The Israel-Gaza war has caused reverberations around the world and diplomatic efforts are intensifying to stop the conflict from escalating. Iran has warned Israel that the Middle East could spiral out of control if it does not stop strikes on Gaza. It says the US is also "to blame" for providing military support to Israel. Top US officials are warning the conflict could spread. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has talked about a "likelihood of escalation" from Iranian proxies, such as...

Argentina’s economy minister has won more than 36% of the vote in Sunday’s presidential elections, defying expectations. The election has been shaken by the emergence of anti-establishment populist and self-styled "libertarian" Javier Milei. Mr Milei is an outspoken right-wing economist whose "shock-jock" style and aggressive social media campaigning have appealed to younger voters. No candidate received the necessary 45% of votes needed to win outright, so there will be a second round on 19...

Earlier this month police in Delhi raided the homes of several prominent journalists in connection with an investigation into the funding of news website NewsClick. Officials are reportedly investigating allegations that NewsClick got illegal funds from China - a charge it denies, the case is currently in the Indian supreme court. Are the raids an attempt by the government to "muzzle" free speech, as some activists say - or simply a straightforward police investigation into the funding of...

It has been a decade since Chinese President Xi Jinping's launched the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious plan to connect Asia with Africa and Europe through a series of land and sea networks via investments in local infrastructure. But ten years on has it been - as some claim - a debt trap for some developing economies, a road to nowhere? Or has the sweeping infrastructure project - which has funded trains, roads and ports in many countries - successfully expanded global trade links and...

As human activities rapidly transform the planet, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate. In the UK, a recent survey suggested the number of flying insects have fallen by almost 60% in less than 20 years. Some are calling it an impending 'insect apocalypse'. Their disappearance matters because insects are the most diverse group of organisms on the planet and the foundation of every freshwater and land based ecosystem. They provide food for birds, bats and small...

Earlier this month two dams collapsed after torrential rain in eastern Libya. Whole neighbourhoods in the city of Derna were swept into the sea. More than 15,000 Libyans are dead or missing and the full death toll may never been known. Since the ousting of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been riven by power struggles and currently has two governments - a UN-recognised one based in Tripoli, and another in the country's east backed by General Khalifa Haftar. He has been...

The top brass of the Democrat party in the US have all rallied behind Joe Biden with their eyes on the 2024 presidential election. But they have a problem. Repeated polls suggest support for the incumbent president is stagnant at best. Dangerously low at worst. A repeated concern among doubting voters is his age and health. If Biden wins a second term next year, and completes four years in power, he will be 86 when he steps down. Much of the electorate simply don’t think he has it in him....

America's top general has warned that Ukraine’s counter offensive is running out of time. Speaking to the BBC, Mark Milley admitted the offensive had gone more slowly than expected. With just one month of fighting before winter weather sets in, does the pace of the push back against Russian forces suggest that Nato needs to rethink? The United States has been the largest provider of military assistance since the war began - more than 43 billion dollars worth, so far. With polls suggesting...

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by Iran's so-called ‘morality police’ - enforcers of Iran’s Islamic dress code - sparked widespread anti-government protests across the country. Thousands of mostly young Iranians took to the streets. Women burned their headscarves in a defiant act of resistance and cut their hair in solidarity. Next week marks a year since the death of Ms Amini, who allegedly had hair visible under her headscarf when she was arrested in Tehran on...

Lucy Letby worked on a neonatal unit in England. Dr Stephen Brearey - the lead consultant on the unit - raised concerns in October 2015. Whilst no one knew she was killing some of the babies in her care, Dr Brearey hoped his concerns, and those of - in the end - seven of his fellow senior doctors, would be taken seriously. Instead, senior managers at the Countess of Chester Hospital seemed to him to be focused on potential reputational damage to the organisation and were, for some time,...

Ecuador has until recently been a relatively peaceful country. But in the course of a few years it has become a place dominated by violence and drug trafficking. After Colombia struck a peace deal in 2016, Ecuador’s role in the drug supply chains has continued to grow in importance and its now being used as a transit route for cocaine smuggled from neighbouring Peru and Colombia. The powerful Mexican drug cartels are also said to operate through local gangs. Ecuador's murder rate has...

Two years ago the Taliban swept into Kabul and took control of Afghanistan, almost exactly twenty years after they were ousted by the US-led invasion after 9/11. The West has since deployed sanctions to put pressure on the regime - but to no visible effect, beyond worsening the number of people struggling to afford to eat. As the Taliban have consolidated their control of the country, they have dramatically reversed many of the rights and opportunities Afghan women have enjoyed. Can the...

