From Our Own Correspondent

Kate Adie introduces stories from Thailand, Ukraine, Kenya, Spain and Hungary.
After nine months at sea the USS Abraham Lincoln docked in Thailand this week. The psychological plight of its crew, which ran short on supplies, turned up the heat on Donald Trump and his longer-than-promised war with Iran. Jonathan Head reports from Pattaya, a long-time R&R spot for the American military which welcomed the arrival of some 5000 sailors.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2014, there has been growing resentment over the use of the Russian language in the country - even in cities where the majority of Ukrainians speak Russian. Tim Whewell reports from Russian-speaking Odesa, where new laws are in place to remove the Russian language from the public sphere.
The manosphere is growing fast in Kenya, where a new generation of social media influencers are cashing-in on messages of hyper-masculinity. Jacqui Wakefield went to find out more about its impact on young men there.
Spain’s organ donation programme is widely seen as being one of the most successful in the world – and it includes donations from people who chose to die via euthanasia. Linda Pressly met the recipient of a pioneering face transplant in Barcelona.
And Hungary recently marked the 500 year anniversary of the battle of Mohacs - a defeat to Turkish Ottomans which is often remembered as the biggest catastrophe in Hungarian history. But as Nick Thorpe found, the defeat of nationalist leader Viktor Orban in this year’s elections put a different spin on this year’s commemoration.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Kate Adie presents stories from Germany on the Alternative für Deutschland party's plans if it takes power in state elections; India's Cockroach party takes on a new fight; inside the factories of China's robotic revolution; how corned beef changed a Uruguayan town and the protesters of the peaceful anti-communist revolution in 1989 who've taken up a new cause.
Jessica Parker has followed the campaign of AfD's state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, and heard more about the plans to reform the culture and education systems to make them more patriotic - and what locals are making of them.
Geeta Pandy has visited rural schools in Faridabad - which are poorly staffed and in a dilapidated condition. It's a situation replicated across India and the subject of a new campaign by the Cockroach Janata Party, as she discovers.
In China, Laura Bicker has visited factories in Chengdu, Hangzhou and Beijing - as well as the World Humanoid Olympics - to witness the robot revolution underway. More than two million robots work in the country's factories and she encounters the industrial robots working alongside humans - and the young people being encouraged to embrace the advances.
Sara Wheeler has been in the Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos, and learns how corned beef along with other beef products once changed the fortunes of the region and the country.
And Anne McElvoy reflects on her time as a student in communist East Germany, and then as a reporter of the anti-communist protests in 1989 - and finds some of those who took to the streets back then have redirected their sense of national pride to embrace a new cause: support for the AfD.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Justine Lang

Kate Adie presents stories from Russia, with authorities defiant as the war impact is felt; a grim Ebola milestone in the DRC; Brazil's presidential campaign and the small Bulgarian city chosen to host Eurovision.
Moscow has issued a warning to the UK of 'consequences' following confirmation that British-made drones were used in recent Ukrainian strikes . The authorities - and some citizens - are increasingly blaming the West for Russia’s problems as Steve Rosenberg discovered on the streets of Moscow.
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the deadliest in its country’s history, with a record number of cases and deaths in the most recent reported week. Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa finds the battle to bring the outbreak under control is not only about infection and response, but also about tackling disbelief, scepticism and the struggle to build trust.
In Brazil, candidates in this October’s presidential election have fired the starting gun on their election campaigns. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - who is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term - - returned to the industrial heartland where his political career was first launched. The election will see the rivalry reignited between the three-time President and the Bolsonaro family, with Flavio, Jair's son, running. Ione Wells has been in San Bernado do Campo.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest saw Bulgaria win for the first time prompting wild celebrations in the former Communist country. But there’s particular joy now in the small city of Burgas, which unexpectedly won out over the capital, Sofia, to host the competition, as Krassi Ivanova Twigg reports.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill
Editor: Justine Lang

Kate Adie introduces stories on the hidden networks providing vital lifelines to women and girls in Afghanistan, Gaza's tech entrepreneurs rebooting the digital economy, China's bogus dating agencies, and the hunt for a hard-to-find critter in the Australian bush.
It's been five years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Lyse Doucet and Mahjooba Nowrouzi report on the severe restrictions placed on the freedoms and ambitions of women and girls, and the subsequent emergence of underground networks which are provide vital support - from education to legal advice for women seeking divorce.
Since the ceasefire was announced last year, little progress has been made in Gaza in terms of reconstruction. But young tech-entrepreneurs are taking matters into their own hands, rebooting Gaza's fledgling digital economy and providing a much-needed source of income. Yolande Knell has been speaking to tech-savvy Palestinians.
Matchmaking websites that help people find a soulmate can earn huge sums of money. Unfortunately it's an industry where fraudsters exploit lonely hearts looking for love. As Laura Bicker reports it is a serious problem in China, where some men have been cheated out of their life savings by bogus matchmakers.
Australia is a country full of animals found nowhere else in the world, but many are under serious threat of extinction, with around four species disappearing every decade. But as Tiffanie Turnbull discovered, there is hope with some species bucking the trend - including the rare Australian marsupial, the numbat.
Producers Polly Hope & Nick Holland
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor Richard Fenton-Smith

Kate Adie introduces stories about China's alleged 'Fentanyl King', how Odesa's famous sense of humour is responding to Russian attacks, Delhi's new EV push, and rising child obesity rates in southern Italy.
After Zhang Zhidong graduated from China's most-prestigious university, he moved to Mexico to find work. Years later, US law enforcement named him as a key figure working with Mexican cartels in the booming fentanyl trade. Now awaiting trial in a Brooklyn prison, Zhidong denies the allegations against him. Shawn Yuan travelled to Mexico to speak to cartel about the man they knew as 'Brother Wang', to chart the origin story of the man US authorities claim is the 'Fentanyl King'.
The Ukrainian port city of Odesa is renowned for its sense of humour - and it's still apparent even as Russia ramps up attacks in its efforts to strangle Ukraine's commercial links with the rest of the world. Paul Adams has been speaking to residents trying to continue life as normal amid the daily strikes.
Faced with soaring pollution levels, Delhi's regional government is making a concerted push to get more people into electric vehicles - becoming the first Indian city to plan on phasing out petrol-fuelled scooters, bikes and auto-rickshaws from its roads. Arunoday Mukharji found the city's delivery drivers sceptical of the plan.
Naples has long been famed for its healthy diet, but recently restaurants and cafes have adapted their menus for a changing market - and the rising demand for processed fast food. Teenagers have been most affected by the new trend and the region is now seeing soaring rates in childhood obesity, as Sofia Bettiza discovered.
Series producer: Serena Tarling
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith