From Our Own Correspondent

The small city of Bucha, not far from Kyiv, has experienced some of the worst atrocities of the Russian invasion so far. It's understood that hundreds of civilians have been tortured, raped and murdered by Russian forces. Yogita Limaye has been hearing the story of one woman who experienced this horror first hand. The war in Ukraine has caused particular worry in Finland, which shares a long border - and turbulent history - with Russia. Finland only became independent from Russia in 1917, and, historically, the price of sustaining that independence was neutrality. Joining other European countries in NATO was out of the question - and by and large, most Finns were not interested anyway. But what a difference a few weeks make, as Allan Little found. As far as Singapore’s prosecutors were concerned, he was a drug smuggler, pure and simple. His mother though insisted he was a victim, a man of limited intelligence, who’d been tricked into carrying a small amount of heroin across the border from his home in Malaysi

The former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez was voted out of power in January, and within weeks was arrested, accused of being part of a major international drugs ring. This month, Mr Hernandez was extradited to the US, where he will face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering - charges he denies. Meanwhile, back in Honduras, police say they are now trying to destroy the drug industry, and invited our correspondent Will Grant along to show how.A British man was killed this week while fighting in Ukraine, emphasising the international aspect of the crisis. Thousands of foreigners have travelled to Ukraine to take up arms, encouraged by the country’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky. But why would someone travel to a distant country, to fight in towns and cities they may have struggled to find on a map? Hugh Barnes found a wide variety of reasons - and people - who have answered the call.Across Ukraine, there are reminders of the warm relationship the country once had with its neighbour, Russ

Rivers and the sea have long-battered waterfront villages in Bangladesh, but this is a problem now made worse by climate change. Many people have had to flee several times, as land erodes and their homes crumble. Qasa Alom went to meet those forced to repeatedly restart their lives, and joins locals working on a solution to provide more permanent sanctuary.Morocco was once home to a thriving Jewish community, who began an exodus from the country in the 1950s as relations deteriorated between the Arab world and Israel. At its peak, there were several hundred thousand Jews living in the country, many in the coastal town of Essouira. With diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel now restored, some citizens of Essouira are reaching out to Israelis. Elizabeth Gowing found herself wondering whether tensions of the recent past really can be replaced by fonder memories of a one-time shared communal history.When the US and its allies overthrew Saddam Hussein, they promised a new era for the people of Iraq, prov

What do Russians make of their country’s invasion of Ukraine? It is no easy matter to conduct opinion polls in Russia at the best of times, sampling views from St Petersburg to Siberia. Right now though, Russian people are not free to express their opinions anyway, with a new law in place making it a criminal offence to say anything about the Ukraine conflict which the authorities consider untrue. Jenny Hill is in Moscow, and has been keeping her ear to the ground.Globalisation, the extraordinary interconnectedness of modern life, means that the events in Ukraine are having profound effects in places far from any battle. Kenya, for example, has already been suffering from drought, but this has now been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion: because Ukrainian farmers have been kept from their fields, global food prices have risen. Ben Henderson recently travelled to Kenya’s far north, and found what looks like a major crisis in the making.2018 saw South Korea hold a successful Winter Olympics, in which North Korean

The destruction of Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol has garnered global headlines, but the fighting has also filtered out to the rural towns and villages which surround it. These lack the city’s resources for dealing with the dead, the injured, and the bereaved, and when Wyre Davis reached one of these rural spots, he found even the most day-to-day tasks present significant challenges and risks.Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to occupy the middle ground on Ukraine; he remains on good terms with Vladimir Putin, but Turkey is also a member of NATO. This has enabled President Erdogan to take a central role in efforts to reach a peace deal, inviting negotiators to meet in Istanbul. And this is perhaps the ideal city for discussions aimed at healing division. Istanbul marks the point where Europe and Asia meet, with the Bosphorus Strait running between the two. The Bosphorus also occupies a key strategic position in this conflict, which Ellie House found herself reflecting on as she took a boat

