From Our Own Correspondent

The Iranian government held an official funeral on Tuesday for General Qassem Soleimani killed by a US airstrike in Baghdad. There were emotional speeches in the general’s home town of Kerman in southeast Iran and so many mourners turned out that at least 50 were killed in the crush. On Twitter the Iranian Foreign Minister had a message for President Donald Trump: "Have you seen such a sea of humanity in your life?... Do you still think you can break the will of a great nation and its people?" But were the huge crowds really a sign of national unity? Lois Pryce who wrote a book about crossing Iran on a motorbike and who has friends both inside the country and across the 2 million strong Iranian diaspora finds public opinion far from unanimous. Ever since independence from the USSR almost three decades ago, there’s never been an Uzbek election which outsiders were willing to call free or fair. But this time was meant to be different. On the 22nd of December, Uzbekistan ran its first elections to the parliament

The assassination in a US air strike of the senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani raises the prospect of a response from Teheran that few can predict. Jim Muir reports on the significance of the US target and what might happen next.Thirty years ago the United States acted to remove another foreign threat, this time closer to home. Following the US invasion of Panama shortly before Christmas, the country's military leader General Manuel Noriega surrendered to US troops on January the 3rd, 1990. David Adams was there.In Ireland it used to be common for unmarried mothers to be confined in state-funded institutions. Often their babies, once born, were taken without their consent and given up for adoption. Deirdre Finnerty has met one of the thousands of women who were sent to these mother and baby homes.Air travel in the Democratic Republic of Congo matters because there are few reliable roads. But there are serious concerns about the safety of flying and many people can't afford it anyway. Most Congolese who ne

Until recently, a small, independent and politically neutral Syrian radio station was broadcasting in exile from Istanbul. But Radio Alwan was forced to close when the Trump administration made the decision last year to pull $200m of funding for Syria’s stabilisation projects, knocking the station off air. Some of the station’s staff are scattered across Europe and those who have remained in Turkey say they now feel vulnerable following the Turkish offensive in NE Syria and what they see as a hardening of the country’s position on refugees. So where do you belong if your adopted country no longer welcomes you and the door to your own country is closed? Emma Jane Kirby met ex Radio Alwan broadcasters in Istanbul to try understand why the word “home” no longer has any meaning for them. Across Latin America millions have left their homes to better their families' lives. These have been years of huge outward migration from Venezuela, Central America and Cuba. Will Grant has now spent more than a decade living in

Recent events in Hong Kong have made many people in Taiwan jumpy. Duncan Hewitt talks to a Taiwanese hacker and activist turned government minister who is full of ideas about how to improve life on the island. He finds an increasingly pluralistic and confident society, now more inclined to stand up to China.Our main focus this week is on the natural world and we begin at the South Pole where Justin Rowlatt is holed up in a research station eating chips and patiently waiting for a change in the weather. At the opposite pole, we trek around Greenland. Some are calling this Artic country the Saudi Arabia of the Green future because it is so rich in rare earth metals. Horatio Clare reflects on exploitation in the wilderness. There are fears of plunder too in the Cayman Islands where the tourism industry is threatening to rip up great swathes of coral for the convenience of cruise ship passengers.

India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced a zero tolerance policy towards violence against women when he took office. But Rajini Vaidyanathan says that for many victims his promises ring hollow. According to the latest figures from India's National Crime Records Bureau there were 33,658 female rape victims in 2017 which means one woman was raped every 15 minutes - and those are just the official figures. Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been defending her government from accusations of genocide at the United Nation's top court in the Hague this week but Anna Holligan finds the former Nobel Peace Prize winner tight lipped when it comes to two words - rape and Rohingya. Viktor Orban's government has stopped funding for gender studies, calling them 'an ideology not a science'. The move has sent a chill down the spines of Hungarian academics says Angela Saini. In Haiti Thomas Rees tunes into the intimate and intense relationship between music, politics and protest And from the archive a memor

