麻豆社

There was shock and initial disbelief in Beirut this week as reports came in from across the country that electronic devices like pagers and walkie-talkies had detonated in their users' hands. Edmund Bower describes the scenes he witnessed in the immediate aftermath - at gyms, on the streets and outside hospitals of the Lebanese capital.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been outlawed in The Gambia for nearly a decade - but it's still widespread, and many people still support the practice. Working with the Pulitzer Foundation, Sira Thierij travelled the country alongside anti-FGM activists to attend village education sessions. She saw how far they still have to go in convincing both men and women, of all generations, to stop the cutting of women and girls.

Panama's hot, humid climate means that rubbish rots fast. If waste disposal isn't well organised, the stink can be unbearable. But one former prisoner found a way to make waste pay - cleaning up the environment inside and giving parolees and ex-cons new opportunities when they get out. Jane Chambers finds out how, and why, he did it.

Fifty years ago this summer, control of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus was divided - and ever since then its Greek and Turkish-speaking communities have lived in parallel worlds. Maria Margaronis explains how one young poet from Northern Cyprus is using her work to explain the aching sense of loss among Cypriots expelled from their homes in 1974 - and those whose homes today are under threat from rampant development along the coastline.

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison

Image: Funeral for some of those killed by exploding of pagers in Lebanon, Wednesday 18 September 2024 (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)