Sesame Street

Elmo, Rooster and Cookie Monster are doing their part to help keep kids safe as the coronavirus pandemic grinds on.

The beloved Sesame Street Muppets are featured in some of four new animated public service spots reminding young fans to take care while doing such things as washing hands and sneezing.

A band of Muppets, both old favourites and new friends, will star in an Arabic retooling of "Sesame Street" with a regional twist.

In its Western iterations, the long-running franchise addresses issues including family breakdown. The new Middle East version instead seeks to help children, especially young Syrian refugees, cope with emotions.

50 years ago, actress Carl Burnett appeared in the first broadcast of a peculiar television program in the company of several hairy dolls. The show is Sesame Street, BTA reported.

With purple skin and an orange nose, her multi-colored braids wrapped in a headscarf, Zari is Sesame Street's first female, Afghan muppet and she has a message: girl power.

Producers hope the character, who debuted on the local version of the show this month, will provide a much needed boost to gender equality in a country where girls still trail behind boys across the board.