The BBC's daily news podcast, Newscast dives into the day's biggest news stories so you're never out of your depth.
Newscast picks the brains of BBC News experts so you're ready if someone picks yours, covering the latest news, developments in politics in Westminster and beyond.
Newscast is hosted by trusted politics and news journalists including Adam Fleming, BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O'Connell.
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Catch Newscast seven-days a week and watch on BBC One at 23:40 on Thursday night or later on BBC iPlayer.
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Today, Nasa has launched its first crewed mission around the Moon for more than 50 years. The Artemis II mission will last about 10 days and take its astronauts further into space than anyone has been before. The four-person crew will not land on the Moon but will circle it, aiming to set the stage for an eventual human landing for the first time since the 1960s and 70s. Adam is joined by space scientist, Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock and astronaut Tim Peake - who together host the podcast 13 Minute...
Today, the Prime Minister has given a press conference warning that things are not going to be easy as the US-Israeli war in Iran continues to put pressure on the cost of living. His address to press in Downing Street came hours after the President gave an interview to the Telegraph, saying he’s considering pulling out of Nato. Adam assembles Henry Zeffman, chief political correspondent, Lyse Doucet, chief international correspondent and Michelle Wiese Bockmann senior maritime intelligence analy...
Today, it has been confirmed that King Charles’s state visit to the US will go ahead, despite more criticism from President Trump towards the UK. King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the White House in late April. The confirmation of their visit comes on the same day as President Trump lashes out at the UK and other allies again, telling them to “go get your own oil from the Strait of Hormuz.” The announcement appears to have been delayed, amidst political tensions over the Iran war and the...
Today, BBC Radio 2 breakfast host Scott Mills has been sacked by the BBC following allegations about his personal conduct. The BBC have not given any further details, saying only "while we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC." Adam is joined by Katie Razzall - BBC Culture and Media Editor And, President Trump has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plats and oil wells if a deal is not reached “shortly”. Tr...
Today, Laura and Paddy unpack what the government will do to deal with energy pressures caused by the Iran war. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has told Laura that the UK should invest in home-grown energy, but leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, says we need more drilling in the North Sea. They also discuss the policies on energy prices from other UK political parties. Plus, they do an update following yesterday's interview with Josh Simons. Apply for tickets to Castfest here https:...
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 YouTub...
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. Apply for tickets to Castfest here https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/castfest-2026 You can now listen...
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 ...
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 Eur...
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...
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”. But, while Sir Keir Starmer said he was aware the talks had taken place, Iran has denied speaking to the US and has called Trump’s claims of talks ‘fake news’. To help us make sense of the head-spinning pace of the US-Israel war with Iran, James and Chris are jo...
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. ...
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 unpac...
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. 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 Get in touch with Newscast ...
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. Meanw...
Today, Angela Rayner has reignited Labour leader speculation with a speech in Westminster. The former deputy prime minister told a room at a Westminster pub that Labour is “running out of time”. Adam and Chris discuss this, and mixed messages coming out of the White House about the effectiveness of Operation Epic Fury with Chief North America Correspondent Gary O’Donoghue. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It wor...
Today, President Zelensky has been in London to agree a new defence partnership with the UK, with Downing Street hoping to unite “Ukrainian expertise and the UK's industrial base" to manufacture drones. But while Starmer and Zelensky were meeting one side of the Atlantic, President Trump was changing his mind on whether he needs Nato support in the Strait of Hormuz again. During a meeting with the Irish Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, President Trump hit out at Starmer again. Adam and Chris discuss Z...
Today, President Trump has reiterated his requests for support from Nato allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz - days after saying we don’t need” UK aircraft carriers in the Middle East. For now, the PM and other European allies are holding off - with Sir Keir Starmer saying the UK doesn’t want to get drawn into the wider US-Israeli war with Iran. James and Chris are joined by Panorama film maker Jane Corbin to discuss the ongoing disagreement between the two sides of the Atlantic. Plus, The E...
