Throughout the week BBC World Service offers a wide range of documentaries and other factual programmes. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.
Episodes available:
Indefinitely 
Mon, 29 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
As leaders in Europe and America struggle to re-write the rules of international finance following the credit crunch, we investigate the roots and role of risk.
Mon, 29 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
In Brand Cuba, Allan Little analyses some of the factors that have kept Cuba alive in the public imagination over such a long period.
Fri, 26 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
Throughout much of the Christian world Christmas is the time when Santa Claus dominates – a fat jolly chap who is our friend.
Thu, 25 Dec 08
Duration:
21 mins
There are more than 10 million Palestinians living around the world, more than half of whom are stateless. In this year when Israel has been marking its 60th anniversary many Palestinians have been reflecting on the event that for them meant exile. The 'naqba', or catastrophe, is how they describe the destruction of many of their villages and towns and their own dispersal following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. For Assignment Paul Adams spoke to four Palestinians in exile.
Tue, 23 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
While China's economy has boomed over the past 30 years, many of its 700 million farmers have been stuck in poverty. Their only hope of a wage has been far from home in the factories and building sites of the boomtowns.
Fri, 19 Dec 08
Duration:
22 mins
In this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme four focuses on the Prague Spring and the subsequent Russian invasion, but also anti-communist rumblings in Poland and China.
Fri, 19 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
Timeline is the programme where the past sheds light on recent events though use of archive material.
Thu, 18 Dec 08
Duration:
23 mins
Last year our correspondent Jill McGivering reported from Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan on the constant violence and the struggle to bring development to the region. Now she's returned, one year on, to see if there's been any progress.
Wed, 17 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
While China's economy has boomed over the past 30 years, many of its 700 million farmers have been stuck in poverty.
Fri, 12 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this topical and lively series, contemporary stories and events are explored through the examination of archive material of events that have gone before.
Fri, 12 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme three looks at how race and nationalism finally came to a head in 1968.
Wed, 10 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
Over the past two-and-a-half years, former BBC Beijing correspondent Carrie Gracie has been witnessing the upheaval as White Horse village in rural China is turned into a city. In this series Carrie returns to find out how the residents feel about the changes. In the programme one, Carrie meets a young mother impatient for a new city life to find a way out of poverty for her children.
Wed, 10 Dec 08
Duration:
23 mins
And now Assignment asks whether Bolivia is on the brink of civil war. In the run-up to next month’s crucial vote on a new constitution, Daniel Schweimler reports from the wealthy and white-dominated city of Santa Cruz, where the dispute over the policies of the country’s indigenous President Evo Morales are spilling over into racial violence.
Fri, 5 Dec 08
Duration:
22 mins
In this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme two captures the student unrest around the world.
Thu, 4 Dec 08
Duration:
23 mins
Five years after doing a series of reports on HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, Emma Joseph retraces her steps for Assignment to find out whether the region still has one of the highest infection rates in the world, and to meet some of the people she first encountered in 2003.
Wed, 3 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
Father Henri Des Roziers is a Dominican priest and human rights lawyer working in Pará, one of Brazil's most violent regions. Nick Maes is given a privileged insight into the life of this man, his faith and the cause he would give his life for.
Wed, 3 Dec 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this topical and lively series, contemporary stories and events are explored through the examination of archive material of events that have gone before.
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
This series looks at the growth of street art. Programme two focuses on Sao Paulo, Brazil through the eyes of a street artist, Nunca. Can Nunca transfer his counter-cultural message to the Tate Modern gallery in London?
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Duration:
22 mins
In this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Starting with the Vietnam War and the assasination of Bobby Kennedy, this series reflects on why 1968 was significant in world history.
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Rupa Jha explores what ex-militants in Kashmir and their families expect from the future.
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Duration:
23 mins
The Neapolitan crime syndicate, the Camorra, has said it wants a young writer dead by Christmas, because he has exposed how they really do business. Increasingly it's brave individuals - not the Italian state - who are taking on the Camorra, by breaking the code of silence and stripping away the glamour that surrounds organised crime in Italy. For Assignment, Pascale Harter travels to southern Italy to talk to the people caught up in the deadly battle against the Camorra.
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
This series looks at street art in two very different cities: New York and Sao Paulo. Each episode profiles a rising artist, and speaks to people on the street to discover how attitudes to graffiti and street art vary from city to city. Episode 1 looks at New York through the eyes of Elbow-Toe.
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Rupa Jha talks to former militants in Kashmir and their families about why they took up arms and the reasons behind giving up violence. What are the challenges of returning to normal society?
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Duration:
23 mins
You might think that copper is just another metal, but in fact it is a vital substance. Discover why, without this metal, even the evolution of life itself would be radically different.
Thu, 13 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless when Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the southern coast of the United States in 2005. Many survivors were rehoused by the federal government in travel trailers which they claim made them sick. For
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Former Kabul correspondent Alan Johnston reflects on decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the intervention by the West.