It’s 40 years since Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands – or the Malvinas – as they are known in Spanish. Nearly 1,000 soldiers were killed in the war – more than 600 of whom were Argentinian. Katy Watson spoke to people about what happened in the war and how relations between the two countries have changed An estimated quarter of a million Russians have fled their homeland since the invasion of Ukraine. An estimated 35000 have relocated across Russia's southern border to Georgia. The capital Tbilisi is a melting pot of several nationalities – all escaping the war. Rayhan Demytrie has spent the past week meeting some of them The island of Taiwan may have its own constitution and a democratically-elected government – but its legal status remains contested. China sees it as a breakaway state, which it has vowed to retake by force if necessary. As events have unfolded in Ukraine, it has left Taiwanese asking if Beijing would follow a similar course to that of Moscow, says Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. People in Ser

The pounding of civilian infrastructure by Russian forces has continued this week in cities like Mykolaiv and Mariupol even as peace talks were underway. And Russia's claims it will reduce its military activity in the north and focus more on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region are being treated with scepticism. Orla Guerin is in Kyiv. Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the siege of Mariupol as a ‘crime against humanity’ this week. Mariupol’s mayor has called for the evacuation of the entire city. But the journey away from the city is fraught with danger and a safe passage is far from guaranteed. Hugo Bachega spoke to those that did manage to escape. A few days after the invasion, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz unexpectedly announced a massive boost in military spending. It’s arguably one of the most dramatic shifts in German foreign policy since the Second World War. According to polls most Germans support the new policy, but enthusiasm for it is muted. Our correspondent Damien McGuinness is in Ber

Since the Taliban took power last year, more than half a million Afghans have lost their jobs, and the country now faces a severe economic crisis. There was a glimmer of hope for secondary school girls this week though as they prepared to go back to school - but it was short-lived, says Secunder Kermani. Allan Little reflects on the parallels between this war and a previous conflict, in the former Yugoslavia, where cities also came under siege as Serbian nationalists sought to take back control of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnians, like the Ukrainians, while out-powered, put up a courageous resistance, and, in that conflict, Nato ultimately decided to intervene. International observers are increasingly worried that a cash-strapped Palestinian Authority could face financial collapse. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund described the fiscal outlook as “dire." Meanwhile vital healthcare services are being dramatically affected. Yolande Knell visited a hospital in East Jerusalem. Texas

It’s one month since Russia first invaded Ukraine, under the pretext of denazifying the country. But Putin’s calculation that his troops would be greeted as liberators by Russian-speaking Ukrainians has proved to be wrong. Nick Sturdee has found that the invasion appears to have unified the disparate parts of the Ukrainian population. Romania's Prime Minister pledged “unconditional political support” for Ukraine in February and so far, has welcomed more than half a million refugees. Jen Stout has been to one of the border crossings and finds the arrival of the Ukrainians has helped locals forget their own differences. In Washington, the process of holding those responsible for the storming of the US Capitol last year has reached a new phase, as the first trial - Guy Reffitt, of Texas came to court earlier this month. Tara McKelvey spent time with the defendant’s relatives at the federal courthouse and saw the impact of the political divisions on that family and across the US. Ecuador’s president this year s

Ukraine saw further indiscriminate attacks across the country this week, including an attack on a theatre sheltering civilians in Mariupol. The city of Kharkiv, like Mariupol, has been under constant attack; bodies line the streets as its often too dangerous to bury them. Quentin Sommerville reflects on the horror unfolding on the ground. The tactics the Russians are using in Ukraine are familiar to countries not just in the former Soviet domain – but also Syria. Vladimir Putin’s military support for President Assad in the country’s civil war helped raise cities to the ground. Leila Molana-Allen spoke to some of the people who have lived through that war Western intelligence sources have expressed concerns about Russian activity in Moldova, which neighbours Ukraine. Moldova is also a former Soviet state, with a Russian-speaking separatist insurgency in the east. Newsnight’s Sima Kotecha spoke to Moldova’s Prime Minister about her fears for what may lie ahead and how the country is struggling to cope with the

