From Our Own Correspondent

Kate Adie presents the first in a new series of eight programmes. In this edition, John Murphy reports from Najaf on the mounting death toll among Iraqis from the conflict with so-called Islamic State; Olivia Crellin tells the remarkable story of a transgender couple in Ecuador who are challenging some local assumptions by seeking to become parents; as South Africa's athletes return from Rio, Lindsay Johns in Cape Town reflects on the extraordinary impact that Olympic success is having there on coloured South Africans more than twenty-five years after the end of apartheid; Caroline Davies in Cairo discovers how, despite the growing intolerance Copts face in Egypt, they are enjoying great success in the country's recycling business; and Hugh Schofield in Paris ponders the world of Anglo-French mathematics as he studies for his A level in the subject and his son works on his baccalauréat.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from writers and correspondents around the world. This week: Kevin Connolly reports from Bratislava as EU leaders have a perfectly normal get-together - except someone's missing; Sebastian Usher chronicles the war of words between Saudi Arabia and Iran during the Hajj; Jenny Hill visits Hamburg to discover if Mrs Merkel is right to say Germany "can do it" as it tries to absorb its large influx of migrants; Stephanie Hegarty tells the story of shocked shop owners in Lagos and their dramatic tussle with the local authorities; and what Adam Shaw learnt when he met aspiring techies in St Louis.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from writers and correspondents around the world. This week: Yolande Knell reports on the boom in civil marriages on Cyprus - for couples from Lebanon and Israel; Roger Hearing reveals what happened when he fell foul of the Russian authorities at the border with North Korea; Jannat Jalil speaks to townspeople in Calais about the impact of the continuing crisis at the so-called Jungle migrant camp; Monica Whitlock considers how lasting Islam Karimov’s influence will be in Uzbekistan; and Nick Thorpe assesses what the Turkish and Hungarian celebrations of the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Szigetvar say about relations between the two countries.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from writers and correspondents around the world. This week: As the latest summit of the Group of 20 leading nations takes place in China this weekend, Carrie Gracie profiles the historic city of Hangzhou which will host the meetings of the heads of government and central bank governors. Wyre Davies considers the vote of the Brazilian Senate to impeach Dilma Rousseff and whether the change at the top of the country's politics amounts to a coup. Katerina Vittozzi reports from the Central African Republic on her meeting with the victim of a brutal sexual assault. With Pyongyang holding its first international beer festival, Stephen Evans considers how the drink is a surprisingly unifying facet of life in North and South Korea. And David Willis in Los Angeles ponders whether errant American Olympian, Ryan Lochte, may yet be rehabilitated by dancing with the stars.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from writers and correspondents around the world. This week: a special insight into the extraordinary number of recent deaths in the Philippines as Jonathan Head talks to one of the country's hired killers; Mark Tully discovers how the "war on drugs" - particularly heroin - in Punjab is going; in the United States, Linda Pressly goes on call with an Ohio coroner dealing with the explosion in the number of deaths resulting from overdoses of prescription drugs and heroin supplied on the street; Justin Rowlatt gets early warning of a possible coup in the Maldives and heads for the island paradise; and Caroline Juler discovers how to improve medical care in Romania as doctors and nurses are drawn to jobs in other countries.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from writers and correspondents around the world. This week: Mark Lowen gauges the mood in Turkey today - and detects a hardening of public opinion against anyone thought to be associated with the attempted coup in July as well as an anti-Western backlash. Seref Isler was part of the BBC team covering those events and recalls what it was like to witness "the night no-one slept". Stephen Sackur's been to Attawapiskat and Calgary to hear of the very modern challenges threatening the survival of Canada's historic First Nations people: can the new Canadian Prime Minister's promises to help these communities be kept? In a Dakar nightclub, Nicola Kelly meets some aspiring DJs and hears their ideas on how to keep Senegalese young people from risking their lives on risky emigrant routes. And Martin Buckley is on the beaches of Corsica to learn why this island - along with the rest of France - has been convulsed with concern over the burkini.