China has released a new documentary about its army’s preparations to attack Taiwan - the film includes interviews with Chinese soldiers who swear they'll give up their lives if needed in a potential invasion of the island. Tensions have been building for some time: Recently Taiwan’s ruling administration, led by the Democratic Progressive Party, has increased its weapons purchases from the US, while China has increased air and naval encroachments on the island. This week on the Real Story,...

Soldiers in the West African country of Niger announced a coup on national TV last week, saying they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed all borders. The coup was widely condemned, including by France, the UN and West African regional body ECOWAS. Niger was seen as the last solid ally of the West in the Sahel region. It’s also a country seen as vital to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts in Africa. There are concerns that the security situation in Niger and...

A new drug, Donanemab, has been hailed as a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer's after a global trial confirms it slows cognitive decline. One trial was shown to have “significantly slowed” the progression of the disease—by 35%. Earlier this year, Lecanemab, the first drug to slow the destruction of the brain in Alzheimer's, received regulatory approval in America. Lecanemab was shown to slow the rate of cognitive decline by 27% in an 18 month study involving participants in the...

Heatwaves are growing in frequency and intensity around the world due to climate change. Extreme heat is now gripping three continents - Europe, the US and Asia - and there is more to come. Temperatures are breaking records, driving wildfires and prompting serious health warnings and evacuations. Europe may see its hottest week ever. Islands off the South of Italy - Sicily and Sardinia - recorded temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius according to the European Space Agency and at least 2,000...

The deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean have been largely unexplored for centuries. But now the ecosystem thousands of metres beneath the surface is under threat - from companies wanting to mine the seabed for rare metals and minerals. The proposals to allow deep-sea mining are centre-stage at global talks by the International Seabed Authority - the UN body in charge of regulation - and its members in Jamaica in the coming weeks. It comes after a two-year ban on the practice expired when...

French cities have been engulfed by almost a week of intense riots, following the death of a teenager. Nahel M was shot at point blank range by police after he refused to stop for a traffic check in his hometown of Nanterre, a north-west Parisian suburb. The unrest led to more than 3,000 arrests and the deployment of tens of thousands of police around France. The riots have exposed deep divisions in French society. On The Real Story this week: why has France again been rocked by violent...

Wagner is a private military company of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has for months been involved in a feud with the Russian defence ministry, but he denies trying to overthrow Mr Putin's regime. The short-lived rebellion, which saw Wagner fighters seize a major Russian city before heading north towards Moscow in a column of military vehicles, was a response to government plans to take direct control of Wagner,...

A surprise deal between golf’s two main tours and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund sent shockwaves through the world of men’s professional golf at the start of June. It came as increasing numbers of players move to Saudi Arabia's football league, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become a more visual presence on the sporting scene, hosting Formula 1 races and high-profile world title boxing bouts. The controversial purchase of...

This week Donald Trump appeared at a federal court in Miami and pleaded not guilty to historic charges relating to his alleged mishandling of sensitive documents. Trump is the most high-profile person ever to face criminal charges under the Espionage Act. It's also the first time that a current or former US president has been charged with a federal crime. Leading Republicans dismiss it as a political prosecution, but some legal experts insist the indictment sets out a strong case. Mr Trump...

NATO reinforcements started arriving in Kosovo this week, following violent clashes in majority-Serb north Kosovo in late May. Outbreaks of violence erupted following disputed local elections, which Kosovo Serbs boycotted, allowing ethnic Albanians to take control of councils in northern Kosovo. The unrest comes after an apparent breakthrough in March when Kosovo and Serbia agreed to an EU-backed plan aimed at normalising ties. On the Real Story this week we’ll ask whether the latest crisis...

Plastic is the dominant material of modern life, used in everything from furniture to cars to packaging to medical equipment. In most parts of the world it’s hard to live a single day without coming into contact with plastic. But as its use has exploded over the past century, so have the problems associated with it. Plastic pollution has created huge islands of waste in our oceans; microplastics have been found in freshly fallen Antarctic snow, and even in human blood. This week delegates...

The winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, Bola Tinubu is due to be inaugurated on 29 May but the opposition are challenging the results. Only 27 percent of voters participated in the election, the lowest turnout in the country’s history. And a recent BBC investigation has found evidence suggesting some results from the February election may have been manipulated. As well as the contested election results, the incoming president faces huge challenges governing Nigeria: the country is...

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, is now the main driver of drug overdose deaths in America. The US Drug Enforcement Administration says 67% of the 107,375 US deaths from drug overdoses or poisonings in 2021 were linked to fentanyl or similar opioids. US authorities blame Mexican drug gangs for supplying fentanyl to users across the US. Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his country has proof that illegal shipments of the powerful...