From Our Own Correspondent

Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says an early and substantial drawdown of British troops in Afghanistan is being privately considered David Willey wonders who else at the Vatican - besides the butler on trial for stealing Papal documents -- is dissatisfied with the way the church is being run Frances Harrison meets survivors from the civil war in Sri Lanka as officials there hope cricket will help restore the island's image as a holiday paradise Pascale Harter in Barcelona on the Chinese finding business opportunities amidst the recession in Spain Mattia Cabitza charts Peruvians' relationships with their cats: some revere them as furry family pets, while others think they make a tasty meal.

Unemployment's up, the tax bills are up, public cheerfulness is down. Hugh Schofield says these are gloomy times in France. Sunday's general election in Venezuela could be a close one. And already it's providing our correspondent Paul Moss with a wardrobe nightmare. The stalemate in London surrounding Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continues. Jo Fidgen says that in Sweden, where he's wanted after allegations of sexual assault, most people believe he should come back for questioning. Hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars have been returning to their homeland. Robin Banerji has been learning that many are finding it hard to track down their cultural heritage. And biggest, tallest, longest, most expensive? Modern China certainly deals in superlatives but Martin Patience wonders if size really does matter or if it's all a question of insecurity.

Lyse Doucet's in a Syrian suburb hearing stories about a civil war which is reaching more parts of the country every week. Damien McGuinness finds there are complaints from some Turkish women about the good times which have arrived at a resort town on Georgia's Black Sea coast. Justin Webb wonders whether ludicrous amounts of time and money are being spent trying to woo undecided voters in the US presidential election. Lucy Ash is at a monastery contemplating the growing influence on the Russian state of the Orthodox Church. And while visitors to the Philippines may have great things to say about a fascinating country, Kate McGeown says they rarely mention the food!

Justin Rowlatt visits Las Vegas and learns why America's casino capital has suffered more than most from the economic crisis. Sarah Birke, reporting from the border between Syria and Turkey, meets a rebel commander who says he'd rather write poetry than go to war. Will Ross has been investigating reports that young girls have been forced to hand over their babies for adoption in Nigeria. Daniel Nasaw's has learned how the battles of the American Civil War have helped to shape the debate in the current US presidential campaign. And Gideon Long's been to the remote island in the South Pacific which inspired Daniel Defoe's castaway classic Robinson Crusoe.

Damian Grammaticas in China on how accounts of forced abortions from around the country have fuelled a debate on a once-taboo subject: the state's One Child only policy. Paul Mason tells how Spain's third city Valencia is being buried under a mountain of debt. Now the chemists are running out of prescription drugs. Gabriel Gatehouse is in Kenya where questions are being asked about an outbreak of factional violence. Is it simply a matter of local feuding or should national politicians shoulder some of the blame? Steve Rozenberg's been to meet the hardline president of Chechnya and ask him questions about the Islamicisation of his Russian republic. And Georgia Paterson Dargham chronicles how Beirut is increasingly feeling the effects of the Syrian conflict. She tells us how some residents in the Lebanese capital are wondering: has the time now come to get out?

Andrew Harding says ending one miners dispute in South Africa does not mean the authorities' troubles are over. Judith Kampner, a new US citizen, volunteers to become an election worker -- and all does not go according to plan. Jonathan Fryer hears that while Istanbul may be one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities, Turkey does not officially approve of multiculturalism. Martin Buckley takes the slow train to Belgrade and finds a lively city keen to move on from recent Balkans history. Will Grant experiences an egg shortage in Mexico -- a country more reliant on eggs than any other.

Kevin Connolly suggests that two deaths in the Middle East, eight hundred years and several hundred miles apart, offer lessons on the wisdom of foreign intervention in Syria. Alan Johnston's been to a building in Rome they call the Palace of Shame where hundreds of migrants live with time on their hands to consider the difficulties of finding a dream life in Europe. Some of the millions who left Zimbabwe as the country fell into violence and poverty have started to make their way back. But Jenny Cuffe's been discovering that not all are being welcomed home with open arms. Nick Thorpe -- knocked off his bike in Budapest -- has had an unexpected opportunity to take a close look at the Hungarian health service. And the economic crisis may have hit Ireland hard. But Kieran Cooke, in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo, has been learning that people are still determined to have some fun.

Thomas Fessy flew into The Gambia to ask questions about recent executions. But he was thrown out of the country. It's left him asking: what have the authorities got to hide? Iraqi police and army officers have been accused of taking part in a murderous campaign of persecution against the country's gay community. Natalia Antelava meets one senior official who reckons there are only about ten homosexuals in the whole country and, he tells her "they need to change." John Laurenson's in a vast shanty town on the edge of Madrid hearing stories from people who've lost everything in the economic crisis. The man who looked after the sacred crocodiles in the Ivory Coast is not doing the job any longer. John James tells us about his very last day at work. And Kathy Flower, who lives in a village in the French Pyrenees, finds that the mayor plays a significant part in French community life.

