The oilfield that changed Kazakhstan
In the wake of the USSR breaking up, Kazakhstan was wrestling with the challenges of independence; hyperinflation, the economy collapsing and food shortages.But three-and-a-half kilometres underground on the north-east shore of the Caspian Sea, a giant financial opportunity was lying dormant – The Tengiz Oil Field. Less than two years after gaining sovereignty, the government signed the “deal of the century”. The state partnered with American company Chevron and started drilling to access the estimated 25 billion barrels of oil in the ground.Tengiz is the sixth largest oilfield in the world, and its resources would change Kazakhstan from a fledgling state, to one of the largest oil producers in the world.Johnny I’Anson speaks to Bruce Pannier, a news correspondent in Central Asia for over 30 years, who saw first-hand the chaos of independence and the growth of wealth in the country.(Picture: Tengiz Oil Field. Credit: Getty Images)
3 Loka 20239min
The oil crisis of 1973
In October 1973, Arab nations protested the American support of Israel in its war against Egypt and Syria by slashing oil production, causing prices to sky rocket.Dr Fadhil Chalabi was deputy secretary general of Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). In 2014 he spoke to Alex Last about the embargo. (Picture: Empty gas pump in 1973. Credit:Getty Images)
2 Loka 20238min
The first cat cafe
The world's first cat cafe opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998. It started with just five street cats.For the first few months they hardly had any visitors. Then a film crew made a TV programme about the cafe, and it eventually became a global tourist destination. Cat cafes have become a worldwide phenomenon.Tracy Chang, founder and owner, tells her story to Gill Kearsley.(Photo: Inside the first cat cafe. Credit: Tracy Chang)
29 Syys 202310min
The Lampedusa shipwreck tragedy
On 3 October 2013, a fishing boat taking more than 500 migrants from Libya sank 800 metres off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island.It was one of the worst migrant shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea. As it happened so close to the shore, hundreds of dead bodies were recovered and their coffins were put on show for the world to see.The tragedy led to a joint European effort to tackle the migrant crisis, but the numbers embarking on the journey, and dying, continued to rise.One of the survivors, Ambesager Araya, and the man who rescued him, Vito Fiorino, speak with George Crafer.(Photo: Vito Fiorino and Ambesager Araya. Credit: Vito Fiorino)
28 Syys 20239min
Kassandra: The peacekeeping telenovela in Bosnia
In the early 1990s, the soap opera or telenovela craze was sweeping the world. One of the most popular was Kassandra made in Venezuela, about a girl switched at birth and raised in a travelling circus. The show was broadcast all over the world, including Bosnia. In 1997, ravaged by war, people found escape in the make-believe world of Kassandra. When supporters of Washington-backed president Billiana Plavšić took over a local TV station and turned the show off, there was outrage. The United States State Department was so worried that the loss of Kassandra could hurt Plavšić's popularity and even undermine her government, they hatched a plan to get it back on the air. Johnny I’Anson speaks to the star of Kassandra, Coraima Torres, along with Tony Paez who distributed the show across the world.(Photo: Coraima Torres and Osvaldo Ríos. Credit: Circulo Rojo)
27 Syys 202310min
Concorde's first flight
On 26 September 1973, Concorde, the supersonic passenger aircraft, made her first non-stop flight across the Atlantic. The droopy-nosed plane took to the skies for the first time four years earlier. Some campaigners believed that the speed of the aircraft might damage buildings.In 2012 André Turcat, the French pilot of Concorde's first flight, spoke to Mike Lanchin.(Photo: Concorde. Credit: Getty Images)
26 Syys 20238min
Vietnam War: Stopping nuclear disaster
In 1975, during the final days of the Vietnam War, most of the world was unaware that the North Vietnamese were advancing a new breed of nuclear reactor, gifted to the South by the United States government.Not only was it technology the North's Russian allies did not yet have, it was also a source of weapons-grade nuclear fuel.As a last resort, the US discussed bombing the facility, risking nuclear fallout, rather than risk the technology falling into Soviet hands.To avoid humanitarian and environmental disaster, a physicist from Idaho in the US, called Wally Hendrickson, volunteered to be dropped into the front line to remove the fuel rods from the reactor.He speaks to Ramita Navai. A Two Degrees West production for BBC World Service.(Photo: Dalat nuclear institute. Credit: Diane Selwyn)
25 Syys 202312min
The year of the vuvuzela
The vuvuzela was notorious during the 2010 football World Cup.It became the subject of debate when it was labelled as 'the world's most annoying instrument'. Freddie 'Saddam' Maake claims to have invented the horn.He became known as 'Mr Vuvuzela'. He tells Gill Kearsley his story.(Photo: Football fans play vuvuzelas during a World Cup match in 2010. Credit: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)
22 Syys 202310min
