all around the world.

For daughters, everywhere. That's DearDota from the BBC World Service. Find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 14 hours GMT on Wednesday 8th March.

The EU approved sanctions against the Taliban government in Afghanistan over its treatment of women.

Russian mercenaries claim control over the eastern part of the Ukrainian city of Buck Moot

and thousands protest in Georgia over a bill they say will silence free speech.

Also in the podcast, an insight into how gangs in Southeast Asia are forcing migrants to carry out online scams.

And...

It's having a devastating impact on the ecology of Australia where our wildlife hasn't evolved with a predator like a cat.

The curbs on cats in Australia.

But first, the 8th of March, International Women's Day is generally seen as an occasion to celebrate the achievements of women around the world.

But in Afghanistan, women are using the day to highlight their lack of rights and freedom.

The UN says it is the most repressive country in the world for women,

who since the Taliban take over in 2021, are effectively trapped in their homes.

Today, a small group of women held a red demonstration in the Afghan capital, Kabul, calling on the international community to protect them.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, said the EU had approved a package of sanctions targeting among others to Taliban ministers.

We have approved a packet of sanctions, covering a wide range of circumstances where it has been abuses and violations on human rights, especially.

And we sanction a set of personalities coming from the Taliban to the Taliban's ministers, the Occasional Minister and the Minister in the Qichar of protecting the virtue and fighting against the vice.

Well, before the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, 22-year-old Atifa Hussein had big aspirations, studying business at Kabul University.

Now she's been told she can't go back to class. She explained to my colleague, James Menendez.

...