BBC News

On Sunday 15 March 2026, many of the film industry’s biggest stars will gather in Los Angeles for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 98th annual Academy Awards.

Two American movies, "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" are tipped to be the big winners on the night.

Looming over the 2026 Oscars are some major upheavals in Hollywood, including corporate mergers, the incursion of AI, and mass layoffs.

And it’s against that backdrop that the Oscars are increasingly nominating films, filmmakers, and actors from elsewhere in the world.

BBC film reporter and critic Tom Brook explains the history of the Oscars and how the annual awards ceremony went global.

He talks about the challenges facing the Hollywood film industry and how Donald Trump's tariffs may impact in the future.

New episodes of The Global Story are released daily. If you’re in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds. If you live outside the UK, listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

03:23 The Oscars at its peak

05:00 What is going to be the story of the 2026 Oscars?

06:30 Why are fewer people watching Hollywood movies?

09:20 Foreign made films getting more nominations

12:00 The importance of "Parasite"

14:43 The race for 'Best Picture'

17:30 The President of the Academy

19:00 The retreat of celebrity activism

23:45 What's the future for Hollywood film making?

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is "wounded" and "likely disfigured”.

However, we do not have proof this is the case.

"We're shooting down and destroying what missiles they have in stock and, more importantly, ensuring they have no ability to build more," Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing on Friday.

On the Strait of Hormuz, he accused Iran of "sheer desperation" - but claimed the US was "dealing with" it.

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UN Secretary General António Guterres has landed in Beirut in what he calls a "visit of solidarity" with the people of Lebanon.

The development comes as the Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that Lebanon is reaching a "breaking point" as displacement has surged during the latest escalation of the war there.

The Israeli military has carried out several waves of air strikes across Lebanon after the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah launched about 200 rockets into northern Israel.

Official figures show at least 816,000 people - roughly one in seven residents - have been forced from their homes in the first 10 days of fighting.

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Four of six crew aboard a US military refuelling aircraft have died after it crashed in western Iraq, US Central Command (Centcom) said.

The incident was not the result of hostile or friendly fire and rescue operations were under way, officials said.

Centcom said the circumstances of the crash were now under investigation.

The tanker had been involved in ongoing US operations against Iran, and was one of two aircraft involved in the incident. The second landed safely.

Since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran, seven US soldiers have been confirmed as having been killed in the conflict.

The US military has now lost at least four aircraft during the current war.

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Is US President Donald Trump winning the Iran war, or is this another Iraq?

Watch what the Question Time panel said on the audience question, featuring Times columnist Fraser Nelson, Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell MP, Conservative Harriett Baldwin MP, The Green Party’s Siân Berry MP, and broadcaster Kay Burley.

Catch up with the whole of the debate with BBC Question Time on iPlayer and Sounds now.

BLURB

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Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran will continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest shipping lane, and will “avenge the blood” of Iranians killed in the war with the United States and Israel.

It was the first public statement by Iran’s new Supreme Leader since he succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in his compound in Tehran on the first day of the war. The message was read by a newsreader on Iranian state TV and Mojtaba Khamenei did not appear in person.

He said Iran should use the "lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz" as the channel is an area where "the enemy is highly vulnerable". He also said that Iran would continue targeting US bases in the region

Mojtaba Khamenei lost his wife and a son in the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father and it has been reported that he was himself "lightly injured" in the attack. He has not been seen in public since being made Supreme Leader and no photographs or videos have been released.

Israel said it had launched a new wave of strikes against the Iranian capital Tehran and has continued its attacks in southern Lebanon where it says it is targeting Hezbollah militants supported by Iran.

Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Tom Bateman, Dan Johnson, Lucy Williamson and Wyre Davies.

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The new Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, gave his first statement pledging to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

This was delivered not by Khamenei himself, but by a newsreader on Iranian state TV speaking over a photo of him, sparking further speculation as to his health and whereabouts.

Alex and James are joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama film maker, and Baran Abbasi, reporter and presenter for BBC Persian, to discuss what to make of the new Supreme Leader’s statement.

Plus, diplomatic correspondent, James Landale, joins Alex and James from Kyiv to analyse what the US-Israeli war with Iran means for the war in Ukraine and how President Zelensky and President Putin have responded.

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00:00 Introduction

00:45 Did Mojtaba Khamenei actually write the statement?

02:25 What did the statement say?

07:00 How is Mojtaba Khamenei responding to the war?

15:58 How do Iranians feel about the war?

20:20 Iranians wait to celebrate Nowruz

22:50 How does the war in Iran affect Ukraine?

26:05 Zelensky's view on the war in Iran

31:02 On the ground in Ukraine

34:50 Putin's view on Iran

38:28 Is Russia involved in the Iran war?

As the US-Israel war with Iran has expanded across the Middle East, US President Donald Trump and his administration have offered several justifications for the conflict.

But what does Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want to achieve with this war? How long will Israel be willing to fight Iran, or Hezbollah in Lebanon? And what impact could the conflict have on the upcoming Israeli elections?

We speak to the BBC's Jon Donnison in Jerusalem.

New episodes of the Global News Podcast are published twice a day. You can listen here: https://link.mgln.ai/GNP-YT

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Israel said it has launched a new wave of strikes against the Iranian capital Tehran.

It comes hours after a statement attributed to Iran's new supreme leader was read out on state-controlled TV - his first since assuming power and which included a commitment to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

Elsewhere, at least three more cargo ships have been attacked in the Gulf, apparently by Iran. Iranian state media said Iranian forces were behind at least one strike.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have killed several people in Lebanon, including at least eight in Beirut's seafront area.

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Iran will keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel, according to a statement read on state TV attributed to the new supreme leader.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his father.

There is speculation he has been injured or even killed - but what we know is limited, says BBC Persian.

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