Greece remains a land where millions go each year to enjoy their holidays. But Mark Lowen's discovered that it's now also a place where increasing numbers of people are finding it hard to cope with the austerity demanded of them. The Russian republic of Chechnya is enjoying the most peaceful time it's seen in years but Oliver Bulloughsays its people seem far from content. Linda Pressly's been to Israel to talk to some of the Haredi, the inclreasingly influential ultra-orthodox, who seem set to play a critical role in the country's future. Emma Jane Kirby is in St Tropez as the new French leader prepares to address his people on TV. She wonders if there might be lessons he can learn from the glitzy Cote d'Azure. Justin Rowlatt, in China, knows Tiananmen, Taiwan and Tibet are subjects the authorities might prefer him to avoid. But now he's learned there's a fourth T - toilets. The Chinese, he's been finding out, do not like people poking fun at their loos.

Kate Adie hosts correspondents' stories from the United States, Russia, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. The United States breathes a sigh of relief that Hurricane Isaac didn't turn into another Katrina. Alastair Leithead has been in the eye of the storm. The new 'skinheads'. Tom Esslemont tries to unpick what motivates Russia's ultra-nationalists. Just where did Julius Caesar REALLY defeat the Gaulls? Hugh Schofield investigates a case of alleged archaeological skulduggery in Burgundy. Alan Johnston meets the new Mayor of Palma, a member of the 'Five Star Movement' currently gaining political influence in Italy. And Rob Cameron makes a sentimental journey ... to a campsite in South Bohemia.

Kate Adie hosts reports from correspondents around the world. Mark Lobel attends a memorial service for the South African miners killed by police while striking for better pay and working conditions. Mike Thompson is 'embedded' with the army in the West African Republic of Mali. Can it win back the north of the country from Islamist militants? What do people in Ecuador make of the diplomatic stand-off between their government and the UK over the Julian Assange affair? Will Grant finds out. David Willey recalls his first visit to Beijing nearly fifty years ago - an extraordinary trip where he saw Chairman Mao and briefly met the last Emperor of China. As Italians enjoy the last few days of their annual August break at the seaside Dany Mitzman reflects on the contradictory charms of the Riviera Romagnola.

French police have been placed on higher alert after rioting in the northern city of Amiens. Christian Fraser says the unrest poses a growing challenge to the new president, Francois Hollande. Government forces have been re-deployed from north-east Syria. Orla Guerin believes the Kurds, who've long wanted to establish their own homeland, see this as a window of opportunity. There've been more protests in Delhi against corruption in public life. But Mark Tully wonders if support for the anti-corruption movement is ebbing away. How will life change in Egypt now there's a president from the Muslim Brotherhood? It's a question exercising many including foreign visitors to Cairo like Edwin Lane. He speculates whether time might soon be called on the capital's thriving bar scene. And Daniel Nasaw tells of the difficulties and the embarrassments an American can face when he tries to get to grips with Farsi, the language of the Iranians.

Chris Stewart is in Spain where some young people, unable to find employment in the cities in these austere times, are returning to work in the countryside. The agricultural sector's been holding up reasonably well as parts of the US economy take a hammering. But Paul Adams has been finding out that in the corn fields of Nebraska, drought is the main threat. Kate McGeown in the Philippines has been learning that the government in Manila is trying to bring home Filipina domestic workers caught up in the civil war in Syria. Peter Biles has been to the First World War battlefields of Gallipoli. His grandfather was killed there as Allied forces engaged in deadly trench warfare against Turkish troops. And Joanna Robertson explains why they say August in Paris is like a month of Sundays!

Could Mogadishu be about to lose its title as the world's most dangerous city? Mary Harper says soon there'll be a new parliament and a new president in the Somali capital and there's hope the days of war, drought and famine could come to an end. The authorities in Yemen helped by the US have been taking the battle to al-Qaeda but Natalia Antelava says some believe hearts and minds are being lost in the process. Three years ago the north-eastern tip of Sri Lanka was the scene of the Tamil Tigers' last big battle against the Sri Lankan army. Charles Haviland's been allowed to visit the area. Henry Nicholls, who's been in the Galapagos Islands out in the Pacific Ocean, says people there are finding it hard to pick themselves up after the death of their most famous resident, the giant tortoise, Lonesome George. The annual Bayreuth Festival has been taking place in the south of Germany and Stephen Evans says that once again it's being stalked by controversy.

Ian Pannell visits a school which has become a morgue for children in the Syrian city of Aleppo. James Harkin meets a Syrian whose chosen weapon, in his battle against the Assad regime, is a mobile phone rather than a gun John Sweeney's in Belarus. It's ruled, he says, by a regime so cocky it can't even be bothered to rebrand its secret police. They're still known as the KGB. Senegal's become the latest African country to grow melons for Europe. Susie Emmett joins workers who find time to take a break for a game of football. And is it more Lord of the Flies or Swallows and Amazons? Laura Trevelyan travels to the state of Maine to investigate the phenomenon that is the US summer camp.