Schedule

“Geological scandal” is a phrase often used to describe The Democratic Republic of Congo.  It is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries with extensive deposits of gold, diamonds, tungsten and uranium amongst many others. The abundance of internationally valued minerals has however failed to bring any kind of prosperity. It began with colonial exploitation of the land and its people and continued in bloody civil war, the Congolese have harvested nothing from their country’s natural riches but misery and poverty. 

Anton and Alevtina are Russian farmers who film and publish their daily lives online. They're always filming to make videos about rural life to cultivate likes and subscribers. Follow the couple as they develop their video blog hoping to make enough money to buy their own farmhouse.

Unmanned drones are the modern weapons of choice in the fight against terrorism. The tribal areas of Pakistan where various militant groups seek a hideout have been hit by numerous CIA drone strikes. The attacks are far from precise and it’s claimed they have often killed or maimed civilians, including children.

When kids are accused of witchcraft in Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, they’re thrown out of their homes. They beg and steal in the streets, where might is right. The aim of the country’s first centre for homeless children is to bring them back to their families. But superstition in Congolese society is hard to combat. 

Twenty four years since being devastated by genocide, Rwanda has become a role model for women's rights in Africa, with female members of society now pursuing careers and taking on leadership roles. However, many poorer and less educated women have been unable to take advantage of their new rights and find their realities little changed. RTD spoke to both women in power and those in menial jobs to find out if gender equality has truly been achieved in Rwanda or whether it's still a work in progress.

Billy, Rene, and Walt were born and raised as men, but they felt uncomfortable with their birth sex. After years of confusion, they each underwent surgery to change into what they thought were their true selves. However, sex change brought no relief to what they had believed was gender dysphoria. While Billy and Walt decided to go back to being men, Rene remained a transsexual woman. I Want My Sex Back! tells their stories of change and disappointment. 

The excitement is rising for reporter, Bricio Segovia as he meets his first Mexican Lucha Libre wrestler, who happens to be an American. Across the world in Iraq, the tension is getting to Paula Slier as she heads to the frontline of the fighting against ISIS, only to be turned away at the final checkpoint. Back in Mexico City, Bricio faces a big decision, what mask should he wear for the Lucha Libre?

It breaks Paula Slier’s heart to hear the stories of Yazidi women and children captured by ISIS as she tours a refugee camp on the Syria-Iraq border. She wonders how she would react if her own sister had been held by jihadists. In Beirut, reporter Maria Finoshina is getting ready to cross the border into Syria, but she needs to do some shopping first. 

A tale of two borders. Accompanied by Kurdish fighters, Paula Slier crosses into Syria, only recently liberated from ISIS. They enter a village where the hospital was an ISIS stronghold and are confronted with fatalities. On the Turkish side of the Syrian border, Irina Galushko has a grandstand view of the battle for the town of Kabani. From relative safety she witnesses an airstrike on ISIS positions. 

The quest is over for Paula Slier as she finally gets to meet female Kurdish fighters on the frontline against ISIS. After careful negotiations, she reaches an outpost overlooking ISIS positions staffed by women fighters. The story goes well as the women talk about their role in combating the jihadists. However, the journalist in Paula is a little disappointed that there isn’t much action. 

When night falls on the frontline in Syria, things can get dangerous. Paula Slier and the team are with Kurdish fighters on the lookout for ISIS infiltration. The camera lights make filming difficult, and Paula has only one take to get it right. On the other side of the world, Bricio Segovia is getting ready to leave Mexico City after a successful trip. 

Two RT reporters get to see the battle against ISIS from different angles. Maria Finoshina is in rainy Lebanon to uncover the hugely profitable smuggling of arms into Syria. Not far away, in Turkey, Irina Galushko witnesses fighting across the border in Kabani, where airstrikes hit ISIS in a bid to retake the town. 

Life in Tultepec revolves around pyrotechnics. Producing hand-made fireworks is a passion, an art form, and a source of livelihood for most residents of this Mexican town. But it’s also an extremely dangerous and unpredictable occupation, as those orphaned or widowed by fiery accidents will attest. Meet those willing to risk their lives for their explosive craft as RTD visits Tultepec’s annual pyrotechnics festival.