Today, President Trump has called on the UK and other allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest oil shipping channel. Laura, Paddy and Henry unpick what Ed Miliband said in response to pressure from the President and analyse what the current closure of the strait means for the cost of living. Meanwhile, the US president says he wants to make a deal to the end war in Iran, but 'the terms are not good enough yet'. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want...
Today, Laura catches up with Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and Frank Gardner in Saudi Arabia to get their take on the global impact the war in Iran is having beyond the Middle East. President Trump says the US military has bombed a small island off the coast of Iran which is home to one of the country’s most important oil terminals. Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, explains how both the US and Iran are trying to secure their oil interests in the region. Plus Steve Rosenberg joins Lau...
Today, James, Alex and Chris are joined by Jeremy Bowen to discuss the latest in the war in Iran. They reflect on what lessons could be learnt from the two Gulf Wars, the pressure building on the world economy and if President Trump is “close” to a victory? 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 Get in touc...
Today, President Trump has told reporters Iran war will be over “very soon”, but not this week. Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says this will be the “most intense” day of US strikes on Iran so far. So how close is the war to ending? Alex and James are joined by Caitríona Perry, Chief Anchor of BBC News in Washington, to try to decode what Trump might mean. Meanwhile, Trump has also threatened Iran with "death, fire, and fury" if it continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hor...
Today, the Iran war has pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. James and Alex are joined by Dharshini David, deputy economics editor, and Katya Adler, Europe editor and Brexitcast veteran, to discuss what the war means for the global economy and how the surging oil price might lead to higher inflation. Katya’s new series ‘Europe on the Edge’ is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now. Meanwhile, in Iran Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the prev...
Today, we look at the extent to which the lessons learned from the Iraq war has shaped the UK's response to the war in Iran. Keir Starmer has taken a position somewhere between full support of Donald Trump’s actions, and direct criticism of them. In a post on Truth Social, the US president criticised the UK for being less than 100% supportive, saying ‘we will remember’ and "We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!" On Friday, former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair told a...
Iran’s president has apologised to Gulf states for attacking them. He has also warned that Iran will not attack its neighbours "unless attacked first". Laura asks Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, about the events of the past week, and what the apology really means. Paddy’s been talking to an Iranian woman who has fled the country about her views on the regime and their actions over the past few months. They get together to discuss what they’ve heard, and have a look at how serious...
Newscast experts analyze the US-Israel conflict with Iran, addressing listener questions on key issues. The discussion covers President Trump's inconsistent approach to Iran, the surprising scale and reach of Iran's retaliatory attacks, and the UK's diplomatic tightrope walk, particularly regarding Keir Starmer's handling of the "special relationship" with the US. The episode also explores the internal dynamics of Iran's military, its diminishing regional alliances, the growing risk of internal chaos leading to a refugee crisis, and the broader economic consequences of a prolonged conflict, including its impact on UK energy prices.
Today, Keir Starmer has defended his response to the Iran war and announced he will send four additional fighter jets to Qatar. Adam is joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama film maker; Lucy Fisher, Whitehall editor for the Financial Times, and Mikey Kay, military analyst for the Security Brief, to discuss Starmer’s press conference, and to take a deeper look at the weaponry being used by both sides in this conflict. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "A...
Today, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US will strike deeper into Iran, but how has Iran responded to US-Israeli strikes so far? Adam is joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama Film Maker, and Siavash Ardalan, Senior Reporter for BBC World and BBC Persian, to discuss the Pentagon releasing a video of the sinking of an Iranian warship plus the challenges in reporting what’s going on inside Iran. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds ...
Today, President Trump has publicly criticised Keir Starmer saying “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with”. The comments came during a press conference at the White House alongside the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. President Trump said he was “not happy with the UK” because of the initial refusal from London to let Washington use the British base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during its first strikes on Iran. It comes as the UK government has announced it is sending “helicop...
