From Our Own Correspondent

Nelson Mandela: five correspondents who'll never forget how their own stories came to coincide with that of the great South African leader, who died on Thursday. Fergal Keane was our man in Johannesburg as Mr Mandela fought to keep his country back from the brink of civil war; John Simpson on the day he met a man who had 'become perhaps the most revered person on earth.' Milton Nkosi recalls the risks taken to keep the name of Nelson Mandela alive in the townships during his long years of imprisonment; Hamilton Wende on what it was like, as a white South African, growing up in a country where even talking of Mr Mandela could be dangerous and James Robbins on the long-awaited day when the man who went on to lead the country was freed from prison and appeared before a jubilant crowd in Cape Town. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents with stories from the news. Today, Steve Rosenberg on how Ukraine's caught in a tug-of-war between Russia and the European Union; a huge refugee camp by the Sahara Desert is hit by drought - Chris Terrill says it's difficult for the inmates and the aid agencies trying to help them. But it's a boon for the Islamic militant groups looking for recruits; freak weather has killed thirty thousand cattle in the American state, South Dakota - Sybil Ruscoe's been there to see how the ranchers are coping; James Menendez has been travelling in Burma, also known as Myanmar. The place is fast modernising, but transformation has yet to arrive on its railways. And Robin Lustig goes hiking through Peru's Andean foothills looking for coca growers and finding out why they're dubious about their government's anti-drugs initiative. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Reporters' despatches: already this year more than seven thousand people have been killed in the upsurge of violence in Iraq. Andrew Hosken explores a country full of widows, orphans and frightened people mourning the loss of loved ones. In America, two significant anniversaries - Allan Little has been to the locations involved, Gettysburg and Dallas, and uncovers surprising revelations about the state of the USA today. The president of Bulgaria's talking of 'emergency' as demonstrations against the government show no sign of letting up - Emma Jane Kirby's been talking to the protestors in the capital, Sofia. Peter Day visits a Chinese village where they haven't yet turned their backs on the 'Great Helmsman' Mao tse Tung. And as the big Thanksgiving Day American football matches approach, Mike Wendling reflects on a sport facing difficult questions about the safety of its players. The producer of From Our Own Correspondent is Tony Grant

The noise and devastation of Hurricane Haiyan: Andrew Harding on the first town in the Philippines to feel the force of the storm; Charles Haviland on how the furore surrounding the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka has pushed the Tamil north of the country into the news spotlight; Nicholas Wade travels to Jerusalem to hear people's views about the latest attempts to reach a Middle East peace settlement; Moldova and other former Soviet satellites are due to sign a trade deal with the EU and Tessa Dunlop's been finding out that not everyone there feels it's a good idea to turn their backs on Russia and Will Ross has been taking time off from the hard news of Nigeria to take a look at its thriving arts scene -- and a novel use for the xylophone! From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Correspondents' despatches: Jeremy Bowen on the talks, restarting in Geneva next week, about Iran's nuclear ambitions; the Colombian authorities are trying to rehabilitate child soldiers who have fought for leftist armed groups like the FARC - Tom Esslemont's been along to take a look; Steve Vickers finds out why people no longer want to live among the thousands of islands off the coast of Sweden; an atheist goes to church: Andrew Whitehead visits Martin Luther King's Baptist church in Alabama and finds himself caught up in a service. And is there any trace left of the apple orchards which once covered the island of Jersey? The answer to that one comes from Christine Finn. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Correspondents worldwide: Kevin Connolly talks of unfinished business in the Middle East finally being attended to after one hundred years. Historical and continuing allegations of rape and torture in Sri Lanka are investigated by Frances Harrison. For India, its mission to Mars is an opportunity to come out top of a new Asian space race -- Justin Rowlatt examines the question: couldn't the cash instead have been used to lift many Indians out of poverty? Kieran Cooke boards a train in the west of Ireland to see if passengers feel optimistic now their prime minister has decreed the country's well on the way to seeing off an economic crisis. And David Mazower on stories of remembrance and loss which emerge in the wake of that extraordinary discovery of a huge cache of looted artwork in Germany. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Reporters worldwide: while refugees continue to stream out of Syria in their thousands, there are people who need to go INTO the country. Nigel Wilson's been talking to a group of them at the bus station in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Lyse Doucet, meanwhile, is in the Syrian capital Damascus where life for some, but not others, is becoming increasingly hard. Thomas Fessy talks of the shock in Francophone Africa at the killing of two French radio journalists in Mali. In Malaysia, elephants are losing their habitat as development continues apace. Bob Walker takes a look at a controversial plan to give the animals a new home. And Indian women over the centuries have been wearing the elegant sari -- Anu Anand has been hearing of a campaign to boost its popularity in the face of competition from more contemporary, if less stylish, clothing. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents' stories: Jeremy Bowen on the effect in Egypt of the upcoming trials of senior figures from the Muslim Brotherhood; you could write the history of the South Pacific as a succession of arrivals of powerful, foreign vessels in palm-fringed lagoons, according to John Pickford in Tonga; the Sudanese capital Khartoum 'changed forever' after the recent riots in the capital - that's what James Copnall's been hearing in Khartoum; Linda Pressly's been to the Spanish city of Melilla, on the north coast of Morocco, to meet the so-called 'mule women' and find out why they're prepared to shoulder such heavy loads and Russians have never been famous for their smiles, but Jamie Coomarasamy's wondering if times have changed and they're now no longer trying to keep a straight face! The programme is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents' stories: once the cradle of the Arab Spring, Tunisia's now battling an Islamist insurgency and an huge influx of refugees from neighbouring Libya - Andrew Hosken has been investigating; Andreas Gebauer finds parallels between Israel's security barrier and the Berlin wall which he first saw as a young boy; Emilie Filou is in the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean meeting people desperate to start a new life in nearby French territory; Vincent Dowd's visiting a corner of south west Ireland he describes as paradise and Rob Crossan creates a stir among drinkers at the only pub in a remote town in Greenland. The programme's producer is Tony Grant

