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Pascale Harter with despatches from BBC correspondents around the world. Kevin Connolly in Cairo sees the ancien regime ailing as Mubarak does; Celeste Hicks finds the city of N'djamena smartening up.

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world, presented by Pascale Harter. In this edition:

Twilight of a president

The authorities in Egypt have decided to delay the announcement of the winner of the country's presidential election. Meanwhile, the Parliament, dominated by Islamists, has been unceremoniously declared illegitimate. So where can Egyptians look to now for a sense of leadership - or of plans for the future?

In Cairo, as Kevin Connolly has been hearing, suspicions and rumours abound - about the state of Hosni Mubarak's health, the true motives of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the real role of the armed forces.

A nice fresh facade?

The capital of Chad, N'djamena, has languished in some obscurity for decades. In recent years its reputation has swung between "war zone" and “dusty backwater”. The city got little respect - even from neighbouring states. So Celeste Hicks was surprised to return and find a place being remodeled as a "shop window of Africa". But is its makeover concealing deeper, wider problems in Chad as a whole?

(Image: An Egyptian woman wears a tag with a picture of Hosni Mubarak outside the Maadi military hospital in Cairo, June 20, 2012. Credit: AP Photo / Amr Nabil)

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10 minutes

Last on

Sat 23 Jun 201203:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 22 Jun 201207:50GMT
  • Fri 22 Jun 201210:50GMT
  • Fri 22 Jun 201214:50GMT
  • Fri 22 Jun 201218:50GMT
  • Sat 23 Jun 201200:50GMT
  • Sat 23 Jun 201203:50GMT