From Our Own Correspondent

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 athletes were also allowed to take part. Later that year, the then US President, Donald Trump met with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and attempted to tone down hostilities. Watching these events was the BBC’s newly arrived South Korea correspondent, Laura Bicker. Four years later, she is now leaving her post, at a time when relations between South and North are far worse. Yet Laura insists that she is leaving with some sense of optimism.Sports figures famously have short careers, with even the biggest stars having to reinvent themselves in mid-life. Few though have managed it quite so successfully as Imran Khan: already one of Pakistan’s greatest ever cricketing heroes, he ended up becoming Prime Minister. However, the world of politics can be as unforgiving as any sport, and this week, Prime Minister Khan was ousted in a Parliamentary vote of no confidence. Secunder Kermani has been following his dramatic fall from favour.Life has not been much fun for performers during the various phases of Covid lockdown, with actors, dancers and even stand-up comedians facing closed down venues. Musicians had a particularly hard time of it, certainly those accustomed to playing before sweaty crowds keen on dancing, something very much forbidden for much of the time. So when the Belgian rock band, Demisec, were offered a gig, they jumped at the chance. The bassist and BBC cameraman Maarten Lernout did not mind that they were being asked to play in a local prison.

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 ride along one of its busier stretches.A series of setbacks have left Sri Lanka running out of cash, meaning there is now no money to pay for food or fuel. This has resulted in power cuts for up to thirteen hours a day, and prices rising to the point where people are having to skip meals, while hospitals run out of medicine. The protestors who have been out on Sri Lanka’s streets this week knew who to blame, pointing the finger at the government and its economic mismanagement. Rajini Vaidyanathan says that for ordinary Sri Lankan people, the situation remains dire.Once upon a time, VIktor Orban was seen as a brave campaigner for democracy, demanding Soviet troops leave Hungary during the Cold War. Nowadays, he is a reliable friend of the Kremlin - a matter of some concern to his European Union and NATO allies, but something they will have to continue to live with. This week, Mr Orban won a fourth successive term as Prime Minister. Nick Thorpe has met him many times over the years, and has a few ideas about what lies behind his success.How can a city and its people recover from war? This is something the people of Mosul in Iraq have had time to consider. It has been fought over at various points in the past two decades, by US troops, the Iraqi national army, Al Qaeda, and then, by Islamic State. IS attempted to destroy much of Mosul's tradition and culture, yet the city is now undergoing something of a renaissance, as Leila Molana-Allen found on a recent night out.

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 Serbia are going to the polls this weekend – for presidential and parliamentary elections, with relations with Russia firmly on the agenda. In the run up to the vote, executives from Russian Railways were among guests as Serbia’s president opened the first phase of a new, high speed train line. Guy De Launey was on board The first round of the French presidential elections is just one week away – but, much like the UK, the news bulletins have been focused on the war in Ukraine. The polls all predict that President Emmanuel Macron will hold on to power – so, no change is expected, which is in itself something of a change, says Hugh Schofield.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Hugh Levinson

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 Berlin. In Sudan, women have been celebrated for leading the revolution that saw former military ruler Omar al-Bashir toppled. But the Generals still have the upper hand. After two years of sharing power with civilian politicians they staged a coup in October and instituted a transitional military council. Sudan’s women and men have been protesting daily and at least 90 people have been killed in a crackdown. Catherine Byaruhanga was in Khartoum. Nearly 1.4 million people in Canada are of Ukrainian heritage. Many of them trace their roots to Ukrainian immigrants who came to Canada in the late 19th century. Greg Mercer’s heard how they are rallying to the defence of the old country.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Hugh Levinson

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 has the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. But for some Texans the law doesn’t go far enough – they want a complete ban. The campaign to outlaw abortion altogether is being played out in towns across this huge state led by evangelical Christians. Linda Pressly visits west Texas to meet some of the activists. Oaxaca city in Mexico has become a much-desired location for destination weddings for both Europeans and North Americans. But the community there is divided over whether this is a helpful source of income for the locals, or an exercise in exploitation which ends up eroding the indigenous culture and customs finds Louis Harnett O’Meara.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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 signed a declaration to expand the boundaries of the Galapagos Marine reserve by more than 23 000 square miles. It's being seen as a victory for wildlife conservation and for local fishing communities, as the area had been vulnerable to overfishing by mainly Chinese trawlers. But, finds Mark Stratton, these were not the only threat to the region’s eco-system. The Caribbean island of Martinique is an overseas territory of France. Today it has a semi-autonomous status, but over the last decade, relations have deteriorated with their old colonisers. Lindsay Johns remembers his father, a soldier from Martinique, who fought proudly for the French whilst enduring racial oppression.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-SmithPresenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling and Polly Hope Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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 influx of refugees. In rural Kenya, most of the population live and work on the farms that are the backbone of the country’s economy. But access to electricity is sparse. So in one village, a young entrepreneur decided to give himself a crash course in engineering, so he could supply power to the residents in his village. Mercy Juma went to Kenyanjeru. Last year, Chile elected a radical left wing, ex-student leader who won a landslide victory. The new President, Gabriel Boric, keen to diverge from the style of his predecessors, has embarked on a property hunt in a working-class district in downtown Santiago. Jane Chambers went to explore his new neighbourhood.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling and Polly Hope Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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 Mariupol and Kharkiv have frequently been stymied by continued Russian attacks, imperilling efforts by residents to flee. At the border between Poland and Ukraine, Kasia Madera met one woman travelling from Kharkiv to Germany with her children.Australia’s east coast has seen some of the worst flooding in the country’s history over recent weeks with more than 20 people killed in intense downpours. Viv Nunis met some of the residents whose homes had been destroyed.China was the place where Covid-19 first emerged, but it was also the first place to get back to something resembling normality. But that all changed this week, as new cases jumped - and authorities imposed draconian new restrictions to maintain its 'zero Covid strategy'. Normal life for tens of millions of people, says Robin Brant in Shanghai - has stopped, again.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Emma Close

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, including the country's largest - Uttar Pradesh. The governing BJP has a firm hold on the state, and its chief minister – a hindu-monk-turned politician, Yogi Adityanath is emerging as a favourite to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But during his leadership, he has been criticised for anti-muslim rhetoric. Rajini Vaidyanathan followed the campaign trail. It's 20 years since James Helm arrived in Dublin as BBC Correspondent there, with his wife Charlotte and their young son. The original posting was for a year, but the family stayed on in Ireland for almost a decade - a period of enormous change for the country. After several years away, James and his sons recently made a return trip.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Emma Close

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 possession of small amounts of cannabis and authorised a regulated medical cannabis industry. Initially seen as a boon for cannabis farmers, some traditional growers say they can’t afford to meet the strict legal requirements for growing the plant. Rachel Wright visited a farm. The medieval village of Lagrasse in south-west France is home to an eight century Abbey which is divided in two parts – one side is occupied by a group of left-leaning intellectuals, the other by a traditional catholic religious order. This arrangement ran relatively smoothly at first until a contretemps over a festival some fifteen years ago. Since then relations have deteriorated. Chris Bockman went to find out more.Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Emma Close