From Our Own Correspondent

The human stories behind the headlines. Like any war, the one against Ebola is leaving scars which will take generations to heal, as Grainne Harrington has been finding out in Guinea. Mark Rickards on how, at last, the outside world has found a way to infiltrate the hidden Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The Chinese are calling for the UK to return art looted by the British soldiers who destroyed the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 - Chris Bowlby's been investigating. After the Syriza victory in Greece, Podemos in Spain reckons it could be next to win an election on left-wing policies; Tom Burridge has been with party activists in Valencia. And how was the poet W.B.Yeats associated with bizarre goings-on at a cemetery near Paris? Hugh Schofield tells a story of the mysterious forces some believe govern the universe. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

What are they talking about? In Germany there's emotional debate about Pegida; Libyans try to lead normal lives amid violence and instability; left-wingers from around Europe descend on Greece hoping a revolution's underway; surprise, subterfuge and misinformation swirl around the fighting in eastern Ukraine while Brazilians explain why they are proud to be the only nation in the region speaking Portuguese.

'Crisis' and 'Hope,' two words which have continually cropped up in the Greek election campaign. Chris Morris has been out with campaigners from the leftist Syriza party. Kamal Ahmed talks of chasing the stories in the bubble that is the World Economic Forum in Davos. Devastating floods in Malawi, Rosie Blunt's been meeting families who've lost everything. Kevin Connolly's in Auschwitz where they are getting ready to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp. And the birds are doing well. So are the whales and the seals too. But Juliet Rix, far away in the South Atlantic, finds these are difficult, indeed fatal, times for the rats of South Georgia.

Correspondents' stories: in this edition Maria Margaronis on the keenly-awaited Greek election; Will Ross meets soldiers who've been dismissed from the Nigerian army and asks them for their views on the battle against Boko Haram; Susie Emmett's in South Africa talking to farmers about controversial government plans for land reform; Richard Fleming's in Haiti where he's been meeting a photographer who found himself caught up in the devastating earthquake five years ago and Lucy Daltroff is on one of the many thousands of islands sprinkled along Chile's skinny coastline hearing magical legends and fears about what the modern world might bring once that community is joined to the mainland by a new bridge.

Story-telling from the world of news and current affairs. In this edition: Shaimaa Khalil in Pakistan meets relatives and survivors of last year’s army school massacre in Peshawar, on the day the school reopens; Ruth Sherlock in Lebanon on how Syrian refugees are struggling in the snow; Caroline Wyatt flies to Sri Lanka on the Papal plane; Martin Fletcher in Vietnam on how an unusual scaly creature has become the most poached mammal in the world. And Aidan O’Donnell meets the cash-strapped Burundian national cycling team as they prepare to cycle home - from Rwanda.

Looking beyond the headlines: correspondents with insight and analysis consider: Charlie Hebdo and the way life used to be in France; the rallies in Germany for and against the influence of Islam on society there and the arguments over free speech in Turkey. Also in this edition one correspondent, leaving Mexico, pays tribute to the country's brave mothers while another, visiting Antarctica, wonders if tourists should be allowed even to set foot in this, the earth's last great unspoiled wilderness.

Insight, colour, analysis: in this edition, the once impregnable Rajapaksa camp is suddenly looking vulnerable as the Sri Lankan election approaches, Charles Haviland; Russians are enjoying their extended Christmas break but for their president, Vladimir Putin, difficult times may lie ahead, Sarah Rainsford; the Ethiopian government faces accusations over its plans to create huge new agricultural complexes, Matthew Newsome set off towards the southern lowlands to investigate and a journey of a lifetime in the US: Jonathan Izard points his car towards the sunset and ponders the meaning of life itself.

Seasonal stories and festive fables: Mike Wendling strongly disagrees with the thought that New York City is the world's most magical place at this festive time of year; why Yolande Knell in Bethlehem is looking forward to two MORE Christmases in the coming weeks; Nick Thorpe meets a Gypsy 'Santa Claus' on an allotment in southern Hungary; Petroc Trelawny on how the glittering New Years's Day ball in Vienna has its roots in a dark era of Austrian history and in Paris, Joanna Robertson tracks down a seasonal delicacy which, while delicious, carries the unmistakeable whiff of ... gunpowder!

Story-telling from the world of news and current affairs. In this edition: Shaimaa Khalil on the mood in Peshawar after the Taliban attack on a school in which more than a hundred children were killed; Barbara Plett-Usher on how Cubans are reacting to the prospect of improved relations with the United States; Quentin Sommerville visits the Iraqi army frontline as it tries to stop the militants from Islamic State seizing strategic Anbar province; Malcolm Billings is in a little-known Anglican place of worship hidden away in a web of cobbled streets in Istanbul and Hugh Schofield's doing some seasonal research involving whisky and chocolate biscuits in a remote corner of central France.

Story-telling from the world of news and current affairs. 'For God, Tsar and Nation'. That's the motto of some of those fighting with the pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. Tim Whewell's been to talk to them about their dreams of a new Orthodox autocratic state; Mary Harper, in Mogadishu, has been finding out why there's a love affair going on between Somalia and Turkey; South Koreans are big believers in plastic surgery but Steve Evans, in Seoul, says there are now negative headlines after a string of news reports about botched operations; Bangladesh is known as a prolific producer of clothes for the mass market but Caroline Eden's been discovering it also makes saris so fine they're highly coveted and hugely expensive. And after more than a quarter of a century Justin Marozzi has mixed feelings as he bids farewell to the Moroccan town regarded as being the hashish capital of the world.