Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Presenter: Feranak Amidi Producers: Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

For Assignment, Linda Pressly and Esperanza Escribano report from the olive groves of Spain at harvest time.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

'Songs from Inside' is part of the BBC 100 Women series and is available to watch on the BBC World Service YouTube page. To find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on this year's list go to bbc.co.uk/100women. You can also follow BBC 100 Women on Facebook and Instagram.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

The documentary explores stories of resilience and renewal, including Erin Raymond, a mother navigating profound personal loss while seeking healing in the spiritual community. It also features Chaplain Ryan from Westcare, who supports addiction recovery through a unique blend of Christian and Eastern spiritual practices. Together, their experiences paint a vivid picture of how spirituality thrives in a place known for excess.

From meditation sessions to spiritual detoxing and the serene Brahma statue on the Strip, Spirituality in Sin City reveals a side of Vegas few would expect—a city where faith and transformation flourish in the most surprising ways.

Produced and Presented by Rajeev Gupta.

In West Africa, end of life celebrations are a far cry from those in the Western world. Each funeral can take weeks or months to plan and they are often more lavish – and expensive - than weddings. Funerals are an essential part of paying respect to the departed.

Hannah travels to the cultural capital of the country, Kumasi, to witness a Ghanaian funeral first hand. She delves into the significance of these ancient traditions: the dancing, the dress code, the burial and final funeral rites as well as the role played by the ‘talking drums’.

Julien Alfred made history in 2024 when she won the women’s 100 metres gold medal in Paris becoming Saint Lucia’s first ever Olympic medallist. The sprinter sits down with Sportsworld’s Lee James to look back on her historic year, as we find out what it took to become an Olympic champion and the strategy she used to win the race.

We also discover the impact of her victory on the Caribbean island and the hero's welcome she received when she returned home with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports in Saint Lucia, Dr. Uralise Delaire and find out how Alfred’s athletics career started with her first coach Cuthbert Modeste.

Sportsworld brings you the latest live action and big name interviews from the world of sport every Saturday and Sunday and for more go to bbcworldservice.com/sportsworld or just search sportsworld wherever you got this podcast.

Five years ago, COVID-19 was spreading around the world, causing millions of deaths. How did the pandemic change our lives, and what lessons have we learnt from it? With Martin Yip from BBC Chinese and Dorcas Wangira, BBC Africa’s Health Correspondent.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia, Hannah Dean and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Eighty years ago Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi extermination camp. Over 1.1 million people, mainly Jews, were murdered there. However, there is an aspect of those terrible days which is less well known and which 80 years later is still being uncovered and still resonating: the death marches.

As Soviet troops approached, in January 1945, SS soldiers at Auschwitz-Birkenau forced some 60,000 prisoners to march west, in freezing temperatures. Weak with hunger and disease, those who fell behind were shot.

This is the story of how eight decades on the search for the truth behind one of those death marches is being uncovered. For years the history of a death march passing through the once proud German community of Schönwald was hidden.

It is also the story of how descendants of the original inhabitants of Schönwald are having to confront the role some of their relatives may have played in the Nazi project, and how today’s Polish inhabitants of the town, which is now called Bojków, are grappling with what happened on their streets. Amie Liebowitz’s own great-grandmother was murdered Auschwitz-Birkenau, while her great-aunt was rescued by the Soviet forces. She speaks to those on both sides – German and Polish – who are uncovering this history.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Many do not make it. In recent years, the EU has done deals with several North African nations to clamp down on irregular migration. Though human rights groups say the treatment of migrants can be brutal - allegations the authorities deny. But each year thousands of African migrants say they have no choice but to return home.

It can be a struggle to return. Some are traumatised by their experience and face stigma for having failed to reach Europe. Others are already planning to try again.

For Assignment, Alex Last travels to The Gambia to find out what happens to migrants who've risked everything to get to Europe, but end up back home.

Yuna's documentary is part of the BBC 100 Women series. To find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on this year's list go to bbc.co.uk/100women. You can also follow BBC 100 Women on Facebook and Instagram.

Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Despite this, shocking new videos of alleged attacks continue to appear on social media, with little or no acknowledgement from a world that is now questioning their legitimacy. In the first episode of a two-part series for BBC World Service’s Heart & Soul, reporter Sahar Zand travels to Bangladesh to investigate the truth behind the contradictory news headlines and the contrasting videos emerging daily online. There, Sahar follows two Hindu university students, Sukanto and Banamali, who have made it their mission to verify and document what they describe as brutal assaults on their community, determined to set the record straight.

Sahar follows Sukanto and Banamali as they travel to some of the worst-affected areas, and sees and hears firsthand accounts of homes burned, families separated, temples desecrated, and entire villages torn apart by mob violence. Despite their tireless efforts to report the truth, the two friends say that the Hindu experience in Bangladesh has been met with silence from both the world's media and the country's authorities.

Producer: Sahar Zand Executive producer: Rajeev Gupta

This episode was made by Chris Flynn with Joe McFadden. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

For more in-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities, go to bbcworldservice.com/HARDTalk or search for HARDTalk wherever you got this podcast.

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

She speaks to friends who still live on the street, business owners who have experienced the changes, about whether the character of the city has been forever altered.

But Kamin’s story, like many she knows in Florence, is complicated. The book she wrote about the city’s lifestyle encouraged many of her readers to travel there and experience it for themselves. Many others – from bar owners to cookery writers – similarly depend on tourism. She asks all of them what the city can do to retain the character that residents – and tourists – love.

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur looks back on some of the most powerful moments from 2024 in his end of year review.

For more in-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities, go to bbcworldservice.com/HARDTalk or search for HARDTalk wherever you got this podcast.

That followed heavy diplomatic pressure by Poland, about to take over the presidency of the European Union. It threatened to block moves towards Ukrainian integration with the EU unless the ban were lifted.

But Poland’s demand has stirred a controversy inside Ukraine about one of the darkest periods of its history. Ukrainian nationalists who were involved in the massacre - and their leader Stepan Bandera - are regarded by many Ukrainians as heroes.

Reporter Tim Whewell travels through Poland and western Ukraine to try to find out what really happened in 1943, and ask whether Poland and Ukraine can ever lay a fiercely-contested history to rest. And can the record of Ukraine's Second World War nationalists be openly discussed without giving a propaganda victory to Russia, which has tried to use the subject to vilify Ukraine?

Produced by Hannah Dean and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Six days later, on another beach 50 miles away, a second foot was found. But, strangely, it does not match the first - they are from different people.

The BBC’s Celia Hatton travels to Vancouver to hear how more than 20 feet have been found in the area since then, and to speak to the investigators and scientists who have worked to unravel the mystery of why they started appearing.

How have his actions changed life for ordinary Argentines? Buenos Aires based reporter, Charlotte Pritchard, talks to Argentines about how they're feeling now. From the gauchos at the annual event to show off their herds of horses, to those taking advantage of a scheme to 'whiten' black-market money they have hidden under their mattress - is there hope or despair?

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

We are celebrating 10 years of The Food Chain with some of our favourite programme moments from the past decade.

Fishing to stay alive, chopping onions in remembrance, and tasting people’s names – these stories and more tell us something about our relationship with food and how it helps us connect with one another.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate. For more go to bbcworldservice.com/thefoodchain or search for The Food Chain wherever you got this podcast.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Previously, approximately 17 percent of accredited journalists working in Afghanistan were women - so where have they all gone, and what are they doing now? The BBC’s Sana Safi investigates.

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Anne Dixey Presenter: Krassi Twigg

Produced by Hannah Dean and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Jonny Dymond brings together a carefully assembled panel of experts, academics and journalists to talk about the conflict in the region. They assess what has happened in history to lead us to this point. And, look at what history can teach us about what might happen next.

But there's more than one way to be heard.

Our Whole Life is a Secret records the day to day life of 'Leila', a lively, energetic Afghan woman aged 23, doing everything she can to navigate the rules. From behind the walls of her home, Leila reveals her vivid interior world, and that of her female friends and relatives. She and her sisters are the first women in their family to read and write, and before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, she was a university student. Now she teaches in a secret school and is part of a dynamic online learning community. From reading Emily Bronte to working out to Zumba, Leila is determined to keep stay sane and busy.

