Original subtitles

Hello and welcome to the first edition of Global Eye

from the BBC World Service.

Every week we'll come to you from a different country

and bring you the very best of our investigative journalism

from every corner of the world.

Stories that uncover the harshest realities

and those that shine a light on hope and resilience.

I'm Nawal Al-Maghafi.

And for our first edition,

I'm somewhere that doesn't make the headlines every day,

despite being gripped by violence, hunger and disease.

The UN has even called it the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

I'm really glad to be back here reporting from Sudan.

It's a place that warrants a lot more attention than it gets.

Since war broke out between the army and a rival paramilitary group,

the RSF, over two years ago,

over 150,000 people have died

and more than 12 million people have fled their homes

to escape the violence.

I'll tell you more about that later in the programme.

And we'll be in India to bring you the story

of these trailblazing female athletes,

defying all odds to compete on the international stage.

Whilst I am in this busy market in Sudan,

we'll first go to Ukraine,

where the diplomatic efforts continue

to try and bring the war to an end.

What's it like for ordinary people living on the front line?

Well, my colleagues at BBC Eye asked residents of Kharkiv,

a city that's right at the epicentre of the conflict,

to document their lives over nine months in video diaries.

Here are the stories of two of those families.

In February 2022, Russian troops entered the Ukrainian city

of Kharkiv, just 20 miles from the Russian border.

Parts of the city of Kharkiv were occupied for six weeks

as Ukrainian forces fought back.

Half of the city's two million residents fled.

Those who remained have continued to experience irregular

drone attacks, as Russia intensifies its campaign on the city.

Two women who have refused to leave Kharkiv since the war began

agreed to document their lives for BBC Eye.

These are the personal stories of people battered by decisions

made far away.

You're gambling with the lives... I'm the president in a war.

..of millions of people.

You're gambling with World War III.

Anna lives alone with her Doberman Hector and her parrot, Kira.

On Christmas Day, Kharkiv was hit by a major missile attack

targeting its energy infrastructure.

Half a million people were left without heating,

as temperatures hovered just above freezing.

Maryna is a single mother to twins.

Kharkiv has a multicultural history

and for generations the city's Russian and Ukrainian populations

have lived side by side.

After the invasion, Maryna made the decision

to stop speaking Russian.

Eight weeks later, President Zelensky hoped to seal the deal

when he visited President Trump in the Oval Office.

You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position

and he happens to be right about...

From the very beginning of the war...

You're not in a good position.

You don't have the cards right now.

With us, you start having cards. I'm not playing cards.

But right now, you don't... I'm very serious, Mr President.

You're playing cards, you're playing cards.

You're gambling with the lives of millions of people.

I'm the president in a war.

You're gambling with World War III.

Mr President, is there no deal? Mr Zelensky...

After Zelensky is expelled from the White House,

the Trump administration stops all military aid

and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

As the international community tries to mend the rift,

Maryna focuses on preserving a sense of routine for her children.

She takes them to visit an animal sanctuary

on the outskirts of Kharkiv.

CHILDREN LAUGH

EXPLOSION

The US resumes military aid and intelligence sharing

with Ukraine after Kyiv agrees to a 30-day ceasefire.

SIREN BLARES

Moscow does not.

It's been a year since Anna last saw her daughter.

Now Sasha has made the journey to Kharkiv from her home in Israel.

With no commercial flights running to Ukraine,

it's a difficult journey.

Ukrainian authorities say Russia attacked

the city with 48 drones, two missiles and four bombs.

President Trump announces a major shift

in US policy by pledging billions

in military aid and threatening Russia with tariffs

unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire within 50 days.

My conversations with him are always very pleasant.

I say, "Isn't that a very lovely conversation?"

And then the missiles go off that night.

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

You can see the full film on YouTube.

I was here in Sudan this time last year

and so much has happened since then.

Back then, the Rapid Support Forces controlled the capital,

Khartoum, and the government had been pushed out

and was forced to sit up here in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.

But in May this year, the army fought its way back

and it retook the capital.

It was a major turning point in this war.

But still, the RSF hasn't gone away

and it continues to hold large parts of the country.

And so the violence continues,

and the impact this war has had on civilians is staggering.

Out of a population of 46 million people,

12 million are displaced in Sudan.

It's one of the largest displacement crises in the world.

And with so many people searching for shelter,

rent prices have tripled and the costs of food,

fuel and medicines have skyrocketed,

leaving millions struggling to survive.

The current conflict began over two years ago,

when Sudan's de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan,

and his deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo,

leader of the government's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces,

entered a power struggle for supremacy.

After fighting between the two sides began,

the government declared the 100,000-strong RSF a rebel group.

The two sides have been battling

for control of the country ever since,

with allegations of war crimes on both sides.

Here in the capital, Khartoum,

it's been an epicentre of fighting since the conflict began.

I've been speaking to people here and they've told me

how much harder daily life has become.

Parts of the city have become completely uninhabitable,

and many of the suburbs are now ghost towns.

Water plants have been destroyed in drone attacks by the RSF,

and as a result, the cost of water here for a family has skyrocketed

to more than $15 a day, and cholera is rife.

And these aren't the most badly affected areas of Sudan.

The province of Darfur has suffered reoccurring violence

for decades due to tribal and ethnic conflict.

It's a stronghold for the RSF

and a constant scene of terrible fighting.

It's impossible to enter the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher.

But earlier this year, a World Service team was able

to get cameras to some residents before they fled.

You can see the full film on YouTube.

While the world's focus is on other conflicts around the world,

like in Ukraine and Gaza,

the UN has called for an end to the flow of weapons into Sudan

and renewed international mediation

to put an end to what's clearly a fast escalating crisis.

