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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.

The Global Story

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 Chagos Islands. Tropical, remote, and very mysterious. So mysterious that one person who knows what goes on there said that if you did too, it would give you vertigo. 

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale joins us to discuss what happens on the Chagos Islands that makes them so important to President Trump. What have they got to do with Iran, and why are they at the centre of an ever-growing diplomatic row? 

Producer: Lucy Pawle 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: File photo of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Credit: Reuters

Why is Donald Trump obsessed with the Chagos Islands?

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 the US government working on American policy towards Iran, answers our questions on how the next stage of the conflict is likely to unfold - and whether a negotiated peace with Iran is still an option. 

Producers: Chris Benderev, Cat Farnsworth and Valerio Esposito 

Executive producer: Bridget Harney 

Studio managers: James Piper and Mike Regaard.

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: People walk past a banner depicting the Iran's supreme leaders since 1979. The late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and his son, the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters.

Iran: Is diplomacy dead?

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 be exported from the Gulf if US-Israeli attacks continue.

We speak to BBC economics correspondent Andy Verity about the lessons both the US and Iran might be learning from the oil crises of the 1970s, and ask whether oil could determine how and when the war ends.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Studio manager: Mike Regaard
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: 3D-printed oil pump jacks, Iranian flag, and a rising stock graph appear in this illustration. Credit: Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Are oil prices determining the course of the Iran war?

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 among them, but in the past week their relationship got even more fiery, with Donald Trump threatening to cut off all trade with Spain. What makes Sanchez willing to stand up to Trump? And will his gamble be worth it? 

Guy Hedgecoe, a reporter for the BBC based in Madrid, joins us to discuss. 

Producers: Hannah Moore, Valerio Esposito and Chris Benderev 
Executive producer: Bridget Harney 
Mix: Travis Evans 
Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during closing ceremony of the 'Spain, Vanguard in the Green Industry', in Madrid, Spain, 08 September 2025. Credit: Daniel Gonzalez/EPA/Shutterstock.

Spain stands up to Trump

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 foreign wars, and current polling suggests the war is not supported by most Americans. 

We talk to the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen about whether this war, which Netanyahu says is an opportunity, complements or collides with Donald Trump’s own interests. And ask if Benjamin Netanyahu has everything to gain from this war, and Donald Trump a lot more to lose? 

Producers: Lucy Pawle and Sam Chantarasak

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 29, 2025.

Do Trump and Netanyahu have conflicting end goals on Iran?

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 Gordon Correra, security analyst for the BBC, about America’s complicated history of intervention in the Middle East and surrounding region, and ask what these past conflicts might tell us about possible outcomes for the war in Iran. 

Producer: Viv Jones, Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin 

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: A US soldier watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad in 2003. Credit: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

Could Iran be the next ‘forever war’?

Five days since the first US–Israeli strikes on Iran, and the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, the country is once again in a communications blackout. With limited access to reliable information, it is difficult to know how ordinary Iranians are coping.

Parham Ghobadi, senior reporter and presenter at BBC Persian, has been speaking to people inside Iran to guage their fears, their expectations, and how they are navigating a moment that could reshape their country’s future.

Producer: Viv Jones, Valerio Esposito and Chris Benderev

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: A woman reacts on the street following an Israeli and US strike on a police station, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

Iran under attack: The view from inside

The Gulf states are some of the wealthiest places on earth, and have until recently been mostly insulated from Middle East conflicts. But the US-Israel war with Iran is now engulfing the Gulf. 

The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner joins us to discuss whether this is a moment that could change the entire region and affect all of us. 

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Smoke billows from Jebel Ali port in Dubai after an Iranian attack. Credit: Raghed Waked/Reuters.

Iran war: Chaos engulfs the Gulf

This weekend, Iranian state media confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran with an iron fist for more than 30 years, had been killed in joint US-Israeli strikes. In Iran, his death was met with an outpouring of grief by his supporters, while many across the country and in the diaspora met the news with jubilation and a tentative sense of hope. But what happens now? 

President Trump has urged Iranians to “seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” but how realistic are the prospects of them forming a new – and significantly different - government? And how will the weakened regime retaliate against the US and Israel’s strikes? 

Caroline Hawley, Diplomatic Correspondent for the BBC, joins us to discuss. 

Producers: Hannah Moore, Aron Keller and Chris Benderev 

Executive producer: Bridget Harney 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: A woman holds an image of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters.

What next for Iran?

Mexico’s most wanted man – Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho” – was killed during a security operation to arrest the cartel leader on Sunday. 

In the days that followed, the operation was celebrated by President Trump in his State of the Union address. But it came at a cost, as cartel members carried out retaliatory rampages across Mexico and turned many towns and cities into war zones.

El Mencho’s death came after months of pressure from the Trump administration on Mexico to do more to fight the drug cartels. According to one NBC News report, the US even considered sending troops into Mexico. 

Our correspondent, Will Grant, examines the dilemma Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum now faces – and we ask if she is now caught between Trump and the cartels. 

Producers: Chris Benderev and Aron Keller 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior News Editor: China Collins

Image Credits: FILE PHOTO: Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” poses for a photo at an undisclosed location in Michoacan state, Mexico, October 15, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer

Mexico’s most wanted cartel boss is dead. Is it enough for Trump?

***This episode contains discussions of body dysmorphia, self-harm, sex and drug use, and references to language that may cause offence*** 

A controversial internet streamer who goes by the name Clavicular has taken the internet by storm, going to extreme lengths to try to enhance his looks – from using steroids and testosterone to hitting his face with a hammer. 

Clavicular has become the poster boy for an online movement called ‘looksmaxxing’, centred on maximising physical attractiveness. Like many subcultures, it has given rise to a whole new lexicon which is gradually migrating from the margins of the internet to the mainstream. 

In today’s episode, we turn to journalist and documentary filmmaker Matt Shea to explain whether Clavicular – and the movement he champions – is just another viral curiosity, or a strange symptom of modern masculinity. 

Producers: Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin 
Executive producer: James Shield 
Sound engineer: Travis Evans 
Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: A hand holding a mobile phone showing an influencer holding a hammer to his face on screen. Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

What ‘looksmaxxing’ tells us about modern masculinity

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