SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2020

SAT 01:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkntrl)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 01:06 Business Matters (w172x18ydlxg1vh)
US presidential election: Debating the issues

In the last of our election specials, we debate the big issues with a Republican and a Democrat. William Spriggs is chief economist at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations - a Democrat appointed to the Department of Labor by President Obama. Michael Johns is the National Tea Party movement co-founder and leader, and a former White House speechwriter for President George Bush. Sasha Twining is joined by them both throughout the programme to debate the key issues of the election, including the economy, the US-China trade war and the coronavirus pandemic.
Also in the programme, we speak to Sarah Bryner, research director at the Center for Responsive Politics in Chicago, about election fundraising and what all those dollars are spent on. And Marylouise Serrato of American Citizens Abroad tells us what US voters abroad are concerned about in the run up to polling day.

(Picture: 'Vote' badges, credit: Getty Images)


SAT 02:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmknyhq)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bcgjq7pxv)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 02:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5c9s3)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:32 Stumped (w3cszhjq)
Dean Jones - a 'shocking loss' to cricket

Alison Mitchell, Jim Maxwell and Charu Sharma pay tribute to Dean Jones, the great Australia batsman who has died at the age of 59.

Plus, we're joined by Dhiraj Malhotra, CEO of Delhi Capitals, to discuss a controversial week in the Indian Premier League.

Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes looks welcomes the return of women's international cricket - with fans.

And a dispute over Don Bradman's childhood cricket pitch prompts a debate over how we remember our sporting heroes.

Photo: Dean Jones (Getty Images)


SAT 03:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkp27v)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 03:06 The Fifth Floor (w3cszjhl)
Music and memory

This week, the World Service marked World Alzheimer's Day with a BBC Music and Memory project, exploring the power of music to reach sufferers with the disease. It launched a website of global tracks to trigger memories, compiled with the help of the BBC's language services. Behzad Bolour compiled BBC Persian's list, his father suffered from dementia, but still sang with him. He also explores Iran’s complex relationship with music.

But what tracks does the rest of the world dance and remember to? We hear from BBC Arabic's Nahed Najjar, Adedayo Owolabi of BBC Yoruba, Kateryna Khinkulova of BBC Russian and Partha Prasad from the Indian languages hub in Delhi about some of the tracks they contributed to the world music database, and why.

The Moria camp fire: one family’s story
Talibshah Hosseini from Afghanistan had to flee with his wife and 3 children as his tent was destroyed in a huge fire at Greece’s largest migrant camp earlier this month. The overcrowded camp, on the island of Lesbos, was home to 13,000 migrants, the majority from Afghanistan. Talibshah told his story to BBC journalist Kawoon Khamoosh.

My Home Town: Feira de Santana
Camilla Costa of BBC Brasil takes us to her home town in Bahia, Brazil, to eat peanuts and sit in the hot springs with her grandmother.

Image: Elderly Indian lady listening on headphones looking at smartphone
Credit: BBC


SAT 03:50 Witness History (w3cszmvg)
Bush v Gore: The 'hanging chads' US election of 2000

The US presidential election of 2000 was one of the closest and most contested in history. It was more than a month before the result was decided after a Supreme Court decision. It all came down to the vote in Florida, a 'swing-state', where irregularities and technical problems added to the confusion. In the end it's thought there were just a few hundred votes in it, but years later, the result, and the handling of the election in the state, divides opinion. Callie Shell was the official photographer for Al Gore's presidential campaign and documented the dramatic events behind closed doors in pictures. She's been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like to be there.


SAT 04:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkp5zz)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 04:06 The Real Story (w3cszcng)
Covid-19: What's best for the elderly?

Governments across Europe have this week introduced new measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reports that over the past fortnight five countries have reported over 120 cases per 100,000 residents, including Spain, France, and the Czech Republic. But the increased restrictions on freedom of movement and congregation in many countries is sparking push-back from some, who argue that the elderly should be shielded - while the rest of society returns to some semblance of normality. It’s a suggestion British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected this week during an address to the nation. He said such a policy wouldn’t be ‘realistic’ - insisting widespread transmission of the virus would inevitably see infection rates rise in vulnerable communities too. But after months of effectively being locked away from the outside world, many of those who’ve been shielding from the virus are now showing signs of adverse physical and mental health problems due to isolation. So as the pandemic grinds on, are attempts to protect the elderly from exposure to the coronavirus prompting other health crises - and what can be done to keep them safe and happy? Ritula Shah and a panel of expert guests discuss - what is the best approach for the elderly?


