The World Tonight

In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective

US President Donald Trump is set to announce tariffs on goods from around the world coming into America tomorrow, in what his administration has dubbed "Liberation Day". The UK government is still trying to negotiate exemptions to the tariffs through an economic deal, while other powers have promised retaliation. We speak to British businesses bracing themselves for the change and a Republican strategist on whether Trump's voters will tolerate projected price rises. Betty Webb, one of the last of the Bletchley Park codebreakers, has died aged 101. We heard from her friend and historian Tessa Dunlop. And who should portray The Beatles? We discuss the contested casting in Sir Sam Mendes' new movie project about the world's most famous rock band.

The leader of France's hard right has come out fighting, after being barred from holding public office for five years. We ask if Marine Le Pen really is the victim of a political stitch-up. Also on the programme: Birmingham City Council has declared a major incident - because of the bin strike which has left 17,000 tonnes of rubbish on the streets - and residents furious. We ask whether there's an end in sight. And the hunt is on for a missing bell - to complete the restoration of one of the UK’s most remarkable industrial sites.

Hundreds of people are dead in Myanmar with fears for many more after a powerful earthquake struck the centre of the country. The tremors were felt throughout the region. In Thailand's capital Bangkok, rescuers have worked through the night and into the early morning to find survivors from a partially-built skyscraper which collapsed during the quake. Also on the programme, the Labour MP Diane Abbott has criticised the government's intervention against the Sentencing Council, which has rejected a bid to amend new sentencing guidelines due to come into force on Tuesday. And Richard Burton's native village in South Wales prepares for an increase in cinephiles as a biopic of his early life is released.

Buckingham Palace says the King had to return to hospital briefly - after experiencing temporary side-effects from his cancer treatment. Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, says the US is no longer a reliable partner. Words with no English equivalent make it into the OED. Economic competition in the Artic. And the Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer on his hit Netflix show.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has defended the cuts to disability benefits announced in the Spring Statement. The Department for Work and Pensions’ own assessment warned that the changes would push 250,000 people into poverty. Also on the programme: Donald Trump announces new 25% tariffs on cars from overseas. And a new film audiences have called ‘intense’ and ‘overwhelming’ - the work of five artists, all autistic, who want us to experience the world as they do.

Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have sharply criticised the Trump administration after a journalist was added to a group chat featuring top officials discussing matters of national security. President Trump has dismissed the breach as ‘a glitch’.

Protests continued in Turkey for a sixth night after the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a major political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. President Erdogan labelled the protests "evil" and blamed opposition political parties for provoking a "movement of violence". More than a thousand people have been arrested, we speak to a man who saw his fellow protesters being detained during a police crackdown. A journalist in the US has revealed that he was accidentally included in a messaging group in which the Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen. And we explain what's behind a spiral that stargazers noticed in the skies above the UK.

Heathrow’s chief executive has apologised to thousands of stranded passengers after a fire at a nearby electrical substation resulted in a loss of power to the airport. It has now reopened after being closed for most of the day, and says it hopes to run a full operation tomorrow. We examine what it means for the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure. Protesters in Istanbul have clashed with riot police after the arrest of the city’s mayor, and rival to President Erdogan, this week. And as the Soundtrack Festival kicks off in London, we speak to a composer who has won a Grammy for his work on video game music.

In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.

Ekrem Imamoğlu of the CHP opposition party has been arrested days before his likely nomination as a presidential candidate. We speak to the deputy chair of the party and gauge international reaction to what is being described as an attack on democracy. Also on the programme, the effect 'The Knowledge' test taken by London cab drivers has on the brain, and a dispatch from Bergamo in northern Italy, five years after military trucks brought home the reality of the unfolding Covid pandemic.

Vladimir Putin agreed not to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days after a phone call with US President Donald Trump. The Trump administration had hoped to broker a full ceasefire, agreed to by Ukraine, during the phone call. Instead they've said they'll continue negotiations with Russia in the Middle East. As we went on air two astronauts who'd been stuck at the international space station for nine months on a mission that was meant to last eight days, finally returned to Earth. They splashed down off the coast of Florida. And we explore what the government's welfare reforms will mean for those with long term health conditions, and whether public attitudes to benefits claimants are hardening.

