April 23, 2011

04/23/11 • 28 min

Students aren't revolting in Qatar and Oman -- Robin Lustig's been to the Gulf states to see what effect the uprisings in parts of the Arab world are having there. Justin Marozzi's in Libya as questions are being asked about who will run the country in the future. More journalists lost their lives this week in the fighting in Libya. Stuart Hughes reflects on the dangers a reporter can face covering conflict. Ethiopia is one of the least urbanised countries in the world; it's also a place which is losing its doctors - many of them are leave the country to work elsewhere. Claudia Hammond's been talking to some of the young people there who've now been charged with taking healthcare out into the wideopen spaces of the Ethiopian countryside. And why is it city dwellers in France are happy to live in apartments while their counterparts in the UK opt, where possible, for houses? Hugh Schofield in France wonders what this division tells us about the development of two neighbouring peoples.

Previous Episode

April 16, 2011

'The Bahrain I had known wasn't there' - Frank Gardner, who used to live on the Gulf island, reports on life there under a state of emergency. The 7/7 bombings in London claimed victims of many nationalities; Nick Beake has travelled to Poland to hear more about one of them: a young woman who was a keen student and a member of the local choir. India's huge population has come under scrutiny in the recent census and Mark Tully has been wondering if the country's relatively youthful population will ultimately prove a boon for the economy -- or a drain on it. A long running strike at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has finally come to an end and Petroc Trelawny's been hearing that it could be a long time before the wounds are healed. And Kathy Flower finds that chemists' shops in the French Pyrenees offer much more than just aspirins - they're places you can visit for advice on wild mushrooms: will they kill you or prove a tasty topping on your omelette?

Next Episode

April 30, 2011

A very French murder story: Hugh Schofield tells how France has been transfixed by an appalling human drama -- the killing of a mother, three sons and a daughter. Owen Bennett Jones questions whether depicting the news from Syria as 'brutal suppression of peaceful protestors' might be, to some extent, misleading. A climate of fear is stifling discussion about Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws -- that's the contention of the BBC's Jill McGivering who's been touring the country investigating. Richard Wilson makes a return trip to Antarctica and is shocked at how the continent's changing. Gareth Armstrong visits an Indian classroom and hears the students voice outrage at how the British regard the work of the children's author Enid Blyton.