The Siege of Yarmouk

How the ground-breaking film "Marble Ass" was made amid the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Petra Zivic talks to acclaimed Serbian director Zelimir Zilnik about his film which played a role in the struggle for greater recognition and rights for the LGBT community in the war-torn country.Photo: The Serbian trans star Merlinka with Nenad Rackovic as Johnny in the Serbian film "Marble Ass" in 1994 (Credit: Zelimir Zilnik)

14 Feb 20229min

In late April 1972, Hutu rebels launched an insurgency in the south of Burundi with the aim of overthrowing the Tutsi led government. They brutally murdered government officials and civilians, targeting mostly Tutsi. Estimates from the time suggest at least a thousand people were killed. The army quickly contained the insurgency but then began reprisals against Hutu civilians. Hutu elites in particular were targeted – those with education or with government jobs. The killing lasted for more than 3 months. Human Rights Watch estimates as many as 200,000 were killed. Rob Walker speaks to Jeanine Ntihirageza who was an 11-year-old schoolgirl at the time and whose father went missing at the start of the reprisals.(Photo: National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation officials inspect remains of people at a mass grave existing from 1972 in Mwaro, Burundi. Credit: Renovat Ndabashinze/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

11 Feb 202213min

Throughout the winter of 2013/14 protesters built barricades and camped out in the centre of Kyiv demanding change. The focus was the Maidan, Kyiv's central Square of Independence. The demonstrators wanted the government of Viktor Yanukovych to move politically towards the EU and away from Russia, but when he refused to sign an agreement with the EU tensions spilled over. In February government forces, and snipers, shot dead 103 protesters and injured many others. Shortly afterwards President Yanukovych fled Ukraine and went to Russia. Elvira Bulat was a businesswoman from Crimea when the protests began. She tells Rebecca Kesby why she packed up her business, to spend that snowy winter in the barricades of the Maidan, and why she still believes Ukraine belongs in Europe.Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine - December 9th 2013. Anti-government protesters stand guard at one of the barricades defending Maidan Square against police. Credit: Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images.

10 Feb 202210min

How a young designer from the Canary Islands became one of the most famous shoe-makers in the world. Manolo Blahnik was studying art and set design in Paris when in 1969 he was introduced to the editor of American Vogue, who said he should concentrate on shoes. He got his first break in fashion three years later, and so began a 50 year career that has seen his name become synonymous with what have been described as the sexiest shoes in the world. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Manolo Blahnik about his life and work.Picture: Manolo Blahnik at the opening of a new boutique in Dublin (credit: PA)

9 Feb 20228min

In 2005, a revolutionary online mapping service called Google Maps went live for the first time. It introduced searchable, scrollable, interactive maps to a wider public, but required so much computing power that Google's servers nearly collapsed under the strain. Lars Rasmussen, one of the inventors of Google Maps, talks to Ashley Byrne. The programme is a Made-in-Manchester Production.PHOTO: Google Maps being used on a mobile phone (Getty Images)

8 Feb 20228min

In December 1991 the leaders of three Soviet Republics - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - signed a treaty dissolving the USSR. They did so without asking the other republics, and against the wishes of the USSR's overall President Mikhail Gorbachev. By the end of the year, Gorbachev had resigned and the Soviet Union was no more. In 2016, Dina Newman spoke to the former President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, and former President of Belarus, Stanislav Shushkevich, who signed that historic document alongside Boris Yeltsin.PHOTO: The breakaway leaders signing the treaty the dissolved the Soviet Union (Getty Images)

7 Feb 20229min

In the 1960s, it was extremely rare for women in what is now the United Arab Emirates to go to school. At the time the future country was a collection of Emirates under British protection. The Trucial states, as they were known, were run by Sheikhs. The Sheikdoms were acutely traditional societies. This is the story of a young woman who was among the first to graduate from high school. She went on to become the first teacher there. Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi, has been telling Farhana Haider about her trailblazing experience.Image: Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi with her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Sharjah, 1970. Credit: Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi

3 Feb 20229min

In June 2012 one of the solar system’s rarest of astronomical events took place, when it was possible to see the planet Venus fly past the face of the Sun. It appears when the orbits of Earth and Venus momentarily line up, but that happens only four times every 243 years. Astronomers in Australia, London and Hawaii tell Nick Holland what it was like watching the sight, one they will never get to see again because they won’t be alive when it next reappears in the year 2117.(Image: SDO satellite captures an ultra-high definition image of the transit of Venus. Credit Nasa/Getty Images)

2 Feb 20228min