Main content

Healing Iraq's mental wounds

Iraq's invisible war wounds; a trip to the Arabat Arrow; smiling etiquette around the world; Moroccan hashish - winners and losers; and living with no street names in The Gambia.

Namak Knoshnaw spent a year making the 91Èȱ¬ Arabic documentary 'Iraq: A State of Mind’. It follows the stories of three people dealing with the psychological impact of decades of war, invasion, sectarian violence and occupation by the so-called Islamic State. Namak grew up in Iraq, and it's a story close to his heart.

The villages that wanted to be Russian
Anastasiya Gribanova of 91Èȱ¬ Ukrainian travels to the so-called Arabat Arrow, a spit of land that runs along the east coast of Crimea. There she meets Ukrainian villagers who were disappointed not to become part of Russia along with Crimea, when it was annexed in 2014.

Smile!
When you smile does the whole world smile with you or just give you strange looks? We're talking about smiling etiquette around the world, with Ibrat Safo of 91Èȱ¬ Uzbek, Sucheera Maguire of 91Èȱ¬ Thai, Qalib Barud and Aisha Afrah of 91Èȱ¬ Somali, and Oxana Vozhdaeva of 91Èȱ¬ Russian.

Who’s getting rich from Moroccan hash?
This is the question asked in a film made by 91Èȱ¬ Arabic reporter Emir Nader. He tells us what he found along the cannabis trail from remote farms in the Rif Mountains of Morocco to the coffee shops of Amsterdam.

Living without street names
How do you direct someone when your street doesn't have a name? 91Èȱ¬ Africa's Ade Daramy recently moved to The Gambia. He tells us about adapting to the lack of house numbers and street names once you leave the centre of the capital Banjul.

Image: Karim Wasfi playing his cello in Baghdad
Credit: SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Sat 4 May 2019 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 3 May 2019 11:06GMT
  • Fri 3 May 2019 15:06GMT
  • Fri 3 May 2019 17:06GMT
  • Fri 3 May 2019 20:06GMT
  • Sat 4 May 2019 02:06GMT
  • Sat 4 May 2019 03:06GMT