July 29, 2022

Iran’s recent crackdown

42 minutes

Women in Iran have been sharing videos of themselves taking off their hijabs in public in protest at the growing pressure regarding the mandatory headscarf. Meanwhile the Iranian parliament may soon approve a bill which will severely restrict pet ownership. Taraneh Stone of BBC Persian and Ali Hamedani discuss why the government seems to be enforcing stricter rules.

Reporting Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has experienced months of turmoil with mass protests over the island's economic crisis, leading to the flight of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa earlier this month. His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe has imposed a state of emergency until mid-August. It's been one dramatic development after another for BBC Sinhala's Colombo-based reporters Ranga Sirilal and Shirly Upul Kumara.

A Nigerian world record

This week Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan broke the world record in the women's 100m hurdles, and won the first ever gold medal for Nigeria at the World Athletics Championships. BBC Africa's Peter Okwoche tells us more about her, and what the win means to Nigerians.

Drama Queen

Drama Queen is a ground-breaking podcast series presented in Hindi and Urdu by the BBC’s Samrah Fatima. It tells the stories of men and women who are accused of being ‘drama queens’ if they speak out about their struggles. Samrah explains why she wanted to tackle the deeply rooted social issues that are common to both India and Pakistan, and show how people have been able to forge new paths for themselves.

(Photo: A woman in Islamic dress walks past a shop window. Credit: Morteza Nikoubazi/ NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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