Every week on this programme,

we want to give you a guide to some of the most compelling content

the World Service has produced across the last few days.

I recommend you listen to the new series of our daily podcast,

The Global Story, which has just launched,

exploring America and the world and how each is shaped by the other.

And on the BBC website, you can hear about life inside Gaza

from the local journalists risking their lives

to bring us news from the war's front line.

Our colleagues at BBC News Arabic have spoken to reporters

who are facing their own challenges of finding shelter,

water and food for themselves

and their families on top of doing their jobs.

And here's something else we want to share with you

from our BBC Hindi team based in Delhi.

India's been experiencing something of

a Paralympic revolution over the last few years,

from winning four medals in Rio in 2016

to bagging 29 at last year's Paris Games.

And there's a new generation of Indian athletes

now competing in international competitions.

Well, my colleague Divya Arya has been following two

remarkable women who have fought to overcome unique challenges.

How do you run on a track that you cannot see?

Follow straight lines, turn when they curve,

and stop at the finish.

Athletes without vision, or impairment, use a guide runner.

For Rakshitha, that is Rahul.

For Simran, Abhay.

The only two Indian female athletes with vision impairment

to qualify for the Paris Paralympics.

It's early 2024 and sprinter Simran Sharma's training

is going full throttle.

Simran is partially sighted.

When she started, Simran used to run alone.

Three, one, two.

The aim was clear, to reach the top.

And she was supported by her husband,

whom she met while training and later became her coach.

I had asked Simran even before our marriage,

"What do you want from life?"

And she said, "I want to run."

But I had decided that I will take her all the way to the Paralympics.

In 2021, Simran became the first Indian woman to qualify

for the 100m race at the Tokyo Paralympics.

But when she ran, she couldn't follow her line.

Her vision had deteriorated.

The 100m track is a straight line,

but in the middle there is a line that bends.

Three or four times it happened to me that when I ran,

I ran to the left.

They said, "Now you need a guide runner."

But it's not easy for two bodies to run as one.

The para athlete's style, pace and technique

need to be perfectly matched by the guide runner.

After a few false starts... WHISTLE BLOWS

..Simran finally spotted a young athlete, Abhay.

But born in a family with modest means

in a small town in central India,

Abhay had never even met an athlete with visual impairment.

When I ran for the first time, they sent me videos.

I'm a fast learner and after watching them I thought,

"I'll easily do it," but it's very different in practice.

There was a nervousness.

I thought, "How would I do it?"

Because it's not easy to run with another person.

And it all got tested when Abhay and Simran ran together at

the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships.

They struck gold.

Simran became the world champion in the 200m T12 category.

But they were disqualified in the 100m race.

It was our first competition together,

so we didn't realise.

He thought he had to stop to let me cross the line first.

So he stopped completely and let me go ahead,

which meant we got disqualified.

Combination.

Time is ticking for the 2024 Paris Paralympics

and there is a lot to learn before they're fully synchronised.

A task made even harder for Rakshitha Raju,

an athlete who is fully blind

and has to place full faith in her guide and their tether.

I can't see anything.

I can't see anything.

So I believe in my guide runner more than myself.

I have a lot of confidence in my tether.

The guide and I hold on to the tether

and that protects me when I fall.

Rakshita has come a long way to be able to form this trust.

It's not easy to reach the remote village in southern India

where she grew up.

Born without vision, she lost her parents

when she was young and was raised by her grandmother,

who is speech and hearing impaired.

Their disabilities formed a strong bond.

My grandmother says growing up, she didn't have parents.

Neither did Rakshitha.

She says she doesn't want Rakshitha to end up like her.

Rakshitha's physical education teacher in her village school

spotted athletic talent in her

and took her to the metropolitan city Bangalore.

There she'd get better resources and find her guide runner

and coach Rahul.

Unlike Abhay, he came with experience.

He had run as a guide with another blind athlete,

Shawadh, almost a decade earlier.

I ran with Shawadh...

I ran as a guide runner with Shawadh

at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon.

He won a bronze medal.

That is when I realised that if the athlete wins,

I win a medal for the country too.

I felt proud.

Rahul and Rakshitha ran together and won gold

at the 2018 Asian Para Games.

What was the reaction in her village?

I will show some videos in my mobile.

Seeing Rakshitha, many people wanted to inspire and do sports.

So many schools and colleges were there.

Everyone came and congratulated her.

In 2023, they bagged their second gold medal at the Asian Para Games.

But a Paralympic medal remained out of their reach in Paris.

Yet hope remains, because Rakshitha has

the certainty of a dedicated guide runner and coach in Rahul.

Because there are many like her in villages,

they don't know much about sport.

She should be a role model for other people, other athletes.

For Simran and Abhay,

there was mixed success at the Paris Paralympics.

They were well beaten in the 100m.

But in the 200m race they won bronze and made history.

Simran became the first Indian woman with visual impairment

to win a Paralympic medal.

I just thought, "I have to run today

"and not take any pressure."

So I ran and I didn't even know about

the finish till my guide told me we ran my personal best timing,

24.7 seconds.

When I saw that she'd won a medal, I couldn't stop myself.

I jumped down from the stands with the Indian flag.

I need to change this colour to gold.

That's my dream.

Or if you can dream it, you can do it.

It's a shared dream.

And with two minds and two bodies driving it,

they're determined to make it a reality.

So that's all from us in Sudan.

You can see my full reporting from here across BBC News platforms.

And next week we'll be in South Korea,

which has been embroiled in political turmoil

since martial law was imposed last year.

Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next week.