Many schoolchildren in South Africa's northern Limpopo province have gone for months without school textbooks. There was money to buy them. There was also a contract to deliver the books. Yet they didn't arrive. Students and parents are furious with politicians of the governing ANC - and say the problem is due to mismanagement and corruption. They say the issue typifies the faults of the political system, and that their children have been the victims. Rob Walker investigates the mystery of the missing textbooks. Published on November 29, 2012.

The Mystery of South Africa's Missing Textbooks

Linda Pressly investigates why rape and sexual abuse is so common in America's huge prison system - and asks if new measures to fight it will succeed.
Producer: Helen Grady. Published on December 6, 2012.

Sexual Abuse in US Prisons

The city of Misrata arguably suffered the most during the Libyan conflict as missiles rained on it for months on end. By the end of the revolution though, fighters from Misrata had exacted their revenge on neighbouring towns and had been responsible for the capture of Colonel Gaddafi, as well as Gaddafi strongholds. More recently Misratan fighters have been in action against the city of Bani Walid. Many residents of Bani Walid, accused of being Gaddafi supporters, have been expelled from their homes. Misrata has, effectively, set itself up as a city state, outside the control of Libya's new government. 
Writer and journalist Justin Marozzi, who has been visiting Libya over the last twenty years, including during the revolution, returns to examine if this fragmented country can rebuild itself and come together. Is reconciliation possible while different armed groups continue to fight each other?
Producer: John Murphy. Published on December 13, 2012.

Libya: Life after the Revolution

For decades, Poland has been a country of emigrants travelling to build new lives abroad, not least in the UK. But could things be about to change? Paul Henley travels to the country at the eastern edge of the EU, where the financial crisis has, so far, been avoided. He meets the migrants already making a life in Europe's least multicultural society, and explores the conditions that suggest Poland could be on the cusp of becoming a destination; home to a new wave of migrants.
Producer: Lila Allen. Published on December 20, 2012.

Poland's New Immigrants

The Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia's freezing Gobi Desert is one of the the world's biggest - extracting a vast seam of copper, gold and silver the size of Manhattan. It's turned this country of camel and yak herders into the world's fastest growing economy. Fancy boutiques, top-end car dealerships and coffee shops are springing up across the capital. But, as Justin Rowlatt discovers, riding the boom is not easy. He meets a rapper who says the government is simply selling the country's assets to its old rival, China. And there are fears from foreign investors about attempts by the government to increase its income from the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Can Mongolia become prosperous while sharing its new-found wealth - or will it kill the goose before it has laid any gold (or copper) eggs?
Producer: Kent DePinto. Published on March 28, 2013.

Mongolia's Mining Boom

Belarus has been described as the last dictatorship in Europe. Few dare speak out against President Alexander Lukashenko and his ruling elite. But the opposition has found a way of making its voice heard through an academic community which has taken refuge abroad. 

Lucy Ash visits the European Humanities University which teaches Belarusian students on its campus in neighbouring Lithuania. She talks to teachers and students, many of whom commute back and forth across the border. Is the EHU devoted to intellectual freedom and training future leaders of Belarus or is it a "trampoline for emigration" to the west?

Producer: Tim Mansel. Published on April 25, 2013.

Belarus's university in exile

Crossing Continents
On the ground reporting from around the world which focuses on the human dimension of the big international stories.