'Leila' is not her real name and all locations are omitted for safety reasons. Her words are read by Asal Latifi.

(Photo: Composite image of Ghislaine Boddington. Credit: Ghislaine Boddington)

Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Malaysia has become a global hub for plastic waste imports and recycling. But how clean and safe is the recycling trade and how much plastic can actually be recycled?

For Assignment, Leana Hosea travels to Malaysia to meet those who are risking their lives to stem the tide of foreign plastic waste. She tracks unfolding research into microplastics and people’s health, and gains access inside recycling factories to reveal the dirty truth behind the trade.

Ten years ago, the current Champions League winners Barcelona and the Women’s Super League in England still weren’t professional, the Women’s World Cup was about to kick off in Canada using artificial pitches, much to the dismay of players and coaches – something which has never been repeated!

To mark an historic 10th year of the award, past winners including Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala and England’s Lucy Bronze reflect on winning the trophy. Along with previous nominees, they discuss key moments in the last decade and the challenges still ahead for the women’s game.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Jude Shapiro spends a week with the chaplains and those they encounter to see what happens when faith, flight and the stresses of Europe’s busiest airport combine.

With thanks to the Heathrow Multi-Faith Chaplaincy and Heathrow Airport.

Presenter/producer: Jude Shapiro Executive producer: Jack Howson Sound engineer: Arlie Adlington A Peanut and Crumb production for BBC World Service

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

2024 has been called a record breaking year for elections, with billions of people eligible to take part in all types of votes. But how can we make sure people can vote safely and securely?

We visit Australia's Northern Territory to see how voting takes place in incredibly remote communities. We also find out how a group of eminent women in Uganda is combating violence and intimidation during elections. And we hear how Estonia operates one of the most high-tech elections in the world.

People Fixing the World looks at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them. Discover more of the people and projects trying to make the world a better place at bbcworldservice.com/peoplefixingtheworld or, just search for People Fixing the World wherever you got this podcast.

Presenter: Myra Anubi Producers: Katie Solleveld, Richard Kenny Australia reporter: Laetitia Lemke Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Jon Bithrey

'Silk Roads' is at the British Museum in London until February 2025.

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

When the former US president called into question Kamala Harris's racial identity, it sparked an angry backlash. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, responded by saying 'no-one has any right to tell someone who they are [or] how they identify.'

Mr Trump's words hit a nerve in the American psyche, tapping into a centuries-old debate about ethnicity and authenticity, power and privilege.

But in an age where it is said that race is a social construct, how fluid is racial identity?

For Assignment, Ellie House travels around the US, meeting people fighting to claim their racial identity - as well those looking to police it. From an organisation that seeks to expose fake Native Americans in North Carolina, to the Ohio town where people with red hair and green eyes still identify as black, due to the racist history of their town's authorities.

‘Please note, this episode contains some outdated racial language that could cause offence.’

The southern US state of Georgia has received billions of dollars in investment in clean technology, creating tens of thousands of jobs at solar power factories and electric vehicle factories. It is also on the front-line of extreme weather - facing the threat of hurricanes, heatwaves and drought. So will voters in this swing state be considering climate change when they cast their ballots for the US presidential election in November? And how are politicians in Georgia talking about the issue. Jordan Dunbar takes a road trip across the state to find out.

Weekly, The Climate Question looks at why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that. For more episodes just search for 'The Climate Question' wherever you got his podcast.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: [email protected] or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producer: Beth Timmins Sound Mix: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Hannah Dean and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

The death of One Direction star Liam Payne has shocked the world, and there’s been a huge outpouring of grief. Many details about the British singer's death still remain unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities has started to build a picture of the events. We know that he was in Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and died after falling from a hotel balcony.

Liam rose to fame after competing in the singing competition the X Factor. It was here that he first met fellow One Direction members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik. Entertainment reporter Bonnie McLaren reminds us of his journey to fame, and his solo projects.

We also hear why he meant so much to fans globally, including 22-year-old Bintelmran in Pakistan. Plus Joshua Miles, a psychotherapist based in London, talks us through why we grieve celebs, even if we don’t know them directly.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this episode please contact support organisations in your own country. Or, if you live in the UK, please check out bbc.co.uk/actionline.

What in the World helps you make sense of what's happening in your world. Big stories, small stories and everything in between. Understand more, feel better. Five days a week, Monday to Friday. For more episodes, just search What in the World wherever you got this podcast.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Mora Morrison and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Joining Mishal are Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's international editor; Lord Ricketts, who served as a British diplomat for many years, including being on the Foreign Office Middle East desk during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982; Afif Safieh, former Palestinian head of mission in London, Washington, D.C. and Moscow; Ehud Olmert, who was Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009; Ambassador David Satterfield, who until earlier this year was US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues; and Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House.

Producers: Sinead Heekin and Louisa Lewis Editor: Owenna Griffiths Studio direction: Ben Andrews

Concerns are growing about the effects of smartphones on both adults and children, so we're looking at ways to reduce our dependence on these ubiquitous devices.

Presenter Myra Anubi attempts to ditch her smartphone for a week, while she finds out about a fast-growing campaign in which local parents get together to agree to delay buying them for their children. But Myra and her own daughter don't quite see eye-to-eye on the topic.

Plus Anna Holligan visits an innovative project called The Offline Club in Amsterdam, where people hand in their phones in exchange for a dose of good old real-life interaction.

People Fixing the World is a weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them. Discover more of the people and projects trying to make the world a better place at bbcworldservice.com/peoplefixingtheworld or, just search for People Fixing the World wherever you got this podcast.

Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer Netherlands reporter: Anna Holligan Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Harry Graham

But hundreds of thousands of Panamanians don’t have access to piped water. With a growing population and a drought, last year the Canal Authority reduced the number of ships passing through by a third, losing it and the country hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

The Authority says this was done to protect drinking water for the 2.5 million people who rely on the same water supply the Canal uses to work its massive locks. With uncertainty over the impact of climate change, Panamanians are asking whether there’ll be enough fresh water to satisfy the enormous demand from the canal’s locks with the basic need to have regular access to clean water.

Jane Chambers travels to Panama to meet the people involved in the struggles for access to water.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Just over three years ago the Taliban seized Kabul and stormed to power in Afghanistan. They soon declared a new government which is still not recognised by any other country. The Taliban claim they have made improvements to the country. War is over and, they say, there is more peace and security than before they came to power. But millions of people are struggling to survive in the country, there is a restrictive rule of law that is imposed by a very hierarchical government structure and half the population need aid.

This week on The Inquiry we’re asking ‘How are the Taliban governing Afghanistan?’

The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world. For more episodes just search for The Inquiry wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Presenter: Emily Wither Producers: Louise Clarke and Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott T echnical Producers: Nicky Edwards and Cameron Ward Contributors: Dr Weeda Mehran, co-director for Advanced Internationalist studies at Exeter University Graeme Smith, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group Dr Orzala Nemet, research associate at ODI Overseas Development Institute Javid Ahmad, non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Bonaventure and a friend developed a French to Fon translation app, with speech recognition functionality, using an old missionary bible and volunteer questionnaires as the source data. Although rudimentary, they put the code online as open-source to be used by others. Bonaventure has since joined with other young African computer scientists and language activists called Masakane to use this code and share knowledge to increase digital accessibility for African and other lower-resourced languages. They want to be able to communicate across the African continent using translation software, with the ultimate goal being an "African Babel Fish", a simultaneous speech-to-speech translation for African languages.

James Jackson explores what role their ground-breaking software could play for societies in Africa disrupted by language barriers.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service

Photo: A woman using a mobile phone Credit: Getty Images

Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Presenter: Amber Haque Producer: Rajeev Gupta Editor: Miriam Williamson Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

In the 1960s Falco Peregrinus was close to extinction, but it has since made a remarkable comeback, hailed as a global success story of conservation.

