From Our Own Correspondent

Colour and insight from reporters around the world: the man who'll find you a violin tree in the Jura Mountains; what's going to happen to the man who tends the roses in the Afghan town of Lashkar Gah? Culture clash in Bamako -- how some of the refugees from Mali's north are overstaying their welcome. Why the Mexican president's warning about vigilantes may not be heeded in the mountainous south-west and ominous signs as birds of prey gather in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

How the direction of the wind saved Tokyo from possible radioactive contamination -- Rupert Wingfield Hayes examines the debate over re-starting Japan's nuclear power plants. Andrew Harding considers how Nelson Mandela's hospitalisation has caused South Africans to look again at their country's development in the years since apartheid. The police are said to deal drugs, the playgrounds are littered with syringes -- but Lucy Ash says not all optimism's been extinguished in Ukraine. David Chazan in France on a man who stole from a bank and has become something of a folk hero. And Nick Thorpe goes to Slovenia and Bulgaria to find out what's irking the middle classes and why in the open-air markets, the strawberries are not selling. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Correspondents' despatches from around the world. In this edition: Thomas Fessy marches through Mali with the French Foreign Legion looking for insurgents; Jonathan Fryer's in the Angolan capital, Luanda, where people have much to look at but, in most cases, little money to spend. What's the point of the Swiss army? Imogen Foulkes says some there believe there's no further need for compulsory military service. Alan Johnston chronicles a sad, final day at a 'trotting' track in Italy which is closing down, another victim of the recession there. And the Germans may have a reputation for businesslike efficiency but Steve Evans in Berlin has been learning that they don't always get it right!

Insight, colour and analysis from reporters around the world. Mark Lowen's in Cyprus where the banks remain closed and the people have been getting angrier. Shahzeb Jillani makes the decision to work as a correspondent in the troubled Pakistani city of Karachi - his family questions his judgement! Charlotte Pritchard takes a drive through the smuggler borderlands between Colombia and Venezuela. As politicians and community leaders in Yemen discuss the future, Daniel Owen's been to one town where the talk is mainly about fish. Justin Rowlatt's investigating the mining boom bringing riches to Mongolia - he meets one man he describes as Mongolia's most influential since Genghis Khan! Producer: Tony Grant

How did Herb Jeffries become a black cowboy film star when he wasn't even black? Sarfraz Manzoor travels to Kansas in search of the answer. Mike Wooldridge is in Pakistan - an election date's been announced but will the new team of rulers tackle what some call an alarming rise in religious intolerance? Western Sahara is not much reported upon: Celeste Hicks goes there and tells a tale of secret police, comic book spies and wobbling octopus. Anthony Denselow travels to Uttar Pradesh in India to find out why so many widows make their way to the city of Vrindavan. And the Chinese have developed a thirst for fine wine. Jim Carey has been discovering that Australia's winemakers want a slice of this potentially huge new market. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant

Millions of Zimbabweans vote on a new constitution - Andrew Harding, in Harare, quotes one government minister saying the document is the 'midwife' to a brand new future for the country. Jonathan Head talks of Burma's most famous resident, the Nobel prizewinner Aung San Suu Kyi. Once revered as an icon, now she's having to get used to being heckled as she goes about her work as a politician. Louisa Loveluck talks of the crumbling Egyptian railway system and how it is starting to tarnish the reputation of the new government led by Mohammed Morsi. More than a billion Indians are about to get brand new state of the art identity cards. Peter Day says it's a bold move by the government -- but will it be a successful one? People in Jerusalem are awaiting the imminent arrival of Barack Obama. Kevin Connolly speculates on what may emerge from the trip and wonders if, afterwards, streets will be named in honour of the American president! The programme is produced by Tony Grant.

