From Our Own Correspondent

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 question...

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. An...

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 th...

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 rea...

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...

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....

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...

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...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. With President Putin enjoying sky-high approval ratings, Sarah Rainsford travels to the hear the verdict in the trial of a man hoping to replace Mr. Putin. Just how difficult is it to be in opposition in Russia? In Turkey, there have been tens of thousands of arrests, numerous terrorist attacks, and the government is planning to hold a referendum, aime...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Christopher Lamb on the opposition to Pope Francis within the Vatican - visible for all to see in the streets. Humphrey Hawksley, on the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, hears how President Trump must understand the importance of face to China. Pay respect and give compliments because no-one wants it to end in blood. Diana Darke is in the southern Lebanese...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Today: Andrew Harding, in South Africa, says the word "sorry" hasn't had much air time in recent years, despite numerous incidents of corruption and poor governance. Nick Thorpe, with the protests in Romania, remembers earlier - and recent - revolutions in Europe. Lyse Doucet is in Saudi Arabia, where the collapse in the oil price is bringing about som...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Today, Mike Thomson speaks to an extraordinary man in Idlib, north-west Syria, as he responds to demands from extremists by broadcasting animal noises on his radio station. Amid an escalation of settlement activity in Israel, Yolande Knell sees one Jewish settlement bulldozed while others are given the green light by the Israeli parliament; James Cooma...

Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories. Jon Sopel asks if we have got it all wrong about Donald Trump. He's not just a deal maker, he has ideologues standing right behind him. Will Grant, in Mexico City, muses on how President Trump wants to build a wall on the Mexican border and yet a distinctly unsavoury Mexican has been sent back across that border, to the US. North East Nigeria is...

Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories. Today, Tim Hartley hears how politics are forgotten amid the colour and friendship of the African Cup of Nations in Gabon. Nick Sturdee has a fantastical tale of intrigue and murder in Turkey - but where does the trail lead? Hywel Griffith, in Sydney, Australia, is with the 90 year old who is keeping the developers at bay. Emma Levine hunts down...

Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories: Justin Rowlatt sees the high cost Afghanistan's soldiers are paying to fight off the Taleban and hears how important American troops are to the NATO mission in the country. The US Marines are training the first female recruits to be deployed to combat units; Hannah King witnesses the gruelling training and hears the ditties. Andrew Harding is in...

Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories. In The Gambia, Alastair Leithead watched the old president and dictator leaving; and as he waits for the new one to arrive, he wonders if the president will be able to tackle the country's problems. In Germany, they are worried about what impact "fake" or "alternative news" could have on their election. Damien McGuinness says there's an unusual i...

Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories. Today, Robin Denselow is in one of the most sparsely populated countries on the planet, Namibia, where they are seeking divine intervention in a time of drought. Andrew North uses his sketchbook to weave his way through Soviet memorabilia in Georgia. In Nepal, economic necessity means that families aren't able to look after their older relatives...

Emily Buchanan introduces correspondents' stories. John Beck meets the policeman who used a special disguise to escape from ISIS killers in Iraq; Rebecca Henschke is outside court to hear why some think Jakarta cannot have a non-Muslim Governor. The first president of Seychelles is given a special burial; Tim Ecott explains why it could be the start of reconciliation in the archipelago. Helier Che...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. John Sudworth is doing his best to tape up the windows of his Beijing flat as he tries to protect his family from the city's dangerous smog. Thomas Fessy remembers his days in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, fondly. But now the dancing in this lively city is more mechanical and there's anxiety that a full-blown insu...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Today: Mark Lowen takes the increasingly well-trodden path to the mosque for another funeral in Turkey; Vin Ray visits the secretive airbase at the centre of the US's drone warfare, and he speaks to the pilots who juggle family life and fighting; Linda Pressly is in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where heightened security and fear intermingle, and meets up with an...

By any standard, 2016 has been a momentous year, right across the world: unexpected election results, disastrous wars, huge flows of migrants and refugees, major terrorist attacks, the death of memorable people. Some of our correspondents reflect on their region. The BBC's Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, comes across - of all things - a cookbook that, for him, sums up so much of what has been lo...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents stories: Mary Harper goes to the Syrian dentist bringing Hollywood smiles to Somaliland; Guy Hedgecoe travels to the highlands of Spanish Catalonia, a stronghold of calls for independence; Melissa Van der Klugt is in clouds of flour in Pune, in western India, where they can't get enough of an English biscuit; Andrew Dickson has gone to the Urals and comes across...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Memories of Rwanda return to Alastair Leithead in northern Uganda as he watches refugees fleeing from South Sudan's civil war; Gideon Long tries not to lose all his money as he changes cash in Venezuela; President Obama described the new UN Secretary General as having "an extraordinary reputation." Alison Roberts, in Portugal, says he's a man who likes...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Jill McGivering investigates the cow protection squads in northern India, some of which have been accused of extreme violence against Muslims. Colin Freeman gets a Blue Feeling moment in Gambia as he explores why so many young men are leaving the country. Turkmenistan has one of the world's most repressive governments, and now the president's personali...

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Katerina Vittozzi is in northeastern Nigeria, where assassinations, bombings and kidnapping are now combined with starvation. But amid the bleakness she also finds ingenuity and survival. Emma Jane Kirby goes to the source of much of the fake news that swirled around social media sites during the US presidential election - and it's nowhere near America...