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From Our Own Correspondent: Weekend Edition: Ferocity, Prosperity and Subservience

Syria edited.jpg

27/09/2014

Weekend Edition: Ferocity, Prosperity and Subservience

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Weekend Edition: Ferocity, Prosperity and Subservience

Stories from Syria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Bulgaria and Liberia

Jeremy Bowen on who will fight in Syria; Mark Doyle in Ukraine; Shabnam Mahmood at a Pakistani wedding; Lucy Irvine on her Roma helper and Mark Doyle on the death of the handshake

The United States Senate has approved President Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight IS. Jeremy Bowen has been in Damascus and finds that the US backed forces are just one of the enemies the Islamic State now has to contend with. 

Paul Adams is in eastern Ukraine feeling the autumnal chill and wondering what winter holds for soldiers, residents and the pro-Russian politicians now carving out their power bases. 

Shabnam Mahmood attends a wedding in Karachi, Pakistan and finds it is the perfect opportunity to observe the domestic relationships that govern many lives.

In Bulgaria, Lucy Irvine employs a young Roma man. He shows aptitude and initiative, but when the time comes for him to be independent, no business venture succeeds beyond a few months. The spark of hope for a better life that long motivated the boy is extinguished until it is revived by the birth of his son.

Mark Doyle explores why the kissing has had to stop in west Africa. He finds that Ebola is not just affecting those who have the virus, it is also changing society as a whole, as traditional greetings including hand shaking and kissing are discouraged to prevent the spread of the illness. 

Presented by Owen Bennett Jones 
Produced by Laura Gray 

(Photo: Syrian Kurds fleeing the Islamic State militants cross Into Turkey. Credit: Getty Images)

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