Crossing Continents

Ukraine: Fighting Russia, Fighting Russian

Russian is the first language of millions of Ukrainians, including many of the country’s frontline troops. But it’s also the language of their enemy. And its public use i

‘Big Surveillance’, Flock and ICE

AI cameras. Drones. Facial recognition. Sound detection. Flock. The United States is monitored through a growing, high-tech, and increasingly interconnected surveillanc

Brazil’s gambling addiction

The figures are startling. 2.1 million Brazilians have a clinical addiction to betting. 7.5 million are problem gamblers. Women now comprise 40% of all gamblers, having b

Raiders of the lost art

What do the stolen love letters of John Keats have to do with homicide on the streets of New York?  Prosecuting both crimes falls under the remit of assistant district at

Victoria Falls: Wilderness on the edge

The Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe is one of the natural wonders of the world. It's also one of Africa's great tourist attractions. As both countries

Getting Gaza back online

How amid the tents and the rubble Gaza is developing once again as an unlikely tech hub. Even before the October 7th 2023 attack and the subsequent war between Israel a

Sierra Leone: the diamond that saved a thousand lives

In 2017, five men digging in an open pit found the third largest diamond ever unearthed in west Africa. It was dubbed the Peace Diamond, in memory of the brutal civil war

Victim or Accomplice? The Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Girlfriend

Nadia Marcinko, originally Marcinková, was born in Slovakia and met Jeffrey Epstein as an 18-year-old model. Later, she became a successful aircraft pilot. For seven year

Return to Khartoum: War, loss and hope

Since 2023, Sudan has been engulfed by a brutal civil war. More than 150,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced. The war began as a power struggle b

Serbia: Under the Canopy

Eighteen months ago, the renovation of the railway station in Serbia’s second biggest city, Novi Sad, led to a tragic accident. A substantial concrete canopy, which ran a

Driving Against Net Zero

Is defence of the petrol car and liberated motoring becoming the new battleground for Europe’s populist parties? Chris Bowlby visits one of the homes of German car cultur

In Iceland's Defence

Iceland is an island of great beauty and even greater strategic importance. Its position in the Greenland Iceland UK Gap, the gateway between the Arctic and Atlantic ocea

Pakistan: hospitals putting children at risk of HIV

Outbreaks of HIV have become regular occurrences in Pakistan. And too frequently it is the children who suffer. In the city of Taunsa, for example, children have tested p

Albania: Land, Money and the Sea

Albania has had many different faces over the last hundred years. Once ruled by the Ottomans, it became a kingdom before turning into a totalitarian communist state after

India's sportswomen playing to be seen

How sport is giving some young women in India a way out of child marriage and allowing them to be seen. Officially, the practice of child marriage is illegal in the coun

Nigeria: Killings, Land and Cattle

On Christmas Day 2025, the US carried out missile strikes on suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria. They came after President Trump said he would intervene to protect C

Greece: Rescuers on Trial

In a case with profound implications for European migration policy, 24 former volunteer aid workers have been on trial on the Greek island of Lesbos. Seven years ago, the

The Netherlands - ten new cities?

'Start by lighting a candle every morning.’ In other words, pray. That’s the advice on one social media platform to those looking for a rented property in the Netherlands

South Africa and the fight against TB

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, TB is humanity’s oldest contagious disease. It has become something of an afterthought in rich nations, but remains the w

When Christian nationalists come to town

People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with the aim of forging