What price can you put on memory? Neil Trevithick is with the Aborigines whose territory in Western Australia's being coveted for its mineral wealth. Once hundreds of hermits lived in the mountains of northern Lebanon. Today John Laurenson's meeting one of just three who remain. Joanna Jolly's in Nepal where, six years after the end of civil war, no-one's been brought to court to face charges of war crimes. Will Grant is with the Venezuelans paying their last respects to their late 'commandante' in Caracas. And oil should soon run again through the pipelines from South Sudan. Richard Nield says if the revenue it brings provides a more reliable supply of electricity, its people will be delighted.

Allan Little says there are deep disagreements among the cardinals as they prepare to elect a new pope. They are voting too in the Falklands. Caroline Wyatt says the result is in little doubt. But what will they make of it in Argentina? Stephen Sackur has been in Tunisia, a land which has been in deep political crisis since the shooting last month of a prominent critic of the government. How should a town handle the legacy of being the birthplace of a notorious dictator? Bethany Bell's been asking that question in Georgia and in Austria - and getting a variety of answers. And Steve Rosenberg went to interview a former leader of the Soviet Union. Little did he know he'd end up accompanying him on the piano!

Correspondents' stories. Today: Steve Rosenberg's in Moscow as Russians debate the legacy of Josef Stalin sixty years after his death. There's speculation that Turkey could be poised to sign a peace deal to end the long conflict with Turkish rebels - James Reynolds has been investigating. Steve Vickers tells us why the Swedish authorities want to move their northernmost city to a new location two miles away. Owen Bennett Jones reflects on how much the instability and violence in today's Pakistan has shaped a new generation of successful novelists and Judith Kampfner's returned to Singapore, where she was born and brought up, and found it readier than ever to embrace its multi-ethnic history. She also enjoyed its wobbly cakes! From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Reporters worldwide tell their stories. Steve Evans in Berlin on how, perhaps surprisingly given their history, Germans feel a real affinity for Britain. She used to be called 'the most powerful woman in Mexico.' Will Grant on the arrest, on embezzlement charges, of one of the country's top union leaders. Paul Henley tries to keep his cool listening to a stream of homophobic vitriol in Russia. Young people in Portugal queuing up to leave the country - Alison Roberts is in Lisbon where morale's plummeting as the jobless figures soar. And as the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq approaches, Kevin Connolly's there musing on how one never quite knows how history will work out. The producer is Tony Grant

Reporters worldwide: Rahul Tandon is in Calcutta as its people struggle to cope with an unaccustomed spell of cold weather. 'Together Bulgarians are Strong' - Nick Thorpe tells us that's the cry of protestors whose disenchantment's brought down the government. The Kenyan election's on Monday and Gabriel Gatehouse has been finding out that land remains an issue of vital importance to many. A difficult decision for parents in Guatemala - Humphrey Hawksley explains why many would prefer their children NOT to go to school and Jennifer Chevalier in Ottowa on why Canadians are nervous about Europe making trade advances to the US. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

When Madeleine Morris returned to her native Australia after twelve years in the UK she knew she'd find things different there, but she didn't realise her wallet would take such a battering! Ian Pannell, in northern Syria, finds a group of little boys sheltering in a Roman-era tomb and asking where their mother's got to. Craig Jeffrey's at the Indian college where once students demonstrated for the right to cheat in exams. Sicily looks like being one of the key battlegrounds in the Italian election -Chris Morris is there communing with the dead ahead of the big vote. And as France prepared to take on England in the Six Nations tournament at Twickenham, Chris Bockman finds the congregation deep in prayer at a church they call 'Our Lady of Rugby.'

Despatches from around the world: Jonathan Head on a little-reported but long-running conflict in southern Thailand; a rare protest on the streets of Singapore - Karishma Vaswani tells of mounting anger in Asia's richest nation; a new government in Italy, after this weekend's election, seems unlikely to tinker much with the employment laws - Ed Butler believes nepotism in the labour market is set to continue; Paul Lewis talks to Ugandans finding it hard to get by even if official forecasts are upbeat about the country's economic future. And getting around wasn't much of a problem for King Tut -- but Terry Egan finds the going tough in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

Reporters' despatches from far and wide: a vegetarian of 37 years' standing, Nick Thorpe, is despatched to ask questions about horse meat and to investigate a slaughter house in Romania. Can Japan spend its way out of recession and into prosperity? Economists are thrilled at the idea. But Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Tokyo has his doubts. What's the US military doing in a remote corner of the Philippines? Kate McGeown's gone to find out. Will Ross is in northern Nigeria wondering why so few of those detained, and suspected of militant attacks, are appearing in front of the courts. And Tim Butcher in New York meets up with an old friend with whom he once went to war.

