Steely Pragmatism

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Pascale Harter introduces stories of realism and resistance from writers and reporters around the world. During the long rule of President Robert Mugabe, there were periods when the BBC wasn't welcome to report from the country. Fergal Keane was banned from entry on several occasions. But he's just been back to Harare, ahead of a general election in late July, and saw that he wasn't the only outsider trying to get a hearing with the new man in charge, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Yolande Knell visits Doha to find out how Qatar has managed to survive and resist the trade blockade which neighbouring countries have tried to impose on it - and hears from the country's Foreign Minister why it intends to keep to its own path. Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans leave home to work in the Middle East - many of them women who'll spend years there as domestic servants. Bleak stories of how some are abused - physically, verbally, even sexually - are common. But one facility in Sri Lanka aims to educate them about the risks, as well as the tasks, which lie ahead before they leave home. And in northern India, Justin Rowlatt gets a taste of Buddhist humour, as the Dalai Lama introduces a new series of books focused on the wisdom of lost Buddhist universities like Nalanda - and gives our man a bit of a tease. Photo: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, pictured in March 2018. (c) Shutterstock