The Global Story

After 16 years as prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán – often credited with shaping the populist playbook – could be voted out in next week’s parliamentary elections. It could be one of the most consequential contests of 2026.Among claims of Russian interference, staged assassination attempts and threats to release a sex tape, the campaign has taken a series of dramatic and unexpected turns. A...

King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Washington DC this month at a time when the transatlantic relationship is at its lowest point in decades. The King is facing a difficult time at home in the UK too, with significant public opposition to the visit and anger over his brother Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Can the King and Queen sprin...

Roughly 10,000 additional US troops have now arrived in the Middle East, giving President Trump options ranging from an invasion of Kharg Island to an elaborate special forces operations to seize Iran’s ‘nuclear dust’.For years, the Pentagon has run war games to try and plan for what might happen if the US went to war with Iran. Our guest, Ilan Goldenberg, was in the room during the Obama years, t...

When Donald Trump was re-elected on a ‘no more wars’ promise, his vice-president was his staunchest ally, criticising previous US foreign interventions, most notably in Iraq, as well as the US’ recent financial support for Ukraine. And yet, the vice-president, who has substantial MAGA support and is expected to run for the 2028 presidency, now finds himself among Trump’s team negotiating an end to...

While still engaged in a war with Iran, Donald Trump’s attention is also on Havana. The US president suggested last week that he expects to soon have the “honour” of “taking Cuba, in some form”. He added “Whether I free it, take it—I think I can do anything I want with it.” The Trump administration has tightened a longstanding US economic embargo on the Caribbean island, and created a near-total f...

With the world’s attention on the war in Iran, Vladimir Putin appears to be stepping up Russia’s war in Ukraine. Last week saw the biggest Russian drone attack since the beginning of the war. Some Ukrainians believe Putin is doing this precisely because the world is looking the other way. Russia also appears to be benefiting from the Iran war in other ways – oil prices have skyrocketed at the same...

Humans are returning to the Moon - hear all about it on the BBC’s space podcast. 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is following Nasa’s mission to loop around the Moon, with a new episode every day. Starts on Monday 30 March 2026. Search for 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode. Nasa plans to return to the Moon for th...

In a bellwether case, a jury in Los Angeles found on Wednesday that Meta and YouTube are responsible for a young woman’s childhood addiction to social media, and intentionally built addictive platforms that harmed her health. The companies say they intend to appeal against the verdict, which could set a legal precedent and have far-reaching consequences. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s social media inv...

Have you ever received a call from a stranger regarding student loans you don’t owe? An Amazon order you never placed? An unpaid parking ticket for a car you don’t own? If so, it’s possible that you’ve been the target of a scam orchestrated by a criminal syndicate thousands of miles away. The so-called “scam centres” of Southeast Asia bring in billions of dollars a year, expertly swindling unsuspe...

It has been almost a month since Israel and the US launched their war against Iran, and already there have been strikes in more than a dozen countries, with reports of over 2,000 people killed across the region. As the war drags on and more countries get involved, there are concerns this conflict could escalate into something truly global. We speak to emeritus professor of International History at...

Nicolas Maduro, the deposed president of Venezuela, is due to appear in court in New York this week alongside his wife, Cilia Flores. The pair face charges of cocaine trafficking and possession of machine guns, which they deny. Meanwhile in their home country, the Trump-approved interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has been making deals with the US government over Venezuela’s oil and critical miner...

As the US and Israel war with Iran enters its fourth week, there are growing number of people in the United States calling for it end. But the military operations are increasing, not winding down. This is a critical moment where the war could turn into a long drawn-out conflict. Or it could be a moment where Donald Trump dashes for a quick exit. The BBC’s world affairs correspondent Joe Inwood and...

Social media platforms this week have been flooded with a wild rumour: that Benjamin Netanyahu was dead (which he is not). Fake photos and videos of his body, coated with dust and debris, seemed to show that the Israeli prime minister had been killed in an Iranian air strike. The rumour was false – Netanyahu had not died, nor been involved in a strike. The photos and videos were AI-generated. But...

Shortly after the US-Israeli war with Iran began, a second war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Lebanese authorities say that more than 900 people, including at least 111 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since 2 March. More than a million others have been forced to leave their homes. On Wednesday, Israel widened its air strikes from the southern suburbs of Beirut int...

Since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, The Global Story listeners have been contacting us with questions: about the causes of the war, the legality of it, and how other countries are responding. As Gulf states get drawn further into the conflict, might they send military reinforcement? And if the Iranian regime were to fall, could islamist groups such as Isis seize an opportunity to claim m...

For nearly forty years, Fergal Keane has reported for the BBC from some of the world’s most brutal conflicts – in Gaza, Iraq, Rwanda, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond – and in that time interviewed scores of children who are the innocent victims of adult wars. As he came to understand the impacts of trauma on young minds, Keane began too to experience his own mental breakdowns – the result of a troubled...

WARNING: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of violence. Since an air strike on a school in Iran two weeks ago, the Pentagon has faced mounting questions over the possible involvement of the US military. Iranian officials say the strike killed 168 people, including about 110 children. US media have reported that military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible fo...

In this special essay, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen explains what can happen when an American president calls for an uprising – and then doesn’t get involved when it starts. A version of this piece first ran on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 11 March. Producer for The Global Story: Xandra EllinMix: James ShieldSenior news editor: China CollinsPhoto: Jeremy Bowen, October 2025 📂 C...

On Sunday, many of the film industry’s biggest stars will gather in Los Angeles for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 98th annual Academy Awards. Looming over the celebrations are some major upheavals in Hollywood: big corporate mergers, the incursion of AI, and mass layoffs. And it’s against that backdrop that the Oscars are increasingly nominating films, filmmakers, and actors from elsewhere in the...

At a recent White House event, President Trump assessed how America’s allies have responded to the US-Israel war in Iran. He praised some, but was angry with others, notably Britain and its prime minister Keir Starmer. His anger with the UK seemed to centre around a British-owned island in the Indian Ocean, which he referred to as “that stupid island”. The island is one of about 60, known as the C...

As the US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue and the death toll continues to rise, so too does the war of words. President Trump has described Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's choice for new supreme leader, as "unacceptable". He has also said he believes the war will be over “pretty quickly”, but it’s not clear how - or when. Nate Swanson, a former State Department official who spent nearly two decades in t...

Oil prices surged to a four-year high on Monday, before dipping after President Trump said the Iran war will end “very soon”. Just days ago, Trump said that he would not stop the war until Iran’s “unconditional surrender”.Turmoil in the region had led to the near complete shutdown of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has reportedly said it will not allow “one litre of oil” to...

As European leaders have struggled to find a unified response to the US-Israel war in Iran, Pedro Sanchez has stood out as a voice of dissent. He said in a televised address last week: “The position of the government of Spain can be summarised in three words: no to war.” The Spanish Prime Minister and US President have butted heads on many issues; the war in Gaza, immigration and defence spending...

For Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the war on Iran is the culmination of a long-standing political ambition. On Sunday, Netanyahu said he was finally doing what he had “hoped to achieve for 40 years – to crush the regime of terror completely.” Polling suggests the war is popular in Israel too. But it’s a lot more complicated for Donald Trump. He was elected on a promise to end foreig...

Following President Donald Trump’s announcement over the weekend that the United States was launching an offensive in Iran alongside the Israeli military, comparisons to past US interventions in the region began to proliferate. Many Americans asked whether this latest military operation would become another ‘forever war’, as the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan came to be called. We talk to Go...