Global News Podcast - US tells its citizens in Iran to leave or seek refuge

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

The United States is urging its citizens in Iran to leave immediately, warning that protests continue to escalate. A notice released by the US virtual embassy in Tehran advises American nationals to travel by land to Turkey or Armenia, if they can make the journey safely. It says those unable to leave should take refuge at home or in another safe building and keep a supply of food, water and medication. Also: Scientists say 2025 was one of the three hottest years on record. US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio are meeting the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers in the White House on Wednesday. Bill Clinton has refused to testify in the Congressional investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The committee chairman says there will be a vote to hold the former President in contempt of Congress. K-pop megastars BTS announce a 79-date world tour after all members of the boyband completed their mandatory military training in South Korea. The American civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, has died at the age of 86.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs.

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Wednesday the 14th of January, these are our main stories. President Trump warns a very strong action if the Iranian government starts hanging protesters as the US urges its citizens to leave Iran. The family of a 26-year-old Iranian man say he's due to be executed soon, less than a week after his arrest during protests.

We look at the latest on the Trump administration's plans to take over Greenland. A new data from climate scientists says 2025 was one of the warmest years ever on record. Also in this podcast, fans are the world. of BTS are getting ready to rumble. We're going to be fighting for our lives for these tickets, but we will get them. And you know what people say about BTS concert? Like any seat is a good seat.

Like there is not a bad seat in a BTS concert. The world's biggest K-pop band announces plans to go around the world in 80 dates, almost. All eyes are on the White House to see what action President Trump will take against Iran in response to verified images of protesters being moaned down by security forces firing automatic weapons and reports of thousands killed. After days of threatening military action, Mr Trump has given what many see as his strongest warning yet that the US could intervene in Iran. The US president told the BBC's partner, CBS News, that he would take, quote,

very strong action if the Iranian government started hanging protesters. I haven't heard about the hanging. If they hang them, you're going to see some things that, I don't know where you come from and what your thought process is, but you'll perhaps be very happy. What do you mean by that? We will take very strong action. If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action. And this strong action you're talking about, what's the end game?

The end game is to win. I like winning. How do you define that in Iran? Well, let's define it in Venezuela. Let's define it with al-Baghdine. he was wiped out. Let's define it with Soleimani and let's define it in Iran where he wiped out their Iran nuclear threat in a period of about 15 minutes once the B2s got there. We don't want to see what's happening in Iran happened. And you know, if they want to have protests, that's one thing.

When they start killing thousands of people and now you're telling me about hanging, we'll see how that works out for them. It's not going to work out good. Mr Trump has been holding talks with security officials to discuss possible courses of action. The US has again urged its citizens in Iran to leave. Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes told me more. Donald Trump is sounding very serious about a US response. We're hearing about the numbers of deaths on the streets, possibly 2,000. And I think this is something that President, he indicated this on his flight back to Washington

just a couple of hours ago, that he is looking at very closely to try to get. get some precise numbers. But one sign that a US response is imminent came just a few hours ago. We've just referred to it. The US State Department repeating a message that it sent out on Monday telling its citizens in Iran if safe to do so to consider departing the country by land to Armenia or Turkey or this message goes on, find a secure location inside their own building and make sure they have food supplies with them. They're told to monitor local media for breaking news, be prepared to adjust their plans to keep their phones charged, maintain communication with family and friends. So these are ominous signs, some might say positive signs,

that the US is planning a significant intervention. And what kind of intervention could that be? What are the options? Well, we've heard locked and loaded. This was what he said quite a few days ago now, ready to go. There are many options on the table from military to enomic. the US could launch air strikes against military sites or Iran's nuclear program. The President, we just heard him refer to what happened last summer, the B-2 stealth bombers that flew 30-hour round-trip missions from an Air Force base in Missouri to drop bombs on two of Iran's most important nuclear sites. I think the President will be thinking about that.

