Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Image source, AFP

The UN has urged authorities in Libya to order a “swift, independent and transparent” investigation into the killing of 15 migrants near the coastal city of Sabratha.

The bodies were found on Friday, most of them burned inside a charred boat.

The UN mission in Libya said the killings were thought to have resulted from clashes between rival trafficking gangs and is demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Libya has long been a key route for the smuggling of migrants to Europe.

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A Nigerian project called Looty is seeking to take back African art in digital form. Members go into museums, take LiDAR scans using their phones, and recreate these African artworks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first piece is one of the Benin Bronzes from the British Museum. Different artistic reimaginations of this ancient artwork are now being sold as NFTs, with parts of the proceeds going to emerging Nigerian artists. Gareth speaks to Looty’s founder Chidi about the idea, and blockchain expert Anne Kaluvu comments on the project.

The innovative vision of Amazonia 4.0 The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Could there be another way? The project Amazonia 4.0 is envisioning harnessing the rainforest’s inherent biodiversity through a sustainable bioeconomy. Professor Carlos Nobre explains how, with the help of drones, fibre optic cables and other technologies, this vision may become a reality.

The common fruit fly’s digital twin One of the most ubiquitously used and best understood organisms in science is the common fruit fly. Many important developments in medicine and biology stem from research on this tiny insect. Now Professor Pavan Ramdya and his team have developed a complete simulated model of the fruit fly, a so-called digital twin. This model can be used by researchers to conduct experiments digitally, which may help speed up research and solve unanswered questions.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producers: Hannah Fisher and Florian Bohr

(Photo: A man uses Sony's 3D Creator scanning to create a three-dimensional image Credit: PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

Could audio files be the new digital drugs? New research shows that binaural beats - illusionary tones created by the brain when the brain hears two different tones in each ear – can change someone’s emotional state. The work, published in Drug and Alcohol Review, shows for the first time that people use binaural beats to relax, fall asleep and even to try to get a psychedelic drug high. BBC’s R&D Audio team have created a binaural beat soundscape especially for Digital Planet and we speak to Dr Alexia Maddox, a tech sociologist, one of the researchers behind the study.

Publishing via What’s App – getting female authors recognised in Zimbabwe Getting a book deal may seem like an impossible dream for many budding authors, but in Zimbabwe, for many female writers, this is a reality. Linda Mujuru, a senior reporter for Global Press Journal, tells us how most publishers are struggling in Zimbabwe due to the dire economic situation over the last twenty years and why so many authors have turned to social media as their only way of telling their stories. Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure set up her own publishing house in the UK as she could not get her work printed. She reads one of her poems in Shona, a native Zimbabwean language, and explains how she now looks for fellow female authors online and publishes their work too.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Music in the mind concept. Credit: Getty Images)

As African connectivity improves, so does the spread of cybercrime across the continent. The first ever African cybersecurity conference was held in Togo recently and resulted in twenty nine nations signing the Lomé declaration, a policy that commits to establish a legal and regulatory framework across Africa to improve cybersecurity. Sasha Gankin was at the conference and has sent us a report which highlights the different types of cybercrime that are the biggest threat to businesses, governments and individuals in Africa today and how countries are trying to protect themselves. We discuss if this declaration will really make the online environment safer.

Alexa vs Alexa Cybersecurity researchers have been able to get Alexa to hack itself. They managed to do this in a number of ways, half of which have already been patched by Amazon, but the ability to connect to someone’s device via Bluetooth to issue malicious commands, e.g. setting off alarms in the middle of the night or cancelling appointments in calendars, still exists. Sergio Esposito from Royal Holloway, University of London, explains why they exposed these vulnerabilities and we discuss what can be done to protect your devices.

New Notre-Dame AR experience Three years after the devastating Notre-Dame fire the cathedral remains shut but now a new AR experience has been launched to allow the public to explore the cathedrals’ 850 year history. Visitors can watch a reconstruction of the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 or stand alongside the Paris fire brigade as they tried to get the Great Fire under control. Hannah Fisher has been to the exhibition in Paris and armed with a HistoPad has experienced the 360° 3D reconstructions of parts of the cathedral that no longer exist. The exhibition is due to visit 12 capital cities around the world by 2024.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Cyber security in Africa map. Credit: Getty Images)

Amid the anarchy of post-Revolution Libya, seven 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

(Image: A defaced mural depicting Mohsen al-Kani in the town of Tarhuna. Credit: Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images)

In a remote part of Northern Kenya, former Samburu warriors have become elephant keepers, rescuing and raising baby elephants in what’s thought to be Africa’s first community owned and run elephant sanctuary. At Reteti Elephant Sanctuary they rescue baby elephants that have been injured, orphaned or abandoned. They look after them, rehabilitate them and release them back to the wild. It is transforming the way local communities relate to elephants, and is a catalyst for peace, bringing tribes together from all over Northern Kenya, that normally fight over land and resources.

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 December. 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 Assignment, Mike Thomson gains rare access to Darfur to hear the stories of those still living with deep uncertainty.

Producer: Bob Howard Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: UN peacekeepers on patrol in Darfur, Sudan. Credit: Bob Howard/BBC)

Two doctors in Nairobi tell host Nuala McGovern why conditions for health workers in Nairobi are leading to calls for a strike. They include rising death rates, unpaid salaries and lack of a comprehensive medical insurance. We’ll also hear from two members of US President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid task force about combatting vaccine hesitancy after the United States recorded the highest daily death toll in the world so far. And as vaccines make people think about a possible return to normality, we hear from those who have had to move in with their parents during the pandemic