From Our Own Correspondent

Kenyan widows fighting sexual cleansing and talking to war criminals in the Balkans. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. For some among the Luo tribe in Western Kenya, tradition dictates that widows must have repeated, unprotected sex with a stranger to rid themselves of evil spirits. Theopi Skarlatos meets the women fighting back. Mark Urban talks to convicted war criminals from the former Yugoslavia – some accept their sentences and have moved on, others claim they are the victims. Mark Stratton visits the Buddhist temple that has been at the heart of a long-running (and sometimes bloody) battle between Thailand and Cambodia. Sophie Ribstein embarks on a journey of musical discovery that provides an unexpected insight into the complex rhythms of Apartheid South Africa. And Lucy Williamson flies from Paris to the Gulf to spend seven minutes with the supposedly charming Emanuel Macron. He is a President that likes to talk, but what is he like to talk to?

The Prince’s purge: Mohammed Bin Salman’s moves to reform Saudi Arabia. Kate Adie introduces stories, wit, and analysis from correspondents around the world.Frank Gardner chronicles the meteoric rise of the Crown Prince reshaping Saudi Arabia.Kate Lamble meets the campaigners struggling to convince Muscovites that Alexei Navalny should be the next Russian President. They complain of political apathy and hostile media.Xavier Zapata mingles with the young Catalonians newly energised and politically engaged by the independence debate but struggling to get their voices heard. Andrew Hosken is in Albania where new attempts are underway to investigate the crimes of Enver Hoxha’s brutal dictatorship. Thousands of people were ‘disappeared’ - many ended up in mass graves. And Juliet Rix reports from the Inuit region of Nunavut – the newest, northernmost and largest territory in Canada.

Life in cash-strapped Venezuela and a return to war-ravaged Damascus. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories and insights from around the world. Katy Watson examines the staying power of Venezuela's ruling party. Despite ongoing shortages of food, medicine, and cash, Nicola Maduro's government has tightened its grip on the country. Simon Parker hears renewed talk of independence on the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of Denmark, but struggles to decipher what independence would actually mean. Angellica Bell assesses the damage wrought by Hurricane Maria on the land of her grandfather – Dominica. And the travel writer Colin Thubron returns to Damascus fifty years after the publication of his homage to the city. He is surprised to find old friends still there, to stumble through an Old City largely intact, and to be taken in for questioning by the intelligence service. “We can’t see an end to it,” people tell him of the civil war.

A president in exile? The Brussels' press pack is in pursuit of Carles Puigdemont. Kate Adie introduces stories, wit, and analysis from correspondents around the world.It’s been a busy week for Adam Fleming in Belgium, as he tried to track down the sacked Catalan leader and figure out what is really going on.Colin Freeman reported from Liberia at the height of the Ebola crisis and has been back to see what has changed. Shaking hands is once again permitted, he finds, and the nation’s health service has been transformed. Justin Rowlatt has a tale of prince and poverty from the ridge forest in Delhi, India. And Amy Guttman is in Okinawa, Japan, home to thousands of American soldiers. And Stephen Smith has the story behind Dr Zhivago - one of the best-known love stories of the 20th century.

The Nigerian militants who rely on drugs to fight their fears and the displaced people taking them to forget the violence. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Sally Hayden reports from Madhugiri where the battle against Boko Haram is creating a growing problem with drug abuse. Tom Stevenson is in Diyarbakir, the Turkish city which has for decades, been at the heart of the conflict between Kurdish rebels and the state. Caroline Eden explores the Brodsky synagogue in Odessa and sifts through its archive which tells of controversies old and new. Rahul Tandon finds out that what you wear, what you drive and how you speak can affect which shops and restaurants are willing to take your money in India. It is, he says, one of the most class-conscious societies in the world. And David Chazan once owned a work of art worth tens of thousands of pounds – not that he knew it – opting instead to replace it with a coat of blanc cassé on the walls of his Paris flat.

