Chasing the world’s biggest tornado
On 31 May 2013, a huge tornado hit an area close to El Reno in the US state of Oklahoma.It was the widest tornado ever recorded and produced extreme winds of more than 400 kilometres an hour.Eight people were killed, including three storm chasers. One of the people tracking the storm was Emily Sutton, a meteorologist with KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.She’s a member of the station’s storm chasing team and was caught in the tornado. She tells Rob Walker about the impact that day had on her and other storm chasers.Archive: KFOR-TV/Nextstar Media Group(Photo: Cars damaged by the El Reno tornado. Credit: Joe Raedle via Getty Images)
24 Touko 20239min
Fikret Alić
In August 1992, a shocking photograph of a starving, emaciated man behind a barbed wire fence of a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world. The picture, taken from an ITN TV report was of Bosniak Muslim Fikret Alić. Reporter Ed Vulliamy was there when the photograph was taken. Ed reunites with Fikret and hears how the picture, which was published around the world, eventually helped Fikret flee to safety. This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.It was produced by Anna Miles. (Photo: Fikret Alic in a Bosnian refugee camp. Credit: ITN/Shutterstock)
23 Touko 20238min
The sergeants' coup in Suriname
In 1980, a group of 16 army sergeants, led by Dési Bouterse, seized power in the small South American country of Suriname, overthrowing the government in a swift and violent coup d’état. The coup came just five years after the country was granted independence from the Netherlands. The country’s first president, Johan Ferrier, was forced to leave Suriname after the coup. Rosemarijn Hoefte, professor of the history of Suriname at the University of Amsterdam, and Johan Ferrier's daughter, Cynthia, have been sharing their memories of that time with Matt Pintus.(Photo: Johan Ferrier. Credit: Alamy)
22 Touko 20238min
Pippi Longstocking
In Stockholm in 1941, Astrid Lindgren made up a story for her seven-year-old daughter, Karin, about a young girl who lived alone and had super-human strength. Karin named her Pippi Långstrump, or Pippi Longstocking in English. Four years later, Astrid submitted her story into a competition and it won. Her book, Pippi Långstrump, was published and became an overnight success. It’s now been translated into more than 70 languages, as well as being made into more than 40 TV series and films. Rachel Naylor speaks to Astrid’s daughter, Karin Nyman.(Photo: Astrid Lindgren. Credit: Getty Images)
19 Touko 20239min
Creating New Zealand's national walking trail
In 2011 a 3,000 km long walking trail was opened in New Zealand. Geoff Chapple had spent years lobbying for the creation of Te Araroa. He’d written articles in newspapers and tested out routes in the country's rugged landscape. The process of exploring where it could go sometimes put him in danger as he tells Alex Collins.(Photo: Geoff wading in the Waipapa River in the far north of New Zealand while on the Te Araroa trail. Credit: Amos Chapple)
18 Touko 20238min
The Dambusters
In the early hours of 17 May 1943 a bold World War II attack destroyed two dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany's industrial heartland, causing 1,600 casualties and catastrophic flooding which hampered the German war effort.The dams were highly protected but 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force had a new weapon – the bouncing bomb. Invented by Barnes Wallis, the weapon was designed to skip over the dams' defences and explode against the sides. The Dambusters mission was a huge propaganda success for Britain and later inspired a famous film.In 2013, Simon Watts spoke to George "Johnny" Johnson, the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron.(Photo: Squadron Leader George "Johnny" Johnson. Credit: Leon Neal via Getty Images)
17 Touko 202310min
German child evacuees of World War Two
Beginning in 1940 thousands of German children were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two.These camps were seen as safe places where they could continue their education but also where Nazi beliefs could be taught. Alex Collins has listened to archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn one of Germany's national history museums and hears the stories of former camp residents Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer.You may find some of the contents distressing. (Photo: German children being evacuated to Prussia. Credit: Getty Images)
16 Touko 20239min
Singapore executes Filipina maid
In 1995, the execution of Flor Contemplacion caused protests, a government resignation and a diplomatic crisis between the Philippines and Singapore. Flor, who worked in Singapore, was convicted of killing another domestic helper, Delia Maga, and the four-year-old boy Delia looked after, Nicholas Huang. While Singapore stood by the conviction, millions of Filipinos believed Flor was innocent and had been let down by their government as an overseas worker.Flor’s daughter Russel Contemplacion, who was 17 at the time, and Flor's lawyer Edre Olalia give Josephine McDermott their account.(Photo: The coffin of Flor Contemplacion is carried to church prior to her funeral. Credit: Getty Images)
15 Touko 20239min
