SATURDAY 25 DECEMBER 2021

SAT 00:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g8nhs)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 00:06 The Documentary (w3ct302q)
Afghan girls given a sporting chance

Female athletes faced brutal choices as allied forces withdrew from Afghanistan - to flee their homes and country or to stay and possibly abandon all hope of pursing their sporting dreams.

Some made it onto those final flights out of the country, others faced dangerous journeys across borders with their friends and families. BBC journalist Sue Mitchell examines what has been happening to those who escaped and to the team mates they have left behind. Sue has been following the fortunes of teenage football players settling into new lives in the UK and female athletes stuck in limbo in Pakistan.

When the UK Government announced it was granting asylum to the Afghanistan girls development youth football team there was relief that the teenagers could continue to play. Weeks on from that decision the girls are still in Pakistan awaiting visas, new homes and training opportunities. The uncertainty is compounded by stories of brutal acts committed against female athletes still in Afghanistan and worries about family members they have left behind.

Kashif Siddiqi, the co-founder of charity Football for Peace, played a leading role in helping the girls flee Afghanistan. He said their perilous journey involved traveling in small groups and crossing the border wearing burqas. He is optimistic that sport can help them rebuild their lives and settle in communities linked by football.

In Portugal a group of girl soccer players who were part of the Afghanistan under 15 and under 17 programs are already adjusting to their new lives. They are being helped by the former captain of the Afghanistan women’s soccer team, Farkhunda Muhtaj, who was already acutely aware of how difficult things were for the girls even before the Taliban returned to power. She fears that girls left behind will never play again.

Those fears have recently been compounded by reports that a member of the Afghanistan women’s youth volleyball team has been beheaded by the Taliban in Kabul. Former team player, Zaharia Fayazi, relays the increasing anxiety she and others feel about those left behind.

(Photo: Girls from Afghanistan's National Youth team)


SAT 01:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g8s7x)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 01:06 World Business Report (w172xzll6nnndf5)
South Korea pardons ex-President Park Guen-hye

The former South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, is to be granted a presidential pardon. She was convicted in 2018 for her part in a huge corruption scandal which involved major S Korean conglomerates including Samsung. We find out more from Jen Moon, editor and presenter at Arirang TV in Seoul. Also in the programme, iconic London department store chain Selfridges is sold for £4bn to Thai and Austrian buyers. The BBC's Russell Newlove reports. We also hear about the money making magic behind Harry Potter and as champagne corks pop to celebrate Christmas and the approaching New Year, Anthony Maxwell from Liv-ex tells us how vintage bubbly is back in demand from investors.

(Image: Demonstrators call for the release of Park Guen-hye in 2018, JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)


SAT 01:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry1z4j9)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 01:32 WorklifeIndia (w3ct2f48)
How to choose the perfect gift

Have you ever sat in a room surrounded by gift wrapping paper, a pile of holiday or festive gifts, and wondered whether you will ever use any of them? Once again, we are in the middle of the gifting season. And the dilemma for many of us is what to buy.

How can you make that joy even more special for someone receiving the gift? Is it okay to just go ahead and buy the most expensive gift you can find? Should a bunch of flowers or a cake accompany every present you give? Would you rather gift a voucher, a digital card or an investment? Or are you for a sustainable present, or one that focuses on an experience?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss the many, many ways you can choose a perfect gift.

Presenter: Devina Gupta
Contributors: Harshvardhan Khemani, founder, OyeHappy; Pawan Gadia, CEO, Ferns n Petals; Dominique Lopez, co-founder, Oh Scrap!; Bhavna Kanoria, founder, Scift; Shweta Gupta, gift curator


SAT 02:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g8x01)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:06 From Our Own Correspondent (w3ct1mvy)
The moments which made us think

Pascale Harter presents a selection of the dispatches broadcast during 2021 - reflecting the personal stories behind the headline news.

Fergal Keane has reported from scenes of war, natural disaster and revolution around the world. Time after time he's seen the journeys of refugees and migrants across the world's borders - and so often the official responses to their neeeds have been similar. This year, as Greece reported a rise in the number of people arriving on its island via the Mediterranean Sea, he analysed how the European Union really polices its borders - and how international policy on migration so rarely takes in the full story of people's lives.

Chad lost its long-time leader, Idriss Deby, this year - reportedly killed in a desert battle with rebel forces. His son soon took the reins. Mayeni Jones went to the Chadian capital N'Djamena to hear the official line on the transfer of power. After a conversation with a minister with an apparently extravagant lifestyle, she came away wondering about the apparent disconnect between the country's masses and its leaders.

