SATURDAY 22 AUGUST 2020

SAT 01:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zs2qd)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 01:06 Business Matters (w172x18wl8bk9t9)
California ablaze

California is once again ablaze with forest fires - we look at how the state is coping with mass evacuations, smoke pollution and a pandemic. Turkey has announced the biggest find of gas in the country's history. We hear about Soul City in the US, designed as an economic engine for black communities after the war. Plus, the European hunt for minerals to go in electric car batteries and reducing the amount of methane gas which cows produce. We discuss all this with Elizabeth Gwynn – reporter for Nine News who is in New South Wales.

(Image: The Hennessey fire, part of LNU Lightning Complex fire, continues burning the hills of Napa County, California on 20th August 2020. Photo by Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)


SAT 02:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zs6gj)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64bywn)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 02:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lgkqx)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:32 Stumped (w3cszhjk)
How 'rock star' Dhoni wowed the world

We bid farewell to the iconic wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni and hear from his former India coach Greg Chappell.

Plus - how do you solve a problem like bad light? We'll try to find a solution to one of cricket's oldest dilemmas.

And can a ground-breaking sponsorship in the India Premier League help tackle the stigma around women's periods?

Photo:MS Dhoni in 2005 (Getty Images)


SAT 03:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zsb6n)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 03:06 The Fifth Floor (w3cszjhf)
Breaking taboos in Iran

The taboo of domestic violence in Iran is being tackled by a podcaster who calls herself Maryam. She tells the story of her own abusive marriage, and is joined in each podcast by other women who share their experiences. Nooshin of BBC Monitoring explains why this taboo persists in her home country.

From the streets of Belarus to Franco’s Spain: the story of a song
The anthem being sung by protesters on the streets of Belarus has a story that starts in 1960s Spain, during the regime of General Franco. It was written by a Catalan singer-songwriter and is a call for unity of action to achieve freedom. Since then it has had several new lives in different countries, where many are unaware of its origins. BBC Mundo’s Enric Botella, who’s from Catalonia, tells the story.

Changing attitudes to dogs in Egypt
The Grand Mufti of Egypt recently sparked controversy by announcing that dogs are not 'impure', in the religious context. It is a widely held belief throughout much of the Islamic world that dogs are unclean. Sally Nabil of BBC Arabic describes attitudes to dogs in Egypt.

Nubia and her children
Before the coronavirus lockdown in Colombia, Nubia Gaona was struggling to bring up her two sons as a widow in the impoverished countryside. But the family have turned around their fortunes and become famous in Colombia – by putting their lives on YouTube. The BBC’s Daniel Pardo, who's based in the capital Bogota, has been to meet them.

My Hometown: Dar es Salaam
Another chance to visit hometown Dar es Salaam in the company of Zuhura Yunus of BBC Swahili, as she sneaks out of school and goes dancing.

Picture: Iranian women in Tehran
Credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images


SAT 03:50 Witness History (w3cszmv9)
The siege at Ruby Ridge

Randy Weaver was a white separatist in Idaho in the north-west United States who was wanted by the government on firearms charges. When government agents approached his remote cabin on Ruby Ridge in August 1992, it was the start of an eleven day siege involving hundreds of police officers – which ended with the deaths of Weaver’s wife and teenage son, along with a US marshal. The incident would become a touchstone for the far right and a rallying cry for the American militia movement. Lucy Burns speaks to journalist Bill Morlin, who covered the siege for the Spokesman-Review newspaper. Picture: Randy Weaver (C) shows a model of his Ruby Ridge, Idaho cabin to US Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, during Senate hearings investigating the events surrounding the 1992 standoff with federal agents (PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images).


