Profiting from the pandemic

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The Covid-19 pandemic is being exploited in many ways by criminal organisations across the world. For BBC Monitoring, Laura Gozzi and Luis Fajardo have been looking at the new opportunities which have opened up for the Italian mafia and the Mexican drug cartels. My Home Town: Karachi, Pakistan Saher Baloch of BBC Urdu takes us back in time to the Karachi of her childhood, from her beloved school, to moments of reflection by the sea. Stranded surrogate babies in Ukraine Commercial surrogacy in Ukraine is a growing business, but the closure of international borders because of Covid-19 has left many biological parents separated from their newborn babies. Zhanna Bezpyatchuk of BBC Ukrainian has covered the story from Kiev. A bridge too near... There’s been a social media storm in Cairo about a new bridge being built so close to some apartment blocks that it’s within touching distance of balconies. The authorities say the bridge must go ahead. Dina Aboughazala of BBC Monitoring in Cairo has been finding out more. Photo:Portrait of mafia boss Credit:Jilla Dastmalchi