Recent decades have also seen the trend of this speedy raptor notably settling, nesting and flourishing alongside us, in man-made environments around the globe.

Broadcaster, naturalist and writer David Lindo, a.k.a. ‘The Urban Birder’ travels from a hospital in London to a museum in Madrid and a power station in Kentucky, to explore how an iconic, apex predator is bouncing back from the brink, thriving in cities and towns across the world.

Along the way David highlights their incredible hunting ability and how both our responsibility for the decline of the Peregrine and our pervading fondness for it, have helped to contribute to its astounding recovery.

Image: Getty images

A warning, this program includes upsetting content.

The Midwife’s Confession was produced by Anubha Bhonsle, Purnima Mehta, Debangshu Roy, Neha Tara Mehta, Annabel Deas, Rob Wilson and Ahmen Khawaja. The editors were Daniel Adamson and Rebecca Henschke. It was mixed by Neva Missirian. Image credit: BBC Eye

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

When listener Watum heard about the Titan submersible implosion in the news in 2023, a question popped up in his mind: if a machine that we specifically built for this purpose cannot sustain the water pressure of the deep ocean, how do fish survive down there?

In this episode, we travel with marine biologist Alan Jamieson to the second deepest place in our oceans: the Tonga trench. Meanwhile, presenter Caroline Steel speaks to Edie Widder about the creatures that illuminate our oceans, and travels to Copenhagen to take a closer look one of the strangest deep sea creatures and its deep sea adaptations.

But even fish have their limits! Scientist Paul Yancey correctly predicted the deepest point that fish can live, and it all comes down to one particular molecule.

So is there anything living beyond these depths? Well, there is only one way to find out…

CrowdScience takes your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontier of knowledge. For more episodes just search for CrowdScience wherever you got this podcast.

Contributors: Prof Alan Jamieson, University of Western Australia Luke Siebermaier, Submersible Team Leader, Inkfish Dr Edie Widder, Ocean Research & Conservation Association Peter Rask Møller, Natural History Museum of Denmark Prof Paul Yancey, Whitman College

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Florian Bohr Editor: Martin Smith & Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

(Image: Deep-sea fish - stock photo, Credit: superjoseph via Getty Images)

Maria Margaronis speaks to Varosha's former inhabitants - mostly Greek Cypriots - who fled in 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the island and have been unable to return ever since, after Turkey fenced off the town as a bargaining chip for future peace negotiations.

Some of these Varoshians want to rebuild the resort together with the island's Turkish Cypriots - a potential model for diffusing hostilities across the whole island - and the UN says its original inhabitants must be allowed to return. But, following decades of failed peace talks, the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which controls Varosha, now says it intends to re-open and redevelop the entire town.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Since Israel launched its war in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas attacks of October 7th, it has intensified its military activities along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The persistent question has been what is it trying to achieve? Are the attacks intended as a show of support for the Palestinians in Gaza or an attempt to take advantage of Israel’s diverted military focus? And could this dangerous front lead to an all-out war in the Middle East?

This week on the Inquiry we are asking: What does Hezbollah want?

For more, search "The Inquiry" whevever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Contributors: Aurélie Daher, Associate Professor in political science at the University Paris-Dauphine Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House Dr Bashir Saade, Lecturer of Politics and Religion at the University of Stirling in Scotland Mehran Kamrava, Professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar

Presenter: Tanya Beckett

Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Geeta Pendse meets them both and finds out how to deliver sex education that is both useful and appropriate for their students.

Presenter: Geeta Pendse Producer: Linda Walker Series producer: Rajeev Gupta Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Hannah Dean and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov Presenter: Krassi Twigg

The Global Jigsaw looks at the world through the lens of its media. Think of us as your media detectives, helping you get past the propaganda and misinformation. The Global Jigsaw comes from BBC Monitoring, which tracks, deciphers, and analyses news media in 100 languages. At BBC Monitoring, we don’t just speak the language, we understand the narrative. So we can help you untangle the context and single out rhetoric from reality, deception from truth. For more episodes just search The Global Jigsaw wherever you got this podcast.

Intelligent machines are remaking our world. The speed of their improvement is accelerating fast and every day there are more things they can do better than us. There are risks, but the opportunities for human society are enormous.

‘Machine Learning: AI’ is the technological revolution of our era. Three engineers at the forefront of that revolution come to London to join Caroline Steel and a public audience at the Great Hall of Imperial College:

Regina Barzilay from MIT created a major breakthrough in detecting early stage breast cancer. She also led the team that used machine learning to discover Halicin, the first new antibiotic in 30 years.

David Silver is Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. He led the AlphaGo team that built the AI to defeat the world’s best human player of Go.

Paolo Pirjanian founded Embodied, and is a pioneer in developing emotionally intelligent robots to aid child development.

Producer: Charlie Taylor (Image: 3D hologram AI brain displayed by digital circuit and semiconductor. Credit: Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images)

For years, they worshipped at two Islamic centres in the town. Then, in November, the town’s far right mayor, Anna Maria Cisint, tried to effectively ban collective prayer there, along with stopping cricket - the Bangladeshi national sport - from being played within the town.

She says she is defending Christian values. Her critics say she is building walls rather than bridges. For Assignment, Sofia Bettiza travels to Italy to discover how the country is dealing with the increasing numbers of legal migrants coming to work in a country which needs their labour.

This audio was updated on 13th August 2024.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Edna O’Brien was born in rural County Clare in 1930, and found her education by nuns suffocating. She moved to Dublin, and subsequently spent much of her life in London. The Country Girls tells the story of two girls from rural Ireland growing up in a convent school before moving to Dublin to begin their adult lives.

World Book Club is a series where the world's great authors discuss their best-known novel. For more episodes, search for World Book Club wherever you got this podcast.

The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, from the BBC World Service. For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globalstory or search for The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Divorce rates have been in decline across the West for decades. Experts put this down to a variety of factors, from fewer marriages to a widening dating pool, but cultural differences mean it is difficult to draw broad conclusions on the trends around splitting up. So how can we judge how attitudes to divorce have changed? On today's episode Lucy Hockings is joined by divorce mediator and former BBC presenter Joanna Gosling, as well as Marina Adshade, a professor at the University of British Columbia who focusses on the economics of sex and relationships. They interrogate some of the stats on divorce, and discuss how the process of dissolving marriage is portrayed in popular culture.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at [email protected] You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Producer: Alice Aylett Roberts, Laurie Kalus and Emilia Jansson Sound engineer: Hannah Montgomery and Phil Bull Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas Editor is Richard Fenton-Smith

This is a bonus episode from HARDtalk, a show that brings you in-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities. For more episodes search for HARDtalk wherever your get your BBC podcasts.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

To hear more, search for World of Secrets, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. You can also listen here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvs0/episodes/downloads

Since this trailer was recorded, the “apartheid killer”, Louis van Schoor, has died. There will be more about this during the series.

World of Secrets is the home of major BBC global investigations and gripping storytelling, holding the powerful to account. Follow or subscribe to catch up on previous seasons and to hear what’s coming up in 2024.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

This programme was edited on 19th July 2024.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson, Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Archive: ‘Witches’ Burnt in Kenya, NTD News

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, from the BBC World Service. For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globalstory or search for The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

On Thursday, voters in the UK delivered a decisive political verdict. Keir Starmer became the new Prime Minister, as the Labour party won a landslide victory. The Conservatives, who have run Britain for 14 years, suffered the worst election defeat in their long history. So, who is Keir Starmer? And can his party deliver the change the people voted for?

Lucy Hockings speaks to Rob Watson - the BBC World Service's UK Political Correspondent. He explains how the Labour majority will command a huge majority in the House of Commons, but not necessarily the same level of support among the public.

This episode was made by Richard Moran, Alix Pickles, Peter Goffin and Eleanor Sly. The technical producers were Ricardo McCarthy. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal if someone is suffering unbearably with no prospect of getting better. The suffering can be physical or psychological. Els was diagnosed with dementia. Jan lived with pain 24/7.

