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Goodbye Castro!

End of the Castro era; Saudi cinema returns; Bishkek's disappearing trees; what women want in India; Thai pensioner rock stars; China's transgender agony aunt. With David Amanor.

After six decades Cuba is no longer ruled by a Castro. Fidel Castro, succeeded by his brother Raul, influenced some of the world's most powerful nations. We hear from Jinxi Cao of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Chinese, Audrey Brown of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Africa and Irena Taranyuk of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Ukrainian.

Cinema-going in Saudi Arabia
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Arabic's Huda al-Rashid grew up in Saudi Arabia and remembers a time before the cinema ban, with rooftop and even drive-in cinemas.

Bishkek's disappearing, and reappearing, trees
Bishkek was once famous as a green, leafy city. Air pollution and traffic have led to thousands of city trees being cut down to widen roads, though a new forest is planned outside the Kyrgyz capital. Almaz Tchoroev of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Kyrgyz explains.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½She: what women want in India
Divya Arya is the woman's affairs correspondent in Delhi. She's just returned from visiting smaller cities across the country to find out what young Indian women want to hear, and not hear, on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. She shares her findings.

Bennetty: Bangkok's pensioner rock stars
Named after the American crooner Tony Bennett, Bennetty are a group of pensioner rock stars, aged between 65 and 86, who've become an unlikely hit in Thailand. Jiraporn Kuhakan of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Thai met them.

Chinese transgender agony aunt
Jin Xing is a famous Chinese TV host. Her own story is remarkable too: she was born a he, was a soldier, a professional dancer, and became China's first transgender star. Yashan Zhao interviewed her recently for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Chinese.

Image: Raul Castro and Fidel Castro in August 1978 in Havana
Credit: AFP/Getty Images

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50 minutes

Last on

Fri 20 Apr 2018 17:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 20 Apr 2018 11:06GMT
  • Fri 20 Apr 2018 15:06GMT
  • Fri 20 Apr 2018 17:06GMT