The Fourcast

This hasn’t been the greatest week for Russia President, Vladimir Putin in two decades of power in the Kremlin. A mutinous band of mercenaries, that he himself created, charged up towards Moscow, denouncing his war in Ukraine and seemingly meeting little resistance on the way. While he faced down Evgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner group, appearing to banish them to Belarus, it’s not all over for Putin. In this episode, Hubertus Jahn, professor of the history of Russia and the Caucasus at Cambridge University, explains how the “mafia boss” in the Kremlin has seen cracks forming in his enterprise - and explores what might be next for Russia and its leader.    

The Darién gap is a stretch of land between Colombia and Panama, an unavoidable section of the route from South America to Central America that thousands of migrants a week take, as they travel up to the Mexico / United States border.  It’s been called ‘hell on Earth’ because of its dense and dangerous jungle. There are no roads, just treacherous paths, rivers that can wash you away, vast swamps, steep mountains and deadly animals. And it’s lawless, with cartels and kidnappers taking advantage of the vulnerable migrants.  The fittest take days to cross, the feeble can table weeks and many do not make it at all.  And despite all of this, record numbers are still crossing. Our Latin America correspondent Guillermo Galdos travelled that most dangerous of human trails, and in today’s episode of The Fourcast, he speaks about his journey, the people he met along the way.  

In March this year, the owner of a hotel in the Leicestershire village of Kegworth signed an exclusive contract with the Home Office to use his hotel to house asylum seekers. But the local community has been starkly divided over the arrival of dozens of their new neighbours. While some are welcoming, the arrival has also drawn angry protests. In today's episode of The Fourcast, we speak to our Communities Editor, Darshna Soni, about how this town has become divided over immigration and whether the government’s mission to stop the boats is inflaming tensions - as Number 10 says it is trying to get a handle on net migration and its growing asylum backlog. This episode contains reference to suicide.  

This past week, the G7 - the group of the world’s richest democracies - gathered in Japan to discuss Ukraine, Russia, global affairs, and their increasing concerns about a rising power looking out at them from over the water: China. This was some of the sternest wording from the G7, and China dismissed it as a smear. But the West also doesn’t want to completely antagonise and cut off China, with the Australian Prime Minister saying lessons had to be learnt from history. So, are we entering a new Cold War, where conflict is avoided but tensions remain? Or are we not far off from a catastrophic war? On today’s episode, I speak to Graham Allison, a former member of Bill Clinton’s defence department and one of the preeminent national security voices in America. He speaks to me about his historical theory called Thucydides Trap, where throughout the past a rising power has often come to blows with an established one. Will China and America go the same way? Producer: Freya Pickford Sources: AP

For weeks now, the world has been waiting for Ukraine to launch their spring counter offensive against Russia. But how much longer will we wait? Or has it already begun? As the battle for Bakhmut rages on, Ukraine has made steady gains around that region - whilst Russian troops have retreated but stepped up strikes on the capital city, Kyiv, this month. President Zelenskyy has toured European capitals asking for more weapons, securing from Britain long-range attack drones and missiles. In today’s episode, I speak to our international editor Lindsey Hilsum about why the spring offensive might be slightly delayed, what Ukraine really wants from any advances, and the geopolitical factors at play that mean Ukraine has to strike soon or lose the momentum. Producer: Freya Pickford

Fentanyl is killing at least seventy thousand Americans a year. It’s a synthetic drug, it’s up to 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It’s also the biggest cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 45: more than gun crime, more than road accidents. But where is that supply of Fentanyl to America coming from? And why are people taking it, when it’s so dangerous? And are there any solutions to this deadliest of epidemics? In today’s episode we speak to our Latin America correspondent, Guillermo Galdos, about the rare access he gained inside the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, where he witnessed the mass production of Fentanyl. We also hear from journalist Ben Westhoff, who has spent years investigating the world of synthetic drugs in America and he explains why this crisis will get worse - even reaching the UK, before it gets better. Producer: Freya Pickford

70 years on from the last Coronation, when Britain was still an empire and hardly anyone had a TV - what does Charles the Third’s crowning say about us today and the Britain of the future? We know that the British do this type of pomp and ceremony better than anyone else, it defines who we are. But is that true?  You may be told this is all ancient, but many of the royal ceremonies we witness are actually made-up rituals from the Victorian era used to legitimise the monarchy in modern British life. Today we speak to the historian, Sir David Cannadine, an expert on modern British history who sat on the coronation committee, about how we got to this place of flamboyant royal symbolism - and what this modern coronation tells us about where we are today. Sources: AP Producer: Freya Pickford