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Reclaiming Mogadishu’s Sports Stadium

Mogadishu Stadium; Balochi Sandals; Guatemala's mischievous deity; new capital cities; My ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Town Aden; Tunis to Italy migration. With David Amanor.

In 1979 Somalia opened a state of the art sports stadium to host international sporting events. But with the beginning of the civil war in the 1990s the stadium became a base for successions of fighting forces. Last month it was formally handed back to the state, so can it reclaim its former glory? ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Somali’s Ahmed Abdinur was a sports official at the stadium during its glory days.

Balochi Chappal
The traditional Balochi Chappal or sandal has been making a comeback. Once a macho fighting shoe it’s now more decorative. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Urdu’s Saher Baloch met some of the Hazara shoe-makers making them in Karachi.

Maximón: the mischievous saint
Maximón is a Guatemalan deity always depicted smoking a cigarette, sporting a cowboy hat and dark glasses, and with his mouth open for alcoholic libations. He’s the saint you turn to for less respectable favours, and Arturo Wallace of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Mundo has visited his shrine.

New Capitals
Egypt has ambitions to move the seat of government from Cairo to a new currently nameless city. In India the state of Andhra Pradesh is planning a new capital, Amaravati, and a film director is on the design team. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Telugu’s Deepthi Bathini ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Monitoring' Nada Rashwan explore respective visions.

My ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Town: Aden
Afra Ahmed takes us to her hometown of Aden in southern Yemen, a city which has seen sweeping changes in the past thirty years.

Reverse migration across the Mediterranean
Italy is currently seeing the arrival of thousands of migrants from African countries. But not so long ago migration was in the opposite direction. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Arabic's Bassam Bounenni has been exploring the Italian legacy in Tunis.

Image: Mogadishu athletics track overgrown with grass and trees after decades of war in Somalia
Credit: Mohamed Abdiwahabafp/Getty Images

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50 minutes

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Fri 21 Sep 2018 17:06GMT

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  • Fri 21 Sep 2018 11:06GMT
  • Fri 21 Sep 2018 15:06GMT
  • Fri 21 Sep 2018 17:06GMT