Last year, 33 Dutch couples chose to die like Els and Jan. And in February, one of the Netherlands’ former Prime Ministers ended his life by euthanasia together with his wife.

For Assignment, Linda Pressly meets Els and Jan as they prepare for the end. And she explores the complex issue of allowing euthanasia in cases of dementia. A warning: some listeners might find the content of this documentary upsetting.

Last year, Nigeria’s immigration service issued a record number of passports - almost 2 million.

So when we were in Lagos we spoke to the BBC’s Faith Oshoko, who explained what drives young professionals to move abroad.

And we chatted to students - would they ever Japa? And would they come back?

To find out more of what is going on in the world search for "What in the World" wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

This programme contains discussion of suicide and suicide attempts. If you feel affected by this topic, you could speak to a health professional or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at: www.befrienders.org

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Producer: Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi Twigg

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Since last year, “decolonising Russia” has become a buzz-phrase in Ukraine and other former members of the soviet union, among many Western strategists and politicians, Russian studies experts – and Russia’s own liberal opposition and ethnic minorities.

And that’s triggered a vigorous debate about whether the term “decolonisation” is really relevant to Russia – and what it means. Is it about challenging the “imperial mindset” of its rulers – and perhaps of every ordinary Russian? Or perhaps it means dismembering the country itself?

In “Assignment: Decolonising Russia” Tim Whewell dissects a new and vital controversy with the help of historians, policy makers and activists in the former Soviet Union, the West and the Global South.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Journalist Jigyasa Mishra meets the farmers, flower pickers and traditional perfumers of Kannauj to better understand the way of life attar sustains and to ask: can anything be done to reverse the trend?

Producers: Jigyasa Mishra and Artemis Irvine

A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

The Gambia banned FGM in 2015, but it could be about to reverse this. BBC journalist Esther Ogola, who’s based in Nairobi, explains why. We also hear how Kenya has more than halved its victims - and discuss the likelihood of the practice ending by 2030, which is the UN’s goal.

To find out more of what is going on in the world search for "What in the World" wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Note: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of FGM.

This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC. Image of Maria Ressa: Getty Images

This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC. Image credit: Francis Crick Institute

This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC. Image: Courtesy of Oleksandra Matviichuk

This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC. Image: Courtesy of Katalin Kariko

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Presenter: Quentin Sommerville Producer: Lindle Markwell Editor: Penny Murphy Sound Engineer: Andy Fell Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

image: KNDF graduates in Myanmar. Credit: BBC

Reporter: Natasha Cox Producers: Ahmed El Shamy and Louise Hidalgo Editors: Rebecca Henschke and Rosie Garthwaite Sound engineer: Neil Churchill + James Beard

‘Mad Women’ is fighting the stereotypes and stigma of what it has historically meant to be a woman with mental health conditions, in different countries, through sometimes brutal conversations about sexuality, motherhood, gender oppression and the role of women in the arts, as artists and muses. Felicity Finch follows Constanza as she and her international creative team collaborate and face the challenges of working with the two casts: juggling rehearsals, coping with a very tight deadline, while making sure they are sensitive to the needs of the four women in the understandably vulnerable community cast.

Constanza is also making plans to take her play and this unique way of working to different communities of women internationally, including her native Chile.

If you need support following anything you’ve heard in this episode, there’s information at bbc.com/actionline

Presenter and Producer: Felicity Finch Exec producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Professional Cast of Mad Women. Credit: Héctor Manchego)

The BBC’s Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera, delves into the worlds of espionage, surveillance, technology, the theft of commercial secrets, free speech at universities and political interference to explore the points of friction. In this documentary, he speaks to spy chiefs, former prime ministers and dissidents as well as those on the frontline of this Shadow War.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

Show less

For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globaljigsaw or search for The Global Jigsaw wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Producer: Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi Twigg

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

This programme contains descriptions some of you may find upsetting.

Residents of Venice, Bali and Spain’s Canary Islands discuss their concerns, ranging from a lack of infrastructure and non-tourist housing to cultural insensitivity and the distribution of tourism income.

“Tenerife has about one million residents and six million tourists visit every year,” says Brian. “With over 36 percent of the population living in or at risk of poverty, it’s obvious that mass tourism has failed the islanders.”

We also discuss the role of travel influencers who share videos and photos with a mass audience on social media. Kristen Sarah in Costa Rica, who runs @Hopscotchtheglobe vlog, says: “As influencers, it’s our messaging that encourages and inspires others to follow in our footsteps,” she says. “A photo is just a photo. But if you don’t take in the place that you’re visiting, then what’s the point of even going?”

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

With access to mafioso-turned-collaborator Emanuele Mancuso, journalist Francisco Garcia looks at why Emanuele testified against his powerful family. What has this trial meant for the 'Ndrangheta? And has it changed life for Calabrians today?

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

For this In The Studio, arts journalist Anna Bailey follows Wangari as she creates her second immersive experience at the Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. It’s a life-sized replica of her Nairobi studio and this is where she invited 20 female domestic workers to have a day of rest, while also painting large-scale portraits of them for a new series of work which celebrates female domestic workers in Kenya.

Wangari also invites listeners into her Chicago studio, where she is working on the next painting in the series. But as Anna finds out, rest is not only important to the workers but to Wangari herself.

Presenter and producer Anna Bailey Executive producer Andrea Kidd.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

AI researcher Kerry McInerney applies a feminist perspective to data, algorithms and intelligent machines. AI-powered tech, and generative AI in particular, pose new challenges for cybersecurity. Kerry proposes a new take on AI, looking at how it can be used on a small scale, acknowledging culture and gender, tailoring the technology for local applications rather than trying to push for global, one size fits all strategies.

And in addressing corporate responsibility for Big Tech, Kerry discusses how tackling harassment online requires an understanding of the social, political and psychological dimensions of harassment, particularly of women in the wider world, as opposed to seeing this as a technical problem.

Dr Kerry McInerney is a research fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge, and the AI Now Institute.

This is the last of four programmes from the Oxford Literary Festival, presented by Nuala McGovern, produced by Julian Siddle.

Recorded in front of an audience at Worcester College Oxford.

In South Korean media, shamans are often portrayed as deceitful characters who misuse their status to manipulate people and profit from others… but that negative image is slowly changing as young shamans are modernising their approach. They now have shrines in the busy centre of Seoul and they've become big on social media, even offering consultations online. BBC journalist Soo Min Kim has been speaking to shamans and their customers about why people go to see them and how social media is making them more accessible.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld

WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6

Email: [email protected]

Presenter: Hannah Gelbart with Soo Min Kim

Producers: Emily Horler and Adam Chowdhury

Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

It started out as underground music in marginalised communities but was criticised for allegedly promoting violence and being too sexually explicit.

Reggaeton has since been used as an anthem to overthrow a local governor and a way to criticise the island’s complex relationship with the United States.

It’s also evolved from misogynist roots to reach new audiences in the LGBTQ community.

Jane Chambers travels to Puerto Rico to meet the people and hear the music which is both maligned and revered.

What are the moral challenges of this work for a person of faith? Are 'enhanced interrogation techniques' ever justified? What if these methods help to prevent more deaths in the future? In this edition of Heart & Soul for the BBC World Service, Colm Flynn explores these questions with Dr Jennifer Bryson. He discovers how her faith guided her through what she regards as the most radical time of her life.

Producer/ Presenter: Colm Flynn Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno Editor: Helen Grady

When it comes to elephant conservation, Botswana is the world leader. It is now home to more than 130,000 elephants — or around a third of the world's elephant population. But this growing number poses major problems for humans: the animals destroy homes and crops, and even injure and kill people.

To manage its elephant population, Botswana allows so-called “trophy hunting”. Hunters from abroad pay for permits to shoot and kill elephants — and can then take a piece of the elephant home. Botswana then re-invests this income into conservation efforts. It’s a controversial practice. Animal rights activists want Botswana’s government to seek alternatives to trophy hunting, which they deem as cruel. And in Germany — Europe’s biggest importer of African elephant trophies — the government has suggested there should be stricter limits on importing them. The president of Botswana recently threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany as part of the dispute.

