The Global Story

Twenty-five years on from the deadliest terror attack in history, thousands of grieving families are still fighting for answers.

In early 2000, two young Saudis arrived in San Diego. They had never been to America, spoke almost no English, and had no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat. Within weeks they had done all of it. Twenty months later they hijacked a plane and crashed it into the Pentagon.

The BBC’s Jane McMullen has been investigating a man who helped two of the hijackers – and has revealed a story that the US and Saudi governments have fought to keep secret.

Producers: Mhairi Mackenzie and Xandra Ellin
Digital producer: Tom Bage
Mix: Travis Evans
Editor for The Global Story: James Shield
Editor for Intrigue: A 9/11 Story: Matt Willis
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: New York City skyline with Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the background.

Lindsay Clancy faces first-degree murder charges over the deaths of her three young children. But if her case had happened elsewhere, the charges might have looked very different.
Clancy’s trial in Massachusetts has captured international attention. It has divided public opinion and ignited debate over how the US prosecutes cases involving mothers who kill their children — and the charges brought against them.
Other countries, including the UK, Canada and Australia, have specific statutes that allow mothers to be charged with infanticide — a conviction that’s more lenient than murder and often results in mental health treatment rather than prison time. So why is US law different?
The Global Story’s Asma Khalid speaks with Dr Karen Brennan, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Essex, to discuss what the Lindsay Clancy case reveals about how American law understands motherhood, mental illness and criminal responsibility.
(Photo: Lindsay Clancy, with long straight dark brown hair, looks to her lawyer Kevin Reddington, on the day the jury in her murder trial determined that they cannot reach a verdict, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, US, 1 September, 2026. Credit: Greg Derr/Reuters)
Producer: Xandra Ellin, Cat Farnsworth and Aron Keller
Digital producer: Charlie Firth
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Editor: Martine Powers
Senior news editor: China Collins

Accusations of foreign interference have been making headlines this week.
Elon Musk’s X alleges that China has been stirring up a backlash against American data centres.
Israel and Russia have denied allegations from Spain’s prime minister that they’re partly to blame for the migrant crisis in Ceuta.
And Germany has accused Russia of being behind a spate of drone attacks at a German airport. Vladimir Putin has dismissed those claims and accused Germany of a ‘false flag’ operation.
We speak to the BBC’s social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, to examine the evidence – and ask whether foreign interference is really to blame in every case, or if it is just a convenient scapegoat.
Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Lucy Pawle
Digital producer: Charlie Firth
Mix: Travis Evans
Editor: James Shield
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: A drone view shows construction underway on Microsoft's ATL11 data center in Union City, Georgia, US. Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters.

America’s national debt recently hit a new milestone of $40 trillion. It is estimated that interest payments on the national debt are now the second largest expense in the US government budget, trailing only social security. How was the US able to borrow so much and for so long? One answer, according Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff, is the US dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
In this episode, Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, explains how the US dollar came to enjoy this hegemonic status, what being the world’s reserve currency actually means in practice, and why he believes the dollar is now in decline.
(Photo: An Asian-American man passes by the passes by the National Debt Clock in New York City, US, 19 August, 2026. It is a digital display screen that shows the National Debt figures 39, 393, 882, 535, 284 against a background of dollar notes. Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Producer: Valerio Esposito, Aron Keller and Lucy Pawle
Executive producer: James Shield
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

As the world watches the aftermath of devastating floods in Nepal, journalist Anup Kaphle has been asking a difficult question: When does coverage of a natural disaster cross from rightful global concern into spectacle?
Kaphle is the group editorial director of Kantipur Media Group, Nepal’s largest media organisation. He’s also a native of Nepal. After more than two decades working for American newsrooms, he returned to his home country with a mission to help tell Nepal’s story for the people who live there. Now, he finds himself confronting one of the greatest challenges of his career: helping Nepalis understand the full scale of the flooding and its impact on their lives, at a moment when international attention is focused on the most dramatic accounts.
Asma Khalid, co-host of The Global Story, speaks with Kaphle about the ongoing humanitarian efforts, the potential long-term impact of the disaster on Nepalis, and why he worries that the international community will soon turn its attention away from Nepal.
 
Producer: Xandra Ellin
Mix: Travis Evans
Editor: Martine Powers
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Police officers carry a survivor after a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 26, 2026. Credit: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters.