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bbcff_2012_09-12
BBC World Service - Fifth Floor
23.03.17
Original insights, playful perspectives and surprising stories from the World Service's 27 language sections. Every week with David Amanor. - Ein wöchentlicher Blick hinter die Kulissen der 27 Sprachdienste des Weltdienstes der BBC, moderiert von David Amanor.
Archivnummern: AP/m_mm1/bbcff_2012_(Sendedatum)
© Urheber
Datei | Datum | Inhalt | Dauer |
0901 | 01.09 | 1) REPORTING DISABILITY: WHAT GETS LOST IN TRANSLATION? The Paralympic Games - not just a sporting event but also an opportunity to change attitudes to disabled people. So as athletes descend on London once more and sports reporters brush off their mics, what have been the challenges of reporting disability and translating the terminology into 27 different languages? We take a leap into Ukranian, Uzbek and Persian to discuss the dilemmas which arise when trying to put English language guidelines into practice. Does disability get lost in translation? With Andriy Kravets, Shodiyor Sayf, and Tahir Qadiry. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) REMEMBERING KATRINA BBC Mundo's Carlos Chirinos has reported from a fair few disaster and danger zones in his time - a Venezuelan landslide, earthquakes in Peru and Haiti, the Lebanese-Israeli war. But the assignment that shocked and affected him the most was New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was one of the first journalists on the scene, and now, seven years on his memories of the devastation are still vivid and painful. 4) POSTCARD FROM JUBA Juba airport is a pretty small building. For the uninitiated it might seem like a quick jaunt through the arrivals gate - but Nyambura Wambugu, a seasoned Juba traveller knows better. For the past year she's been flying in and out of the city - reporting for BBC Africa on the world's newest capital in the world's newest country, South Sudan. Her impressions are of chaos, corruption and bureaucracy - but she has a reason to stay optimistic. | 26:56 |
0908 | 08.09 | 1) WHAT THE FARC IS GOING ON, YO The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) have released a new video and it seems that they have a new PR style. It's a dramatic turn away from the traditional proof-of-life videos where hostages plead for a peace deal, and instead their latest communique appears to lay out the movement's latest intentions in a homemade rap video. Head of BBC Mundo Hernando Alvarez says it's the weirdest thing he's ever seen and he has some considerable experience of reporting the activities of the Farc - including the time he had to hide his stash of whiskey from them. 2) STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE: REPORTING BESLAN The 1st of September should have been a day of celebration for the start of the school year in Russia. But in 2004, for more than 1,000 men, woman and children in Beslan's School Number One it was the beginning a nightmare as Chechen gunmen seized control of the school, and took them hostage. It ended three days later in a chaotic bloodbath with more than 300 people dead - over half of them children. Zoya Trunova and Artyom Liss had flown in from Moscow to report on the siege. They describe what was the most dramatic experience of their working lives. 3) ONLINE GREATEST HITS | 26:56 |
0915 | 15.09 | 1) THE JOURNALIST WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT The head of the Somali Service resigned suddenly last month. Ten days later he announced he was running for President of Somalia. Now people here leave the business and do all kinds of interesting things but that's the first time any of us can remember such a dramatic shift. Yusuf Garaad Omar's bid to lead the new government of Somalia failed, but the implications of his departure continue to ring around the Fifth Floor. A few days after he arrived in Mogadishu a death threat was issued against him. And soon after the new President was announced, the hotel in which he and Yusuf was staying was attacked by suicide bombers. From Mogadishu, Yusuf tells us about his journey from journalist to Presidential candidate. Plus, Liliane Landor - the Controller for Languages at the World Service (this means she's Fifth Floor VIP, so watch it) - talks about the self-analysis the BBC goes through when journalists cross the floor. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) SRI LANKA'S NEW HANGMEN The Sri Lankan prison department revealed this week that they have employed two new hangmen. The positions became vacant when one of the hangmen was promoted and the other retired. In all there were 176 applicants for the job. It's not entirely clear how the two new men of the gallows will spend their days as the death penalty has not been used in Sri Lanka since 1976. Priyath Liyanage, head of the Sinhala Service explains. 