BBC Documentaries

Introducing: Focus on Africa - Electric vehicles: fixing Africa's fuel crisis?

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Kenya is the latest African country to increase fuel prices citing the US-Israel war with Iran. While announcing one of the steepest pump price increments in recent times, the government reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel products from 16% to 8%, as the country's political opposition threatens street demonstrations if measures to lower prices further are not taken. In this episode, we explore if electric vehicles are a viable transport alternative in African countries.

Also, the global fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year with much of it ending up in landfills or being burned, according to the United Nations. We hear a Nigerian fashion designer's journey to curb rising fashion waste through upcycling.
19 May 8PM English United Kingdom Education

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When Shiraz calls

A personal account of day-to-day life in Iran told through the conversations of two Iranian sisters – one in the UK, the other in the Iranian city of Shiraz. Since the outbreak of war at the end of February, a near total internet blackout and a shutdown of international phone…
20 May 8PM 30 min

Victim or Accomplice? The Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Girlfriend

Nadia Marcinko, originally Marcinková, was born in Slovakia and met Jeffrey Epstein as an 18-year-old model. Later, she became a successful aircraft pilot. For seven years, she was Epstein’s main girlfriend. And she’s one of four women that US prosecutors named in a 2008 plea deal as his “potential co-conspirators”…
18 May 8PM 47 min

Thomas Keneally: What’s next for the Schindler’s List author?

Rachel Naylor visits the Booker Prize-winning author Thomas Keneally in his home in Sydney, Australia, to see how he writes his latest book. He gives Rachel a tour of his neighbourhood Manly, a seaside suburb in the Northern Beaches, famous for its ferry, surfing and his beloved Sea Eagles, the…
18 May 12AM 26 min

Introducing: CrowdScience - What keeps the universe in balance?

Listener Ndanusa in Ghana, is gazing up at the stars, and wondering what keeps our universe in balance? Ndanusa knows a thing or two about the stars, and he knows that they use up hydrogen as they burn, and release helium. And he’s wondering, is there something out there which…
16 May 8PM 34 min

How Belarus silenced its free press

Until the end of March this year, BBC News Russian was the only source of independent reporting in Belarus, where journalism has been suppressed. Around two dozen independent journalists are currently behind bars, with many more forced into exile by the government of Alexander Lukashenko. Then, on March 25th, Belarus…
16 May 8AM 26 min
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