The first programme will show how rapidly the shock wave of the credit crunch is spreading and why it is now moving far beyond the sub-prime homeowners where it began.

There are now as many private security contractors in Iraq as there are US soldiers. To whom are they accountable when things go wrong? Steve Evans reports on the most controversial contractor, Blackwater, which has been criticised by the Iraqi government, American politicians and its own employees.

Peter Day reports on whether the US Food and Drug Administration will licence the HIV/AIDS drug Maraviroc.

Allan Urry investigates links between the Pentagon, politicians and weapons manufacturers.

Since the Uzbek government put down an uprising in Andijan in 2005, the country has become more and more isolated from the west. But ahead of the country’s first Presidential election since 2000, our Central Asia correspondent Natalia Antelava made a secret trip across the state, recording her impressions.

Building democracy: What is the role of radio in building democracy? In Papua, a new radio station is being installed as part of Indonesia's 68H network. 68H has introduced electricity by building a dam to power the station in the village. How did 68H get around censorship under Suharto? And why is radio such a key player in building civil society?

Freedom of the internet:How do the motives of mainstream news websites compare with the agendas of blogs? In part two of 'Press for Freedom', we talk to Iraqi blogger Salam Pax and others who have delivered on-the-ground viewpoints in regions where the government would have otherwise silenced them. In Kuala Lumpur, we hear from the government-owned Bernama press, who also fund Nam News Network, supposedly the only unfiltered news wire in a non-aligned world.

What is the future of news, when the internet may undermine the old-fashioned paternalistic precepts? BBC's Alan Little investigates.

BBC's Roy Greenslade looks at how far reporting 'the truth' can be endangered by governments, corporations and the new wave of internet publishing.

The BBC and other international broadcasters boast "objective" news and impartial window onto the world, but is such a thing really possible? Alan Little investigates.