BBC

As Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday, we bring together conservationists and film-makers to discuss the impact of his long career, and the influence he has had on how we think about nature. We hear how his tv programmes and books have reached audiences around the world and the inspiration they have provided. Wendy Kirorei describes how growing up in Kenya, Sir David’s programmes were shown constantly on television, and led her to become a wildlife film-maker. “My dream was to do my first documentary in the Maasai Mara purely influenced by watching a lot of his work growing up.”

We thought you might enjoy listening to the latest season of the BBC’s global investigations podcast World of Secrets: Searching for Soldier Dad.

In this first episode of the season, we meet Cathy. Cathy is 10 years old when she starts asking questions. Why don’t I have a father? The secret her mum Maggie is forced to reveal changes everything.

Years later, when lawyers and a geneticist turn up in their hometown in Kenya to take DNA samples, Maggie hopes they can help her finally learn the truth.

In this investigation, we follow as a team of lawyers and a leading geneticist travel to Kenya to help locate the British soldiers who fathered children then vanished. We witness the groundbreaking legal and scientific detective work used to find the missing dads.   

What’s at stake is more than the reputation of the British army and the UK’s post-colonial legacy. The mixed-heritage children have in some cases been ostracised by their communities and denied a chance of British citizenship since birth – something which could transform their lives.

Searching for Soldier Dad is a BBC Long Form Audio production for the BBC World Service. Listen to the full series, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Please note, the image being used is for illustrative purposes only and the child depicted is a model.

Presenter: Ivana Davidovic

Series Producer: Josephine Casserly

Sound design: Tom Brignell

Executive Producer: Matt Willis

Commissioning Senior Producers: Katy Davis and Anne Dixey

Commissioning Editor: Jon Manel

We hear from Labour Minister Diana Johnson, Plaid's Nerys Evans, former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, and others, on a historic day for British politics. And David Attenborough's 100th birthday is celebrated at the Royal Albert Hall.

US job numbers are rising and the stock market is booming near record highs. So why are consumers feeling so pessimistic about the economy?

As a Mexican trade mission visits Canada, the two countries look to deepen economic ties.

Also Instagram’s direct messages are no longer fully private, and gamers face higher prices as console costs climb.

[Picture: Customers shop for groceries at a Publix supermarket in Miami, Florida, USA. Photo Credit: CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Britain’s Labour Party has suffered a historic defeat in local elections, with the right-wing Reform UK making big gains. Despite the loss, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says he will not step down. We get reaction to the results from both a Labour MP and a Reform politician.

Also in the programme: why did Saudi Arabia prevent the US from using Saudi airspace and bases to launch operations to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? And on the 100th birthday of the naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, we hear about the impact Sir David has had on the world.

(Photo: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to south London, 7th May 2026. Credit: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)

3rd-8th May 2026

Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes

Director: Marina Caldarone

Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood

Ben Archer … Ben Norris

Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch

Natasha Archer … Mali Harries 

Tom Archer … William Troughton 

Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde

Leonard Berry … Paul Copley

Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes

George Grundy … Angus Stobie

Bert Horrobin…  David Sterne

Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley

Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell 

Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott  

Akram Malik ... Asif Khan

Dr Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde 

Carol Tregorran … Mia Soteriou

Anna Tregorran … Isobel Middleton

This week you’re all cordially invited to join us for King Charles’ state visit to Donald Trump’s White House. Please dress to impress. We’ll also be digging into the state of the nation ahead of the upcoming elections on 7th May. Plus, what do we think about MPs drinking at work?

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Matt Hulme, Eleri Morgan, Joe Topping and Angela Channell

Producer: Georgia Keating

Executive Producer: James Robinson

Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter

Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.

Britain's right-wing populist party Reform makes gains as votes are counted in local elections. With a promise to reduce immigration, the party looks set to win council seats across the country, mostly at the expense of the more centrist Labour and Conservatives. Also: South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa faces calls to resign after a court rules he will be investigated over the theft of more than half-a-million dollars. Instagram is ending the option to send direct messages with super secure privacy technology after years of saying it was the future of the platform. The move has been praised by law enforcement groups. And China's new snooker world champion receives a hero's welcome on his return home.

We speak to South African influencer and software developer Masheane Sefuthi, who has been on a journey to ‘whiten’ his skin; public health advocate Amira Adawe, who has been campaigning against these harmful products; and Kenyan media personality Kush Tracey, who has spoken about reversing skin bleaching after years of struggling with it.

Presenter: Charles Gitonga

Producers: Fana Negash, Basma El Atti and Layla Mahmood

Technical Producer: Maxwell Onyango

Senior Producer: Carolyne Kiambo Jotham

Editors: Priya Sippy and Maryam Abdalla

Last week, the US President threatened to raise the tariff on the import of EU cars to 25% if the European Parliament delayed a new EU/US tariff agreement.

The annual conference of ASEAN, the grouping of South East Asian states, is meeting in the Philippines with the shadow of the war in the Persian Gulf hanging over the event.

And at least 11 miners have died after an accident at an artisinal mine in Kenya