4) THE ISI WIVES: PART ONE This week the passions between America and Pakistan were raised once again with an intriguing story about a Pakistani doctor who allegedly went on an undercover mission for the CIA. He was supposedly helping them to track down Osama bin Laden. Some of it reads like a good thriller, and although truth may be stranger than fiction, the Fifth Floor's treatment of this story is definitely fiction. This three-part satire by Urdu Section Head, Aamer Ahmed Khan introduces us to two imaginary women married to Pakistani intelligence officers. In episode one, the two wives vie for power and influence but what will be the consequences? Starring Sheena Bhattessa, Shobu Kapoor, and Aamer Ahmed Khan. 5) A LEADER VANISHES BBC Chinese editor Raymond Li has been on the hunt for Xi Jinping, the man tipped to become China's next leader. However, this terribly important politicians has been absent from public view since the beginning of September. So, where is he and how to track him down? | 26:57 |
0922 | 22.09 | 1) UNPICKING COTTON PICKING It's cotton picking season in Uzbekistan which means thousands of people are leaving their day jobs and heading out into the cotton fields. Every autumn life comes to a standstill as teachers, nurses, civil servants, businessmen and students are all summoned to harvest the crop. On the face of it, this could be seen as the people coming together for the good of the country, but in reality vast numbers of people including children are forced to leave their families, households and jobs to work in often difficult conditions. Amazingly the practice is so widespread that every single one of the producers in the Uzbek Service have picked cotton at some point in their lives. Diloram Ibramova and Luiza Khudaykulova talk through some of the highs and lows picking cotton 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) ME AND MY MINDER So, you're out in the field in Syria for example, it's tense, you're checking your facts, chasing your next interview and probably working around safety issues. You're talking to your editor who's asking again when you're going to file your piece and what it'll be about. And there, through all the research, recording and running around is your ever present government minder.They come in all shapes and sizes but often seem to sport moustaches and wear distinctive clothing. Bassam Andari, BBC Arabic's Newsgathering and Planning editor and Khaled Ezzelarab, BBC Arabic's Cairo correspondent share their experiences of handling government minders. 4) THE ISI WIVES: PART TWO Last week we heard the first instalment of our three-part satire imagining the lives and secrets of the wives of Pakistani intelligence officers. It's no secret that relations between Pakistan and the US are tense at the best of times. In this piece of playful creative writing from the BBC's Urdu Service we imagine some of the antics that go on behind the scenes. Here, we'll introduce you to Fuff - the wife of an ISI officer - who is trying to get her husband up the promotion ladder. But what will be the consequences of her meddling? 5) ELECTIONEERING IN VENEZUELAIt's election time in Venezuela so journalists there are having to cope with late nights, deadlines and speeches lasting several hours. So spare a thought for BBC Mundo's Andean correspondent Abraham Zamorano who's had to put up with this and a lot more. He's been out on the campaign trail in Venezuela following the larger than life president Hugo Chavez and his opponent Henrique Capriles. | 26:57 |
0929 | 29.09 | 1) A BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD An adhoc question fired at the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, by BBC Persian reporter, Bahman Kalbasi at the UN headquarters in New York has caused a bit of a stir in social media this week. In the footage, now viewed by over 300,000 users on YouTube, Mr Ahmadinejad appears to give a brief dismissive reply while walking past a crowd of journalists, but it's very hard to hear exactly what he says. And that started the lip-reading guessing game on Twitter and Facebook. The Fifth Floor caught up with Bahman and asked him about his brief encounter with the president. 2) TRANSLATING WORLD LEADERS It's been a busy week at the United Nations with global leaders gathering to take centre stage at the General Assembly podium and share their words of wisdom. But spare a thought for the people who have to translate their speeches. Gleb Levin from the BBC Russian Monitoring Team and Driss Mekkaoui from BBC World News who is known as "the voice of the dictators" reveal what it takes to bring clarity to their listeners. 3) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 4) REPORTING THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINER'S STRIKES One story which has been making the headlines and has really shaken South Africa in recent weeks is the miner's strike at Marikana. One of their protests ended in a violent conflict when police opened fire and killed 34 of them. The miners have finally gone back to work after many tense hours of discussion over their pay. Among the journalists who lived and breathed this story for several weeks working to all hours of the day, is Omar Mutasa from the BBC's Swahili service. He finally got a moment to look back and share some of the key moments of those tumultuous days. 5) THE ISI WIVES: PART THREE The final instalment of our playful piece of creative writing imagining the shenanigans that go on behind the scenes amongst the wives of Paksitani Intelligence officials. In parts one and two we met Bushra and Fuff who are both married to officers in the ISI - the Pakistani Intelligence Services - they are bitter rivals, constantly trying to outdo each other and fight their way up the ladder of power and influence. The only person Fuff can share her woes with is her long time friend Sana - but she is unfortunately rather wrapped up in her new American boyfriend. Where will all the back stabbing end? | 26:55 |
1006 | 06.10 | 1) BLACKMARKET BLUES IN IRAN Iran's currency is in chaos. The rial has plummeted so much in value, and prices have risen so high that some businesses stopped trading and shoppers found it hard to buy basic goods such as bread, yoghurt and even a fridge. There were protests in the streets of Tehran and a few other cities, and the bazaar was even shut down for a few days. Many Iranians are now finding themselves shopping on the black market in US dollars. Two Persian Service reporters Rana Rahimpour and Majid Nourian talk about how this story is affecting them personally as their families back home in Iran grapple with the crisis. 2) DEBATE BOOT CAMP This week saw the first of the US Presidential debates between contenders Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, although by all accounts it was, well, rather dull - and not exactly the gladiatorial contest many were expecting. So how could it be more of an exciting argument? BBC Africa's Josephine Hazeley, Mohammed Yehia from BBC Arabic and William Marquez for BBC Mundo host a crash course in the art of argument, and give tips from Sierra Leone, Egypt and Venezuela on how to pack a bigger punch in a Presidential smack down. 3) THE PRESIDENT AND HIS PR MAN Burma is gradually coming in from the cold - and one sign that relations are thawing between the BBC and Burmese government is that after a year of negotiations, the president finally gave his first ever interview to the BBC. Tin Htar Swe was the journalist wielding the mic and asking the questions. And as the editor of the Burmese Service, she was also having to deal with the President's PR man - a retired general who had his own editorial demands and at one stage complained that Swe had "squeezed the president's balls." We get the back story from Swe - and her fear that her first interview with the president might also be the last. 4) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 5) DIARY FROM BURKINA FASO Reporter Laeila Adjovi is normally based in Senegal, but she's packed her mic for a trip to Ougadougou in Burkina Faso. There she has some unexpected encounters and finds refugees who've fled a troubled Mali. | 26:55 |
13.10 | 1013 | 1) MALALA AND THE DUTY OF CARE As a journalist, how far do you put a source or contributor at risk to get a story? Especially if this person is living in a dangerous place and is only a child. In 2009, an 11 year-old Malala Yousafzai came to public attention when she started writing an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Using the pen name Gul Makai , she was encouraged by her father who ran the local school and remained defiant of the Taliban's restrictions on education of girls. Later when the Taliban were ousted, her real identity was revealed and Malala was publicly celebrated in Pakistan. She became an activist and won an international award for bravery. This week she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen. Does the BBC bear any responsibility for what happened to Malala? Aamer Ahmed Khan, head of the Urdu Service talks about the BBC's duty of care and is joined by Tripoli-based correspondent Rana Jawad who had to report anonymously throughout the 2011 Libyan uprising. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) DEALING WITH DRUGS WITH BBC MUNDO It sounds like the plot of bad black comedy: in a massive shoot out police kill what appears to be the leader of Mexico's biggest drug cartel, but just as the authorities are attempting to confirm the identity of the body, the morgue (arguably one of the world's busiest) is then raided and the body kidnapped. BBC Mundo's man in Mexico is Juan Carlos Perez but previously he reported from Colombia when it was at the height of the drugs war. What's it like being on the Latin American drugs beat? 4) PRISONERS TO POWER For some aspiring politicians, spending time in prison may damage their chances of winning office. But in Kyrgyzstan this week, it's being speculated that three members of parliament may have deliberately landed themselves in prison to further their political influence - by urging their supporters to help them overthrow the government. So why would anybody deliberately land themselves in jail - and how can being incarcerated improve your popularity? Venera Koichieva of the Kyrgyz section explains. | 26:55 |
