The Global Story

Israel says 99% of the missiles and drones fired by Iran on Saturday night were intercepted without hitting their targets. Iran said the assault was in response to a deadly attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria two weeks ago. Now all eyes are on how Israel will respond to Iran's unprecedented move. James Reynolds talks to the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, who sa...

This weekend marks a decade since 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram militants in Chibok, northern Nigeria. The world united in rage, with millions sharing the #bringbackourgirls campaign. Despite that, ten years later, many of the girls still haven't returned home. And Nigeria is reckoning with another wave of mass kidnappings. Two BBC journalists - Yemisi Adegoke and Azeezat Olaoluwa -...

There’s no playbook for when a ship the size of the Eiffel Tower knocks over a bridge spanning more than two kilometres. The BBC’s Bernd Debusmann Jr has been on the water with the divers picking through the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. BBC News chief presenter Sumi Somaskanda has been talking to Maryland’s key political players. The two tell Adam Fleming about the jeopardy – for Balt...

The US government is suing some of the biggest tech companies on the planet – Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta – in antitrust cases. The face of Washington’s crackdown is Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the youngest person ever to hold the post. So, who is the woman taking on Silicon Valley? And can she succeed? To answer these questions, host Adam Fleming speaks the BBC's North America bu...

It’s two years since occupying Russian troops departed the Ukrainian town of Bucha. The trail of death and destruction they left behind has been widely condemned, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky among those who have alleged Russia committed war crimes there. On today’s episode Katya speaks with BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who recently returned to Bucha to hear fro...

It's 30 years since the genocide in Rwanda took the lives of an estimated 800,000 people. The anniversary also marks three decades since Victoria Uwonkunda fled the country with her family. Now a BBC journalist, she has returned for the first time to confront those awful days and see how the country has worked toward forgiveness, reconciliation and brighter future. The Global Story brings you trus...

Jo Floto – who’s covered conflict for more than two decades - takes us back to the first text he received from Gaza on Oct 7th. It simply said: “They’ve started a war.” In the six months since, he and his team have been working flat out in what he calls the toughest assignment of his life. He tells his old friend, Katya, where he thinks the war could go next. The Global Story brings you trusted in...

For decades the Japanese entertainment industry ignored allegations that Johnny Kitagawa – a powerful music mogul who died in 2019 – had sexually abused young men and boys who he’d promised to turn into stars. Last year, the BBC aired a documentary by journalist Mobeen Azhar which shed new light on the accusations, and led to a reckoning across Japanese pop music. Azhar has been following up on th...

Mixed-sex raves are illegal in Iran. Partygoers risk fines, prison or lashes from the morality police. But that doesn’t stop invite-only, clandestine clubs from thriving. Now more and more Iranian female DJs are joining the illegal dance floors of Iran and some are even touring the world. The BBC’s Faranak Amidi tells Katya about a new generation of culture warriors. The Global Story brings you tr...

China has the largest elderly population in the world. Pension and health care systems are struggling to cope at a time when women are having fewer babies. Can the country afford to grow old as its economy slows? Katya speaks with the BBC's China correspondent Laura Bicker about how Beijing plans to tackle this ticking demographic time bomb. The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC jo...

Almost as soon as the company Open AI released ChatGPT4, people started to ask...will it take my job? On this episode, we’re concentrating on more hopeful questions. Aleks Krotoski is a social psychologist and presents the BBC Radio 4 series The Artificial Human and Daniel Susskind is an economist at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. They help us think about was we might futurep...

The Wall Street Journal reporter, who is the first US journalist charged with spying in Russia since the Cold War, has now been imprisoned for a year. His detention has been repeatedly extended and he is yet to face trial. His family, colleagues and the US government vehemently deny the accusations. We talk with two BBC journalists who know Evan - Will Vernon and James Beardsworth. We hear what he...