SAT 05:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkp9r3)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bcgjq8257)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 05:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5cp0h)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:32 Comedians Vs. The News (w3ct0x3c)
Enissa Amani and Neeti Palta

Top German stand-up Enissa Amani and one of India’s biggest comedians, Neeti Palta, join comedy couple Jess Salomon and Eman El-Husseini to find the funny in the world’s news.

This week, why are India and China at loggerheads over a border? And meet Harley, the Mexican pug on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19.

Get involved and tell us about the funny stories where you are. #comediansvsthenews


SAT 06:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkpfh7)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 06:06 Weekend (w172x7d0bzxmsry)
US Supreme Court replacement picked

President Trump is reported to have picked his replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Also, Swiss voters are being called on to decide whether to allow wolf hunting.

And we hear from a colleague of the two people attacked in front of the Charlie Hebdo building in Paris on Friday.

Joining Paul Henley to discuss these and other issues are Lisa Millar, a journalist and broadcaster for the ABC network in Australia. She co-presents the 'News Breakfast' programme on ABC television, and Afzal Ashraf, an expert on defence, security, and international relations at the University of Nottingham here in the UK.

(Photo: Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's reported pick for the US Supreme Court. Credit: Reuters)


SAT 07:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkpk7c)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 07:06 Weekend (w172x7d0bzxmxj2)
Are Sino/Australian relations damaged beyond repair?

Why some politicians in Australia think that their country's economic relationship with China has been damaged irreparably.

Also,President Trump is reported to have picked a federal judge known for her conservative religious views - as his nominee for the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court.

Joining Paul Henley to discuss these and other issues are Lisa Millar, a journalist and broadcaster for the ABC network in Australia. She co-presents the 'News Breakfast' programme on ABC television, and Afzal Ashraf, an expert on defence, security, and international relations at the University of Nottingham here in the UK.

(Picture: The Australian flag flutters in front of the Great Hall of the People in China. Credit: Reuters)


SAT 08:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkpnzh)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:06 Weekend (w172x7d0bzxn186)
Trump reportedly set to pick Barrett

President Trump is reported to have picked his replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Also,we hear from a colleague of the two people attacked in front of the Charlie Hebdo building in Paris yesterday.

Joining Paul Henley to discuss these and other issues are Lisa Millar, a journalist and broadcaster for the ABC network in Australia. She co-presents the 'News Breakfast' programme on ABC television, and Afzal Ashraf, an expert on defence, security, and international relations at the University of Nottingham here in the UK.

(Picture: The flag-draped casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg under the Portico of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S. Credit: Reuters)


SAT 08:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5d17w)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:32 The Documentary (w3ct0x64)
Mozart's Requiem

Mozart's Requiem, written when he was dying, has touched and changed people's lives. Crime writer Val McDermid recalls how this music helped her after the loss of her father. Hypnotist Athanasios Komianos recounts how the piece took him to the darker side of the spirit world. And a friend of ballet dancer Edward Stierle, Lissette Salgado-Lucas, explains how Eddie turned his struggle with HIV into a ballet inspired by Mozart's music.

Basement Jaxx used the Requiem in their live shows and on their album Scars - Felix Buxton reveals his love for Mozart and the divine nature of the Requiem.

And Mozart expert Cliff Eisen takes us inside the composer's world: how the orchestra and choir conjure visions of funerals, beauty, hellfire and the confusion of death. He recounts how Mozart was commissioned to write the piece by a nobleman who may have intended to pass off the work as his own. The stern challenge faced by people trying to complete the piece are described by composer Michael Finnissy, who himself wrote a completion of the work.

The Requiem was performed at the funerals of many heroic figures - Beethoven, Napoleon and J F Kennedy, among others. Gordana Blazinovic remembers one extraordinary performance during the horrors of the Bosnian war - a show of defiance and grief from the ruins of Sarajevo City Hall.

(Photo: The recently discovered Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart portrait, by the artist Johann Georg Edlinger. Credit: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)


SAT 09:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkpsqm)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:06 BBC OS Conversations (w3ct0xjp)
Coronavirus: Back to normal in Wuhan?