Karim Haidari was just one of hundreds of Afghans who'd worked with the BBC who left the country as part of the huge evacuation from Kabul Airport in August. He and his children are now safe in the UK. As he explained in a personal dispatch, "survival is a blessing ... but just the beginning" of a whole new sea of challenges.

And the Indian poet and writer Tishani Doshi was among those trying to adjust to a whole new rhythm of life under lockdown. In a small fishing village in Tamil Nadu, so remote that the post never arrives and online shopping is a distant dream, how would her neighbours - many of them depending on farming and fishing for a livelihood - manage the restrictions? From finding food, to helping with medicines, it turned out that even at a distance, personal contacts still made all the difference.

Producer: Polly Hope


SAT 02:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry1z88f)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:32 Stumped (w3ct1lck)
The best of Stumped in 2021

Alison Mitchell brings you the best of Stumped in 2021.

The show features an interview with the former West Indies cricketer and commentator Michael Holding on his book which documents the racism he has suffered and seen throughout his life.

Plus you can hear a classic Stumped debate on the term 'outs' instead of 'wickets' and hear from the first woman to be made President of the Marylebone Cricket Club, Clare Connor.

Photo: Commentator Michael Holding before the second day of the third test between England and India at Headingley on August 26, 2021 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)


SAT 03:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g90r5)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 03:06 The Fifth Floor (w3ct20g1)
Songs and social media

This month BBC Persian TV launched a new show. It’s called Update and aims to bring social media trends and online discussions around the news to TV audiences. One of its first stories was the social media campaigns around Isfahan's water protests. First time presenter Taraneh Stone tells us about their agenda, and about her own launch 'wobbles'.

The tattooed women of Sindh
The women of a Hindu community in Sindh in Pakistan have a tradition of tattooing themselves before marriage. Stars, flowers and Hindu symbols adorn their arms, necks and faces. For BBC Urdu, Nazish Ayaz went to meet them to find out why this tradition is so important.

Christmas dinner on the 5th Floor
For many in the language services, arriving on the 5th floor was their first experience of a traditional British Christmas dinner. Roast turkey and potatoes, stuffing and sauces, and the dreaded Brussels sprouts, as well as mince pies and Christmas pudding - we find out what they love and loathe, and how they make it their own. With BBC Russian's Janina Litvinova, Shekiba Habib from BBC Afghan and Pierre-Antoine Denis from BBC Afrique.

Arabic vintage vinyl revival
BBC Arabic's Omar Abdel-Razek has been investigating the growing enthusiasm for old records in the Arab world. He is a keen collector himself, but says the current demand comes mostly from young people, who are hunting down nostalgic recordings of the songs their parents loved.

Bangladeshi calligrapher awarded Saudi citizenship
A Bangladeshi man has been awarded Saudi Arabian citizenship for his extraordinary work as a calligrapher. Muqtar Alim has done calligraphy for the Gilaf, the cloth covering for the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. Shahnewaj Rocky of BBC Bangla met him to find out what this meant to him.

(Image: Protesters in the dried up Zayandeh Rud River bed, Isfahan. Credit: Fatmeh Nasr/AFP/Getty Images)


SAT 03:50 Witness History (w3ct1wzn)
The home of Santa Claus

Rovaniemi, a small town in Lapland, is home to dozens of Christmas tourist attractions and is widely considered the unofficial home of Santa Claus. The town had to re-invent itself after being flattened during the Arctic campaign in World War Two, and was inspired to become a Christmas destination by a visit from the American first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Rovaniemi now gets more than half a million visitors a year. Petra Zivic talks to two local residents.

PHOTO: Father Christmas in his "office" near Rovaniemi (Getty Images)


SAT 04:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g94h9)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 04:06 The Reith Lectures (w3ct2zpd)
AI: A Future for humans?

Prof Stuart Russell returns to the questions of human control over increasingly capable AI systems. He will argue for the abandonment of the current “standard model” of AI, proposing instead a new model based on three principles—chief among them the idea that machines should know that they don’t know what humans’ true objectives are. Echoes of the new model are already found in phenomena as diverse as menus, market research, and democracy. Machines designed according to the new model are, Russell suggests, deferential to humans, cautious and minimally invasive in their behaviour and, crucially, willing to be switched off. He will conclude by exploring further the consequences of success in AI for our future as a species.