The financial crash has devastated the historic centre of Rome - Joanna Robertson talks of a favourite city now drained of community life; the perils of newsgathering in Sri Lanka: Fergal Keane meets journalists there determined to carry on reporting despite the risk of intimidation, assault and even murder. Jon Donnison's in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales where the wildfires are still raging and there's a heated debate about how much climate change is to blame; Steve Evans, on the row surrounding the bugging of Chancellor Merkel's 'phone, wonders what information the Americans have gleaned. And a travelling correspondent may carry a lap-top, a digital recorder, a camera but a two-month-old baby? Madeleine Morris has the story of what happened when a toddler came too.

As one of the last heroes of the Vietnam War is laid to rest, Rajan Datar hears young people there keen to move on from those years of conflict, to celebrate instead a land rich in culture and economic opportunity; Jonah Fisher talks of the debate in swiftly-changing Myanmar about what exactly makes a detainee a political prisoner; as Greece continues its punishing austerity programme, Alexa Dvorson has been finding out how they are coping out in the countryside, away from the main cities; 'let there be light' seems to be the message in Lagos: Neal Razzell has been to see a state government initiative in Nigeria's biggest city introduce street lighting to many formerly-dark and threatening streets and the BBC's bureau in Moscow has been celebrating fifty years of existence. Steve Rosenberg has been looking at news reporting there then and now. The producer is Tony Grant

The Via Roma in the Italian island of Lampedusa -- Alan Johnston says that for the migrants who make it in from the sea, this is the road which may take them to better lives in a richer world. Owen Bennett Jones studies the contrast between the lives of the women who present programmes on Pakistani TV with those who live in distant villages. There's a heated debate in France about what they should do about their seriously overcrowded prisons. Christian Fraser's been to one of the country's biggest jails. Lynne O'Donnell in Afghanistan finds out what can be learned in a visit to some of the world's oldest, most magnificent and archaeologically significant sites. And it's been a tense and anxious few days for some in the Senegalese capital, Dakar and all, Thomas Fessy tells us, because of the price of sheep. The producer is Tony Grant.

The traditional sad songs of Portugal have become sadder still as the government in Lisbon announces another tough, cost-cutting budget -- Andrew Hosken has been noting the reaction in Lisbon. The Indian authorities launch an inquiry into a stampede at a temple which killed more than a hundred people -- Andrew North says only days before they were being praised for the measures they'd taken as a cyclone battered the country's east coast. There's an election next week in Madagascar -- Emilie Filou wonders if it might bring improvements to the island's beleaguered education system. On St Kitts in the Caribbean, Orin Gordon finds people divided over plans to build luxury homes in some of the island's most celebrated spots. While in the Italian province of Puglia, the discussion's not so much about luxury homes as why rich foreigners are flying in to buy homes which once only the poor lived in. Tony Grant produces From Our Own Correspondent

