BBC OS Conversations: Hajj pilgrims

In August, the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, was expelled from Russia – a country she’s reported on from the start of Vladimir Putin’s presidency over two decades ago. Now she has been designated a ‘national security threat’ and barred indefinitely. The move against the BBC comes at a time of unprecedented pressure on critical voices in Russia – from opposition activists to independent Russian journalists, who are now blacklisted as ‘agents’ of foreign states. For Assignment, Sarah Rainsford explores what happened to her and what this says about the country she’s been forced to leave.Producer/presenter: Sarah Rainsford Producer: Will Vernon(Photo: Sarah Rainsford. Credit: Jonathan Ford)

14 Okt 202127min

The sailors held captive for years, and the man who managed to free them.Somali pirates made millions of dollars hijacking ships and holding their crews hostage, if no ransom was paid though, sailors could spend years languishing in captivity.When retired British Army Colonel John Steed set out to try to free what he called "Somalia’s forgotten hostages" he had no money and no hostage-negotiation experience, so how did he do it?Colin Freeman, who was himself taken hostage in Somalia, hears the remarkable stories of the sailors and their saviours.Producer: Joe Kent Sound: Rob Farquhar and Neil Churchill (Image: Armed Somali pirate standing on the coast looking to sea. Credit: Mohamed Dahir/AFP/Getty Images)ARCHIVE: Captain Phillips (Columbia Pictures) directed by Paul Greengrass

12 Okt 202127min

100 years ago English PEN was founded to create a “common meeting ground in every country for all writers.” and it quickly grew into an international organisation. The organisation has long campaigned for Freedom of Expression for writers. To mark the centenary, in a special edition of World Book Cafe, Ritula Shah and her guests discuss current threats to Freedom of Expression around the world and hear from writers, including Tsitsi Dangarembga, about the power and importance of storytelling.

11 Okt 202149min

Justin explores the Precambrian period: a kind of dark ages, spanning most of our planet's history, but about which we have very few fossil records. What we do know is that it contained two of the most important developments in evolution. One gave us a breathable atmosphere. The other made possible all the animals that now breathe it. The Natural History Museum's Imran Rahman introduces Justin to this strange bacterial world, while Aubrey Zerkle of the University of St Andrews explains why cyanobacteria may have been the greatest mass murderers in history.

10 Okt 202124min

The pandemic has made many people unsure about the future. Issues such as climate catastrophe have come to seem all the more real. How do we keep hope alive for our children and ourselves? Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth offers insights to Liyang from China, now living in New Zealand, as she worries about the world her children will live in and how she should prepare them for it.

9 Okt 202118min

We return to the beginning of the global Aids crisis and explore the personal and political struggles of the epidemic, as it unfolded in two very different countries – the United States and South Africa – and hear stories from people who fought through it, and survived. The series begins in the USA, where 40 years ago the Centers for Disease Control published a memo flagging a rare pneumonia found in five previously healthy, young gay men in California. Two of the men had died. These would be the first recorded cases of Aids in the world – a disease which would go on to kill 35 million people.

9 Okt 202150min

Children who have a compromised immune system remain at high risk during the ongoing pandemic if they develop Covid-19. Their parents continue to protect their children from those who no longer wear masks or - in some cases - refuse to get a vaccine. We hear from three mothers, in the US and the UK, who share their hopes and fears for the future. In some US states, mask and vaccination mandates are banned.

9 Okt 202124min

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to set a net zero carbon emissions goal by 2050. Now, as the country gets ready to host a major UN climate change summit in a few weeks, Ros Atkins looks at the challenges posed by the net zero ambition.

9 Okt 202110min