Shingai Nyoka, a BBC reporter in neighbouring Zimbabwe, explains the laws that govern trophy hunting and why they’re up for debate.

And John Murphy, a BBC News reporter in London, recounts his experience visiting an “elephant corridor” — regular routes taken by elephants in their daily commute between their feeding grounds on one side and water on the other.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: [email protected] Presenter: Hannah Gelbart with Shingai Nyoka Producers: Alex Rhodes and William Lee Adams Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

In conversation with Nuala McGovern, she argues that different perspectives are essential for moving the science forward. One of these is a more global, inclusive vision to exploring the cosmos. India and China have prestigious space programmes, and the low-key space missions of Japan and South Africa collaborate with international partners from around the world. We discuss how global enthusiasm for space research can be used to propel change.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell is professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford.

This is the second of a series of four programmes from the Oxford Literary Festival, presented by Nuala McGovern, produced by Julian Siddle.

Recorded in front of an audience at Worcester College Oxford.

Asif Farooqi, Aalia Farzan and Deena Easa have been looking at how conflict, natural disasters and the cost-of-living crisis are impacting people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Gaza. Plus... Ramadan cricket, why do people want to get married during the Holy Month, and the TV series that everyone’s talking about.

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson

(Image: Presenter Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

In the last few years, medical advances have led to treatments that really do offer the potential to tackle life-threatening cancers and debilitating diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

In discussion with Nuala McGovern, Venki also explores the questions such treatments raise. Initially, they will be expensive, and we already have a global society in which there is a direct link between life expectancy and affluence; will access to these treatments, or lack of it, increase that disparity? And although your incurable disease may now be cured, what about the rest of your quality of life? Can the planet support an increasingly needy older and older generation? Does trying to live longer become a selfish act?

Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan heads a research group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

This is the first in a series of four programmes from the Oxford Literary Festival, presented by Nuala McGovern and produced by Julian Siddle.

Recorded in front of an audience at Worcester College, Oxford.

Almost industrial scale arrests began after huge, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations swept the country in 2020 after Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in presidential elections. Mr Lukashenko has been in power for 30 years. Protestors said the result was a fraud, and that they’d been cheated of their vote.

Almost four years on, the authorities are still making mass arrests.

Many of those detained are women. The most prominent woman prisoner, Maria Kolesnikova, a professional flute player, has been incommunicado for over a year, with no word at all reaching her family or lawyers.

Political prisoners are made to wear a yellow patch on their clothes. The women say they kept short of food and made to sew uniforms for the security forces, to clean the prison yard with rags and shovel snow. They speak of undergoing humiliating punishments such as standing in parade grounds under the sun for hours.

Yet they also tell us of camaraderie and warmth in their tiny cells as they try to keep one other going. And women on the outside continue to take personal risks to help the prisoners by sending in food, warm clothes and letters.

Photo by Tim Mansel

Producer/ Presenter: Linda Pressly Producer: Tim Mansel Producer in Mexico: Ulises Escamilla Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno Sound:Tanzy Leitner

The city gained the same unwanted accolade last year. The practice of agricultural burning in the hills around Chiang Mai renders the air so toxic from February to April that it becomes unsafe to breathe. Respiratory problems and allergies caused by PM2.5, a type of pollution, led to more than 12,000 people being admitted to hospital in 2023.

The bad air affects everyone, including the young and physically fit. In December 2023, Krittai Tanasombatkul, a 29-year-old doctor and basketball fanatic, succumbed to lung cancer. Like 40% of people with the disease in the city, he was not a smoker.

This is episode one of a four-part season from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast.

Content warning: This episode contains lived experiences which involve the use of strong racist language

In this episode of Border Stories, Linda Pressly hears terrifying stories of kidnap and extortion from those who have risked everything to enter the United States.

The US/Mexico border has become the most important battleground for Americans in this year’s presidential election, but it seems no one can stop the men with guns who operate with impunity south of the border in Mexico.

Measure 110 decriminalised possession of all illicit substances, including heroin, methamphetamine and oxycodone. The campaigners accurately predicted that the new law would ease tensions around racial disparities within policing, but it also coincided with the spread of the deadly and addictive drug fentanyl, and a tidal wave of homelessness.

Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, and is now the drug of choice for nearly all heroin users. It’s also more deadly - activists and the police now regularly carry the opioid-blocking drug Narcan to treat people overdosing on the streets. Homelessness also continues to rise as the cheap and available fentanyl spreads, creating an epidemic on two fronts.

Local journalist Winston Ross explores the complex issues behind Portland’s fentanyl crisis, speaking across the political divide and to many of those in the eye of the storm.

It starts with women from Malawi who travel to Oman in the hope of improving their lives. Instead, they find themselves trapped in servitude as domestic workers. BBC Africa Eye has spent months uncovering evidence of physical and sexual abuse through voice notes, videos, and texts. But as reporter Florence Phiri reveals, there’s a network of women working across continents, fighting to try to bring them home.

Warning: Some people may find details in this story distressing.

Presenter: Florence Phiri Producers: Nicky Milne and Rob Wilson Editors: Tom Watson and Rebecca Henschke Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

this edition was first published in 2022

Linda Pressly hears about the pain of separation as experienced by a man from Guatemala; speaks to the people still trying to put families back together; and asks if a new administration might turn again to Zero Tolerance in an attempt to deter would-be migrants to the United States.

Everything from video game clips falsely presented as genuine combat footage, to the outright denial of civilian deaths, have been deployed to try to skew the online narrative and warp public perceptions.

BBC Verify’s Olga Robinson and Shayan Sardarizadeh examine the trends in this alternative war over the Middle East with the help of Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, the independent investigative organisation."

One man has made it his life’s work to record their testimonies with paper and pen. Kavita hears from him, and tries to understand more about why the three million people who perished aren’t better remembered or memorialised in India, Bangladesh and Britain.

Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix Taylor

With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee and Professor Joya Chatterji

And as the need for relief in Bengal becomes ever greater, more pressure is put on the British government from India’s new Viceroy. He asks for more food imports. Could the War Cabinet and Prime Minister Winston Churchill have done more to help alleviate the famine in the middle of the war?

Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix Taylor

With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee and Professor Joya Chatterji

Interviews conducted by Lance Brennan courtesy of University of Cambridge

Interviews with GS Khosla courtesy of University of Cambridge

But as more and more starving people arrive in cities across Bengal, it becomes harder to suppress. Indian writers, photographers and artists document the humanitarian catastrophe, but it was risky, as the censor forbade mention of the famine. A British journalist and editor of the English language Statesman newspaper, in Calcutta, decides to challenge the censor and begins publishing photographs and scathing editorials about what was really going on in Bengal. It shocks the world. In London, the BBC reports on “famine conditions” and, as we uncover, the British government tries to pressurise the broadcaster to tone down its coverage.

Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix Taylor

With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee, Professor Joya Chatterji and Dr Diya Gupta

As the food crisis deepens, shocking testimonies from the countryside show the extent of starvation. Many thousands of hungry people begin moving from the rural areas towards the cities.

Indians - including children - are forced into life-or-death decisions.

Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix Taylor

With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee, Professor Joya Chatterji and Dr Diya Gupta.

Interview with Alan McLeod courtesy of the University of Cambridge

From the creator and presenter of the award-winning series Three Pounds in my Pocket and Partition Voices, this is the story of the Bengal Famine of 1943. For the first time it is told by those who were there - farmers and fishermen, artists and writers, colonial British and everyday citizens. Nearly all of the testimony in the series has never been broadcast before.

Eighty years on, those who lived through it are a vanishing generation. Time is running out to record their memories.

We begin in 1942. As the Japanese sweep through South East Asia, Calcutta (now Kolkata) is inundated with hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers from all over the world. Fear of a Japanese invasion of British India provokes a consequential decision.

Presenter: Kavita Puri Series producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Emma Rippon Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck Original music: Felix Taylor

With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee, Professor Joya Chatterji and Dr Diya Gupta.

