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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

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

Venezuelans are still searching through the rubble a month after two devastating earthquakes, which left thousands dead and tens of thousands more still missing. 

The disaster came at a moment of acute political and economic uncertainty, following the toppling of president Nicolas Maduro. The new government is led by Delcy Rodriguez, with US oversight, and the Trump administration has taken control of Venezuela’s lucrative oil industry – to the tune of billions of dollars. But where is that money now? 

The BBC’s Will Grant reports from Venezuela, and has spoken to survivors, grieving families, and government officials leading the response. 

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Aron Keller

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Workers use a jackhammer on debris from a collapsed building, in Caraballeda, La Guaira, Venezuela. Credit: Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria.

Who is really running Venezuela?

President Trump has announced a new round of tariffs against a range of Canadian goods, including hockey sticks and cement. Trump says the tariffs are in retaliation for what he called Canada’s “unequal treatment” of US cars, dairy and alcohol. But earlier in the week he also threatened retaliatory tariffs over Canada’s wildfire smoke which has been drifting into US cities. 

We speak to Jayme Poisson - host of the CBC podcast Frontburner - about what Trump actually wants from Canada, and whether Canadians are bracing for a world in which the US is no longer their closest ally. 

Listen to Frontburner: link.mgln.ai/FBxGlobalStory

Producers: Aron Keller, Xandra Ellin and Hannah Moore

Executive producer: Bridget Harney 

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: U.S. President Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and FIFA dignitaries at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium. Credit: Reuters/ Evan Vucci.

Trump v Carney round two

The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth faced senators on Tuesday as the White House asked for tens of billions of dollars more to help fund the Iran war.

It comes after over a week of consecutive US strikes, the deaths of several US service members, and the Iran-backed Houthis announcing a ‘maritime blockade’ in the region. 

We speak to BBC world news correspondent Joe Inwood about the trouble brewing on three fronts for the US. 

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Valerio Esposito

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: A projectile is fired during what the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a round of strikes against Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 11, 2026. Credit: U.S. Central Command/Handout/Reuters.

Is the Iran war back on?

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is a mainstay of the US political calendar, a barometer of the Republican party mood, and has become, in recent years, a pro-Trump event, with a big budget and crowds in the thousands. 

Its first outing to the United Kingdom last week brought less of the bombast, but much the same flavour of politics, as figures from across the hard right assembled for debates on topics including migration, race, British identity and cryptocurrency, under the slogan ‘Save Britain. Save The West’. 

One of our producers, Hannah Moore, attended the conference to find a conservative movement reckoning with its identity, and divided on whether importing MAGA-style politics can unite the right. 

Producers: Aron Keller and Hannah Moore 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks at the CPAC GB conference in London, Britain, 17 July 2026. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

British CPAC: Can MAGA politics be exported to the UK?

Marco Rubio’s State Department has unveiled plans to dismantle the International Criminal Court, a tribunal that prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In a video, Rubio calls the ICC, "a global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited.”

The United States is not, nor has it ever been, a party to the ICC, which was established during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton. But could the ICC investigate and indict Americans anyway? Today, we hear the view from within the world of international criminal law, with human rights lawyer, writer, and international law professor Philippe Sands.

Producer: Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Matt Pintus
Studio manager: Mike Regaard
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

This episode was updated on Monday 20 July to reflect new comments from the mayor of New York City.

Is the International Criminal Court coming for Americans?

Spain or Argentina? These two teams will face each other in the 2026 World Cup final. Only one team can emerge eternal. For the rest, it’s over.

But this tournament’s not just been about victory. 

For this special episode, we’ve been speaking with people across the US to hear about their tournament experiences, and asking what trace the World Cup will leave behind.

We hear from: Roger Bennett, founder of the Men in Blazers media company; from the BBC’s sports editor Dan Roan; from the co-host of Morning Joe on MS NOW Jonathan Lemire; from Ruth DeWitt, director of community relations at Lawrence’s tourism bureau in Kansas; and from life long US soccer fan Marcus Cranston. 

 
Producers: Lucy Pawle and Cat Farnsworth

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: USA fans cheer ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage match Turkey against USA, in Los Angeles, 25 June 2026. Credit: Christopher Torres/EPA/Shutterstock

America's World Cup awakening

On Thursday in Washington DC, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, will host an international summit on the threat posed by "the resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.” There will be a particular focus on the loosely composed group the Trump administration calls Antifa. 
 
