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Pascale Harter introduces dispatches from reporters and correspondents in Jordan, the Cayman Islands, Nepal and Romania.

Across the Middle East the illegal trade in Captagon – a synthetic stimulant used by some of the militias fighting in Syria’s civil war – has snaked across borders. On Jordan’s northern frontier the army now says it will shoot to kill drug smugglers, and dozens of alleged traffickers have died this year. Amman’s private clinics are now treating addicts – not just Jordanians, but also patients from a number of Gulf states. Yolande Knell met soldiers and doctors trying to limit the damage.

The Cayman Islands are a byword for luxury living – the name alone conjures up images of sandy beaches, glittering condominiums, discreet banks and low taxation. But not everyone on the islands is rich, and the spiralling cost of living is leaving lower earners desperately squeezed. James Innes Smith talked to migrant workers at both ends of the income scale.

The region of Upper Mustang in Nepal is a traveller’s dream – but it’s rugged going. Peter Morgan recently journeyed through its vast, windswept highlands, retracing the routes of historical caravans which once traded gold, salt and precious stones between India and China. He found extraordinary landscapes and perfectly-preserved traditional villages – but very few local young people, as they’ve flocked to live in towns, or even abroad. Could new ideas to lure tourists back to the area offer them more opportunities at home?

And Tessa Dunlop revisits the Romanian town of Siret, to meet up again with old friends who she once helped – and who are now helping others. They survived childhoods in Romania’s notorious Communist-era orphanages, and still bear the marks of the neglect and abuse they suffered there. Now they are energetic, public-spirited adults, passionately involved in hosting and fundraising for some of the Ukrainian refugees now living in Romania.

Producer: Polly Hope
Production Co-Ordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Image: Seized Captagon tablets. Credit: EPA-EFE/Ciro Fusco)