20.10 | 1020 | 1) ANNIVERSARY OF AN OVERTHROW A year ago, Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another, all played out in real-time on streaming video and in gruesome fashion, as pictures of Gaddafi's corpse were beamed around the globe. Tarik Kafala was Middle East editor of BBCNews.com that day, and remembers the day that changed his native Libya forever. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) LESSONS FROM LENIN When BBC Uzbek reporter Khayrulla Fayz was a young boy growing up in Soviet Tajikistan, he like many others, spoke Russian and looked up to Lenin as the father of the nation. As a child in Dushanbe, he had pinned up Lenin's picture on his bedroom wall but ripped it up after a sharp reprimand from his father. So why was his father upset and what's happening to the current generation of Tajiks - now 20 years on from the end of the Soviet era - how has their relationship to Russia changed? 4) REPORTING RAPE IN INDIA This week a village chief in the northern Indian state of Haryana blamed the consumption of chow mein - a Chinese noodle dish - for an increase in gang-rapes in the area. This comment was amongst a slew of others made by prominent politicians, including one who claimed that 90% of rape incidents are "consensual". When such a mindset exists, reporting sexual violence and gender issues is never easy, a fact most familiar to the Hindi Service's Rupa Jha. 5) THIS IS NOT AN EXIT Cuba announced this week that it is removing the need for exit permits for those leaving the country to travel abroad. A few years ago, Liliet Heredero had to leave Havana but the journey started with her being forced to renounce her Cuban identity, give up her home and her car. From Cuba, Ethiopia, to Ukraine - and even a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express, we delve into some ill-fated exit visa stories. With Liliet Heredero, Damian Zane, Lili Wang and Olexiy Soluhobenko. | 26:57 |
27.10 | 1027 | 1) SPOTLIGHT ON LEBANON BBC Arabic's Carine Torbey was first on the scene when a senior Lebanese intelligence officer was assassinated last week, and then amongst the crowds when a protest gathering at his funeral turned violent. As a young child growing up in wartorn Beirut, Carine would regularly cross demarcation lines unprotected. Now as an adult, reporting in her hometown, she finds herself in a similarly precarious position - but this time with riot gear. Is it a help or hindrance? "The most difficult task was to cover the deaths of people you know. You're covering the disaster of your own country." Nada Abdelsamad, also with BBC Arabic and a Beiruti born and bred, has had a career on the frontline. She lived in Lebanon throughout the civil war, and then reported its painful aftermath - including the death of close friends. For her, the war seems never-ending - with no space for memories to sink in. Hear her perspectives of war-reporting and the risk of Lebanon being swallowed up the Syrian quagmire. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) MODERN DAY GRIOTS OF MALI Mali's traditional singer-storytellers, the griots, have a long sung the history of their county - from the antics of ancient kings to modern day coup d'etats. So, how are they narrating the current events in Mali? Bamako-based journalist, Idrissa Fane looks at the challenges faced by today's griots - and whether journalism can compare to that style of storytelling. 4) THE LIFT PITCH There’s only five floors to go – and Soe Win Than tells why the Burmese President's first ever press conference was overwhelmingly overshadowed by a woman in a bikini. 5) MY BOND IS MY WORLD This month is the 50th anniversary of James Bond's first outing on the big screen in Dr No. Can the quintessential English spy get an international makeover? Special Agent Amanor parachutes onto the Fifth Floor where 007 is reimagined as an overweight Pakistani spy crawling the pubs of Kinshasa quaffing both Venezuelan whisky and Chinese hard liquor. What else is left? Just watch out for those Russians...With Yolanda Valery Gil of BBC Mundo, Carol Yarwood of the Chinese Service, BBC Afrique's Arthur Malu-Malu, Aamer Ahmed Khan of BBC Urdu, and the Russian section's Nikolay Voronin. | 26:52 |
