Crossing Continents
Society & Culture
About
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.
Episodes
- Return to Khartoum: War, loss and hope
Since 2023, Sudan has been engulfed by a brutal civil war. More than 150,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced. The war began as a power struggle between the Sudanese military and the powerful paramilitary group the…
- Serbia: Under the Canopy
Eighteen months ago, the renovation of the railway station in Serbia’s second biggest city, Novi Sad, led to a tragic accident. A substantial concrete canopy, which ran across the front of the station building, suddenly collapsed, killing…
- Driving Against Net Zero
Is defence of the petrol car and liberated motoring becoming the new battleground for Europe’s populist parties? Chris Bowlby visits one of the homes of German car culture and a populist stronghold, Zwickau, to see how motoring is rising u…
- In Iceland's Defence
Iceland is an island of great beauty and even greater strategic importance. Its position in the Greenland Iceland UK Gap, the gateway between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, makes it crucial to Nato operations in the High North. But Icelan…
- Pakistan: hospitals putting children at risk of HIV
Outbreaks of HIV have become regular occurrences in Pakistan. And too frequently it is the children who suffer. In the city of Taunsa, for example, children have tested positive for HIV while their parents have not. So what’s been going on…
- Albania: Land, Money and the Sea
Albania has had many different faces over the last hundred years. Once ruled by the Ottomans, it became a kingdom before turning into a totalitarian communist state after the Second World War. During this time, no one was allowed in or out…
- India's sportswomen playing to be seen
How sport is giving some young women in India a way out of child marriage and allowing them to be seen. Officially, the practice of child marriage is illegal in the country. But UNICEF estimates that over 200 million girls and women in Ind…
- Nigeria: Killings, Land and Cattle
On Christmas Day 2025, the US carried out missile strikes on suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria. They came after President Trump said he would intervene to protect Christians amid controversial claims of a “Christian genocide” in the…
- Greece: Rescuers on Trial
In a case with profound implications for European migration policy, 24 former volunteer aid workers have been on trial on the Greek island of Lesbos. Seven years ago, they were arrested after rescuing thousands of migrants from the sea. No…
- The Netherlands - ten new cities?
'Start by lighting a candle every morning.’ In other words, pray. That’s the advice on one social media platform to those looking for a rented property in the Netherlands. The pressure on housing is immense: an estimated shortage of 400,00…
- South Africa and the fight against TB
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, TB is humanity’s oldest contagious disease. It has become something of an afterthought in rich nations, but remains the world’s most deadly infectious disease. In 2024 it killed more than 1.…
- When Christian nationalists come to town
People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with the aim of forging an 'aligned' community based on shared values like 'faith, family and…
- Argentina's elusive big cats
After decades of extinction, wild jaguars are once again roaming in Northern Argentina. It has been at least thirty five years since a wild jaguar cub was spotted in this dry and dusty part of Argentina. But in August 2025, a baby appeared…
- Stolen brides of Kazakhstan: the fightback
In plain sight, in a modern city, a colleague offers to drive you home after work. How would you respond? One woman in Kazakhstan accepted the lift only to find herself kidnapped or ‘stolen’ as a bride. She got away, rescued by the police,…
- The struggle of Israel's peace movement
Two years ago a group of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists stood almost alone in Israel in calling for a ceasefire, as Israel launched a massive offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2023. Emily Wither retu…
- The real ‘Yellowstone’: a battle for the cowboy way of life
Ranches, rodeos…and public land. This is the story of a surprising battle raging in the American West, and the unlikely coalition it’s forged. Nearly half of all land in the West of the United States is owned by the federal government. Som…
- Haitians Living in Fear in the Dominican Republic
How Haitians in the Dominican Republic are being targeted for expulsion. The Dominican Republic is the Caribbean’s number one tourist destination. Last year 11 million visitors came here, many enjoying the five star resorts that skirt the…
- ‘A new foe’: Conscripting women in Denmark
Denmark is eyeing up the military threat from Russia – and dramatically increasing the numbers in its national service. Now, 18-year-old girls are facing a call up. The BBC has been granted rare access to a military base on the outskirts o…
- Kenya: A Battle for Gen Z
Over the past year, Kenya has been rocked by anti-government protests. What started as a demonstration over proposed tax increases soon turned into a nationwide, youth-led protest over the state of the economy, alleged political corruption…
- Saving Gaza's Past
The history of Gaza dates back more than 5000 years. In antiquity, it was a key port on the Mediterranean coast. Assyrians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans have all left their mark on this small territory. This rich his…
- Galicia’s wild horses in peril
Europe’s largest herd of wild horses, in north-west Spain, is under threat. Numbers have halved in the last fifty years. Now around ten thousand wild horses roam freely in the hills and mountains of Galicia. But they are facing a number of…
- Suing 'Alligator Alcatraz': Immigration in the US
President Trump has called illegal immigration an “invasion” and what's followed is a huge rise in the arrest and detention of migrants. Some have ended up in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ - an immigration detention centre that was speedily constru…
- Europe’s migrant crisis: the truck that shocked the world
In the summer of 2015, tens of thousands of people left their homes in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq in the hope of finding a safe haven in Europe. The journeys they took were often hazardous and not everyone reached their destination. In on…
- Tajikistan’s Last, Lonely Hyenas
For decades, conservationists in Tajikistan assumed that the striped hyena – a shy, less vocal cousin of the spotted hyena – was extinct there. But in 2017 a motion-sensitive camera trap in the country’s south-western corner, near the bord…
- Waiting for my Dad - Ukraine's children of the missing
A pioneering summer camp for Ukrainian children with missing parents. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 70 thousand people are missing in the war, leaving families, including thousands of children, anxious for news of their…
- Colombia's webcam women
Colombia’s second largest city, Medellín, is booming and one of the biggest industries revolves around the city’s live webcam studios which stream women performing sex acts. It’s estimated there are hundreds of studios in the city employin…
- Syria - Return to Ruins
Thirteen million Syrians - half the population - left their homes during their country's 13-year civil war. Seven million were internally displaced. Six million fled abroad. Bringing them home is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Syria'…
- Russia's Church in Texas
Not that long ago many church-going Americans saw Russia as a godless place, an “evil empire” in the words of Ronald Reagan. But in President Trump’s second term, US-Russia relations have been turned on their head. The White House sided wi…
- Leaving Israel for Cyprus
Increasing numbers of Israeli people are moving to the nearby island of Cyprus. Sky high property prices, disillusion with domestic politics and security concerns following the Hamas attacks of 7th October have led several thousand familie…
- Dicing with democracy? Romania’s cancelled election
A cancelled election, a cancelled candidate and a divided country – is Romania’s democracy under threat? Last December the country’s Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election two days before the final vote, citing outside in…
- Spain - can an algorithm predict murder?
