Episode description

Kate Adie presents stories from Russia, Nigeria, the US, Ecuador and Italy.

Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russia’s western border region of Kursk caused authorities to declare a state of emergency there. The incursion is now in its second week and is the deepest into Russian territory since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Steve Rosenberg has been watching the reaction in Moscow and reflects on another major news event soon after he first arrived in Russia.

Nigeria has been in the throes of an economic crisis which earlier this month led to 10 days of protests across the country. More than 700 demonstrators were arrested, 22 were killed and many more were injured. The marches eventually petered out but the causes of their discontent, though, don’t look likely to go away. Simi Jolaoso has been to an open-air market in Lagos.

In certain US states, parents are offered school vouchers as a means of paying for their children to go to private school, should they so choose, using public funding which would otherwise be used for state-funded school places. The vouchers scheme has polarised communities across the state of Arizona, says Mark Moran in Queen Creek.

In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa has moved to clampdown on organised crime and the drug cartels since he took power, amid a surge in outbreaks of violence. Danny Wiser was in Guayaquil, which has seen the worst of the violence and learned how it's impacting key areas of daily life.

The Italian city of Trieste has a complex identity, thanks to its history and its geography. It was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Sara Wheeler found out more about its past on a visit this Summer.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Tom Bigwood Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison