From Our Own Correspondent

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 Coomarasamy is reminded of characters from 19th century Russian literature as he visits rural Russia. Olivia Acland partakes in a slightly boozy breakfast in Sierra Leone where palm wine is the drink of choice; and Andy Jones is in Loveland, Colorado, with the silver-haired Valentines' elves as they stamp away to bluegrass music.

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 still in the grip of violence as the military continues its operations against Boko Haram. But Katerina Vittozzi visits a zoo where life is more peaceful and where young lovers can meet - but don't touch. Lucy Daltroff is in Japan, where modern life and screens are getting in the way of getting together, so babies are not being born. And Huw Cordey struggles to find sleep in West Papua because of a pesky insect; and matters soon turn sinister.

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 Albania's elusive rail network; and phoning home may have been difficult during the Kosovo conflict but Andrew Gray remembers fondly the opportunities and advantages of not being connected.

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 Somalia, where Al-Shabab have launched more attacks this week; he wonders if the country is turning a corner. Jenny Hill is in the Netherlands and Germany, where far right groups hope to make significant gains in elections this year. She hears how the promise of a patriotic spring is being welcomed. And Simon Busch is in Northern Cyprus, where the turtles come ashore and the coast has yet to be covered in concrete. Could that all change with reunification of the island?

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 international interest in German domestic politics - and all of it is healthy. Karen Allen remembers shivering one cold evening in Africa, during the birth pains of South Sudan. In Myanmar, Jonah Fisher reflects on how Aung San Suu Kyi's government is so quick to dismiss any stories of abuses committed against the minority Rohingya community as "fake news." And Dany Mitzman is with two of the top four-legged students of a special university in northern Italy as they sniff out some of the world's most expensive delicacy.

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 as they once did. Melissa Van der Klugt visits an alien concept in the country - the first old people's home. Rob Stepney is with Austrian archaeologists before they're thrown out, in the ancient Turkish city of Ephesus. And it's the bean-eaters they're focused on. And Tim Mansel is in Leipzig, in eastern Germany, with the football upstarts of RB. But he's careful not to spill the beans over dinner with the old stalwarts of LOK.

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 Cheung was right there, singing, when Hong Kong was handed back to China; she hasn't forgotten the sandwiches, even if the politics are now more on her menu. Simon Parker is in a Bolivian market, struggling amid the sights and smells of animal flesh, hearing how the meat trade has survived during the country's worst drought in thirty years.

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 insurgency may be about to break out once again. Phoebe Smith is in one of the coldest inhabited places on earth, Svalbard, where the miners have been packing up their picks but new opportunities are opening up. The battle between fact, fiction and "truth" is being fought in the American media. Robert Colls says it's increasingly difficult to tell one from the other. And we have the story of a cat called Django from Will Grant in Havana, Cuba, where being a pet owner is an expensive business; but if you don't do it, who will?

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 old friend and colleague; Richard Dove is in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where you can find everything - as long as you're rich; and with a deep chill in relations between the White House and the Kremlin, Deirdre Finnerty takes shelter from the Washington DC's cold wind in a Russian cafe.

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 lost in Syria. Carrie Gracie, the BBC's China Editor, is struck by the growing number of Chinese who seem prepared to go against the government's flow and to take the consequences. Nick Thorpe, who has reported extensively on Europe's migrant crisis, and who lives in Budapest, examines Hungary's reaction to the crisis. Karen Allen has been reporting from Africa for 12 years but she's now leaving; she describes some of the memorable changes she's seen. Cuba is one place that's seen a lot of change - and not just because of the death of Fidel Castro. Our man in Havana, Will Grant, goes fishing for what it all means to or

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 a new presidential museum asking people to re-consider Russia's wild 90s, when a red-faced Boris Yeltsin was in charge; and Joanna Robertson is in the City of Light, amid thousands of bulbs, spreading their magical fairytale twinkle across Paris.

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 to talk and talk and talk. Uzbekistan has just elected only it's second president in a quarter of a century. Peter Robertson sees some signs that this autocratic country might be changing. There's a cash crisis in India too. Horatio Clare retreats to one place where you're not supposed to need money, though you do have to pay for that privilege.

