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From Our Own Correspondent: Weekend Edition: Tales of the Unexpected

Weekend Edition: Tales of the Unexpected

30/08/2014

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Weekend Edition: Tales of the Unexpected

English words in Hindi, scantily-stocked shelves in Havana or the seagulls plaguing Rome

Correspondents' stories of unsettling encounters and things out of place, whether they be English words in Hindi, scantily-stocked shelves in Havana or the seagulls plaguing Rome.

A compendium of correspondents' stories of unsettling encounters, bizarre finds and things which are just plain out of place, from around the world. Mary Harper describes what it's like to get regular text messages (and unprompted attempts at religious conversion) from the al-Shabaab militants of Somalia. 

Stephen Sackur gets a tour of a Moldovan winery with a priceless stash of wine laid in for Hermann Goering - and where Vladimir Putin also has an extensive collection. 

After a few years in Cuba, Sarah Rainsford is still rather baffled by the apparently random selection of goods available (or, more often, unavailable) in the supermarkets of Havana. 

Craig Jeffrey's surprised by the range and inventiveness of the English being used across India. 

Sian Griffiths feels her skin crawling when faced with millions of crickets and mealworms being raised on one Canadian farm producing insects for human food - but she swallows her prejudices and samples a cricket cookie. 

And there are more animal antics with Alan Johnston, as he observes the rather thuggish behaviour of the seagulls which are now plaguing Rome.

Presenter: Owen Bennett Jones
Producer: Polly Hope

Photo: A seagull eats a pigeon during Pope Francis' weekly audience in St Peter's Square on May 28, 2014 in Vatican City. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

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