The ceasefire between the US and Iran is due to end on Wednesday. US media reports that Vice-President JD Vance will travel to Pakistan to hold further peace talks with Iranian officials.

Sources told CNN that a second round of talks between the US and Iranian delegations is currently planned for Wednesday.

However Tehran hasn’t confirmed it will send a delegation for talks in Islamabad.

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.

New episodes of The Global Story are released daily. If you’re in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds. If you live outside the UK, listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:01 How did Pakistan emerge as the host for peace talks?
05:25 Who does President Trump trust?
08:35 Pakistan takes centre stage in US-Iran peace talks
09:35 The US-Iran ceasefire
16:00 The importance of sectarianism in the US-Iran conflict
19:50 Why does the US trust Pakistan?
22:22 What does Pakistan have to gain from this?

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Warning: This video contains details of alleged sexual offences and misconduct.

Hollywood actor and musician Jared Leto is facing allegations of criminal sexual conduct by four women who were all teenagers at the time of the alleged offences.

The actor, who won an Oscar in 2014 for his role in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ made his name with films like Requiem for a Dream, the Suicide Squad and more recently Tron: Ares.

His rock band ’30 Seconds to Mars’ are planning a high-profile tour next spring. The women who spoke to the BBC said they encountered the 54-year-old between 2002 and 2014.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Jared Leto, he has not responded to the allegations put to him by the BBC.

If you or someone you know has been affected by issues raised in this story, visit BBC Action Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/

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It’s 50 years since the long hot summer of 1976 – brought us the birth of a musical movement – punk.

And marking this moment – is a gathering of more than 300 punk bands in Blackpool, UK.

The Rebellion Festival began in the 1990s – when punk was beginning to fade into history.

30 years on – as BBC’s David Sillito has been discovering – Britain’s 60 somethings have been rediscovering their disreputable past.

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President Donald Trump is trying again to scale back birthright citizenship in the US, weeks after the Supreme Court shot down his previous attempt to eliminate the right.

The president signed two executive orders on Thursday, including one that expands the existing definitions of non-citizens whose children are not eligible for birthright citizenship.

The second order bans so-called birth tourism, the practice of pregnant mothers coming to the US to give birth so that their babies will be citizens.

Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly railed against birth tourism, including accusing Russian and Chinese adversaries of taking advantage of birthright citizenship to infiltrate the US.

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Iran says it has reached an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give any further details on the agreement, which he said was “in the final stages”.

Baqaei warned, however, that a deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation through the strait, arguing security remained impacted by the US blockade of Iran’s ports.

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February, Tehran has largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes.

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