What is this group? Is it a significant threat? Or is there something motivating the DC summit? BBC journalist Mike Wendling joins us to discuss whether the Trump administration is right to worry about far-left groups like Antifa. 

(Photo: Anti-fascist demonstrators wave an Antifa flag, which is green and has an orange, green and white circular logo in the middle, in the UK, 2016. Credit: Gareth Fuller/Press Association)

Producers: Cat Farnsworth, Aron Keller and Hannah Moore

Executive producer: James Shield

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Rubio, Antifa and the global threat from the far-left

In an exclusive investigation, a whistleblower has told the BBC how he unearthed evidence suggesting that US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick failed to disclose a business relationship with the paedophile financier, Jeffrey Epstein.

Simon Andriesz was a trader at one of Lutnick’s Wall Street firms, but it wasn’t until the Epstein files were released earlier this year that he says he confirmed a longstanding suspicion that his boss was misrepresenting his relationship with Epstein.

BBC financial investigations correspondent Andy Verity joins us to unpack the new investigation. 

Listen to Andy’s full report on File on 4 Investigates: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yx47 
 
Read more about Andy’s investigation: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q28dlyxrzo 

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Tom Bage

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sits to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing to examine a review of broadband deployment funding at the Department of Commerce, February 10, 2026. Credit: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters.

Jeffrey Epstein, Howard Lutnick, and the disgraced former prince

According to a recent financial disclosure, President Trump made more than $1.4 billion last year from business dealings in cryptocurrency. Though the White House has denied Trump was profiting from the presidency, he has been championing crypto in recent days — describing himself in one news conference as a, "big crypto guy".
 
Trump’s embrace of crypto raises big questions about the future of the technology. But according to the new BBC documentary, 'The Tech Billionaire Takeover', Trump’s support is just a fraction of the story. Presenter Matt Shea shows how cryptocurrency’s wealthiest advocates are steadily growing their power, and in some cases, even advocating for a total overhaul of government and commerce as we know it. 
 
Today, Shea joins us to explain what the tech billionaire takeover really is - and whether it is already begun. 

Audio for this episode was updated on 14 July to correct a factual error. The original audio said that the Trump family receives 75% of net profit every time the USD1 coin is sold. In fact, they receive 75% of net profit from a different crypto coin called $WLFI.
 
(Photo: Reporter Matt Shea with Crypto billionaire Justin Sun in Hong Kong. Credit: BBC)

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

Are the tech billionaires taking over?

A series of record-breaking heatwaves in Europe this summer has led to a surge in demand for air conditioning units. As Europeans search for a way to stay cool, attitudes and policies towards air conditioning have led to a heated political debate in France, which has baffled some Americans 

Tristan explains to Sumi Somaskanda how air conditioning became part of the culture wars, and we ask Graihagh Jackson, the host of the BBC podcast The Climate Question, how bad AC actually is for the environment. 

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Valerio Esposito

Executive producer: China Collins and Bridget Harney

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: People cool off in the Trocadero Fountains by the Eiffel Tower during high temperatures amid a heatwave in Paris. (REUTERS/Tom Nicholson)

The air conditioning culture wars

The promise of pore-free, glassy, youthful-looking skin has made Korean beauty products a global phenomenon. Americans spent as much $1.7bn (£1.3bn) on K-beauty in 2024, according to industry estimates, and the US now imports more cosmetics from South Korea than any other country. 

How did the South Korean government help K-beauty ride the soft power wave that has also brought us TV shows like KPop Demon Hunters, and pop groups such as Blackpink and BTS? And what are the risks of buying into the ‘perfect’ beauty ideals that the industry promotes? 

Today, we speak to Elise Hu, the host of TED Daily Talks host and author of Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. 

Producer: Hannah Moore 

Executive producer: Bridget Harney 

Sound engineer: Marty Peralta 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

(Photo: Model Lee Hyun-yi attends the photocall event celebrating the launch of AHC’s new product at the FKI Tower Conference Center in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu. Credit: iMBC/Imazins/Getty Images)

Why K-beauty is everywhere

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