The lectures will be chaired by presenter, journalist and author, Anita Anand.


SAT 05:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g987f)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:06 The Cultural Frontline (w3ct1ptq)
The gift that changed me

Tumi Morake speaks to global stars and listeners about the gifts of art that have inspired them.

Lira is one of South Africa’s bestselling pop stars. She has won multiple South African Music awards and was the first African woman to have a Barbie made in her likeness. She spoke to Tumi about how her love of painting was inspired by the gift of a piece of work from a talented South African artist.

The dancer Carlos Acosta has travelled the world with his art, from his early love of breakdancing in the streets of Havana to becoming the first black principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. He spoke to the Cultural Frontline about the classic book that caught his imagination and helped him tell his own story.

South Korean violin virtuoso Min Kym talks about the deep grief she experienced when her rare Stradivarius violin was stolen, and how seeing a painting by Vincent Van Gogh called 'Long Grasses with Butterflies' was the start of her recovery from depression.

Plus we hear from our listeners in Kenya, Brazil and beyond about the art that has changed them during the pandemic.

Photo: Min Kym, Lira and Carlos Acosta. Credit: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty, Otarel Music and Man Yee Lee)


SAT 05:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry1zmht)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:32 World of Wisdom (w3ct2zw9)
Happiness in a hard situation

How do you find inner happiness when life in your home country is very hard? Eduardo is a young man in Venezuela facing daily struggles in his life. He finds it difficult to accept he cannot leave his country. Sister Dang Nghiem, is an Amerasian Buddhist nun, born during the Vietnam war. She talks to him about how we might find happiness and personal fulfilment wherever we are.

Presented by the BBC’s Sana Safi.

Produced by Charlie Taylor and Ruth Edwards.


SAT 05:50 Ros Atkins on ... (w3ct2dpc)
The fight for Nazanin’s freedom

The husband of a British-Iranian charity worker held in Iran since 2016 went on a three week hunger strike in October and November to push for her release. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held on spying charges, which she denies. Ros Atkins looks at how her story is part of a complicated history between Iran and the UK.

(Photo: Richard Ratcliffe holds up a photo of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as he protests outside the Foreign Office while on hunger strike, 24 October, 2021, London. Credit: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)


SAT 06:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9czk)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 06:06 The Science Hour (w3ct1yw9)
Omicron – mild or monster?

Studies from South Africa and the UK suggest Omicron may be a mild infection for the majority of people. Hospital admissions are down when compared with other variants. However, the virus is replicating at a much faster rate than earlier variants and is able to overcome vaccines to some extent. Cases studies so far have mainly been in young people. There is concern over what will now happen as Omicron spreads across Europe and the US where there are older unvaccinated populations.
Anne von Gottberg from South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases tells us what early results from studies there show and discusses the implications.

Typhoon Rai in the Philippines led to the loss of many lives and even destroyed buildings designed to resist such extreme weather events. Could more have been done either to predict the ferocity of the typhoon or to prepare for its impact?
Liz Stephens, Associate Professor in Climate Risks and Resilience from the University of Reading discusses these issues.

Beavers are making a comeback – in the Arctic. Their activity in engineering the landscape, building dams, and changing water courses is so widespread it can be picked out by satellites. However, this is not entirely welcome says Helen Wheeler Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Anglia Ruskin University. who has been working with local people concerned about the beavers impact on their livelihoods.

And the James Webb telescope is finally launching. Heidi Hammel, who has been involved in the project for over 20 years tells us what it’s all about.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens – CrowdScience has covered a lot this year. And what better way to see out 2021 than to look back at a few of our (and your!) favourite things? Great questions are right at the top of the team’s list – especially with the way that for every one we answer, five more appear in our inbox!

So for a festive treat, Marnie asks the crew to answer three of them. What's the sun's role in our sense of direction? Why are we so uncomfortable with other people’s sadness? And why does listening to the radio make us sleepy? (Or is it just too much eggnog…?) From our favourite listener advice on how to keep your Christmas lights untangled to why cold swimming could activate your Vagus nerve, tune in for new questions and more CrowdScience favourites to light up your holiday season!

Presented by Marnie Chesterton and many members the CrowdScience Team – Melanie Brown, Marijke Peters, Caroline Steel, Hannah Fisher, Samara Linton and Anand Jagatia.
Produced by Sam Baker for BBC World Service.

