Beyond the Headlines

A group of Afghan refugees in Poland have rushed to support the millions of Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion. The painful memories of their own war are a shadow only too recent.

One of the group, 27-year-old Sabur Dawod Zai, escaped the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. He, like so many others, embarked on an arduous journey to avoid the harsh rule of the Taliban and found himself in Poland. So when Sabur and his friends saw a newspaper photograph depicting four people, including two children, killed in the war, they could identify with the horror. Grateful for the warm welcome they received in Poland, they just wanted to pay it back.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Ahmed Maher explores how Afghans in Poland, themselves displaced, have mobilised to support Ukrainians fleeing the war.

Your curtains open on a timer. You rise with the sun shining - which it does most days of the year here - and a sensor detects when you’re standing under the shower, activating the water at your preferred temperature, no time or water to waste. Your refrigerator has the right ingredients to grab breakfast and pack a quick lunch; it automatically orders your groceries when you begin to run low. As you head for the door, the lights switch off, the climate control readjusts to account for an empty flat, and the lock engages automatically behind you. You hop on your bike and pedal to work - a flexible office space where you mingle with a few dozen other entrepreneurs, as well as some multinational corporations. The ride is ten minutes down the road, passing a few friends on the way.

This is life in a 15-minute smart city. And this could one day be life at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, dubbed District 2020, a reimagined neighbourhood at the site of the most recent world’s fair that experts, visitors and the mega-event planners all say is a vision for the future. 

This week, as Expo draws to a close, we ask: what did we learn in the last six months about where we are heading and the choices we must make? And now, what comes next, for both the site itself and those who gathered there?

Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, millions of people have fled the country in search of safety elsewhere in Europe. Most are women and children, with men of fighting age required to stay and protect their homeland.

In the early hours of March 13, 2022, streaks of light punctuated the sky above the northern Iraqi city of Erbil as a barrage of rockets rained down on a building near the old town. The thud and blasts shook the city, orange flames rose up and thick black smoke stood out against the deep purple of the night.

A row has been brewing for months in the southern Indian state of Karnataka after dozens of Muslim students were barred by authorities from entering colleges because they were wearing the hijab. 

Widespread protests and counter protests by students attending local colleges and pre-universities have erupted across the southern coastal state, raising tensions in the communally sensitive region.

Female Muslim students have lobbied for days outside the gates of their colleges, demanding the administration let them attend classes wearing the hijab. 

Their protests have been met by counter-demonstrations by students linked to right-wing Hindu groups. They wear saffron scarves - a colour used by hardline nationalists - and march in the streets chanting "Jai Shri Ram", a traditional Hindu salutation that has in recent years become a war cry.

In this week's Beyond the Headlines, Nilanjana Gupta looks at why the hijab is the source of more division than ever in India. 

More than a million people have now fled Ukraine. As Russia targets cities across the country, ordinary people have been faced with the unthinkable choice of staying put and facing bombardment - or leaving their homes, their communities, their lives.

It is already the biggest European refugee crisis since the 1990s Balkan wars. 

The UN fears there could be 4 million people displaced in the coming weeks and months. If things continue to get worse it could be Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II. 

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Leila Gharagozlou looks at the plight of the Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down.

On the morning of February 24, Katya Niporka was woken up by the sound of Russian artillery shaking Kyiv.

Soon after, the rest of the world was waking up to the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war on Ukraine and that an invasion was underway.

Most expected that, if an invasion happened, it would be in the south-east of the country, where Ukraine has been fighting with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Few expected attacks on the capital.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Erin Brown asks what it felt like to be in Kyiv and under siege from Russian forces, and what the future holds for Ukrainians like Katya, who are weighing up whether to stay and fight or try and flee to safety.

Last month, archaeologists working in Oman’s north found what they believed to be a 4,000 year old board game. The discovery sparked interest worldwide, giving us a peek into the leisure time of the Gulf’s ancient people.

Unlike in other areas of the world, where archaeological marvels focus on kings, queens and grand temples, much of the heritage work going on in the Sultanate right now focuses on how ordinary people lived. The artefacts, often dating back millennia, are some of the most well preserved in the world. They are changing long-held beliefs about how the region was first settled.

In this week's Beyond The Headlines, host Taylor Heyman looks at how discoveries from their country’s past are inspiring the next generation of Omanis and the world.

When you think of the Middle East, you might imagine hot weather, date palms, camels, coffee and hummous - but would the Winter Olympics ever cross your mind? Twelve competitors from five countries in the Mena region are taking part in the winter games in Beijing. And they have some interesting stories to tell about how they came to be there.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou asks what it takes to compete in the Winter Olympics, and how much more of a challenge it is when you’re from a hot, arid region.