Crossing Continents

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 budgets and sliced subsidies on power, food and transport. He stopped printing money to try and halt inflation which was running at 211.4% annually when he was sworn in.

How have his actions changed life for ordinary Argentines? Buenos Aires based reporter, Charlotte Pritchard, talks to Argentines about how they're feeling now. From the gauchos at the annual event to show off their herds of horses, to those taking advantage of a scheme to 'whiten' black-market money they have hidden under their mattress - is there hope or despair?

Produced and presented by Charlotte Pritchard

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 nodules on the bottom of the sea floor for use in things like electric car batteries and mobile phones. Its supporters say it’s a climate change ‘solution’- a better alternative to mining on land. And one that could make Cook Islanders very rich indeed. Its detractors worry we’re messing with its Moana - or ocean – with no real idea of the impacts. Katy Watson travels to Rarotonga to find out how islanders feel about searching for ‘gold’ on the sea floor.

Producer: Lindle Markwell

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 factors, including climate, finances and changing drinking habits has brought some wine-makers to the brink. Thousands of hectares of vineyards are being pulled up. Others are struggling to survive. For Crossing Continents John Murphy travels to Bordeaux and Languedoc - the world’s biggest wine-making region - to find out what is going on with wine, France’s most symbolic of products.

Producer: Alex Last

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 outside without a male guardian, and have to be completely covered up, including their faces. Now the new rules say they should be quiet too. Women singing together, or even raising their voices in prayer, is forbidden.

But there's more than one way to be heard.

Our Whole Life is a Secret records the day to day life of 'Leila', a lively, energetic Afghan woman aged 23, doing everything she can to navigate the rules. From behind the walls of her home, Leila reveals her vivid interior world, and that of her female friends and relatives. She and her sisters are the first women in their family to read and write, and before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, she was a university student. Now she teaches in a secret school and is part of a dynamic online learning community. From reading Emily Bronte to working out to Zumba, Leila is determined to keep stay sane and busy.

'Leila' is not her real name and all locations are omitted for safety reasons. Her words are read by Asal Latifi.

Producer/Presenter Monica Whitlock

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. In fact, drought, disease and a lack of investment have led to catastrophic harvests and, therefore, a drop in income for many small producers of cocoa, especially in Ivory Coast. This West African country is the world’s largest producer of cocoa - up to 45% of the world’s total. Most of the growers are small-scale, poor farmers. There are now calls for these growers to get a bigger chunk of the chocolate bar and, in so doing, to help ensure future production. John Murphy travels to Ivory Coast to delve into the world of chocolate production.

Presented and produced by John Murphy

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 speaks to Varosha's former inhabitants - mostly Greek Cypriots - who fled in 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the island and have been unable to return ever since, after Turkey fenced off the town as a bargaining chip for future peace negotiations.

Some of these Varoshians want to rebuild the resort together with the island's Turkish Cypriots - a potential model for diffusing hostilities across the whole island - and the UN says its original inhabitants must be allowed to return. But, following decades of failed peace talks, the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which controls Varosha, now says it intends to re-open and redevelop the entire town.

Presenter: Maria Margaronis

Music credit: Michalis Terlikkas

Why Armenians in Jerusalem say they are fighting an existential battle.

Presenter: Emily Wither

Music: Apo Sahagian

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 - by surprise. Despite their country’s development, millions have little or no retirement income and face destitution or dependence in their golden years. What little provision is available was compromised during the Covid pandemic when the government allowed workers to withdraw retirement funds just to survive lockdown. Those who did so can now have almost nothing left in their accounts. Without any universal pension, many older Malaysians rely on their families – but younger relatives are often struggling in a low wage economy and find it increasingly difficult to provide for anyone but themselves. As Claire Bolderson reports, Malaysians may have to change their attitudes to retirement and to saving if they are to avoid the spectre of serious poverty in old age.

Producer: Mike Gallagher

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 opportunity to select their preferred school. More and more families are ditching institutions altogether, with homeschooling reportedly the fastest growing form of education in the US. Why are families turning away from traditional schooling, and what does this mean for the future of America’s education system? Alex Last travels to Arizona - a state at the forefront of the school choice movement - to find out more.

Presenter: Alex Last

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, providing the cheap labour to do the type of manual jobs which Italians no longer want to do.

For years, they worshipped at two Islamic centres in the town. Then, in November, the town’s far right mayor, Anna Maria Cisint, tried to effectively ban collective prayer there, along with stopping cricket - the Bangladeshi national sport - from being played within the town.

She says she is defending Christian values. Her critics say she is building walls rather than bridges. For Crossing Continents, Sofia Bettiza travels to Italy to discover how the country is dealing with the increasing numbers of legal migrants coming to work in a country which needs their labour.

Producer: Bob Howard