In 2024, reports emerged of a highly sophisticated cyber espionage campaign against US telecoms companies, which some analysts believe went all the way up to the Chinese government.

The group behind this campaign would later be codenamed Salt Typhoon, and it is believed to have quietly infiltrated critical US telecoms infrastructure in order to collect private information on influential Americans – including presidential candidates. In the process, it may have also swept up data from millions of ordinary Americans. The Chinese government has denied responsibility for Salt Typhoon.

We speak to former Deputy National Security Adviser Anne Neuberger, who was working inside the White House when the attacks were first uncovered. We also speak to BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy about how this hack unfolded – and what it reveals about who may be winning the cyber war.

Producer: Aron Keller

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Executive producer: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: Analysts in the Security Operations Center at the Dell Secure Works office in South Carolina, US. Credit: Stephen Morton/Getty Images)

Anthropic, one of Silicon Valley’s leading AI firms, have built a new model which they say is too dangerous to be released to the public.

Instead, they are only giving access to Claude Mythos Preview to a handful of big companies to help them find and fix security vulnerabilities. The company says the model has already found weak spots in “every major operating system and web browser”. Is this a genuine example of an AI company acting responsibly, or more of a carefully calibrated publicity move?

We speak to the BBC’s North America tech correspondent, Lily Jamali, about whether this is a watershed moment for AI.

Producers: Viv Jones and Aron Keller

Digital producer: Matt Pintus

Mix: Travis Evans

Executive producer: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Credit: Jurassic Park (1993) / Dir: Stephen Spielberg / Universal Pictures

Photo: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Reuters/Denis Balibouse.

Pope Leo XIV has said he has “no fear of the Trump administration”, after his criticism of the Iran war drew scorn from President Donald Trump.

On Sunday, the US President called the Pope “weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy”, and posted a now-deleted AI image of himself depicted as a Christ-like figure.The posts caused outrage among Catholics and the religious right, but he has said he will not apologise to the Pope.

We speak to BBC presenter and author Edward Stourton, who has reported on religious affairs and US politics for decades, about what happens when an American president takes on an American Pope.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak, Xandra Ellin and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Pope Leo XIV addresses journalists during the flight heading to Algiers on April 13, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Alberto Pizzoli.

The United States began implementing a blockade of all ships entering and exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. President Trump took to social media and warned that any Iranian ships trying to approach the blockade would be “immediately ELIMINATED.”

And over the weekend, delegates from the US and Iran failed to reach a resolution after 21 hours of peace talks.

The Artemis II crew are back on solid ground having travelled further from earth than any human has before.

The mission was an undoubted success. But aside from getting some stunning photos of the moon’s surface and the tiny blue dot we call home, what did we actually learn? And was it just a big PR exercise?

BBC science correspondent Georgina Rannard joins us to discuss the point of the mission and what is next for Nasa.

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Valerio Esposito

(Photo: The Artemis II crew of Nasa astronauts attend a press conference the day after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, US. Credit: Lexi Parra/Reuters)

In this episode of the BBC Radio 4 series, Archive on 4, our very own Tristan Redman tells the story of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise and fall.

The former French President was jailed last year for conspiring to fund his 2007 election campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He’s currently appealing his sentence. And he has some powerful supporters.

Using archive recordings and contemporary interviews with those who know Sarkozy well, Tristan Redman tells the story of how he became the first former French head of state to end up behind bars since Nazi collaborator, Philippe Pétain.

Featuring investigative journalist, Fabrice Arfi from Mediapart; Daniele Klein whose brother was killed in the ‘French Lockerbie’ and her niece Melanie who lost her father; Alain Minc, one of Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest friends and advisers; the British writer and academic Andrew Hussey and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, who was Sarkozy’s finance minister.

Presenter: Tristan Redman

Producer: Adele Armstrong

Sound: Peregrine Andrews

Editor: Penny Murphy

Credits: Mediapart, Euronews, France Télévisions, TF1 and France 2

One condition of the US and Israel’s two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran is that ships must be able to safely use the Strait of Hormuz, the route through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies travel.

In theory, the deal should cut the prices of fuel worldwide, as well as allowing essential supplies of fertiliser, helium and other goods to reach businesses. But the fragility of the ceasefire is leaving markets uncertain, and prices remain volatile.

Will the ceasefire eventually help lower costs? And if so, when? Sean Farrington, presenter of the BBC’s Wake Up To Money, joins us to explain.

For our explainer on the conflict in Lebanon, listen back to our episode from March 19th: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct71b5.

Producers: Hannah Moore, Aron Keller and Cat Farnsworth

Executive Producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Kanye West’s history of antisemitic behaviour caught up with him this week. The UK banned him from visiting; preventing his recently-announced performance at the Wireless festival later this summer. His appearances in the UK are part of his ‘comeback’ tour for his new album, with performances scheduled in multiple countries this year.

Kanye has apologised for his actions, which include releasing a song glorifying Hitler and selling t-shirts with swastikas, and blamed his bipolar diagnosis. With rising levels of global antisemitism, his appearances have become increasingly controversial. But despite his UK ban Kanye is selling out shows in US stadiums. So will Kanye West be able to make a comeback?

Producer: Viv Jones, Lucy Pawle, Valerio Esposito, Xandra Ellin

(Photo: Kanye West in North Charleston, South Carolina, US, 19 July, 2020. Credit: Randall Hill/Reuters)

Iran and the US have agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire.

Donald Trump says the US has “met and exceeded all military objectives”, while Iran says the ceasefire is a “humiliating retreat” for Washington. So what has actually been agreed, and is this ceasefire likely to pave the way for an ending to the war?

We speak to Jane Corbin from the BBC’s Panorama, who has reported from the world's major conflict zones for three decades.

Producers: Cat Farnsworth, Sam Chantarasak and Aron Keller

Executive producer: James Shield

Studio manager: Mike Regaard

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo:Iranians wave the country's flag following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock

A BBC investigation has heard from hundreds of people who say they developed sex and gambling addictions after taking a category of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists.

Millions of people in the US and around the world have been prescribed these medications, which are used to treat various illnesses, from Parkinson’s to depression. But they have well-established side effects: around 1 in 6 people who take them develop impulse control disorders.

Noel Titheradge, investigations correspondent, shares the story of one American woman who developed hypersexuality after she took a dopamine agonist drug. Like many of the patients Noel has spoken to, she says she was not warned that her medication could dramatically change her personality.

Noel’s investigation is also a BBC podcast series. Search for ‘Shadow World: Impulsive’.

If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor. For further information on the issues raised in the programme, contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Producers: Viv Jones

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: A mixture of pills. Credit: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire