From Our Own Correspondent

As states restrict abortion rights and hundreds of pro-choice protests take place across the US, Laura Trevelyan assesses the country's widening cultural divisions and asks what might happen next. In the Lebanese city of Tripoli, where there have been community divisions for a generation, Bob Howard visits a neighbourhood café with reconciliation on the menu. In Peru illegal gold mining has become big business. Laurence Blair reports on the lawless camps that have emerged and asks what can be done to stop the environmental damage being done to the Amazonian jungle. Amelia Martyn-Hemphill meets Mechai Viravaidya also known as "the Condom King" in Bangkok's red light district. He's using coloured balloons and jokey humour to limit the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Thailand. And in Ghana Emma Thomson enjoys a royal spectacle as the King and the history of Asante people are celebrated.

In the latest programme of the monthly series, Mishal Husain introduces dispatches from journalists and writers around the United Kingdom that reflect the range of contemporary life in the country. Martin Vennard in Saltburn reveals how surfing has improbably helped revive the fortunes of the once-proud Victorian resort on Tees-side; while Travis Elborough taps a surf music beat in Worthing where a 50 year-old musical phenomenon is garnering new fans. Baby boomer Martin Gurdon, recently bereaved in late middle-age, explains how saying his final goodbye to an elderly parent was both something greater longevity had prepared him for and yet - at least initially - still left him disoriented. Emma Levine in Barnsley reports on how a strange football match saw differing contemporary Yorkshire identities on display off the pitch. And Athar Ahmad prepares to go on a solitary spiritual quest in the final days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Producer: Simon Coates

As Australia's general election campaign comes to an end Hywel Griffith asks if, whatever the result, the entire political class has now lost the respect of voters. And in India, the world's biggest democracy, Ritula Shah considers what the onion might tell us about the outcome of the election there. Emir Nader visits the Rif region in Northern Morocco to meet farmers who grow much of the cannabis that gets consumed in Europe. In Bosnia Katy Fallon watches migrants - desperate to enter the EU - "play the game"; doing what they can to cross the border into Croatia without papers. And Margaret Bradley takes a long look at how the property market has developed in Portugal. As prices have climbed, resentment has soared. Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Rosamund Jones

In Israel and Gaza, Tom Bateman hears how rocket and air strikes are ruining lives. With no end to the conflict in sight, what has the impact of the latest violence been? In France, Joanna Robertson considers how Parisian weekends are being thrown into disarray as the Gilet Jaune - or yellow vest - movement, now six months old, continues. Jonathan Dimbleby first visited Ethiopia 45 years ago. He tracks the country's history of political repression, military coups, and people protests. Might genuine change now, finally, be on the cards? Giant oil fields have been discovered in Guyana. Simon Maybin unpicks the country's political response and asks who will benefit from the new wealth. And in Dresden, Jenny Hill watches the unveiling of a newly restored Vermeer masterpiece and talks to the art lovers who have a long and complicated relationship with the painting.

As Emperor Naruhito takes the throne in Japan, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes watches the crowds waving flags and wiping away tears. What will this new era hold for the country and its imperial family? Kate Adie introduces this and other stories: Katy Watson has the latest instalment in the drama that is gripping Brazil as rival factions vie for control under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. Neil Kisserli reveals why protesters in Algeria are picking up the litter and taking pot plants with them as they demand change. Zeinab Badawi returns to Sudan to meet the young architecture student leading the revolution. And Dave Lee hears from tech workers in Silicon Valley who fear they’ve become the new bankers – seen as public figures to be reviled and blamed for the ills they have brought into society.