Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.
Israel warns Tehran residents to evacuate as it continues its strikes on the Iranian capital, hitting Iran TV studios while many residents attempt to flee the capital. Also in the programme: Canada’s foreign minister on the G7 summit, and the athletics trial gripping Norway. (Photo: Iranian flag in an empty square with images of slain senior commanders. Credit: Reuters)
Israel says eight people have been killed in a third night of Iranian bombardment of Israeli cities, bringing the total to 24. Nearly 300 people are being treated in hospital. Iran meanwhile, has accused Israel of targeting a hospital in western Iran, condemning it as a war crime. Iran's health ministry says at least 224 people have been killed since the Israeli attacks started on Friday. We ask: what is Israel trying to achieve? Also in the programme: Britain's foreign intelligence service is g...
Strikes by Israel and Iran continue as the conflict between the two countries intensifies and stretches into a third day. We’ll hear from the Israeli army, a former senior US envoy and a resident of Tehran. Also on the programme: we speak to a senior US senator who was friends with the lawmakers killed in the Minnesota shootings; and the writer on writing about being unable, physically, to write. The podcast version of this programme was edited on 15th June. (Photo: Israelis take shelter at the ...
Iran and Israel continue trading strikes, seventy-two hours after Israel launched an attack against Iran's nuclear infrastructure and key military figures. We speak to key figures in the region to understand Israel's aims, the role of US diplomacy and how Iran might respond in the future. Also in the programme: demonstrations take place across Spain, Portugal and Italy against over-tourism; and we talk to writer Hanif Kureishi about his creative process after becoming paralysed. (Photo: People d...
Israel and Iran threaten to step up their military confrontation, nearly 48 hours after the Israeli strikes began. Newshour analyses Israel's strategy and assesses how close Iran was to making a nuclear weapon. Also in the programme: two US politicians are shot in Minnesota; and Bangladesh's interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus on the ending of aid to his country. (Picture: Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted, as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, June 13, 2025. Credit: Reuters)...
The Israeli military is continuing its strikes on Iran - following overnight explosions at Mehrabad airport in Tehran. On Friday Israeli planes struck Iranian nuclear and military sites assassinating several military leaders and nine top nuclear scientists. Iranian state media says sixty civilians including twenty children were also killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential complex in the capital. In response Iran has carried out missile strikes on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Tehran has warne...
The BBC World Service Debate considers the rapidly changing international landscape since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The US President says his legacy will be as a peacemaker and unifier. So far he’s brought Putin to the negotiating table and made Europe take its security seriously in a way it hasn’t for decades. But his methods have horrified critics, who say his shock and awe approach to diplomacy is reckless and chaotic. The President’s unpredictability has rocked global allianc...
Iran has launched an aerial attack on Israel in an operation it's called True Promise 3. Black smoke has been seen rising over Tel Aviv's skyline. Earlier today, the Israeli military said it had struck the Isfahan nuclear facility in Iran - as its strikes on the country continued. Also on the programme: Colombian superstar Shakira tells us about life as an immigrant in the US; and a report on the Air India crash. (Image: Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel o...
Israel's military say they struck dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran. Iran says the attacks by Israel are a declaration of war and there are warnings of a strong retaliatory response by Iran to the attacks which killed numerous military officials and scientists. Also in the programme: Investigators in India have found the on-board video recorder from the Air India plane which crashed on Thursday, killing more than 240 people. We'll report from the cr...
Air India has confirmed that only one of the 242 people on board its flight that crashed into a doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad has survived. Also in the programme: Donald Trump has urged Israel not to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities - we hear from a former US ambassador to Israel; and scientists have discovered a previously unknown species of dinosaur hidden in plain sight in a Mongolian museum's fossil collection. (Photo: Air India plane with over 240 on board crashes after take-off...
The local police chief tells the BBC that 204 bodies have been recovered - it's not known how many of those victims were on the plane, or were on the ground when the plane crashed. One passenger has survived, a local police chief says, with Indian media reporting he is British. The plane crashed into accommodation used by doctors. We speak to a British MP in touch with the family members of some on board. Also on the programme: Rioting – described by the police as “racist thuggery” – in Northern...
As protests against raids targeting illegal immigrants continue in Los Angeles, we hear the latest from the city and speak to a former director of the US border agency ICE, Ronald Vitiello. Also in the programme: the role of rare earth minerals in an apparent warming of trade relations between the US and China; and reflections of former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa on finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And memories of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys band, who ...
Governor Newsom says President Trump is breaking the law by deploying soldiers on city streets in California - is he right? Our correspondent in Los Angeles reports on the clashes, both on the street and between different political players. Also in the programme: the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggests Muslim countries should give up some of their own land if they want to see a Palestinian State; and why we owe Shakespeare's revival to a group of well-to-do women in Georgian England....
Britain, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have announced they're sanctioning two far-right Israeli ministers for inciting extremist violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. London said an asset freeze and travel ban would take effect immediately against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. We have an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the sanctions "a shocking decision on the part of countries I consider to be allies". Also in the programme: ...
