Four reigning Arab monarchs have passed through the UK's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst or its associated institutions - the kings of Bahrain and Jordan, the Emir of Qatar and the Sultan of Oman, alongside a long list of lesser sheikhs and princes, and many of the region's military chiefs of staff. Is training at Sandhurst Military Academy, bolstering militarised monarchies in the Arab world?

Lucy Ash examines the Russian military strategy of deception, maskirovka, from the 14th Century to the current crisis in Ukraine.

If the statistics can be believed, over the last 30 years the gap between rich and poor in the West has grown as cavernous as it was in the Nineteenth Century. In the US, for example, the richest 1% of the population is estimated to own more than 40% of the country's wealth. And it is a similar picture across the planet.

Claire Bolderson reports on the tiny independent cities that make up St Louis County and how they stand accused of fuelling community tensions

As part of the BBC's A Richer World season, Rustam Qobil visits a desert where people have lost their sea, health and loved ones to a man-made disaster.

My Africa offers a series of inspiring snapshots of a continent working towards future prosperity. In the third part of this series, Alan Kasujja travels to Tanzania to investigate how its unique blend of modern and traditional music is attracting the world’s attention and helping social mobility – Africa doing things its own way, and leading.

The Chinese Cricket Association has set itself the target of achieving Test match status and playing against the likes of England, Australia and South Africa by 2020, and a grass roots campaign to get the game taught in schools is well underway. Fred Dove investigates China's attempts to make itself a cricketing nation, and meets some of China's finest cricketers.

Australia is one of the most popular destinations for asylum seekers escaping their home countries. But Australia doesn’t want them.

As part of the BBC's Richer World season, Alan Kasujja travels to three countries in his native east Africa to meet young Africans determined to build a better future.

The imperial summer palace in Beijing was looted and destroyed by French and British troops in 1860. Chris Bowlby discovers why.