Featuring:

• Haneul Jang, post-doctoral researcher, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Juliet Rosenfeld, psychotherapist and author of The State of Disbelief: A Story of Death, Love and Forgetting
• Mathias Basner, professor of psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania


(Image: Getty Images)


SAT 07:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9hqp)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 07:06 The History Hour (w3ct1z80)
The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

In 2011, cybersecurity expert Manal Al-Sharif helped found the Women2Drive movement. It was designed to force the Saudi Arabian government to overturn its ban on women driving cars - one of the many restrictions on women in the Kingdom. Inspired by the mood of the Arab Spring, Saudi women got behind the wheel and then posted videos of themselves all over social media. The movement attracted international attention and the ban on women drivers was eventually lifted. Saudi journalist Safa Al-Ahmad describes how the lifting of the ban was a radical change to Saudi society, but women in the country still face many severe restrictions. Plus, how in 2010 a Tanzanian man with albinism braved threats and discrimination to become the country's first albino elected politician. Also, the dramatic story of how the great Russian ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, defected from the Soviet Union in 1961. Finally, the festive history of how a town in Finnish Lapland, eviscerated during WWII, rose from the ashes to become the unofficial home of Santa Claus. Presented by Max Pearson.


SAT 08:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9mgt)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:06 HARDtalk (w3ct1n69)
Nitin Sawhney, Musician and Composer

Stephen Sackur speaks to renowned British Indian musician and composer Nitin Sawhney. From a childhood disfigured by racism to the embrace of the UK’s cultural elite, what are the common threads in his remarkable career?


SAT 08:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry1zzr6)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:32 The Conversation (w3ct1p9l)
Leading women in song

Singing is said to improve your mood, relieve stress, help you sleep better and produce pain-relieving endorphins - as well as improving posture and boost immunity and lung function! Kim Chakanetsa finds out more about the benefits of singing together, and the strange world of choir competitions.

Adwoa Dickson is from Jamaica. She is Choir Director for The Amies Freedom Choir, in the UK, which supports women who've survived trafficking. Singing in the choir helps the women relax and regain confidence as they explore songs and musical styles from each others' cultures and languages.

Finnish choir director, Marjukka Riihimäki established the women’s choir, Philomela in 1984 and has taken their distinctive sound around the world, working with a composer and choreographer to give them a unique stage presence. Philomela won the Female Chamber Choir competition at the World Choir Games in Riga in 2014. Since retiring as a music teacher Marjukka also works with people in sheltered housing who have dementia.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Marjukka Riihimäki, credit Maarit Kytöharju. (R) Adwoa Dickson, courtesy Adwoa Dickson.)


SAT 09:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9r6y)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:06 BBC OS Conversations (w3ct2d6t)
Coronavirus: Reporting Covid

Vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, Delta and Omicron – what is it like reporting on the pandemic?

Host Nuala McGovern links up with journalists in Brazil, the United States and Germany to hear how they have been covering the coronavirus pandemic over the past year and the situation in their countries as they see it. How have things changed, and what are their predictions for 2022?

Barbara Carvalho, from Globo News in Brazil, explains why vaccine take-up is high in a country where the national leadership has been sceptical of vaccination.

We are also joined by Kathrin Wesolowski, a reporter and fact-checker in Germany, who warns of the dangers of misinformation around the pandemic. And Apoorva Mandavilli, Global Health and Science Reporter for the New York Times, tells us how her feelings go from despair to optimism.

(Photo: Journalists wearing protective suits at Mugda Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in April 2021. Credit: Piyas Biswas/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)


SAT 09:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry203hb)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:32 The Explanation (w3ct2z3n)
Understanding the Islamic State group

Anu Anand talks to Quentin Sommerville about the rise, fall and potential re-emergence of the Islamic State group.


SAT 09:50 Over to You (w3ct1l2j)
Ask the controller: Part one

The controller of BBC World Service English, Jon Zilkha, responds to your comments, views and questions - be they favourable or critical.
Topics include how the World Service develops new presenters and programmes and the stresses of reporting on the Covid pandemic.

