The Global Story

As world leaders line-up to visit the new President at the White House, Donald Trump has started outlining the first major foreign policy plans of this administration.

Caitríona Perry, Sumi Somaskanda and Courtney Subramanian chat about Trump's disruptive foreign policy plans and how the US interacts with the rest of the world. They also look at Trump's new loyalist inner circle.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. Follow or subscribe to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts, so you don't miss an episode. You can email us at [email protected]

Producers: Charlie Jones and Alice Aylett Roberts

Sound engineer: Mike Regaard

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

Many companies are calling staff back to the office for more or all of the working week. When the Covid-19 pandemic upended the usual way of doing business around the world, most firms were forced to change their typical operating practices, allowing employees to work remotely where possible. But what may have looked like a permanent revolution at one stage is becoming a distant memory for some workers.

Host Caitríona Perry talks to the BBC’s employment correspondent Zoe Conway and Stanford University economics professor Nicholas Bloom about whether working remotely for all or part of the week is better for business efficiency, and why some employers are calling time on the practice.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Tom Kavanagh, Peter Goffin and Laurie Kalus

Sound engineers: Mike Regaard, Stephen Bailey and Annie Smith

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

President Donald Trump wants to take over Gaza and rebuild it as an international hotspot for business and tourism. The plan could drastically change the future of the Middle East. For decades, US presidents have said that establishing a sovereign Palestinian state, to exist alongside Israel, is the only way to achieve a permanent peace. But can that ever happen if Gazans are moved out of Gaza, as President Trump has suggested?

On this episode, presenter Jonny Dymond speaks to the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams and the longstanding – if distant – diplomatic hopes for two-state solution.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Peter Goffin and Mhairi MacKenzie

Sound engineers: Mike Regaard and Annie Smith

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

The long-running economic battle between the world's two biggest economies has escalated. This week US President Donald Trump brought tariffs against China in an effort to strongarm the growing superpower into submission and strengthen American markets. But Beijing hit back, raising its own tariffs, escalating a trade war that could have implications for both countries. Trump is betting that tariffs will make America, and American people, richer. But does anyone win in a trade war?

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Alice Aylett Roberts, Mhairi MacKenzie and Eleanor Sly

Sound engineer: Stephen Bailey

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

The deposed President Bashar al-Assad has been linked to the multi-billion dollar trade of a narcotic called Captagon. Syria's new rebel leaders have promised to stamp it out. So what will it take to end the country's association with the drug? Presenter Caitríona Perry speaks to the BBC's Emir Nader, who has been reporting on the drug trade in the Middle East.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Peter Goffin and Eleanor Sly

Sound engineers: Mike Regaard and Jonny Baker

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

Since the end of World War Two and Nazi rule, Germany has been hyper-vigilant about keeping right-wing hardliners out of government. For decades, mainstream politicians have shunned parties like the AfD. But now, with a federal election just weeks away and the AfD rising in the polls, a frontrunner in the race for chancellor has accepted the party’s support on an immigration bill. It’s an unprecedented step. But does it mean the far-right is being normalised?

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Peter Goffin, Laurie Kalus and Mhairi MacKenzie

Sound engineer: Mike Regaard and Jonny Baker

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

President Trump has been criticised for his combative response to the Washington air crash. With the investigation into the fatal collision between a passenger aeroplane and a military helicopter just beginning, the president suggested that diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies could be to blame, drawing condemnation from critics who accused him of prematurely politicising the disaster.

Caitríona Perry, Courtney Subramanian and Bernd Debusmann discuss the fallout from that controversy, and examine how the new administration is already making good on campaign promises to crack down on undocumented migrants, and use tariffs as a bargaining chip in negotiations with key US allies.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. Follow or subscribe to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts, so you don't miss an episode. You can email us at [email protected]

Producers: Tom Kavanagh and Charlie Jones

Sound engineer: Jack Graysmark

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

Tetiana and Oleh Plachkov have spent their whole lives in Melitopol, a city in eastern Ukraine. They fell in love, married and had a daughter Lyudmila. They started a business, running two restaurants, popular with their neighbours for special occasions. But since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, their family has been torn apart like so many in Ukraine.

Jonny Dymond speaks to our eastern Europe correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, about one family among many whose loved ones have disappeared under the Russian occupation.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Richard Moran and Eleanor Sly

Sound engineer: Hannah Montgomery

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are heading north to find out what is left of their homes after 15 months of war. On this episode, our host Jonny Dymond speaks to Farida Alghol, who has made the journey back to Gaza City and her parents. We also ask our correspondent Nick Beake what the future holds for the people and territory of Gaza.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producers: Peter Goffin, Tom Kavanagh, Alice Aylett Roberts and Beth Timmins

Sound engineer: Hannah Montgomery and Mike Regaard

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins

The speed at which the new Chinese chatbot app DeepSeek has risen to prominence has taken many by surprise. Now the most downloaded free app in the US, DeepSeek seems to require less powerful computer chips than its American tech rivals.

The release of this low-cost AI model sent shockwaves through US stock markets, with Nvidia - the company behind the high-tech chips powering many AI investments - being the hardest hit. On Monday, Nvidia’s share price dropped by 17%, wiping out around $600bn in market value. So, where has DeepSeek come from, and what’s behind its ability to spook investors? What could this mean for the future of chip manufacturing and the US's historic dominance in the world of AI?

Jonny Dymond speaks to Chris Miller, historian on semiconductor chips at Tufts University and author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. Jonny is also joined by the BBC’s North America business correspondent Ritika Gupta to discus the impact DeepSeek has had on the stock markets.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Sound engineer: Hannah Montgomery

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: China Collins