From Our Own Correspondent Folgen

A diplomatic dance, football playing politicians, mountain music and robotic sex dolls. Kate Adie introduces correspondent’s stories from around the world.In Germany - he almost became a professional footballer now he wants to be Chancellor - Jenny Hill meets a former teammate, and childhood friend, of Martin Schulz. In Sierra Leone Bob Howard meets the ‘friends of the dead’ as young entrepreneurs seek any way they can to escape the country’s staggering levels of unemployment. Micky Bristow reflects on the diplomatic games being played out between China and Taiwan. Special number plates and invitations to Swiss summits may seem insignificant to some, but not when on you’re an island that few nations recognise as an independent country. In Peru, Robin Denselow samples the sounds of mountain music at a reconciliation concert high in the Andes. And in San Marcos, California, Jane Wakefield takes a tour of a rather unusual factory offering the latest in AI equipped, robotic sex dolls.

Somalia faces famine, ethnic conflict continues in Myanmar and the ‘She-Wolf’ retires. Kate Adie introduces correspondents’ stories from around the world. On a rare trip into the remote Northern Shan State of Myanmar, Nick Sturdee meets one of the ethnic militias still at war with the military. There are harrowing sights for Mary Harper in Somalia and Somaliland, as she sees for herself the toll that severe drought and threat of famine are taking on the population, particularly the children. In contrast Will Grant finds something to celebrate for Cuba’s socialist leadership. As the annual May Day workers’ march took place, the US Congresswoman described by Fidel Castro as the ‘big bad she-wolf’ announced her retirement. Elizabeth Hotson reflects on tales of the Cold War spies and challenges to press freedom, as she joins the Ski Club of International Journalists in France. And in India, Melissa Van Der Klugt watches a tent being cleaned. Rajasthan's Royal Red Tent, which is taller than a double bus and made from exquisite silk, velvet and gold, is being given its first proper spring clean in 350 years.

The summer fighting season has begun in Afghanistan and, as Justin Rowlatt discovers, there is already a shortage of coffins following a Taliban attack. As the world worries about North Korea, Nick Danziger gets a glimpse of life in Pyongyang; designer coats, European football shirts and courting couples furiously tapping away on locally-manufactured mobile phones were not what he was expecting. In Uzbekistan, it’s the crunch of crinoline and sound of snapping cameras that surprise Caroline Eden – because now is wedding season in the former Soviet state. In the UAE, Julia Wheeler discovers a road named ‘Happiness Street’, a Minister of State for Happiness and fines for those who aren’t quite happy enough. And Mark Stratton goes to Sao Tome and Principe to see how a new approach to the cocoa trade is replacing the bitter legacy of the slave trade.