Presenter:Rajan Datar
Producer: Howard Shannon


SAT 10:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9vz2)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 10:06 Sportshour (w172y0qc87ms8zq)
2021: A year in review

We look back at some of the stories we covered and people we met in 2021 including Haley Carter the former assistant coach of the Afghan women's team and also a US Marine veteran. We hear from Janelly Farias, who was called "the Mexican Rapinoe" on social media for her willingness to bring to light the prejudiced faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Mexico. Nav Bhatia who was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame an honour normally confined to those who perform on the court, tells us about devotion to his beloved Toronto Raptors. Australian cyclist Lachlan Morton on the challenge of completing his own remarkable Tour de France.

Photo: Haley Carter coaches the Afghan women's football team (Credit: Haley Carter) Photo supplied and used to ensure no players can be identified


SAT 11:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6g9zq6)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:06 The Newsroom (w172xyxvywldlpg)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 11:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry20bzl)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:32 WorklifeIndia (w3ct2f48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:32 today]


SAT 12:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gb3gb)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 12:06 The Documentary (w3ct2zvn)
MTV@40

In the early 1980s the idea of a television channel showing nothing but music videos 24 hours a day was completely revolutionary.

The arrival of MTV posed the first real threat to the dominance of Top 40 Radio across America and went on to completely redefine how artists marketed themselves and the way popular music was consumed by the fans.

In ‘MTV@40’ presenter Mark Goodman, the very first ‘Video Jockey’ to appear on the channel after it launched in 1981, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the channel’s successes and controversies.

From MTV’s inauspicious launch night, to broadcasting all 17 hours of Live Aid in 1985, to how Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ helped the channel combat claims of racial bias in its music policy; MTV has been the soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in popular culture for the last four decades.

Through extensive use of archive and new interviews with people who have first-hand experience of working at the channel, the BBC World Service tells the story of how a daring experiment 40 years ago changed both music and television forever.

Presenter: Mark Goodman
Producer: Mike Williams




Image: The MTV Music Television logo circa 1982. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)


SAT 13:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gb76g)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 13:06 Newshour (w172xv5hwmpt6j2)
World's most powerful telescope launched into orbit

The world's most powerful telescope has been blasted off into space by a European Ariane Rocket from French Guiana. With its huge gold-plated mirror, the James Webb Space Telescope aims to see deeper into space than ever before, to picture the very first stars. We speak to Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's head of science.

Also in the programme: How climate change is driving reindeer from their feeding grounds; and our correspondents look back at some of this year's biggest stories.

(Image: Lift-off of an Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Epa/JM Guillon/Esa handout)


SAT 14:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gbbyl)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 14:06 The Documentary (w3ct302q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:06 today]


SAT 15:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gbgpq)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 15:06 Her Majesty the Queen's Christmas Message (w3ct3dmx)
Her Majesty the Queen's Christmas message

Coverage of Her Majesty the Queen's traditional Christmas message to the Commonwealth.


SAT 15:12 On the Podium (w3ct300j)
A show about what it takes to get to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.


SAT 16:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gblfv)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 16:06 The Documentary (w3ct2zvy)
Generation change: Part one

BBC presenter Babita Sharma meets the young people from around the world working to fight hunger and climate change as well as speaking to Nobel Prize Laureates including the World Food Programme and the co-Chair of President Biden’s science commission and Nobel Chemistry Laureate Frances H. Arnold.

We hear from the young people in South Korea taking the Government to court to stop the carbon emissions which cause climate change, the young Lebanese man who worked to feed people after the deadly bomb blast in 2019, the young American woman whose work connecting charities to excess food from restaurants is spreading around the world and the young Kenyan engineer who has designed a solar powered fridge which can transport vaccines on a bike.


SAT 17:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gbq5z)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 17:06 The Documentary (w3ct2zvz)
Generation change: Part two

BBC presenter Babita Sharma and correspondent Megha Mohan meet the young people from India, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Arab Emirates fighting to change taboos around organ donation and for greater diversity in the critical fields of science, technology, engineering and maths. We also speak to Nobel Prize awarded contributors including kidney transfer campaigner and economist Alvin Roth as well as astronomer and Physics Laureate Andrea Ghez.

(Photo: Farmers)


SAT 18:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gbty3)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:06 The Newsroom (w172xyxvywlffxc)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 18:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry2166h)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:32 World of Wisdom (w3ct2zw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:32 today]


SAT 18:50 Sporting Witness (w3ct1l99)
Nigeria's Paralympic heroine

At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, Nigerian shotputter, Lauritta Onye, became a social media sensation thanks to her cart-wheeling gold-medal celebration dance. Onye has dwarfism and has never grown beyond four foot one, or 125 centimetres. She suffered social stigma in Nigeria and at one point ended up selling DVDs on the street in order to survive. But a taster session of Paralympic sport would transform her life. She talks to Ian Williams .

