The Latest Breaking News from The World Service

Emily Thornberry says BBC World Service ‘must be preserved’

There are plans to cut the service by 130 jobs to save around £6 million for the next financial year.

The Independent UK · Jan 31, 2025

BBC World Service facing ‘cognitive warfare’, says director-general Tim Davie

An inquiry is looking to establish whether increased Government support is needed.

Evening Standard · Dec 17, 2024

Chancellor allocates ‘increase in funding’ for BBC World Service in Budget

A BBC statement said the broadcaster ‘welcomed the funding’.

Evening Standard · Oct 30, 2024

BBC re-runs play for listener who missed ending in 1978

BBC radio is to re-broadcast a play for a listener who missed the ending in 1978. Sue Reilly was “gripped” by The Gazebo, a comic murder mystery by Alec Coppel, when she first heard it on the World Service in August 1978, said The Telegraph, but she missed the closing…

The Week · Aug 1, 2023

OPINION - We need a muscular BBC to fight the coming tide of AI disinformation

There will be exhausted but happy BBC executives this week delighted at how deftly they handled its coverage of Eurovision and the Coronation. Both events showed BBC creativity at its peak. There is, however, an arm of the broadcaster which is far less celebrated: the World Service. It has often…

Evening Standard · May 19, 2023

BBC World Service launches emergency pop-up radio service for Sudan

The radio service will be broadcast twice daily featuring eye-witness accounts, news on diplomatic efforts and will serve to counter disinformation.

The Independent UK · May 1, 2023