From Our Own Correspondent Folgen

Alan Johnston's been to the Italian towns shaken by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks. In Pakistan, monsoon season is approaching again: Aleem Maqbool meets victims of last year's disastrous flooding amid concerns it could happen again. Hamilton Wende, a longterm resident of Johannesburg, believes it's shaking off a reputation for violence and urban decay. James McConnachie is in Nepal, where Chinese influence is bringing new road-building projects to the world's most dramatic mountain landscapes. And Roland Buerk is in Tokyo, where pets are pampered like nowhere else on earth.

Fergal Keane meets exiled Syrians in Istanbul and finds little agreement among them about the way forward for their troubled country. Gabriel Gatehouse is in eastern Congo where politics, history and nature have conspired to create instability and danger. David Willey talks of unrest and dismay at the Vatican as Cardinals plot and the Pope speaks of betrayal. Anu Anand's been meeting The Love Commandos in Delhi -- they help young couples who dare to get together without parental approval. And just ten miles from Wall Street and you're bathing in the Atlantic Ocean! Reggie Nadelson's in Brighton Beach, New York's most interesting ethnic enclave.

Jeremy Bowen in Beirut says the Middle East is certainly changing. But the dominoes aren't tumbling as quickly as some thought last year. Instead, the way ahead will be long and hard. Will Ross in Lagos on the fuel subsidy scandal and why for Nigerians the price of petrol is a constant preoccupation. Jonny Dymond takes to the skies over Arizona with a man determined to do his bit to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants into the US. The campest show of them all, Eurovision, has come to Baku in Azerbaijan. And Steve Rosenberg, who's there, says it's attended by awkward questions about human rights. And she was invited to a seaside tasting of some of Italy's finest fare. So what could possibly go wrong for Dany Mitzman?