The US could pinpoint attacks on elements of the Iranian regime, responsible for the current repression. The US could use more covert methods. including cyber operations, covert psychological campaigns to disrupt, to confuse Iran's command structures. And there's a lot of talk about the US helping to restore the internet to end this blackout and suggestions that the administration here could work with Elon Musk to achieve this through his Starlink satellites.

Peter Bose. Well, the latest warning from Mr. Trump came after the family of a 26-year-old Iran Iranian man who was arrested less than a week ago for taking part in the protests that have swept Iran said they'd been told that he's due to be executed sometime today. Erfand Soltani's family say that after his arrest on Thursday, he was put on trial at the weekend, they don't know on what charges, and that they've been told that the decision to execute him is final. There is no appeal. Aviaseki from the Hengor Organization for Human Rights says the Russian,

execution is clearly designed to deter further demonstrations. We have received information that he was arrested on 8th of January. And four days after his arrest, the family was received information that their son has received this sentence. Without the authorities declaring what was his charge and when his trial took place. We have never seen anything like that in case to be pursued this. quickly and somewhat receive a death sentence in this short time. It's feared that Erfans Sultani's death sentence could be the first of many

following Iran's brutal crackdown on the street protests. A US-based human rights group says it's confirmed more than 2,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks, many of them in the past few days under the cover of a communications blackout. Images show open-air morgues with hundreds of body bags and wailing relatives. Unusually, Iranian officials have been quoted as confirming 2,000 deaths. Some Iranians have now been able to make contact with the outside world to describe the massacres they've seen. These messages have been voiced by actors.

Tell your audiences there isn't the slightest trace of humanity left. Tell them it doesn't matter if someone is old or a child. In their eyes, everyone is a terrorist. There are many plain-closed security forces in unmarked private cars. Five people sit inside, all wearing masks. It's the most terrifying scene. There was also news from a prison in southern Tehran that many of the wounded detainees were simply left there bleeding

in the section designated for protesters. Kashi Agenedi is our BBC Persian correspondent in Washington. He told me more about the horrifying images that have emerged from Iran. Now some pictures have started to be sent outside of Iran. There was a blackout and we didn't know what actually was happening. And now the pictures we see are horrific, the pictures of the morgue of hundreds of corpses in black bags. It's been very terrible. It's like nobody expected this to happen.

This government has been brutal in cracking down protests in previous years. But this time because it seems to be more terrible than any time else, The government itself is announcing 2,000 people have been killed. They usually give lower numbers. So you could guess that the number is higher than that. And we're hearing that a 26-year-old man who was only arrested last Thursday is due to be executed in a few hours' time. There is no way you could have a proper judicial process

and have such a strong sentence in less than a week. This person, Air Fonzov Tani, was arrested on Thursday. in Karaj near Tehran. He was sentenced to death on Sunday. His family has been informed that he's going to be hanged today. The regime has done this before. During the Massa, Amini protests, they did the same. And the big fear is there could be more death sentences like this. So to what's happened to the protests with all these people killed, thousands more arrested? Are they over now after all this bloodshed? I believe it's too early to say it's over. We still have. We still don't know. Still we have a blackout. The protesters, because of the high number of casualties,

they're exhausted. But what I have to say is that President Trump today called on the Iranians to carry on with the protests. He said that you have to take over your institutions and he added that help will be underway. Cashier, Jornatee. For more on the story, you can go on YouTube, search for BBC News, click on the logo, then choose podcasts and Global News Podcasts and Global News Podcasts. There's a new story available every weekday. Following repeated threats from President Trump that he wants to take over Greenland, his Vice President J.D. Vance and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold talks with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark today. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, and it has warned that a US attempt to seize the Arctic island could destroy NATO.

Mr Trump says America needs it for national security reasons. reasons. Our Europe editor Katia Adler is in Greenland from where she sent this report. It's crunch time today when the US Vice President hosts Greenlandic and Danish officials in Washington to discuss the future of this Arctic island. Donald Trump says he has to have it. What's the message from Greenlanders to him? I would like to encourage to use you both ear wisely and speak this. We are not for sale. We cannot take our country.

