Series 2023

Japan is confronting the possibility of war. New military bases on the country's remote southwest islands have the locals worried about the impact on their idyllic life and the prospect of becoming a target.

Independent Russian journalists forced to flee their homes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have been given sanctuary in neighbouring Latvia where they are broadcasting news of the war to counter Putin's propaganda.

In the Philippines online child sex abuse is flourishing and demand by Australian perpetrators for live streaming is increasing. Reporter Stephanie March embeds with police who are catching abusers and rescuing children.

The extraordinary Sepik River region in Papua New Guinea, known as the second Amazon, is under threat.Tensions are running high over logging and a mine proposal amidst claims of land grabs, police brutality, even killings.

In Cambodia, Chinese organised crime syndicates are running global cyber scam operations using workers who have been trafficked and enslaved in secure compounds. The syndicates have strong ties to the ruling Hun Sen regime.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous places on earth. Almost two decades of terrorism has taken a huge toll. Now the African nation is facing its worst drought in 40 years with significant areas on the brink of famine.

Three years after Brexit and Britain is broken. The country's cost of living crisis is now fuelling separatist movements. In Wales where one in three children live in poverty, the call for independence is getting louder.

The island paradise of Fiji is a popular tourist destination. But away from the resorts the reality of climate change with devastating cyclones and rapidly rising sea levels is forcing Fijians to change to survive.

The Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain is reinventing itself as a liberal oasis and its capital Manama has become the place to party for young Saudis who can do things that are forbidden in their own country.

The US State of Florida has become the centre of America's culture wars as Governor Ron DeSantis pursues a right-wing agenda focused on gender and race laws which some hope will take him all the way to the White House.

North Korean defectors overcome huge odds to escape to a new life in the south but instead of finding happiness they are often overcome with loneliness and isolation. Still living in fear, they rarely speak out publicly.

Fentanyl is the main source of drug overdoses in the United States, supplied by the infamous Mexican Sinaloa cartel. The drug is making a fortune for the cartel, we go inside to see the luxurious lifestyle.

It's almost a decade since ISIS forces swept through Iraq and Syria but the legacy of their brutal caliphate remains. The Yazidis of northern Iraq were slaughtered and enslaved by ISIS. Today the search continues for the missing Yazidis who have still not returned home.

Thousands of statues stolen from temples across Cambodia and sold to collectors and museums are being tracked down as part of a global treasure hunt. The inside story of how several stolen antiquities ended up in Australia.

In India the Modi Government is being accused of waging a war on Bollywood, the country's most powerful cultural force. Filmmakers who criticise the government or resist pressure to produce pro-Hindu content face a backlash.

Almost a year since widespread protests over women's rights erupted on the streets of Iran, young Iranians who are still defying the country's repressive regime, talk about the price they are prepared to pay for freedom.

In Canada Australian firefighters join an international team in a desperate battle to help combat the nation's worst forest fires in recorded history. An area of 32 million acres has been scorched in this climate catastrophe.

In Germany an anti-State 'sovereign citizens' group is increasingly engaged in acts of terrorism. Intelligence authorities are worried about its connections with a right-wing extremist party gaining popularity in the polls.

A year after the Uvalde school shooting in Texas the community is still traumatised. They're angry about the inadequate police response on the day and they're determined to change the law on the sale of deadly assault rifles.

Barbados was the first British slave society in the Caribbean. Now, two years after becoming a republic, there is a growing demand for institutions and the descendants of slave owners to make amends for the sins of the past.

NBA superstar LeBron James has put his name and his money behind an extraordinary social experiment in his hometown of Akron. Paul Kennedy travels to Ohio to see how the plan is coming to life - and whether it's working.

A billion-dollar illegal drug trade is funding the Syrian regime under President Bashar al-Assad. Insiders reveal details of the drug operations and the links to members of the president's family and the Syrian Armed Forces.

Argentina is on its knees with inflation rates over 100 percent and 40 percent of the population living in poverty. There's hope that mining the country's vast supply of the rare metal lithium could solve the current crisis.

Before the war, 2023 had been the deadliest year for Jews and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 15 years. This program looks at the rising tensions between the two before the brutal terror attack by Hamas.