Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today: Lucy Ash is in the midst of the Republic of Macedonia's "Colourful Revolution," where it's buildings and statues that are getting a new lick of paint; Richard Lim is in Iraqi Kurdistan which may be relatively peaceful but its economy is faltering; Joe Gerlach has an odd taste in his mouth in Ecuador as he's invited to quaff a somewhat metallic concoction; James Jeffrey reflects on the Ethiopian mindset, in which any criticism is unwelcome. And, in the United States, they've waited 17 years for them but Simon Parker soon gets a mouthful of critters.

Leaving's the theme of this edition. Bridget Kendall, the BBC's Russia specialist, is hanging up her headphones but not before she talks about secret agents and considers what the past can tell us about that country's future. Past and present are on Kevin Connolly's mind too. He's off to a new BBC posting and points out that within half an hour's walk of his home in Jerusalem some of the defining dramas of the ancient world played themselves out. He also talks of the pleasures and pitfalls of Middle East reporting today. And Gabriel Gatehouse hums the theme tune from 'The Great Escape' while considering departures in his essay about the EU referendum and the Euro2016 football tournament in France

Around the world in less than half an hour. A slump in global oil prices has hit Angola hard but still, there are glimpses of wealth everywhere and abject poverty's never far away; the Iraqi city of Basra is governed by hardline Iranian-backed Islamic politicians but that doesn't stop its citizens enjoying themselves at a brand new shopping mall they call Times Square; what happens to the clothes you give away to charity shops? Many are beginning a journey which could lead to countries in Asia or Africa but first stop, we learn, might be a giant warehouse in Hungary; the quality of the air in Hong Kong has reached new lows and people are becoming ill with respiratory problems and cancers -- we're off in search of the one spot in the city that usually escapes the smog. And, in the primary schools of France they take poetry very seriously indeed. That can mean a homework nightmare. For the children -- and for parents too

Reporters with the news behind the news. In this edition: it used to be Cuba, but today Venezuela is the more troubled of the two socialist allies and the country the US president prefers to visit; there's a portrait of the city of Venice, of the quarters where the tourists don't visit, where houses are boarded up as more and more residents move away; exotic Kashgar used to be one of the key stop-overs on the ancient Silk Route. Today the modern and the ancient are coming into conflict there as China tries to bring the restive region under control; countries in southern Africa face a damaging drought after another year of insufficient rainfall - we're in landlocked Lesotho, where food supplies are now at risk; and why do we develop loyalties to one particular part of a city? In Paris, there's acute rivalry between neighbourhoods on the north and south of the River Seine. Our man in the great city climbs on his bike to sample life on the other side ...

A week in the life of correspondents around the world. In this edition, the paint flies as the race for the presidency in Peru gets colourful; a battle for control of the Iraqi city of Falluja is about to begin - it could be a long and gruelling one, the ISIS fighters dug in there have had time to prepare for the arrival of the government forces; time is running out for the German authorities to prosecute those who committed mass murder in Hitler's time - we meet a man trying to hunt them down before it's too late; a barbed wire fence may be in place but migrants are making it through the border from Bulgaria to Serbia with help from smugglers ... and some policemen. And on a visit to Asmara, the Italianate capital city of Eritrea in north east Africa, our correspondent tries to find out the truth about allegations of repression, political prisoners and torture

Correspondents look at some of the week's developments. In this edition, how the mounting industrial strife in France presents an increasingly serious challenge to President Hollande and his unpopular government. Illegal gold mining in Ghana - the authorities are worried about the amount of gold being smuggled out of the country and its effect on the nation's economy. Nature's taking over some of the Jewish cemeteries in Warsaw - we meet a group of volunteers trying to make some amends for the amnesia and oblivion about Jewish life in Poland before the war. The Swiss weren't just opening the world's longest rail tunnel this week, they were also using the occasion to try to re-negotiate their relations with the European Union. And we sail the south Atlantic on the Royal Mail ship St Helena - the scrapyard's beckoning and this is one of her final voyages

People in the news. Today, how the policeman's helping the opium farmer in Afghanistan. The president’s critics say democracy's under assault, freedom of speech is being stifled - but amongst some in Turkey, President Erdogan is more popular than ever. Young women in Malawi explain how sanitary protection is not affordable -- and that means they miss school for several days every month. The corner of Venice where one of the world's most hateful words was coined -- today the place is among the city's more fashionable neighbourhoods. And the news media may love an anniversary, but some of its senior correspondents have dates they'd sooner forget ...

Insight, analysis, description and colour. Today, death on a dusty highway in Baluchistan and what that might mean for neighbouring Afghanistan; how the people of Hiroshima, where America set off an atomic bomb in 1945, feel about the imminent visit by President Obama; the Swiss have never joined the European Union so why are they so interested in the result of the in/out referendum in Britain next month? We hear how Turkey's Kurdish population fits into the President Erdogan's plan to continue being the dominant force in the country's politics and finally there's an account of a day delightfully wasted on a slow train journey across the south-eastern tip of Australia

People in the news: it's a hundred years since the signing of the secret Sykes-Picot agreement under which the British and French agreed to divide up the Middle East, and now the President of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, says it's time for outright independence for the Iraqi Kurds. Jim Muir considers the Kurds' flight from Saddam Hussein 25-years ago and what has happened to some of the people he encountered back then. Bethany Bell is in Austria where voting could result in the country getting Europe's first far right president. The French leader Francois Hollande's again said he wants the new nuclear plant in the English county of Somerset to go ahead. It's to be built by the French. David Shukman's been to a construction site in Finland where the French are building a similar reactor - amid some controversy. Have you had a 'camelccino' yet? Hannah McNeish in Kenya tells us camel milk could be the next big thing and that could mean huge benefits for the country's economy, and its camel herders. And vitriol from the presidential campaign might have given people reasons to be discouraged about America, but Robert Hodierne tells a story which he says illustrates the basic goodness of folks in that country

Insight, colour and analysis. In this edition: the authorities deny IS or al-Qaeda is active in Bangladesh but others believe a spate of vicious killings there is the work of Islamist extremists; after Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, American schools are now having to rehearse what they'll do if their place of learning comes under gun attack -- but the precautions aren't always a comfort to parents; there are now hundreds of thousands of Syrians taking shelter from the war in neighbouring Jordan - their presence is having a marked effect on the Jordanian economy and on its peoples' eating habits; we meet a man in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania who tells us how the country's new president is providing his country with inspirational leadership at last. And surely covering the Cannes Film Festival is a thoroughly pleasant experience? Only up to a point, apparently. We hear a story of status anxiety and snobbery, indignity and humiliation