It's our. We need to get and stand together and fight for it. What's your message to the US? We don't want to be a part of the US and they should leave us alone. What no one knows, of course, is how the Trump administration is planning to handle today's meeting. Confrontation or compromise. Everyone here is waiting anxiously to find out. Kacha Adler.

Now to huge news for K-pop fans, BTS are back after nearly four years out of the spotlight. The South Korean superstars have announced details of their much-anticipated comeback tour after completing their mandatory military service. They are playing 79 shows across the world from Latin America to Australia. Stephanie Prentice has this report.

The BTS Global Army, as they're known, are set to reunite. As the world's biggest boy band gears up for a world tour and a new album. The seven-man band will split almost 80 dates across 2026 and 27

and fans are already limbering up to battle for tickets when they go on sale next week. We're going to be fighting for our lives for these tickets, but we will get them. And you know what people say about a BTS concert? Like any seat is a good seat. Like there is not a bad seat in a BTS concert.

Let's go! The concerts are only possible now after Sugar became the last member to complete mandatory military service, doing 21 months instead of the usual 18. Fans have praised how the group staggered the break, drip-feeding solo projects, content and live streams. So while they left, they never really went away. And while some had their concerns... I knew they were always going to come back,

but there's always that worry. Experts like Dr Felicity Davies, who did her PhD on South Korean culture, say fans of K-pop boy bands are always prepared for them to have to take a break. And told us the current appetite for K culture, or Halu, will smooth the transition back as everything from K beauty to Korean TV shows

is thriving in global markets. It seems that every time one of these things come out, everyone goes, okay, this is the moment the bubble burst. This is the moment, and now we're going to see the downhill of how you. And then something else will come along and something else will come along. I can't see it slowing down. Because every time, it looks like it might have reached its peak and we might be slowing down.

Something else that you would have never predicted seems to come out of the woodworks. BTS's previous tour, permission to dance on stage, ran for 12 dates up until 2022 and made more than $200 million. The new one could net them up to a billion, according to insiders. And if the fans are anything to go by, maybe even more. We are going all the way. I am prepared to go to multiple countries if need be. Wherever they're going, Paris, OK, Madrid, I'm going there.

If they do not come to the UK, respectfully, I'm travelling. Wherever you, wherever they're going. I'm just going where you're going. And that report was by Stephanie Prentice. Still to come in this podcast. I could not move because history had me glued to the seat. We look back on the life of a US civil rights pioneer, Claudette Colvin, who, along with Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat to a white person

and helped to end racial segregation. If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian... apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. warmest years ever recorded, according to scientists. Data from the Met Office here in the UK

and the European Copernicus Climate Service show that global temperatures were more than 1.4 degrees Celsius above the levels of the late 19th century, but not quite as hot as 2024. Our climate reporter, Mark Ponting, has more. Last year, global temperatures were cooled slightly by a natural weather pattern in the Pacific called Laninia. That meant it wasn't quite as hot as 2024, but the long-term trend is clear. The last 11 years were the hottest of all those recorded since the mid-19th century. The deputy director of Copernicus, Samantha Burgess, explains that the planet could soon breach the target of limiting the long-term rising global temperatures.

When we look at when we'll exceed the long-term average of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial, that now looks like we'll exceed that at the end. at this decade. Scientists say there's no doubt that this warming is caused by humanity's vast carbon emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels. And unless those emissions are sharply reduced, they warn more records are bound to follow, bringing more extreme heat, heavier rainfall, and faster sea level rises. Mark pointing. The Republican Congressman heading the inquiry into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, says his committee will meet next week to hold the former Democratic President Bill Clinton in contempt after he failed to appear before the

