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Why did Israeli spies build a fake beach resort?

Arous was an idyllic holiday resort on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, a slice of paradise offering an escape to up to 30 scuba-diving tourists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But it held a secret, one so outlandish it’s just been made into a Netflix movie. The BBC news website’s Middle East Editor Raffi Berg tells us a tale of espionage, exodus and wind-surfing. Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Weidong Lin Editor: John Shields


How did a Tinder date story fool us?

Everyone who has heard the story of a woman on a Tinder date spending £15,000 on wine at the Shard seems to have loved it. The voice note has whipped around social media. But as soon as you’ve heard it you start to wonder if it’s true. Nesta McGregor from Radio 1’s Newsbeat tells us how some fairly basic research revealed it as false. We pick up the investigation and attempt to track down the source of the story while David Robson, author of ‘Intelligence Trap’, tells us about the origins...


University: is it worth it?

The average student debt after a three year degree course in England is £50,000. It’s a large sum that can be off-putting when you hear tales of jobless graduates and self-made entrepreneurs. Student debt is lower in Wales and Northern Ireland and less still in Scotland where you don’t pay fees, but even here student debt has doubled in the last decade. In this episode we speak to Natalie Olah. She’s written a book - based on her experience at university and after - called ‘Steal As Much As...


Jeffrey Epstein: how much do we really know?

The financier Jeffrey Epstein was in a Manhattan prison awaiting trial for sex trafficking when he was found dead in his cell last weekend. The multi-millionaire moved in the richest social circles with people like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew. But with his death, apparently by suicide, how much can we really know? And will his victims ever find justice? Nada Tawfik, the BBC reporter in New York following the case, tells us the details of Epstein’s life and crimes. And we...


How did gambling take over football?

Last week Championship side Derby County announced Wayne Rooney, the former England captain, would be joining the team as a player-coach on a reported £100,000-a-week contract and will wear the number 32. Derby also secured a “record-breaking sponsorship” deal with the online casino 32Red. The news has raised questions about football’s links to gambling at a time when the industry is booming and smartphones have made it easier to place bets than ever before. So, is the transfer more than...


Cyntoia Brown: did Kim Kardashian get her out of prison?

Cyntoia Brown was 16 when she was jailed for life for murder. This week she walked free after the Governor of Tennessee granted her clemency. She was backed by a number of powerful celebrities including Kim Kardashian who used social media to highlight her case as part of a campaign to get young black Americans out of unfair jail sentences. We speak to Samantha Schmidt from the Washington Post about the details of the case. We also hear from Kevin Sharp, former judge who went to the White...


No-deal: will it happen?

“There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.” That’s what Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, said in July 2017. A no deal Brexit was once a fringe idea, but it’s now what Johnson’s government is working towards to fulfil his pledge to leave the EU by the end of October. So has no deal become inevitable? Daniel Kraemer has been working on this for the last four months in the BBC’s Westminster newsroom. He tells us how Brexit has come down to a political showdown...


No deal: what’s going to happen to our food?

Boris Johnson’s government is “turbo-charging” plans for leaving the EU without a deal at the end of October. People are asking each other if we’re going to have enough food, whether they should be stockpiling tins and if it’s going to cost more money. Companies are stockpiling ingredients and today supermarkets have asked the government to change the law so they can work together to stop stuff running out after 31 October. David Gregory-Kumar tells us lamb farmers are particularly worried...


What happens when you run out of water?

The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2025 half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas. This means the demand for water will be more than the supply. This is already happening in Chennai. The Indian city with more than five million people has been having a water crisis since June. The taps have run dry and experts say there’s no end in sight. Rajini Vaidyanathan has been reporting from Chennai for the BBC. She tells us what it’s like for the residents to live...


US shootings: can you shut down the white nationalists?

Two mass shootings in 24 hours have shocked America: the first in El Paso, Texas and the other in Dayton, Ohio. 29 people have lost their lives. The El Paso shooter opened fire in a Walmart store only a few miles from the Mexican border. Police are treating the attack as domestic terrorism after finding an anti-immigrant “manifesto” on 8chan - a forum that promotes freedom of speech. We speak to Michael Wendling from BBC Trending about how 8chan came to be taken offline. The BBC’s security...