Interviews with American soldiers courtesy of The National World War II Museum, New Orleans: nationalww2museum.org/

Interviews with G S Khosla and Debotosh Das Gupta courtesy of the University of Cambridge

Major General Dharitri Kumar Palit interviewed by Gillian Wright, 1987, British Library reference C63/195/09. Audio © British Library Board and the interviewee. The British Library has been unable to locate the family of the interviewee. Please contact [email protected] with any relevant information.

Archive: AAJ News, May 2023 GNN, February 2023, Naya Daur February 2022, GEO TV October 2022

Photo by ANATOLY MALTSEV/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (14329432c) People stand at a bus stop near an image depicting St. Isaac's Cathedral (back) on a sunny day in St. Petersburg, Russia, 02 February 2024. Temperatures in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, reached minus two degrees Celsius on the day.

Producer: Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi Twigg Editor: Judy King Twitter handle of contributors: @VitalyBBC, @jen_mon1, @oivshina Original music: Pete Cunningham Sound engineer: Martin Appleby

A year on, we have been catching-up with survivors to hear how their lives have changed. One family – Iman, Karim and their 7-year-old daughter Nada – had fled from the war in Syria to have a new life in Turkey. They lost family, friends and their home in the earthquake.

When host James Reynolds called the family up in the last few days, they told him they were doing much better. Young Nada, however, is still having nightmares about the floor shaking and people she has lost.

“I have a dream about my friend Iman, she died from the earthquake,” Nada tells James. “I’m so sad about her, and I have a friend who moved to Canada – I miss her so much.”

We also hear messages from BBC listeners in Turkey and reunite with Harun, an English teacher in southern Turkey, and Bilal who is living in the east of the country and had his business destroyed last year.

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

Presented by Nikos Papanikolaou Produced by Giles Edwards.

This podcast was edited after it was published

Shaquem Griffin was born with amniotic band syndrome causing the fingers on his left hand not to fully develop. The pain was so intense that at 4 years of age he grabbed a butcher knife, planning to cut the hand off. His mother took the knife away, and scheduled an amputation the next day… Despite the obvious setback of only having one hand, Shaquem still fulfilled his dream and played in the NFL for four seasons. He tells us his story.

And Cyndy Feasel who watched on helpless as her husband, former NFL star Grant Feasel died the victim of alcohol abuse and a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. She tells us about one NFL wife’s story of concussions, loss, and the faith that saw her through.

Plus, in the year America elects its next president we explore the relationship between the Super Bowl and the Commander in Chief.

And we speak to SpongeBob Square pants best friend Patrick Starr as he prepares to give an alternative commentary of Sunday's game for younger viewers!

It is not just the famous who are being targeted. Host James Reynolds hears the story of how a daughter’s voice was copied and used to make a scam phone call to her mother.

“She said mom I messed up, and all of a sudden a man said ‘put your head back and lay down’ and that’s when I started to get really concerned that she was either really hurt or something more was going on,” Jennifer tells us. “And then she goes ‘mom, mom, these bad men have me, help me, help me and she starts crying and sobbing.”

Thankfully her daughter, Brianna, had not been kidnapped but the call has had a lasting effect on the family.

Technology has made the process of adjusting images easier but artificial intelligence provides the means to create media from scratch to generate completely fake content. We bring together two women – in the US and Australia – who have had their faces manipulated using AI to produce malicious pornographic images and videos.

For this last programme in a special series on religion in the 21st century, Heart and Soul on the BBC World Service brings together three global Buddhists from Singapore, the USA and the UK.

Venerable Canda Theri Bhikkhuni is the only fully ordained bhikkhuni, or female Buddhist monastic, in the UK. She founded the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, which aims to provide the country’s first monastery where women can train towards full ordination.

Heng Xuan Tio is based in Singapore and is the co-founder of Handful of Leaves, an online community which aims to show young people how Buddhism is relevant to their modern lives.

And Lama Rod Owens is a Black gay Buddhist teacher and author based in the USA. His teaching focuses on social change, identity, and spiritual practice.

For this special discussion programme, the BBC’s Alice Bhandhukravi brings them together to discuss Buddhism’s difference branches, how it’s been interpreted in western countries, the differences between monastic and lay Buddhism, and the unique challenges of following a 2,500-year-old faith tradition in the present day.

Presented by Alice Bhandhukravi.

This Podcast was originally published in March 2023

It’s long been rumoured that Serbia’s ruling SNS party commands the online activity of a small army of citizens, dubbed ‘bots’ by the opposition. But this kind of list, naming and shaming thousands of ordinary Serbians, is unprecedented.

If true, their activity represents a form of political corruption according to Serbia’s public prosecutor. The government’s response has alarmed observers - it shrugged off the story, publishing instead a veiled tongue-in-cheek ‘admission’.

But who is behind the list, and can it be trusted? BBC Trending has analysed the data in an attempt to establish if the ‘bots’ are indeed real people. And whether their accounts show evidence of co-ordinated activity.

Featuring interviews gathered on the ground in Belgrade, we hear from opposition politicians, pro-democracy activists and a self-professed real-life ‘bot’. She tells us she trolled the President’s opponents under threat of losing her job – as a receptionist at a state-controlled electricity company in a small Serbian town.

Reporter: Sam Judah

This week, three US doctors who recently left Gaza share their experiences of working in a hospital in the territory with host James Reynolds. “Blast waves hit the operating room, you can see your metal table with all the instruments rattle, doors slam, the plaster falling off the walls,” Dr Chandra Hassan, from international humanitarian NGO MedGlobal tells us. “You learn to live with that, and you sleep out of exhaustion.”

The escalation of the military activities left many people with no choice but to flee their homes. 35-year-old Layan and her two daughters, 12-year-old Sama and Elya, who’s 8, had to take a long – and at times dangerous – journey from Gaza City to Khan Younis in the south. They have since managed to cross the border into Egypt, where they are now living safely in Cairo. They share their experiences of leaving the Gaza Strip and Layan tells us why she feels guilty leaving the rest of her family behind.

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

The film follows a year in the life of 61-year-old African American, Adrian Spears. He certainly stands out in the sleepy Californian town where he makes a living shining shoes: dancing around with his bowler hat, starched shirt and bright red uniform. The film opens as he folds up the cardboard sheets he sleeps on at night and makes his way to the storage unit where he keeps clothes and an iron. Everything he owns is immaculately pressed, and it was partly his quiet dignity which drew Leonard to Adrian, and which resonates throughout the movie.

Leonard had thought his days in the movies business were over: he gave up his Hollywood career 30 years ago to retrain as a family therapist and through Adrian’s story he has reclaimed his passion.

The BBC Producer, Sue Mitchell, came across Leonard’s film whilst recording with a homeless man living just a few miles away. She was intrigued and began exploring the background to the film and examining why it was proving so popular with audiences.

We wanted to talk to people in Yemen to get a sense of what day to day life is like. Host, James Reynolds, is joined by two Yeminis who live and work in the capital, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis. “It looks like normal life,” Radhya tells us. “But if you are sick you will not find a proper health system, there is no good education system at all – the disaster in Sanaa is not something you can see with your naked eye.”

Others inside Yemen have sent us messages and we bring together three people who have left the country. They talk about their home and hopes to one day return. “I imagine Yemen before the nightmare, before the war,” says Ahad. “It was a beautiful place and I wish for it to go back to how it was before.”

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

In 2007 Finland decided to switch to a radical new approach to homelessness called ‘housing first’, in which homeless people are simply offered their own apartment, with no expectations of them except paying the rent (usually covered by their benefits); alongside this they are given whatever support they need to remain housed, for as long as they need it. Proponents of 'housing first' argue that it is much easier for homeless people to sort out issues such as addiction or poor mental health when they have a secure home.

The results so far seem to bear this out: around 90% of people offered an apartment remain housed, a much higher rate than under the previous system. However, critics argue that the approach could be much harder to implement in countries without Finland’s extensive social welfare system or good stock of affordable housing.

