Official figures suggest the global death toll from Covid-19 now exceeds four million with the virus proliferating in Asia, Africa and South America, where fewer people have been vaccinated. Host James Reynolds brings three doctors together from Namibia, Bangladesh and Russia, which are among the countries struggling to deal with second and third waves of infections. They describe the constant challenge on the hospital wards and highlight the impact of vaccine hesitancy among patients.

Two hundred young women from Sierra Leone, west Africa, have been trapped in the Arabian sultanate of Oman, desperate to get home. Promised work in shops and restaurants, they say they were into tricked becoming housemaids, working up to 18 hours a day, often without pay, and sometimes abused by their employers. Some ran away, to live a dangerous underground existence at the mercy of the authorities – but now they’re being rescued and repatriated, and some are empowering themselves as independent farmers back home. Tim Whewell tells their story.

(Image: Sierra Leonean women hoping for repatriation after leaving their employers in Oman. Credit: Do Bold)

Since December, gangs have seized more than a thousand students and members of staff from schools in armed raids across northern Nigeria. The wave of abductions is having devastating consequences for the country, which already has the highest number of children out of education anywhere in the world. Parents face extortionate financial demands in exchange for the freedom of their sons and daughters, and many families in Africa’s most populous nation are now too afraid to send their children to class. Some have decided to flee rural areas for the relative security of cities, adding to demographic pressures and threatening food supplies as crops go untended. For Assignment, the BBC’s Mayeni Jones travels across north-western Nigeria, meeting those who have been affected by the crisis in order to understand why it has arisen – and what the authorities can do to stop it.

Producers: Naomi Scherbel-Ball in Lagos and Michael Gallagher in London Sound mix: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Mrs Sani shows a photo of her two daughters Rejoice and Victory. They were kidnapped from their school in March and were finally released after being held captive for almost two months. Credit: BBC)

Kenneth Kaunda, the first President of Zambia was a unique African leader. He led the African continent’s fight against Apartheid, gaining a peaceful transition to power in his own country. He was influenced by reading Mahatma Gandhi yet ruled with ‘an iron fist in a velvet glove’. He loved to sing and play guitar, particularly to his wife of many years Betty and in his 27 years as president. In the end he was voted out of office but left with dignity when he admitted defeat in a multi-party election. Audrey Brown charts the rise and fall of former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.

All over the world, frontline workers have paid the ultimate price during the pandemic. But in Kenya the story of one young doctor’s heroism has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. 28-year old Stephen Mogusu died from Covid 19 in December after working on an isolation ward and complaining he lacked adequate protective clothing. Despite his vital service, he hadn’t been paid for five months. Stephen’s tragedy exposes a wider malaise in Kenya’s health system: A corruption scandal involving overpriced masks, aprons and other protective clothing. Meanwhile, across the country, a series of on-off strikes have disrupted care, as doctors, nurses and clinicians made sporadic protests against mismanagement and a devolved power structure they say is dysfunctional. As Kenya continues to battle against the virus, Lucy Ash finds out what’s ailing Kenya’s healthcare system.

Produced by Michael Gallagher. Editor, Bridget Harney

More than a century after its brutal colonisation of Namibia, including what it now accepts was the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, Germany is negotiating with the country’s government to heal the wounds of the past. The eventual deal may set a precedent for what other nations expect from former colonisers. But how do you make up for the destruction of entire societies? Germany has agreed to apologise - but Namibia also wants some form of material compensation. What should that be, and who should benefit? Namibians are now divided about how the talks are being conducted - and some in the country’s German-speaking minority, descendants of the original colonists, question the very idea of compensation. Tim Whewell travels to Namibia to ask how far full reconciliation - with Germany, and within the country - is possible.

Produced and presented by Tim Whewell Editor, Bridget Harney

Amid the anarchy of post-Revolution Libya, seven ruthless brothers from an obscure background gradually took over their home town near Tripoli. They're accused of murdering entire families to instill fear and to build power and wealth. They created their own militia which threw in its lot, at different times, with various forces in Libya's ongoing conflict. And they grew rich by levying taxes on the human and fuel traffickers crossing their territory. Now, the full horror of their reign of terror is being exposed: since they were driven out in June, more and more mass graves are being discovered. The Libyan authorities - and the International Criminal Court - are investigating what happened. But the four surviving Kani brothers have fled. Will they ever face justice? And what does their story tell us about why the 2011 overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi brought not democracy, but chaos, to Libya? Tim Whewell reports. Editor: Bridget Harney

A young woman is desperately searching for her brother in Lagos. On the night of 20th October, Nigerian soldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstration camped at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos. The government say they fired into the air, but witnesses insist that unarmed protesters came under deliberate attack. Amnesty International says that 12 people died.

The incident has traumatised a highly popular political reform movement that began as a demand to close down the S.A.R.S., a notoriously corrupt and brutal police squad. In the aftermath, many of the movement’s young supporters are keeping a low profile. Some have had their bank accounts frozen and passports seized. Others have even fled overseas, in fear of their lives.