Reporters worldwide - today: Ruth Sherlock on how the Free Syrian Army's losing support as people turn to the Islamists for help in getting by during difficult times. Wyre Davies on a plot still unfolding: he's in a bookshop in Tunis looking out on an unfinished revolution. Mark Mardell on how experience in the US military is helping to shape the new team around President Obama. Tom Esslemont on murder in Corsica -- old scores are being settled against a Mediterranean backdrop. And it's like a scene out of 'Spooks' as our Christian Fraser's taken, furtively, into the heart of one of Europe's biggest infrastructure projects. The producer is Tony Grant

Stories from around the world. Today: Will Grant in Mexico on the night horror descended on a beach holiday on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Why were 21-thousand knives handed out on the streets of Mumbai? Alex Preston was there and has the answer. Chris Morris finds out what the building with the biggest carpet in Europe can tell us about attitudes to the EU. Richard Hamilton senses a swagger of self-confidence on the streets of Nairobi but, he says, the ghosts of an older Kenya are never far away. And high-speed rail it isn't, but Will Ross finds it far from dull on the noon train to Kano in northern Nigeria.

Analysis, colour, wit and observation from journalists worldwide. Today: Pascale Harter chronicles the fury in Spain at reports that politicians are lining their pockets while the people are making painful sacrifices in the name of austerity. James Harkin on the death of a young engineer who wanted to help build a new Syria after the revolution. Jill McGivering on the Indian women being talked into hysterectomies by doctors eager to make more money. Orla Guerin meets an Afghan governor who says don't worry about the Taliban, peace is at hand - although he does keep an assault rifle close at hand! And Thomas Fessy, in newly-liberated Timbuktu, unearths the beer that had to be buried when the fabled city was seized by Islamist rebels. Produced by Tony Grant.

Tim Whewell, just back from Mali, talks of retribution. Every conflict throws up winners and losers. And it's the nomadic Touareg, he tells us, who have become targets for revenge. Arguments over gun control have once again been dominating the headlines in the US and Paul Adams has been reporting on a debate he says is quintessentially American. Darius Bazargan has been in northern Lebanon, where he has been talking to factions allied to different warring groups in Syria. The Swiss train service has an enviable reputation, but Imogen Foulkes has been finding out it has managed to anger its customers. And in South Africa, Hamilton Wende has been out with a group of township teenagers whose extravagance and flamboyance is angering some of their elders.

Correspondents take a closer look at events in their part of the world. Aleem Maqbool follows a week of street protests with the question - can democracy really take root in Egypt? The arts world is in turmoil in Hungary, and Nick Thorpe tells us how the government there is being accused of hijacking the cultural agenda to promote its own political ends. Parto Parvin, and that's not her real name, talks of the difficulties being faced by exiled Iranian journalists trying to cover events in their homeland. Daniel Sanford hears an extraordinary tale of survival from the Battle of Stalingrad, which was drawing to a close exactly seventy years ago. And Reggie Nadelson tours the New York theatre which has staged concerts by just about everybody in African-American musical entertainment.

Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem says keep that election bunting close at hand - Israelis may have to vote again before long. Will Self goes to the Romanian capital, Bucharest: millions live there but he's of the opinion that it would be hard to find a less homely place. The Chinese authorities say they're tackling the Great Smog of Beijing, but Martin Patience doesn't expect great change any time soon. A tale of violence, bribery and corruption from Brazil's Amazon frontier is told by Sue Branford. And in Paris, John Laurenson examines the shocking claim that French men no longer understand romance.