麻豆社

Pascale Harter introduces stories from Afghanistan, Jamaica, Thailand and Russia.

The Taliban government of Afghanistan has effectively pushed women out of public life in the country by banning them from secondary and tertiary education and most forms of paid work. But there are still some young women determined to pursue studies and jobs by any means they can. Yogita Limaye tells the story of one student she met who was willing to run great risks to attend secret classes in Kabul, but now faces family pressure to marry.

In late October 2025 Hurricane Melissa inflicted terrible damage across a swathe of the Caribbean - hitting Jamaica's prime farm land particularly hard. For months, roadside produce stalls stood empty as farmers teetered on the edge of viability. But nature is now rebounding as crops sprout afresh - and plantains and scotch bonnet peppers are finally back on the menu, reports Antonia Windsor.

In Thailand, people and snakes regularly cross each others' paths - in fact, in Bangkok, the emergency services are called out to snake incidents on a daily basis. Not all these reptiles are venomous, but some of those which are could kill with a bite. Rebecca Root visits a facility where captured snakes are bred to help develop new and effective antivenoms to save human lives.

And in the comedy clubs of Moscow, Ben Tavener gets a sense of the shifting limits to public dissent in Russia, watching comedians joke - carefully - about some of the issues on their audiences' minds.

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

Photo: An Afghan primary school teacher writes on the board, Kandahar, September 2025. Credit: Sanaullah Seiam/AFP via Getty Images