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Pascale Harter introduces dispatches from Â鶹Éç correspondents, writers and reporters in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Uruguay and Brussels.

The government in Kyiv recently announced a major crackdown on alleged corruption - more than a dozen officials left or were dismissed after being implicated. What does this mean for President Zelensky, for Ukraine and for the conduct of the war? James Waterhouse reports from Kyiv.

Samarkand was a trading hub for more than 2500 years – a glittering Central Asian capital and a crossroads between the many cultures and empires found along the historic Silk Road. But during the 20th Century its glory faded inside the USSR. Since Uzbekistan declared independence in 1991, there have been many plans to revive its heritage – and now, some of the city’s ancient arts and crafts are being shown off in a brand-new, rather glitzy space. Heidi Fuller Love visits the 'Eternal City' complex.

There are at least four cows for every human in Uruguay – so perhaps it’s not surprising that Uruguayans eat more beef per head than any other nation. What is surprising, says Jane Chambers, is that many of today’s ranchers are in fact city-dwellers – and they're now leading the charge to prove that cattle-raising can be carbon-neutral, if it’s done right.

Three years after the UK’s exit from the European Union, some of the sticking points in negotiations still haven’t been fully resolved. And some of the people once employed to watch, analyse and explain the details of Brexit just can’t give up the habit. Adam Fleming covered the original negotiations from Brussels, and recently went back to the Belgian capital to hear what his sources make of it all now.

Producer: Polly Hope