When Russian forces took over parts of Ukraine in spring 2014, much of the world held its breath. Would Western countries side with Ukraine, and could the fighting spread further into Eastern Europe? While that kind of escalation did not happen, life in Eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebel forces and Ukraine’s army are still facing off, still looks something like wartime. As Jonah Fisher recently found, in this terrain, politicians, as well as soldiers, have to tread carefully.This week Democratic members of Congress accelerated their push to impeach Donald Trump. Anthony Zurcher has been watching the hearings. He has had a front-row seat as history is written, but sometimes he wonders what history might make of it. Since the early Nineties, the United Nations has held an annual conference to bring the world together to tackle the threat of climate change. This year's event in Madrid is meant to persuade the biggest polluters to rein in their emissions. But, as David Shukman reports, progress is as slo

Throughout Sri Lanka's decades long conflict, attention has focused on the confrontation between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. The country’s Muslims, who are just 10 per cent of the population and see themselves as a separate ethnic group, have often been ignored. But that changed after this year's Easter Sunday attacks, carried out by a small cell of Sri Lankan Islamists, which claimed 250 lives. Since then many Muslims feel they have been demonised and ostracised. Our South Asia editor Jill McGivering has been in the main city, Colombo, to investigate. Over the past few weeks there has been a fierce crackdown by the Iranian authorities on protests across the country. The number of fatalities keeps being revised upwards, but getting precise details is tricky when the Iranian government seems determined to keep outsiders and its own citizens in the dark. As Jiyar Gol explains, even under normal conditions, BBC Persian’s journalists, who broadcast to 20 million around the world and 10 million

It’s now two years since Robert Mugabe was pushed out of office by the military and replaced by Emerson Mnangagwa. For many Zimbabweans economic conditions- already dire - have actually got worse. Now to add to their misery, there are water shortages and alarming evidence of the negative effect of climate change. But corruption and mismanagement have contributed to the power crisis and evening blackouts - it is no good just blaming the drought says Stephen Sackur. When the Buddha stipulated the rules for monks, he said each should only have a few possessions; an alms bowl, a water bottle, robes, a needle and thread and a razor. But now in Cambodia, within the folds of these saffron robes, there’s often a smartphone too says Sophia Smith Galer. Saudi Arabia is experiencing genuine social change - with woman ripping off their scarves at football matches, but there are still big questions over the man leading the process, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman says Sebastian Usher. Nearly half a century after a univ

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers reflecting the range of contemporary life in the United Kingdom. Dan Johnson reports direct from the flooded River Don in South Yorkshire where feelings are running high among locals about the response to the latest inundation. As the rain returns after an all-too-brief respite, he reflects on the area's carbon-generating past and the effects of climate change. In Hartlepool, the BBC's Social Affairs Correspondent, Michael Buchanan, hears from a mother and father about their twenty year-long struggle with the corrosive effects on their domestic life and their position in the local community of their sons' misuse of drugs. We visit Walthamstow in north-east London in the company of Emma Levine. She talks to customers and staff of a long-standing local daytime eatery which at night converts into a cocktail bar that attracts an entirely different clientele. Will the two businesses thrive together? BBC

They believe they are fighting for their way of life, for Hong Kong’s very existence, but the protesters know they can’t really win says Paul Adams. Kate Adie introduces this and other stories from around the world:There is a saying in Russia “If he beats you - he loves you” hears Lucy Ash as she visits a refuge for the survivors of domestic violence in Moscow. “Twisted logic, yes, but it is still part of our mentality.” In Ethiopia, Justin Rowlatt gets stung by killer bees as he examines successful attempts to re-green the region and restore long lost woodlands. In Australia, bushfires burn. While scientists and firefighters agree that climate change is making things worse many leading politicians refuse to listen. Phil Mercer has seen the damage for himself. And Joanne Robertson struggles to get a decent haircut in Paris and asks who is to blame?

