{"podcast":{"title":"The Global Story","slug":"the-global-story-6677479","podcast_index_feed_id":6677479,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/w13xtvsd.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvsd","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0ncxykc.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":615,"summary":"Where the world and America meet, with episodes each weekday. The world is changing. Decisions made in the US and by the second Trump administration are accelerating that change. But they are also a symptom of it. With Asma Khalid in DC, Tristan Redman in London, and the backing of the BBC’s international newsroom, The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T18:19:57.205426+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479"},"episode":{"title":"The World Cup referee barred from the United States","slug":"the-world-cup-referee-barred-from-the-united-states","published_at":"2026-06-12T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479/the-world-cup-referee-barred-from-the-united-states","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct8m8v","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0nrll47.mp3","summary":"The 2026 World Cup kicked off last night in Mexico, after a series of controversies in the lead up, including over visas for foreign teams, fans, media and officials hoping to go to the host countries: US, Canada and Mexico. The latest scandal involves FIFA dropping Somali referee Omar Artan, after the US refused him entry. FIFA‘s president Gianni Infantino said “we don't control everything”, and asked critics to ‘chill’. US Customs and Borders protection said in a statement that “derogatory information, including association with suspected members of terror organisations” was discovered after Omar Artan landed at Miami International Airport to attend the tournament. Artan says he told border officials he knows nothing about the Somali militant group Al Shabab. Today, we speak to Charles Gitonga, senior journalist and host of the BBC’s Focus on Africa podcast, about how Africans are reacting to the news, and whether the controversies will have long-term consequences for US-Africa relations. Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Cat Farnsworth Executive producer: Bridget Harney Video editor: Matt Pintus Mix: Travis Evans Senior News Editor: China Collins Photo: Somali referee Omar Artan. Credit: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images","meta_description":"The 2026 World Cup kicked off last night in Mexico, after a series of controversies in the lead up, including over visas for foreign teams, fans, media an…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1670,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-global-story-6677479/episodes/the-world-cup-referee-barred-from-the-united-states/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-story-6677479/the-world-cup-referee-barred-from-the-united-states.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}