The Global Story

WARNING: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of violence.
Since an air strike on a school in Iran two weeks ago, the Pentagon has faced mounting questions over the possible involvement of the US military. Iranian officials say the strike killed 168 people, including about 110 children.
US media have reported that military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally – but that they have not reached a final conclusion.
Today, Merlyn Thomas from BBC Verify explains what we know so far about the strike. And we speak to Oona Hathaway, a professor of international law at Yale University who previously worked at the US Department of Defence, about the potential legal consequences.
Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Aron Keller
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Studio manager: Mike Regaard
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: People attend the funeral of the victims following a reported strike on a school in Minab, Iran, March 3, 2026. Credit: Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/WANA via Reuters.

In this special essay, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen explains what can happen when an American president calls for an uprising – and then doesn’t get involved when it starts.
A version of this piece first ran on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 11 March.
Producer for The Global Story: Xandra Ellin
Mix: James Shield
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Jeremy Bowen, October 2025

On Sunday, many of the film industry’s biggest stars will gather in Los Angeles for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 98th annual Academy Awards.
Looming over the celebrations are some major upheavals in Hollywood: big 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 how the Oscars went global, and what it can tell us about the status of American soft power.
Producers: Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Workers make preparations for the 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles Credit: Reuters / Caroline Brehman

At a recent White House event, President Trump assessed how America’s allies have responded to the US-Israel war in Iran. He praised some, but was angry with others, notably Britain and its prime minister Keir Starmer. His anger with the UK seemed to centre around a British-owned island in the Indian Ocean, which he referred to as “that stupid island”.

The island is one of about 60, known as the Chagos Islands. Tropical, remote, and very mysterious. So mysterious that one person who knows what goes on there said that if you did too, it would give you vertigo.

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale joins us to discuss what happens on the Chagos Islands that makes them so important to President Trump. What have they got to do with Iran, and why are they at the centre of an ever-growing diplomatic row?

Producer: Lucy Pawle
Executive producer: James Shield
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: File photo of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Credit: Reuters

As the US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue and the death toll continues to rise, so too does the war of words.
President Trump has described Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's choice for new supreme leader, as "unacceptable". He has also said he believes the war will be over “pretty quickly”, but it’s not clear how - or when.
Nate Swanson, a former State Department official who spent nearly two decades in the US government working on American policy towards Iran, answers our questions on how the next stage of the conflict is likely to unfold - and whether a negotiated peace with Iran is still an option.
Producers: Chris Benderev, Cat Farnsworth and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Studio managers: James Piper and Mike Regaard.
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: People walk past a banner depicting the Iran's supreme leaders since 1979. The late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and his son, the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters.