Crossing Continents Folgen

Andrew Harding meets the Mayor with the job of running Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Can the man nicknamed "Tarzan" tackle mass corruption and the physical and psychological impact of years of brutal warfare?Andrew joins Mohamed Ahmed Noor who, by request of the president, has returned with his wife and family from a life in London to try and clean up Mogadishu. The mayor discusses his ambitious vision for a city, much of which currently lies in ruins. He proudly shows off the new Mogadishu Mall and talks about the constant risk of attack by the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab - and narrowly escapes death by a car bomb along the way.Producers: Kate Forbes and Daniel Tetlow.

When Israel was established, its tiny community of ultra-Orthodox Jews were, uniquely, exempted from the normal requirement of service in the Israeli Defence Force. They were seen as keepers of the spiritual soul of the nation, and their vital duty of studying religion and Jewish law was more important than wielding guns. 70 years on, and the community's numbers have grown massively - and there are increasing demands for the ultra-Orthodox to play their part in the defence of the nation. A Supreme Court decision which has cleared the way for the drafting of all Jewish citizens reaching the age of eighteen has divided the coalition government and led to furious rows. Linda Pressly investigates how conscription is exposing deep faultlines among Israeli Jews. Secular and mainstream religious Jews increasingly see the ultra-Orthodox as a drain on the Israeli state, and resent this community ruthlessly exploiting their political power. Meanwhile the ultra-Orthodox see themselves as fulfilling a sacred duty which lies above the day-to-day considerations of politics or defence. Can the rifts be healed - or will Israeli society become irrevocably split? Producer: Mark Savage.

Tessa Dunlop travels to Romania to investigate why a proposed open-cast gold mine has caused the longest-lasting political storm in the country since the end of Communism. The mine, in the rural community of Rosia Montana in the Transylvanian mountains in western Romania, would be Europe's largest. Its supporters, including most locals, say it would bring much-needed jobs to the area, which has suffered very high unemployment since the last mine closed there a few years ago, after two millennia of gold mining. But opponents, ranging from local shopkeepers to NGOs in Bucharest and abroad, argue that the project would destroy what they see as the area's only chance for more sustainable development: turning the 2000-year old Roman mines located in those same mountains into tourist attractions, perhaps as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mining company admits that many of the Roman galleries would be destroyed by the open-cast mine, but they are largely inaccessible anyway. As a quid pro quo, the company is already restoring those galleries that will be protected, to make them accessible and a tourism destination. Is the destruction of the majority of the Roman mines a price worth paying for the restoration of a few? Or is the conflict about something else entirely? Some campaigners admit that their real fight is not with the company, but with the government, because they suspect official corruption. Meanwhile politicians say it is easier to cut public salaries than to give the go-ahead to a big project like this, precisely because of the ensuing suspicion of sleaze. The project is seen as a test case for prosperity, transparency and good governance for Romania. Producer: Arlene Gregorius.