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