From Our Own Correspondent

Can international pressure on the military-backed government in Burma be relaxed now a series of reforms is underway? Fergal Keane has been accompanying the British foreign secretary on his visit there and offers an assessment of latest developments there. A year after the assassination of the Governor of Punjab Owen Bennett-Jones has been to Pakistan to examine the impact that killing's had there. John Sweeney talks of how it may be eighty years since millions of Ukrainians died in a famine but the tragedy remains deeply controversial today. Libby Spurrier's just been for a cruise down the River Nile and says it's clear that ten months of instability in Egypt has proved devastating for that country's tourist industry. Stephen Sackur's been getting tips on gastronomy from the man behind what some say is the world's best restaurant and he's emerged with controversial suggestions about what you might want on your Christmas table next December!

Kate Adie on the months of the Libyan revolution which led up to the death of Colonel Gaddafi in October. A chance to hear again some of the BBC's senior correspondents filing on the long road to Tripoli and charting a revolution which stunned the world.

An American Dream: New Hampshire, 1996 Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch by Gavin Esler. In the runup to a Presidential election, he explored small-town America's values and aspirations in Manchester, NH. And as things are today, he found that corporate raiders, rising unemployment and out-of-touch Washington politicians were much on the electorate's mind.

Prisoners of Norilsk - a city frozen in time "A history of Soviet failure written in crumbling cement; a monument to a system which simply ran out of steam". Norilsk, 1994 Owen Bennett Jones introduces a despatch from Kevin Connolly in the city of Norilsk in the Arctic Circle. He met people who had suffered and survived there for decades under the USSR - and seemed likely to spend the rest of their lives in this remote outpost.

The Truth is Our Currency Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from 1997 by Martin Bell. At a time when television news in particular had been focusing on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, journalism was wrestling with issues like the real meaning of 'objectivity' when reporting on wars, and the limits of neutrality.

The Road to Mandalay Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from 1984. Veteran correspondent Bob Jobbins describes a journey through Burma's history and culture as he travels from Rangoon to Mandalay.

"The army was rotten to the core and could not put up a fight" - Kinshasa, May 1997 Owen Bennett Jones introduces an archive despatch from the country then still known as Zaire. Allan Little describes the last days of the Mobutu regime and the advance of Laurent Kabila's forces.

A dead man's suitcase in Cape Town transports Tim Butcher from today's Africa via World War Two Italy to Renaissance Tuscany. The most cosseted pets in the world: it's no dog's life, says Joanna Robertson, for the pampered pooches of Paris. High in the Himalayas Joanna Jolly goes searching for a little yellow idol which once wreaked terrible vengeance. Allan Little shares some of the jokes which have fuelled the big news stories in years gone by and Petroc Trelawny on the extraordinary history of Odessa and its enduring passion for music.

The polar bear's back in the news - this time it's at the centre of controversy in Canada where some believe it's a far better animal to be the country's national symbol than the one which currently holds the honour, the beaver -- Lorraine Mallinder has been finding out that some Canadians reckon the beaver's just too boring for the job. At the end of another stressful week in the eurozone Chris Morris tells us that the Germans don't seem too concerned -- the Christmas party season's on their minds! The revolution's brought a new look to Libya but Tarik Kafala, who's been back to Tripoli after many years away, says not everything's changed. Jill McGivering's in Indian Kashmir where questions are being asked about thousands of unmarked graves. And a celebrated bookshop owner passed away this week in Paris and Christine Finn, who worked in his shop recently, tells us what made this store, over the bridge from Notre Dame, so special.

'A political system which had considered itself as solid as rock has started to show cracks.' Steve Rosenberg's in Moscow on a weekend of more demonstrations. The Americans are preparing for their withdrawal from Iraq and Gabriel Gatehouse has been considering what exactly's been achieved during their nine years there. There's a view from Hungary where Nick Thorpe's been looking at how the country's affected by the crisis in the Eurozone. It's forty years since Bangladesh came into being and Mark Tully, who remembers the long struggle which preceded its birth, wonders if too much celebration of that anniversary will lead to further bitterness. And Linda Pressley's in eastern Cuba climbing mountains and asking awkward questions about the love life of Fidel Castro.