The Global Story

The top official from ICE – US Immigration and Customs Enforcement – will testify in front of Congress this week, for the first time since two people were shot and killed in Minneapolis.

Democrats are demanding changes to the way ICE operates, including banning face masks and requiring agents to have warrants signed by a judge before they can enter private properties. Republicans say these measures could make officers less safe.

Meanwhile, the controversy over ICE has spread to other countries. A protest broke out in Milan in response to the presence of ICE agents in Italy, who say they are helping with American security operations during the Winter Olympics.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, immigration reporter for CBS News, has been covering ICE operations across multiple US cities. He tells us the history of how this previously little-known law enforcement agency was created, and how it has become so internationally controversial.

Producers: Viv Jones, Aron Keller and Chris Benderev
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Anti-ICE protests in Milan. Credit: Reuters/ Alkis Konstantinidis

2026 has already been a huge year for international news, from Venezuela to Greenland to Iran.
We wanted to get our heads around what other seismic changes we can expect in the rest of 2026: from Europe’s new dynamic with Washington, to President Trump’s meeting with President Xi of China, to the rebuilding of Gaza.
So we sat down with two foreign policy experts: Tom Bateman, the BBC’s State Department Correspondent, and Emma Ashford, a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center and author of First Among Equals: US Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World.
We were joined in the heart of Washington DC by a live audience at Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.
Recorded Monday 2 February.
Producers: Chris Benderev and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: A live taping of The Global Story in Washington DC on 2 February 2026. Credit:Emma Carroll Hudson/Syracuse University

Warning: this episode contains themes of sexual abuse.
Following the release of the latest tranche of Epstein files, renewed scrutiny has fallen on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s links to powerful figures in the United States. In the UK, attention has shifted to a related controversy that is now sending tremors through Westminster.
Newly surfaced email exchanges between Epstein and former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson - also known as Britain’s “Prince of Darkness”, have raised questions about the nature of their relationship and its political ramifications, triggering a police investigation and threatening the position of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
George Parker, the Financial Times Political Editor and BBC Radio Presenter, has known the man in question for over three decades. He talks about the seismic implications the Epstein files are having on British politics.
Producers: Samantha Chantarasak, Valerio Esposito and Cat Farnsworth
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Peter Mandelson and Keir Starmer. Credit: Carl Court/PA Wire

On Sunday, Bad Bunny will perform at the Super Bowl half time show to an audience of more than 100 million people across the world. But the NFL’s choice of the Puerto Rican star has proven controversial, because he has long been outspoken in his criticism of the US government, including most recently at the 2026 Grammy Awards, when he called for ICE agents to be removed from the streets.
In today’s episode, Puerto Rican cultural critic Carina del Valle Schorske, who profiled Bad Bunny for The New York Times Magazine, explains how the artist’s pride in his homeland is infused throughout his music, and considers how he might use the US’ biggest stage this weekend to challenge the president’s policies.
This episode was updated on 5 February 2026 for music rights reasons.
Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Bad Bunny poses on the red carpet during the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. Credit: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

For three weeks, the world has been watching to see whether Donald Trump will order military strikes on Iran. The US military has been building up forces close to the Islamic Republic, including an aircraft carrier and several warships which President Trump has been calling an “armada.”
Trump says he wants to do a deal with Iran, and the two sides appear to be talking. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with the Iranian Foreign Minister on Friday in Istanbul. But Trump has threatened that if no agreement is reached, he’s ready to order US forces into action.

Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, lays out what could happen if talks fail, and Trump decides to strike Iran. He describes several scenarios that might have major consequences for the Iranian leadership, its people, the wider region and the world.

Producers: Viv Jones

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei. Credit: Iran’s Supreme Leader Office/EPA/Shutterstock)