麻豆社

Pascale Harter introduces correspondents' stories and reflections from Russia, the Netherlands, Bolivia and Vanuatu.

The foreign media presence in Russia has been steadily reducing in recent years, as international journalists weigh up the risks of reporting there in a climate of increased official oversight and draconian information laws. Steve Rosenberg reflects on the scene in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg as the Wall Street Journal's reporter Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, was shown to members of the national and international press.

Assisted dying is legal in the Netherlands - but the process of gaining approval from doctors is complex, and the consequences for families are serious. Linda Pressly talks to the surviving children of a couple who recently decided, in the face of lasting ill health, to end their lives together on the anniversary of their wedding day.

When is a coup attempt not a coup attempt? Some Bolivians believe that when the country's armed forces took to the streets of the capital recently, they weren't really trying to overthrow an elected government - but playacting to boost its popularity. Will Grant unpicks the theories about what lay behind the scenes in La Paz.

And while the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu might look like a tropical paradise, local wages and working conditions aren't as tempting as other offers of jobs in Australia, New Zealand - or even Canada. But if all the younger people leave, there are worries that Vanuatu's own farming and tourism sectors might suffer. Rebecca Root heard why it's proving hard to keep the workforce at home.

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Tom Bigwood

Image: US journalist Evan Gershkovich looks out from inside a glass defendants' cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA via Getty Images)