What in the World: How have older reality tv shows aged?

Natalya Filonova is a former kindergarten teacher, a mother, a grandmother. But she’s also an activist and in 2022 she was arrested during a demonstration against the war in Ukraine. Nina Nazarova from BBC Russian has been trying to find out what happened to her. Plus, how a homeless bumblebee brought a community together, with Joao Fellet from BBC Brasil.Prestented by Faranak Amidi Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

10 Mai 202524min

After 19 months of war, Israel says it is preparing to expand its military campaign in Gaza. The aim is to defeat and dismantle Hamas, regarded as a terrorist organisation by many countries and bring home the remaining 59 hostages. They have been held in captivity since Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on 7 October, 2023. There have been several strikes on Gaza within the last week alone, with reports of dozens of people killed and wounded. We hear from women and men in the Palestinian territory about the bombings, the food shortages and their fears for another looming crisis ahead. Aid agencies have warned that, since Israel cut off humanitarian aid on 2 March, after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire, mass starvation is imminent.

10 Mai 202523min

Throughout his life as a theologian, Christian minister and cosmologist, Prof David Wilkinson has been asking - what does God do when I pray? The question became acutely personal after his wife, Alison, developed first ME and then crippling rheumatoid arthritis. As everyone prayed for her recovery, but no healing appeared to come for many years, the couple and their children felt their faith come into sharp focus. For their children, now both working for the Church, there was a profound crisis of faith which left them unable to pray. For David, anger and confusion that his wife, also a minister of a growing church, was left in pain and unable to walk, let alone lead her church. Naomi Wellings meets a family whose faith was shaken, but ultimately strengthened.

9 Mai 202526min

Every Nigerian child has the constitutional right to free and compulsory primary education, and free secondary education, yet there remains a huge gap between that law and the reality. One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children lives in Nigeria. In a nation with one of the world’s youngest populations, this lack of access to education could potentially cost the country its future. Its government recently acknowledged that there are 10.5 million children not being educated. It’s a complex picture which includes underfunding, a lack of skilled teachers - and an issue of safety. BBC Africa journalist Yemisi Adegoke hears from parents and students at the sharp end of this crisis and asks the difficult questions to those in power.

8 Mai 202526min

In the days before the presidential elections, influencers watched comments and content pour across TikTok in support of obscure far-right independent candidate Calin Georgescu. Georgescu’s victory was annulled and he has been banned from running in May's elections. Influencers at the heart of the story explain how it happened and demand answers.

7 Mai 202522min

How is a new Pope chosen? How long could the conclave last? In a special edition of the Global News Podcast, the BBC’s Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool answers listener questions on the conclave at the Vatican.

6 Mai 202519min

Not that long ago many church-going Americans saw Russia as a godless place, an “evil empire” in the words of Ronald Reagan. But in President Trump’s second term, US-Russia relations have been turned on their head. The White House sided with the Kremlin at the United Nations, voting against a resolution to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.This seismic shift is also being felt in parishes across America. Increasing numbers of US Catholics and Protestants are embracing Eastern Orthodoxy. Many converts disillusioned by the showbiz elements in many megachurches, say they are drawn to a faith with enduring traditions. Some, uneasy with social and demographic change, believe the churches they were raised in have lost their authority by going “woke” – shorthand for supporting equal marriage, female clergy, pro-choice, Black Lives Matter and other liberal issues.Some converts have hundreds of thousands of followers online, and push Kremlin narratives that Russia is the world's last bastion of true Christianity - a few of the most radical have even emigrated there. Lucy Ash has been to Texas – one of the most religious states in the US – to meet some new converts.

6 Mai 202527min

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, artist Bishwajit Goswami creates a powerful new installation that captures the spirit of his homeland’s rivers, lifelines darkened by pollution, yet still full of energy, beauty, and memory. Reporter Sahar Zand follows Bishwajit as he prepares for a major international exhibition in Paris. From his artist-led rooftop community space in a former tannery, to the crowded, chaotic riverbanks of Dhaka, Sahar traces the origins of a deeply personal artwork shaped by conversations, rituals, and found materials gathered along the river’s edge.

5 Mai 202526min