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 personality cult includes a nationwide health kick. Abdujalil Abdurasulov asks if that means everybody has to jump to it. Fifty years ago, South Africa's apartheid government razed the District Six neighbourhood of Cape Town: as a multiracial, rackety, creative hotbed it didn't fit a model of strict segregation. Lindsay Johns has personal links to the area, and considers how the evictions destroyed far more than just homes among the Coloured community. And Katie Razzall is in West Virginia, in the coal mining areas, where people voted in droves for Donald Trump. They're hoping he'll re-open the mines and bring jobs back to th

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. In Nicaragua, Nick Redmayne is shown the proposed route of another huge canal, akin to the Panama canal; and he hears how the country's revolutionary fervour, as symbolized by the Sandinistas in the 1980s, is hard to find nowadays. Austrians could be about to elect the EU's first far right head of state. "I'm not a fighter, I'm a calm man," the far right candidate tells Bethany Bell. But others believe he's a wolf in expensive sheep's clothing. And in California, where anything can happen, Kieran Cooke is invited to a wedding. The catch is....he has to do the marrying.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. The move to bigger offices makes Mark Lowen ponder the huge changes in Turkey. In Iraq the army, Kurdish forces and various militia groups have common cause now, to oust Islamic State, but Richard Galpin asks: what happens next? Linda Pressly hurtles through the Albanian countryside and is confronted by the pungent smell of one of the biggest drugs seizures yet. Simon Broughton discusses the power of poetry and literature to encourage free thinking in Bangladesh, all the while surrounded by armed guards. In Uzbekistan, reds bleed into greens, and blues into yellows, as silk weavers revive the art of carpet making.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories: Dan Isaacs is on Aleppo's frontline with the last shopkeeper of the Old City; Soutik Biswas is thwarted in his search for cash in India; Tulip Mazumdar has an uncomfortable encounter with a "cutter" and undergoes a demonstration of what really happens during FGM. A year ago four Italian banks collapsed on the same day; Ruth Sunderland hears how thousands lost their life savings and even those who didn't find little hope in the future. South Korea is a technological giant, seemingly hurtling into the future, but Steve Evans observes how old-fashioned sexism persists across society.

Kate Adie lets the light in with stories of post-trump shivers in Ireland, with Vincent Woods; Katy Watson describes dejection and keen memories in Mexico; democracy of sorts and state-building in southern Somalia, as witnessed by Alastair Leithead; Searching for a libertarian utopia in the Balkans, with Jolyon Jenkins; and Anand Menon remembers his interrailing years as he takes to the tracks again across a post-Brexit Europe.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from China, Venezuela, Italy, Cote d'Ivoire and Kosovo. As the news of Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential election sinks in around the world, former China correspondent Celia Hatton reflects on how the whole story of his campaign has been spun in the Chinese media - and whether it's dampened or sharpened the public's appetite for more democracy at home. James Copnall takes in the new air of bustling, business-friendly Cote d'Ivoire - a country which seems keen to leave its recent political crises behind it. The eclectic, insurgent Five Star Movement has shaken the political landscape of Italy and Helen Grady weighs up what it's offering voters as they prepare for a referendum on changing the Italian constitution. Amid the escalating chaos and often-alarming news in Venezuela, Daniel Pardo concentrates - for once - on the nation's brighter sides. And Andrew Gray gets on the supporters' bus with the passionate fans of Europe's newest national footaball tea

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Today: Justin Rowlatt, in the smog of Delhi, hears how Theresa May's hopes of brokering a free-trade deal with India could be much harder than the government would admit to. Gabriel Gatehouse is shown a decades old piece in St Petersburg as the authorities tell people to prepare for the worst. Alexander Beetham, on the US-Mexico border, comes face-to-face with some of those Donald Trump says he will keep out of the US. Hugh Schofield wonders about the decline in the art of sign-painting in France and what it says about small-town life. And Christine Finn is in a forest of colours, with the leaf-peepers of Vermont.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories. Today: On a flight to Las Vegas, Rajini Vaidynathan strikes up conversation with what turn out to be mainly Trump supporters and concludes that, wherever you are in the US, it's difficult to get agreement across the aisle. How a trip to Northern Ireland gave Nick Thorpe some new vocabulary to describe politics back home, in Hungary. In the Ugandan capital, Kampala, Tom Shakespeare discovers why a brand new fleet of buses is simply parked up and failing to provide a service. And we indulge in some food and drink - in Georgia with Rob Crossan, involving singing, toasts, hugs, more toasts, more singing - you get the picture; and in southern California, where Sarah Wheeler walks through the heat slowly, in search of ice cold refreshment - anything to cool the brain.