Nine people have been killed and many injured in a school shooting in the southern Austrian city of Graz. The shooter also killed himself, and has been identified as a former pupil. Also, Donald Trump sends in the Marines as the president's crackdown on undocumented migrants clashes with California's policy as a Sanctuary State, Syria's jailers under President Assad speak to the BBC anonymously about what they did and those who suffered, plus good news for biodiversity and precious coral reefs i...
The attorney-general in California has sued President Trump for deploying the National Guard without the governor's permission. The lawsuit argues that Mr Trump overstepped his authority and "trampled" on the state's sovereignty. Rob Bonta accuses him of trying to manufacture chaos and crisis for his own political ends. Also in the programme: Reports of more killings close to one of Gaza's new aid distribution sites; claims from an opposition leader in Georgia that her husband was abducted; Ital...
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom says President Trump’s deployment of National Guards to help immigration officers in LA is illegal and unconstitutional, and that he will challenge the move in court. One journalist covering the riots tells us he needed surgery after being hit by a baton round. Also in the programme: the latest swap of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war begins; and could countries meeting in France be on the brink of a breakthrough in protecting the planet’s oceans? (IMAGE:...
National Guard units who earlier arrived in Los Angeles have engaged with protestors opposed to Donald Trump's immigration policies. They fired tear gas to try to force back the demonstrators. President Trump ordered their deployment after two days of confrontations between residents of a predominantly Hispanic area and local police. Also in the programme:Inside the reckless race for total domination - tech journalist Karen Hao on her new book 'Empire of AI': and Carlos Alcaraz has pulled off a ...
US President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles following clashes over raids on undocumented migrants. Also on the programme: we will hear from the President of the International Red Cross on Gaza; and the potential power of using "poo pills" containing freeze-dried faeces. (Photo: Protesters stand next to a burning shopping cart during a standoff between police and protesters following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Los Angeles ...
There’s been another shooting near a US and Israeli-backed aid distribution centre in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run civil defence agency said 6 Palestinians were killed and several wounded by Israeli gunfire. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended aid distribution again, blaming threats from Hamas. Also in the programme: the runaway rodents who had China transfixed; and it's Goodbye Lenin to Central Asia's tallest statue. (Photo: A woman crouches tries to gather what remains of relief supplie...
Concern mounts over Gaza's deepening humanitarian crisis including the hospitals. We speak to a British doctor who's been working there. Also on the programme: a resident of Ukraine's second largest city tells us about the unprecedented Russian attack; and from the bromance to break up between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. We ask a former Tesla director what it's like to work with Mr Musk. (Photo: An internally displaced Palestinian girl attends Eid al-Adha prayer in Gaza City, 06 June 2025. Credi...
Donald Trump invested a lot of political capital in Elon Musk. And Elon Musk invested a lot of money in Donald Trump. Will their bust up cost them both? Also on the programme, who are the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and what is known about them? And we meet Pedro Urruchurtu, one of the Venezuelan opposition figures who spent over a year in Argentina's embassy in Caracas, and who was subsequently rescued by the USA in "Operation Guacamaya." (Photo: Elon Musk (L) and Donald Trump (R) face each ot...
Donald Trump has sought to downplay his public spat with Elon Musk, which erupted days after he left the president's administration. In an interview after hours of sparring, Mr Trump said things were 'going very well'. White House aides are reported to have arranged a call between the two men to broker a peace. Also, we'll talk to the Danish politician who wants the European Union to ban children under the age of 15 from accessing social media. And Jane Birkin’s original Hermès bag to go on sale...
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are having a furious and personal public row -- just a week after Mr Musk left the White House -- while Chancellor Merz of Germany is visiting the US. Also in the programme: Israel confirms arming Palestinian clans in Gaza; and Hollywood actor turned crypto critic Ben McKenzie. (Picture: President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. Credit: Reuters)
Those banned include people from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Haiti and Sudan. Citizens from another seven countries face travel restrictions. President Trump said the new rules were designed to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors and to stop people overstaying their visas. We hear from Republican Congressman Clay Higgins, who supports the move, and ask American law professor Barbara McQuade about its rationale and legality. Also in the programme: as the bodies of two more hostages ar...
The US has vetoed the UN Security Council's draft resolution calling for an "unconditional and permanent" ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting of ambassadors at the UN comes on the day the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross called the situation in Gaza "worse than hell on earth". President Trump says he's had another phone conversation with Russia's President Putin about the war in Ukraine. During the call Mr Trump said the Russian President told him that Moscow would retaliate after...
The head of the International Red Cross has told the BBC that what's happening in Gaza has crossed any acceptable legal or moral standard. Mirjana Spoljarić said that the situation "should shock our collective conscience". Her comments come after dozens of Palestinians were killed near new aid distribution centres. A prominent US-Israeli businessman with long experience of humanitarian missions tells us what's gone wrong with the roll-out of aid by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Also in the p...