With a political crisis, a push for freedom and talk of vegetables, Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from across the world. Guy Hedgecoe is with the unionist Catalans, opposed to independence from Spain of their region. In Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince has called for a return to moderate Islam in the Kingdom. Kirsty Lang sees some noticeable changes for women in the country. In the mountains of Nicaragua, Margaret Ward goes off grid but also sees the progress has made in using renewable energy. 500 years ago Europe was torn apart by the Reformation. One of the leading actors in it was Martin Luther, and he used a new technology, the printing press to get his message out. Jenny Hill follows in his footsteps. The we talk vegetables - tubers, to be precise - with Christine Finn, who reveals which one the people of Vermont voted for.

Why women must walk fast and certainly not answer back in Egypt. Shaimaa Khalil remembers a childhood episode which impacts her even now when she visits her home city. James Coomarasamy is in the Russian countryside, where having links to President Putin can stave off the poverty affecting many other areas. Canada's healthcare system is often touted as one of the best, but Sian Griffiths finds that even here they're struggling to cope with an opioid crisis. Cricket isn't usually associated with Francophone countries. Yet in Rwanda, it's giving the country something else to be remembered for, as Jake Warren hears. And Jack Garland visits the Florida high school with a special connection to American football, to see if they're taking a knee during the national anthem.

Mishal Husain presents more reflections on life in Britain today, including diesel car dilemmas, a mother remembers her army son and picking up the pieces after devastating floods

Twisted metal, smashed concrete and anger on the streets of Mogadishu. Bridget Kendall introduces stories, analysis, and insight from correspondents around the world. After decades of war and years of terror attacks Somalia has seen a lot of violence, but this time it’s different says Alistair Leithead following the truck bomb which killed hundreds of people in the capital. As the Chinese Communist Party meets for its five-yearly congress, Carrie Gracie goes underground on the Beijing subway to gauge the mood in the city. John Sweeney is in Malta where the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has raised questions about corruption and organised crime. Linda Pressly reports from Sweden where hundreds of migrant children appear to have switched off from the world around them – refusing to talk, eat or get out of bed. How can 'Resignation Syndrome' be cured? And on the Faroe Islands, Tim Ecott joins the annual gannet hunt – the young birds are a prized local delicacy.

Continued confusion has taken its toll on Catalonia since the disputed referendum. Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents’ stories from around the world. On the streets and at the school gates the question of independence is dividing the people of Barcelona. It is also disrupting their lives finds Pascale Harter. Owen Bennett-Jones hears tales of abandoned babies in Pakistan; unwanted infants hurled into ice-cold rivers and others saved from disaster by caring strangers. Mike Wendling meets masked Antifa activists in America. Who are these left-wing activists? And what do they really want? Lucy Ash explores an often forgotten chapter in the history of WW1 – the invasion of Russia by Britain, Canada and the US. And Leon McCarron has a shave in a barbers on the West Bank and gets a lesson in the history of the Samaritans.

Election day was peaceful in Liberia, but are sinister forces at play? Kate Adie introduces analysis, wit, and story-telling from correspondents around the world.

The spiritualists selling costly ‘cures’ and offering exorcisms for mental health problems. Kate Adie introduces stories, wit, and analysis from correspondents around the world. Nicola Kelly is in Zanzibar where spiritual healers are getting rich as the country struggles to deal with rising demand for mental health services. Mark Lowen ponders what the future may hold for Iraqi Kurdistan. Zeinab Badawi explores Charleston in America’s Deep South. The carefully maintained Georgina houses are impressive, but look closely and the marks of the child slaves’ hands that built them are still visible. Phoebe Smith visits a restaurant for vultures in Nepal. And Hugh Schofield has become a dad again. He’s discovering that a lot has changed in France since his last child was born 18 years ago.

Hurricane Maria has exposed the complex relationship between Puerto Rico and the mainland USA. Kate Adie introduces insight, wit, and analysis from correspondents around the world.Puerto Ricans are getting used to a new way of life on their storm-ravaged island but not, they tell Aleem Maqbool, getting the help they need from the rest of the United States. In France, Stephen Sackur assesses President Macron’s chances of rebooting the nation’s economy and asks whether history is repeating itself. John Sweeney is in Mesquite, once the hometown of Stephen Paddock, as he searches for clues as to what may have motivated the deadliest mass murder in modern America. In Somalia, Yasmin Ahmed hears young men's dreams of footballing glory and life in Europe – at whatever cost. And Justin Rowlatt has a confession to make.

