Our World - Season 15 / Year 2020

Colombia has long been the world's largest producer of cocaine. A historic peace deal in 2016 was meant to reduce the amount of cocaine being produced by offering farmers alternatives to growing coca. But last year the UN estimated that its output was the largest since records began. Our World travelled to the Cauca Valley to find that farmers are now being caught between new criminal gangs with devastating consequences.

In October 2019, a rising star of Syrian democratic politics, 34-year-old Hevrin Khalaf, was brutally murdered in the Kurdish-governed northeast of the country. Yalda Hakim travels to Syria to investigate this young woman's killing, her battle for freedom and empowerment, and her colleagues' view that her death was the result of President Trump's withdrawal of support from the Kurds, who have been a key American ally in the defeat of so-called Islamic State. 

In 2017 a group of fishermen found a hoard of precious coins on the sea bed off the coast of Gaza. They were decadrachms from the reign of Alexander the Great- and they were worth a fortune. Three years on, they have disappeared. So what happened to them, and why are rare coins so hard to trace? 

Glaciologists have described Thwaites Glacier as the "most important" glacier in the world, the "riskiest" glacier, even the "doomsday" glacier. Scientists from the UK and the US are studying the glacier's changes as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The team wants to discover why it is melting so quickly - science with implications for us all. But during the trip the weather closes in, playing havoc with their plans. Will the expedition succeed in unlocking the secrets of the glacier? Antarctica is one of the most remote and inhospitable places on earth. Just how hard is it to live and work in such an extreme environment at the end of the world? The BBC's chief environment correspondent Justin Rowlatt visited the project.

Panzuto was a mafia boss and a hardened killer. For years he played a key role in Naples' Camorra, but now he has turned state witness and is helping put his former associates behind bars. Dominic Casciani gains exclusive access to an Italian anti-mafia prison to meet Panzuto and hear his story of love, murder, and betrayal. It's a tale which took him from the back streets of Naples to a caravan park in Blackpool. We hear from those at the sharp end of the ongoing battle against organised crime in Naples, and from those who believe the tide has finally turned. Above all we hear from the man himself: why did he decide to break with the Camorra, and what does the future hold for him?

In 2002 a bomb on the island of Bali killed more than 200 people. 27-year-old Garil lost his dad that day. Four years later, Sarah lost her mother due to another bombing, the work of the same militant group with links to Al-Qaeda. To stop more attacks Indonesia's government is taking a radical approach. It facilitates meetings between those convicted of a terrorist attack and their victims. Our World gained unprecedented access to enter Indonesia's prison to witness both Garil and Sarah meeting the bombers who killed their parents.

Few events are more nerve-wracking than meeting the parents of someone you love. For black and Asian couples in South Africa, it's even more challenging. The country's painful past means interracial dating is still often frowned upon. Meet Ithra and Tumelo, a 'Blasian' couple about to introduce their parents to each other.

Coronavirus is now spreading around the world as governments scramble to contain it. The outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been locked down since late January. With exclusive access to two film-makers inside the city, Our World tells the story of life under lockdown. It is a film that takes you from the deserted streets to the homes of those battling the virus. How do you survive when daily life gets shut down?

Rosewood is one of the most trafficked wild commodities on earth. When it's cut, it bleeds a blood-red sap. Having exhausted stocks elsewhere, Chinese traders have turned to West Africa. Illegal logging of the endangered rosewood tree is decimating forests in Casamance in Senegal. It's unlawful to fell or export these trees. And yet, we can reveal they are logged and smuggled at an alarming rate - from Senegalese forests, through to the port of neighbouring Gambia and all the way onto China. For Our World, Umaru Fofana investigates trade in trafficked rosewood worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

There are over 30 000 North Korean defectors currently living in South Korea. Most have fled the brutal regime of Kim Jong-un in the hope of a better life and some of them have become celebrities. Our World follows two North Koreans as they gain fame in front of the camera capitalising on their defector status yet struggle to move on from their past.