03.11 | 1103 | 1) REPORTING RAKHINE: A CHALLENGE FOR BBC BURMESE AND BENGALI A state of emergency has been in place in Burma's western Rakhine state since deadly communal clashes in June, and last month violence erupted once more with renewed ferocity. Tensions have been simmering for decades between the Rakhine who are predominantly Buddhist and the Muslim Rohingya, whom many Burmese regard as foreigners from across the Bangladesh border. It hasn't been an easy story to tell for Ba Maw of our Burmese service. He is from Rakhine state and belongs to the Kamein ethnic group. Although his family is seen by the Rakhine as indigenes, some of his family are Muslim and because of this have also found themselves on the receiving end of attacks. How does he manage to remain calm when his family are forced to flee for their lives? The unrest in Rakhine state has meant that thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been displaced - around 75,000, according to UN estimates. As a result, many Rohingyas have been seeking refugee across the Bay of Bengal and into Bangladesh. So how have our Burmese and Bengali Services been covering this ongoing story? Section heads Tin Htar Swe and Sabir Mustafa talk about how they've been covering both sides of a complicated conflict. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) JIMMY WHO? The Facebook page of BBC Hausa was recently bombarded with comments from listeners shocked to hear reports about Jimmy Savile, the deceased television presenter at the centre of a huge child abuse scandal in Britain. But they had confused two very different names which could sound similar when heard on crackly shortwave radios, and Hausa presenter Jimmeh Saleh had found himself the victim of a case of mistaken identity among millions of listeners in West Africa. 4) TALES FROM THE TRAIL In case you hadn't noticed, the US Presidential election is on Tuesday. While small children may cry about how sick they are of hearing from Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the politicking from both sides still roars on. Sudanese reporter Lukman Ahmed for BBC Arabic and BBC Brasil journalist Pablo Uchoa are on the tip of the beltway. What has life been like on the campaign trail? 5) POORLY PUTIN? "It's a common sports injury - Vladimir Putin pulled a muscle." A press spokesman has finally ended weeks of media speculation on President Putin's limbs, and admitted that the notoriously buff Russian leader had in fact sustained an injury - though declining to say where - while exercising. But this certainly isn't the first time a Russian head of state has had a hushed up illness. Marina Fokina at BBC Monitoring wheels out the Kremlin's old sickbed. | 26:55 |
10.11 | 1110 | 1) 24 HOUR PARTY (CONGRESS) PEOPLE China's Communist Party Congress is in full swing. The Great Hall of the People in Beijing is playing host to the biggest gathering of Chinese politicos for a decade, but what is remarkable about the event - which will culminate in a brand new leader for the country - is the extraordinary lack of information about what exactly goes on behind closed doors. The world's journalists have flocked to Beijing but sadly not the Chinese Service who've been denied visas. So, how do they cover their country's biggest political event when they're not even there? Yuwen Wu and Weilang Nei and explain the difficulties and why they're barred from Beijing. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) AN ODE TO EGYPTIAN FOOTBALL Egypt has a love affair with football. They're the African record holders, seven times winners in the continent's cup. But at the moment, that's all they have - their domestic league has been postponed indefinitely following the stadium riots in Port Said which left 74 people dead. BBC Arabic's Akram Shaban, a lifelong fan of Cairo-based club Zamalek, and Marwa Nasser explain why football matters so much to Egyptians. 4) WHEN BBC HINDI MET THE "KINKY COLLECTIVE" When Divya Arya from BBC Hindi went out to buy her own copy of the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, she was amazed to find that none of her local shops had any left - the book was such a hit in India that the shelves were left empty. Shortly before that, Divya had been at a play which depicted some pretty eye-popping dominant sexual role-play - all of which got her thinking - is sex in India changing? She set off on a mission to understand why. | 26:55 |
