From Our Own Correspondent Folgen

An 18-hour train ride to the end of the line brings you to the very edge of Norway. Inside the Arctic Circle. But why is it that this place has such firm connections with Italy. Christine Finn has the answer. Justin Webb examines a Japanese conundrum: the country benefits from its cultural insularity and yet, if it doesn't open up to outsiders, it faces economic decline. Mark Lowen, charting the mood in Athens as international investigators assess the creditworthiness of Greece, talks of clouds of tear gas and despair closing over a troubled country. In the Pakistani city of Karachi, the American consulate moved to a new location. Mohammed Hanif says it has meant the reopening of an historic park and armed guards being replaced by youngsters playing cricket. And you used to have to go America's Great Plains for a glimpse of the mighty bison. Not any more. Rob Cameron tells us why it can now be seen wandering around a place that used to be a training ground for the Russian Red Army.

They came from all over: serious men from Seville and Madrid with their fine suits and Havana cigars to see the last bullfight in the historic stadium in Barcelona. Robert Elms was also there to witness the final show. Attempts to clamp down on the highly lucrative trade in mineral smuggling in eastern Congo have not proved successful, as Conor Woodman has been finding out. North Korea might not seem to be a country with the latest in communications technology but, as Lucy Williamson tells us, the leadership there are finding ways of making it work for them. Paul Adams goes to a country music show in the US and hears how the genre has embraced the anger of a generation poleaxed by economic hardship. And Trish Flanagan joins tens of thousands who arrived in a remote corner of the Republic of Ireland to watch a game of golf.

Kate Adie shares stories behind the headlines with correspondents around the world. David Loyn is at the funeral of Burhanuddin Rabbani reflecting on the return to prominence of Afghanistan's warlords. Tim Mansel looks at the intimate relationship between football and politics in Turkey. Roland Buerk explains why the residents of Tokyo are cancelling the leases on their high rise apartments. Damien McGuiness is in the disputed territory of Abkhazia and Andrew Harding has the opportunity to check out a Libyan hospital .... as a patient.