Refugees cramming onto trains brings back memories of the Second World War, amid an invasion that heralds a grim new political realityThe war in Ukraine has brought back some uncomfortable memories. Refugees crowding on to trains in eastern European snow to escape a war. Young men volunteering to fight for their country and being sent into harm's way with almost no training. And the possibility that a new Cold War between Russia and the US and Europeans could be upon us, says Jeremy Bowen.When Belarus opened its country to tens of thousands of mostly Middle Eastern migrants and refugees last year and started pushing them across the border into Poland, most Poles supported the government’s refusal to let them in. Yet Poland is now facing a refugee crisis on a much bigger scale. Close to two million people, have crossed into Poland in just three weeks. Adam Easton met one of those Poles and the refugee he is supporting. Attempts to create humanitarian corridors over recent weeks from besieged cities like Mari

Millions of lives are being uprooted, or destroyed as Russia's bombardment of Ukrainian cities widens. Fergal Keane has covered the conflict with Russia and its proxy forces since 2014 – and has followed the story of a beekeeper from the Donbas, and his wife. Ukrainian journalists covering the crisis at a distance have been watching the horror unfold and grappling with its implications on friends, colleagues and loved ones. Irena Taranyuk, of the BBC’s Ukraine service, tells of her experience of putting the story out on the night the invasion began. Russia is becoming increasingly isolated internationally, with western companies stopping operations there. Thousands of Russians are packing up and leaving. Many say it’s because they have political concerns about the sort of country Russia will become; others fear of the imposition of martial law or worry that the economy will crumble. Caroline Davies spoke to some of them. More than 180 million voters went to the polls in 5 of India’s states this week, includin

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters a third week, hopes are wearing thin of a ceasefire after several rounds of unsuccessful talks. But a potential mediator tried to enter the fray this week: Israel, as Tom Bateman reports from Jerusalem. Russia’s foreign minister is due to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya. It’s a city that’s in other times popular with both Russians and Ukrainian tourists. Mahjooba Nowrouzi visited the coastal town and found opposing narratives about the conflict surfaced in the chatter of the bazaars Russian warships have been circling menacingly in the waters near the Black Sea port city of Odessa in southern Ukraine. The city's residents are braced for a possible assault and many are leaving their homes. For Damien McGuinness, who lived and worked in eastern Europe, their experiences are horribly reminiscent of the traumas suffered a generation ago in Georgia. In 2015, Jamaica passed a law that decriminalised the

Ukrainian civilians have taken up arms in the face of the Russian onslaught over the last nine days, while women and children were forced to flee. Attacks on residential buildings and infrastructure have killed hundreds of civilians and the French President has warned that worse is yet to come. Lyse Doucet is in Kyiv has seen the week’s events unfold. Over one million refugees have fled Ukraine in the days since the Russian invasion began. And as the long convoy of Russian military tanks closes in on Kyiv, the rush to escape to neighbouring countries has become ever more frantic. Nick Thorpe is at the Hungarian border and reflects on a different invasion. This week Switzerland, after much soul searching – some might say dithering – decided to adopt all the European Union’s sanctions against Russia. It was hailed around the world as a huge step, a virtual abandonment of the country’s strict neutrality. But was it? Imogen Foulkes gauges the reaction of Swiss locals. The Kasbah of Algiers has been recognised as

Ukrainians have mounted a defiant response since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of their country began. But scores of lives have nonetheless been lost. Moscow’s propaganda machine has been in full swing domestically, trying to conceal any Russian casualties from the outside world. Caroline Davies visited went to a village in Eastern Siberia to speak to the families and friends of one of the Russian soldiers in Ukraine – who’s believed to have been captured. Finland once signed a treaty which ensured it would not face a Soviet invasion, providing it stayed out of Nato and gave Moscow to influence its domestic and foreign policy. To date, Finland has remained outside Nato but a debate is now underway as to whether it should eventually join following threats from Vladimir Putin this week. Emilia Jansson reports that attitudes on the ground are beginning to shift. For the majority of those attending the annual Republican Conference in Florida, the crisis in Ukraine was a subject best avoided. Instead, Presid