Erika Benke visits the Väinölä Housing Unit outside Helsinki, an emergency shelter which was converted into 35 individual flats for formerly homeless people. What difference has having their own place made to the residents? And are they off the streets for good?

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

For Assignment, Nick Thorpe has been to the north-west of Bulgaria, where it meets Serbia to the west and Romania across the Danube to the north. There he meets two men who worked as drivers for a smuggling organisation, shuttling migrants from Sofia, the capital, to the border.

Host James Reynolds hears from graduates from India, the United States, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana who either can’t find work or have changed direction from what they studied in order to find success - be it from English via waitressing to financial education - or economics to fashion.

These are stories about resilience and overcoming rejection, with many companies not even responding to job applications.

23 year old Priyanka, from India, lives in the UK after obtaining her degree and then her Masters in London in 2022. She recently signed up with a graduate coach to improve her chances of employment.

“I’ve probably had, out of 800 applications, maybe five interviews so far,” Priyanka says, “So it’s a very, very tough market for an entry level candidate.”

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team

But serious and complex illnesses like cancer are becoming more common in Kenya, and end of life care is a much-needed service for people facing death. In Eldoret, Western Kenya, a group of Christians have made it their life's work to defy the stigma, and to help those with terminal illnesses find peace in their final days.

Kimbilio Hospice, run by a Christian charity called Living Room International, was established by Pastor David Tarus over a decade ago. The hospice provides specialist medical care to ease symptoms at the very end of a patient’s life, but often they first have to convince patients' families that it's OK to accept the facility's help. BBC Africa reporter Esther Ogola visited the hospice to see what exactly that entails.

Presenter: Nomsa Maseko

Fred D’Aguiar recovers and re-imagines his story, in several voices – including the horses. In this edition of In the Studio, Julian May meets D’Aguiar on the cusp. For The Unnamed is written and D’Aguiar explains how he is now preparing it for publication and his way of proof-reading. He is also feeling his way towards his next project, beginning a series of poetic studies of people he has known, people he has lost and people who inspire him. This is, tentatively, entitled Lives Studied.

D'Aguiar reveals his processes, how he begins, rising very early, taking his dog, Dexter, for a walk, drinking a coffee, then setting to. He speaks quickly, so writes always in longhand with a pen, to slow thought down, to consider. He speaks too of his reading and influences, for instance Robert Lowell and his collection ‘Life Studies’. For D’Aguiar the practice of writing is integral to his existence - writing is living.

(Photo: Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary committee during confirmation hearings as she seeks to become the first woman to take a seat on the US Supreme Court, Washington, DC, 9 September , 1981. Credit: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

53-year-old professional explorer from Australia, Geoff Wilson, joined us from Canada. He has just completed the first part of his latest expedition, Project Zero, a two-year journey to promote the concept of “carbon neutral exploring”. So far, the adventure has included crossing perilous crevasses in Patagonia and battling towering waves at sea.

“I was woken up by my son and his mate Geordie who were on watch saying that the boat was surfing down 15, 16 metre waves at about 16 knots,” Geoff tells host, James Reynolds. “It just felt that everything had gone to custard very quickly.”

We bring Geoff together with Kiyonah Mya Buckhalter, a 25-year-old New Yorker. Kiyonah is Muslim, black and blogs as the “Veiled Traveller” on Instagram.

“Travelling the way I do,” she says, “I’ve had to grow my confidence to get people to understand that I do have a warm heart and I am smiling very hard under this veil, even though they may not see it.”

We also hear from 29-year-old Noel Salmon from London. Noel has just completed a seven-month solo cycle of the old silk road from Turkey to China, which involved extreme temperatures and exploding inner tubes.

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

Every year, it reaches another 40 km of river and is eating all before it, especially smaller native fish stocks including even the deadly piranha. At the same time, the Paiche is proving a boon to many local fisherman who sell it to families and restaurants who are acquiring a taste for it in a land-locked country where meat has always been the favourite form of protein. This gives scientists and the authorities a dilemma. Do they try and control or even eradicate the Paiche from rivers famed for their biodiversity where new species are being identified all the time? Or let its spread continue unabated and provide a useful livelihood for fishermen and a healthy addition to the Bolivian diet? For Assignment, Jane Chambers takes to the rivers of Bolivia

Presenter: Francis Peña

Time Magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year is also the most streamed female artist on Spotify and Apple and this week she achieved a record 90 weeks at number 1 on the US Billboard Artist 100 chart.

Swift’s Eras tour, which began in March this year and concludes at the end of 2024, has become the first to gross over $1 billion. Wherever Swift’s concerts land, they bring a big boost in the local economy.

Host James Reynolds hears about Swift’s appeal from those with a professional and personal interest in the singer-songwriter. They include the first full-time Taylor Swift reporter and also the professor who is about to start teaching a ‘Taylor Swift and her World’ course to students at Harvard University.

We also meet fans - or Swifties - from across four continents about why her songs are so special.

“I was in the southern most part of Africa,” says Agape, who is from Cape Town and currently studying in the UK. “But I felt, even in her song lyrics, like she was writing for me or about me.”   A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

Host James Reynolds brings together three young people in India, Uganda and Bangladesh to hear their concerns and what it’s like to live in a country struggling with air pollution.

“I got up, I looked out the window, nothing. I couldn’t even see my own lane. It was extremely sad,” said 12 year old Myra in Delhi, India. “I was getting ready to go to the school. I was going to my bus and I couldn’t see anything. Almost all days smog is covering the entire city. It’s suffocating.”

Three women from the United States, India and the UK - all in their twenties - also share why they decided to not have children in order to help save the planet.

“Every year has become more significant,” says Melissa in London, “and of course making changes in my own life to help the climate like being plant-based and not having children seems to be quite a good decision in that regard as well.”

A co-production between the BBC OS team and Boffin Media.

Presenter: Fergal Keane Producer: John Murphy

Iryna’s husband, Artem Chekh, is a well-known novelist and journalist. He volunteered to join the army and found himself in Bakhmut, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting. For five days Iryna did not know if he was alive or dead. She is focusing on the anguish she felt over this period and using a series of flashbacks to illustrate their past lives in peacetime.

Iryna tells Lucy Ash that to give herself more artistic freedom she has decided on a radical new tool for her work: this film will be an animation. Making films in wartime is a challenge and animation is expensive but Iryna has foreign backers and is determined to tell her own story in her own way.

Imagine being stranded in the “death zone” on one of the world’s highest mountains. How about running 200 miles in a dark tunnel? We’ve been searching the world for the most amazing sport stories. Other podcasts bring you the scores and team news. This one tells the stories you’ll wish you’d known about and now probably won’t forget. You don’t need to be obsessed with sport to find yourself immersed in our mini-seasons and short stories. Search for Amazing Sport Stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Or find it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvs1/episodes/downloads

In our conversations host James Reynolds hears a few of those stories of families celebrating seeing loved ones again. “My mum came out of the Earth one day and that was incredible,” Sharone Lifschitz tells us. Her 85-year-old mother, Yocheved, was one of the first hostages to be released but (at the time of recording) her father was still being held. “She told us my father was injured and so we thought that he was gone and now we know that he is there, but we also know so much more about how horrendous the conditions are.”

Human rights organisations say the number of Palestinians held without charge in Israeli prisons has increased dramatically since 7 October. There are now thought to be more than 6,000 Palestinians held by Israel, many still awaiting trial. We bring together Marwan whose son, Wisam, was released after six and a half months in prison, and Eman who recently welcomed home her sister in law, Hanan.

We also meet two parents living under the Israeli bombardment in Gaza who led their families to safety in Egypt. They tell us about the conditions they endured and how their children are coping.

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team.

this programe was first published in 2022.

The Gaza diaries was produced by Haya Al Badarneh, Lara Elgebaly, Mamdouh Akbiek Mohammad Shalaby and Mary O’Reilly.

The editors were Rebecca Henschke and Simon Cox and it was mixed by Graham Puddifoot.

A BBC Arabic investigations production for the BBC World Service.