Correspondents' stories: the Champs d'Elysees is an icon of Paris, a majestic piece of town planning. So why does our man in Paris Hugh Schofield suggest, rather forcefully, that visitors should avoid it? The news caravan may have moved on from Libya, but Tim Whewell's been finding out that the country's still in the midst of a revolution. Joanna Jolly has been to Uttar Pradesh in India to report on the aftermath of fighting between Hindus and Muslims. Listening to people's stories of violence and suffering, she found herself becoming involved in ways she hadn't expected; James Coomarasamy has been to Tajikistan in Central Asia where there's mounting concern about the future, when NATO troops leave neighbouring Afghanistan and Jonathan Head joins a group of well-heeled women in a luxury spa in Myanmar and hears stories of a country in the grip of dramatic change. Tony Grant is the producer of From Our Own Correspondent

Looking behind the news. In this programme: David Loyn examines the claim that NATO has achieved nothing but suffering in Afghanistan; Louisa Loveluck on controversy surrounding the Egyptian military offensive in Sinai; there's a book boom going on in Iceland and Rosie Goldsmith has been finding out why; gun-toting gangsters on the streets of Acapulco as Mexico tries to deal with the aftermath of two deadly storms - Will Grant's on that story and what makes a war memorial memorable? Steve Evans ponders that question in Leipzig. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Colour and analysis from around the world: Kevin Connolly says as much as a quarter of the population of Lebanon is now Syrian - and the cost of hosting so many refugees is soaring; Mark Lowen in Athens on the reaction of Greek men and women to the authorities' campaign against members of the far-right Golden Dawn party; there's been an economic revolution in The Seychelles and Tim Ecott's been finding out how it was achieved; Kirsty Lang talks about the day a six metre long snake brought terror to the streets of a small town in Brazil while Joanna Robertson has been observing the French easing their way into autumn with the help of some particularly exotic cakes. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents with colour and analysis from around the world: Theopi Skarlatos in Thessaloniki on the authorities' crackdown on the far right; Alex Preston is in what he calls one of Africa's most expensive and charmless capitals, Abuja in Nigeria; distant La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, is a popular destination for well off French tourists -- Robin Denselow's been learning that's causing resentment among some local people; Tessa Dunlop discovers how a photographer's work is teaching residents in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, what happened to their city centre during the days of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And among correspondents there are many tales about daunting dishes -- here, Mark Bosworth in Finland talks of a national favourite: licorice shot through with ammonium chloride. The programme is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents' stories: behind the scenes at the UN General Assembly in New York - Nick Bryant says it's been about so much more than the keynote speeches in the assembly hall. Andrew Harding was covering the seige in Nairobi in which more than 60-people were killed. Many of the city's residents, he says, feel personally scarred by the horrors of what happened at the Westgate Centre. Havana Marking talks of her bid to track down the Pink Panthers, the gang thought responsible for a string of daring jewel heists in the south of France this summer. There's a visit to Dushanbe in Tajikistan: Jamie Coomarasamy takes a look at the president's spectacular building programme while Nick Thorpe is in Austria where hydropower is a major issue and the hills are alive with the sound of disagreement.

Global despatches. Today: it was Gabriel Gatehouse's local shopping mall but now the Westgate Centre in Nairobi has become known as a place of fear, suffering and death; did Angela Merkel do TOO well in the German election? Chris Morris on why forming a new government there could be a protracted business. As the Egyptian authorities move to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, Quentin Sommerville talks of the country's increasing polarisation. China's wealthy elite have found their own solution to the country's girl shortage - Lucy Ash has been meeting 'The Love Hunters' in Shanghai. And John Pickford has been finding out if there are still beachcombers to be found in the faraway islands of the South Pacific. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Correspondents' despatches: Jeremy Bowen in Damascus reflects on the lessons a reporter learns after more than twenty years covering conflicts around the world; Steve Evans meets a lady down on her luck in a Baltic port city as Germany prepares for new elections; Diana Darke looks at Turkey's huge 'GAP' water project and wonders if it will work for or against the country's Kurdish population; near Toulouse in France they've found a crashed German wartime aircraft in a cave -- and some locals, it seems, weren't all that keen on digging up its history and can Emma Thomas really get to grips with the Danish language without looking at textbooks or going to classes? All will be revealed. Tony Grant produces From Our Own Correspondent