From Our Own Correspondent

Robots are doing the cleaning up in an old people's home in Denmark. Are they popular? Jake Wallis Simons has been finding out. A journalist in Sri Lanka is stabbed to death in her home. Charles Haviland says colleagues are now talking of a society brutalised by years of violence, where the value of life has been eroded. What do Judaism and Confucianism have in common? Quite a lot apparently, as Michael Goldfarb's been discovering in the Chinese city of Jinan. American schoolchildren are now being taught what to do should a gunman start shooting in their school. Laura Trevelyan in New York's been talking to children and to parents about it. And as a corruption scandal swirls around the Spanish royal family, Tom Burridge goes to two royal palaces to try to learn how the Spanish royals can win back their popularity.

Spain crawls painfully out of recession but Pascale Harter, in Barcelona, says so much damage has already been done to Spanish families; in America, six million manufacturing jobs have gone but there are still some things Made in the USA, as Mike Wendling's been discovering in New York State; one territory full of natural resources is Inner Mongolia, which is part of China. But, as Martin Patience has been learning, there are concerns that development's coming at a heavy cost to tradition and heritage; Edward Lewis climbs aboard the train to Luxor to ask passengers what they make of Egypt's military leader Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Simon Atkinson, in the deserts of Abu Dhabi, learns what exactly it is that makes a camel beautiful.

Reporters worldwide. In this edition: Britain and France are to co-operate on a new unmanned combat aircraft but all involved agree - let's not call it a drone! The first round of the Syrian peace talks have come to an end in Geneva. You might think little's been achieved, but that's not necessarily the case. We go to meet the former warlord with links to Osama bin Laden who wants to be the next president of Afghanistan and to Work Street in Athens where, despite some upbeat government forecasts, the workers reckon there are more hard times ahead. And in Delhi, arguably the world's noisiest city, we visit the car horn bazaar to find the loudest hooter of them all.

A love affair going nowhere in Damascus -- it's what happens when a rebel footsoldier falls in love with the daughter of one of the Syrian regime's security chiefs; one correspondent comes face to face with what she describes as 'the most exquisite banquet in Chinese history' while another is with the protestors in the Ukrainian capital Kiev saying the city 'looks and feels like some surreal parallel universe where an idealised, heroic past has collided with a menacing dystopian future.' We hear that Kazakhstan is suffering an identity crisis: while some now chase post-perestroika wealth, others are looking to the past and seeking guidance from the cults of their ancestors. And their songs have been labelled 'vulgar and slanderous' but we find out that the Calypsonians of Guyana claim their government's trying to silence them.

Reporters' despatches from around the world, introduced by Kate Adie. Today, Will Grant on the astonishing prevalence of guns in Central America: Josh Spero in Jerusalem asks how best to teach Israeli children about the Holocaust without traumatising them: Jake Wallis Simons witnesses friendship across the Muslim-Christian divide in Sierra Leone: Lina Sinjab returns to her home city of Damascus, where the once-vibrant cafe society is fast fading away: and in Toulouse, Chris Bockman discovers that the municipal bathhouse has become a virtual community centre. Producer: John Murphy

As athletes turn up to the winter Olympic games, what might they find? The Thai fishing industry is accused of using slave labour; Syrians can only look across the border from Turkey at their old homes and hope to return one day; an Italian priest takes on militia groups in the Central African Republic to save Muslims and Christians alike; and we hear of one of Britain's worst military defeats which is still a source of great pride for Zulus. Kate Adie introduces these reports from around the world.

Story telling: Kerouac the runaway dog returns from his adventures in Mali and the police present their bill; our camera crew in Cairo set out to film a poster which the military authorities strongly disapprove of; violence against women is on the rise in Afghanistan as the withdrawal of western troops gathers pace; there's despondency in the world's newest nation, South Sudan, as foreign troops join the fighting there and, in a sauna deep in the Ural Mountains, our correspondent meets two hunters and asks questions about bribery, corruption and gay sex.

A secret city, melted cheese, female freedom fighters, buried treasure, an emperor's magnificent lifestyle, songs by the camp fire, Kalashnikovs and puppies, Kazakh carpenters and Tajik tilers

Foreign correspondents: James Copnall meets the men now controlling the opposing forces in the battle for South Sudan; Nick Meo hears the concerns surrounding the huge project designed to cover over the radiation threat from the old Chernobyl plant in Ukraine; Humphrey Hawksley examines the working conditions of the brick makers helping to construct India's economic miracle; Matthew Teller relives a historic flight along the River Nile -- it may have taken three months to complete, but those responsible were hailed as heroes and Mary Harper meets the skaters from Somalia taking to the ice and hoping to make their mark at an international tournament in Siberia.

Over the past year, BBC correspondents have reported on upheaval in Egypt, war in Syria, a government shutdown in America, a new pope and a royal baby. But this special edition of From Our Own Correspondent avoids the major headlines and the big breaking stories in favour of a ground-level view of the last 12 months. So, in this programme: Rajan Datar takes a ride with a polyphonic choir in Georgia and Reggie Nadelson hears the story of Harlem's Apollo Theatre. Nick Thorpe finds strangely tender moments in a Romanian slaughterhouse while Steve Rosenberg plays piano with the man who ended the Cold War. We journey to the deserts of Sahara and South America, take trains in Portugal and Nigeria and hear reporters grapple with strange musical instruments in Vietnam and Switzerland. And there's more in this montage of some of the year's more entertaining dispatches, presented by Kate Adie. Producer: Mike Wendling

Good to see you again! Mark Doyle is reunited with his spectacles, which were lost on a battlefield, and gets to see some of the lesser reported glories of Somalia. The Greek central bank forecasts an end to six years of recession and Mark Lowen, in Athens, talks of the resilience of the Greek people and their love of life. Reasons to be cheerful in the eastern German city of Leipzig too: Chris Bowlby's there talking to locals about a huge transport project ready after lengthy delays; Susie Emmett sees signs of energy, ingenuity, integrity and community in Kenyan farming but is less impressed by the colour of her bath water and James Fletcher is grounded by an Arctic storm while out news gathering in Greenland. Can he make it home in time for Christmas? From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents with stories from around the world: in this edition, Jonathan Head on how an argument over democracy lies at the heart of the current political turmoil in Thailand; Lucy Williamson's in the Chinese city closest to North Korea where a brutal leadership purge was underway; Katy Watson meets a man in the United States who a thousand women a year turn to for help after having breast cancer surgery; James Harkin on the Syrian air force officer who's been imprisoned on three separate occasions and Joanna Robertson in Paris explodes the myth that French women don't get fat and hears the claim that in French society, a fat female is a failure. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Nelson Mandela: five correspondents who'll never forget how their own stories came to coincide with that of the great South African leader, who died on Thursday. Fergal Keane was our man in Johannesburg as Mr Mandela fought to keep his country back from the brink of civil war; John Simpson on the day he met a man who had 'become perhaps the most revered person on earth.' Milton Nkosi recalls the risks taken to keep the name of Nelson Mandela alive in the townships during his long years of imprisonment; Hamilton Wende on what it was like, as a white South African, growing up in a country where even talking of Mr Mandela could be dangerous and James Robbins on the long-awaited day when the man who went on to lead the country was freed from prison and appeared before a jubilant crowd in Cape Town. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Correspondents with stories from the news. Today, Steve Rosenberg on how Ukraine's caught in a tug-of-war between Russia and the European Union; a huge refugee camp by the Sahara Desert is hit by drought - Chris Terrill says it's difficult for the inmates and the aid agencies trying to help them. But it's a boon for the Islamic militant groups looking for recruits; freak weather has killed thirty thousand cattle in the American state, South Dakota - Sybil Ruscoe's been there to see how the ranchers are coping; James Menendez has been travelling in Burma, also known as Myanmar. The place is fast modernising, but transformation has yet to arrive on its railways. And Robin Lustig goes hiking through Peru's Andean foothills looking for coca growers and finding out why they're dubious about their government's anti-drugs initiative. From Our Own Correspondent is produced by Tony Grant.

Reporters' despatches: already this year more than seven thousand people have been killed in the upsurge of violence in Iraq. Andrew Hosken explores a country full of widows, orphans and frightened people mourning the loss of loved ones. In America, two significant anniversaries - Allan Little has been to the locations involved, Gettysburg and Dallas, and uncovers surprising revelations about the state of the USA today. The president of Bulgaria's talking of 'emergency' as demonstrations against the government show no sign of letting up - Emma Jane Kirby's been talking to the protestors in the capital, Sofia. Peter Day visits a Chinese village where they haven't yet turned their backs on the 'Great Helmsman' Mao tse Tung. And as the big Thanksgiving Day American football matches approach, Mike Wendling reflects on a sport facing difficult questions about the safety of its players. The producer of From Our Own Correspondent is Tony Grant