The Documentary

Amid the rubble, in makeshift tents, children in Gaza are singing - and practising the violin, guitar and traditional instruments such as the ‘oud. The sessions are organised by the local branch of the Palestinian national music conservatory, which still operates, outside its damaged premises, despite the destruction of teachers’ and students’ homes. Why - and how - do they go on singing? And what does music mean to them now? Tim Whewell reported from Gaza in 2015 on the rescue of the territory’s only concert grand piano after a previous war. Now, for Assignment, he finds out how musicians he met then are living and working through this war. He learns about a boy who started playing the violin after he lost his hand in an airstrike. And he finds out about the second near-miraculous survival of the grand piano.

Sports Banger is a fashion house, rave organisation, and London community centre run by Jonny Banger. The cornerstone of their work is bootleg T-shirts which mix satire and humour with a sportswear aesthetic. One of Sports Banger’s best-known t-shirts features two very different and well-known brands - the Nike and the UK’s National Health Service. In 2020, this simple T-shirt became highly-coveted. Selling out in minutes on limited runs during the height of the UK’s Covid lockdowns, Jonny Banger used the proceeds to set up a food bank in his neighbourhood, feeding 160 families every week for two years. Poet Talia Randall meets Jonny in his studio - Maison de Bang Bang.

Katy Fallon tells the story of the refugees and other migrants ensnared in Greece’s legal crossfire. Greek authorities routinely prosecute those found near the controls of boats carrying people trying to reach Europe, but human rights monitors assert that it is vulnerable passengers, not real smugglers, who are ending up behind bars. Katy reveals a system where chaotic trials last a matter of minutes but can result in prison sentences of hundreds of years. And she meets Akif Rasuli, a young Afghan man compensated for wrongful imprisonment after spending almost three years behind bars. Amid Europe-wide efforts to clamp down on irregular migration, are tough people smuggling policies seeing the wrong people pay a heavy price?

What do a graffiti festival, a first aid training and a football match have in common? These are all events set up by African Initiative, a Russian media organisation which defines itself as 'an information bridge between Russia and Africa'. Olaronke Alo and Maria Korenyuk from the BBC Disinformation Unit have been investigating this organisation and its activities in the Sahel region in Africa.Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

When she was sworn in as Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to tackle the country’s drug gangs. In the past couple of months, local civilian groups have reported hundreds of deaths and disappearances due to them. Hosts Mark Lowen and Krupa Padhy hear from those who just want to go about their lives and jobs in safety, but are being caught in the crossfire and sometimes even targeted. Rosa is a 15-year-old student and would like to leave it all behind but feels for now she must coexist with constant fear. We also hear from two women in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, whose loved ones are among “the disappeared”. And two journalists share the dangers and threats that go with reporting on organised crime.

A bonus episode for The Documentary from the What in the World podcast.The death of One Direction star Liam Payne has shocked the world, and there’s been a huge outpouring of grief. Many details about the British singer's death still remain unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities has started to build a picture of the events. We know that he was in Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and died after falling from a hotel balcony.Liam rose to fame after competing in the singing competition the X Factor. It was here that he first met fellow One Direction members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik. Entertainment reporter Bonnie McLaren reminds us of his journey to fame, and his solo projects. We also hear why he meant so much to fans globally, including 22-year-old Bintelmran in Pakistan. Plus Joshua Miles, a psychotherapist based in London, talks us through why we grieve celebs, even if we don’t know them directly. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this e

In certain cultures in Uganda and across Africa, a belief exists where departed husbands return as ethereal entities to engage in intimate encounters with their living partners. To ward off this phenomenon, women are required to perform Enkumbi. Ugandan presenter Daniel Leinhardt sets out to investigate this belief and its impact, including the role it may play in subjugating women. He from couples who see the Enkumbi rituals as something they still must perform, and women who think it's old fashioned nonsense but who still harbour the doubt of 'what if it's not?'

Until 2021, Uganda had only four paediatric surgeons and a just a few children’s hospital beds for the entire country. In 2020, the mortality rate for children under five was 43 per 1,000 births, compared to three per 1,000 in the UK. The Children’s Hospital of Entebbe, funded by the Italian NGO, Emergency, and designed by world famous architect Renzo Piano, was established in 2021 to change the situation. Ugandan Journalist Lulu Jemimah visits the hospital, on the shore of Lake Victoria, to ask whether one hospital is enough to reset the future for Uganda's children.

A wave of criminal activity in Japan has been blamed on social media. Yami Baito – meaning “dark part-time jobs” in Japanese – refers to job ads posted by criminal gangs on social media and encrypted messaging platforms including Telegram. Jobseekers are blackmailed or enticed with the promise of getting rich quick to commit a range of crimes from scamming elderly people to, at its most extreme, armed robbery. Japanese police have attempted to crack down on Yami Baito by taking down these ads and launching public awareness campaigns. But BBC Trending explores evidence that these recruiters are still operating online. We hear from someone who got sucked into Yami Baito, and a criminal mastermind in charge of recruitment.