But how does a text so praised for its formal inventiveness – the narrative voice shifting from third to first person, and inhabiting multiple interior lives, sometimes within a single paragraph – get translated for the theatre and brought to life?

Writer Bongani Kona goes behind the curtain to watch the rehearsal process unfold. We trace Galgut’s journey from the play’s conception, and follow the director and cast as they workshop scenes, experiment with sound and action, and navigate the unusual set design – all in the build-up to opening night. The Promise on stage is directed by Sylvaine Strike with stage adaptation by Damon Galgut and Sylvaine Strike. Original music composition by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder.

Presenter: Bongani Kona Produced by Catherine Boulle and Bongani Kona A Falling Tree production for the BBC World Service

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in protest marches; there are reports of a rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism in some countries; and an increase in hate crimes.

We hear from Muslims and Jews living in the United States and Europe. Some of our Jewish guests say they would feel safer in Israel and the war, than in the country where they currently live.

“I don’t order anything, not an Uber, not a taxi, in my real name anymore,” says 20-year-old student Deborah Kogan, who lives in Berlin. “Not because I’m a Jewish activist, but also because my name sounds very Jewish, especially in Germany. So I’m afraid to get recognised as Jewish.”

Host James Reynolds also hears about the impact of Islamophobia on three Muslims living in Germany and the United States. They talk of how some people perceive them with suspicion, associate them with Hamas and call them a terrorist.

“I’m on a campus that an Arab-Muslim student experienced a hit and run and was told ‘F you and your people’, says Arab American University Lecturer Maytha Alhassen in California. “He was wearing a shirt that said in Arabic, Damascus. So that’s terrifying.”

A co-production between the BBC OS team and Boffin Media.

Over the years Tanni has suffered discrimination including when she was pregnant being offered a termination. She meets others who have had similar journeys in India, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil and New Zealand.

In India she meets Abha Khetarpal, and both reflect on several shared experiences. They both had scoliosis and use a wheelchair and faced early challenges at school - Abha having to be home schooled.

Meanwhile Lois Auta in Nigeria also uses a wheelchair. She was born in 1980 and tells Tanni how she managed to challenge the status quo and stand for parliament. ‘Disability is seen in our country as something that happens through witch craft," she says. Lois, who now acts as an advocate for women with disabilities says those prejudices still exist.

She meets BBC war correspondent Frank Gardner who tells her how he adapted to becoming disabled after being injured during his work in a war zone in the Middle East.

Producer: Ashley Byrne A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service

A Smoke Trail Production.

Jenn is joined in her Taipei studio by Lucy Collingwood as she reaches the final stages of a collection that’s been many months in the making. Surrounded by sewing machines and a snooker table repurposed into a large fabric cutting table. Jenn shares her influences and attention to detail – from the running order of her catwalk show, finalising the looks on mannequins, to adding handmade accessories made of recycled zips and ribbons and choosing which eye catching creation should kick start the show.

Jenn takes us to one of the places that informs her work, the Fu He Bridge Flea Market, where items from used bicycle chains to second hand motorbike jackets can end up as integral parts of her high end garments.

For the catwalks of fashion weeks, Jenn is also planning something a little unusual. As well as her striking garments made in bold colours and hand-dyed fabrics, she’s also creating a digital version of her designs and collaborating on a game featuring characters who embody the themes behind her show.

We share Jenn’s creative journey from Taipei to backstage at her London Fashion Week catwalk show as the audience reacts as her collection is finally revealed.

Producer: Lucy Collingwood Exec Producer: Andrea Kidd

(Photo: Jen Lee. Credit: BBC)

Last week we heard from Palestinians. This time, Israeli families share their experiences and memories of those lost. During the surprise raid on Israel, Hamas killed 1400 people and took more than 200 hostages, including children.

Keren and her husband Avidor were rescued that day, under gunfire, from the Kibbutz Kfar Azar. But a few days after, the family heard that both Keren’s parents, Cindy and Igal, had been killed. “She was just the biggest soul,” says Keren of her mother. “She was a humanitarian through and through, she was just all heart.”

Host James Reynolds also speaks to Magen, a teacher from Israel who lives in London. His parents, Yakov and Bilha, were both killed in the attack. We bring Magen together with Elana, the mother of Yannai who was serving as a trainer in the Israeli Defence Forces. Yannai was killed defending his base, helping to save the lives of dozens of other young men and women. He would have celebrated his 21st birthday on the day before we spoke.

BBC OS Conversations is a Boffin Media production in partnership with the OS team.

(Photo: Keren with her baby, her sisters and her parents)

Most recently, bishops in England made a proposal that same-sex couples should be welcomed in church for a blessing. Opposition from conservative, Anglican groups has been noisy, including from some same-sex attracted Christians.

Ahead of the General Synod, the Church of England’s regular gathering of bishops, and elected clergy and laity, Heart and Soul explores the most divisive and explosive issue facing Anglicans. Linda Pressly meets Christians who both accept, and struggle with, the Church’s teachings on sexuality.

Producer/presenter: Linda Pressly Editor: Helen Grady Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

(Photo: Esther and Victoria were married in September, 2019 in Old Saint Paul’s Church in Edinburgh. The Scottish Episcopal Church is a member of the world-wide Anglican Communion, but it has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017. Credit: Marta Kacala)

Karam was 19 when the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, had security forces fire on peaceful protestors and arrest hundreds of citizens. Karam was one of those arrested, and after being released he eventually paid a people smuggler to take him to Turkey. He believes that he’ll be arrested and tortured if he returnsto Syria. But he’s also afraid to stay in Turkey, saying that local Police ask for his papers around five times a day.

Hannah Lucinda Smith is in Esenyurt, a predominantly Syrian district around an hour's drive from the centre of Istanbul, speaking to both Syrians and Turks about why tensions have escalated. She's asking what’s next for Syrians living there, and whether or not it will ever be safe enough for them to return home.

A Depictar production for the BBC World Service.

Her next movie is an adaptation of her autobiographical novel Seven Miles Out. It’s about a teenage girl coming to terms with her father's suicide, and not one word of the book has made its way into the screenplay. Carol tells Stephen Hughes why she was surprised by how difficult it was to adapt her own work, and how it brought back thoughts and feelings she thought she'd learned to live with. Carol also reveals that selling a script is harder than writing one, as she waits patiently to hear back from film companies that she’d sent the screenplay to.

Produced and presented by Stephen Hughes

**This programme contains distressing content**

During this interview, Carol speaks frankly about the effect of her father’s suicide upon her. If you need support following anything you’ve hear in this episode, there’s information at bbc.com/actionline and help is also available at befrienders.org.

The number of fatalities don’t tell the real stories though. In recent days, the OS team has been reaching out to people on both sides who have lost loved ones in the war; inviting them to tell the stories of those killed.

Next week’s programme will feature Israeli families. This edition, hosted by James Reynolds, is a conversation with two Palestinians who now live in Scotland and Turkey.

Yousef Almqayyad in Istanbul, had to have a heartbreaking discussion with his seven-year-old daughter about the deaths in his family.

“Your grandfather, your grandmother, your uncles and aunts and your cousins, right now are in heaven, in a good place,” he said. “Better than Gaza, better than Turkey, better than any place in this world. I told her they are waiting for us.”

Dr Ibrahim Khadra also shares his final conversation with a member of his family in Gaza, who said: “If we’ll survive, we’ll pray to God and if I’ll die just pray for me.”

“It was our last call,” said Dr Khadra.

A co-production between the BBC OS team and Boffin Media.

(Photo: Yousef Almqayyad with his parents Yaser and Inshirah)

He speaks to young victims who bear the scars of vicious beatings, to families who are seeking justice for their children who have reportedly been beaten, one of whom died - and to teachers who have turned their back on the cane and are now trying to spread the message that violence in the classroom is wrong. Through all of this, Tom asks the question, why is this happening, and what is being done to protect the most innocent in our society?

Reporter: Tom Odula Producer: Chris Alcock and Rebecca Henschke Africa Eye Editor: Tom Watson Assignment Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Kenyan child looks out of a school window. Credit: BBC Africa Eye)