From Our Own Correspondent

The European Union's announced plans to support, but not replace, efforts being made by Italy to save lives at sea. Emma Jane Kirby's been to the port town of Syracusa to see the difficulties the Italians have been facing. Will Ross has been meeting children in Nigeria who've been separated from their parents by the war against the militants of Boko Haram. What's it like when a family discovers that a loved one's gone to fight with extremists in the Middle East? Linda Pressly's been finding out in Kosovo. Jamie Coomarasamy's been to the west of Ukraine, hundreds of miles from the fighting in the east of the country, to find out what they think there of the struggle between government forces and the pro-Russia rebels. And the hair industry is big business in China and most of the customers, as Sam Piranty has been finding out, are Africans. But is that human hair they're buying or something else?

The questions arising from a week of protest in Hong Kong are asked by the BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie; the Yangon River in Burma, now Myanmar, doesn't have the mightiest of reputations. But on its banks lay one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Andrew Whitehead caught the ferry to see how Rangoon, as it used to be known, looks in today's era of political and economic change; Lyse Doucet is in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital where residents heard this week the militants from Islamic State were only a few miles away; the Turkish parliament has voted to take the fight to IS and Mark Lowen's been to the border between Turkey and Syria to consider the consequences; Wyre Davies is covering the Brazilian election and wonders if it can be won by the environmentalist daughter of a rubber tapper from the Amazon jungle.

Global despatches: some are pleased at what President al-Sisi's achieved in his first months in office in Egypt - others say that when it comes to repression, he's outdoing even his hardline predecessor Hosni Mubarak. Predicting what's about to happen in President Putin's Russia has become difficult now the country seems to have embraced an 'anything goes' philosophy. We're in the far north of Sweden learning that the Sami people believe widespread mining will ruin their traditional lands. The introduction of some democracy in Myanmar and the lifting of some western sanctions has not brought the predicted business boom, but for many citizens, the quality of life is slowly improving; and the sad story of the lonely baboon who's become trapped on a river island in Zimbabwe and is resisting all attempts to reunite him with his family.

Despatches from around the world: Kevin Connolly on how Western policy makers, trying to respond to developments in the Middle East, are grappling with difficulties created by their own predecessors. As American warships prepared to fire missiles at targets in Syria, out in the Pacific Ocean two US carrier battle groups were carrying out the biggest live fire exercise in years. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes wondered if they had a target in mind. Iona Craig on a revolution in Yemen and how the nation was surprised when a previously marginalised militia group swiftly seized control of the capital, Sana'a. The economic news just gets gloomier and gloomier in France. Hugh Schofield says one area everyone agrees should be confronted is the so-called regulated professions. And the mushrooms, aided by a long wet summer, have been bursting out in the woods in Hungary. Nick Thorpe has been out to pick them. But which ones will lift his dinner to gastronomic heights and which ones might kill?

Few French restaurants offer a menu without meat, so John Laurenson's been finding out why one of the country's top chefs has decided to do just that. Paul Adams explains why the government in the Ukrainian capital Kiev might have given up trying to seize back control of rebel-held eastern parts of the country. Misha Glenny talks of plans to establish a global parliament of city mayors taking powers away from 'tired old nation states'. One of Europe's most wanted men is thought to be hiding out in the mountains of central Greece - Jeff Maysh has been talking to people about this fugitive with a Robin Hood reputation and Antonia Quirke talks of Sicily where there's widespread exasperation about the corruption still pervasive in Italian society and where the Mafia continues to wield influence.

The kissing's had to stop in west Africa - a despatch from Mark Doyle about the Ebola crisis, which is now having a profound effect on people's lifestyles throughout the region. The United States Senate has approved President Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants - Jeremy Bowen, in Damascus, tells us this means a wide range of forces is lining up to combat the jihadists. Shabnam Mahmood's been to a society wedding in Pakistan - it was an opportunity to note some of the details of that country's social hierarchy. The controversial mayor of Toronto is in hospital battling cancer - Lee Carter says this latest chapter in Rob Ford's colourful life has brought a rare show of unity to a city Mr Ford was accused of dividing. And Will Grant tells us a story from the Latin American capital where the streets are clogged with vehicles yet many of the drivers haven't even taken a driving test!

Kate Adie introduces Correspondents' stories. This week Paul Wood hears warnings of civil war returning to Lebanon; Andrew Harding reflects on the Pistorius trial; Darius Barzagan can't get the images of MH17 out of his head; Niall O'Gallagher joins Catalans celebrating their National Day and calling for independence; and Lucy Ash meets Ivory Coast's most famous actress to talk about infidelity.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents stories from around the world. This week Gabriel Gatehouse takes a nerve-wracking drive, trying to avoid IS forces in Iraq. Shahzeb Jillani explains what Pakistan's political turmoil is about; John Sweeney comes face to face with President Putin after 14 years of trying. Claudia Hammond discovers that many patients in Israel remain on life support for years; and Steve Evans has the story of how a German board game took off in the trenches of WW1.