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
27 mins
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Two, Silent Landscapes, focuses on how environmental change is affecting some popular bird species.
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
28 mins
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Three, The Elephant's Journey, Brett Westwood looks at African elephant migration.
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
27 mins
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Four, In A Wild Goose Chase, the focus is on wild geese.
Fri, 7 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Discover just how important cows have been civilisation, all around the world.
Wed, 5 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
Former Kabul correspondent Alan Johnston reflects on decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the intervention by the West.
Tue, 4 Nov 08
Duration:
27 mins
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part One, The Mexican Wave, the focus is on sustaining the Orange Monarch butterfly.
Mon, 3 Nov 08
Duration:
24 mins
The South Ossetian conflict not only sparked a military war between Russia and Georgia, but a propaganda battle. James Rodgers examines this ongoing media war between Georgia and Russia - featuring archive clips of key events and interviews.
Fri, 31 Oct 08
Duration:
25 mins
Neil McCarthy pieces together a story of rats, famine and insurrection from the 1950's to present day, in remote hills of North East India.
Wed, 29 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
Andrew Purcell investigates the growing homelessness crisis among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the United States. The programme looks at how these 'lost veterans' struggle to reintegrate into civilian society, and how they feel abandoned by the US military.
Mon, 27 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
Allan Little presents an appraisal of the man described as America's Apostle of Freedom: Thomas Jefferson, author of the founding document of the American Republic.
Fri, 24 Oct 08
Duration:
22 mins
As the global banking crisis deepens, a flood of multi-million dollar lawsuits is beginning to shed light into some of the darkest corners of international finance. The BBC's Michael Robinson investigates these cases and what they reveal about the present disaster.
Mon, 20 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
The Saudi Interior Ministry and the US Military in Iraq have offered al - Qaeda sympathisers and detainees therapy and job training. Owen Bennett-Jones asks if this can really prevent someone from supporting al-Qaeda.
Fri, 17 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
This special documentary exploring life in Chicago's inner city is based on Ghetto Life 101, an acclaimed 1993 documentary featuring LeAlan Jones and LLoyd Newman, two teenagers who brought US radio listeners face to face with life in of one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Jones has revisited the area to see how it has changed.
Thu, 16 Oct 08
Duration:
23 mins
A series of protests against Indian rule in Kashmir has left more than 30 people dead since August. Thousands of people have died in the violence there since 1989. For Assignment George Arney travels to Kashmir to speak to young people caught up in the protests and discovers that for the first time the Muslim separatist struggle is embracing non-violence.
Fri, 10 Oct 08
Duration:
23 mins
What is the state of health of the Italian nation today? Is Italy in crisis or undergoing a new Renaissance? Italian journalist Annalisa Piras returns home to find out.
Fri, 10 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
Owen Bennett-Jones tests the big promises governments have made about the financial war on terror.
Thu, 9 Oct 08
Duration:
23 mins
In Mexico, the government has deployed thousands of troops in an attempt to break up the powerful drug cartels operating in the country. Emilio San Pedro travels to the border city of Tijuana and profiles a community under pressure from one of Mexico's most violent gangs.
Wed, 8 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
In Iran, the constant drugs crisis and loss of skilled workers contrast with a lively internet scene which harbours poets, political dissidents and religious leaders.
Fri, 3 Oct 08
Duration:
23 mins
Owen Bennett-Jones looks at al Qaeda's hard power and military capabilities in its chosen key battlegrounds: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Thu, 2 Oct 08
Duration:
25 mins
The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting Mauritius for part four of this series.
Thu, 2 Oct 08
Duration:
24 mins
In Assignment, Robert Walker travels to East Africa to investigate a secret detention programme - involving the transfer of suspected terrorists across three countries: Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Wed, 1 Oct 08
Duration:
25 mins
This series explores what life offers to Iran's burgeoning young population who are trapped by conservatism and an ailing economy. In the first programme, we hear how the war with Iraq acted as a continuation of the Revolution.
Mon, 29 Sep 08
Duration:
23 mins
Seven years into the global war on terror, is al-Qaeda winning? It's a deceptively simple question, one Owen Bennett-Jones asked in Riyadh, Peshawar and Baghdad, as well as London, Brussels and Washington for this series in four parts.
Thu, 25 Sep 08
Duration:
25 mins
The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting the Seychelles for part three of this series.
Thu, 25 Sep 08
Duration:
23 mins
Pakistan's government is locked in an intense battle with Islamist militants for control of areas on its northern border with Afghanistan. For Assignment Owen Bennett-Jones visits the Khyber pass - the main supply route for the American and other western forces based in Afghanistan - and discovers that the insurgency has made it vulnerable.
Wed, 24 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
Robin Lustig travels to Phoenix, Arizona, the home of Senator John McCain, to ask two ordinary voters about their most pressing concerns in the forthcoming US presidential election.
