The Global Story

On Monday, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison for colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law. The family of the 78-year-old, who is a British citizen, have appealed to foreign governments to call for Lai’s release.
Lai’s sentence, which is the harshest yet under this law, has caused global concern over whether this is an attempt by Beijing to crackdown on dissent and democracy in the Chinese territory.
We speak to Danny Vincent, the BBC’s Hong Kong reporter, who was the last journalist to interview Jimmy Lai.
Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Chris Benderev
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Jimmy Lai is escorted out of a Correctional Services Department vehicle and into the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, China, 09 February 2021. Credit: Tyrone Sui/Reuters

During Sunday's Super Bowl in California, a flurry of ads from drug manufacturers and telehealth companies implored viewers at home to "ask their doctor” about a class of weight loss drugs, known as GLP-1s.
These medications — like Mounjaro and Wegovy — have become ubiquitous. In just a few short years, they’ve transformed the way we live, move, and eat, whether we take them or not. And access and demand are only increasing, as pill forms of the drugs come onto the market.
But where did they come from? And how are they reshaping our world? Today, we speak to Giles Yeo, a professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the University of Cambridge, about the so-called weight loss revolution.
Producer: Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
(Photo: Someone using a set of weighing scales. Chris Radburn/PA)

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