Today, Laura and Paddy have an exclusive first full length interview with Josh Simons, who recently quit as a government minister.

A think tank he used to run - Labour Together - commissioned a report that looked into the background of journalists after the Sunday Times ran a story about them.

He says he was ‘naive’ and he was ‘so sorry’.

He also worked at Facebook owners Meta for several years and gave evidence at the landmark social media addiction trial which the tech giant, along with YouTube, lost this week.

They discuss his resignation from government, online safety across the board and the current state of the Labour Party.

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

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Chloe Scannapieco. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Stephen Bailey. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

And with thanks to our team in Salford for letting us use the BBC Breakfast studio; Stephen Maziere, Simon Plumb and Ronan Malloy.

Today, Adam and Chris are joined by Lyse Doucet, chief international correspondent and Stephanie Flanders, head of government and economics at Bloomberg and host of Trumponomics to look at the latest developments in the US-Israeli war with Iran. They discuss the US’s 15 point plan for peace and Iran’s response and why both sides' proposals are unlikely to lead to meaningful negotiations.

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You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Meta and Google lose landmark social media addiction trial in the US.

Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed a 20-year old's mental health.

The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m (£4.5m) in damages, a result likely to have implications for hundreds of similar cases now winding their way through US courts. Meta and Google said they disagreed with the verdict and intended to appeal. Adam is joined by BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman and Faisal Islam Economics Editor.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Iran has rejected the US peace plan as “excessive”.

The US plan, which has not been made public, reportedly includes Iran dismantling its nuclear facilities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. In response Iran has released its own conditions for ending the war through state television. Adam is joined by Chief North America Correspondent Gary O’Donoghue.

And the Former Google executive Matt Brittin has been confirmed as the BBC's new director general. The ex-president of Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations will replace Tim Davie, who said he was resigning in November following a storm over how Panorama edited a speech by US President Donald Trump. Adam is joined by Katie Razzall, BBC Culture Editor.

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You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, we try and get to the bottom of whether or not Iran and the US might be meeting at the negotiating table.

Whilst President Trump has previously said the two countries have already had productive conversations, Iran has denied the reports.

Lyse Doucet, chief international correspondent and Parham Ghobadi, senior reporter for BBC Persian explain who might be involved if talks do go ahead and the latest we know about what’s happening inside Iran.

Plus, Faisal Islam joins Adam for a deep dive into how all the uncertainty is affecting the economy. They unpack Rachel Reeves’ address to the House of Commons today and the measures she might take if the situation continues to escalate.

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You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, President Trump has extended his initial 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz to five days. The President said Iran has 'one more chance at peace', following what he called “good and productive conversations”.

Today, Laura, Paddy and Henry discuss whether Iranian missiles could feasibly strike the UK, as Israel has claimed.

The Israeli Defence Force said Iranian missiles ‘can reach London, Paris or Berlin.’

The claim was prompted by an attempted but unsuccessful missile strike on the UK-US Diego Garcia base.

Sir Richard Shirreff, a former senior Nato commander has told Paddy we should take the the claim seriously, but cabinet minister Steve Reed told Laura there is "no assessment to substantiate" it.

We also look at whether the government might consider profit caps on energy companies, as has been suggested by a government advisor.

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

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Laura Kuenssberg, Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Chloe Scannapieco. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today, Laura and Paddy discuss Iranian missiles fired at Diego Garcia, the joint UK-US base in the Indian Ocean.

Two ballisitic missiles were fired at the island of Diego Garcia, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported overnight, citing unnamed US officials, but neither weapon reached its target.

One missile reportedly failed in flight, while the other was intercepted by a US warship. It is unclear when the missiles were supposedly fired.

The BBC understands the reports are accurate.

They unpack the significance of the launches, and what it means for the UK’s involvement in the war in Iran.

And, Laura and Paddy speak to David Miliband, former foreign secretary and current president of humanitarian aid organisation, the International Rescue Committee. He discusses the humanitarian cost of the war at a time when this government is cutting £6 billion from the overseas budget by 2027.

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Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Adam, Chris and Faisal are joined by Panorama Jane Corbin to discuss the latest strikes in the war in Iran.

They look at a straining relationship between Israel and the US and how the UK is reacting to the shock to the global economy.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, President Trump has threatened that the US “will massively blow up” the world’s largest gas field if Iran attacks Qatar again.

This comes after Iran bombed Qatar's Ras Laffan energy complex, in retaliation against Israel attacking its South Pars Gas Field - all of which has sent gas prices skyrocketing.

Adam is joined by chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet and deputy economics editor Dharshini David to discuss what this means for the war and energy prices around the world.

Meanwhile, health correspondent Jim Reed joins Adam to discuss the latest report in the Covid-19 inquiry, which found the NHS came close to collapse at the height of the pandemic.

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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd