Crossing Continents

Natalia Antelava asks if the creeping influence of the Orthodox Church in Georgia's schools is turning them into a breeding ground for radical Christianity. Georgia's liberal politicians say only alignment with Europe and US will allow Georgia to overcome its post-Soviet past and survive as an independent nation. But in the way of Georgia's pro-Western course stands its Orthodox neighbour Russia and, increasingly, the country's own Orthodox Church. Natalia Antelava visits her old school in Tbilisi to see how the country's most conservative, anti-Western institution is influencing the next generation. Wesley Stephenson producing.

In rural India, wrestling often attracts larger crowds than cricket. And for poor, farming communities in Maharashtra, a wrestler in the family can also mean a ticket out of poverty. For Crossing Continents, Rupa Jha meets the young fighters and their families, and explores how this ancient sport is breaking down caste barriers. Linda Pressly producing.

Does Portugal have a problem with police brutality and racism? In February a group of young black men from the Lisbon suburb of Cova da Moura allege they were beaten and racially abused at a police station. Police claim the men tried to invade the station. Residents of Cova da Moura are mostly from immigrant backgrounds, and they say this is just the latest of a number of serious incidents in the past few years, and claim that the neighbourhood has become a 'police state'. James Fletcher travels to Cova da Moura to investigate whether police are too heavy handed towards black and immigrant communities, and whether those communities are bearing the brunt of Portugal's austerity driven spending cuts.

(Warning: Contains strong language).

Teatr doc was founded 12 years ago by playwrights who couldn't find a venue willing to stage their documentary-style plays that often challenge the status quo. In December the theatre was raided and forced to shut its doors but it quickly reopened in new premises and is still cocking a snook at the authorities. "Doc" as it is known to those who frequent it, has been recognised internationally as one of Russia's most prolific, innovative, and socially engaged theatre companies. For Crossing Continents Lucy Ash attends the opening night in the theatre's new home, and asks its actors, directors and its audience what the theatre says about life in Russia today.

Are excessive traffic fines and debtors' jails fuelling community tensions in suburban Missouri? Claire Bolderson reports on a network of ninety separate cities in St Louis County, most of which have their own courts and police forces. Critics say that their size makes them financially unviable and allege that some of them boost their incomes by fining their own citizens and locking them up when they can't pay.

This edition of Crossing Continents goes out and about in St Louis County to meet the people who say they are victims of a system which sees arrest warrants issued for relatively minor misdemeanours. Many of the victims are poor and black. The programme also takes us into the courts, and out onto the freeways with some of the County's police, who say they are upholding the law and promoting road safety.

The US government is not so sure. One of the towns in question is Ferguson where riots erupted after a white police officer shot a young black man dead last summer. In a recent report on the riots, the Department of Justice concluded that the Ferguson police had been stopping people for no good reason. It said they were putting revenue before public safety.

Claire Bolderson investigates how widespread the practice is and considers the impact on relations between citizens and the authorities that govern them.

Produced by Michael Gallagher.

In northern Tanzania there is a tradition of FGM - female genital mutilation. The 'cutting season' lasts for six weeks. Afterwards, the adolescent victims are often expected to marry. But girls in Serengeti District are saying 'no' to FGM. And dozens of them have fled to a new safe house in the town of Mugumu to escape this bloody, life-threatening rite of passage. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly travels to Mugumu to meet the girls - and the woman who has given them refuge, Rhobi Samwelly. She listens in as Rhobi engages in delicate and often emotional negotiations with parents intent on mutilating their daughters. Will the girls ever feel safe enough to return home?

It has been hidden away in a dusty corner of an abandoned theatre, unplayed and almost forgotten - a magnificent instrument allowed to moulder away in a territory whose Islamist rulers banned public performances of music. But now Gaza's only grand piano is getting a new lease of life. A small Brussels-based charity is restoring it to its former glory and at the same time is working to bring music back into schools. With Hamas control steadily weakening the charity has begun a unique project to train teachers in Gaza to re-introduce music into the curriculum - not through music classes but through subjects such as mathematics and geography. It is helping disturbed children in this war torn territory to concentrate - and it is exciting teachers. Tim Whewell gets exclusive access to the story of Gaza and its grand piano.

The cleaners whose protest has captured the imagination of those opposed to the harsh austerity programme in Greece. Mostly middle-aged or nearing retirement, they have refused to go quietly. The women have kept up a day and night vigil outside the Finance Ministry in Athens, taken the government to court and resisted attempts by the riot police to remove them by force. They've challenged representatives from the International Monetary Fund and raised their red rubber gloves in a clenched fist at the European Parliament. Some say they represent the plight of many women and the poorly paid, others that they are being manipulated by the left. Maria Margaronis hears the women's stories and asks what makes them so determined.

Producer: Mark Savage.

In Japan, manga and anime are huge cultural industries. These comics and cartoons are read and watched by young and old, men and women, geeks and office workers. Their fans stretch around the world and their cultural appeal has been used by the government to market 'Cool Japan'.

Manga and anime can be about almost anything, and some can be confronting - especially those featuring young children in sexually explicit scenarios. The UK, Canada and Australia have all banned these sorts of virtual images, placing them in the same legal category as real images of child abuse.

Last year, Japan became the last OECD country to outlaw the possession of real child abuse images, but they decided not to ban manga and anime. To many outsiders and some Japanese, this seems baffling - another example of 'weird Japan', and a sign the country still has a long way to go to taking child protection seriously.

James Fletcher travels to Tokyo to find out why the Japanese decided not to ban. Is this manga just fodder for paedophiles, and is Japan dragging its feet on protecting children? Or is Japan resisting moral panic and standing up for freedom of thought and expression?

In Comuna 13, one of Medellin's poorest and most violent districts, there is a giant rubbish dump - la escombrera. Local people say it's where the truth lies buried. They're talking about the disappeared - dozens of victims of Colombia's bloody, civil conflict concealed beneath the mountains of junk.

La escombrera stands in contrast to the 'Medellin Miracle' - the city's transformation over two decades from the darkest days of Pablo Escobar and his drug trafficking cartel, to its triumph in being voted the world's most innovative.

For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly reports on the move to begin digging for human remains.