From Our Own Correspondent

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Keep A Cool Head Jul 14, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces tales of true grit - and grace under pressure - from around the world. As the USA agonises over questions of policing, race and firearms, Barbara Plett Usher in Minnesota hears how little trust some protesters have in the future. As veteran reporter Jim Muir prepares to leave the BBC, he remembers first setting out for Lebanon in 1974. His beloved city of Beirut would soon be engulfed by war - a fate shared by much of the Middle East since then. Nicola Kelly talks to people in the so-called 'jihadi north' of Burkina Faso about the growing threats from militant groups which are affecting their lives and businesses. Tim Ecott is on the Faroe Islands, where there are more sheep than humans - but it's the birds which are the true owners of the landscape. And Heidi Fuller Love breaks out of the luxury-hotel bubble in the Maldives to attend a gathering in honour of a national hero: the sixteenth-century Sultan and sea captain who liberated these islands from the Portuguese empire.

The man who inspired a killer Jul 09, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces stories from correspondents around the world. Frank Gardner assesses the reaction to the bombing close to one of Islam's holiest sites. Shaimaa Khalil tells how a Pakistani assassin and the country's strict blasphemy laws influenced a killer in the UK. We go to Colombia to hear from Natalio Cosoy and the story of legislators who are struggling with a problem: how do you pass laws to force senators to turn up for work when the senators needed to pass the laws don't turn up for work. Olivia Acland travels to meet residents of a small island off the coast of Sierra Leone who learn that rich foreigners bearing gifts don't always keep their promises. And Diarmaid Fleming tells how the appearance of mayflies causes the residents of one Irish town to drop everything and take to the water in search of trout

Middle class terrorists Jul 07, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world: This week: After the killing of 20 hostages at an upmarket café in Bangladesh Sanjoy Majumder hears how it is the backgrounds of the killers that is worrying people in Dhaka. Linda Pressly meets the people attending an unusual rehab centre for alcoholics in Canada. Martin Patience tries in vain to get an accident report for a prang in his car in Nigeria. Shile Khumalo looks at how the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is being seen as an example of lingering white privilege in the South African Justice system. And Tony Vale is on the hunt of avocado rustlers in New Zealand.

Planes, Tanks and Teaspoons Jul 02, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today: with the Chilcot Report into the 2003 invasion and its aftermath, Jeremy Bowen is in Iraq, a country in a state of perpetual war. Chris Bowlby remembers a special tea party in Prague, just as Czechoslovakia was splitting apart, where the talk was of British political stability; Shaimaa Khalil tells the story of a controversial social media star - Pakistan's Kim Kardashian. There's a month to go until the Rio Olympics but the country is embroiled in economic and political turmoil; Wyre Davies is the middle of it all. And, in South Sudan, Mark Doyle gets up close to some magnificent beasts and he discusses democracy.

The Brexit Wind Tunnel Jun 30, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents stories. Our man in Budapest, Nick Thorpe, hears how the Brexit vote has created fear and insecurity across eastern Europe. With Leave campaigners saying that Britain has a bright future trading with the rest of the world, Sanjoy Majumder is in Delhi, where Indian businesses and students think they could profit; Lizzie Porter visits the old aiport-turned Olympic site which is now home to thousands of Afghans in Greece; James Jeffrey is fascinated by fasting and marvels at how dock workers in Djibouti just keep carrying on under the baking sun - even during Ramadan; And Steve Rosenberg remembers his favourite Soviet cartoon as he explores Russia's hurt sporting pride.

Paint on the Cream Cake Jun 23, 2016

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Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today: Lucy Ash is in the midst of the Republic of Macedonia's "Colourful Revolution," where it's buildings and statues that are getting a new lick of paint; Richard Lim is in Iraqi Kurdistan which may be relatively peaceful but its economy is faltering; Joe Gerlach has an odd taste in his mouth in Ecuador as he's invited to quaff a somewhat metallic concoction; James Jeffrey reflects on the Ethiopian mindset, in which any criticism is unwelcome. And, in the United States, they've waited 17 years for them but Simon Parker soon gets a mouthful of critters.

Departures Jun 16, 2016

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Leaving's the theme of this edition. Bridget Kendall, the BBC's Russia specialist, is hanging up her headphones but not before she talks about secret agents and considers what the past can tell us about that country's future. Past and present are on Kevin Connolly's mind too. He's off to a new BBC posting and points out that within half an hour's walk of his home in Jerusalem some of the defining dramas of the ancient world played themselves out. He also talks of the pleasures and pitfalls of Middle East reporting today. And Gabriel Gatehouse hums the theme tune from 'The Great Escape' while considering departures in his essay about the EU referendum and the Euro2016 football tournament in France

Old Habits Die Hard Jun 11, 2016

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Around the world in less than half an hour. A slump in global oil prices has hit Angola hard but still, there are glimpses of wealth everywhere and abject poverty's never far away; the Iraqi city of Basra is governed by hardline Iranian-backed Islamic politicians but that doesn't stop its citizens enjoying themselves at a brand new shopping mall they call Times Square; what happens to the clothes you give away to charity shops? Many are beginning a journey which could lead to countries in Asia or Africa but first stop, we learn, might be a giant warehouse in Hungary; the quality of the air in Hong Kong has reached new lows and people are becoming ill with respiratory problems and cancers -- we're off in search of the one spot in the city that usually escapes the smog. And, in the primary schools of France they take poetry very seriously indeed. That can mean a homework nightmare. For the children -- and for parents too

The Cupboard is Bare Jun 09, 2016

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Reporters with the news behind the news. In this edition: it used to be Cuba, but today Venezuela is the more troubled of the two socialist allies and the country the US president prefers to visit; there's a portrait of the city of Venice, of the quarters where the tourists don't visit, where houses are boarded up as more and more residents move away; exotic Kashgar used to be one of the key stop-overs on the ancient Silk Route. Today the modern and the ancient are coming into conflict there as China tries to bring the restive region under control; countries in southern Africa face a damaging drought after another year of insufficient rainfall - we're in landlocked Lesotho, where food supplies are now at risk; and why do we develop loyalties to one particular part of a city? In Paris, there's acute rivalry between neighbourhoods on the north and south of the River Seine. Our man in the great city climbs on his bike to sample life on the other side ...

Writing on the Wall Jun 04, 2016

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A week in the life of correspondents around the world. In this edition, the paint flies as the race for the presidency in Peru gets colourful; a battle for control of the Iraqi city of Falluja is about to begin - it could be a long and gruelling one, the ISIS fighters dug in there have had time to prepare for the arrival of the government forces; time is running out for the German authorities to prosecute those who committed mass murder in Hitler's time - we meet a man trying to hunt them down before it's too late; a barbed wire fence may be in place but migrants are making it through the border from Bulgaria to Serbia with help from smugglers ... and some policemen. And on a visit to Asmara, the Italianate capital city of Eritrea in north east Africa, our correspondent tries to find out the truth about allegations of repression, political prisoners and torture

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