Hidden away in the USSR during China’s revolution, these children of China’s first communist revolutionaries were raised in a special Soviet boarding school and felt more Russian than Chinese. Childhood friends Li Duoli and Zhao Qilian, Tolya and Ira, continue their nostalgic trip back to their second ‘homeland’ with a visit to Lenin’s birthplace and a tour of St. Petersburg.

In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines. He’s promised to crack down on crime and infamously urged citizens to kill drug addicts. Since his term began, it’s alleged that numerous extrajudicial executions of supposed drug dealers have been carried out.

The schoolgirls of Shaolin Epo Wushu College have little time to play with dolls. In their boarding school, they live by a tight schedule and strict discipline. Every day they train to fight with knives and swords. Living a Spartan lifestyle, they work hard to make their teachers and their country proud but only students who pass the exams are allowed to continue their education.

A cartoonist’s vocation is to draw attention to what’s wrong in society, at least as he sees it! What happens though, if the most important issues are taboo and any kind of public criticism might cost him his life?

For over 25 years, six friends pushed the limits, making the most challenging BASE jumps imaginable. No building was too tall, no jump too risky, no environment too extreme. Zooming through canyons in wingsuits like birds in flight, the daredevils felt unbridled joy and freedom. Over four years, half would pay the ultimate price for their addiction to flight. 

According to official statistics, two people are killed by Police in the USA, every day. With the proliferation of mobile devices with cameras, cases against law enforcement have become easier to prove but that hasn’t stopped them happening. Miguel Francis-Santiago meets people who have been personally affected by abuses of authority.

Teenage Sasha, and nine-year-old, Yulia, live in a home for children with mental disabilities. The ‘Road of Life’ charity visits them and brings the chance to find new families and travel to Moscow for the treatment they so desperately need. RTD follows the children's recovery as they meet prospective new parents.

In peaceful Nepal a sinister black market is flourishing. Kavre province has become infamous for the shocking numbers of people who have sold a kidney. Poverty and lack of education about the potential impact on health mean villagers are easy prey for unscrupulous dealers. Tricked into undergoing risky surgery and paid a pittance, donors are often left with debilitating consequences.

Anton and Alevtina are Russian farmers who film and publish their daily lives online. They're always filming to make videos about rural life to cultivate likes and subscribers. Follow the couple as they develop their video blog hoping to make enough money to buy their own farmhouse.

When kids are accused of witchcraft in Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, they’re thrown out of their homes. They beg and steal in the streets, where might is right. The aim of the country’s first centre for homeless children is to bring them back to their families. But superstition in Congolese society is hard to combat. 

Twenty four years since being devastated by genocide, Rwanda has become a role model for women's rights in Africa, with female members of society now pursuing careers and taking on leadership roles. However, many poorer and less educated women have been unable to take advantage of their new rights and find their realities little changed. RTD spoke to both women in power and those in menial jobs to find out if gender equality has truly been achieved in Rwanda or whether it's still a work in progress.

Unmanned drones are the modern weapons of choice in the fight against terrorism. The tribal areas of Pakistan where various militant groups seek a hideout have been hit by numerous CIA drone strikes. The attacks are far from precise and it’s claimed they have often killed or maimed civilians, including children.

The Taliban and Al-Qaeda operated virtually unhindered in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region for years. In 2014, a military operation began to oust the terrorists, forcing thousands of people to flee to neighbouring Afghanistan. An RT crew ventured to Waziristan to see what awaits the returning refugees back in their homeland.

John Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, a.k.a. ‘Popeye’ is something of a local hero to many in the Colombian city of Medellin. He’s stopped in the streets and asked for autographs and selfies. His celebrity is undiminished after spending 23 years in jail.  In the heyday of the infamous Medellin drug cartel, he worked for Pablo Escobar as a hit-man, he still says he enjoyed the job in which he tortured and murdered literally hundreds and so, not everyone sees him as a hero.