committee to testify. That could potentially lead to criminal charges. Here's James Comer speaking after Mr. Clinton's no-show. With respect to the former president, one reason I think most Americans won't President Clinton to answer some questions is because Jeffrey Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Bill Clinton was president. And then we know that Bill Clinton and flew on Epstein's plane somewhere around 27 times after the presidency. So no one's accusing Bill Clinton of any wrongdoing. We just have questions. Both Mr Clinton and his wife Hillary have refused to testify in person,

accusing James Comer of potentially bringing Congress to a halt in order to pursue a politically driven process. In a letter shared on social media by Mrs. Clinton, the couple said they had tried to provide what little information they had, had to help with the investigation, and they accused Mr. Comer of trying to shift the focus away from the Trump administration's failures. Saying in the US, the Supreme Court has signalled it may uphold laws banning transgender girls and women from competing in female school and college sports in two conservative states. The justices heard more than three hours of

arguments on Tuesday in cases brought by transgender students challenging Republican-backed bans in the states of West Virginia and Idaho. But the court's conservative majority appeared skeptical that the laws breach constitutional protections. Supporters and opponents of the bans held rival rallies outside the court as the hearing took place. Madison Kenyon is a former college athlete

who is involved in one of the cases. I was a tracking cross-country athlete at Idaho State University. Five times I lost to a male athlete who identifies as a woman. Men and women are different, whether some want to admit it or not. You can't change those differences by suppressing testosterone. Women don't join sports for a participation trophy. We want to win. We work to win, and we deserve a fair shot at winning that trophy and taking home a victory.

Chase Strangio is one of the lawyers representing the trans students. In this moment, in so many halls of power, it feels like people are debilers. whether or not transgender people exist, whether or not we deserve protections under our Constitution and our civil rights statutes. And today in the Supreme Court, we were able to remind the nine justices that we do exist, that we deserve protections just like everybody else,

and that there has been a history of discrimination against us that warrants the court to take a closer look at the type of government targeting that we've seen over and over again from states and now from the federal government. Our North America correspondent Anthony Zerker told us more. The challenges were brought at the lowest level federal district court with mixed results. Appellate courts in both cases upheld the challenges and struck down the state laws.

That's when they were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear this case, a chance for the justice as to once again weigh in on a heated issue surrounding transgender rights. And the same way we saw last year with a Tennessee state ban on gender care, gender transition care for minors. You can't interpret entirely from what the justices are saying, but it definitely seems like the six-justice conservative majority on the Supreme Court is inclined to uphold those two state laws. And part of the reason is, for instance, Chief Justice John Roberts, who was part of a majority that upheld an employment law's application to transgender employees, saying they had rights against being discriminated against. He drew a distinction between

that case back in 2020 and the case in question here. You saw several of the Supreme Court justices talk about the need to protect girls and women's rights in sports. And you also could see it, by the way, the liberal justices and the lawyers representing the clients challenging these laws fashioned their arguments. In one case, one of the lawyers was saying that the college student no longer competed in college athletics anymore. And so she wanted this case dropped. And in another instance, you saw one of the lawyers arguing that in the instance where you had student athletes who were taking testosterone reducing drugs or hadn't gone through puberty, they shouldn't be covered in a ban. They had to draw distinctions between these different groups and that they weren't calling for

the laws in their entirety to be struck down. So I think that's an acknowledgment on the part of the liberals on the court, that there just aren't the votes to totally strike down these laws. Anthony Zerker. Agatha Christie's murder mysteries have captivated the world for more than a century. She is the best-selling novelist of all time. Two billion books featuring characters like Ocue Poirot and Miss Marple. And now an adaptation of one of her earlier lesser-known stories, Seven Dials, is getting the Netflix treatment with Mia McKenna Brew. playing the lead role Lady Eileen Brent, generally known as Bundle. Seven clocks on the mantelpiece. Someone arranged them like that deliberately. I think it's connected to Jerry's death.