17.11 | 1117 | 1) TRAGEDY IN GAZA This week, an air strike in Gaza killed the baby boy of BBC Arabic picture editor Jihad Misharawi. His home was close to a factory targeted by the Israeli military on Wednesday amid a tit-for-tat series of attacks bringing casualties to both sides. Events unfolded live on television with Jihad walking through a crowd holding the body of his son wrapped in white cloth. He was interviewed by Shahdi Al-Kashef, who reports for the BBC from the Palestinian territories. We talk to him about this horrendous experience. 2) THE KURDISH WAY The Kurds live in an area encompassed by five nations, including Turkey where thousands of lives have been lost in a 30 year old conflict between Kurdish militants and the Turkish government. Some Kurds want an independent Kurdistan, others want cultural rights, but what does it mean to be Kurdish? Jiyar Gol, an Iranian Kurd reporting for BBC Persian, Kareem Abdulrahman, an Iraqi Kurd with the BBC's media monitoring service, and Guney Yildiz, with the Turkish language service, enlighten us. 3) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 4) SOMALI COMEDY Somalia, a country ravaged by two decades of civil war, is not known for its comedy. In an attempt to find the lighter side of the Somali character, David visits a comedy gig in London, fronted by Somali comedian Prince Abdi, with BBC Somali's Farhan Jimale, Abdirahman Koronto, and the Arabic Service's Abdiraheem Saeed. | 26:45 |
24.11 | 1124 | 1) VIOLENCE IN GOMA This week, the city of Goma, a convergence point for Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, fell to M23 rebels. Eastern DRC is a volatile area where rebels and soldiers are frequently accused of carrying out atrocities against civilians. Kasim Kayira, of BBC Africa, tells David about his harrowing encounter with a group of gunmen in Goma earlier this year. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) FORCED CONFESSIONS Maziar Bahari is an Iranian journalist who found himself in troubling circumstances while reporting post-election protests in Tehran in 2009. He was accused of being a spy, arrested and held for four months in the country's notorious Evin Prison. While there, he was also forced to make a confession which was then played out on local TV. He's now made a documentary for BBC Persian TV detailing his experiences and those of others who have been forced to confess. 4) THE FARC IN PHOTOGRAPHS Pictures taken by a dead rebel commander - our Colombian reporter reveals a history of the FARC through a secret photographic archive.Taken from the computer of Alfonso Cano, a former military leader of Colombia's left-wing rebels, BBC Mundo this week put together a black-and-white picture gallery of the images. Arturo Wallace, the BBC's man in Bogota talks us through the photos of the FARC. | 26:58 |
01.12 | 1201 | 1) KADUNA, MY HOMETOWN "When you find yourself in a mob now, you'll get killed and nobody will know you are dead. You'll just be buried there and your family will be looking for you." Aliyu Tanko and Ibrahim Shehu-Adam are born and bred Kaduna boys - a volatile state in northern Nigeria marred by sectarian violence. As children growing up in the 1990s, they watched Kaduna change irrevocably. So now, as journalists, they talk about how they deal with the challenge of reporting in such a dangerous place - especially when that place is home. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) MEETING AFGHANISTAN'S WARLORDS Rustam Qobil of the Uzbek Service is on the hunt for some Afghan warlords. How do they exercise their considerable power? He describes his adventures in the remote Takhar province - including what happened when he met the commanders and how he got access to them. Plus, Ismael Saadat from BBC Pashto gives the lowdown on what exactly defines an Afghan warlord. 4) AN ODE TO KIM North Korea's leader made the headlines this week in China as the world's sexiest man as a 55-page photo spread of glorious Kim Jong-Un appeared in the online version of the People's Daily - lifted from the satirical American publication The Onion - and reprinted in earnest without a hint of sarcasm. We have our own Fifth Floor poetic tribute. | 26:55 |
08.12 | 1208 | 1) AN EAR IN TAHRIR The world is watching Tahrir Square, but are they really listening? BBC Arabic's Yassmen Abo Khadra presents her soundscape from Cairo. 2) PAKISTAN: TELEPHONE LOVE The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has announced that it is banning late-night cheap rates on mobile phone calls, on the grounds that they are undermining the morality of the country's youth. Apparently young people have been caught making far too many intimate or indecent phone calls and the practice is supposedly threatening the social values of Pakistan. Urdu Service head Aamer Ahmed Khan and BBC Media Action's Fifi Haroon tell just how important the telephone is to relationships in Pakistan. 3) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 4) DO NATIONAL ANTHEMS MATTER? Can national anthems bring national unity? An Iraqi, South African and Ukrainian put their songs to the test. Faris Couri, editor of BBC Arabic (and also an Iraqi) shares why, after nine years of wrangling, Iraq is still struggling to find a national anthem. He's joined by BBC Africa's Nick Ericsson who grew up during the Apartheid-era and was forced to learn the Afrikaans anthem, Die Stem; and Irena Taranjuk of the Ukrainian Service who, as a result of Europe's political convulsions, had to learn several national anthems. 5) DEITIES IN THE DOCK It's been 20 years since the Babri Masjid was demolished by hardline Hindu activists in the Indian city of Ayodhya. For over 100 years, the site itself has been the centre of a land dispute between Muslims and Hindus, and as part of the long legal process, and along with the many living witnesses and legal entities, at some point even sacred deities, are called in to court. Suhail Haleem in Delhi explains how the holy Hindu Gods, such as Lord Rama, are called on to stand in the dock. | 26:55 |
