From Our Own Correspondent

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Reversing the Ageing Process May 09, 2015

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Now where have I put the car keys? A Japanese neuro-scientist believes a regular brain 'workout' can improve the lives, and the memories, of older people who might otherwise fall victim to dementia; Italy's planning to tell the UN Security Council next week that the country's in urgent need of more help in dealing with the tide of migrants washing up on its shores - we're in a port in Sicily where boatloads of them now arrive almost every day; the authorities in Saudi Arabia show our correspondent round a high security jail near Riyadh where, they say, they are succeeding in reforming extremists from ISIS and al-Qaeda; farmer suicides in India - many possible reasons are cited for their decisions to kill themselves but it's clear that distress among the agricultural community is part of a wider malaise afflicting the countryside. And on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba there's increasing concern about the snake population's tendency to go hitch-hiking!

The Lucky Ones May 02, 2015

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The best in news and current affairs story-telling. In this edition: a week after the quake in Nepal huge problems remain but some believe it could all have been much worse; El Salvador has some of the toughest abortion laws in the world - it's meant some women doing time for crimes they never committed; the double life of a far-right Hungarian politician who was both an anti-Semite and a Jew; forty years after the Vietnam War ended - the many families still grieving for someone who was lost in the conflict. And the correspondent who set off for Rome on an improbable mission -- to play the Vatican at cricket!

Sahafa BBC Apr 25, 2015

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The human stories behind the news headlines: dodging bullets while trying to reach Yemen's port of Aden, where the hospital is overwhelmed with casualties. The Africans who moved to South Africa for a better life, and ended up having to seek refuge from violence. In Turkey's south-east, a hundred years after the Armenian minority was massacred, the Kurdish minority has hopes for a stronger presence in national politics. China and Russia are best buddies at the moment, but it hasn't always been thus, as one woman whose life mirrors the relationship between these two countries knows all too well. And what are the chances of getting pneumonia each time you stay in the same, foreign country? That's if you count Russia and the Soviet Union as the same country.

Risking Everything Apr 18, 2015

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The people behind the news headlines: the migrants risking everything boarding flimsy boats to cross the Mediterranean; the inhabitants of a Russian provincial town and what they think of the country's leadership at a time of economic hardship; the families living in Delhi, alarmed by reports that the Indian capital has the worst air quality in the world; the Venezuelans having to queue at the shops for basic goods; and the Ethiopian volunteers who, by hard graft, are bringing change to a region once known for misery and famine

Battles over Books and Statues Apr 11, 2015

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History rears its head, not for the first time, in this edition of From Our Own Correspondent. Attacks on colonial-era statues in South Africa mean people there are making a fresh assessment of their country's historical legacy; while in the Far East, what's written in the text books is the subject of a fierce row between South Korea and Japan. A farewell may be bid to decades of hostility between the US and Cuba - their leaders are in Panama and historic developments are anticipated. Why do HIV rates remain so high in Russia? We're out with health workers whose efforts seem stymied by ideology and a sense that if it works in the West, then it must be bad for Russia. And a correspondent in Thailand goes to a monastery and tries to bid a temporary farewell to the torrid world of journalism and hunt instead for inner peace. He wasn't entirely successful.

'A Win-Win Outcome' Apr 04, 2015

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The stories behind the week's news: what's led to this outbreak of fighting in Yemen? Who stands to lose and who to win? Why some are not convinced about the deal reached in Lausanne on Iran's nuclear programme. The Nigerian election: a great moment for democracy but the new president faces a people with high expectations. The steady growth in the wealth of some Chinese - it means consumption is now more important than investment in driving the nation's economic growth. And the mighty money spinner that is coffee -- where on earth can you find the most delicious cup of all?

A Kafkaesque Nightmare Mar 28, 2015

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Insight. Analysis. Colour. In this edition, people in the German town of Montabaur try to come to terms with the fact that one of their neighbours, Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed an aircraft into the French Alps killing 149-people; two years of negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme reach a climax in Lausanne -- the implications, if there's agreement, could be far-reaching; the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus is on its way home from Sierra Leone -- its airmen and sailors have spent months helping in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus; have you tried organic kosher shazamazam? We're in LA trying to penetrate a sub-culture with a language of its own and in Africa, he's the man presidents, rebels and villagers alike all want to meet. But they'll find it harder to do so in the future. West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle is leaving the BBC.

A Dramatic Turnaround Mar 21, 2015

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Colouring in the spaces between the headlines. In this edition: from elected government to Death Row, the change in fortunes of the Muslim Brotherhood is creating ripples throughout the Middle East; livelihoods devastated by a cyclone - Vanuatu is the kind of place that only makes the news when it's bad news; the Cubans and Americans are talking at last, historic announcements seem imminent, but on the ground in Havana, it's clear the process of change is already well underway; 'it's lean, fast and elegant,' not a racing car, but the Danube Salmon, a fish whose very future, we hear, is under threat. And the only grand piano in Gaza has been located. We tell the story of how it was found and how it's being lovingly restored.

'We Dazed Them!' Mar 19, 2015

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Around the world in less than half an hour! In this edition: euphoria in the Nigerian army as successes are notched up in the battle against the jihadis of Boko Haram; a stunning election victory for Benjamin Netanyahou in Israel -- but it means frustration, anger and dismay for the country's Palestinian population; bombs explode in a Christian neighbourhood in Pakistan - we hear how Christians there are regularly targetted by extremists and feel abandoned by their government; how the argument between states and the White House over immigration to the US is raising profound questions about what kind of a country the United States is and a community in China exclusively for those who are short in stature - we're off to find out whether its residents feel exploited or happy with their lot.

Novice on the Front Line Mar 14, 2015

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News and current affairs story-telling. In this edition, the foreign fighters signing up to join the battle against Islamic State - some British and without military experience; China's political event of the year is coming to an end with most people completely unaware of what's been going on there; could Indian Bollywood inspire Pakistan to lavish more attention on one of its ancient cities, crumbling through neglect? There's a close encounter with the surprisingly flexible tax authorities in Bamako, the capital of Mali and with a horseman who could well be the oldest gaucho in Chilean Patagonia.

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