Lebanon's cost of living

All this week on OS, we've been covering the increasing cost of living around the world. We've looked at Argentina, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and now today we're focusing on Lebanon. What's life like for three young women living in Beirut? Lebanon is in a severe economic crisis - in 2022 inflation reached 171.2%.

Also, we go to Ghana - it's one of the world's biggest producers of both gold and cocoa but despite this it's suffering its worst economic crisis in a generation. The country has just signed a new bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund worth three billion US dollars to help ease the economic problems it faces. Our correspondent in Accra takes us through the story and we hear from two people in Ghana.

And the musician Sting has been speaking to our music correspondent Mark Savage. He says musicians face "a battle" to defend their work against the rise of songs written by artificial intelligence. Mark takes us through their conversation.

Presenter: James Reynolds

(Photo: Lebanese collector of banknotes and coins, Ahmad Raghdo displays an old Lebanese lira banknote inside his shop in Beirut, Lebanon May 8, 2023. Credit: Reuters/Mohamed Azakir)