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BBC World Service

Where the world and America meet, with episodes each weekday. The world is changing. Decisions made in the US and by the second Trump administration are accelerating that change. But they are also a symptom of it. With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption.

Come and join us our live event. You can register for Castfest tickets here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026

The Global Story

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 investigations correspondent, has spent the past year speaking to whistleblowers and insiders from social media companies, revealing how algorithms designed to connect people have been helping to tear them apart. We ask if this week’s verdict is just the start of something much bigger.

Apply for Castfest tickets: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026

Producers: Valerio Esposito and Cat Farnsworth
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves the court at the case accusing Meta and Google's YouTube of harming kids' mental health through addictive platforms, February 18, 2026. Mike Blake/Reuters.

Meta and YouTube lost in a landmark trial. Is this just the tip of the iceberg?

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 time as Trump has loosened sanctions on Russian oil. On the other hand, it’s been a difficult few months for Russian allies in Tehran, Caracas and Havana.

The author, academic and Russia analyst Mark Galeotti joins us to examine the ways in which the war in Iran could help or hinder Putin.

Apply for Castfest tickets: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026
Email us: theglobalstory@bbc.com 

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Cat Farnsworth 
Executive producer: James Shield 
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Russia, March 27. Credit: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock.

Is the Iran war helping Putin?

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 the first time in more than half a century. Its Artemis II mission aims to send four astronauts to loop around the Moon. They are planning to go further from Earth than any human in history.

The story of Artemis II will be told by space scientist, Maggie Aderin and British astronaut, Tim Peake, with regular guest, US space journalist Kristin Fisher.

13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories, including the first Moon landing, Apollo 13 and the space shuttle. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Recommending: 13 Minutes Presents Artemis II

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 time as Trump has loosened sanctions on Russian oil. On the other hand, it’s been a difficult few months for Russian allies in Tehran, Caracas and Havana.

The author, academic and Russia analyst Mark Galeotti joins us to examine the ways in which the war in Iran could help or hinder Putin.

Apply for Castfest tickets: https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026
Email us: theglobalstory@bbc.com

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Cat Farnsworth
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Russia, March 27. Credit: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin/Pool/EPA/Shutterstock.

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 unsuspecting foreigners out of their savings. Today, BBC Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head offers an inside look at these formidable hubs of corruption and human trafficking, and explains how governments around the world are working to intervene. 

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Viv Jones
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: New high rises in the city of Shwe Kokko, Myanmar, visible from Thailand's border. Credit: Jonathan Head/BBC.

The cities built on scamming us all

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 the University of Oxford, Margaret MacMillan, and explore how world wars start, how they end and what can be done to avoid them. 

Producers: Chris Benderev and Lucy Pawle 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

(Photo: US Military aircraft perform 4th of July flyover past New York City and New Jersey, 4 July 2020. Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters)

Are we heading for World War Three?

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 minerals. 

The BBC’s South America correspondent, Ione Wells, has been in Caracas to find out how much life has altered under Rodriguez’s leadership, and to what extend Donald Trump may see this regime change as a blueprint for US intervention elsewhere. 

Producers: Sam Chantarasak, Valerio Esposito and Hannah Moore 

Executive producers: Bridget Harney and James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Credit: Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

The Venezuela model for regime change

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 the BBC’s Persian service’s Ghoncheh Habibiazad discuss with Tristan where this could all go next?

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he steps from Air Force One, March 20, 2026. Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Trump's Iran options

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 when Netanyahu posted several videos of himself, debunking and mocking the rumour, some people on social media still refused to believe these were really him.

Today on the show, Thomas Copeland from BBC Verify explains how the economics of social media drive the creation of AI-generated fake videos – sometimes by people with no strong feelings about the war itself. And we speak to Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible, who says the essential strategy behind wartime disinformation remains unchanged since ancient times.

Producers: Viv Jones, Valerio Esposito and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows his hand as he speaks at a cafe Credit: Benjamin Netanyahu/Reuters)

Netanyahu is not dead. So why did the internet think he was?

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 into the city centre. And there are fears that what Israel has called a “limited” ground operation could lead to an occupation of the south. Israel says it is targeting not only Hezbollah fighters and leaders, but also businesses it claims are linked to the group and help finance its military operations.
 
From his post in Beirut, BBC Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega explains the long history of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, and we ask what could come next.

Producers: Chris Benderev and Aron Keller
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo Credit: Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in central Beirut's Bachoura neighbourhood, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, 12 March, 2026. Creit: Claudia Greco/Reuters

The war in Lebanon, explained

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 more power? 

In today’s episode, we answer all of these and more, with BBC world affairs editor, John Simpson. 
 
Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin 
Sound engineer: Travis Evans 
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: A woman marches with an Iranian monarchy flag during a 'Freedom for Iran' protest in New York, New York, USA, 15 March 2026. Credit: Olga Fedorova/Shutterstock

Listener Q&A on Iran

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