We hear a conversation about what life is like now in the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first detected. Officials have declared Wuhan virus-free. Lots of people have been sharing pictures from bars in the city, which suggest life has gone back to the way it was before. It's a huge contrast to much of the rest of the world, which is still dealing with high infection rates and associated restrictions. Two people who live in Wuhan tell Nuala McGovern about their newly restored freedoms. Are they confident that they've seen the back of the virus?

We also spend some time in countries at very different stages of their epidemics. There were street parties in the Czech Republic at the end of June to say "farewell" to coronavirus, including one on the famous Charles Bridge in the capital, Prague. As cases surge again, we speak to one of the organisers of that party as part of a group of Czechs, who talk about their tolerance for restrictions and how their lives have been changed.

Meanwhile, people in Panama have only just emerged from one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, which lasted many months and had one unusual feature. Men and women were allowed out of their homes on alternate days. We hear how three Panamanians feel about what they've been through and the implications for the future.

(Photo: Inside a bar in Wuhan, China, 18 September 2020. Credit: Getty Images)


SAT 09:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5d500)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:32 Girl Taken (w3ct0xw2)
Girl Taken

26/09/2020 GMT

Girl Taken is a two year investigation to find a little girl taken from her mother in Iran. In this 11 part series, recorded in real time, Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie slowly unravel the mystery of what happened to four year old Bru and set out to reunite mother and daughter after years of being apart.

The series starts when Sue Mitchell came into the story, as a reporter for the BBC covering the refugee crisis in Europe. The little girl had hit the media spotlight when her father, claiming to be a widow fleeing Afghanistan under threat of death from the Taliban, asked Rob Lawrie, a volunteer at the Calais camp, for help. He wanted Rob to smuggle Bru to the UK but this failed. Although the story was extensively covered no one knew Bru’s mother was alive and desperately searching for her.

Through the original BBC coverage the mother, Goli, makes contact with Sue and Rob, telling them her daughter was taken from the family home in Tehran without her knowledge or consent. She’d been to the police in Iran but was told they could not help. She then travelled thousands of miles at the hands of smugglers with Bru’s baby sister, Baran. Sickness forced her to stop in Denmark but authorities and refugee charities there could not find Bru. These recordings cover a series of dramatic turns in the search for the little girl.

The recordings also touch on the plight of other women whose children have been taken from them by abusive husbands. It is still a rare thing to happen, but this investigation exposes shortcomings in the asylum process. Since the recordings aired, officials have discovered other cases where men have come into the United Kingdom with a child to help their asylum claims. These claims have not been fully investigated in the past and there are few safeguards to protect those who have suffered as a result.

The series raises the plight of children living in the Calais Jungle and other overcrowded and unsanitary camps. Through Goli’s story we learn more about the control others had in shaping her life. She’d had an arranged marriage to a cruel and controlling man and lived in a society where she had few rights. When she decided to flee Iran and search for Bru, she encountered many dangers, from smugglers to perilous sea crossings in the dead of night with Bru’s baby sister, Baran, in her arms.

The series gives voice to one woman’s story and in doing so raises issues affecting many others. Goli left the only culture she had known to search the world for her little girl and in doing so changed her outlook completely. On reaching the West she immersed herself in the education she had always wanted. As she began making her own choices she starts to experience possibilities and freedoms she had never before imagined. Goli is hopeful that her story could help other women to challenge the injustice and cruelty she has overcome.


SAT 09:50 Over to You (w3cszf4v)
The rise and rise of podcasts

We’re giving the whole show over to the topic of the evolution of podcasts on the BBC World Service and how they sit alongside traditional radio.
What are the editorial criteria behind a podcast being commissioned and do they have to meet public service standards?

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Producer: Howard Shannon


SAT 10:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkpxgr)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 10:06 Sportshour (w172x3bz9r76q8g)
Madison Hammond: I didn’t think I’d be the first anything in sport

Madison Hammond is the first Native American woman to sign a professional contract with an NWSL club. She joins us ahead of OL Reign’s opening game of the season and her potential debut against Utah Royals to discuss how she is hoping to inspire more Native American girls to play the sport. She also tells us about the financial barriers players from ethnic minority backgrounds can face as they try to make it in soccer and how the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked conversations with her team-mates.