Mon, 22 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
A tale of a tiny painting, set against a large canvas of war, politics and looted art in Charle's Wheeler quest to solve a 50-year mystery.
Thu, 18 Sep 08
Duration:
25 mins
The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting Sri Lanka for part two of this series.
Thu, 18 Sep 08
Duration:
23 mins
As the insurgency in Afghanistan grows, Kate Clark travels undercover to investigate who's arming the Taleban. Meeting commanders and arms dealers, she finds the Taleban are getting their weapons from some suprising sources.
Wed, 17 Sep 08
Duration:
25 mins
We know the two US presidential candidates and what they would do in office, but what does the electorate itself want? Robin Lustig travels to the candidates' home states to meet four Americans to find out what issues have determined their choices.
Mon, 15 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
How are the Marwari traders managing as India goes global? Can a business culture based on traditional values survive as India's economy changes?
Thu, 11 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting the Maldives for part one of this series.
Mon, 8 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
Mukhul Devichand finds out how the Marwari trading caste from India's western deserts has become a major global economic and political force.
Thu, 4 Sep 08
Duration:
23 mins
Haiti, one of the very poorest countries in the world, has been hit hard by soaring food prices. Earlier this year riots led to the sacking of the prime minister. In Assignment, Orin Gordon looks at the ongoing struggle for Haitians to feed themselves.
Thu, 4 Sep 08
Duration:
24 mins
Ruth Evans tells the extraordinary story of 11 women brought together on the internet by one man's sperm.
Mon, 1 Sep 08
Duration:
23 mins
John McCain: a profile of the man who talks of honour and patriotic duty and admits having a legendary short fuse.
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
Win Scutt finds out how the maritime treasure hunting industry has boomed in recent years.
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
Following recent legislation in Spain the government has agreed to offer support to families wishing to find the remains of their loved ones killed during the country's brutal civil war of the 1930s. For Assignment, Mike Williams travels to Spain to visit an exhumation of bodies and asks if the government's attempt to end the political silence of that period is working.
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner talks to former allies of Osama bin Laden who are now engaged in countering the terrorist leader's agenda.
Mon, 25 Aug 08
Duration:
22 mins
Barack Obama:the profile of one of the two individuals who are the presumptive nominees in the US presidential election.
Thu, 21 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
The experience of growing up in a socially deprived, inner city neighbourhood is a common one, no matter where you may live in the world. In Britain's main cities, police and politicians say a worrying trend has developed where some young people are now carrying and using both knives and guns at an ever younger age. The BBC's Nina Robinson takes a day out of the life of two youngsters in the English city of Birmingham to find out a little more about what it is that shapes their lives
Thu, 21 Aug 08
Duration:
26 mins
International seas are largely unregulated, meaning most underwater archaeological wealth can be retrieved and sold without any obstacle. Can a new UNESCO convention bring some order?
Wed, 20 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
BBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle continues travelling from the west to the east of the DR Congo on a journey to find out why so many people have died and continue to die in that country.
Mon, 18 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
The extraordinary US military base at the heart of a vast shift in American military strategy, aiming for nation-building and peacekeeping.
Thu, 14 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
What do Freedom of Information laws actually achieve? Are they sometimes more symbolic than practical in their impact?
Thu, 14 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
During Argentina's Dirty War of the seventies and eighties thousands of leftists and dissidents vanished after being abducted by the security forces. Many of the women detained gave birth in detention centres before being killed and their babies were given to military families to bring up. Now, as Daniel Schweimler reports for Assignment, those babies have come of age in Argentina and some are trying to seek justice for what happened to them.
Wed, 13 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
BBC World Affairs Correspondent Mark Doyle explores why over five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the past decade.
Fri, 8 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
Prestigious job. Exotic location. Stately home, fine food and wine, and many other perks thrown in. Yours for only $200,000. The position a US ambassadorship. Around a third of all US ambassadors are not career diplomats; they're political appointees and almost all of them are major donors, wealthy businessmen. Is this really the way for the US to run its foreign policy?
Thu, 7 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
In the United States a small but increasingly vocal group of people believe that members of the country's Muslim community are working from within to turn America into an Islamic state. This group of right wing thinkers believe this so-called 'Soft Jihad' is being carried out in schools, universities and other institutions across the country and they want to put a stop to it. In Assignment, Pascale Harter travels to America to find out how this fear is finding a foothold in public opinion there and hears from some of those accused of being the 'soft jihadists'.
Thu, 7 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
Freedom of information is well on the way to being seen as an essential prerequisite for a modern democracy. But there's almost always a backlash from politicians and officials.
Wed, 6 Aug 08
Duration:
23 mins
Will there be a return to the dreaded days of "stagflation" with weak growth and rising inflation. Can economic policymakers find a way to deal with this double danger? Or is further pain inevitable?
Fri, 1 Aug 08
Duration:
24 mins
The United States is due to have the first billion-dollar election in its history. The BBC's Steve Evans presents this two-part investigation into election spending done in collaboration with the Centre for Public Integrity in Washington DC.