Mishal Husain presents dispatches on one family's fraught experience with sepsis, the night Jimi Hendrix played Ilkley and the prospects for coracle fishing in West Wales.

It's as if doomsday had arrived early in Raqqa as bats swoop over the remains of the city. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories and analysis from around the world. In Syria, Quentin Sommerville finds a city which had been occupied and terrorised by the so-called Islamic State and is now being destroyed by a thousand blows from coalition airstrikes.In Colombia, Katy Watson reports from the border bridge which 25,000 Venezuelans cross each day. Most do so in search of food and medicine, but more and more are deciding to stay. In South Africa, Milton Nkosi worries that history is repeating itself with the recent spate of political killings in KwaZulu Natal. In America’s Deep South, Fleur Macdonald joins fellow MacDonalds, Alexanders, Johnsons, MacSweeneys and MacWhannells as they celebrate their Scottish heritage and their allegiance to Clan Donald. And in Spain, Chris Bockman visits what was Europe's second-biggest train station, but was left to rot and rust. Today the terminal in Canfranc attracts more

The rescue workers sifting through the rubble in Mexico and the African migrants that refuse to give up on their European dreams. Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. In Mexico City, Rajini Vaidyanathan joins the search for survivors following the earthquake earlier this week. Benjamin Zand follows the deadly migrant route through Niger, Nigeria, and Libya which thousands of people pass along in the hope of reaching Europe. Steve Rosenberg takes a Magical Mystery Tour with the Russian military in Syria. Rosamund Jones visits the Icelandic isle of Grimsey – population 80 people and hundreds of thousands of birds. And Neil Trevithick visits the forests of Myanmar, where people have suffered but wildlife has been left to flourish.

A tour of Angela Merkel’s childhood, swapping books with Kurdish fighters and reading the landscape of Gabon. Kate Adie introduces correspondents’ stories.Jenny Hill visits the town where Angela Merkel grew up as she tries to learn more about the notoriously private politician. Richard Hall’s repeated trips to the Qandil mountains of Iraq allow him to assess the evolution of the PKK. But is a copy of Hemingway’s ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ an appropriate gift for a battle-hardened Kurdish commander fighting IS?Nick Thorpe meets the migrants trying to cross the Hungary-Serbia border and Robin Banerji visits the Indian city where biryani was invented, or so some locals claim. And Andy Jones learns how the Baka hunter-gatherers of Gabon are turning their mastery of the country's tropical forests against the poachers who prowl the region.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories and analysis from around the world - including from the Bangladeshi border, where we meet the Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar. Sanjoy Majumder is on the banks of the Naf River as families arrive by the boatload trying to escape Rakhine state. In Uganda, Ruth Alexander finds out what it’s like to try and build a home and a new life in the country often applauded for its generous policy towards refugees. In Germany, Damien McGuiness meets the “elite hipsters” of Berlin living in a parallel, English-speaking society.In Russia, Martin Vennard joins the back to school celebrations on the Day of Knowledge. And in Colombia, Mark Rickards witnesses an extraordinary race around the country and explores how cycling is helping to bring together a once divided nation.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches by: Yolande Knell in Qaraqosh, who observes Iraq's trials of people accused of fighting for so-called Islamic State; Martin Patience, who takes his leave of Nigeria with mixed emotions after a two-year stay; Matthew Hill in Sri Lanka, who finds that the strains and tensions between those who govern and many of those whom they govern are intensifying; Harriet Constable, who reports from Kenya on the increasingly violent and costly incidence of sand harvesting; and Hywel Griffith visits one of Australia's many micro-nations to meet the white-bearded Prince Paul of Wy to discover why he has set up his own realm.

Catalonia's uncertain future, Sierra Leone after the mudslide, Ethiopia embraces industrialisation, Uzbekistan's Soviet era bus shelters and reflections from a Macedonian nail bar