India and Pakistan have often confronted each other - but each nation also has to deal with domestic security problems. In Indian-administered Kashmir, Justin Rowlatt hears from restive crowds who have been silenced by neither days of curfew nor a news blackout, and witnesses the police tactics used to try and tamp down their protests. Over the border in Pakistan, Shaimaa Khalil explains why the troubled province of Baluchistan is such a headache for central government - and why the violence which plagues it is now being turned against local lawyers. Lucy Ash hears how drama itself can play a role in reconciling Colombians with their past, as former left-wing rebels, ex-right-wing paramilitiaries, and the victims of their crimes meet on stage. Rayhan Demytrie recently saw a different kind of political theatre unfolding on the streets of Armenia's capital, Yerevan, as veterans of the war with Azerbaijan mounted an armed attack against their own state - and were applauded for it by many Armenians. And far from

Kate Adie introduces reports on South Africa's elections, Germany and migration, Kosovo's Olympic debut, Gujarat's Dalits march against discrimination and old meets new in Samoa.

Two friends reunited in Baghdad, hot cuisine in Chengdu and slow traffic in Serbia.

Kate Adie introduces analysis, reflection and reporting from correspondents around the world. As Turkey recovers from last week's attempted coup, Mark Urban finds that in Ankara the conspiracy theories are burgeoning. Could these events be the pretext (or a catalyst) for Turkey snubbing the EU, walking away from its relationship with the US or even distancing itself from Nato? Karen Allen's been at the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban to get a global picture of the HIV epidemic; while there have been some notable advances on treatment and prevention, she sees South Africa's still struggling to deal with the virus. Despite the heavily-reported warming up of its relationship with the USA, Cuba still has a hidebound economy and is warning its people to tighten their belts and prepare for austerity - again - says Will Grant in Havana. Martin Patience reaches some resentful corners of Nigeria's Delta region the only way anyone can: by speedboat, and with an entourage of local dignitaries. And Antonia Q

John Sopel on what to expect from Donald Trump’s coronation party. Cowboy country in Argentina - but where have all the cows gone?We meet the Aboriginal activists trying to make native title to land actually mean something, in Australia’s northernmost point, Cape York. A new wall in the West Bank – our correspondent gets kitted out for rock climbing in Ramallah. And nudity and birch twigs in the Karelia region in Russia

Kate Adie introduces tales of true grit - and grace under pressure - from around the world. As the USA agonises over questions of policing, race and firearms, Barbara Plett Usher in Minnesota hears how little trust some protesters have in the future. As veteran reporter Jim Muir prepares to leave the BBC, he remembers first setting out for Lebanon in 1974. His beloved city of Beirut would soon be engulfed by war - a fate shared by much of the Middle East since then. Nicola Kelly talks to people in the so-called 'jihadi north' of Burkina Faso about the growing threats from militant groups which are affecting their lives and businesses. Tim Ecott is on the Faroe Islands, where there are more sheep than humans - but it's the birds which are the true owners of the landscape. And Heidi Fuller Love breaks out of the luxury-hotel bubble in the Maldives to attend a gathering in honour of a national hero: the sixteenth-century Sultan and sea captain who liberated these islands from the Portuguese empire.

Kate Adie introduces stories from correspondents around the world. Frank Gardner assesses the reaction to the bombing close to one of Islam's holiest sites. Shaimaa Khalil tells how a Pakistani assassin and the country's strict blasphemy laws influenced a killer in the UK. We go to Colombia to hear from Natalio Cosoy and the story of legislators who are struggling with a problem: how do you pass laws to force senators to turn up for work when the senators needed to pass the laws don't turn up for work. Olivia Acland travels to meet residents of a small island off the coast of Sierra Leone who learn that rich foreigners bearing gifts don't always keep their promises. And Diarmaid Fleming tells how the appearance of mayflies causes the residents of one Irish town to drop everything and take to the water in search of trout

