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Owen Bennett Jones presents insights, analysis and wit from ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondents around the world. In this edition, John Sweeney explores memories of Ukraine's devastating 1930s famine; Nora Fakim reflects on how her reporting work has been enriched by her UK-Moroccan heritage.

A human catastrophe - and the big lie which followed

One of the most devastating famines of the 20th Century happened in Ukraine in the 1930s. Millions died - but they were uncounted millions, as the Stalinist regime didn't want to acknowledge the terrible consequences of its decisions.

When whole communities or even whole nations suffer politically-driven mass death - as happened in Nazi Germany, Cambodia or Rwanda – then it's generally accepted that there is a duty for survivors and subsequent generations to tell their story. But sometimes that doesn't happen, as John Sweeney learned on a journey through eastern Ukraine.

Both insider and outsider

Globalisation is generally discussed in the context of economics, with debates between those who favour ever-cheaper goods and those who complain of the exploitation of poorer countries. But there's another aspect to the process – the increasing numbers of people who now have different, multifaceted identities - far beyond one village, one city or one nation state.

Nora Fakim, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s correspondent in Morocco, has been contemplating the issue: where is she 'really' from? And has her mixed heritage ended up enriching her reporting work?