Having reached Greece after often perilous journeys, many migrants now find that their hoped-for route north is blocked. Danny Savage meets some of those who have to live in tents in Athens, and on the Greek-Macedonian border with little hope of reaching their final destinations. Many refugees have come from Syria, where neighbourhoods in some cities have been reduced to rubble. Warda al-Jawahiry visits Homs, parts of which have been completely bombed out. Yet there are those who still live there, and bear emotional scars that are as real as the physical destruction. In the Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba, James Jeffrey goes for his early morning run, and finds he's not alone. For early dawn is the time when hyenas finish their night time scavenging in the city. Chris Bockman is in the Spanish enclave of Llivia - a small town completely surrounded by France, but with surprisingly few French speakers. And in Mongolia many young people are giving up the outdoor life of herding sheep on the steppe, and reading novels by candlelight in a yurt at night, for that of a polluted city. Anthony Denselow meets some of them. Published on March 3, 2016.

Trapped in a dead end

Turkey and the EU are hammering out a deal that would turn Turkey into the gatekeeper of Europe, to stop undocumented migrants from reaching the West. But will the refugees agree to stay in Turkey, or try to reach the EU by any means possible?



They have lost limbs, parents, homes, and favourite dolls. But not their bravery and spirit. We meet the children who have been affected by the five years of war in Syria. If you're an American, your annual tax return form 1040 has an instruction booklet that's over 100 pages long. Luckily, help is at hand, not just from accountants, but also from specially trained volunteers, like our correspondent. We go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of the Mourides brotherhood in Senegal, where offering hospitality is such an honour, that some believers ask people at the bus stop if they'd come and be their guest. And Paris fashion - for those with no interest in sartorial trends. Was it the universe that pushed our correspondent to brush up on his 'overcast shell hems', and 'poodle cloth'? Published on March 12, 2016.

Stuck in Turkey.

There's dancing in a nightclub in Damascus, though some remain seated during the songs played in honour of the leaders of Syria and Hezbollah. And not much dancing in the suburbs. How are locals coping after five years of war? He started out as a caring psychiatrist, and before his capture he lived as an alternative healer. Yes, it's the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. who may be convicted of genocide next week. Playing chess with God - or rather, in a stunning part of Ethiopia called the Chess pieces of God, is it check mate for some very rare animals, or the local mountain people? In Romania, shepherds cloaked in sheep skins are on the war path, and we sail past the remotest island in the world, Bouvetoya. It is only inhabited by penguins, but has its own internet domain. Published on March 19, 2016.

Dancing in Damascus

In this edition: a greyish sticky dough called fufu from the Democratic Republic of Congo; pesto Genovese from Italy, made as it used to be, with a pestle and mortar; there's a dish of smoked puffin from Iceland and some of the finest cannabis lollipops in the American west. All this culinary exotica comes as part of this weekly insight, analysis, colour and description served up by reporters covering some of the  week’s big news stories around the world Published on April 9, 2016.

The Babylon Brigade

It's been a momentous week in South Sudan, where a national unity government has been formed under President Salva Kiir as his old enemy, the rebel leader Riek Machar returned to the capital Juba for the first time since the civil war broke out in December 2013. Can these men now lead their country to a much longed-for peace? 

Imagine being fined four years' salary for having a second child. That's what used to happen in China. We meet a rare family in Beijing with two daughters. 

Cuba's Fidel Castro is celebrating his 90th birthday this year. Last week he effectively said goodbye to his key supporters, but there is no sign that his fellow revolutionaries, now well into their eighties, are going to retire any time soon. 

If you'd suffered the kind of radioactive contamination that came with the fallout of the accident at Chernobyl, would you risk building a nuclear power plant? Ukraine's neighbour Belarus is hoping that atomic lightning won't strike twice. 

And if you're going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in the French Pyrenees, you may find that a trip to a beauty spot in the nearby mountains can be as soothing, if not more, than a wander around town. Just don't try and catch a bus there, at least not until July. Published on April 30, 2016.

Peace for South Sudan?

Insight, colour and analysis. In this edition: the authorities deny IS or al-Qaeda is active in Bangladesh but others believe a spate of vicious killings there is the work of Islamist extremists; after Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, American schools are now having to rehearse what they'll do if their place of learning comes under gun attack -- but the precautions aren't always a comfort to parents; there are now hundreds of thousands of Syrians taking shelter from the war in neighbouring Jordan - their presence is having a marked effect on the Jordanian economy and on its peoples' eating habits; we meet a man in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania who tells us how the country's new president is providing his country with inspirational leadership at last. And surely covering the Cannes Film Festival is a thoroughly pleasant experience? Only up to a point, apparently. We hear a story of status anxiety and snobbery, indignity and humiliation Published on May 19, 2016.

Murder in Bangladesh

From Our Own Correspondent
Insight, wit and analysis as BBC correspondents, journalists and writers take a closer look at the stories behind the headlines. Presented by Kate Adie. 

FromOurOwnCorrespondent