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The History Hour: Riots in Mauritius and the Queen 'jumping out of a helicopter'

Discussion & Talk

Riots in Mauritius and the Queen 'jumping out of a helicopter'

25/02/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The History Hour, Riots in Mauritius and the Queen 'jumping out of a helicopter'

Ethnic tensions in Mauritius and the Queen's 2012 Olympic wow moment

Ethnic tensions in Mauritius, the Queen's 2012 Olympic big entrance, invention of Semtex, Japanese internment camps in China and choosing the German capital after reunification.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Philippe Sands, Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London, who tells us about the history of ethnic tensions in Mauritius. 

The programme begins with Kaya a Mauritian musician whose death sparked three days of rioting. Then, we hear from John Huckstep who was interned by the Japanese when living in China during World War Two. 

In the second half of the programme, we tell the story of how Semtex was invented, and the debate about where the German capital should be after reunification. 

Finally, the man who made the Queen appear to jump out of a helicopter tells us how he did it, with the help of corgis, a clothesline, the Queen's dresser and of course James Bond.

Contributors:
Veronique Topize - Kaya's widow.
Cassam Uteem - Former President of Mauritius. 
Phillippe Sands -  Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London.
Jurgen Nimptsch - Former Mayor of Bonn.
Wolfgang Schauble - Member of German Bundestag.
John Huckstep -  Held as a child at an interment camp in China.
Stanislav Brebera -  Brother of chemist who invented Semtex.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce -  Writer.

(Photo: Mural of Kaya. Credit: BBC)

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