In the past few weeks Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods have all been grappling with the effects of cyber attacks. The most profitable form of cyber attack at the moment is ransomware where criminals infiltrate computer systems, shut them down and then demand a ransom to restore services, or even to stop them publishing data they’ve stolen. This is now a global criminal industry which can affect the running of whole businesses. Marks & Spencer said this week that disruption to its online ordering service would continue throughout June and into July. David Aaronovitch asks his guests how ransomware works, who is responsible and what can be done to stop it.

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Dire warnings of famine in Gaza, a broken ceasefire and the start by the Israeli government of a new “intense” offensive which could forcibly displace Palestinians to an area in the south of Gaza and perhaps out of the strip altogether, plus the latest release of a US hostage. This is the war between Israel and Gaza 19 months on from the deadly attack by Hamas which killed 1200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages.

So what chance of peace between Israel and Hamas? Can a new ceasefire be negotiated with US backing or will Israel go it alone and forcibly occupy most of Gaza?

Guests:

Yolande Knell, BBC Middle East Correspondent

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

President Trump has signed a minerals deal with Ukraine, which will give the US access to some of Ukraine’s natural resources. The US president also said he’d like to take over Greenland and even Canada. Why? Well one reason may well be the rare earths and critical minerals found there. Critical minerals are vital for almost every industry from the manufacturing of computers to fighter jets. But in recent years the rise of green technologies has been fuelling demand for minerals used to make batteries for electric cars and other renewable infrastructure. One country dominates the minerals market - China - which has repercussions for the rest of the world, including the US. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss what and where these minerals are, why everyone wants them and how the rest of the world can compete with China.

Guests:

Ellie Saklatvala, Head of Nonferrous Metal Pricing, Argus, a provider of market intelligence for the global commodity markets.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Tension is high in Indian administered Kashmir following the killing on 22nd April of 26 civilians almost all of whom were Hindu tourists. They were visiting Pahalgam - an area often described as the “Switzerland of India”. Militants opened fire on them and in the days since relations between India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full but only administer it in part, have deteriorated. India accuses Pakistan of supporting the militants and Islamabad rejects the allegations. This is the latest attack in a decades-long dispute over the region. David Aaronovitch and guests ask what happens next and what sort of a response we are likely to see from India and also Pakistan?

Guests: Andrew Whitehead: Former BBC India correspondent and expert on Kashmir and its history, author of ‘A Mission in Kashmir’

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer wants the UK to become “one of the great AI superpowers”. Earlier this year the government published a plan to use artificial intelligence in the private and public sectors to boost growth and deliver services more efficiently. Once mainly the preserve of the tech community, AI really entered public awareness with the release of ChatGPT, a so-called “chatbot” founded by the US company OpenAI at the end of 2022. It can write essays, scripts, poems and even write computer code …and millions of people are using it. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss whether the UK could become a successful AI hub, as the government hopes and asks if we'll be able to compete globally with the US and China, the home of huge tech companies?

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

President Trump’s fury with China shows no sign of abating. High tariffs - first imposed by the US but now on both sides - are giving way to a very real trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. China’s President Xi Jinping is refusing to blink - so far - and in the past week he's been on the road in South East Asia, visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. Where this goes now depends in large part on China's calculations about the capacity and determination of both sides to endure a trade war. So what cards does China hold ? And what are the implications for China's own economy and for the rest of us?

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Rarely has it been so difficult to see the wood for the trees. The trees being Donald Trump’s new tariffs announced on what he called Liberation Day and which took effect this week, plus the immediate responses to them. And the wood being the economic strategy that lies behind it all.

Guests:

Douglas Irwin, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Turkey in the past two weeks in protest at the arrest and jailing of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu. He’s seen as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's strongest political rivals and since his arrest he’s been voted as the opposition party’s presidential candidate in the next elections. He’s been accused of corruption, which he strongly denies and his supporters see his detainment as a political move by the Government. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss whether we’re witnessing the end of democracy in Turkey.

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

(Image: Demonstration organised by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) against the detention of Istanbul’s mayor, in Istanbul, Turkey - 29 March 2025. Credit: Tolga Bozoglu/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Securing peace in Ukraine is proving harder than President Trump first thought. Separate talks between US officials and Ukrainian and Russian representatives were held in Saudi Arabia a few days ago. But the tentative ceasefire they reached just for shipping in the Black Sea has already hit problems with Moscow demanding certain sanctions are lifted if it’s to comply. And achieving a full ceasefire that Russia will accept still seems as elusive as ever. David Aaronovitch and guests ask what Putin’s bottom line on Ukraine really is? Have his long term aims changed and what might he accept?

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

The Government is reorganising the way the NHS is run in England by scrapping the body that’s been in charge and giving direct control to the Department of Health and Social Care. Jobs will go and the country’s biggest quango will be dismantled. But what is the government actually trying to do to the NHS? What are its aims and how does the restructure fit into the government’s big picture for the health service in the UK?

Guests:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch