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From Our Own Correspondent: The Chill in Moscow's Spring

The chill in Moscow's spring

30/05/2015

The Chill in Moscow's Spring

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, The Chill in Moscow's Spring

Feelings of persecution in Moscow, women police of Pakistan, and gnawa music from Morocco

Feelings of persecution in Moscow, women police of Pakistan, cyber security in Jordan, and grooving to gnawa music in Morocco.

Spring is in the air in Moscow, and Caroline Wyatt finds that the city is at its loveliest in May. But this year she also finds that there is a distinctive chill in the atmosphere, and some people are thinking of leaving the country.

In Pakistan, Shaimaa Khalil joins a police academy, where recruits are being prepared for a career that could involve taking on religious extremists, drug traffickers and assassins. Many of the cadets who opted for this line of work are women. 

Jordan shares borders with Syria and Iraq, and has become a target for the so-called Islamic State. Reason enough to call in technical help to improve police intelligence, surveillance and cyber security, as Frank Gardner reports.  

In Morocco, Robin Denselow finds the gnawa musicians in full swing at a festival in Essaouira. Gnawa is a distinctive Muslim type of music and dance, whose origins go back to those who came to Morocco from West and Sub-Saharan Africa as slaves or soldiers. It was looked down upon for a while, but not anymore. 

(Photo: Saint Basil's cathedral in Red Square, Moscow. Credit: Julian Finney, Getty Images)

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