The Global Story

*** This episode includes discussions of child sexual abuse and upsetting scenes ***

The BBC has been following a global team of undercover officers as they investigate the most hidden corners of the internet to stop those who exploit and harm children.

A dedicated network of specialist investigators has successfully tracked and caught serial paedophiles who operate across the dark web with the same sophistication and secrecy as international organised crime syndicates.

We speak to Special Agent Greg Squire who has dedicated his life to rescuing children who might otherwise never be found. His story is featured in the BBC documentary The Darkest Web and the BBC podcast World of Secrets: The Darkest Web.

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.

Producer: Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
(Photo: Greg Squire in The Darkest Web: Inside the internet’s most hidden corners to save kids – BBC World Service Docs)

For decades, Pakistan sat on the margins of global diplomacy. But now it’s due to be the unlikely venue for another round of peace talks between the US and Iran.
We speak to the BBC’s Pakistan correspondent, Carrie Davies, to ask how the country became a trusted intermediary between the parties in this conflict, and whether it can use this moment to increase its influence on the world stage.
Producers: Cat Farnsworth, Viv Jones, Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin
Studio managers: Mike Regaard and Ricardo McCarthy
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: U.S. Vice President JD Vance with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir after arriving for first round of talks with Iranian officials in Pakistan, April 11, 2026. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / Reuters

When the ceasefire deal was announced more than six months ago, there was celebration and relief in Gaza and Israel. But since the US-led Board of Peace announced plans to rebuild Gaza, the Trump administration’s attention has been occupied by other matters.
The success of the ceasefire deal hinges on Hamas disarmament and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops. So what progress has been made?
We speak to Yolande Knell, the BBC's Middle East correspondent, about life inside Gaza since the Iran War began.
Producers: Sam Chantarasak, Lucy Pawle and Xandra Ellin
Studio managers: Dafydd Evans and Mike Regaard
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo credits: A displaced Palestinian woman stands on a balcony inside a building damaged during the war at Al-Aqsa University, now used as a shelter, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, April 5, 2026. Photo: Reuters/Haseeb Alwazeer.

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.