The BBC’s Nigeria correspondent Mayeni Jones has been talking to some of them, including a witness to the Lekki shooting, and Peace, who is tirelessly searching for her brother, Wisdom, who is still missing after attending the demonstration. Mayeni finds a country whose traditionally deferential society and elderly leadership seem suddenly vulnerable; shaken by a perfect storm of youthful idealism, social media activism, and the crippling economic fallout of the Covid pandemic.

Producers: Naomi Scherbel-Ball & Michael Gallagher With additional research by Jonelle Awomoyi Editor: Bridget Harney

After 17 years of conflict costing 300,000 lives a peace agreement offers new hope to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. It comes as UNAMID, the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force, prepares to finally pull out at the end of this month. But with nearly two million displaced people still living in camps and some armed groups yet to sign the agreement, who will protect civilians if the peace fails? For Crossing Continents, Mike Thomson gains rare access to Darfur to hear the stories of those still living with deep uncertainty.

Producer, Bob Howard. Editor, Bridget Harney

Pineapple beer is the universal homebrew in South Africa and pineapple prices trebled when the government imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco during the coronavirus pandemic. South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa and the government introduced the ban to ease the pressure on hospitals. With the infection rate now falling the ban has been lifted although some restrictions remain in place. Ed Butler and Vauldi Carelse have been hearing from the brewers, both legal and illegal, on the impact the ban has had on their livelihoods and on people’s health, and since the ban has ended, from those considering what lessons the nation might learn from its experiment with being ‘dry’.

(Image: Barman working at a bar which has re-opened under new regulations in Val, South Africa, 07 August 2020. Credit: EPA/Kim Ludbrook)

A mysterious illness appears out of nowhere. The number of cases rises exponentially, as the authorities attempt to downplay the severity of the disease. There is a shortage of medical staff, equipment and arguments about whether people should wear masks. People are forbidden to leave their homes and many are left stranded in unfamiliar places, separated from loved ones. Albert Camus’ novel The Plague set in the Algerian city of Oran under French colonial rule was published more than 70 years ago. But today it almost reads like a current news bulletin and seems more relevant than ever.

This edition of Crossing Continents revisits Oran in the age of the coronavirus and investigates the parallels between now and then. For the time being, it seems the pandemic has achieved something the authorities have tried but failed to do for the past year – clear the streets of protestors. Lucy Ash investigates Algeria’s plague of authoritarianism and finds that the government has been using Covid 19 as an excuse to crack down harder on dissent.

Reporter: Lucy Ash Producer: Neil Kisserli Editor: Bridget Harney

A Storyville documentary that looks at the tough reality of running for politics in a country riven by corruption and tribal factionalism through the story of Boniface ‘Softie’ Mwangi. Full of naive hope and enthusiasm, Boniface gives up his job as an award-winning photojournalist, exposing government corruption and human rights abuses to stand for election and make a difference.

For decades, elections in Kenya have been determined along tribal lines - a legacy of British rule. Two rival dynasties have held power since independence in 1963. For the country’s younger generation, Boniface represents hope for those who believe that an honest politician can win. But running a clean campaign against notoriously corrupt opponents is a challenge – especially when rival politicians’ lives are threatened, bribes are paid for votes and you’re running a campaign on a shoestring.

This is nothing, however, compared to the opposition to his new role from his feisty wife, Njeri. As election day looms and threats to his young family escalate, Njeri leaves Kenya with the kids and Boniface is left to fight his campaign alone. But he has a great team, a sense of humour and boundless optimism.

Will the election be a moment of change for Kenya? Will the sacrifice for Boniface be too great?

Fatmata, Jamilatu and Alimamy all see themselves as failures. They’re young Sierra Leoneans who risked everything for the sake of a better life in Europe. Along the way, they were imprisoned and enslaved. They saw friends die. Eventually, they gave up. Now, they’re home again - facing the devastating consequences of what they did to their families before they left, actions that have left them ostracised by their nearest and dearest. Who will help them to survive back home? Can they rebuild their lives, and achieve any reconciliation with their parents? And if they can’t, will they be tempted to set off again, to seek their fortunes abroad?

Produced and presented by Tim Whewell Editor, Bridget Harney

In recent years, our knowledge of life beneath the waves has been transformed. Using cutting-edge technology in this extended special we celebrate the highlights from the series. From the intense heat of the tropics to our planet's frozen poles, through to its unexplored depths, we reveal new worlds and extraordinary never-seen-before animal behaviours.

Starting in the tropical coral reefs - the most diverse ocean habitat - a tusk fish demonstrates a surprising level of ingenuity - tool use - as it uses corals as an anvil to break open clams. In the Seychelles, half a million terns nest on an island. Fledglings must eventually take to the wing, but danger lurks beneath the waves: metre-long giant trevally fish leap clear out of the water to snatch birds on the wing.

In the tropics sun heats the sea, creating rain, winds and huge storms that drive up towards higher latitudes. Here the seas change with the seasons. In spring thousands of mobula rays gather in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. At night, in a previously unseen event, tiny organisms that light up when disturbed react to their wingbeats, creating an enchanting bioluminescent firework display.

