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The Flying River Oct 25, 2014

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Reporters around the world. Misha Glenny says surely it's a national emergency -- but it's one the candidates in Brazil's election campaign have largely ignored. The civil war drags on in South Sudan - Tristan McConnell visits a town that's changed hands, between government troops and rebels, six times and has left its people shattered. Chris Morris was with the sub-hunters on the Stockholm Archipelago. They didn't find a submarine, but it's clear there are security implications. Who do you call when you see little green men in the sky? In France, you can phone the government, as Chris Bockman's been finding out. And Bethany Bell has been visiting a lake which is much-loved in Austria and not just because of its unique rose-scented breezes.

Home Grown Heroes Oct 23, 2014

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War may still be raging in the east, but Ukraine's gearing up for elections -- and Jamie Coomarasamy says there are some unexpected candidates; Michael Bristow in Indonesia meets a former jihadist who now works for the government and has become something of a celebrity; not far from California's information hub, Silicon Valley, an old Native American language faces extinction - Caroline Davies explains why it's being allowed to go; a civil war rumbles on in South Sudan -- James Copnall's been meeting some who were forced to flee into the bush, living off wild animals and water lilies; the European Union's spent billions on programmes aimed at integrating the Roma people, but many remain out on the margins of society, as Lucy Irvine's been finding out in Bulgaria.

Spectres of Afghanistan Oct 18, 2014

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The past looms large over Afghanistan's new leader -- Fergal Keane says the scale of the task he faces is immense; as civil war rages in Libya, Tim Whewell finds a corner of calm and tolerance amid a country full of discord and violence. Do institutions like the European Union make nationhood increasingly irrelevant? That was on Martin Buckley's mind in Corsica where an armed struggle for independence seems to be losing support. As Tehran and the West sit down to talk about Iran's nuclear ambitions, Diana Darke's been finding out how Iranians revel in the words of a poet who's been dead for six hundred years. And Hugh Schofield knows how to unearth the secrets of a stately home with a history -- he asked the butler!!

Rio Rubbish Oct 16, 2014

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Correspondents' tales: why they're arguing about Macchiavelli on a rubbish tip in Rio as the second round of the Brazilian election approaches, Neil Trevithick; Shaimaa Khalil investigates the upsurge in violence on the India/Pakistan border in Kashmir; Julia Macfarlane accompanies a group of British doctors who've gone to help out Palestinian medics in Gaza; has the historic city of Timbuktu recovered from a brutal period of conflict and occupation by Islamic extremists? Chris Simpson has been finding out. And the Star Wars film crew have been to the remote Irish island of Skellig Michael and so too has our man Vincent Dowd.

The Battle for Hong Kong Oct 11, 2014

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'Caught between the demands of the masses and the stern imperatives of Beijing's control': Fergal Keane on the Hong Kong authorities' reaction to the demonstrations which have brought parts of the territory to a standstill. Nick Thorpe is in Bulgaria hearing ever-louder demands for a new European union, this one to be centred on Moscow. A spotlight on La Paz - Katy Watson's in the extraordinary capital of Bolivia as people prepare to vote in a general election. The verdant hill town of Zomba in Malawi is said to be one of the most attractive places in the heart of Africa -- but Jonathan Fryer's been learning that, for many locals, making a living's not easy. And Horatio Clare's in the Danube Delta's archipelago of waters, marshes and sighing trees listening to stories of conservation, propagation and extinction.

A Tap You Can't Turn Off Oct 09, 2014

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The European Union's announced plans to support, but not replace, efforts being made by Italy to save lives at sea. Emma Jane Kirby's been to the port town of Syracusa to see the difficulties the Italians have been facing. Will Ross has been meeting children in Nigeria who've been separated from their parents by the war against the militants of Boko Haram. What's it like when a family discovers that a loved one's gone to fight with extremists in the Middle East? Linda Pressly's been finding out in Kosovo. Jamie Coomarasamy's been to the west of Ukraine, hundreds of miles from the fighting in the east of the country, to find out what they think there of the struggle between government forces and the pro-Russia rebels. And the hair industry is big business in China and most of the customers, as Sam Piranty has been finding out, are Africans. But is that human hair they're buying or something else?

Three Questions for Mr Leung Oct 04, 2014

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The questions arising from a week of protest in Hong Kong are asked by the BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie; the Yangon River in Burma, now Myanmar, doesn't have the mightiest of reputations. But on its banks lay one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Andrew Whitehead caught the ferry to see how Rangoon, as it used to be known, looks in today's era of political and economic change; Lyse Doucet is in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital where residents heard this week the militants from Islamic State were only a few miles away; the Turkish parliament has voted to take the fight to IS and Mark Lowen's been to the border between Turkey and Syria to consider the consequences; Wyre Davies is covering the Brazilian election and wonders if it can be won by the environmentalist daughter of a rubber tapper from the Amazon jungle.

A New Egypt Oct 02, 2014

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Global despatches: some are pleased at what President al-Sisi's achieved in his first months in office in Egypt - others say that when it comes to repression, he's outdoing even his hardline predecessor Hosni Mubarak. Predicting what's about to happen in President Putin's Russia has become difficult now the country seems to have embraced an 'anything goes' philosophy. We're in the far north of Sweden learning that the Sami people believe widespread mining will ruin their traditional lands. The introduction of some democracy in Myanmar and the lifting of some western sanctions has not brought the predicted business boom, but for many citizens, the quality of life is slowly improving; and the sad story of the lonely baboon who's become trapped on a river island in Zimbabwe and is resisting all attempts to reunite him with his family.

Fractured Syllogisms Sep 27, 2014

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Despatches from around the world: Kevin Connolly on how Western policy makers, trying to respond to developments in the Middle East, are grappling with difficulties created by their own predecessors. As American warships prepared to fire missiles at targets in Syria, out in the Pacific Ocean two US carrier battle groups were carrying out the biggest live fire exercise in years. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes wondered if they had a target in mind. Iona Craig on a revolution in Yemen and how the nation was surprised when a previously marginalised militia group swiftly seized control of the capital, Sana'a. The economic news just gets gloomier and gloomier in France. Hugh Schofield says one area everyone agrees should be confronted is the so-called regulated professions. And the mushrooms, aided by a long wet summer, have been bursting out in the woods in Hungary. Nick Thorpe has been out to pick them. But which ones will lift his dinner to gastronomic heights and which ones might kill?

Taking Meat off the Menu Sep 25, 2014

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Few French restaurants offer a menu without meat, so John Laurenson's been finding out why one of the country's top chefs has decided to do just that. Paul Adams explains why the government in the Ukrainian capital Kiev might have given up trying to seize back control of rebel-held eastern parts of the country. Misha Glenny talks of plans to establish a global parliament of city mayors taking powers away from 'tired old nation states'. One of Europe's most wanted men is thought to be hiding out in the mountains of central Greece - Jeff Maysh has been talking to people about this fugitive with a Robin Hood reputation and Antonia Quirke talks of Sicily where there's widespread exasperation about the corruption still pervasive in Italian society and where the Mafia continues to wield influence.

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