PHOTO: Lauritta Onye competing at the Rio Paralympics (Getty Images)


SAT 19:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gbyp7)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 19:06 The Evidence (w3ct2zqk)
Coronavirus: The Evidence

When will the pandemic end?

Everybody hopes that the new super-charged Omicron variant of coronavirus will be less severe, but even if it is, it’s spreading so fast and infecting so many people, health services around the world could still buckle under the strain.

Two years into the pandemic, Claudia Hammond is joined by two world-leading scientists to discuss the impact of Omicron and to review what the world has got right in its response to coronavirus, and what it has got very, very wrong.

As many countries roll out and plan for booster campaigns in the face of this new variant, concerns are raised that enhancing vaccine coverage in richer countries will again monopolise scarce supplies, and leave the millions of unvaccinated in poorer countries – including three quarters of healthcare workers in Africa – exposed yet again.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation, acknowledges the need to boost the elderly and vulnerable, but says it's good science to make sure everyone around the world gets their first vaccine doses. Only then will further deaths be prevented and new variants stalled.

Director of the Wellcome Trust, Sir Jeremy Farrar agrees. Booster vaccines in rich countries, maybe even a fourth dose, are unsustainable he says, when so many people have yet to receive their first jab. It’s not just a moral and ethical argument to vaccinate the world, he says, but it makes sound scientific sense too.

Produced by: Fiona Hill, Anna Buckley, Maria Simons and Emily Bird
Studio Engineer: Tim Heffer and Giles Aspen

Picture: Virus shaped Globe, World map texture credits to NASA, Credit: imaginima/Getty Images


SAT 20:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gc2fc)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 20:06 The Arts Hour (w3ct1rv1)
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason

World famous cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – who played at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - joins us to reveal his family celebrations over the holiday season. We also hear from other guests about how they mark this time of year.

Tom Holland tells us about his training regime to play Spiderman, Maggie Gyllenhaal on her feature film directing debut.

The Waltz King Andre Rieu on wanting to spread a love for classical music

Joachim Trier - director of The Worst Person In The World – on his romantic melodrama which has been described as “an instant classic”.

And Nikki Bedi is joined by critic Rhianna Dhillon to discuss the many aural delights on offer at this time of the year.

(Photo: Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Credit: Jake Turney)


SAT 21:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gc65h)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 21:06 Newshour (w172xv5hwmpv5h3)
Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.


SAT 22:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gc9xm)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:06 The Newsroom (w172xyx1j4zrmgl)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 22:20 Sports News (w172y0stlffwp37)
BBC Sport brings you all the latest stories and results from around the world.


SAT 22:30 BBC News Summary (w172xzkrry21p60)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:32 The Cultural Frontline (w3ct1ptq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:06 today]


SAT 23:00 BBC News (w172xzjyb6gcfnr)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:06 Music Life (w3ct1hcz)
Home for the holidays with MØ, Sigrid, Tove Lo and Alma

Nordic pop superstars MØ, Sigrid, Tove Lo and Alma discuss writing songs on your holidays, which elements work best for their songwriting, and why Scandinavians are so good at making pop music.

Karen Ørsted, better known as Danish singer and songwriter MØ, is an electro-pop star who blends different genres to make a sound that’s uniquely hers. She grew up listening to punk music and this is definitely something that’s influenced her most recent work. She’s worked with the likes of Iggy Azalea, Major Lazer and DJ Snake, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber and superstar producer Jack Antonoff, and supported artists including Years & Years, AlunaGeorge and Sia on international stages.

Sigrid is a Norwegian singer and songwriter who has toured with the likes of Maroon 5 and George Ezra, and her latest single Burning Bridges is a taste of what’s to come from her second album.

Tove Lo has been dubbed “Sweden’s darkest pop export”. Known for her grunge-infused pop sound, she has released four albums and has had global success with tracks like Habits (Stay High), Cool Girl and the Grammy-nominated Glad He’s Gone.

Alma went from performing on Finnish talent show Idols to achieving platinum-selling singles in just five years. She shot to fame in 2017 with the release of Chasing Highs, released her debut album Have U Seen Her? in 2020, and has collaborated with the likes of Charli XCX, Tove Lo and MØ. Beyond her own music, she has written for pop heavyweights like Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande.