Baghdad heavy metal
In the late 1990s, a heavy metal band called Acrassicauda formed in Iraq, when the country was under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Over the next decade, the pioneering band found themselves on a...
16 Touko 20249min
How nuclear testing changed politics in French Polynesia
It's 20 years since elections in French Polynesia in 2004, where the independence movement stunned the France-aligned government of the day, propelling pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru to the pres...
15 Touko 20249min
The creation of the state of Israel
On 14 May 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.Tears and applause met the declaration, witnessed by 200 dignitaries, but fighting intensified in the days that followed.In 2010, Arieh Handler and Z...
14 Touko 20249min
The ‘Catastrophe’ for Palestinians
In 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Middle East. The period after World War Two in the region was tense, at times violent and politically complex....
13 Touko 20249min
Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal
In 1992, a photograph of Princess Diana alone on a bench in front of the Taj Mahal became one of the most famous photos in the world. Anwar Hussein was a photographer who documented the lives of the ...
10 Touko 20249min
How a billion Indians got a digital ID
In 2009, the Indian government embarked on an ambitious task to register all of the country's billion-plus citizens with a unique digital ID. Aadhaar - which means foundation in many Indian languages ...
9 Touko 20249min
The pioneering eye surgery that led to Lasik
In 1963, Dr Jose Ignacio Barraquer Moner performed the first surgery on a human eye aimed at correcting short-sightedness. The ophthalmologist had been developing his technique for years, believing th...
8 Touko 20249min
East Germany's coffee from Vietnam
In the 1980s, a thirst for caffeine caused an unusual global collaboration.Coffee-loving East Germans were left without after a crop failure in the world’s biggest exporter of the drink, Brazil.So the...
7 Touko 202410min