Thu, 31 Jul 08
Duration:
23 mins
After the ending of apartheid in South Africa, the transfer of land from white to black was a key ANC promise - a proud calling card to correct the injustices of apartheid. But many critics argue that the reform programme has gone badly wrong. For Assignment Rosie Goldsmith reports on the struggle for South Africa's promised land, which is driving a political, economic and racist wedge down the middle of an already tense country.
Tue, 29 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
With the world's economy now threatened by what some believe is the most dangerous crisis since the depression of the 1930s, Michael Robinson looks at the deepening international financial turmoil.
Fri, 25 Jul 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this two-part investigation, Matt McGrath sets out to expose corruption, drug use and cover-ups at the highest levels in sport.
Wed, 23 Jul 08
Duration:
23 mins
In May violence against African immigrants exploded across South Africa. Two months on thousands are still displaced, living in camps and shelters. Robert Walker travels to one of the townships in Johannesburg where the attacks started and asks whether the violence could happen again.
Wed, 23 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
Jill McGivering explores whether China is doing enough to provide healthcare to 1.3 billion people and what it can learn from the struggles of the developed world.
Fri, 18 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
Russell Fuller follows the difficult journeys of six hopefuls from around the world in the run up to the Beijing Olympics.
Fri, 18 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this two-part investigation, Matt McGrath sets out to expose corruption, drug use and cover-ups at the highest levels in sport.
Thu, 17 Jul 08
Duration:
22 mins
An undercover BBC investigation has exposed how young African footballers are being defrauded by conmen posing as talent scouts from English Premiership clubs. Victims are duped into parting with thousands of pounds in the false belief that they are paying an official fee for a trial to play with their favourite teams. Gavin Lee reports from Nigeria for Assignment.
Tue, 15 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
Part One: Jill McGivering compares two very different free health systems in the developed world: the British NHS and that of the US state of Massachusetts.
Fri, 11 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the second part of this series, Kate Clark reports from those provinces where an opium ban is in force, but farmers are feeling the pressure.
Thu, 10 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
The dynamics of the old world and the new world are changing and the balance of economic systems is shifting. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times asks leading economists how important is the American financial cycle to the rest of the world now?
Thu, 10 Jul 08
Duration:
23 mins
In a multi billion dollar deal China has promised to rebuild DR Congo's crumbling infrastructure in exchange for a valuable slice of Congo's vast mineral wealth. What's being called the Contract of the Century was negotiated in secret and has left some people in the country wondering who stands to benefit most from the deal - for Assignment Tim Whewell travels to the DR Congo to find out.
Wed, 9 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
China says hosting the Olympics has accelerated national reforms, technological advances and greater freedoms overall but Gerry Northam investigates claims that life has gotten worse for China's poor.
Mon, 7 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
Kate Clark gains rare access to the fight against the Afghan opium trade and asks how effective attempts to control it have been.
Fri, 4 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
Campaigners for improving maternal health have been lobbying the G8 to get the topic on the agenda for the next meeting in Japan. In programme two of the series Health for All, Uduak Amimo asks is there enough political will to combat maternal mortality?
Wed, 2 Jul 08
Duration:
24 mins
As the world counts down to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Gerry Northam investigates China's claims of 'vigorous growth in the public practice of religion' but he discovers people are still being persecuted and oppressed for practising religion.
Fri, 27 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the third part of this series, Audrey Brown travels to Atteridgeville, a township outside the capital, Pretoria, to explore what really lay behind the recent attacks by South Africans on foreigners.
Fri, 27 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
Is health for all a fact or just fiction? Helen Sharp asks if the world has the will, people and money to deliver basic good health to everyone.
Thu, 26 Jun 08
Duration:
27 mins
This week's Assignment tells the story of the Burmese cyclone through the eyes and ears of the few BBC journalists who managed to get into the country after the disaster. Hear the story of the cyclone unfold told by those who witnessed it first hand. That's Reporting The Cyclone, from Assignment this week.
Mon, 23 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the second part of this series, Audrey Brown travels to South Africa to explore how privilege and access to resources is increasingly being seen as an issue of colour.
Fri, 20 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
Sheila Dillon reports on the work of restaurateurs, farmers, fishermen and activists to restore the culinary heritage of a devastated city.
Thu, 19 Jun 08
Duration:
23 mins
Baseball may be the United States' national sport - but this year, 2008, almost half of all its professional players come from overseas - and some 40 per cent of them from the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. For Assignment David Goldblatt visits Haiti to report on what has become a significant export industry for this country of nine million people.
Wed, 18 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the third part of this series, Peter Taylor investigates The Paris Plot, the hijacking of a plane in Algiers on its way to Paris; a plan to use a plane as a weapon of mass destruction.
Fri, 13 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
Fourteen years after liberation and 60 years since the beginning of what was then 'apartheid', Audrey Brown explores and uncovers the extent to which race still plays a part in everyday life for those living in South Africa.