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union three decades ago, Russia has been grappling with how to keep its old empire close to it, using a variety of tactics. This week, Russia stunned Nato member states when it embarked on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Andrew Harding spent the 1990s reporting on the aftermath of the Soviet collapse and reflects on current events. Russia's attack on Georgia in 2008 also came in response to the NATO alliance promising membership to both states. And ever since that war, Russia has occupied two separate regions of Georgia. Experts call it a frozen conflict, which Russia can stir up at any time -- as Andrew North found when he visited a village on the boundary between areas under Georgian and Russian control. Iceland has a strong track record for championing women’s rights and gender equality policies. Yet, despite this, the country still sees persistently high cases of domestic violence. Maddy Savage followed a police project in Reykjavik that’s trying to tackle the problem.

Flash floods and mudslides in the Brazilian city of Petrópolis north of Rio de Janeiro have left more than 170 people dead. Authorities blamed the intensity of the rainfall yet one of the biggest factors was inequality – most of the worst-affected neighbourhoods were poorer, unofficially built areas. Katy Watson met with survivors who had lost family members and were helping with the rescue effort. In recent years, the Catholic church has been overwhelmed by the scandal of sexual abuse of minors. It’s been exposed and investigated in several countries, yet Italy, which has the highest number of priests of any country hasn’t confronted it. Mark Lowen went out to investigate one such case, and set out to find the priest involved. We visit the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in Iraq. Believed by many to be the birthplace of Abraham, the site was excavated in the early 20th century by a British man, Leonard Woolley, who recovered bountiful treasures. Once popular with tourists, decades of war and political in

When a boat carrying a group of Chagos Islanders landed on their homeland this week, it represented return after half a century of exile. The Islands were once part of British-run Mauritius, and in 1972, Britain removed the inhabitants, so it could hand one of the islands over to the United States, to build a military base. The move has been condemned by the International Court of Justice, and by the United Nations, but the UK has so far refused to allow the Islanders back. This week, they took matters into their own hands, and returned by boat for a visit. Andrew Harding was on board.It was in the 1960s that gas was discovered in The Netherlands, and since then, it has provided the country with both cash and energy security. However, some people living near the gas fields claim that the exploration has damaged their homes, and even destroyed them. Anna Holligan has visited the damaged properties, and met the residents who say their lives have been ruined.Kenya's world-wide image is often restricted to wildli

Many migrants still set off by boat from Calais each week, in the hope of reaching Britain. The French authorities insist they are trying to deter people from coming to Calais, by making conditions there tougher. Horatio Clare says they are removing tents, mattresses, and even the blankets people sleep under.More than 150 thousand Russians with learning disabilities live in institutions which have been criticised as inhumane or cruel. The aim, Lucy Ash says, is to keep out of sight people who are considered a social embarrassment. She has been meeting activists in Moscow, trying to provide alternative ways for them to be cared for and supported.LSD and magic mushrooms were once supposed to be a means to tap into an alternative universe, to “Break on Through to the Other Side,” as the Doors singer, Jim Morrison put it. Nowadays, conventional medical establishments are exploring how various psychedelics can be used to treat people with mental health problems. Stephanie Theobald went to a convention in the US st

A hundred and thirty people died during the 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris. Now, one alleged participant has gone on trial, along with others charged as accomplices. What is it like for families of the victims, and those who were there on the night, to come face to face with those they believe may be partly responsible? Lucy Williamson was watching in court, and sees more at work than just deciding on innocence or guilt.According to Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, Ukrainians and Russians are one people. Yet the French President, Emmanuel Macron has referred to Ukrainians as: “our European brothers.” Observers have sometimes simplified matters, by assuming that those in Ukraine who speak Russian lean towards Moscow, while the Ukrainian speakers see Kiev as their capital, and western Europe as their allies. Whether or not such a neat division was ever valid, Sarah Rainsford has found it seriously wanting now.Given Russia currently has such a tense relationship with the west, the country is keen to impr