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Tumbling Down Apr 01, 2017

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Robbery, extortion, kidnapping; bananas with everything; and a monkey cascade. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Tom Stevenson is in the Libyan capital Tripoli, where the lights are out, the militias are enriching themselves, and chaos reigns. Matthew Brunwasser tells the story of the man fighting for justice in Serbia, 17 years after his three brothers were murdered. Gemma Newby tucks into bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Dominican Republic as she visits a now crumbling town built by one of the banana giants; Kieran Cooke is in the town in the West of Ireland which used to have the highest pub to people ratio in the country. That, and much else, has changed but the spirit remains undiminished. And in Ethiopia's Highlands, the writer Tim Butcher witnesses the extraordinary and heart-warming spectacle of the great African monkey cascade

Saying It Straight Mar 25, 2017

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Tall stories, strange names, ancient giants and linguistic confusion. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Colin Freeman, in the Pakistani city of Quetta, wonders if it is still a Taliban stronghold. Chris Haslam, in Zambia, is shocked by some of the strange names given to children. Tim Ecott is among giants on Mexico's Baja Peninsula - both in the ocean and on land. Sodaba Haidare visits a special restaurant in the Afghan capital Kabul which is empowering women victims of domestic abuse. And Joanna Robertson reaches for the NervenTee in Italy's South Tyrol region - but which language should she use? More tea please!

Chips and Mayonnaise Mar 18, 2017

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Rancid fried onion, a great wall of iron, chips and mayonnaise with a healthy sprinkle of identity. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Lucy Ash is in northern France, in Denain, scene of Emile Zola's Germinal. The poverty may be less extreme today but it's part of the "forgotten France" being targetted by the Front National. Gabriel Gatehouse grew up in Amsterdam in a time when questioning immigration would label you a racist. That's all changed as, it seems. And if the famous Dutch tolerance has gone, what's left? The vast region of Xinjiang, in western China, is home to 10 million people from the Uigher minority. The government says it's also the front line in its war on terror. It's not a place which the authorities like journalists to visit. But Carrie Gracie did get there. Lebanon has a million and a half Syrian refugees - the most per capita of any nation. Martin Bell is in the Bekaa Valley, where the refugees have become a profitable source of cheap labour. Many would like to return home but their chances of doing so are slight. And Kevin Connolly's mother is proud of the name she chose for him. But he's not so sure anymore - especially when he heard about "The Curse of Kevin" in a French magazine.

Political Distractions Mar 16, 2017

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Pets and Politics; football and narcotics; and building a country with a flag. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. South Korea is in political turmoil but, as Steve Evans explains, people seem more concerned with the fate of the now ex-president's pets. The narcotic plant Qat and Premiership football provide a welcome distraction from boredom in the Horn of Africa, says James Jeffrey. And governments are quite happy with that. How do you unify a country? That was a challenge faced by Kyrgystan's flag designers, as Caroline Eden discovered. The village of Deià, on Mallorca's north shore, is where the poet and novelist Robert Graves lived and died. Graeme Fife used to be a frequent visitor. Now he wonders how much the place has changed. Belize is one of the countries that still has the death penalty on its statute books. But it hasn't executed anyone for decades. And now others, including a woman with the nickname of the anti-Christ, are having their life sentences reduced. Charlotte McDonald explains why.

Cutting Through Mar 11, 2017

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The duffel-coated outcast; from bomb factory to museum; icy cooperation; singing for home; greening sands. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Hugh Schofield meets a defiant - and chipper - Jean-Marie Le Pen, the outcast founder of the France's Front National; in north-west Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, Colin Freeman is shown a bomb-making factory - just the latest evidence of the violence that has dominated the region for more than a century; in the icy seas off Finland, fears of Russian 'little green men' are put aside as a Finnish icebreaker - with Horatio Clare on board - introduces a moment of peace and cooperation. Singing for home and a lost culture - Nicola Kelly hears how Nubians in Egypt are trying to reconnect with their lost homeland. And, in Oman, it's not golden sands that Antonia Quirke sees in the desert but a carpet of green.

The Unsolved Mar 09, 2017

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Voting with your husband, unsolved murders, cooking on the centre spot, shamans and mud. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Melissa Van Der Klugt is in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, where a giant exercise in democracy has been taking place but where illiteracy and political ignorance remains high. Peter Walker, in Malawi, comes across worrying signs that the police are ready to sweep murder under the carpet. In China, they're spending a fortune on football but will it bring world cup glory, as the President wants. Richard Dove has his doubts. In Peru, Simon Parker comes face to face with an Andean Shaman for the first time and hears concerns that too many tourists are more interested in bragging rights and profile pictures than in the sacred heritage of Machu Picchu. And in Vermont, winter is fading and they're on the cusp of spring - it's time to get dirty, says Christine Finn, because it's Mud Season.

A Journalist's Best Friend Mar 04, 2017

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Lost confidence, fake seeds, masked assignations, steaming glory and animal insights. Humphrey Hawksley is in a fishing village in the Philippines, hard hit by China's expanding maritime claims. Adam Shaw is in rural Kenya where a precarious existence for farmers is made even worse by crooks selling counterfeit seeds. In Venice, it's a time to dress up in your feathers and mantillas and, of course, masks - to look your very Carnivale best - but not if you're a local. Petroc Trelawny takes the slow train through Germany's Harz mountains, once the frontline between east and west. And Andrew Harding has travelled far and wide as a correspondent, experiencing the excitement, the tension, and the vets.

Too Many Ways to Talk Mar 02, 2017

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How do you keep your audience listening if the story's so hard to hear? That's what Alastair Leithead grapples with in South Sudan's civil war. Warsaw was all but destroyed in the Second World War, and the repercussions of that are still being felt today; Anna Meisel tells the story of the "property cleansers" who have pushed thousands out of their homes, and of the woman who tried to fight back. In New York's subway, John Mervin gets caught up in a rescue - and there's a message for those too attached to their phones. If Pelicans are your thing, Albania is the place to go because, as Elizabeth Gowing explains, these are philopatric birds. Tourism across North Africa has taken a hit because of terrorism; but Nick Redmayne, heads to Egypt's highest mountain, in Sinai, and hears how the old ways gave people a story to tell.

Hidden Dangers Feb 25, 2017

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Colin Freeman sees the devastating consequences of IS mines and booby traps, left behind for civilians anxious to return to their homes. Elisabeth Kendall hears how social media have broadened the horizons of Yemeni tribesmen armed to the hilt. British citizens living and working in Germany are worried about what might happen to them once the UK leaves the EU; Damien McGuinness hears how many of them are rushing to town halls to become German. The new Gambian president has vowed to improve his poor nation's economy; Andy Jones argues that tourism - and brightly painted murals - could be part of the answer. And Margaret Bradley sees and hears the destruction trail of a red peril that's invaded Portugal.

Digging In Feb 23, 2017

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents's stories. Vincent Woods on the whistleblowing scandal that has threatened the Taoiseach and what it says about modern Ireland. Cathy Otten is with the gravediggers of Mosul, in Iraq, as they ignore the missiles overhead and continue their work with death. Owen Bennett Jones is in Ukraine, where the memory of a meeting with a political dissident during the Cold War pushes him to search him out. Puerto Rico has a conflicted relationship with the United States. On the island of Vieques Datshiane Navanayagam hears about a love-hate tussle. And in southern Chile Rob Crossan joins the local community in a feast that has existed for thousands of years.

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