Thu, 12 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
More than 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War, Bomb Hunters, tells the stories of the people living in Xieng Khuang in Laos and how they survive in a land still littered with unexploded ordnance.
Thu, 12 Jun 08
Duration:
23 mins
The new mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno was once a so-called neo-fascist - a supporter of anti-democratic, right wing radicalism. And his election has come at a time of mounting ethnic tension in Italy. As Christian Fraser now discovers in Assignment, there are fears that Rome could be about to suffer the return of hard right, authoritarian rule.
Wed, 11 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the second part of this series, Peter Taylor investigates how two events in 1987 contributed to the beginnings of the road to peace in Northern Ireland.
Fri, 6 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
The powerful story of a young Iranian woman called Leila, sold into prostitution at the age of nine by her own family and sentenced to hang aged 18.
Thu, 5 Jun 08
Duration:
24 mins
Argentinian film director, writer and tango enthusiast, Edgardo Cozarinsky, talks to artists, dancers, novelists and other Argentinians about why psychotherapy and tango have such a pervasive hold on the Argentine mind and soul.
Fri, 30 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
In Taxi To The Dark Side, American film-maker Alex Gibney reports on the use of torture by American soldiers in Afghanistan. Was the torture the work of a few rogue soldiers, or officially approved by the Pentagon?
Fri, 30 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
Dr Thomas Hargrove, an American scientist kidnapped by FARC, is reunited with the family's German neighbour, who was part of 'Team Tom' which organized the negotiations.
Thu, 29 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
Lucy Ash finds out if new trade deals and diplomatic dialogue with Libya can encourage them to abandon torture and oppression for political reform and human rights improvements.
Thu, 29 May 08
Duration:
23 mins
The Commodities Bubble: Michael Robinson investigates and reveals how the commodities markets are attracting major players now looking for somewhere to invest other than the dollar, banking or shares and how this has affected the price of food products around the world.
Tue, 27 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this two-part series, former BBC East Africa Correspondent Mike Wooldridge travels from the bustling capital, Nairobi, to the Rift Valley to report on the issues behind the conflict that erupted in Kenya at the turn of the year.
Fri, 23 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
For the last six decades, central bankers have run the international financial system with the aid of a powerful set of economic levers handed to them after the World War 2. Last year, these levers came off in their hands. In this two-part series Robert Peston examines how the former supermen of global financial economy became pathetic weaklings.
Fri, 23 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
Presenter Ritula Shah reunites former hostage Norman Kember - kidnapped in Iraq - with the people who were personally involved in negotiations to free him, and who put their lives on hold to get him back.
Tue, 20 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this two-part series, former BBC East Africa Correspondent Mike Wooldridge travels from the bustling capital, Nairobi, to the Rift Valley to report on the issues behind the conflict that erupted in Kenya at the turn of the year.
Fri, 16 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
Cyber-crime is the fastest-growing sector of global-organised crime, worth about US$100 billion a year. Misha Glenny travels to Sao Paulo to find out why Brazil is the cyber-crime capital of the world.
Thu, 15 May 08
Duration:
25 mins
Who wouldn't like to escape the relentless march of time? Find out about the routes from those who attempt to escape the tyranny of time.
Thu, 15 May 08
Duration:
23 mins
Last September, Mark Weil, the radical theatre director of the Ilkhom theatre in Uzbekistan, was stabbed to death while returning home from a rehearsal. As the regime in Tashkent hardened it's line Mark Weil continued to challenge the authorities with his work. For Assignment Natalya Antelava asks whether this radical endeavour can survive without its director in an environment that is becoming more and more repressive.
Tue, 13 May 08
Duration:
23 mins
To mark the 20th anniversary of his assassination, Nick Maes looks at the life of Chico Mendes, the highly significant green activist who helped to galvanise the race to preserve the Amazon. Nick investigates what Chico Mendes achieved and gains exclusive access to his family.
Mon, 12 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the third part of this series on international crime, Misha Glenny is in South Africa where since the end of Apartheid, personal security has become almost a national obsession; the number of private security firms has mushroomed.
Fri, 9 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
How have non-native creatures - from birds to bovines, reptiles to rhesus monkeys - become unlikely, but permanent, residents of Hong Kong?
Tue, 6 May 08
Duration:
29 mins
Nick Fraser looks at the intellectual revolution that spread from Paris throughout the world, particularly to America and then to Britain, in 1968.
Mon, 5 May 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the second of this series which charts the explosion of international organised crime, Misha Glenny goes to the Balkans to follow the trail of smuggled cigarettes.
Fri, 2 May 08
Duration:
23 mins
Environmental refugees seek a home somewhere in the planet where the predicted global changes can, perhaps, be weathered.
