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Pyramid Challenge: Sudan Versus Egypt

Politicised pyramids in Sudan and Egypt, old alleys of Beijing, male bellydance in India, murder in Uzbekistan, counting Indonesia's islands. With David Amanor.

Rumours of a film project about Sudanese ancient history have been raising hackles in neighbouring Egypt. The dispute is over which country had the most significant ancient civilisation on the Nile. 91热爆 Africa's Mohanad Hashim, who's from Khartoum, puts the case for Sudan.

Old alleys of Beijing
The traditional hutongs or alleyways of Beijing were once the centre of community life for city-dwellers. Now only a few survive as tourist attractions. Howard Zhang of 91热爆 Chinese grew up in a hutong, and his knowledge of the labyrinthine alleyways kept him out of trouble in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

India's male bellydancer
The bellydance is an ancient form of entertainment with Arab roots, and has beguiled India for centuries. It's always been the preserve of female dancers, but now some male performers are bucking the trend. Sumiran Preet Kaur has met one for 91热爆 Hindi.

Uzbek murder
The killing of a teenager in Tashkent, allegedly by fellow medical students, has sparked a wave of protests in Uzbekistan and dominated the news agenda for 91热爆 Uzbek for many days. Rustam Qobil explains how one murder has surprisingly changed the country's political landscape.

Counting Indonesia's islands
91热爆 Indonesian reported this week about the latest attempt by the government to count its islands. It might take a lot of fingers: the last estimates put the number at over 17,000, with a geographical spread from Aceh in the west to Papua in the east. 91热爆 Indonesian's Liston Siregar has visited some - but not all!

And Fifi Haroon's pick of the world wide web.

Image: Camel riders in front of the Sudanese pyramids
Credit: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

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50 minutes

Last on

Sat 10 Jun 2017 01:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 9 Jun 2017 11:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Jun 2017 15:06GMT
  • Sat 10 Jun 2017 01:06GMT