Life in Tultepec revolves around pyrotechnics. Producing hand-made fireworks is a passion, an art form, and a source of livelihood for most residents of this Mexican town. But it’s also an extremely dangerous and unpredictable occupation, as those orphaned or widowed by fiery accidents will attest. Meet those willing to risk their lives for their explosive craft as RTD visits Tultepec’s annual pyrotechnics festival.

The schoolgirls of Shaolin Epo Wushu College have little time to play with dolls. In their boarding school, they live by a tight schedule and strict discipline. Every day they train to fight with knives and swords. Living a Spartan lifestyle, they work hard to make their teachers and their country proud but only students who pass the exams are allowed to continue their education.

Hidden away in the USSR during China’s revolution, these children of China’s first communist revolutionaries were raised in a special Soviet boarding school and felt more Russian than Chinese. Childhood friends Li Duoli and Zhao Qilian, Tolya and Ira, continue their nostalgic trip back to their second ‘homeland’ with a visit to Lenin’s birthplace and a tour of St. Petersburg.

A cartoonist’s vocation is to draw attention to what’s wrong in society, at least as he sees it! What happens though, if the most important issues are taboo and any kind of public criticism might cost him his life?

For over 25 years, six friends pushed the limits, making the most challenging BASE jumps imaginable. No building was too tall, no jump too risky, no environment too extreme. Zooming through canyons in wingsuits like birds in flight, the daredevils felt unbridled joy and freedom. Over four years, half would pay the ultimate price for their addiction to flight. 

The ancient Greek island of Lesbos is where hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Africa and the Middle East first reach Europe. “Clowns without Borders” is an organisation that sends volunteers to entertain children in the refugee camps and offer a little comic relief.

Teenage Sasha, and nine-year-old, Yulia, live in a home for children with mental disabilities. The ‘Road of Life’ charity visits them and brings the chance to find new families and travel to Moscow for the treatment they so desperately need. RTD follows the children's recovery as they meet prospective new parents.

According to official statistics, two people are killed by Police in the USA, every day. With the proliferation of mobile devices with cameras, cases against law enforcement have become easier to prove but that hasn’t stopped them happening. Miguel Francis-Santiago meets people who have been personally affected by abuses of authority.

It’s spring cleaning time aboard the Magnitogorsk. The submarine has to look its best for the upcoming stand-off with corvette Soobrazitelny. The captain of the latter, Aleksandr Slonov, pays a friendly visit to his old friend and soon-to-be rival, Vladimir Nagornov. To fire up their competitive spirit, the teams of both vessels decide to play a football match.

After finishing their combat vehicle training, the marines begin preparing for a parachute jump. At the same time, the corvette Soobrazitelny crew members practice their underwater de-mining techniques one final time, while submarine Magnitogorsk enlists the help of a reconnaissance aircraft. The time has come for the two Baltic Fleet vessels to test their military prowess against each other!

Captain Nagornov’s tactic aboard the Magnitogorsk is to sneak up on the corvette underwater. Meanwhile, captain Slonov’s corvette is preparing a surprise for its enemy – the marines in armoured vehicles are ready to be deployed in the water. But, as the military exercise commences, the two teams notice the presence of a third party: a mysterious aircraft that seems to have its own agenda.

Corvette Soobrazitelny and submarine Magnitogorsk both reach the training battle area. And now, after all the preparation and planning, it’s time to show what their crews are capable of. They’ll be trying to outsmart each other using all resources available to them, including amphibious armoured vehicles and torpedoes. Each team is determined to win this battle.

This series takes you behind the scenes at the Russian Ballet: from the classrooms of the famous Vaganova Academy, to backstage at the biggest Russian theatres. Meet renowned prima ballerinas and discover what it takes for them to stay at the top of their game.

In the second episode, we get to meet some of Russia’s foremost ballet dancers. They are the stars of the show, basking in the limelight and the adoration of their audiences. But they also carry the lion’s share of the responsibility for the success of their show. They must stay in perfect shape and can’t even afford to fall ill.