How do we smash the class ceiling?

Improving social mobility has been a key pledge of successive governments with politicians promising to create a meritocracy in Britain. However, research shows time and time again that the best-paid and most influential jobs still go to those from privileged backgrounds while the working classes aren’t getting ahead… even if they’re better candidates for the position. So, why is class the last big barrier to getting a top job? In this episode we speak to broadcaster Amol Rajan about his...


Doping: why would you risk it?

When swimmer Mack Horton refused to share a podium with Sun Yang, accusing him of being a drug cheat, what he didn’t know is that one of his own teammates had tested positive for a banned substance. On Friday Shayna Jack will attempt to clear her name as she faces a four year ban. The consequences for athletes are serious– stripped of medals, barred from competition and a reputation in tatters, it hardly seems worth the risk. Time and time again athletes get caught, but is the testing regime...


Why does Donald Trump care about A$AP Rocky?

US rapper A$AP Rocky went on trial in Sweden this week, accused of assaulting a 19-year-old in Stockholm. Donald Trump has publicly called for his release online, tweeting “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky”. The US president has also spoken to the Swedish prime minister about the case. But why does Donald Trump care about the rapper’s arrest? And how has his...


Will human contact become a luxury good?

As technology advances, we’re going to become more reliant on artificial intelligence. Robots are being programmed and piloted in primary schools and care-homes to teach basic maths and to help tackle loneliness. Robots are even available to provide romantic intimacy and sex. It seems inevitable that robots will play a significant role in our emotional lives, but who might benefit from them? Meanwhile amongst the Silicon Valley elite, there’s a growing movement that is turning away from...


Is big business coming for cannabis?

Once upon a time the concept of legalising recreational cannabis was something stoners at house parties dreamt about, but in the past few years the conversation around cannabis has changed. BBC Newsbeat journalist Jim Connolly travelled with Labour's David Lammy, Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly and Liberal Democrat Sir Norman Lamb on a fact-finding trip to Canada. In 2018 Canada became the first G7 country to allow recreational use of the drug. The MPs are now convinced the UK will fully...


What does Love Island tell us about friendship?

More than 6 million people have tuned in to watch series 5 of Love Island. It all comes to an end next week but ITV has announced that it’s doing so well they’ll start running two series a year. We speak to superfans Sarah Manavis, digital culture writer for the New Statesman, and broadcaster Richie Anderson about the show’s success and why the Love Island friendships have been stronger than ever. Produced by: Beyond Today producers Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: Philly Beaumont


Do we want funny politicians?

Matt Forde set out on a mission to humanise politics with his podcast the Political Party. He’s interviewed some of the biggest politicians of our time: Tony Blair, Nigel Farage and even Tommy Robinson. But there’s a thin line between humanising politicians and doing their PR job for them. In the week that a politician known for his jokes became prime minister, we ask how much does comedy feature in modern politics? Can it be a tool for something darker, and is satire now just the pursuit of...


What do companies do with your face?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably used Faceapp to see how you’ll look when you’re older. But in the days after Faceapp blew up, a conspiracy theory spread across the internet. People were worried that Wireless Lab - the app’s maker - was feeding data to the Russian government. This led to the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer calling for an investigation into FaceApp. In a letter posted on Twitter, Mr Schumer called it "deeply troubling" that personal data of US...


Who is Boris Johnson?

Boris Johnson has been elected new Conservative leader. He will take over as prime minister from Theresa May on Wednesday. He says he will deliver Brexit and unite the country. But Boris Johnson is a divisive character. This episode is about the mistakes he’s made along the way, but why in the end his ambition and sheer force of personality got him there. He’s gone from being a journalist to celebrity to now the man with the top job in the country. We hear from the Radio 2 presenter Jeremy...


Theresa May: where did it all go wrong?

Today’s episode is all about Theresa May, but that doesn’t mean it’s all about Brexit. It’s a common argument: the main reason Theresa May failed as prime minister is that she got her whole approach to Brexit wrong and screwed up negotiations with both the EU and MPs. But there are other moments that could ultimately have caused her political demise, even before she took the top job. Her former adviser Chris Wilkins and the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor John Pienaar take a look back at...