Beirut: after the explosion

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Last week's catastrophic explosion in Beirut devastated the port area and left at least 170 dead, thousands injured, and many more homeless. It's a painful time for our journalists who come from Beirut - in both BBC Arabic and BBC Monitoring. We hear the reflections of Nahed Najjar, Nisrine Hatoum, Hesham Shawish, Nidale Abou Mrad and Julien Hajj. The dream of Gran Colombia Gran Colombia was a vast country which included the modern nations of Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia. It was born in 1819, the dream of Simon Bolivar, hero of the revolutionary wars that liberated Spanish America. Ana Maria Roura has been researching the history and legacy of Gran Colombia for BBC Mundo. Pakistan's Siddi community The Black Lives Matter movement has prompted questions in Pakistan about the Siddi, or Sheedi, community, brought there from African countries centuries ago as soldiers or slaves. Saher Baloch has reported the story for BBC Urdu. Belarus: understanding the anger Belarus has been gripped by protests ever since President Alexander Lukashenko declared a landslide victory in last week's election. Yana Lyushnevskaya of BBC Monitoring tells us more about the cause of the anger, and explains the long grip on power of the man widely referred to as Europe's last dictator. Picture: Burning grain silos in the port of Beirut. Credit: AFP via Getty Images