Thu, 1 May 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this week's Assignment David Goldblatt travels to Israel to meet the fans of Beitar Jerusalem football club. As you'll hear in this programme the fans pride themselves on their extreme nationalist views and anti-arab chanting at matches. Beitar fans boast that an Arab never has and never will play for the club. Now under the ownership of flamboyant Russian Billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak Beitar is top of the Israeli league, but the behaviour of its hard-core fans continues to cause trouble. Since this programme was recorded, Beitar fans have been punished for a pitch invasion, and are now banned from their own stadium for the rest of the season. Beitar remain top of the Israeli league.
Tue, 29 Apr 08
Duration:
24 mins
Forty years ago, 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were killed by US soldiers. It became known as ‘The My Lai Massacre' and was covered up by the army for almost a year. In the second part of ‘The My Lai Tapes’, presented by Robert Hodierne, you can hear for the first time, the taped recordings of the US Army’s internal inquiry into the massacre.
Mon, 28 Apr 08
Duration:
24 mins
As part of his investigation into global crime, Misha Glenny is in Canada, where the wholesale production of marijuana is posing a challenge to the US-led 'War on Drugs'.
Mon, 28 Apr 08
Duration:
27 mins
The BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut sets out to examine serious new allegations of corruption and wrongdoing within the United Nations' peacekeeping operations.
Thu, 24 Apr 08
Duration:
25 mins
The resourcefulness and resilience of prisioners fighting for freedom that make Australians today proudly boast of their own inherited 'convict streak'
Thu, 24 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
Abandonment, abuse and neglect of the elderly by their own children and grandchildren is at record levels in India. In a society where reverence and respect towards senior citizens has been a source of pride, Tinku Ray reports for Assignment on why things have changed in India.
Tue, 22 Apr 08
Duration:
22 mins
Forty years ago in the village of My Lai in South Vietnam, a massacre took place. The victims were innocent Vietnamese civilians – 504 mainly women, old men, children and babies. They were murdered, and in many cases, raped by US soldiers. This episode of the Vietnam War became known as 'The My Lai Massacre' and proved to be a turning point in the war. In the My Lai Tapes Robert Hodierne tells the story of what happened that day in interviews with the victims and the perpetraotors.
Mon, 21 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
Laurie Taylor explores Marseille's unique racial geography to find out what kept the peace during 2005 and 2007 when race riots tore at the fabric of French society.
Fri, 18 Apr 08
Duration:
22 mins
Manuel Bagorro, the director of the Harare International Festival of the Arts, describes his efforts to bring a cultural highlight in the midst of the election chaos in Zimbabwe.
Thu, 17 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
The last few weeks have seen an increase in violence in Somalia. Insurgents have stepped up attacks on the Ethiopian army and on the Somali transitional government it's backing. Ethiopia sent it's troops into Somalia at the end of 2006, to remove an Islamist movement - the Islamic Courts - from the capital. But now Ethiopia is bogged down and anger at its presence has boosted supported for the insurgents. In Assignment, Rob Walker goes in search of a radical Islamist movement which is playing an increasingly deadly role in the conflict.
Wed, 16 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
Award winning poet Fred D’Aguiar is head of creative writing at Virginia Tech, the scene of a mass shooting of students and staff one year ago. He lost a student in the tragedy and had, in the past taught the shooter. In this documentary Fred reflects on the events of that day and the poetry both he and his students have written since.
Fri, 11 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
China is on track to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving Dollar-a-day poverty. But what uncertainties lie ahead now the Iron Bowl has been smashed? Mike Wooldrige reports.
Fri, 11 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
More than 65,000 grandparents in Canada are raising their grandchildren on their own, turning their lives upside down to raise a child for a second time.
Wed, 9 Apr 08
Duration:
22 mins
Dr Anne-Marie Brady from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand investigates how the Chinese Communist Party has adapted its propaganda methods to suit the 21st century.
Mon, 7 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
John Simpson meets the ladies cracking down on spitting in Beijing before the Olympics and chats to the lady everyone's calling China's Oprah Winfrey on the set of the hit TV show Win in China
Fri, 4 Apr 08
Duration:
23 mins
Why do Ghanaians dream of living a better life abroad? What must change in Ghana for more Ghanaians to want to stay?
Thu, 3 Apr 08
Duration:
24 mins
The United States has long been home to violent gangs, from the Mafia to the Bloods and Crips. But recently, US authorities have warned of the dangers of a transnational, ultra-violent gang with its origins in Central America. The FBI has now opened an office in El Salvador to deal with the threat of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. For Assignment, Maurice Walsh travelled to Washington DC's suburbs and San Salvador to take a look at MS-13, dubbed "The Most Dangerous Gang in America."
Wed, 2 Apr 08
Duration:
22 mins
For Iraqi Kurds these are the best times they have ever known. But can the desire for full independence be contained? Michael Goldfarb goes to Kirkuk disputed heart of northern Iraq's oil industry and the future source of wealth.
