The Global Story

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

Last week Ukraine's popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term ended in May 2024, has been under pressure from both Washington and Moscow to hold new elections, but they have been suspended until after the war is over. Fedorov says that corruption is depriving the military of weapons and making it harder for Kyiv to win the war, and that, "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia”, although he tells the BBC that he had not himself seen the president engage in any corrupt activity.
We speak to Vitaly Shevchenko from BBC Monitoring about where all this could lead.
Producers: Mhairi Mackenzie, Xandra Ellin and Lucy Pawle
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Tom Bage
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Ukrainians protest against dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Kyiv, Ukraine,24 July, 2026. EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko

The Duke of Sussex told the BBC last year that he, “can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back.” So what’s changed?
Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, plan to move back to the UK later this month. Their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are due to start at a British school in September. They are not expected to resume their roles as working Royals.
Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK in 2020, and in the years since have had various achievements and controversies, including high-profile legal battles with the UK press and the government.
We ask the journalist and royal commentator Sarah Hewson about the successes and failures of brand Sussex in the US, Prince Harry’s ongoing concerns about security, and whether he can repair relationships with his family.
Producers: Xandra Ellin and Sam Chantarasak
Executive producers: Martine Powers and James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Matt Pintus
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend a World Health Organisation roundtable in Amman, Jordan, February 25, 2026. Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

How did a prominent Cambridge professor come to embody the fault lines around DEI in higher education?
Three years ago, Jason Arday was celebrated as the youngest black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge. But recent questions about his academic work and his life story became the subject of fierce media scrutiny — scrutiny that only intensified after Arday was found dead at his South London home last week. Police have said his death was unexpected, but not believed to be suspicious.
Now, Arday’s personal narrative is raising broader questions about the responsibility of universities to vet high-profile hires, the media’s role in amplifying a firestorm of controversy, and the deepening cultural divide over diversity and inclusion in liberal institutions.
Asma Khalid of The Global Story speaks with BBC Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys and Tyler Austin Harper of The Atlantic about Arday’s story — and what it reveals about the limits of inclusion in higher education.
Producers: Lucy Pawle and Hannah Moore
Digital producer: Matt Pintus
Mix: Travis Evans
Editor: Martine Powers
Senior News Editor: China Collins
Photo: Jason Arday - a guest on the panel of BBC show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in 2025. Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC

President Trump took to Truth Social last weekend to announce that the US will "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited his "very good relationship" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, but he also accused South Korea of failing to help the US in its war with Iran – comments that suggest major new cracks in the US’s relationship with a key ally.
To understand the reaction from South Korea, we speak to the BBC’s Seoul Correspondent Jake Kwon about whether Trump’s sidelining of South Korea is a major foreign policy shift for the US.
Producers: Aron Keller and Mhairi MacKenzie
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Mix: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Sam Gruet
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: A South Korean soldier stands next to a TV broadcasting a news report on a possible summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, October 22, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji