A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journal...
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 Assignment 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.
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Blood on the shelves
A year-long BBC Eye investigation has uncovered that Chinese tomato paste produced using forced labour in Xinjiang is likely to be being sold in major UK and German supermarkets. Runako Celina has teamed up with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Alison Killing, to find out the nature and scale of forced labour in the tomato fields of Xinjiang, and follow a trail that shows the resulting puree might be ending up on European shelves. Using satellite imagery and shipping data, they track the route the tomato paste takes from Xinjiang to Europe, where they uncover evidence showing there’s a strong likelihood it is being sold on to some supermarkets. The supermarkets all said they took the allegations very seriously. But they disputed the BBC’s findings.
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In the Studio: The rebuilding of Notre Dame
The cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris is one of France’s most famous landmarks. It has stood on the Île de la Cité in the heart of France’s capital since the 12th Century. On 15 April 2019, it was engulfed by flames, but thanks to the bravery of hundreds of firefighters, Notre Dame remained standing. The devastation was, however, immense. The spire collapsed into the nave and the lead roof melted and evaporated. The lattice framework underneath it, made of a thousand oak beams known affectionately as The Forest, turned to charcoal and dust. Agnès Poirier travels around France to talk to the army of craftspeople from across the world, who have been painstakingly reconstructing and restoring Notre Dame. She travels to the Loire to see the work of two American carpenters Jackson du Bois and Michael Burrey, representatives of the US Handshouse Studio: Notre Dame project, who are helping to rebuild the spire. Agnès then visits Normandy where the famous bells are being restored to speak to Paul Bergamo and also where the iconic ornate cross is being repaired by Vincent Combes and his team. Finally she comes face to face with a gargoyle and finds out how to redesign the perfect beast.
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The Fifth Floor: Russia's runaway soldiers
There has been a record number of cases this year of Russian soldiers deserting their units. Amaliya Zatari from BBC Russian has spoken to one young man who managed to get to France along with five others. Nina Nazarova, also from BBC Russian, offers a unique insight into the price many ordinary Russian families are paying when they try to hide or protect their relatives. Produced by Hannah Dean and Alice Gioia. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)
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BBC OS Conversations: Life in Ukraine after 1000 days of war
It is a grim milestone, more than 1000 days have passed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the past week, attacks on the country have once again intensified. As winter approaches and temperatures drop, Russia is targeting Ukraine’s energy system to leave millions of people without power. In our conversations, Ukrainians discuss their daily lives and resilience after almost three years of war and we hear from people in Dnipro and Odesa recovering from the latest attacks. “We’re being attacked not only with the rockets but also psychologically,” Lidia in Dnipro tells us. We also bring together three Ukrainian politicians to discuss how they keep democracy alive while maintaining a united front to the World and ask whether Donald Trump could really end the war in a day.
A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. From the plight of young women in Afghanistan, to Syria’s water wars, to keeping African languages alive, The Documentary investigates major global stories.We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world’s most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives. A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.