SAT 04:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zsfys)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 04:06 The Real Story (w3cszcn9)
India's Covid-19 challenge

India has entered a dangerous new phase of the pandemic. The country’s infection rate is the third-highest in the world. It also has the fourth-highest death toll. Testing is a shambles, and infections are moving into rural areas where healthcare is sorely lacking. Late in March, all of India's 1.3 billion people were told to stay at home while the government bought itself time to prepare for the pandemic. But instead of confining people where they were, the lockdown resulted in one of the biggest peace time migrations of people. Instead of helping to defeat the virus, it has created economic hardship for many. So why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi act so fast and can India now get the virus under control and the economy back on track? Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist government is still popular with many Indians, but his critics say he's using the coronavirus as a cover for the consolidation of power. Are they right? And will it accelerate a Hindu nationalist vision for the country that risks more religious unrest? Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of commentators.


SAT 05:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zskpx)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64cb41)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 05:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lgxz9)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:32 Trending (w3csyvnf)
Can an algorithm be racist?

Algorithms have shaped the internet as we know it. Complex automated instructions drive search engines and social media platforms, and offer us each a tailored, individualised online experience.

Techno-optimists have long looked at artificial intelligence in awe, hoping that machines and algorithms would help humans find solutions for complex problems and remove human bias.

But some are more sceptical and argue algorithms not only have human prejudices built into them – but that they are making those biases worse.

Robert Elliott Smith is an expert in artificial intelligence and author of the new book Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All.

He argues that algorithms are prejudiced by their very nature and that, in their search for simple solutions to human questions, they have created divisions among us.

He also argues algorithms have amplified our biases and turned many of us into bigots.

But are the machines really to blame? Or are they just mirroring who we really are?

Presenter: Anisa Subedar
Producer: Marco Silva

(Photo Caption: Illustration of a woman shouting obscenities / Photo Credit: Getty Images)


SAT 05:50 James Naughtie’s Letter to America (w3ct0whr)
Letter eight

The strangest US presidential campaign, drained of colour and crowds. But is it the run-in to end them all? No American alive today will be able to recall a contest for the presidency in which both candidates have reached so enthusiastically for the language of apocalypse - not because they’ve got carried away by excitement, but because they believe it.


SAT 06:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zspg1)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 06:06 The Documentary (w3ct0t30)
Recycling Chile, recycling Spain

Leena Vuotovesi, the leader of environmental work in Europe’s greenest town, Ii in Finland, travels to Chile and Spain to compare recycling practices.

First she visits La Pintana - Chile’s unlikely climate champion: an impoverished neighbourhood plagued by crime and violence that recycles more than any other town in Chile. They turn residents’ vegetable waste into compost, used cooking oil into biodiesel and discarded cigarette ends into fertiliser - and they save money in the process. Leena meets locals who are keen to participate in building a circular economy and finds that La Pintana’s mayor, a woman with a mission to improve the local environment is key to driving the changes.

Leena then goes to a pristine part of southern Spain - a country where municipal recycling rates lag way behind EU targets. She speaks to children, teachers and waste management experts to find out why Spanish people don’t appear to care about recycling and to see what could be done to reduce environmental and economic damage.

Produced by Erika Benke

Photo: Residents of La Pintana collect a free plant after filling a bottle with discarded cigarette ends Credit: Municipalidad de La Pintana


SAT 07:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zst65)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 07:06 Business Weekly (w3ct0sny)
Belarus: Which way now?

Protests have continued in the former Soviet nation of Belarus this week and workers are starting to strike. How will the struggle for reform play out and what does it mean for the economy? We hear from businesses there trying to plan for the future. We also hear how women have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Some analysts say the fight for gender equality has been put back 50 years. In Beirut, business owners are trying to recover after the explosion which tore through their city. They tell us their stories. Plus, how does a socially distanced concert work? We hear from the organisers of the first of these new type of gigs in the UK. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton.

(Image: Protests in Minsk, Belarus, on 14 August 2020. Credit: Reuters/Fedosenko)


SAT 08:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zsxy9)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:06 From Our Own Correspondent (w3csz9pw)
Virtual politics in the US

Caroline Wyatt introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

In just under three months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. This week, the Democrats held their national convention and like most political events now, it was virtual. Journalists, including Laura Trevelyan, pitched up in Delaware, to Joe Biden – the Democratic Party candidate – to assess the appetite for politics during this turbulent summer.

Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has stepped up efforts to reassert his control. It follows ten days of mass protests which were triggered by an election widely believed to have been rigged in his favour. Lukashenko has given orders to end unrest in the capital, Minsk, but these came after EU leaders announced they would not recognise the results of the election. Our correspondent Jonah Fisher has been following developments.

The South African government has eased coronavirus lockdown restrictions this week, including its ban on the sale of alcohol. The measure was introduced to ease pressure on the healthcare system. For Vumani Mkhize it was a moment to reflect on his personal relationship with alcohol.

More than 200 people were killed in the explosion in Beirut that was caused by large quantities of ammonium nitrate stored in a dockside warehouse. The blast took with it whole neighbourhoods, not only blowing apart homes and work places but spooking and injuring the city’s animals too. Communities have since taken it upon themselves to reunite owners with their beloved pets and it is this effort that has touched Leila Molana-Allen.

Presenter: Caroline Wyatt
Producer: Bethan Head/Bob Howard
Editor: Jasper Corbett

(Image: Joe Biden delivers a speech at the largely virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, 20 August 2020. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)


SAT 08:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lh96p)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:32 The Documentary (w3ct0x1p)
Black Music in Europe

Black music in Europe: After 1945

Clarke Peters delves into the sounds of 1950s London, from Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers and steel pan master Sterling Betancourt MBE, to calypso star Lord Kitchener. He also uncovers the history of jazz in Paris after 1945 and tells how black American GIs found a new freedom in post-war Germany.

(Photo: Clark Peters. Credit:: Alexandra Quinn)


SAT 09:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zt1pf)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64ct3k)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 09:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lhdyt)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:32 United Zingdom (w3ct0wl5)
United Zingdom

22/08/2020 GMT

Zing Tsjeng wonders what it means to be British. She travels around the UK to find out.


SAT 09:50 Over to You (w3cszf4p)
Turning the focus on Focus on Africa

Listeners give their thoughts on Focus on Africa, which has just celebrated its 60th anniversary on air. It has a well earned reputation as the BBC’s first African news and current affairs programme - as we hear about the key interviews and events that have helped shape the programme.
But in this digital age, what does it need to do to stay relevant for the next 60 years?

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Producer: Howard Shannon


SAT 10:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zt5fk)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 10:06 Sportshour (w172x3bxhdn9z78)
"I cried watching the film” – McFadden on Rising Phoenix

We speak to seventeen time Paralympic medallist Tatyana McFadden and director Ian Bonhote ahead of the release of a major new film about the Paralympic movement.

McFadden is one of nine athletes featured in Rising Phoenix and she recalls spending time in a Russian orphanage, being adopted and moving to America and then being reunited with her birth mother at Sochi 2014. McFadden tells us she isn’t ruling out competing in another Winter Games and that she hopes to continue her career until the Los Angeles Paralympics in 2028.
Ian Bonhote has previously worked on advertising campaigns with Lionel Messi and Tiger Woods and he tells us it was important to give the athletes in Rising Phoenix their own spotlight. He also tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Alaize. The French athlete – who features in the documentary – witnessed his mother’s murder as a child and was hacked with machetes and left for dead himself.

David Diamante speaks to us ahead of Katie Taylor’s world title fight against Delphine Persoon. Diamante is one of the most recognisable ring announcers in boxing and he tells us how he got into the sport, why he says every fighters surname twice and explains just how seriously he takes his role in announcing the results. Diamante also reflects on being clean of drugs for twenty seven years, saying: “living sober is absolutely wonderful”.

Cheryl Foster joins us after she was promoted to Uefa’s list of elite referees. The Welsh official tells us she had been due to take charge of one of the quarter-finals in the Women’s Champions League this week before the Covid-19 pandemic and a subsequent lack of match action ended her hopes.

