From Our Own Correspondent

They are celebrating in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, the world's newest country. But Fergus Nicoll, who's there, says its leaders must address some of the lessons they've been handed down by history. Who's visiting the great archaeological sites in Libya as the conflict in that country continues? Justin Marozzi's just been to one of them and had little company there other than cows and goats....

The end of the world is nigh! Well, it is according to one estimate. But Chris Bockman who's in the French Pyrenees says there's a village there where you might just be safe. Much joy's being reported in South Sudan. Peter Martell's in this region which has experienced generations of civil war but is now getting ready to usher in independence. Could the mighty US be about to default on its debts?...

The Greek austerity bill may have been passed by the Athens parliament, but Justin Rowlatt's wondering if anyone expects it to be fully implemented. It may be one of the most polluted cities in the world but Delhi, as Anu Anand has been finding out, is home to an astonishing collection of bird life. The Libyan Mediterranean city of Misrata is still coming under rocket fire from troops loyal to Col...

Now the Greek parliament's voted for austerity, large numbers of people working in the country's huge public sector are waiting to see where first the axe will fall -- Manuela Saragosa's in Athens. Saving cash is a theme throughout Europe and Mark Lobel's been to Strasbourg where some say the city should no longer be a base for the European Parliament, it's just too expensive. Venezuelan security...

The lights go out in the United States. It's only a simulation at present but Mark Mardell in Washington says it's evidence the US military is taking seriously the threat of war in cyberspace. Inside the walls of a prison in the Horn of Africa our correspondent Mary Harper is surprised by a demand for an interview ... from a Somali pirate! Misha Glenny reflects on the EU's decision to admit Croati...

A voice from Croatia's war-torn past is recalled by Allan Little in Zagreb as the EU prepares to admit this country to full membership of the Union. Chris Morris is in Athens as Greece faces fresh hurdles in its attempts to avoid defaulting on its debt repayments. Lobsters are big business but in Nicaragua, as Conor Woodman's been hearing, catching them can be dangerous. Reggie Nadelson tells us h...

The ultimate failed state. That's what some call Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Peter Greste is in the capital Mogadishu, perhaps the most dangerous city in the world. He's finding out why thousands of Somalis are leaving homes in the countryside and flooding in to the city? Another mass migration's going on in China. But, as Juliana Liu tells us, difficulties can lie ahead for the country people...

Tunisia's fragile revolution is under threat from the violent uprising in Libya. Pascale Harter, investigating in these borderlands, also reveals what a football commentary sounds like in Libya where the only name permissible is that of Gaddafi. The blockade on Gaza means that many people living in that territory never get to leave. Jon Donnison's been meeting two men, at the Erez crossing into Is...

The bloody events in Syria are making the government in neighbouring Turkey uneasy, as Hugh Sykes has been finding out on the eve of the Turkish general election there; Chris Hogg's in Taiwan where, amid a thawing in relations with mainland China, there are businessmen who are prospering in the new climate of detente; corruption in India is now so pervasive, it reaches even the smallest country vi...

Amid uproar in and around Syria, Kevin Connolly considers suggestions that there have been attempts by the authorities in Damascus to manipulate the news agenda to distract the world from events going on in their country. A year after violent disturbances in the Kyrgyz town of Osh Rayhan Demytrie, who covered those events, considers the difficult legacy they've left in their wake; Tracey Logan is...

A mysterious encounter with the sinister Colonel Tariq, thought to be from Pakistani Intelligence, is described by Aamer Ahmed Khan. Tim Whewell's in the Sinai Desert finding a roaring trade in rifles. A guided tour of Benghazi with Andrew Hosken: he is told that Colonel Gaddafi couldn't make the railways run on time -- he couldn't make the railways either! An acute housing shortage in Beijing is...

The E.coli outbreak in Germany is the subject of a despatch from Steve Evans in Berlin who's been finding out how it's sending ripples throughout Europe, affecting sales of fruit and vegetables and altering families' eating habits. As General Mladic prepares to face war crimes charges in The Hague, Nick Thorpe's been touring Bosnia meeting family and supporters of the man who was the military lead...

Fin de Siecle Deauville hosts the G8 summit of world leaders where there have been clear signs of a different world order emerging -- Bridget Kendall's been taking note. Andrew Harding tells us what it's like in Misrata which endured a two month seige by Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi; Conor Woodman is in a town in Laos which has been taken over by Chinese investment; there's a picnic unde...