The prime minister is under pressure from his own MPs as he prepares to announce changes to the welfare system tomorrow. With speculation the reforms could include tougher assessments of those applying for disability benefits, we hear from someone who used to judge such claims. Also on the programme: Ahead of a phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin to discuss peace in Ukraine - and the divvying up of "land and power plants" - we hear from a woman from a part of the country occupied by Russian forces - who fears it may stay that way. And as a statue is unveiled to the anti-war campaigner Brian Haw - who spent a decade camped outside Westminster - we hear from the actor Sir Mark Rylance who campaigned for him to be remembered in this way.

Germany's Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Green Party have struck a deal that will see them vote to amend the country's constitution in order to ramp up defence and infrastructure spending. The deal will be voted on next week and requires a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. It comes as the G7 backed security guarantees for Ukraine and Donald Trump said he'd had "good calls" with Russia and Ukraine on his ceasefire proposal. The BBC has heard evidence of atrocities committed by retreating fighters in a battle which is raging for control of Sudan’s capital Khartoum. And a British explorer is aiming to become the first woman to walk solo across Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle.

Vladimir Putin says there are many details still to be ironed out before he'll back a ceasefire in his war with Ukraine. It's a blow to Donald Trump's peacemaking efforts. Meetings are still going on in Moscow tonight between President Trump's envoy and the Russian leader - we ask where Vladimir Putin's comments leave the prospects for an end to the fighting. Also on the programme: More money is pledged for frontline health services, as the Government scraps the administrative arm of the NHS in England. We ask what difference it could make for patients. We hear about the incresae in non-fatal strangulation - choking - during sex among younger people. We ask what's behind the rise in cases like this. And a guide to tonight's celestial treat - a rare "blood moon" partial lunar eclipse.

Some Labour MPs have voiced concerns about government plans to reduce the number of people claiming benefits. We explore what’s behind the rise in benefits claims and speak to a psychiatrist about the danger of “overdiagnosis”. Vladimir Putin has paid a rare visit to a military outpost in Kursk as Russian forces reclaimed much of the territory held by Ukraine since August last year. A new study has been looking at ways to reduce the risk of oxygen deprivation in newborn babies.

The US says it will restore military and intelligence aid to Kyiv - in exchange for a 30-day pause in the fighting. We have reaction from Ukraine - and ask how Russia will respond. Also tonight: The prime minister has vowed to reform the "indefensible" welfare system. But can he overcome opposition to benefit cuts from his own MPs? And archaeologists think they've solved the mystery of why the world’s largest Iron Age coin hoard was buried in Jersey more than 2,000 years ago.

Fires are still burning on two ships which collided off the East Yorkshire coast. A Portuguese-flagged cargo ship, carrying fifteen containers of highly toxic sodium cyanide, struck an American oil tanker. Thirty-seven crew members from the ships have been brought safely ashore but one crew member remains missing. The American ship was carrying aviation fuel, some of which is pouring into the sea. Also in programme: we assess whether the Government’s new planning legislation can placate residents’ concerns about housing developments and electricity pylons; and as the head of the UK's security industry calls for the word "bouncer" to be kicked out, we'll explore the word's history with Countdown's Susie Dent.

Three Bulgarian nationals have been found guilty of spying for Russia, in what police have described as “one of the largest” foreign intelligence operations in the UK. Vanya Gaberova, 30, Katrin Ivanova, 33, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, were part of a group who travelled Europe carrying out surveillance on journalists, a former politician and a US military base in Germany between 2020 and 2023. We explore how Russia is ramping up its espionage and sabotage campaign in Europe. Neuroscientists working with survivors of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival in Israel on 7th October 2023 say there are signs that MDMA may provide some protection from trauma. And as the government launches a national toothbrushing campaign, we speak to a headteacher on why it’s needed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he'll meet US officials in Saudi Arabia next week, where he'll discuss peace with Russia. European leaders are scrambling to boost defence spending, while in Washington DC President Trump again questioned the value of NATO. The Pope has released an audio message to well-wishers after three weeks in hospital. And we speak to a photographer whose image of a Canadian goose fending off an attack by an American eagle was seized upon by Canadians as a metaphor for their stand against Donald Trump's bellicose rhetoric.