From Our Own Correspondent

No need for expensive cab fares this time! The regime change in The Maldives proves a story Andrew North was able to cover entirely on foot. Can Greece ever come back from this crisis? Paul Mason's on the road to Patras encountering a deep sense of gloom. As relations between Russia and the West nosedive amid arguments over Syria, a tale from Steve Rosenberg about the time when two Englishmen used...

That windswept outpost of Britishness in the South Atlantic again causes tension between Britain and Argentina as the anniversary of the Falklands War approaches. Fergal Keane is in Buenos Aires where a longing to redeem the islands is deeply felt; Allan Little's in the capital of the Falklands, Port Stanley, finding out they are more concerned there about shortages of fruit, veg and eggs. Mark Lo...

From Ambridge to Tunisia: Owen Bennett Jones meets a man at the heart of government power in Tunis who talks of The Archers and how Britain's the most Islamic country he's ever lived in. Michael Bristow finds the Chinese secret police not so secret as he tries to report on Tibetan protests in western China. The National Front in France hopes to be a significant force in the upcoming French electio...

After a journey from the calm of a hotel lobby to a city centre ladies' outfitters and on to the drum-beating heart of Syrian protest, Tim Whewell confronts the question: how much longer will the regime of Bashar al-Assad survive? Alan Johnston tells us Italy's young are worried about the economy and the future -- and many are deciding to emigrate. As protestors in Russia prepare again to take to...

A rich seam of frustration - over poverty, bad leadership and corruption -- is being mined by the Nigerian militants Boko Haram, according to Andrew Harding. The fall of Colonel Gaddafi, says David Willey in Rome, has given Italy an opportunity to breathe new life into its long relationship with Libya. Chris Bockman meets some of those who worked for the French in what was then Indochina who are n...

From our own curmudgeon. Hugh Schofield finds reasons to be dyspeptic in Paris. Jeremy Paxman on why he says: let's hear it for the Chinese Communist party. Mary Harper visits the Ethiopian town at the centre of the world qat trade. Mark Doyle investigates the link between corruption and crisis in Nigeria while Gabriel Gatehouse explains how the job of uniting the divided factions in the new Libya...

Twenty-six planeloads of Libyans arriving in Amman: Matthew Teller on how the downfall of Colonel Gaddafi's providing an economic windfall for Jordan. Pauline Davies learns what's meant by marriage Papua New Guinea-style at the nuptials of her niece there - she was, it seems, a four-pig bride. Aidan Lewis finds himself the subject of police scrutiny as he explores the troubled relationship between...

BBC correspondents don't often go out gardening -- perhaps that's because it gives them a guilty conscience! At least it does Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem. He's been losing sleep over his lemon tree. Humphrey Hawksley's been meeting children in India who work, sometimes in poor conditions, to produce goods sold in shops on Western high streets. Owen Bennett Jones is in Pakistan where the agenda of...

The women are in charge - and the men don't seem to be doing much about it. Timothy Allen tells us that's how things are in one northeastern Indian state, where a nascent men's liberation movement is having little impact. Mark Lowen is in Libya, where one of the biggest problems facing the country's new rulers is disarming the many fighters who helped overthrow the dictator Colonel Gaddafi. One co...

The Afghan women still suffering in silence - ten years after the fall of the Taliban. Caroline Wyatt, who's just back from Kabul, examines how their lives might change once the international community withdraws its troops from their country. Nick Thorpe's been to meet the president of Hungary - a man at the centre of a political and constitutional storm. Laura Trevelyan's in Haiti where, two year...

Can international pressure on the military-backed government in Burma be relaxed now a series of reforms is underway? Fergal Keane has been accompanying the British foreign secretary on his visit there and offers an assessment of latest developments there. A year after the assassination of the Governor of Punjab Owen Bennett-Jones has been to Pakistan to examine the impact that killing's had there...

Kate Adie on the months of the Libyan revolution which led up to the death of Colonel Gaddafi in October. A chance to hear again some of the BBC's senior correspondents filing on the long road to Tripoli and charting a revolution which stunned the world.

