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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

The man Donald Trump has called a "great leader", and who has long provoked admiration in MAGA circles, suddenly finds himself in an unusual position – at odds with the US president on an issue of critical importance. 

Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, is visiting the White House on Friday to try to resolve a dispute over Russian oil and gas. Orban wants to keep buying it, but Trump wants countries to wean themselves off Russian energy and help put the brakes on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Will Trump choose to keep an old friend close, or put pressure on Putin? We speak to Nick Thorpe, the BBC’s correspondent in Budapest, who has covered Orban since the 1980s. 

Producer: Viv Jones 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Suzanne Plunkett, Reuters.

Viktor Orban’s dilemma: Trump’s favour or Russian oil

Even before Zohran Mamdani was elected as New York’s first Muslim mayor, his critics frequently cited London as a sort of cautionary tale, suggesting that New York under Mamdani could go “the way of London.” That’s because London already has a liberal, Muslim mayor - Sadiq Khan. But is that where the similarities end? 

We talk to Tim Donovan, a former BBC reporter who covered London politics for decades. And we ask Mr Khan himself what it’s like to be a local politician with an international profile - especially when your most persistent critic, is a tenacious man called Donald Trump? 
 
Producers: Xandra Ellin, Valerio Esposito and Cat Farnsworth 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 
 
Image: New York City mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, waves to his supporters after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race. Jeenah Moon / Reuters

A tale of two cities: London’s lesson for New York’s first Muslim mayor

For years, Colombia has been one of the United States’ closest allies in the region – a key partner in the war on drugs. But now this relationship is coming under strain amidst a personal feud between President Trump, and Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro. 

In today’s episode, we speak to BBC Mundo’s William Marquez to examine the history of the US-Colombia alliance, and what might be at stake if it falls apart. 

Producer: Aron Keller 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Photo: Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Credit: Reuters/Luisa Gonzalez

What’s behind Trump’s rift with Colombia?

The Trump administration faces a Supreme Court challenge on Wednesday over its use of tariffs, an economic policy that has upended global trade.

This case, which has been described by the President in epic terms, questions the legality of Trump’s signature economic policy - and poses one of the biggest existential threats to his second term so far. 

In today’s episode, we speak to small business owners across the US, and to BBC business reporter Natalie Sherman, who will be at the Supreme Court this week.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Valerio Esposito

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: US President Trump unveils new tariffs on so-called Liberation Day. Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The Supreme Court battle over Trump’s tariffs

Discussion of nuclear weapons has returned both to our news cycle and to the cultural conversation. 

Last week, President Donald Trump said that the US would resume testing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, several recent films and books imagine a near future scenario where a nuclear attack is threatened or carried out. 

Tristan talks to Carlo Masala, professor of international relations at the Bundeswehr University Munich and author of If Russia Wins. His book imagines a scenario where Russia attacks a Nato country to see whether the alliance will respond, risking a nuclear confrontation. Masala believes Russia is already engaged in ‘hybrid warfare’ with Europe, and he wrote his book as a warning to the west. 

Producers: Viv Jones, Aron Keller, Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: A photo published by Swedish armed forces that it says shows a Russian mig-31 fighter jet that took part in the violation of Estonian airspace. Swedish Armed Forces/ Reuters.

Credits: 

The War Game (1965) / Dir: Peter Watkins / BBC

Dr Strangelove (1964) / Dir: Stanley Kubrick / Columbia Pictures 

A House of Dynamite (2025) / Dir: Kathryn Bigelow / Netflix

What if Russia wins?

On Thursday, Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China held a closed-door meeting in South Korea. The subjects of negotiation ran the gamut — from rare earth minerals, to fentanyl, to computer chips — and, according to President Trump’s subsequent news conference, the two parties reached a long-awaited deal. But exactly what did the world’s two most powerful men agree to? 
The BBC’s China Correspondent, Laura Bicker, joins us to discuss. 

Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin 

Executive Producer: Annie Brown 

Senior News Editor: China Collins 

Mix: Travis Evans 
 
IMAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein.

When the two most powerful men in the world met

The Trump administration has centred on Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan prison gang – as a justification for cracking down on Venezuelan immigrants, and for several attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea. 

When President Trump designated the gang a Foreign Terror Organisation, and invoked a 1798 law that allows presidents to swiftly deport citizens of enemy countries, civil rights groups accused his government of using these measures as a way to deport Venezuelans without due process. Trump has argued he’s acting to "eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to US soil". 

We speak to Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker, who has been reporting on how Tren de Aragua became a major focus of Trump’s domestic and foreign policy. 

Producers: Viv Jones and Aron Keller 
 
Executive producer: James Shield 
 
Mix: Travis Evans 
 
Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: An alleged member of the Tren de Aragua in detention. Reuters.

How a Venezuelan prison gang became the face of Trump’s immigration crackdown

After months of tense negotiations, President Trump has announced that he has terminated trade talks with Canada. The reason: a new Canadian TV commercial featuring an anti-tariff message from an old Ronald Reagan speech. The ad played during a World Series game and ran on various US cable channels, angering President Trump.

The ad is just the latest skirmish between the US and its neighbour to the north. We speak to the BBC’s senior Canada reporter, Nadine Yousif, about how we got here and what the future has in store for the relationship between the two countries.

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

(Photo: US President Donald Trump (R) meets Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (L) in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington DC,7 October, 2025. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Why the US-Canada relationship is on shaky ground

The controversial right-wing podcaster Candace Owens is being sued by the French president and his wife in a US court. The Macrons are accusing Owens of spreading a conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron was born a man. So where has this theory come from?

We speak to the BBC’s Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, host of the Fame Under Fire podcast, about what the Macrons are risking by filing the lawsuit – and whether it’s only adding more fuel to the flames.

Presenter: Tristan Redmond

Producer: Sam Chantarasak and Lucy Pawle 

Executive producer: Annie Brown 

Sound engineer: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

(Photo: Candace Owens. Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

Why is the French president suing Candace Owens?

President Trump is in Asia this week to strike deals with several countries, including with China. 
 
One of the big questions overshadowing the trip is Taiwan’s future. China has long vowed to "reunify" with self-governing Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force. 
 
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US wouldn’t abandon the island in exchange for a favourable deal with China. But a tug of war has been playing out inside the Trump administration over whether a military battle for Taiwan – if China did try to seize it – would be in America’s best interests. 
 
We speak to writer and analyst James Crabtree about what to expect from Trump’s visit to Asia and where Taiwan goes from here. 
 
Producers: Viv Jones and Xandra Ellin 

Executive producer: James Shield 

Mix: Travis Evans 

Senior news editor: China Collins 

Image: Taiwanese people observe the changing of honor guards in Liberty Square in Taipei. Ritchie B Tongo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock.

If China attacked Taiwan, what would Trump do?

Abandoned houses – or “akiyas” – have become a symbol of the crisis facing Japan’s population. But a wave of young foreign bargain hunters has started snapping up some of these abandoned homes, inspired by viral DIY videos and social media influencers. 

Lucy Hockings speaks to the BBC’s Tokyo correspondent Shaimaa Khalil, who has been to meet some of the people bringing akiyas back to life.

Producers: Peter Goffin, Alix Pickles and Alice Aylett Roberts 

Sound engineer: Mike Regaard

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson

Why are there millions of empty homes in Japan?

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