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There are concerns that an international US foreign aid cut will reverse gains, especially in the fight against HIV
Who are the M23 - the group operating in eastern DR Congo?
And how a non-alcoholic bar in Ghana is challenging the drinking culture
Presenter Charles Gitonga Producers: Frenny Jowi in Nairobi with Yvette Twagiramariya and Bella Hassan in London. Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Technical Producer: Chris Kouzaris Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
A group of prominent Zimbabwean war veterans, including a senior figure from the ruling Zanu PF party, have issued a rare rebuke against the country's president Emerson Mnangagwa. They've accused him of seeking to violate the country's constitution by pushing for a third term in office. What does this mean and how significant is this?
Also, we return to the story of the Malawian women facing abuse as domestic workers in Oman.
And who are the Lukurawa and why have they been designated a terrorist group?
Presenter: Charles Gitonga Producers: Nyasha Michelle in London and Frenny Jowi in Nairobi Technical Producer: Frank McWeeny Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
Rwandan-backed rebels have taken over most of the city of Goma in eastern DR Congo. There are reports of Congolese and Rwandan troops exchanging fire across the border. Calls for European Union member countries to respect the human rights of migrants in North Africa.
Plus, we remember one of the forgotten black victims of the Holocaust.
Presenter : Audrey Brown Producers : Yvette Twagiramariya , Bella Hassan and Amie Liebowitz in London. Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Technical producer: Jack Graysmark Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi.
Meet the man behind the YouTube channel 'Dad, How Do I?'. He teaches his millions of subscribers how to do everyday tasks. Also: the man in Uganda who is changing lives through chess; and the flower causing a stink.
World Book Café heads to Oslo to Europe’s largest Literature House to find out if Norway is the best place in the world to be a writer?
Octavia Bright is joined to discuss the highs and lows by the internationally bestselling novelist and climate activist Maja Lunde. Johan Harstad prize winning novelist and the first in-house writer at the National Theatre in Oslo, Gunnhild Oyehaug whose witty and experimental short stories and novels have won her fans around the world and Oliver Lovrenski whose first book was an instant bestseller when it was published in Norway in 2023, when he was just 19.
With generous grants for writers to live and work the Norwegian government also buys 1,000 copies of every book published to give to local libraries across the country. The organisation NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) is funded by the ministry of culture and, since 2004, it has contributed to the translation of more than 8,000 books into no less than 73 languages. For a country of 5.5 million people Norwegian literature punches above its weight. However with much of the country’s wealth coming from the oil industry do environmental concerns tarnish this utopia for its writers?
Producer: Kirsten Locke
While watching a feisty cockatoo chase after a hawk, CrowdScience listener Alison saw the hawk catch a thermal and rise effortlessly into the sky. The cockatoo gave chase, but the hawk climbed higher and higher until it became just a tiny speck, barely visible to the naked eye.
And that got Alison thinking: just how high can birds go? Are there altitude limits for our feathered friends? Could a cockatoo, a sparrow, or even a duck reach such dizzying heights if they really put their wings to it?
Presenter Alex Lathbridge sets out to investigate. Biologist Catherine Ivy reveals that life above the clouds isn’t easy. At high altitudes, the air is thinner, oxygen is scarce, and wings don’t generate as much lift. But some bird species have evolved incredible adaptations to overcome these challenges.
Among them: bar-headed geese, renowned for their daring flights over the world’s tallest mountains. Physiologist Lucy Hawkes delves into how these geese defy the odds with their remarkable physiology, revealing the surprising discoveries she made while putting some of them on a treadmill.
From super-powered hearts to clever lungs, we uncover the secrets behind nature’s impressive aviators.
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Producers: Ilan Goodman and Jeremy Grange Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Technical producer: Sarah Hockley
(Image: OIE A TETE BARREE (Anser indicus) EN VOL Credit: Jean-Patrick DEYA / Contributor via Getty Images)
The UN refugee agency says more than 200,000 Sudanese have arrived in Libya since the start of the war. Women are amongst those hoping to find a better life there. Instead, the women say they have faced abuse and raped. Five women have told the BBC they were tortured and sexually abused in "rape rooms", and worse, children have not been spared.
Also, why are children not going to school in Nigeria? The country has some of the largest numbers of children out of school in the world. Why is that?
And is smoking tobacco really in decline in South Africa? It was amongst the first countries in the world to heavily tax tobacco and introduce controls to rein in smoking in the early 90s.
Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Nyasha Michella and Yvette Twagiramariya Technical Producer: Craig Kingham Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
The Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela is currently underway in India. As part of the event, millions of pilgrims will take a cleansing dip in the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Inspired by this headline, we splash into a whole bathtub of stories about the science of cleaning. We find out why it’s so important to prevent contamination of other planets and moons, and how space scientists keep things clean.
Next up, we discover how our brains clear out harmful toxins while we snooze.
And is there any truth in the saying, ‘tidy house, tidy mind’?
Finally, Marnie ponders whether it’s possible to be too clean, or if being a bit grubby is okay. Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Affelia Wibisono and Andrada Fiscutean Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Dan Welsh, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin
Thirty per cent of the Arctic is switching from carbon sink to carbon source. But could future fertilizer be made deep underground using less resources? Also, how and perhaps why globally 2024 had the highest number of fatal landslides in over 20 years, and an unexpected sound from space prompts a re-evaluation of how the earth’s magnetic field interacts with the environment around it.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Magnificent icebergs. Credit: MB Photography/Getty Images)
Nigeria's telecoms regulator has approved a tariff hike by operators-customers are groaning. A year after ground-breaking malaria vaccination campaigns were launched in Africa-we assess the progress. And why is Benin granting citizenship to descendants of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade? Presenter: Charles Gitonga Producers: Blessing Aderogba. Yvette Twagiramariya and Blessing Hassan Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Technical Producer: Chris Kouzaris Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi