Discussion of nuclear weapons has returned both to our news cycle and to the cultural conversation. Last week, President Donald Trump said that the US would resume testing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, several recent films and books imagine a near future scenario where a nuclear attack is threatened or carried out. Tristan talks to Carlo Masala, professor of international relations at the Bundeswehr University Munich and author of If Russia Wins. His book imagines a scenario where Russia attacks a Nato country to see whether the alliance will respond, risking a nuclear confrontation. Masala believes Russia is already engaged in ‘hybrid warfare’ with Europe, and he wrote his book as a warning to the west. Producers: Viv Jones, Aron Keller, Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China CollinsImage: A photo published by Swedish armed forces that it says shows a Russian mig-31 fighter jet that took part in the violation of Estonian airspace. Swedish Armed Forces/ Reuters.Credits: The War Game (1965) / Dir: Peter Watkins / BBCDr Strangelove (1964) / Dir: Stanley Kubrick / Columbia Pictures A House of Dynamite (2025) / Dir: Kathryn Bigelow / Netflix
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When the two most powerful men in the world met
On Thursday, Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China held a closed-door meeting in South Korea. The subjects of negotiation ran the gamut — from rare earth minerals, to fentanyl, to computer chips — and, according to President Trump’s subsequent news conference, the two parties reached a long-awaited deal. But exactly what did the world’s two most powerful men agree to?
The BBC’s China Correspondent, Laura Bicker, joins us to discuss. Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin Executive Producer: Annie Brown Senior News Editor: China Collins Mix: Travis Evans
IMAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein.
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How a Venezuelan prison gang became the face of Trump’s immigration crackdown
The Trump administration has centred on Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan prison gang – as a justification for cracking down on Venezuelan immigrants, and for several attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea. When President Trump designated the gang a Foreign Terror Organisation, and invoked a 1798 law that allows presidents to swiftly deport citizens of enemy countries, civil rights groups accused his government of using these measures as a way to deport Venezuelans without due process. Trump has argued he’s acting to "eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to US soil". We speak to Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker, who has been reporting on how Tren de Aragua became a major focus of Trump’s domestic and foreign policy. Producers: Viv Jones and Aron Keller
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China CollinsImage: An alleged member of the Tren de Aragua in detention. Reuters.
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Why the US-Canada relationship is on shaky ground
After months of tense negotiations, President Trump has announced that he has terminated trade talks with Canada. The reason: a new Canadian TV commercial featuring an anti-tariff message from an old Ronald Reagan speech. The ad played during a World Series game and ran on various US cable channels, angering President Trump.The ad is just the latest skirmish between the US and its neighbour to the north. We speak to the BBC’s senior Canada reporter, Nadine Yousif, about how we got here and what the future has in store for the relationship between the two countries.Producers: Valerio Esposito and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: Annie Brown and James Shield
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins (Photo: US President Donald Trump (R) meets Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (L) in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington DC,7 October, 2025. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
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Why is the French president suing Candace Owens?
The controversial right-wing podcaster Candace Owens is being sued by the French president and his wife in a US court. The Macrons are accusing Owens of spreading a conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron was born a man. So where has this theory come from?We speak to the BBC’s Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, host of the Fame Under Fire podcast, about what the Macrons are risking by filing the lawsuit – and whether it’s only adding more fuel to the flames.Presenter: Tristan RedmondProducer: Sam Chantarasak and Lucy Pawle Executive producer: Annie Brown Sound engineer: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins (Photo: Candace Owens. Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
Where the world and America meet. Every weekday, this is The Global Story.The world is changing. Decisions made in the US and by the second Trump administration are accelerating that change. But they are also a symptom of it.With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption.
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