Singapore’s drug laws are severe. The penalties for trafficking illegal narcotics range from a prison term to execution. And if you’re caught using any illicit narcotic, including cannabis, you may find yourself in compulsory rehab. In this double edition of Assignment for The Documentary, Linda Pressly’s given access to the state’s austere Drug Rehabilitation Centre. She also explores how the law on trafficking is applied, meets the sister of a man who was hung after a heroin conviction, and learns that it’s also illegal for a Singaporean to consume drugs overseas.

The Los Angeles river has been a concrete channel since the 1930s, when the US Army Corps of Engineers decided to concrete over the original river for flood mitigation. Ever since then, the river has been regularly used as a symbol of dystopia and was the backdrop in a famous scene in The Terminator. However, landscape architect Mia Lehrer wants to transform its reputation and to revitalise the river, because it is still a waterway shared by millions. This will be not be an easy task, however, as the river itself is still the property of the US Army Corps, and the river course crosses numerous bureaucratic boundaries at both the local and state level. Presenter Alan Weedon meets Mia as she describes her vision to breathe new life into an American icon.

Over the four decades since the pandemic took off, we have seen around 40 million people worldwide killed by HIV. Today, around the same number of people are living with the virus, and many of them are long-term survivors. In 2015, an end to the pandemic by 2030 was adopted as one of the ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goals and signed up to by all member states. Sue Armstrong and Noerine Kaleeba report on the impressive progress made in controlling the spread of HIV and ask whether the goal of an end to the Aids pandemic by 2030 is really possible.

The Grey Wolves, a Turkish far-right political movement, is getting increasing attention worldwide. So is their hand gesture, depicting a wolf’s head. But what makes them so controversial? Selin Girit from BBC Turkish explains.Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Commemorations took place in Israel this week to mark 7 October, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed by Hamas gunmen and 251 were taken hostage into neighbouring Gaza. Twelve months later, the bloodshed in the region has also spread to Gaza and Lebanon and Iran has been drawn into the conflict. Host Luke Jones hears from Eylon in Tel Aviv and Adam in England who are frustrated that the plight of the hostages can sometimes appear to be forgotten, especially on the global stage. He also hears what life is like for three young Israelis in their 20s and the anxiety of daily rocket strikes, explosions and gunfire.

With a global market worth more than $100 billion dollars a year, yoga is a massive industry. With its origins in India, Yoga is often considered to be part of the Hindu tradition, as well as being influenced by other religions including Buddhism and Islam. Yet with modern studios and teachers offering a plethora of styles from fitness to beer yoga, has it become disconnected from its spiritual roots? And is the surge in social media trends diluting its authenticity? Geeta Pendse meets the women on personal missions to ‘reclaim yoga’ whilst balancing the demands of business with the spiritual roots of this ancient practice.

Female con artists are exploiting superstition and family love to swindle women with Chinese heritage living in the west. The blessing scam is an elaborate piece of criminal street theatre, which over the last few months has claimed victims across North America and the UK. It begins with an apparently random meeting with a stranger in the street, and very quickly escalates from there. Victims are tricked out of their money and possessions, after being terrified into believing that a relative’s life is threatened by evil spirits. Are the criminals just master manipulators, or could something even more sinister be involved? Now a social media activist is fighting back and trying to put the crooks out of business.

Mishal Husain is joined by a panel of guests to discuss whether this is a path to peace in the Middle East.Joining Mishal are Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's international editor; Lord Ricketts, who served as a British diplomat for many years, including being on the Foreign Office Middle East desk during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982; Afif Safieh, former Palestinian head of mission in London, Washington, D.C. and Moscow; Ehud Olmert, who was Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009; Ambassador David Satterfield, who until earlier this year was US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues; and Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House.Producers: Sinead Heekin and Louisa Lewis Editor: Owenna Griffiths Studio direction: Ben Andrews

A bonus episode from the People Fixing the World podcast. Concerns are growing about the effects of smartphones on both adults and children, so we're looking at ways to reduce our dependence on these ubiquitous devices.Presenter Myra Anubi attempts to ditch her smartphone for a week, while she finds out about a fast-growing campaign in which local parents get together to agree to delay buying them for their children. But Myra and her own daughter don't quite see eye-to-eye on the topic.Plus Anna Holligan visits an innovative project called The Offline Club in Amsterdam, where people hand in their phones in exchange for a dose of good old real-life interaction.People Fixing the World is a weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them. Discover more of the people and projects trying to make the world a better place at bbcworldservice.com/peoplefixingtheworld or, just search for People Fixing the World wherever you got this podcast. Present

Lyse Doucet reflects on some of the biggest moments from this conflict with BBC colleagues Jeremy Bowen, Anna Foster and Rushdi Abualouf, who have been reporting from around the region and they discuss what could happen next in the Middle East. for more search The Conflict wherever you get your BBC podcasts

Gary O'Donoghue meets local newspaper editors in America to hear about the challenge of reporting during a divisive presidential election campaign. In Kansas, Gary visits Eric Meyer, the owner and editor of the Marion County Record. In August 2023 the paper’s offices, and the home of its 90-year-old owner, Eric’s mother Joan, were raided by the town's five person police department. A "good old fashioned newspaper war" has been playing out in Westcliffe, Colorado, where Gary meets Jordan Hedberg, editor of the Wet Mountain Tribune. In the same town, the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel, promises “a different view from the same mountains”. Gary also hears about how trust in local news, which has traditionally played a big part in local politics, is being eroded.