From coca farmer to president, to political exile - Katy Watson shares the story of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first elected indigenous leader. Kate Adie introduces this and other stories from correspondents around the world:In Austria, Bethany Bell reveals why the hare with amber eyes has returned to Vienna.Finbarr Anderson is in Lebanon’s second city Tripoli, which is being called the ‘bride of the revolution’ because of its role in protests that have swept the country. Chris Bockman visits a former factory in Southwest France now home to Yazidi families who fled violence in Iraq. And Julia Buckley confesses to a crime in Tinsel Town and has an unsettling experience with the LAPD. Producers: Joe Kent and Lucy Ash

What the murder of a Mormon family in Mexico reveals about the country; Will Grant has long chronicled the violence of the ongoing drug war. Kate Adie introduces this and other stories:Rajini Vaidyanathan reflects on the perils of living in Delhi having developed 'pollution anxiety' and become a smoker by proxy. John Kampfner was in Berlin when the Wall fell. Thirty years on he's been back to see how the city has changed.And how does a glass of radioactive water sound? It was once sold in Portugal with the promise of bringing health, strength and vigour. Margaret Bradley visits the, now abandoned, hotel that used it for baths, cooking and even colonic irrigation.And a troubled nation writes itself another rousing chapter as South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup and the squad returns as heroes. It may only be a game, but stories matter, says Andrew Harding.

From their base in Albania, some 3,000 Iranian exiles are committed to overthrowing the government of Iran. Linda Pressly finds out how some members of the M.E.K - the Mujahedin-e Khalq – are adapting to life in Europe. Kate Adie introduces this and other stories: It's thirty years since the fall of Czechoslovakia's communist regime, but Chris Bowlby finds the ghostly remains of its past still looming large in one former steel town.Long-sleeved shirt, trousers tucked into her socks and copious amounts of insect repellent – Sian Griffiths reports from Canada where tiny black legged ticks are migrating north and spreading disease. “We Kenyan journalists joke that reporting on famine is easy: you just find your old script from a previous one - and repeat it” says Anna Mawathe as she considers one possible solution to hunger in her homeland. And what happens when you get locked out of a motorhome in rural Andalucía, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, with no wallet and no shoes. Tim Smith repor

The Rugby World Cup has drawn the attention of the world to Japan for the last six weeks. But the tournament has not been without its difficulties, mostly ones beyond the power of the authorities to control. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has been sheltering from the storm.Veganism is on the rise in many countries in the world. Switching to a plant-base diet is said to be one of the biggest contributions an individual can make to reducing their impact on the environment. But veganism has its own dangers, as Ashitha Nagesh finds out in St. Petersburg.South Korea is today a beacon of democracy and economic stability in East Asia. Street rallies have recently forced the resignation of the justice minister. But it wasn't always thus. The country was run by the army within living memory. And John Kampfner says protest then was a different matter. Somaliland, a small breakaway territory in East Africa, has a long coastline along the Gulf of Aden. But strangely it doesn't have much of a fishing industry. That's changing now

Argentina has elected a new president at a moment of deep economic crisis. Out goes the centre-left, back come the Peronists. Katy Watson reports on a sense of deja vu, with the role of Eva Peron filled this time by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a former president, now returning to power as vice president. The winds of change are blowing through the Vatican, after bishops meeting in Rome voted in favour of relaxing the rules on celibacy among the clergy. David Willey reflects on how Pope Francis is conducting a papacy that reflects a changing world.Liberia in West Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has still to recover from a civil war that ended more than 15 years ago. More recently it suffered a devastating Ebola epidemic. Lucy Ash goes to meet the Zogos, a group of people who've suffered more than most.Imran Khan used to be best known as a flamboyant international cricketer. Today he's the prime minister of Pakistan and thousands of people are on the streets of Islamabad today in pro