On Easter Sunday, 2019, eight co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks across Sri Lanka killed over 270 people and injured hundreds more. One year on, Jane Corbin returns to the island and meets three of those whose lives were changed that day and who have set out to help rebuild the Sri Lanka they love.

Deforestation has skyrocketed in Colombia since the Peace Deal of 2016. Our World joins a team of scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as they go on a mission into virgin tropical rainforest. They hope to discover and save rare plant species before they are destroyed and vanish forever.

Oil-rich Venezuela has been in an ever-growing state of crisis since Hugo Chavez died in 2013, and global oil prices crashed. By the end of 2020, it's predicted that around 6.5 million people will have left, creating one of the biggest refugee crises in modern history. Those who remain have had to adjust to a new normal - a world without modern healthcare, stable food supply, or reliable electricity. Our World travelled to Venezuela to meet the remarkable characters who use all their ingenuity to overcome these adversities.

In India, a child goes missing every eight minutes. The children are often trafficked into domestic labour or the sex trade - many are never seen again. Yet despite the vast scale of the trade, there's very little outrage about it. Rajini Vaidyanathan meets the parents who have lost their children, the children who have lost their innocence, and the activists who are out to stop the traffickers.

Irish society has changed dramatically in recent years, but discrimination against Travellers remains widespread. In 2017, in a bid to change public attitudes, Travellers were formally recognised by Ireland's government as a distinct ethnic group, but many say they are still unfairly treated. Our World meets three young women fighting to bust the myths about their community and make their dreams a reality.

Spain is one of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus. Ice rinks have been turned into morgues, and drive-through funerals have caused heartbreak for many families unable to say goodbye properly. Our World follows the lives of some of those at the heart of the crisis, among them a nurse who moved away from her children to play her part in the fight back.

New York has been the epicentre of America's coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 30,000 deaths in the state so far. As the virus took hold in March, doctors and nurses from across the US answered New York's call for help. This is the story of four of those on the frontline - told through their video diaries as the crisis unfolds. It is about bravery, sacrifice and sadness: life in the eye of the storm.

In January, a woman passenger had her temperature checked at Incheon International Airport - and South Korea discovered its first case of coronavirus. In the hundred days that followed, the country would become a model for how to fight the virus. With unprecedented access from the first few hours of the outbreak, Laura Bicker tells the inside story of South Korea's virus hunters. How did they manage to keep the death toll so low, and what can the rest of the world learn from South Korea's story?

Wuhan was the city where the coronavirus outbreak began and the first to be locked down. Now the lockdown has been lifted, and it is trying to recover. But just how normal is daily life in Wuhan now - and how are its people adjusting to a new world?

East Africa has seen the worst invasion of desert locusts for decades, and there are warnings of even larger swarms to come. Millions of people across the region who are already feeling the impact of coronavirus and floods will now face increased hunger and poverty. Just an average swarm can eat the same in a day as 2500 people for a year.

We join Albert, the Samburu herdsman turned locust hunter, as he struggles to track the pests who have been decimating crops and pastures across his native northern Kenya. It is a race against time to exterminate this generation before they breed another, larger, more voracious generation.

More than 25 million people go on cruises each year. As coronavirus spread throughout the world, cruise ships suffered devastating outbreaks that resulted in thousands being infected and dozens dying. Our World tells the story of three ships and the passengers on them and asks the question: how can cruises be made safe again?

Brazil has been devastated by coronavirus: more than 1.4 million people have been infected and the numbers are rising fast. Yet President Bolsonaro has dismissed the virus as a little flu, leaving the country deeply divided as the death toll mounts. Amid the chaos, it is Brazil's poorest who are being hardest hit - in particular the country's millions of domestic workers. Many have had to keep working despite the risks, commuting from favelas to richer suburbs. Others have lost their jobs and now face a choice between eating and paying the rent. Our World travels through the deserted streets of Brazil's biggest city Sao Paulo to meet them and their employers, and discover how the virus has changed their lives.

Iran has been hit hard by coronavirus but its government has gone to great lengths to keep the true extent of the outbreak hidden from view. Now, with the help of videos posted by Iranians on social media, Our World reveals what life is really like inside the country during the pandemic. From illicit lockdown parties to hospitals which are struggling to cope - this is Iran as you've never seen it before.

The killing of George Floyd, caught on camera by eye-witnesses, has led to an outpouring of anger in America. But what happens when the cameras are turned off - or if there are no cameras at all? Our World tells the stories of witnesses to police brutality who say they've been intimidated and even threatened with incarceration. What chance is there of lasting change if witnesses are scared to speak out?

Over a billion euros have been invested in cycling across Europe since the start of the pandemic. Some of the continent's biggest cities are transforming as people seek alternative, safer, greener ways to move around. Anna Holligan travels across Europe to see how people are getting on their bikes and asks if the surge in cycling is the start of a much more significant change in the way we travel.

Evangelical Christian voters were a key part of the coalition, which swept Donald Trump to power in 2016. Many were prepared to overlook his turbulent private life to elect a president who they believed would defend their values.

Four years on, Trump is relying on them again, but this time the Christian vote is more divided and looks increasingly up for grabs. His opponent Joe Biden is a Catholic who says his faith is his guiding light. Lebo Diseko meets Christian voters in the swing state of North Carolina and explores how important faith will be in a contest that Biden has billed as a battle for America's soul.

On 8 September, the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos went up in flames. More than 12,000 migrants, already living in dire conditions, were burned out of their tents. The Greek authorities have blamed the blaze on a small number of camp residents, but among the refugees themselves, many say local far-right activists started the fire.

On both sides, there were people who wanted the camp gone. So who torched Europe's largest refugee camp? With the help of a group of young refugee film-makers and exclusive access to a massive archive of footage from the fire and its aftermath, Gabriel Gatehouse investigates the events surrounding the blaze and the roots of Europe's dysfunctional migration policy.

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing apps in the world and has now been downloaded more than two billion times. It is most famous for lip-syncing teenagers and out-of-control pets, but its phenomenal growth means it is starting to change the world - and nowhere is that clearer than in the US presidential election.

Donald Trump may not be a fan, but his supporters and Joe Biden's are now fighting for the future of their country on TikTok. With just over a week to go until America decides, Sophia Smith-Galer delves into the crazy world of TikTok. She meets its breakout stars - from the Republican Girls to the Minnesota state senator who uses it to get out the Democrat vote.

How is TikTok changing US politics, and what influence will it have on who the White House's next resident will be?

Bangladesh has the World's second-largest garment manufacturing industry, which for decades fuelled Europe and America's appetite for fast fashion. But as coronavirus spread around the World, over 2 billion pounds worth of clothing orders were cancelled, and many factories were shut. It was a devastating blow to the sector on which many livelihoods depend. Our World follows factory owner Mostafiz Uddin, who now stands to lose everything, and meets the women workers whose jobs have disappeared. Has coronavirus changed the way we buy clothes forever - and what about those who are being left behind?

Five years ago, an electrician called Ali Motamed was shot and killed in Almere, just outside Amsterdam. It looked like a professional hit job - but why would anyone want to assassinate a seemingly innocent electrician? In the hours which followed, his wife told police he wasn't really Ali Motamed at all - his real name was Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi, and he was a wanted man in Tehran. So could the Iranian regime have ordered his killing? And could it also be behind the strikingly similar murder of another Iranian in The Hague in 2017? Jiyar Gol follows a trail of destruction across Europe: from the killings in the Netherlands to a bomb plot in Paris in 2018, to an attempted assassination in Denmark. It's a story of spies, lies, and geopolitics, with a string of extraordinary twists. Could Iran have orchestrated assassinations and an attempted bombing on European soil?