“I’m sort of like the canary in the coal mine – there’s a lot less ice in the winter, everywhere I go” – Canadian ice climber Will Gadd tells us how climate change and a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro have led him to consider his future in the sport. Gadd had hoped to scale the famous Messner Route earlier this year, but he was unable to as part of it has melted away. He worries that by the time his children are his age, there won’t be enough ice left to climb on Kilimanjaro

Football journalist and Wrexham fan Bryn Law joins us to discuss Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s interest in buying the Welsh non-league club. Deadpool star Reynolds and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's McElhenney are set to share their vision for Wrexham and a takeover could see around two and a half million dollars invested in the club.

Caitlin Rooskrantz tells us how she used gymnastics to channel her emotions following the death of her father when she was just eight years old. Rooskrantz will be the first black South African female gymnast to compete at an Olympic Games in Tokyo next year. She believes her achievements can open doors for the next generation of young girls coming through.

In Sporting Witness go back to the Syndey Olympics of 2000 and the famous gold medal winning performance from aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman.

Brittany Carter from ABC Grandstand joins us to reflect on Australia’s first T20 with New Zealand and we also look ahead to England’s third T20 against West Indies.

And we are live at the Amex Stadium ahead of Brighton’s game against Manchester United in the Premier League.

(Photo: Madison Hammond posing for OL Reign. Credit: Madison Hammond instagram)


SAT 11:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkq16w)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bcgjq8sn0)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 11:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5ddh8)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:32 Global Questions (w3ct165b)
Global Questions

The Belarus crisis: Trouble in Putin’s backyard

The growing street protests in Belarus threaten not only President Lukashenko, the country's authoritarian leader, but also Russia's Vladimir Putin. Russia sees Belarus as a crucial buffer state against Nato and the West, and Putin also fears this kind of 'people power' could be a threat to his leadership. The growth of opposition inside Russia was highlighted by the poisoning of the leading Kremlin critic Alexi Navalny, a constant thorn in the President's side. The stakes are high for President Putin but is he really under threat - both in his back yard and his own country? And how should the West respond?

Panel:-
Jan Neutze Director of Cybersecurity Policy at Microsoft responsible for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
Martha Lane Fox Co-founded Last Minute.com, Peer and expert on public service digital projects.
Presented by Zeinab Badawi.


SAT 12:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkq4z0)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 12:06 Music Life (w3csz6td)
Heart v technique with Norah Jones and Nitin Sawhney

An absolutely fascinating discussion this week sees Nitin Sawhney welcome Norah Jones, Anoushka Shankar and Soumik Datta to discuss the differences between being a solo artist versus being part of a band, the importance of playing with heart over technique, and how collaborating and working with different musicians changes their sound.

Nitin Sawhney grew up studying the piano, guitar, sitar and tabla. He has released scores of albums, and composed for theatre, dance, video games and cinema, including the film Mowgli for Netflix and the BBC TV series Human Planet. He’s also worked with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Joss Stone, Annie Lennox, Sting, and Mira Nair.

Norah Jones is a nine-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician. She launched her solo music career in 2002 with her debut album Come Away with Me, and since then she’s sold over 50 million records worldwide. She’s also collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Outkast, Foo Fighters, Willie Nelson, Q-Tip and former Music Life guest Robert Glasper.

Anoushka Shankar is a musician, composer and producer who began training on the sitar with her father, Ravi. She made her professional debut at the age of 13 and had made three classical solo records by the time she was twenty. She was also the first Indian musician to perform live at the Grammy Awards, and she has worked with the likes of M.I.A., Rodrigo y Gabriela, Gold Panda, Lenny Kravitz, Deva Premal, and Zakir Hussain.

And finally, Soumik Datta is a British-Indian musician and composer who specialises in the sarod. He has collaborated with Beyoncé, Joss Stone, Anoushka Shankar, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and host Nitin Sawhney. He has also presented documentaries examining how music helps us understand India’s past and present, and was invited by Jay-Z to join him on stage for Royal Albert Hall’s first ever hip-hop concert.


SAT 13:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkq8q4)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 13:06 Newshour (w172x2ywy52dgbq)
Trump 'to pick Amy Coney Barrett' for US Supreme Court

President Trump is expected to name the conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court - a move likely to draw opposition from liberals worried about her stance on abortion and gun rights. We hear from a friend and colleague.
Also on the programme: Lebanon's Prime Minister designate says he's stepping down after failing to form a government; and Switzerland votes in a controversial referendum on hunting wild wolves.