Early on a Sunday morning in February in the Spanish seaside town of Benalmadena, Catalina, a 48-year-old mother of four, was killed at home – the building was set on fire. Her ex-partner was arrested and remains in custody. In January, Li…
- Unidentified Flying Drones in Denmark
When mysterious orb-like lights were recorded in the sky above Koge, a small port town in Denmark, the UFO scene took notice. But it wasn't just believers who wanted to know what these unidentified flying objects were. Danish police and th…
- Lebanon: Hezbollah in trouble
Hezbollah, the militia and political movement in Lebanon, has been battered by the war with Israel. Its leaders were assassinated, hundreds of fighters killed, and many of its communities now lie in ruins. Until recently a formidable power…
- Reel Revolution? The dramatic rise of Saudiwood
Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet to filmmakers and foreign companies as it sets out to establish itself as a major player in the entertainment industry. After lifting a 35-year ban on cinemas in 2018, the Kingdom is now luring Ho…
- Death Marches: uncovering the truth beneath the soil
How a town in Poland – once in Germany - is discovering its troubling past. 80 years ago Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi extermination camp. Over 1.1 million people, mainly Jews, were murdered there. However, t…
- The Gambia: When migrants are forced to go home
Each year young people from the tiny West African nation of The Gambia try to reach Europe through “The Backway” - a costly, perilous journey over land and sea. Many do not make it. In recent years, the EU has done deals with several North…
- South Korea: The Feminist Hunters
Why feminism has become a dirty word in South Korea. Being a feminist is now something that can only be admitted in private, thanks to a fierce backlash against feminism. Anti-feminists accuse South Korean women who advocate for equality a…
- The human cost of developing Cambodia's Angkor wonder
Tourists are flooding to Cambodia's "8th wonder of the world", the ancient temple complex at Angkor. But the rapid expansion of the site comes at a terrible cost, as tens of thousands of people are ousted. The authorities call some "illega…
- Poland's Ghosts, Ukraine's Heroes
Ukraine and Poland are neighbours and close allies in today’s conflict with Russia. But the ghosts of victims of an earlier war have returned to divide them. Tens of thousands of Poles were murdered by Ukrainians in Volhynia, in what's now…
- Argentina - Milei's Chainsaw
It has been a year since chainsaw-wielding Javier Milei won the Presidency in Argentina. During his campaign, his chainsaw became a symbol of how quickly and drastically he wanted to cut the Argentine state. And he has slashed government b…
- Mining the Pacific – future proofing or fool’s gold?
Climate change is intensifying, sea levels are rising and the very existence of low-lying Pacific Islands is under threat. The Cook Islands, though, has a plan to assure their peoples’ future. Enter deep sea mining, harvesting metallic nod…
- France: trouble on the vine
Low harvests, economic and climate batterings, changing tastes - is French wine in crisis? The French wine harvest has dropped 18% in one year. For some famous French wine-making regions the reduction has been much more. A combination of f…
- Our whole life is a secret
The Taliban edict that women's voices should not be heard aloud renders women up and down Afghanistan inaudible as well as invisible in public. Women are already denied most forms of education and employment. They are not allowed to go out…
- Ivory Coast's cocoa crisis
The journey from cocoa to chocolate in Ivory Coast. The price of cocoa - the essential ingredient in chocolate - has more than quadrupled on the international market in the last two years. Yet many of those growing it have not benefitted.…
- The 'ghost city' of Cyprus
The once glamorous Cypriot beach resort of Varosha has stood empty and frozen in time since war divided the island 50 years ago, but it is now partially open to tourists and there are hotly contested plans for its renewal. Maria Margaronis…
- The struggle for Jerusalem’s Old City
Why Armenians in Jerusalem say they are fighting an existential battle. Is the identity of the Old City of Jerusalem changing - house by house? This small patch of land is of vital importance to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. But, ami…
- Ageing without a safety net in Malaysia
Industrialisation, modern cityscapes and strong economic growth promote an image of a youthful, vigorous Malaysia. But the country is now ageing rapidly, and this sudden transformation seems to have caught many - including the government -…
- Rejecting public education in Arizona
The so-called ‘parents’ revolution’ is happening in America - and it’s a revolt against the public education system. School choice campaigns are gaining ground across the country, fighting for tax-funded vouchers giving parents the opportu…
- The Italian town where praying is a political issue
The Italian town of Monfalcone on the Adriatic coast has an ethnic make-up unique to the country. Of a population of just over thirty thousand, more than six thousand are from Bangladesh. They’ve come to help construct huge cruise ships, p…
- A Slogan and a Land (Part 2)
In this second part of his journey from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, across the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel, reporter Tim Whewell continues his exploration of the physical and human reality behind the slogan “From t…