We catch up with Australian swimmer Chloe McCardel after she broke the men’s record for the number of English Channel crossings. She reached thirty five after completing four crossings in recent weeks.

In Sporting Witness we go back to the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, when the performance of the Indian women’s hockey team inspired a Bollywood film.

And – with live sport continuing this weekend we look ahead to the Champions League final and we check in at the AIG Women’s Open golf and the second test between England and Pakistan.

Photo: Tatyana McFadden competes in the women's 5000m in Rio (Credit: Getty images)


SAT 11:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zt95p)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64d1lt)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 11:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lhng2)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:32 The Documentary (w3ct0x1f)
Vaccines, Money And Politics

Vaccines, money and politics

Scientists around the world are working at pandemic speed to discover a safe and effective vaccine against the virus SarsCoV2, and the disease it causes Covid 19. But while all this research is taking place, a host of other critical elements need to be organised if we are to have any chance of successfully building an immunisation programme to reach more than seven billion people with a vaccine that will, at least initially, be in limited supply.
In part two of Vaccines, Money and Politics, Sandra Kanthal looks at what strategies are being put in place to transport a vaccine to countries around the world, who will be the first in those countries to get the vaccine, and, once it is available, how to convince people to take it.

Presenter/producer: Sandra Kanthal

(Photo: Coronavirus model and medical syringe are seen with "Covid-19" sign. Credit: Getty Images)


SAT 12:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8ztdxt)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 12:06 Music Life (w3csz6t7)
'I forgot to hit record' with Afrodeutsche and Ellen Allien

This week, we’re celebrating artists that have close ties with the German city of Berlin.

Ellen Allien is a globally renowned DJ, electronic musician, producer and label boss based in Berlin. Her label, B-Pitch Control, has shaped the sound of the city over the last decade, and she’s constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s achievable with music and a dancefloor. Catnapp is an experiemental, self-taught electronic music artist and sound engineer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who moved to Berlin in 2015. She recently appeared in the Netflix series Unorthodox, and in the future she wants to score music for sci-fi films. Mentrix is a Berlin-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Tehran, Iran. Her music blends her experiences of eastern and western culture, and she brings together electronic sounds with traditional Sufi instrumentation. And our host this week is Afrodeutsche, a Russian/British/Ghanaian composer, DJ, producer, and remix artist who’s performed and worked with the likes of Aphex Twin and former Music Life guest Marie Davidson.

They’ll be discussing how the sounds of history make their way into their music, feeling the pressure to create, and the importance of finding inspiration.


SAT 13:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8ztjny)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 13:06 Newshour (w172x2yv3thhq9j)
Alexei Navalny arrives in Berlin for treatment

The acutely ill Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has arrived in Germany from Siberia for treatment. He is in a coma after drinking what his supporters suspect was poisoned tea; they accuse the authorities of trying to conceal a crime.

Also in the programme: A surge in coronavirus cases in Lebanon after the devastating port explosion; we hear how Syrian refugees in the country have also been left worse off; and why US Republicans and Democrats are so divided over postal voting in the Presidential election.

(Photo: Navalny was taken by ambulance to the airport in Omsk on Saturday morning. Reuters)


SAT 14:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8ztnf2)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 14:06 The Real Story (w3cszcn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 04:06 today]


SAT 15:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zts56)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 15:06 Sportsworld (w172x3l9gz2j9tj)
Europa League reaction, the miracle of Istanbul and Black Lives Matter

On Sportsworld Mike Williams looks back on the final of the Europa League and previews the Champions League Final.

We also look back on the most extraordinary night in the competition's history, when Liverpool beat AC Milan back in 2005.

Plus we hear from Kiki Stokes who is a professional softball player in the United States and Lloyd Pearce of the Atlanta Hawks who is one of the few black coaches in the NBA. They tell Ade Adedoyin about the changes they've noticed in their sports since the death of George Floyd 3 months ago.

