´óÏó´«Ã½

Pascale Harter introduces dispatches from Ukraine, Thailand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Reports have emerged of terrible atrocities committed against civilians in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Living conditions in many cities are desperate. Some people have tried to escape, braving bullets and artillery fire in order to reach government-controlled territory. Caroline Davies met some of the volunteers driving into Russian-held territory to pick up those wanting to flee and taking them back out across enemy lines.

Might war in Ukraine mean famine for the rest of the world? Apart from the loss of Ukraine’s huge wheat exports, the knock-on effects of fuel and fertiliser price rises are hitting agriculture on other continents. Thailand is one of the world’s biggest rice exporters – and even there, farmers are feeling the pinch as their costs rise and their profits dwindle. Jonathan Head asked local farmers if there’s any future in the paddy-fields.

The current turmoil in Sri Lanka is not just economic – though it was sparked by a cost of living crisis and is hitting almost every Sri Lankan hard in the pocket. The country’s foreign currency reserves are critically low, meaning it’s run out of money to import necessary food, fuel and medicines. Many Sri Lankans are eating just one meal a day. Noisy mass protests and street violence have convulsed Colombo, and Rajini Vaidyanathan was right in the middle of it all.

If you go by its constitution, South Africa is a nation which doesn’t just recognise diversity, but positively values it. People of all races, religions, and ways of life are officially welcome. But as the 'rainbow nation' struggles to keep its people employed, there is growing discontent about foreigners. Around two-thirds of young Black South Africans don’t have a job – and some of them blame immigrants from other African countries. Shingai Nyoka considers what’s behind a recent wave of anti-immigrant violence.

Producer: Polly Hope
Production Co-Ordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Image: Refugees arrive at Zaporizhzhia from Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson region of Ukraine. Credit: EPA/Roman Pilipey)