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world: This week: After the killing of 20 hostages at an upmarket café in Bangladesh Sanjoy Majumder hears how it is the backgrounds of the killers that is worrying people in Dhaka. Linda Pressly meets the people attending an unusual rehab centre for alcoholics in Canada. Martin Patience tries in vain to get an accident report for a prang in his car in Nigeria. Shile Khumalo looks at how the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is being seen as an example of lingering white privilege in the South African Justice system. And Tony Vale is on the hunt of avocado rustlers in New Zealand.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today: with the Chilcot Report into the 2003 invasion and its aftermath, Jeremy Bowen is in Iraq, a country in a state of perpetual war. Chris Bowlby remembers a special tea party in Prague, just as Czechoslovakia was splitting apart, where the talk was of British political stability; Shaimaa Khalil tells the story of a controversial social media star - Pakistan's Kim Kardashian. There's a month to go until the Rio Olympics but the country is embroiled in economic and political turmoil; Wyre Davies is the middle of it all. And, in South Sudan, Mark Doyle gets up close to some magnificent beasts and he discusses democracy.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents stories. Our man in Budapest, Nick Thorpe, hears how the Brexit vote has created fear and insecurity across eastern Europe. With Leave campaigners saying that Britain has a bright future trading with the rest of the world, Sanjoy Majumder is in Delhi, where Indian businesses and students think they could profit; Lizzie Porter visits the old aiport-turned Olympic site which is now home to thousands of Afghans in Greece; James Jeffrey is fascinated by fasting and marvels at how dock workers in Djibouti just keep carrying on under the baking sun - even during Ramadan; And Steve Rosenberg remembers his favourite Soviet cartoon as he explores Russia's hurt sporting pride.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today: Lucy Ash is in the midst of the Republic of Macedonia's "Colourful Revolution," where it's buildings and statues that are getting a new lick of paint; Richard Lim is in Iraqi Kurdistan which may be relatively peaceful but its economy is faltering; Joe Gerlach has an odd taste in his mouth in Ecuador as he's invited to quaff a somewhat metallic concoction; James Jeffrey reflects on the Ethiopian mindset, in which any criticism is unwelcome. And, in the United States, they've waited 17 years for them but Simon Parker soon gets a mouthful of critters.

Leaving's the theme of this edition. Bridget Kendall, the BBC's Russia specialist, is hanging up her headphones but not before she talks about secret agents and considers what the past can tell us about that country's future. Past and present are on Kevin Connolly's mind too. He's off to a new BBC posting and points out that within half an hour's walk of his home in Jerusalem some of the defining dramas of the ancient world played themselves out. He also talks of the pleasures and pitfalls of Middle East reporting today. And Gabriel Gatehouse hums the theme tune from 'The Great Escape' while considering departures in his essay about the EU referendum and the Euro2016 football tournament in France

Around the world in less than half an hour. A slump in global oil prices has hit Angola hard but still, there are glimpses of wealth everywhere and abject poverty's never far away; the Iraqi city of Basra is governed by hardline Iranian-backed Islamic politicians but that doesn't stop its citizens enjoying themselves at a brand new shopping mall they call Times Square; what happens to the clothes you give away to charity shops? Many are beginning a journey which could lead to countries in Asia or Africa but first stop, we learn, might be a giant warehouse in Hungary; the quality of the air in Hong Kong has reached new lows and people are becoming ill with respiratory problems and cancers -- we're off in search of the one spot in the city that usually escapes the smog. And, in the primary schools of France they take poetry very seriously indeed. That can mean a homework nightmare. For the children -- and for parents too

Reporters with the news behind the news. In this edition: it used to be Cuba, but today Venezuela is the more troubled of the two socialist allies and the country the US president prefers to visit; there's a portrait of the city of Venice, of the quarters where the tourists don't visit, where houses are boarded up as more and more residents move away; exotic Kashgar used to be one of the key stop-overs on the ancient Silk Route. Today the modern and the ancient are coming into conflict there as China tries to bring the restive region under control; countries in southern Africa face a damaging drought after another year of insufficient rainfall - we're in landlocked Lesotho, where food supplies are now at risk; and why do we develop loyalties to one particular part of a city? In Paris, there's acute rivalry between neighbourhoods on the north and south of the River Seine. Our man in the great city climbs on his bike to sample life on the other side ...