Photo: Players of Sevilla celebrate their victory after their team crowned 2020 UEFA Europa League champions with a 3-2 win against Italy's Inter Milan (credit: Getty images)


SAT 18:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zv4dl)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64dwtq)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 18:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30ljhnz)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:32 Trending (w3csyvnf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:32 today]


SAT 18:50 James Naughtie’s Letter to America (w3ct0whr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:50 today]


SAT 19:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zv84q)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 19:06 The History Hour (w3cszkp8)
The siege at Ruby Ridge

Randy Weaver was a white separatist in Idaho in the north-west United States who was wanted by the government on firearms charges. When government agents approached his remote cabin on Ruby Ridge in August 1992, it was the start of an eleven day siege involving hundreds of police officers – which ended with the deaths of Weaver’s wife and teenage son, along with a US marshal. The incident would become a touchstone for the American far right.

Plus, growing up with Saddam Hussein, the invention of the asthma inhaler and digging up King Richard III of England.

PHOTO: Randy Weaver (C) shows a model of his Ruby Ridge, Idaho cabin to US Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, during Senate hearings investigating the events surrounding the 1992 standoff with federal agents (PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images).


SAT 20:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zvcwv)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 20:06 The Arts Hour (w3cszk36)
Comedian Sindhu Vee

American actor Seth Rogen on relaxing away from work, professional gamers on their industry under pandemic and Scottish star actor David Tennant explains on dealing with auditions.

Lesley Manville talks about multi-tasking and relaxing with Kevin Costner, Comedian Sindhu Vee tells us about generating ideas for stand-up, podcasts and radio, Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn on his new film, Babyteeth and there’s music from Kinshasa DRC

Nikki Bedi is joined by film critic Guy Lodge and comedian Sindhu Vee.

(Photo: Sindhu Vee. Credit: Matt Crocket)


SAT 21:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zvhmz)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 21:06 Newshour (w172x2yv3thjp8k)
California struggles to contain huge wildfires

The governor of California says wildfires now sweeping parts of his state are unlike anything seen in many years. We hear from a veteran firefighter there.

Also in the programme: We speak to an octogenarian in Canada who describes herself as the president of the Belarusian government in exile; and can a pop concert with masks and social distancing still be fun?

(Image: Cal Fire firefighter Anthony Quiroz carries a hose as he defends a home during the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in Boulder Creek. Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam)


SAT 22:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zvmd3)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:06 From Our Own Correspondent (w3csz9pw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:06 today]


SAT 22:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30ljznh)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:32 Outlook (w3cszf05)
A nightmare in Joshua Tree

Travel writer Claire Nelson was hiking in Joshua Tree, California when she slipped off a boulder and fell 15 feet into a canyon. She was trapped, and completely alone in the scorching hot wilderness, with limited water. How would she survive? This programme was first broadcast on 1st December 2018.

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Joshua Tree
Credit: Ernst Haas/Getty Images


SAT 23:00 BBC News (w172x5nyn8zvr47)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:06 The Newsroom (w172x7b9n64fhkc)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 23:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ps30lk3dm)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:32 The Why Factor (w3csytzj)
Confidence: How it can help us

How confidence can motivate, get us off the couch, make us healthier, enterprising, decisive and help us live up to our potential
We also learn how doctors, entrepreneurs and whole economies can benefit from the right kind of confidence and the ways in which we can tell the good from the bad. In this edition of the Why Factor, Michael Blastland asks: why do we admire confidence?

Contributors:
Ed O’Brien - Associate Professor of Behaviour Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Maria Konnikova - Psychologist and Author: The Confidence Game
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic - Psychologist and Author: Confidence, The Surprising Truth About How Much You Need and How To Get It.
Dr Anne McGuinness – University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Josephine Perry – Sports Psychologist
Don Moore – Professor of Management of Organizations, Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley


SAT 23:50 More or Less (w3ct0pxq)
Obesity and poker

Would fewer people have died from Covid-19 if we were thinner? And what poker teaches us about statistics.

(Poker cards. Getty images)