The Global Story

Five years after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban’s near-total crackdown on the rights of women and girls has made the country ‘a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world’, according to the United Nations.
The Taliban governed for five years in the late 1990s before the US invasion. Now, as Afghanistan reaches the same milestone with the Taliban’s second stint in power, how is the international community engaging with them this time around?
We speak to the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, who has reported on the country for decades. She recounts her recent trip to Afghanistan and her conversations with senior Taliban ministers, as well as women and girls trying to challenge their repression.
Producers: Hannah Moore and Sam Chantarasak
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: An Afghan burqa-clad woman walks along a road at Kolcha Abad village in the Dand district of Kandahar on June 16, 2026. Credit: Sanaullah Seiam/AFP via Getty Images.

The Netflix show Emily in Paris has been lauded by French President Emmanuel Macron, who presented its creator, Darren Star, with the prestigious Légion d’Honneur last year. “You make France shine across the world,” Macron said.
Many critics disagree. The programme, about a hapless American marketing executive living a glamorous and romantic fantasy in the French capital, is due to return for its sixth and final season later this year. Some Parisians have complained that the series is full of cliches. And they worry that the tourism boost created by the show is changing the city they live in.
How do blockbuster TV series and iconic films reshape our cities, for better or worse? Host Tristan Redman heads to the fifth arrondissement, while producers Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin get the picture in London and New York.
Producer: Hannah Moore
Executive Producer: James Shield
Mix: David Crackles
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Lily Collins at the ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 4, Part 1 Premiere held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on August 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.

There have been a lot of sanctions programmes against Iran. But this week US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, which promises to go further than ever before. It will punish not just Iran but any country helping Iran - including China.
It is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to end the war. Will it work?
We speak to Vali Nasr,  professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, and ask whether in trying to end one war, President Trump risks starting a global trade conflict.
(Photo: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, 24 August, 2026. He has short, mousy-grey hair and is wearing glasses, with the American flag behind him. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Producers: Mhairi MacKenzie and Lucy Pawle
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Editor: James Shield
Senior news editor: China Collins

What are the costs of standing up to your biggest trading partner?
Canada recently walked away from trade talks with the US hours before Trump's deadline to impose major tariffs on Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney struck a defiant tone, acknowledging that Canada was now locked in a trade war with the US. "You're at war when you're attacked,” Carney told reporters, “we got attacked". He also announced retaliatory tariffs, pledging to match US tariffs, "dollar for dollar". Carney's tough stance is popular at home, but will it come at a price?
We speak to Jayme Poisson, host of the CBC podcast Front Burner, about whether Carney is taking a big political gamble by standing up to Trump’s tariffs – and why many Canadians feel confident they can withstand a trade war with their southern neighbour.
(Photo: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks holds press conference after suspending trade negotiations with the US, in Ottawa, Canada August 22, 2026. Credit: Chris Tanouye/Reuters)
Listen to Front Burner: link.mgln.ai/jvyxQW
Producers: Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

A new personalised vaccine given in combination with a drug has stopped skin cancer returning in patients during a trial, representing a potentially watershed moment in cancer treatment. Scientists used mRNA technology, which was used for some Covid-19 vaccines.
But that technology - and vaccines more generally - have become increasingly controversial in the United States since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, is a vaccine sceptic.
In August 2025 cancelled $500m (£376m) in funding for mRNA vaccine research. The move impacted 22 projects being led by major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, for vaccines against bird flu and other viruses, according to Kennedy’s department.
We speak to Tom Whipple, host of the BBC’s Inside Science programme, about the science of this new vaccine. And we ask how funding cuts for vaccine research could impact health outcomes not just for Americans, but for the world.
Producers: Lucy Pawle and Sam Chantarasak
Digital producer: Sam Gruet
Mix: Travis Evans
Editor: James Shield
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during the Senate Finance Committee's hearing on The President's Health Care Agenda on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 04 September 2025. Credit: Shawn Thew/EPA/Shutterstock