Fri, 28 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Programme one: The Road From Tiananmen charts John Simpson's return to modern China 19 years after he witnessed the massacre of June 4 1989
Fri, 28 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Shazia Khan investigates the agony of forced marriages in the UK and the risks of trying to escape it.
Thu, 27 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Is it possible to legislate against deeply held beliefs? That's what the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are hoping to do. They want to make it a criminal offence to accuse a child of being a witch. Many of the hundreds of children who are sleeping rough on the streets of the capital city Kinshasa have been accused of being witches. But can such a law be enforced and can it really make a difference in a country that has been so fractured by war? For Assignment Angus Crawford spends time with the street children of Kinshasa to see if they think the new law can work.
Wed, 26 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
John Simpson looks at the how the Iraq War has affected America's international role and reputation.
Wed, 26 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
In the first part of the series Return to Kurdistan, Michael Goldfarb follows the upheaval of Kurdistan through the eyes of his translator Ahmad Shawkat.
Fri, 21 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
With climate change bringing new threats of rising sea levels and increased rainfall, will luck and ingenuity continue to save the Netherlands from submersion?
Thu, 20 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003 hundreds of young American recruits were sent by Washington to help run the Coalition Provisional Authority, the body set up to administer Iraq. The CPA's tenure was widely criticised, as were its staff who, critics say, were simply political appointees with little or no experience relevant to the massive task they faced. Five years on Pascale Harter speaks to some of the so-called Brat Pack of US recruits to find out if they feel proud of what they achieved.
Tue, 18 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Nick Rankin enters cyber space to explore the world of intellectual piracy - the stealing of ideas.
Mon, 17 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
In Programme Three, Lyse Doucet looks at how the Iraq War changed the regional balance of power.
Thu, 13 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
In the 1980s Kathy Flower became the most famous face on Chinese television, as English teacher to millions of students long isolated from the outside world. Now she returns to a very different country as it prepares to host the Beijing Olympics.
Thu, 13 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
According to US intelligence the Afghan president Hamid Karzai controls only 30 percent of Afghanistan, with the Taleban holding 10 percent. Most of the country is under local tribal control. But building support among the tribes is now at the core of a new American counter-insurgency strategy. The Americans believe they've now got a blueprint for winning hearts and minds. The BBC's Alastair Leithead has been following US troops and their British allies to find out how the plan is working.
Wed, 12 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Nick Rankin travels to Africa to find out how modern day pirates are ruling the high seas. From hijacking, kidnapping and ransoms, he finds out what is being done to combat the problem.
Mon, 10 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Magdi Abdelhadi explores how the dream of a democratic Arab world was promoted then put in reverse as things went wrong in Iraq.
Mon, 10 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
In Programme Two Magdhi Abdulhadi looks at how the neocon dream of a democratic Arab world was promoted then put in reverse as things went wrong in Iraq.
Thu, 6 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Sharon Mascall investigates the Australian mining industry where many inexperienced workers are lured by high wages but face harsh conditions, poor safety standards and an uncertain future.
Thu, 6 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Jacob Zuma is one of the most powerful men in South Africa. He controls the ruling African National Congress and is poised to replace President Thabo Mbeki as head of state. But Jacob Zuma has a problem. Prosecutors say he's corrupt and hope to bring him to trial in August. Mr Zuma says the charges are political, designed to keep him from power. For Assignment Martin Plaut travelled to South Africa to investigate.
Mon, 3 Mar 08
Duration:
23 mins
Programme One: BBC correspondent Jim Muir evaluates how war has changed Iraq from the beginning of the invasion to the handover of power.
Fri, 29 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Martin Sixsmith gets under the skin of the fastest growing and arguably most politically influential secret service in the world the "new KGB".
Thu, 28 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Why are the British so scared of Islam? When the head of the Anglican church, Dr Rowan Williams, suggested that some aspects of Sharia law seemed unavoidable in parts of Britain, he prompted a storm of protest. For Assignment, Keith Adams explores what informs British public opinion about Islam.
Wed, 27 Feb 08
Duration:
22 mins
Russia has made more enemies than friends recently. Tim Whewell finds out where this new East, West confrontation is leading and why Russia is harking back to the days of the old Soviet Union.
Mon, 25 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this two-part investigation, Matt McGrath sets out to expose corruption, drug use and cover-ups at the highest levels in sport.
Mon, 25 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Tim Whewell investigates why a 'new' Cold War could be underway and if Russia and the US is embarking once again on a race for arms.
Fri, 22 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Martin Sixsmith looks at Russia's fast growing and politically influential secret service.
Thu, 21 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Soeren Kam is a former Danish SS Officer and one of the most wanted Nazi war criminals still alive. Now 86 and living in Bavaria, Kam admitted taking part in the abduction and killing of an anti-Nazi newspaper editor in Copenhagen in 1943. For Assignment Steve Rosenburg goes in search of Soeren Kam and talks to the people who know his story.
