Has Ghana's ‘Year of Return’ been a success?

Script writer Baek Mi-kyoung has pioneered female narratives on Korean television, putting women front and centre of acclaimed dramas like Mine and The Lady in Dignity. Seven years ago, her K-drama Strong Girl Bong-soon was a huge success. Audiences fell in love with this rom-com about a cute girl with supernatural strength. / Next, Baek wanted to create an all-action multigenerational female superhero series. But would the budget match her ambitions? Vibeke Venema meets her as the series, Strong Girl Nam-soon, is going to air - and the all-important TV ratings are coming in.

1 Juli 202426min

Nigeria is Africa’s economic powerhouse - so why are so many young people trying to leave and find opportunities in other countries? It’s become so common there’s even a word for it: Japa, Yoruba for escape.Last year, Nigeria’s immigration service issued a record number of passports - almost 2 million.So when we were in Lagos we spoke to the BBC’s Faith Oshoko, who explained what drives young professionals to move abroad.And we chatted to students - would they ever Japa? And would they come back?To find out more of what is going on in the world search for "What in the World" wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

30 Juni 202416min

Instant loan apps promise easy money. But what's the catch? Investigative reporter Poonam Agarwal and filmmaker Ronny Sen take us behind the scenes of their award-winning documentary The Trap: Inside the blackmail scam destroying lives across India.This programme contains discussion of suicide and suicide attempts. If you feel affected by this topic, you could speak to a health professional or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at: www.befrienders.orgProduced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

29 Juni 202421min

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is something millions of people look forward to as an immensely spiritual experience. A main pillar of Islam, Muslims try to do it at least once in their lives, if they are physically and financially able. Saudi Arabia says 1.8 million people took part in Hajj this year. It coincided with a heatwave where temperatures reached more than 50C. Some 1,300 people died, many of those due to the intense heat. Three Muslims - from Kenya, the United States and Saudi Arabia – share their experiences of Hajj, including spiritual enlightenment, overcrowding, bereavement and sexual harassment.

29 Juni 202424min

Roma photographer Artúr Čonka joins the annual Romani pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France. Thousands of Romani from across western Europe gather in the small town in Provence each year to honour their patron saint, Sara-la-Kâli, who represents motherly love, is a protector of the oppressed, and is even said to help couples conceive. It is Artúr's first time on the pilgrimage and is keen to uncover the legends behind this enigmatic saint and what she represents to the Romani community today. The streets are packed with musicians playing rumba, flamenco and manouche jazz. Artúr meets writer and scrap metal dealer Kerensa Smith, film-maker and journalist Jake Bowers and Dutch pilgrim Kali Van Esch who has been coming every year since she was a baby.

28 Juni 202428min

The brilliant cricketer Frank Worrell became the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies team in 1960 – but he had to wait for a decade to get the job, denied by the elitism, insularity and racism of Caribbean cricket's rulers. BBC producer and cricket author Simon Lister travels to Barbados to find out how Worrell's upbringing, his cricketing adventures and his determination not to be cowed by the powers that ran island cricket, shaped a man who changed the West Indian game for ever. Simon Lister also considers Frank Worrell's legacy for today, speaking to Ebony Rainford-Brent, England's women's first Black cricketer who discovered that she had a unique connection to Frank Worrell that changed her life. ***This programme contains outdated and discriminatory language***

27 Juni 202428min

The websites have names like DC Weekly and Chicago Crier. They are filled with thousands of legitimate-looking stories, plucked from real news websites and rewritten by artificial intelligence. But BBC Trending has found that these sites are part of a wide-ranging operation designed to insert false stories into political debates, over Ukraine and now gradually shifting to the US election campaign. One of the people involved is John Dougan, a former Florida police officer now living in Moscow. Online evidence links him to the network of sites, which reference American cities and are populated by fake journalists. Experts believe they are part of a wide effort to influence American public opinion in advance of November’s presidential election.

26 Juni 202417min

In late 2023 a group of German journalists released a podcast series, Legion: Most Wanted. It described their ultimately unsuccessful search for a terrorist suspect, Daniela Klette, using an AI facial recognition tool. She had been on the run for more than 30 years, together with two accomplices. The trio are believed by the police to have been members of the Red Army Faction, the RAF, an anti-imperialist terrorist group, often referred to as the Baader Meinhof gang. The RAF claimed responsibility in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the assassination of a number of prominent Germans. None of these crimes has ever been cleared up.

25 Juni 202426min