The seasonal seas are home to bountiful kelp forests. In the undersea forests of southern Africa, one resident - the common octopus- has become the ultimate escape artist. To outwit her nemesis, the pyjama shark, she uses ingenious tactics, never filmed before.

On the coast, two worlds collide. Where sea meets land, coasts are the most dynamic and challenging habitats in the ocean. The ever-changing tides create rock pools. But these temporary worlds are a battleground. Predatory starfish turn a magical garden into the stuff of nightmares.

The big blue is the world's greatest wilderness - it's a vast marine desert where there is little to eat and nowhere to hide. Sometimes there is a brief explosion of food in this marine desert, but ocean hunters must be fast to make the best of this bonanza. We witness super-pods of up to five thousand spinner dolphins racing to herd vast shoals of lanternfish, briefly caught at the surface where it is thought they spawn. New aerial footage reveals, for the first time, the spectacular feeding frenzy of 90kg tuna and dolphins smashing through the lantern fish shoals turning the sea white with foam.

The deep is perhaps the most hostile environment on Earth, at least to us - a world of crushing pressure, brutal cold and utter darkness. We have barely begun to explore it and yet it is the largest living space on our blue planet, home to strange worlds like methane volcanoes and undersea lakes of salty brine. But life adapts in ingenious ways, like the sea toad - a fish that walks instead of swims. And barrel-eye - a deep sea fish with a translucent skull so that it can see through the top of its head to make the most of any glimmer of light.

The deep is more closely connected to our own world than we ever thought possible due to giant ocean currents. We join these ocean currents as they begin their lives in Antarctica and flow from the poles to the tropics and back again, linking every ocean. Ocean currents move heat around our planet and maintain a climate favourable for life. But our ocean system, in relative equilibrium for millennia, is changing at a worrying rate.

Deep in the polar north, we meet walrus mothers and their newborn calves, searching for an ice floe to rest on; but with rising temperatures, summer sea ice is retreating- their battles to survive are becoming ever harder. As we begin to understand the true complexity of the lives of our ocean creatures so do we recognise the fragility of their home.

Adventurer Simon Reeve travels from source to sea along the world's longest river, the Nile. His journey will take him from the holy source of the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian highlands, through the desert of Sudan and onwards through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The life-giving river has forged some of our earliest civilisations and influenced some of our greatest religions. But with populations along its banks rising fast, Nile countries are demanding an ever-greater share of the sacred waters, threatening the stability of the entire region.

On the streets of Lagos, it is not the police who wield power but gangs of fight-hardened young men known as Area Boys. Louis spends time with several outfits, joining them as they patrol their turf, clash with local rivals and keep the peace in a brutal and haphazard fashion. The main income for the Area Boys is an arbitrary and unofficial form of taxation, extracted from local businesses and commercial drivers. Louis gets to know the rich and glamorous Area Boy leader MC, a former street youth himself, who has now become a friend of the most powerful men in the city. Taken under MC's wing, Louis experiences the top levels of the Area Boys' world from the inside, complete with a tour of MC's grand residence and extensive shoe collection, and ending in a chaotic mini-riot with gunshots, blood and mayhem.

On the side of the law, Louis rides with KAI, the government's Kick Against Indiscipline paramilitary task force, as they storm different city districts. With bulldozers and arrest warrants, KAI use their own strong-arm tactics, and are in their way as feared as the Area Boys.

In Law and Disorder in Lagos, Louis wrestles with life in a world in which the forces of law and the forces of disorder are not always readily distinguishable and nothing is quite what it seems.

Louis Theroux travels to Johannesburg, where the residents find themselves increasingly besieged by crime. Despairing of the capability of the police and the courts to protect them, many have turned to an industry of private security, offering protection for a price. Are the sometimes brutal methods of these private police really a solution or just another part of the problem?

The first stop for Louis is a meeting with William Mayangoni, the local co-ordinator for a security firm known as Mapogo. Based on the outskirts of Diepsloot, one of the squatter camps that ring Johannesburg, William investigates thefts for his mainly white clients. When he catches a suspect, he gives them 'medicine': the alleged offender is beaten with a leather whip known as a sjambok.

Although his clients seem to support what they see as 'an African solution to an African problem', William's methods alienate the people of Diepsloot. Finally, their patience snaps dramatically, and William has to call out the real police in order to protect himself from the vicious threat of the mob.

In the centre of Johannesburg, a security company called Bad Boyz work in an area called Hillbrow, notorious for its high crime rate. Louis meets company director Hendrik De Klerk who explains that much of their activity involves reclaiming and securing buildings that have been taken over, or hijacked, by criminal gangs who illegally take rent from tenants. Louis watches dramatic evictions unfold, in which the police and security companies are not afraid to use force to kick out the protesting residents.

Louis travels to Limpopo Province to stay in a hunting lodge. Hunting in South Africa has become easier than ever before - in fact, it is a blossoming tourist industry. The cost of a trophy animal ranges from as little as $250 for a baboon to as much as $70,000 for a rhino. The animals are bred to purpose on private game farms. In fact, lion breeder Piet insists that hunting, by putting an economic value to the animal, has allowed populations of exotic species to flourish.