In a new BBC documentary, a single Ukrainian infantry company find themselves in a life or death battle to defend the eastern front against intense Russian attacks. Jamie Roberts tells us how he managed to get such rare access and what the fate of these men tells us about the reality of the frontlines in Ukraine. The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We’re ke...

Sam Bankman-Fried was the golden boy of cryptocurrency. He was dubbed the king and saviour of the industry. But this week he will be sentenced to possibly decades in prison for fraud and money laundering, and his firm, FTX, went bankrupt. Joe Tidy, the BBC's cyber correspondent tells us about SBF - the man he interviewed before his trial. And Erin Delmore, our North America business correspondent...

When Guyana discovered huge offshore oil reserves in 2015, it transformed the prospects of a country which had a been an economic and political backwater. But, as one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, will drilling for oil be a windfall or a curse in the long run? Stephen Sackur has just returned from Guyana for the BBC's HardTalk programme where he spoke to the pe...

On this episode, we’re covering two very different stories. After the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on a concert hall in Moscow, we’re revisiting a previous episode asking how much of a threat the group still pose. Mina al-Lami from BBC Monitoring tells us that the groups fortunes fell in 2023, with them claiming far fewer attacks. And Josh Baker from The Shamima Begum...

Politicians across Europe have long been grappling with the issue of irregular migration, and their attempts to stem the influx of people across the Mediterranean – often by force – have yielded mixed results. But an $8.1 billion agreement signed last week between the EU and Egypt has attracted attention as the most prominent example so far of an alternative approach - investing more heavily in Af...

US intelligence says China may use Tik Tok to interfere in the presidential election. Now Washington is debating a bill that would force the app’s Chinese owners to sell up, even as politicians like Joe Biden use Tik Tok as a campaign tool. So, how might Beijing use social media to undermine American democracy? And would selling or even banning Tik Tok do anything to stop it? Lyse Doucet speaks to...

Since conflict broke out in April 2023, it has been almost impossible for international media to report from Sudan. In that time, stories of horrific violence and sexual violence have been told by hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the country. Feras Kilani, the BBC Arabic special correspondent, has just returned from Sudan, where he got a rare insight into life in the country. Mercy Ju...

The Princess of Wales is at the centre of a media storm. Statements from Kensington Palace and the release of an edited family photo have only spurred further rumour and speculation about her health and her absence from public life. In this episode we ask how the royal family’s publicity team handles major stories like this one, how the British monarchy is adapting to the 21st Century media landsc...

The Demilitarised Zone - the strip of no-man’s land separating North and South Korea – is the unlikely home to a tiny community of South Koreans. But, 70 years since it was established as a symbol of peace following the Korean war, the village of Taesung is now seeing its population decline rapidly. Over the past year tensions have flared between the two countries in the peninsula, and in January...

More than 100 million Russians are expected to vote for the next president over the coming days. Officially, there are four candidates on the ballot, but if you were watching Russian TV, you're likely only going to hear one name...Vladimir Putin. We're taking a moment to tune in to the election coverage inside Russia and ask what you might believe if you were following the election through a scree...

The signs Xi Jinping’s woes are growing: a deputy diminished. Missing ministers. Stricter security laws. And we haven’t even mentioned the economy. Is President Biden right to suggest China is not rising, but in relative decline? Adam Fleming talks to Celia Hatton, the BBC’s Asia Pacific Editor, and Rana Mitter, host of several BBC documentaries about China and a professor of US-China relations at...

Powerful gangs are elbowing their way into the race for power after Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign. Hundreds of gun-wielding groups are terrorising the capital’s streets and have plunged the long-suffering nation into anarchy. Aid agencies warn of a looming famine and more than 15,000 Haitians have been left homeless by the attacks. Our Chief International Correspondent, L...

The most famous waterway in the Americas is running dry. The water level in the Panama Canal is falling critically low, which means the number of ships that can pass through has been reduced. This is having a major impact on the international shipping industry with delays to deliveries and increased costs. James Reynolds speaks with the BBC's North America Business Correspondent Michelle Fleury wh...