Be careful who you speak to about this. Stop. Superintendent battle. What do you know about seven dials? You should leave all of this to the professionals. Well, Mia and the show's writer and executive producer, Chris Chibnall have been speaking to Tim Franks about Agatha Christie's enduring appeal. Well, she's an incredible storyteller. She's a page-turning writer. She's a social diarist

of the 20th century. She's funny, compelling, thrilling, exciting, prolific. What Agatha Christie is is a cocktail of so many different elements. She created the murder mystery, as we know. when you think about the classic English country house or village murder, you're really thinking about Agatha Christie. And she created iconic characters. So she was really interested in people and really interested in puzzles. And I have to say, coming to this, I mean, people may well have heard of Miss Marple, may well have heard of Ercule Poirot.

I hadn't heard of Bundle Nia. But she's a very attractive character. She's so exciting. And supposedly based on a lot of... Agatha herself, which when I actually read the book, I was like, oh, that adventurous spirit that she has is kind of like what we know of Agatha Christie. Because did you know she was the first woman to stand on a surfboard? Right? Yeah, in Honolulu.

In Honolulu. I mean, come on. If anyone's going to do that, Bundle's going to do that. Yeah, so true. But also a very contemporary character in terms of being this strong, resolute, lively woman who also sets a lot of feckless young men. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

My favourite thing about her is that she does that all with tremendous amounts of love and heart. Bundle does have this magical way to get what she wants and needs, but without kind of treading on anyone else to get there. You know, she's very much like, everybody come with me on this.

I know what I've got to do and I have to follow my heart with that. That for me is super exciting to play. And Chris, you talked about the fact that she was the master, the original master of the Who's, done it mystery. The production is incredibly faithful to the time, to the 1920s, but did you feel that it did need updating in some way? The plotting needed updating or the pacing needed updating

for a modern audience who were perhaps not used to this genre. We really wanted to find out what the Netflix version of Agatha Christie was, you know. So we wanted to make an Agatha Christie for the streaming age, really. Every generation deserves its Christie adaptation. But when I read the Seven Diles Mystery, the things that jumped out at me were number one bundle and why don't I know about her and she's this sort of neglected heroine. So to bring her into back into the culture after almost a century felt really exciting. Writer Chris Chibnall and actor Mia McKenna Bruce. One of the defining moments of America's civil rights movement came when in 1955, a black woman, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat to a white person in Alabama.

But nine months earlier, a teenager, Claudec Colvin, had carried out a similar act of defiance. She too was arrested for breaking Alabama laws that said a black passenger had to yield their seat if a white person wanted it. But her story remained relatively unknown for decades. Now, Colvin, whose actions helped to end racial segregation in the US, has died at the age of 86. Ella Bicknell looks back at her life. A 15-year-old in Montgomery, Alabama, segregation pervaded every aspect of Claudette Colvin's life. When asked to give up her seat for a white passenger on her school bus, she refused and was drunk off, kicking and screaming. She later said it was the inspiration of her abolitionist heroes that compelled her to take her.

a stand. I could not move because history had me glued to the seat. It felt like soldier on the truth, hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman hands were pushing me down on another shoulder. At the time civil rights leaders felt her age, working class background and later her pregnancy would make her a less effective symbol for the movement, favoring Rosa Parks instead. first cry for freedom because really that wouldn't have been a Rosa Parks and after Rosa Parks that wouldn't have been a Dr. King. That this teenager was mature enough to know her rights. Claudette Colvin remained involved in activism and later became one of the four plaintiffs

in Browda versus Gale, which led to a Supreme Court ruling ending segregation on public transport. Colvin was branded a troublemaker by many in her community, dropping out of school and later moving to New York, where she worked in a nursing home. Claudette Colvin said history only had room for so many icons, but in recent years her contributions have become more recognised. A 2009 biography titled Claudette Colvin twice towards justice won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature,

and a Hollywood biopic is in the works, directed by Marvel actor Anthony Mackie. Bicknell. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address is Global Podcast at BBC.co.com. This edition was mixed by Massoud Ibrahim Kail. The producer was Ariank Kocchi. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janak Jal. Until next time. Goodbye. What happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed.

But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.