'Mad cow disease' and CJD
In 1996 the UK government said there was a link between BSE in cattle and Variant CJD in humans. It's believed that more than 100 people contracted the debilitating and ultimately fatal disease after eating infected beef during an outbreak in the 1980s and 1990s. Initially scientists had no idea what was causing their strange symptoms, until a link was found that traced CJD back to BSE or 'mad cow disease', as it became known, in cattle. Millions of cows were destroyed and feeding practices were changed to contain the outbreak. Roger Tomkins and Sarah Shadbolt both lost family members to Variant CJD and share their stories with Rebecca Kesby.Photo: Cows. BBC.
29 Sep 20219min
Photographing Brazil's Yanomami
In 1971 photographer Claudia Andujar began documenting the lives of a remote indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. Claudia went on to take thousands of unique images of Yanomami men, women and children. Her photographs helped the campaign for recognition of the Yanomami's rights over their own land. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Claudia, now in her 90s, about how she was received by the indigenous group when she first arrived in the Amazon, and how she won them over with her smile, and her camera.Photo:Antônio Korihana thëri, a young man under the effect of the hallucinogenic powder yãkoana, Catrimani, 1972-1976. © Claudia Andujar
28 Sep 20219min
The rise of the Taliban
The Taliban first started to gather support in the south of Afghanistan in the early 1990s. By September 27th 1996 they had taken control of the country's capital Kabul. Journalist and writer Ahmed Rashid watched their rise, from the religious schools in refugee camps on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, to their ultimate victory over the American-led coalition forces. He's been speaking to Zak Brophy.Photo:Taliban fighters on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2021. Credit: EPA/STRINGER
27 Sep 20219min
Kenya: Westgate Mall attack
Gunmen from the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab attacked a shopping centre in Nairobi taking hundreds hostage. The group claimed it was in retaliation for Kenyan military action against them in southern Somalia. The siege lasted four days in September 2013 and more than 60 people were killed, but hundreds more were injured and traumatised. Daniel Ouma was a paramedic on duty at the scene and explains to Rebecca Kesby how his team tried to help people affected. PHOTO: A police officer during a rescue operation at the site of the terrorist attack, Westgate Mall, on September 21, 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Gunmen from the extremist group Al-Shabab entered the mall and opened fire at random on shoppers; 68 deaths have been confirmed. (Photo by Jeff Angote/Nation Media/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
24 Sep 20219min
James Bond on screen
As the 25th James Bond film hits cinema screens we look at the lasting appeal of the franchise. The original author, Ian Fleming, died in the 1960s but other writers took on the challenge of keeping Britain's most famous secret agent alive. Photo:Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. Credit: Nicola Dove/PA Wire.
23 Sep 202110min
The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko was a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a critic of Vladimir Putin's government. He fled to London seeking political asylum in 2000. In November 2006 he was poisoned with the highly radioactive substance Polonium-210. Rebecca Kesby spoke to his wife Marina, about his life and excruciating death.This programme is a rebroadcast(PHOTO: Alexander Litvinenko in a London hospital a couple of days before his death in November 2006. Credit Getty Images.)Show less
22 Sep 20219min
Mexico's miracle water
Thousands of people flocked to the village of Tlacote in central Mexico in 1991. They hoped to be cured by 'magical' water after rumours spread about its healing powers.Maria Elena Navas spoke to Edmundo Gonzalez Llaca who was an official in the local environment ministry in 1991 and who was sent to Tlacote to check out what all the fuss was about.This programme is a rebroadcast.Photo: Hands under a stream of water (Getty Images)
21 Sep 20218min
Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis
In the late 1960s, the widow of President Kennedy had a secret romance with Aristotle Onassis, who was then the richest man in the world. Simon Watts spoke to Nico Mastorakis, a Greek journalist who visited Onassis’s yacht in disguise to confirm the relationship and secure a sensational scoop. Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis would go on to marry in October 1968 in a spectacular ceremony on the private island of Skorpios.PHOTO:Jackie Kennedy with Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Credit: David Cairns/Getty Images.
20 Sep 202110min
