The Global Story

For the first time in nearly a decade a sitting American President is travelling to China. While tensions between the US and China have been simmering for a while now, over everything from tariffs to Taiwan, Donald Trump has expressed admiration for his powerful Chinese counterpart.
Meanwhile in China, President Xi has been conducting a years long “purge” on the military elite.
The BBC’s Celia Hatton joins us to discuss whether this should be seen as a weakness… or a strength.
Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior News Editor: China Collins
Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in 2019.

The British comedian Russell Brand is due to stand trial in the UK this year on charges of rape and sexual assault, to which he pleads not guilty.
Over the course of his decades-long career, he has had many guises; Hollywood actor, MTV presenter, radio host, author, religious sceptic, and political agitator among them, moving between mainstream and ‘alternative’ media platforms.
His latest appearances, on podcasts hosted by Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan, have gone viral for his admissions about his past behaviour, and his conversion to Christianity.
With BBC media editor Katie Razzall.

Producer: Hannah Moore
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: British actor and comedian Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court, February 24, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Toby Melville.

At the outset of the war in Iran, US President Donald Trump suggested that regime change was one of its goals. He later said it had been had achieved, a claim that is disputed by critics who point out that the same repressive forces in Iran still hold power.
American attempts at regime change in Iran have a long history. In 1953 the CIA, assisted by British intelligence, led a deadly coup that toppled Iran’s last democratically elected leader. It’s a moment in history that poisoned US-Iranian relations, and helped launch the theocratic revolution to come. But the immediate success of ‘Operation Ajax’ would convince the CIA to carry out a wave of similar plots around the world.
We get the full story from Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran.
Producers: Viv Jones and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Supporters of the Shah of Iran in Tehran, 1953. Credit (Getty/Bettmann)

**Warning: this episode includes discussions of sexual abuse, suicide and upsetting scenes**
In just the last few years, AI chatbots have become routine aspects of many people’s everyday lives. They are being used as search engines, agony aunts, and sources of companionship.
In rare cases though, AI chatbots have sent users down a dark path. In a new BBC investigation, population correspondent Stephanie Hegarty speaks to people who have experienced delusions after talking to chatbots – including one man who grabbed a hammer and prepared for war after his chatbot told him it was sentient.
Producers: Valerio Esposito, Viv Jones and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Studio manager: Jonathan Greer
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Adam Hourican. Credit: BBC.

It’s been a year since billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk left his informal position in President Trump’s White House in May 2025. But behind the scenes, Musk has been busy.
Musk has spent the last few weeks in a California courtroom, where he is suing his former business partner, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In January, Musk applied for permission with the US government to launch a million satellites into orbit, some of which he says will serve as solar AI data centres. And he is preparing to take his company SpaceX public, with an estimated valuation of over $1 trillion.
Though his political presence has waned, is it possible that Elon Musk is more powerful than ever? We speak to the BBC’s North America technology correspondent Lily Jamali about what the world’s richest man has been up to since leaving the White House.
Producers: Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Elon Musk appears in the courthouse during the OpenAI trial. Credit: Reuters/Manuel Orbegozo