(Photo: Judge Amy Coney Barrett poses in an undated photograph. Credit: Matt Cashore/Notre Dame University/Handout via REUTERS)


SAT 14:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkqdg8)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 14:06 Sportsworld (w172x3lc99ndy3l)
Live Sporting Action

Sportsworld brings you live commentary of Crystal Palace v Everton. Both teams have taken maximum points from their first two games of the Premier League season. We’ll have reaction to the day’s early kick-off between Brighton and Manchester United. Plus we’ll be looking ahead to the women’s FA Cup quarter-finals that get underway this weekend.

Elsewhere, we’ll bring you the latest from qualifying for the Formula 1 Sochi Grand Prix, and women’s international cricket is back after a long hiatus due to the pandemic – we’ll have reaction to the T20 matches between England and West Indies, and Australia and New Zealand.

Plus we’ll be discussing the NBA Conference finals with the LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics all looking to take one step closer to the NBA Championship.

Credit: Wilfried Zaha celebrates with his team-mates after scoring for Crystal Palace against Southampton (Photo: EPA)


SAT 18:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkqwfs)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bcgjq9mvx)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 18:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5f7q5)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:32 Trending (w3csyvnq)
The Instagram suicide network

Andrine was 17 years old when she killed herself in March 2017.

For two years her mother left Andrine’s phone untouched in a cardboard box by her front door.

But when a journalist from the Norwegian broadcaster NRK approached her Andrine’s mother plucked up the courage to take a look.

The information from Andrine’s phone uncovered a secretive international network of young women and girls who share pictures of self-harm, thoughts about killing themselves and even their suicidal attempts.

Many of those in the network have eating disorders, depression or other mental health problems. They don’t trust healthcare workers or doctors, and they communicate using private Instagram accounts.

The investigation by NRK has identified at least 15 young women and girls in the network who have taken their own lives in the last three years.

So what responsibility does social media – and Instagram in particular - bear for the deaths?

If you are affected by the issues in this programme you can find information about support organisations on the Befrienders Worldwide website. https://www.befrienders.org/

Presenter: Catrin Nye
Producer: Ed Main

(Photo: A close-up of Andrine pinned on a noticeboard. Credit: BBC)


SAT 18:50 More or Less (w3ct0pxw)
Caffeine and pregnancy

Do coffee and pregnancy mix? Tim Harford talks to economist Emily Oster about whether caffeine poses a risk for pregnant women.

(image: Getty creative)


SAT 19:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkr05x)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 19:06 The Evidence (w3ct0xk2)
Coronavirus: The Evidence

Covid lessons for safe school reopening

Claudia Hammond and experts from around the world consider the evidence behind schools, colleges and coronavirus spread. Listeners from India, Cuba, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, France, the USA pitch their questions to the specialists.

Research so far shows a low risk of transmission but as children and young people return to classrooms across the globe, will that remain the case?

And Claudia and the team look at that vital role of “test, trace and isolate” when it comes to SARS-CoV-2, something the World Health Organisation describes as the backbone of any Covid-19 response.

Which countries are getting this right and what can others learn from the best? New research comparing six countries from Europe, Africa and Asia highlights the successes and the failures.

Plus Kat, a nurse from Kansas City, Missouri gives a first hand account of pandemic response in the USA and then, when she moved to Germany in the summer, from Stuttgart.

On the panel are Dr Regina Osih, an infectious disease and public health specialist from the Aurum Institute in South Africa who’s working on the country’s Covid response, Dr Young June Choe, paediatrician and assistant professor at Hallym University in South Korea, Gail Davey, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in England, David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from France and Dr Margaret Harris from the WHO in Geneva.

The Evidence is produced in association with Wellcome Collection.

Production team: Fiona Hill, Samara Linton and Maria Simons
Studio engineers: Matilda Macari and Tim Heffer
Editor: Deborah Cohen


Picture: Primary school children wearing face masks as a protective measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, Credit: KIM WON JIN/AFP via Getty Images


SAT 20:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkr3y1)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 20:06 The Arts Hour (w3cszk3c)
Actors Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter

On The Arts Hour this week: Hollywood stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter talk about reprising the roles of time travelling adventurers Bill and Ted in middle age; Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan on art mirroring life for her new TV show The Duchess; and Cambodian born British director Hong Khaou explains why his mother hasn’t seen his movies.

Actress Jessie Buckley talks about entering the curious world of Charlie Kaufman for her role in his latest film I’m Thinking of Ending Things; voiceover actor Nolan North tells us about playing Iron Man in the new Avengers game; and The Benin born singer and activist Angelique Kidjo covers a song by the legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz.