An American Dream: New Hampshire, 1996 Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch by Gavin Esler. In the runup to a Presidential election, he explored small-town America's values and aspirations in Manchester, NH. And as things are today, he found that corporate raiders, rising unemployment and out-of-touch Washington politicians were much on the electorate's mind.

Prisoners of Norilsk - a city frozen in time "A history of Soviet failure written in crumbling cement; a monument to a system which simply ran out of steam". Norilsk, 1994 Owen Bennett Jones introduces a despatch from Kevin Connolly in the city of Norilsk in the Arctic Circle. He met people who had suffered and survived there for decades under the USSR - and seemed likely to spend the rest of thei...

The Truth is Our Currency Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from 1997 by Martin Bell. At a time when television news in particular had been focusing on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, journalism was wrestling with issues like the real meaning of 'objectivity' when reporting on wars, and the limits of neutrality.

The Road to Mandalay Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from 1984. Veteran correspondent Bob Jobbins describes a journey through Burma's history and culture as he travels from Rangoon to Mandalay.

"The army was rotten to the core and could not put up a fight" - Kinshasa, May 1997 Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from the country then still known as Zaire. Allan Little describes the last days of the Mobutu regime and the advance of Laurent Kabila's forces.

A dead man's suitcase in Cape Town transports Tim Butcher from today's Africa via World War Two Italy to Renaissance Tuscany. The most cosseted pets in the world: it's no dog's life, says Joanna Robertson, for the pampered pooches of Paris. High in the Himalayas Joanna Jolly goes searching for a little yellow idol which once wreaked terrible vengeance. Allan Little shares some of the jokes which h...

The polar bear's back in the news - this time it's at the centre of controversy in Canada where some believe it's a far better animal to be the country's national symbol than the one which currently holds the honour, the beaver -- Lorraine Mallinder has been finding out that some Canadians reckon the beaver's just too boring for the job. At the end of another stressful week in the eurozone Chris M...

'A political system which had considered itself as solid as rock has started to show cracks.' Steve Rosenberg's in Moscow on a weekend of more demonstrations. The Americans are preparing for their withdrawal from Iraq and Gabriel Gatehouse has been considering what exactly's been achieved during their nine years there. There's a view from Hungary where Nick Thorpe's been looking at how the country...

Being Italian is bad for your health! That's the contention from Bologna where winter is descending and a range of ailments, unknown to British correspondent Danny Mitzman, are making their presence felt! It's election time in the Democratic Republic of Congo and while you might expect the sounds of tear gas canisters being fired and angry argument about electoral fraud, Will Ross has encountered...

'But of course there will be violence,' says one seasoned observer to Andrew Harding as he travels in the Democratic Republic of Congo wondering if Monday's election is a chance for Africa's wounded giant to get back on its feet. And there's another election, in Egypt, starting on Monday: Lyse Doucet joins a family whose window, overlooking Tahrir Square, offers a unique view of world history unfo...

Are the generals in Egypt really about to relinquish power? Stephen Sackur in Cairo takes a closer look at the Tahrir Square revolution as Egyptians prepare to cast their votes. David Loyn's in Burma where vested interests, the cronies they're sometimes called, look on to see what will happen with the leaders' programme of reforms; Lucy Ash is in the Republic of Dagestan, on the shores of the Casp...

"That's nobody's business but the Turks'." A quote from one of several songs which feature Turkey which are in turn quoted by Kevin Connolly as he talks about why the country remains keen to join the EU despite the Union's problems with debt and insecurity. Hugh Sykes is in Rome as prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's reported to be on the verge of resignation - he wonders why a country which does s...

'Prosperity for all!' That was the Ugandan president's promise as he stood for re-election but today, as Rob Young's been finding out, there's growing discontent at steeply rising food and fuel prices. There are accusations in Kyrgyzstan of persecution of the Uzbek minority in the south of the country -- Natalia Antelava, who's been investigating, says the official line is that reconciliation's we...