Gürtel scandal: Spain's Watergate

In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China after more than 150 years of British rule. There were ceremonies and fireworks to celebrate the end of colonialism - but some residents were not happy. Emily Lau was a leading democracy campaigner at the time and tells Mike Gallagher about that day.(Photo: Getty Images)

28 Jun 20229min

In 1997 Hong Kong was a buzzing hub of capitalism surrounded by a communist state. It was also a colonial relic - still ruled largely from Britain. It was the job of former Governor General, Chris Patten, to hand it over to China. He tells Louise Hidalgo about it.(Photo of Chris Patten handing over flag at ceremony in Hong Kong. Credit: Getty Images)

27 Jun 20228min

The UK’s first official gay Pride march took place 50 years ago - 1st July 1972. Alex Collins talks to Ted Brown who took part in the London march. Photo - Ted Brown taken in 1971

24 Jun 20228min

In June 2012, Egypt held its first ever free democratic presidential election. Mohamed Morsi, representing the Muslim Brotherhood, emerged victorious. Ben Henderson spoke to Rabab El-Mahdi, Chief Strategist to one of Morsi’s rival candidates. She described what it was like to be involved in the first election of its kind, how Morsi tried to recruit her, and the personal impact of political campaigning in such a polarised country. (Photo of Mohamed Morsi in 2012 by Ed Giles/Getty Images)

23 Jun 202210min

In June 1982 a young Chinese-American engineer was murdered with a baseball bat by two white men in the US city of Detroit. The lenient sentences the perpetrators received sparked an Asian-American civil rights movement with protests across the US. At the time, America was going through an economic depression and many were blaming Japan which was perceived to be flooding the US with its cars. For Asian-Americans it was a time of fear. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Helen Zia, one of the activists leading the fight for justice. This programme was first broadcast in 2017.Photo: Helen Zia addressing a 10th anniversary commemoration event New York City, 1992. Credit: Helen Zia.

22 Jun 202212min

In 1985 the first robot-assisted medical surgery took place in Vancouver, Canada. It’s now become a standard feature of operating theatres worldwide. The original gadget was named Arthrobot. A key member of the original project team Geof Auchinleck tells his story to Kurt Brookes. A Made in Manchester production.Photo: Arthrobot in action (Credit: Geof Auchinleck)

21 Jun 20229min

In 2003 Dr Nayana Patel, who ran her own fertility clinic in the state of Gujarat in India, carried out her first surrogacy procedure. It was a purely altruistic case and involved a surrogate mother and her own daughter. Dr Patel's clinic would go on to become one of the biggest in India attracting Western couples in a country where women were paid to become surrogates. It was legalised in 2002 but due to growing criticism, the government banned couples from the West from paying Indian surrogates to bear their children in 2015, arguing that the industry was exploiting poor women. Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Dr Nayana Patel.

20 Jun 202210min

In 2009, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal opened in Cambodia to try the senior Khmer Rouge commanders responsible for the genocide of an estimated two million people during Pol Pot’s regime in the late 1970s. Josephine McDermott talks to New Zealander Rob Hamill, who testified against the notorious prison camp chief known as Comrade Duch. Rob Hamill’s brother Kerry was killed by the Khmer Rouge after mistakenly sailing into Cambodian waters.(Photo: Kerry Hamill aboard his boat. Credit: Rob Hamill)

17 Jun 20229min