Makoko: Stories of Hope

Available for over a year

Makoko is a floating slum in Lagos with a lawless reputation. BBC Pidgin’s Dan Ikpoyi has been a victim of extortion there himself, but his latest video shows a community full of life and optimism. Fan Bingbing: a Chinese morality tale Fan Bingbing is one of China’s most famous and best paid movie stars, but was recently charged with tax fraud and ordered to pay back $129 million to the Chinese government. Howard Zhang of BBC Chinese has been following the story. Rumi: the enduring popularity of a 13th century poet Gulsevar Rizaeva of BBC Uzbek fell in love with Rumi’s poetry as a teenager in Soviet Uzbekistan, and recently reported from his birthday celebrations in Konya, the Turkish city he made his home. She’s joined by the BBC’s Suhrab Sirat who’s from the poet’s birthplace – Balkh in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan's big spenders Azerbaijani Zamira Hajiyeva is being questioned by the UK authorities over her high spending. She owns a private jet, a London mansion and a golf club, and spent $21 million in one luxury store. So who are Azerbaijan’s super-rich, and how are they seen at home? Questions for the BBC’s Tural Ahmedzade. My home town: Kigali Felin Gakwaya of BBC Great Lakes takes us home to Rwanda's capital Kigali. Moving to Chernobyl Who would choose to make a new life in a region with one of the highest radiation levels in the world? Zhanna Bezpiatchuk of BBC Ukrainian has met some families fleeing the fighting in eastern Ukraine who’ve chosen to settle just outside the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Image: Makoko floating slum in Lagos Credit: BBC