Joining Nikki in the studio are actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster, star of Love, Actually and Nanny McPhee to talk about his latest Netflix drama The Queen’s Gambit, and film critic and podcaster Rhianna Dhillon.

(Picture: Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Bill and Ted Face the Music. Credit: Warner)


SAT 21:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkr7p5)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 21:06 Newshour (w172x2ywy52ff9r)
Madrid sees a surge in cases of Covid-19

Across Europe new infections from coronavirus are causing concern with countries like Poland and the Czech Republic experiencing spikes in cases. In Spain Madrid is seeing a surge of infections. The health minister, Salvador Illa said it was time to take control to tackle a serious health crisis. We hear from him and a reporter in Madrid.

Also on the programme: President Trump is expected to name the conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court - a move likely to draw opposition from liberals worried about her stance on abortion and gun rights. We hear from a friend and colleague.

And In France, President Macron is under pressure to allow interment in the Pantheon of two of France's best-loved poets, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. We hear from someone who signed the petition to make this happen.

(Photo: Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa called for tougher measures in Madrid to curb the virus Credit: EPA)


SAT 22:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkrcf9)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:06 From Our Own Correspondent (w3csz9q1)
‘Death will come tomorrow’ in Yemen

Pascale Harter introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

This week, the United Nations have announced that the crucial aid it supplies to people in Yemen – whose country has been blasted into the sand by 6 years of war – has been cut. More than a third of the UN’s humanitarian efforts in the country have been reduced or shut down entirely after the organisation received only $1-billion of the $3-billion it needed to operate. Mai Noman reflects on the talent for endurance, and the balance of facing facts and keeping hope alive, that her fellow Yemenis are forced to cultivate.

Greece and Turkey have agreed to hold talks to help defuse their stand-off over disputed gas reserves near their shores. Ankara had deployed a research vessel accompanied by warships near a Greek island, and military exercises on both sides followed, giving rise to fears of war between the two long-term rivals, as Heidi Fuller Love reports from Crete.

The US President, Donald Trump, has imposed fresh sanctions on Cuba. This week he banned US citizens from bringing home rum or cigars from the island – likely to be a move designed to appeal to the Cuban-American vote in the swing state of Florida ahead of November's election. There’s no one more hostile to the Communist government back home, than Cubans who’ve settled in the US. So it may be odd to think that the communist government in Havana is suddenly embracing the dollar - that symbol of unbridled capitalism, the currency of the enemy. Will Grant explores the monetary system and finds only a few decades ago it was illegal to possess or handle the US dollar in Cuba.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Bethan Head
Editor: Jasper Corbett

(Image: A Yemeni man walks through food items provided by a local aid group. Credit: European Photopress Agency/Yahya Arhab)


SAT 22:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5fqpp)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:32 Trending (w3csyvnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:32 today]


SAT 22:50 More or Less (w3ct0pxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:50 today]


SAT 23:00 BBC News (w172x5p0gmkrh5f)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bcgjqb7lk)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 23:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5ptxc5fvft)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:32 Heart and Soul (w3ct0qhg)
Buddhist detox

Buddhist temple Wat Thamkrabok in Thailand has a worldwide reputation for its successful mix of ‘cold turkey’ and Buddhism in combating addiction.

The treatment begins with a sacred Buddhist vow never to use drugs again. For five days, the ‘patients’ drink a strong herbal medicine that induces vomiting. No contact with the outside world is permitted.

Through Buddhist teachings, the former addicts confront the bad habits that dominated their past lives and commit to building a life for themselves in the future that will not harm them or their loved ones.

The Wat Thamkrabok treatment programme was founded by an extraordinary characte, Luangpaw Yaai, and her two nephews in response to the Thai government’s introduction of a ban on opium possession that left tens of thousands of Thai addicts in the agony of withdrawal. A Buddhist nun, she wore the robes of a monk and had been an addict herself.

The majority of the patients are from Thailand, but drug addicts from all over the world come to Wat Thamkrabok.

Sucheera Maguire is at the temple with addicts on the Wat Thamkrabok treatment programme. She talks to those in treatment, and the monks who kicked their drug habits at the temple and then converted to the Buddhist faith.

Producer: Helen Lee
Presenter: Sucheera Maguire

(Photo: Buddha statues at Wat Thamkrabok, Thailand. Credit: BBC)