Global despatches. In this edition, Australia's tough immigration policy comes under the spotlight as a group of asylum seekers goes to court; why the mark which writer Ernest Hemingway left on Paris is now beginning to disappear; how the militants of Islamic State have affected Kurdish dreams of a state of their own; the tourists have returned to the beaches of Greece but, we learn, there's one correspondent who might not be so welcome in the country. And we hear from the reporter who's had second thoughts about wearing the headscarf, or hijab.

Foreign correspondents. Today: can a meeting of presidents halt the fighting in eastern Ukraine? Why the international health workers who've come to tackle the Ebola virus in west Africa are not always welcome. Deported from the US - and back home in Guatemala; why life is difficult for many of the returnees. On leaving Pakistan, there are many happy memories -- but none of them, one departing correspondent says, feature the national airline PIA. And it may be a cool damp summer in Switzerland, but the stories coming from parliament are distinctly hot and steamy.

Despatches from correspondents: Why should the west intervene with aid or arms? It's a question asked by our reporter in northern Iraq. The six-year-olds in Gaza who've already lived through three wars. Awesome sights and stressful moments as the Panama Canal celebrates its centenary. The militants of al-Shabaab use film and social media to get their message across - they also like to telephone a certain BBC editor. And why did another reporter pack an orange bottle of cleaning fluid along with the tennis shoes? She talks of a frantic shopping run before a return to Cuba.

Foreign correspondents tell their stories - in this edition, discussions in Israel about the conflict in Gaza, Tim Whewell; why the Turkish prime minister seems set to become the country's new president, Natalie Martin; why Argentina's demanding that global financial systems be overhauled, Katy Watson; tourists start to return to parts of The Philippines battered by storms and an earthquake, Rajan Datar and Reggie Nadelson visits a seaside town on America's east coast where African Americans traditionally took their summer holidays.

Despatches by reporters around the world. In this edition, Chris Morris, who was in Gaza twenty years ago, returns to chronicle how things 'have got worse, much worse'. Claudia Hammond, in Cyprus, on the latest attempts to find out what happened to those who went missing decades ago during fighting between the island's Greek and Turkish communities; Tim Mansel is in Sierra Leone amid growing alarm over the spread of the Ebola virus in west Africa. Why a seagull observed in Vatican City could be a disturbing omen for peace - that's from Alan Johnston and Petroc Trelawny finds out where the newly-weds like to go in Guangzhou, one of China's fastest-developing cities.

Correspondents tell their stories: a week in Gaza, Paul Adams; on the night train from Kiev to Donetsk, Gabriel Gatehouse; trouble in the vineyards of Moldova, Stephen Sackur; how the US city which brought us Campbell's Soup fell into decline, Sophie Reid and how frugality set two German brothers on the road to super-riches, Steve Evans

Back in the days of the Vietnam War the airwaves were full of protest songs. Today, plenty of conflict, but none of those songs. Humphrey Hawksley's been to Nashville to find out why. Jeremy Bowen's just been to Gaza, Syria and Iraq and reflects on what the fighting there might achieve. Caroline Wyatt's been reporting on global conflicts for seven years in her role as BBC Defence Correspondent. One question she's frequently been asked about war is: was it all worth it? The Irish economy may once again be gathering strength, but John Murphy, in the west of the republic, finds that emigration is taking its toll on rural life. And how difficult is it to go off for a swim? In the Indian capital Delhi, as Anu Anand's been finding out, the answer is ... VERY difficult!

Despatches. In this edition: some of the families caught up in Israel's fight against Palestinian militants in Gaza. Out on patrol on the dimly-lit streets of Caracas - the city with the highest murder rate of any capital. Two months to go to the Scottish referendum:- so what happened when other nations set out to assert their identities, to run their own affairs? And we find out why there are absolutely no women enjoying one of the most spectacular views in all of Greece.

We join the German football fans watching the world cup in the middle of a forest. Also: Fighting corruption in China; the culture of silence in a Mexican town ravaged by violence; why the French would rather speak Latin; and Italy's oldest police force celebrates its 200th anniversary. Presented by Kate Adie.

Jeremy Bowen laments the loss of everyday freedoms in Baghdad; Hilary Andersson investigates the mistreatment of prison inmates with mental health problems in the UDA; Alex Preston ventures into the biggest jade market in the world in Mandalay; Diana Darke meets Syriac christians rebuilding communities in their ancestral homeland in southeast Turkey; and Alex Marshall goes 'dumb walking' with his smartphone in Tokyo.

Reporting the world: correspondents with insight, colour and analysis from Baghdad, Kirkuk, Rome, Lahore and Paris

Global despatches: in this edition, why hunger is again taking hold in South Sudan - even after a plentiful harvest; Australia gets tough with asylum seekers -- and the problems pile up for those seeking a new life down under; how America's attachment to its First Amendment gives hate groups the freedom to disseminate their beliefs; we visit a cemetery in the Czech Republic: a place of awful history, but also one where you learn about a community determined to create a successful future for itself; and fine dining for only a few pounds? we meet a man in Chile dedicated to reviving his country's culinary heritage.