From Our Own Correspondent

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The Migrants Who Made it Oct 19, 2013

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The Via Roma in the Italian island of Lampedusa -- Alan Johnston says that for the migrants who make it in from the sea, this is the road which may take them to better lives in a richer world. Owen Bennett Jones studies the contrast between the lives of the women who present programmes on Pakistani TV with those who live in distant villages. There's a heated debate in France about what they should do about their seriously overcrowded prisons. Christian Fraser's been to one of the country's biggest jails. Lynne O'Donnell in Afghanistan finds out what can be learned in a visit to some of the world's oldest, most magnificent and archaeologically significant sites. And it's been a tense and anxious few days for some in the Senegalese capital, Dakar and all, Thomas Fessy tells us, because of the price of sheep. The producer is Tony Grant.

Songs of Love and Loss Oct 17, 2013

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The traditional sad songs of Portugal have become sadder still as the government in Lisbon announces another tough, cost-cutting budget -- Andrew Hosken has been noting the reaction in Lisbon. The Indian authorities launch an inquiry into a stampede at a temple which killed more than a hundred people -- Andrew North says only days before they were being praised for the measures they'd taken as a cyclone battered the country's east coast. There's an election next week in Madagascar -- Emilie Filou wonders if it might bring improvements to the island's beleaguered education system. On St Kitts in the Caribbean, Orin Gordon finds people divided over plans to build luxury homes in some of the island's most celebrated spots. While in the Italian province of Puglia, the discussion's not so much about luxury homes as why rich foreigners are flying in to buy homes which once only the poor lived in. Tony Grant produces From Our Own Correspondent

Breaking the Rules Oct 12, 2013

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Correspondents' stories: the Champs d'Elysees is an icon of Paris, a majestic piece of town planning. So why does our man in Paris Hugh Schofield suggest, rather forcefully, that visitors should avoid it? The news caravan may have moved on from Libya, but Tim Whewell's been finding out that the country's still in the midst of a revolution. Joanna Jolly has been to Uttar Pradesh in India to report on the aftermath of fighting between Hindus and Muslims. Listening to people's stories of violence and suffering, she found herself becoming involved in ways she hadn't expected; James Coomarasamy has been to Tajikistan in Central Asia where there's mounting concern about the future, when NATO troops leave neighbouring Afghanistan and Jonathan Head joins a group of well-heeled women in a luxury spa in Myanmar and hears stories of a country in the grip of dramatic change. Tony Grant is the producer of From Our Own Correspondent

Iceland's Book Boom Oct 10, 2013

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Looking behind the news. In this programme: David Loyn examines the claim that NATO has achieved nothing but suffering in Afghanistan; Louisa Loveluck on controversy surrounding the Egyptian military offensive in Sinai; there's a book boom going on in Iceland and Rosie Goldsmith has been finding out why; gun-toting gangsters on the streets of Acapulco as Mexico tries to deal with the aftermath of two deadly storms - Will Grant's on that story and what makes a war memorial memorable? Steve Evans ponders that question in Leipzig. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

A Giant Snake Comes to Town Oct 05, 2013

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Colour and analysis from around the world: Kevin Connolly says as much as a quarter of the population of Lebanon is now Syrian - and the cost of hosting so many refugees is soaring; Mark Lowen in Athens on the reaction of Greek men and women to the authorities' campaign against members of the far-right Golden Dawn party; there's been an economic revolution in The Seychelles and Tim Ecott's been finding out how it was achieved; Kirsty Lang talks about the day a six metre long snake brought terror to the streets of a small town in Brazil while Joanna Robertson has been observing the French easing their way into autumn with the help of some particularly exotic cakes. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Sibelius, Saunas and Salmiakki Oct 03, 2013

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Correspondents with colour and analysis from around the world: Theopi Skarlatos in Thessaloniki on the authorities' crackdown on the far right; Alex Preston is in what he calls one of Africa's most expensive and charmless capitals, Abuja in Nigeria; distant La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, is a popular destination for well off French tourists -- Robin Denselow's been learning that's causing resentment among some local people; Tessa Dunlop discovers how a photographer's work is teaching residents in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, what happened to their city centre during the days of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And among correspondents there are many tales about daunting dishes -- here, Mark Bosworth in Finland talks of a national favourite: licorice shot through with ammonium chloride. The programme is produced by Tony Grant.

The President's Golden Scissors Sep 28, 2013

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Correspondents' stories: behind the scenes at the UN General Assembly in New York - Nick Bryant says it's been about so much more than the keynote speeches in the assembly hall. Andrew Harding was covering the seige in Nairobi in which more than 60-people were killed. Many of the city's residents, he says, feel personally scarred by the horrors of what happened at the Westgate Centre. Havana Marking talks of her bid to track down the Pink Panthers, the gang thought responsible for a string of daring jewel heists in the south of France this summer. There's a visit to Dushanbe in Tajikistan: Jamie Coomarasamy takes a look at the president's spectacular building programme while Nick Thorpe is in Austria where hydropower is a major issue and the hills are alive with the sound of disagreement.

The Love Hunters Sep 26, 2013

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Global despatches. Today: it was Gabriel Gatehouse's local shopping mall but now the Westgate Centre in Nairobi has become known as a place of fear, suffering and death; did Angela Merkel do TOO well in the German election? Chris Morris on why forming a new government there could be a protracted business. As the Egyptian authorities move to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, Quentin Sommerville talks of the country's increasing polarisation. China's wealthy elite have found their own solution to the country's girl shortage - Lucy Ash has been meeting 'The Love Hunters' in Shanghai. And John Pickford has been finding out if there are still beachcombers to be found in the faraway islands of the South Pacific. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

The Dry Bones of a Thousand Empires Sep 21, 2013

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Correspondents' despatches: Jeremy Bowen in Damascus reflects on the lessons a reporter learns after more than twenty years covering conflicts around the world; Steve Evans meets a lady down on her luck in a Baltic port city as Germany prepares for new elections; Diana Darke looks at Turkey's huge 'GAP' water project and wonders if it will work for or against the country's Kurdish population; near Toulouse in France they've found a crashed German wartime aircraft in a cave -- and some locals, it seems, weren't all that keen on digging up its history and can Emma Thomas really get to grips with the Danish language without looking at textbooks or going to classes? All will be revealed. Tony Grant produces From Our Own Correspondent

Unanswered Questions Sep 14, 2013

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Kate Adie introduces reports from correspondents around the world. Following the death sentences handed down to four men in India for the rape and killing of a young woman, Rupa Jha reflects on her own personal experience of some disturbing events from her childhood. Linda Pressly is with the gold miners of Kalimantan in Indonesia and sees the high price they have to pay as they try to earn a living. Mary Harper is in Somaliland, where books have a more powerful draw than guns. Lindsay Johns reflects on the culture of the Caribbean island of Martinique and what it means to be French by accident. And Emma Jane Kirby is with the former Casanovas of Italy who are still hoping for a return to better days.

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