The Global Story

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many Russians who opposed the war – or feared being sent to fight in it – fled the country. In much of the West, they were welcomed as courageous dissidents. But four years on, the number of Russians being forcibly returned from the US to Russia is rising.
Is the tougher stance on Russian asylum seekers evidence of the Trump administration seeking closer ties with Moscow? Or is it part of a wider immigration crackdown, driven by domestic politics?
In this episode, Tristan Redman speaks to the BBC’s Will Vernon about the Russian refugees he has met who face persecution if they are forced to return home.
(Photo: The FSB arrests someone in 2025. Credit: Reuters)
Producers Cat Farnsworth and Aron Keller
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Sam Gruet
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Senior news editor: China Collins

The AI juggernaut Anthropic could "pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” its owners warned last week, “if not developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures.”
It’s one of many similarly dire predictions AI companies have made about their own products in recent months, but this one is distinct, because it is part of the company’s pitch to future shareholders. Anthropic will be the first fully AI-focused company to list on the US stock market, with what is expected to be a record-breaking valuation. Launching its IPO means revealing truths about its finances and its ethics to the public.
So what’s in that public filing? And why does Anthropic’s leadership want investors to believe AI might destroy the world? The BBC’s AI correspondent Marc Cieslak joins Asma Khalid to explain.
(Photo: CEO and co-founder of Anthropic Dario Amodei looks on during the 56th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 2026. Credit: Denis Balibouse/Reuters)
Producer: Xandra Ellin
Executive producers: Hannah Moore
Mix: Travis Evans
Studio manager: Ben Andrews
Digital producer: Tom Bage
Senior news editor: China Collins

Londoners can now travel in autonomous cars for the first time, after Uber was granted a licence to operate a test fleet of self-driving vehicles. Each vehicle must have a safety driver behind the wheel, but the UK government says fully self-driving cars will be available in late 2027.
Driverless cars are the latest threat facing London’s iconic black cabs, over a decade after the introduction of ride-sharing apps revolutionised transport in the city.
Tristan Redman meets Tom Scullion, who has been a cabbie for over 30 years, and asks whether one of the world’s hardest memory tests – the Knowledge – can compete with AI.
Producer: Sam Chantarasak
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Digital producer: Charlie Firth
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Black cab driver Tom Scullion. Credit: BBC

Latino voters in Florida — including 68% of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County — helped fuel Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory.
But now, ahead of next week’s midterm elections, some of those voters are questioning their loyalty to Trump, and to the Republican party. Many are focused on the administration’s immigration crackdown — thousands of people arrested and deported by ICE — and also on questions about Trump’s influence in Latin America and his plans for the future of Venezuela and Cuba.
What have Trump’s policies meant for the people living on both sides of the Florida Straits? The Global Story’s Asma Khalid speaks with Sumi Somaskanda, a chief anchor at BBC News in Washington, and BBC Cuba correspondent Will Grant.
Producer: Hannah Moore
Spanish voice over: Laura Plitt
Mix: Travis Evans
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Digital producer: Richard Kenny
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: A woman and a man walk past graffiti with the colours of the Cuban flag in Havana, Cuba, October 4, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Ricardo Arduengo

A ceasefire has come into effect in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky, on the front line of the war with Russia. Thousands of residents have been trapped there, cut off from food, water and electricity.
The ceasefire has been brokered by an unexpected figure: the US First Lady Melania Trump. But the Vatican is also claiming credit for the truce, raising questions about who helped bring it about – and what it might mean for the people caught up in the fighting.
After years of war and worsening conditions for civilians, a pause in the fighting could offer some relief. But how much protection will it really provide? And can this ceasefire hold?
(Photo: US first lady Melania Trump, 24 September, 2026. Credit: Finn Gomez/Reuters)
Producer: Josephine Casserly and Xandra Ellin
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Executive producer: Martine Powers
Digital producer: Charlie Firth
Senior news editor: China Collins