For years, Colombia has been one of the United States’ closest allies in the region – a key partner in the war on drugs. But now this relationship is coming under strain amidst a personal feud between President Trump, and Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro. In today’s episode, we speak to BBC Mundo’s William Marquez to examine the history of the US-Colombia alliance, and what might be at stake if it falls apart. Producer: Aron Keller Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins IMAGE: Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's recent comments accusing him of drug trafficking and a court ruling that overturned convictions against former President Alvaro Uribe, in Bogota, Colombia, October 24, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
--------
27:12
--------
27:12
The Supreme Court battle over Trump’s tariffs
The Trump administration faces a Supreme Court challenge on Wednesday over its use of tariffs, an economic policy that has upended global trade.This case, which has been described by the President in epic terms, questions the legality of Trump’s signature economic policy - and poses one of the biggest existential threats to his second term so far. In today’s episode, we speak to small business owners across the US, and to BBC business reporter Natalie Sherman, who will be at the Supreme Court this week.Producers: Hannah Moore and Valerio EspositoExecutive producer: James ShieldMix: Travis EvansSenior news editor: China CollinsImage: US President Trump unveils new tariffs on so-called Liberation Day. Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
--------
26:17
--------
26:17
What if Russia wins?
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
--------
26:29
--------
26:29
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.
--------
26:45
--------
26:45
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.
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.
México