The resignation this week of Mmusi Maimana, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party in South Africa, has exposed deep wounds from the apartheid era. Andrew Harding examines the implications for democracy in the country.Demonstrators have been out in force on the streets of Santiago and other cities across Chile after the government announced it was raising the price of metro tickets. Jane Chambers has been speaking to the pot-banging protesters and says there are real fears of a return to the dark days of dictatorship.A large shopping centre and an old Jewish cemetery: James Rodgers is in the Czech Republic, in a small town east of Prague, on the trail of scrolls saved from a synagogue there, which he'd first seen in Manchester. Iceland is famously small, cold and welcoming to visitors. It's also a place where even the prime minister will take your call, as Lesley Curwen discovers.It's 40 years since the release of Apocalypse Now, the Vietnam War epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola,

The latest row between China and the US revolves not around trade, but around basketball. It all began with a tweet in support of the Hong Kong protesters by the general manager of the Houston Rockets which, as Robin Brant reports, has made the Chinese authorities deeply unhappy.The people of Lebanon have been out on the streets in anti-government demonstrations for several days. It all started with a proposal, now withdrawn, to impose a tax on internet-based voice calls. But Lizzie Porter wonders if some of the protesters aren't simply enjoying the party.Transylvania, now part of Romania, is a region of Europe that has belonged to many different states and empires. The legacy of this history is a variety of ethnic groups and languages. Andrew Eames has been to visit the small number of people there who still speak German.There has been a series of police raids in northern Nigeria on institutions known variously as Islamic schools or rehabilitation centres. In reality they are places where children have been

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom reflecting the range of contemporary life in the country. Traditional cider-making is a slow business. But, as the poet Julian May has been discovering this autumn while he collects the variety of apples which ensure its special quality, it is a richly satisfying process which links to Somerset's past, present and future. Anisa Subedar has seen sons leave the family home for university before, so why is she feeling the departure of a third so keenly this autumn? Growing numbers of young people are declaring themselves non-binary. But, as Sima Kotecha explains, while this can be liberating for them it can pose challenges for parents and other other adults which they can find difficult to meet. Amid the financial and other pressures on local newspapers from online sources of news in particular communities, village newsletters have assumed new importance. Andrew Green conside

The Turkish military offensive seems to have achieved its major aim - to force the Syrian forces away from the border area they had once controlled. But what does this mean for the future of the Kurds? Jeremy Bowen takes a long view. In Vienna last Saturday the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge made history by becoming the first man ever to run a marathon in under two hours. In doing so, he brought Kenyans together, says Anne Soy in Nairobi, and made the whole country proud.It's now 30 years since the momentous events of 1989 that changed the politics and geography of Europe and led to the demise of the Soviet Union two years later. Steve Rosenberg visits a bookshop in the Latvian capital, Riga, for a lesson in Baltic history.They make beautiful cowboy boots in the Texan city of Fort Worth. But you'd better be well-heeled if you fancy a pair. Elizabeth Hotson eyes up the merchandise but is too shy to try any on.And in France they’ve recently launched a lottery to raise money to save the country’s vast architectural herit

There's been violence for several days in Barcelona in reaction to the jail sentences handed out on Monday to Catalan separatist leaders. Guy Hedgecoe has been on the streets as demonstrators and riot police clashed. He says there's no end in sight to this deepening conflict.There's a general election in Canada on Monday, and Justin Trudeau is hoping for a second term as prime minister. But the man who was once an emblem of hope and progressiveness has seen his reputation tarnished. Jennifer Chevalier in Ottawa says he's now got a fight on his hands.There was much excitement last week in Ethiopia when it was announced that the prime minister Abiy Ahmed had been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. But at home, despite considerable achievements, his popularity has diminished, as Tom Gardner reports from Addis Ababa.Recycling rubbish can be a lucrative industry. But in Romania that’s been made harder by government regulations on private companies. Nick Thorpe has been to find out more. The Svaneti region of n