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From Our Own Correspondent: Somalia’s searing drought

Magazines & Reviews

Somalia’s searing drought

03/09/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Somalia’s searing drought

Stories from Somalia, Russia and Puerto Rico.

Stories from Russia, Puerto Rico and Somalia, where people, livestock and land are having to endure extremely dry weather after four successive rainy seasons have effectively failed. The groundwater level is dropping sharply across the country as more people try to pump any amount they can to the surface. More than 3 million head of livestock have already died; as people lost the meat and milk from their herds, they’ve faced rocketing prices of other food, like imported grain. In many parts of the country, reserves of food are running out. Mercy Juma recently saw just how parched the landscape has become and how people are struggling to survive.

Following the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, tributes poured in for the last leader of the Soviet Union. Tributes from those Soviet republics that he allowed to become independent, Tributes for the leader who tried to bring an end to the global arms race; a member of the Party elite, who began dismantling the Communist system from within. But for many Russians who lived through the chaotic years that followed, during which some became spectacularly rich and many became poorer, the late Mr Gorbachev is not such a hero. What do we know of Mr Gorbachev the man? He was someone Steve Rosenberg met several times.

In Puerto Rico, we travel the water channels in Fajardo, in the east. Here bioluminescence lights up the waters of the lagoon. The region is famous for its nature reserves and the diversity of marine life, but there is one specific creature that the musician known as Dessa wanted to see. It’s a frog, that’s become the symbol of Puerto Rico, named after its distinctive call that male frogs make at night time…

Producer: Emma Close
Production Coordinator: Iona Hammond
Presenter: Pascale Harter
Editor: Hugh Levinson

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