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BBC World Service

A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. 

From Trump's new world order, to war in Sudan, to climate issues, The Documentary investigates major global stories.

We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world's most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives. 

A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.

The Documentary Podcast

One year after the fall of Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has undergone a significant image makeover. He's regularly seen playing basketball or pool on social media and his posts are amplified by a network of government-backed influencers. BBC Monitoring's Samia Hosny has been watching and reflects on what this PR campaign is saying – and what it isn't. 

 The special administrative region of Macau on the south coast of China is sometimes referred to as the Las Vegas of the East. The gaming hub attracts tourists from all over the world, as well as from mainland China and Taiwan. But amid the glitzy casinos and hotels, Macau has just opened its very first luxury resort hospital, in the hope of capitalising on the medical tourism industry. The BBC's Osmond Chia reports from Singapore. 

17-year-old Janvi Jindal, from Punjab state in India, has recently achieved 5 Guinness World Records in freestyle skating. She was able to perform, amongst other things, thirty-two 360 degree rotations in 30 seconds – whilst balancing on her inline skates. BBC reporter Sarabjit Singh Dhaliwal went to meet Janvi and her parents. 

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. 

Presented by Faranak Amidi. 

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean. 

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

A makeover for Syria's interim leader?

Donald Trump says Somali immigrants in the US should “go back to where they came from.” The President’s comments come after allegations of large-scale fraud in Minnesota's social assistance programme, implicating several Somali immigrants. Trump has repeatedly criticised the community saying he does not want Somali immigrants in the United States and that their country is “no good for a reason.” In our conversations we bring together three Somalis who have made their homes in Minnesota. We also bring together Somalis in Finland, Canada and the UK, and we hear from people in Somalia itself. Somalia’s recent history has been shaped by more than 30 years of civil war, so what is it like to live in the country today?

Somalis in America

Sex therapist Dr Rica Cruz is on a mission to destigmatise sex in the deeply Catholic Philippines. As a practising Catholic herself, she believes sex is a divine gift and should be intertwined with faith rather than in conflict. Using social media to advocate for this, she earned a strong following which led to her own TV programme, Private Convos with Doc Rica. But that show was banned by the country’s broadcast TV regulator, the MTRCB. Jay Behrouzi speaks with Dr Cruz about her fight for better sex education which she believes is the key to a safer society for women and girls.
This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

The divine gift of sex

In some places, the nearest safe operating room can be hours or even days away. We find out about a portable operating theatre called SurgiBox that fits in a backpack and inflates in minutes, creating a safe surgical environment for operations almost anywhere. We meet the co-founder of the start-up behind it and see it put to the test, and speak to a surgeon who has used it to save lives far from a hospital. We also hear from Field Ready, whose engineers in Syria are using 3D printing to bring broken hospital equipment back to life, and we hear about Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms — grassroots command centres where volunteers coordinate life-saving help and vital information in the midst of war.

Surgery in a backpack

Two years ago a group of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists stood almost alone in Israel in calling for a ceasefire, as Israel launched a massive offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2023. Emily Wither returns to hear how the lives of these activists have changed. She explores whether their message of peace and coexistence is breaking through at a time when societal divisions are deeper than ever.

The group Standing Together, known for their matching purple t-shirts, is a group of Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel (referred to by the state as Israeli Arabs, the country’s largest minority making up over 20% of the population).

It is unusual in either Israel or Palestine to find a mixed group working together for a shared cause and advocating for coexistence. Standing Together has received criticism from both sides of the conflict; with many Israelis calling them traitors and some Palestinian groups calling for a boycott of the movement. Despite all this the group say the only way to achieve a lasting peace is for the communities to work together.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

The struggle of Israel's peace movement

From a quiet forest outside Stockholm to the world’s most glamorous runways, Swedish designer Anna-Karin Karlsson has built one of fashion’s most distinctive eyewear brands. Her bold, sculptural glasses and sunglasses are worn by Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Madonna and Elton John – yet their inspiration comes from a quiet life surrounded by trees and animals. Cultural journalist Anna Åkerlund steps inside Karlsson’s world. We discover how the designer blends fantasy with craftsmanship, and challenges the conventions of both global luxury brands and Swedish restraint.

Anna-Karin Karlsson: Sunglasses made for icons

In recent years component parts of historic shipwrecks have started to disappear, with reports of mysterious vessels and scavengers floating around. This phenomenon has been reported in Indonesia, Australia, and the Netherlands. One theory is that the target for plunderers is pre-atomic steel, i.e any steel produced before the nuclear testing era, and therefore free of radioactive particles. Its purer material composition makes it essential in the manufacturing of specialist scientific tools such as MRI machines, and as such is highly valuable. Shipwrecks - oftentimes war graves - are one of the few remaining sources for this material. Materials scientist Anna Ploszajski investigates a murky picture of illegal plundering across the globe.

Steel from shipwrecks

More than 300 children were kidnapped from a school in the Western Nigerian village of Papiri in November, but in the aftermath, accounts of the kidnappings were confused and misleading. BBC Africa's Madina Maishanu was part of a team of journalists who faced huge risk to visit the site of the kidnappings and hear the testimonies of parents. 

In October this year, a young Chechen woman living in Armenia, Aishat Baimuradova, was killed. She'd previously escaped a repressive life in Chechnya but is now believed to be the first Chechen woman in exile to be killed outside of Russia. BBC Russian's Zlata Onufrieva and Olga Prosvirova set out what is known about Aishat's life and death, and consider the implications of her killing for Chechen women living in exile. 

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. 

Presented by Faranak Amidi. 

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean. 

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

Reporting the Nigerian School Kidnappings

From 10 December, Australian children under 16 will be banned from most social media platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. The ban is designed to protect teenagers from harmful content and other risks such as cyberbullying and grooming. Surveys suggest the legislation is popular with many parents, but it has been challenged by social media companies and some young campaigners have argued it disregards children’s rights. We bring together two families in New South Wales who are on opposite sides of the debate. We also hear from three young Australians with tens of thousands of social media followers, including Ella who says, "it’s the content that needs to be removed, not us".

Australia’s under-16 social media ban

On the banks of the Brahmaputra River, a remote village in northern Bangladesh serves as a sanctuary for the hijra (transgender) community, a once-revered but now persecuted group. In March 2024, a mosque built by and for hijras offered a rare haven for worship without fear. After the August 2024 protests that toppled the secular government, a surge in religious extremism has fueled renewed violence against minorities, including the hijra community. Their mosque, once a beacon of hope and inclusivity, now faces significant threats. Reporter Sahar Zand gains rare access to this embattled community, following their leader, Tanu Hijra Guru, who fights tirelessly for the women she calls her daughters. Outside the village, Sahar witnesses the harsh realities of survival - begging, beatings, prostitution - and speaks to hijras forced to live as men under family pressure.
This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world

The divine gift of sex

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