The Roman Catholic Church is accused of running a dirty campaign as the people of Malta prepare to vote in a referendum on divorce. Jake Wallis Simons has been gauging the mood in and around the capital, Valletta; Anna Cavell, who's in Kampala, Uganda, tells us how the continuing series of protests is heaping pressure on the long-standing president Yoweri Museveni; Bhutan, the Himalayan mountain k...

The carrots and sticks which the authorities in Saudi Arabia hope will persuade their people that protest is not a sensible option -- Michael Buchanan is gauging opinion in the desert kingdom. Who'll be the next president of Russia - Putin, Medvedev or someone else? It's a question preoccupying correspondents in Russia, among them the BBC's man Steve Rosenberg. As nuclear power plants around the w...

Assisted suicide: as the people of Zurich in Switzerland prepare to vote on the issue, Imogen Foulkes tells a moving story about a couple who believed they had a right to decide on a date for death. Fergal Keane considers the historical significance of the forthcoming visit, by Queen Elizabeth 2, to the Republic of Ireland. Andrew Harding is in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi where, he say...

Weeks of violent confrontation in Uganda: Will Ross is in Kampala where lawyers are the latest group to protest against the regime of President Museveni. Mishal Husain is in the Pakistani town of Abottabad, where the life of Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, was brought to an end last Sunday. Mishal talks of the new interest in this location which she remembers as a place her family we...

A very French murder story: Hugh Schofield tells how France has been transfixed by an appalling human drama -- the killing of a mother, three sons and a daughter. Owen Bennett Jones questions whether depicting the news from Syria as 'brutal suppression of peaceful protestors' might be, to some extent, misleading. A climate of fear is stifling discussion about Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law...

Students aren't revolting in Qatar and Oman -- Robin Lustig's been to the Gulf states to see what effect the uprisings in parts of the Arab world are having there. Justin Marozzi's in Libya as questions are being asked about who will run the country in the future. More journalists lost their lives this week in the fighting in Libya. Stuart Hughes reflects on the dangers a reporter can face coverin...

'The Bahrain I had known wasn't there' - Frank Gardner, who used to live on the Gulf island, reports on life there under a state of emergency. The 7/7 bombings in London claimed victims of many nationalities; Nick Beake has travelled to Poland to hear more about one of them: a young woman who was a keen student and a member of the local choir. India's huge population has come under scrutiny in the...

'Even the winners are losers'-- Andrew Harding goes on a road journey through devastated, terrified Ivory Coast; Robert Hodierne on the homes being built for limbless former combat troops in the United States; Stephen Sackur's in the Australian outback hearing how the Chinese are getting iron ore there; the dangers of childbirth in Afghanistan and the efforts being made to improve the situation ar...

Visiting time at Yemen's jail for political prisoners: Genevieve Bicknell meets the families of some of those detained who tell her why they feel it's time for the country's president to step down. Mark Urban, just back from Afghanistan, talks of a new attempt to improve the tarnished image of Afghanistan's police force. How the Lost Boys, who fled the civil war in Sudan, are finding out details o...

Crisis in the Eurozone -- Chris Morris in Brussels says we're ignoring it at our peril. Sue Lloyd Roberts hears two opinions about Saudi Arabia: do its women live pampered lives or are they kept prisoners? Nick Thorpe's in a village in eastern Hungary where vigilantes say Roma crime is raging out of control. Crazy names for serious people in the Philippines, Kate McGeown investigates. And Gabriel...

Explosions and gunfire in Benghazi -- Kevin Connolly on the struggle for power in eastern Libya; Rupert Wingfield Hayes is in Tokyo where there's growing fear at the prospect of nuclear meltdown. Hannah Barnes has been talking to lovers of Hebrew who are determined to ensure that the language remains as up to date as it can possibly be. Two months after a Congresswoman was shot in Tucson, Arizona,...

Colossal forces of nature have devastated Japan and the country faces the possibility of a nuclear disaster; but in the teeth of catastrophe Rachel Harvey discovers an extraordinary resilience on the part of the Japanese people. Egypt is undergoing massive political upheaval; and while the country is struggling to shape its future, Christine Finn hears that looters are increasingly plundering its...