15.12 | 1215 | 1) INSIDE THE AFGHAN SERVICE Something extraordinary landed on the desk of the BBC's Afghan Service recently when they were contacted by a 20 year old woman who had approached a judge in Afghanistan in order to try and secure a divorce. But what happened next exposes corrupt practices in the Afghan judicial system in the most unusual way. Not entirely unsurprisingly, the judge in the case asked her for a payment in order to pass the divorce but there was another demand - that she marry him as well. Editor Emal Pasarly and reporter Daoud Jumbesh explain how the story made it to air. 2) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 3) REPORTING DEATHDeath, it comes to us all but how do BBC reporters prepare for the passing of a major figure and breaking the bad news? An inside look into the world of obituaries with Editor Olexiy Solohubenko, BBC Mundo's Carolina Robino and Rupa Jha of the Hindi Service. 4) UZBEK GRINCH? Has Christmas been cancelled in Uzbekistan? BBC Uzbek's Ibrat Safo explains why Father Frost and his daughter the Snow Maiden are on Tashkent's naughty list. | 26:54 |
22.12 | 1222 | 1) GROWING UP IN YARMOUK The Yarmouk camp in central Damascus has for decades been considered the de facto capital of the Palestinian refugee diaspora. But this week thousands were forced to flee as the camp came under heavy shelling and aerial bombing. BBC Arabic's Feras Killani was born and brought up in Yarmouk - he talks about his memories and the heartache of knowing that while he's safe in London, his Palestinian family who remain in Syria, are not. 2) ME, MYSELF AND MY MOUSTACHE During the Mubarak-era, beards were a no-no in Egypt - this year they're back in fashion with a vengeance. And, in general, the details of how you wear your facial hair across the Middle East say a lot about your cultural baggage. From Cairo, journalist Ashraf Khalil lays down his must-have style-guide for understanding facial grooming in the Arab world. 3) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 4) GUN PERSPECTIVES: BRAZIL, PAKISTAN, AND RUSSIA Last week, the tragic mass shooting of 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut, provoked outrage and shock, and subsequently encouraged the Obama administration to push for tougher laws on gun control. Of course, gun crime is not just a menace for the US - Aamer Ahmed Khan, Mauricio Moraes, and Oleg Boldyrev give perspectives on gun culture from Pakistan, Brazil and Russia. 5) THE LIFT PITCH There's only five floors to go - and BBC Persian's Ali Hamedani dissects Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei's first week on Facebook. | 26:55 |
29.12 | 1229 | Looking back at 2012 1) STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE: BESLAN Zoya Trunova recalls the traumatic experience of covering the 2004 Beslan school siege in which over 300 people died - most of them children. She describes why it was a turning point in her journalistic career. (first broadcast on 08/09/2012) 2) LOVE IN THE ARABIC SERVICE What happens when you work with your spouse? There are many married couples working for BBC Arabic, Shaimaa Khalil (who's one of them) goes on a double-date - microphone included. (first broadcast on 09/06/2012) 3) LETTER: FROM A REVOLUTION JUNKIE He's desperate for a bandana and for a spot of usurping - but will he come through? BBC Urdu's Mohammed Hanif on watching the Arab Spring unfold from his perch in Karachi. (first broadcast on 28/01/2012) 4) STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE: LIBYA BBC Arabic's Mohammed Ballout was shot when reporting in Libya - he survived but the two men who took the same bullet did not. He gives his personal perspective of war-reporting. (first broadcast on 11/02/2012) 5) ONLINE GREATEST HITS 6) THE BALD-HAIRY THEORY Artyom Liss breaks down the handy hint for remembering Russian rulers. (first broadcast on 05/05/2012) 7) STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE: KADUNA Ibrahim Shehu-Adamu, a Hausa-Muslim journalist from Nigeria's fractious Kaduna state, tells of being trapped by a Christian mob and rescued at the last minute by a Christian friend. (first broadcast on 01/12/2012) 8) DRAMA: COUP PLOTTERS When is a coup really a coup and how do you plot the perfect overthrow? Cpt Mbango and Sgt Zoomzoom are our imaginary coup-plotters, cooked up by the satirical pen of BBC Africa's Robin White. (first broadcast on 28/04/2012) | 26:55 |