Tue, 19 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Pipeline Power: Could Russia's vast energy sources possibly be the missiles of the future? Tim Whewell investigates why Russia's state energy company, Gazprom fell out with Ukraine.
Mon, 18 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Nearly twenty years after the Cold War, there’s a new chill in relations between Russia and the West. Tim Whewell finds out what has happened to Russia's historic partnership with the Western Europe and the US.
Thu, 14 Feb 08
Duration:
24 mins
Owen Bennett-Jones examines the rise of Islamist militancy in Pakistan and the risk of the country being split apart.
Wed, 13 Feb 08
Duration:
24 mins
Why have so many of the hopes and aspirations of Pakistan's founders remained unfulfilled?
Wed, 13 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this second programme on Pain, Andrew North explores the strategies we use to survive pain, through expressing and suppressing it.
Mon, 11 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
It's been three months since cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh. BBC reporter, Siobhann Tighe returns to speak to some of the survivors. She also talks to government advisers about the vulnerability of Bangladesh and what can be done to be better prepared.
Thu, 7 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
Temple prostitutes: The ancient Hindu tradition of dedicating young girls to the temple has come up against the modern horrors of AIDS.
Thu, 7 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
With its functioning parliament, a booming oil economy and a small but well-trained army, the Kurdish area of Iraq appears to offer a model for other areas of the country. But Kate Clark discovers growing corruption and dissatisfaction with the region's government.
Wed, 6 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this two part series, former BBC Iraq correspondent, Andrew North takes a personal journey through his own experience of pain and that of others.
Mon, 4 Feb 08
Duration:
23 mins
What would happen if the government of Pakistan, one of the world's nuclear powers, were to collapse? Would extreme Islamist militants be able to get their hands on the country's nuclear weapons?
Thu, 31 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Georgia, considered to be the birthplace of wine, risks losing its wine industry. How are the producers coping?
Thu, 31 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
This week's Assignment reports on the post election violence in Kenya which has claimed the lives of up to 900 people. The opposition claim that the poll was rigged and the violence, which began in Western Kenya, has spread to other parts of the country. Pascale Harter travelled to the town of Eldoret in western Kenya to trace the roots of the tribal violence that has pitted neighbour against neighbour.
Tue, 29 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The third programme focuses on education in Ghana.
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
The number of Moroccan story-tellers, known as halakis, is dwindling. Why is their art dying out?
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
The final part of a three part series. Every year, thousands of young people from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part two: Returning home.
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Millions of young African boys dream of following such football stars as Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue to Europe to make their fortune. Only a handful succeed whilst many more fall into the hands of unscrupulous clubs and agents who exploit them. Henry Bonsu investigates the growth in what has been described as football slavery.
Tue, 22 Jan 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The third programme focuses on elder people in India.
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
The second in a three part series. Every year, thousands of young people from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part two: The Journey.
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Charles Wheeler is on the trail of art seized by the Soviets at the end of World War II
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Simon Cox tries to track down the criminals who plague us with spam emails offering everything from get rich schemes to products to improve our sex lives.
Tue, 15 Jan 08
Duration:
24 mins
In this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The second programme focuses on Peru.
Fri, 11 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Every year, thousands of young men and women from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part one: George from Cameroon starts his journey.
Thu, 10 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
At the end of World War Two, as Nazi Germany lay in ruins, millions of works of art were secrety shipped back to Russia by the Soviet Army. Charles Wheeler now investigates their fate and the political row that still surrounds them in Looted Art.
Thu, 10 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
Computer gaming has become a national obsession in South Korea but there is a dark side. Gaming, like gambling, can become an addiction that has even led to death. Julian Pettifer reports.
Tue, 8 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
In this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The first programme focuses on Kenya.
Mon, 7 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
The dangers of the present crisis turning into a full scale recession, and at the seemingly desperate attempts of bankers, regulators and politicians to prevent that happening.
Fri, 4 Jan 08
Duration:
19 mins
Bakira Hasecic is unrelenting in her pursuit of the war criminals of the Bosnian war. How does she and the members of the Association of Women Victims of War find the strength to talk about the rapes and other horrors they endured?
Thu, 3 Jan 08
Duration:
23 mins
American film-maker Alex Gibney tells the story of an Afghan taxi driver, tortured to death by American soldiers and military police in Bagram airbase. Were they rogue soldiers, or was the torture authorised at the highest levels of government?
Wed, 2 Jan 08
Duration:
24 mins
In the final part of the series Roy Greenslade profiles the head of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch.
Wed, 12 Aug 20
Duration:
23 mins
In the United States a small but increasingly vocal group of people believe that members of the country's Muslim community are working from within to turn America into an Islamic state. This group of right wing thinkers believe this so-called 'Soft Jihad' is being carried out in schools, universities and other institutions across the country and they want to put a stop to it. In Assignment, Pascale Harter travels to America to find out how this fear is finding a foothold in public opinion there and hears from some of those accused of being the 'soft jihadists'.
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