蜜芽传媒

Pascale Harter introduces insight, wit and analysis from journalists and writers from around the world. In this edition:

Destruction on all sides
In the Sahel region of West Africa there is a food shortage and a drought. And in Mali, people are also under more concerted attack, caught between Tuareg rebels seeking an independent state and the country's increasingly muscle-flexing military. Angela Robson has been to the border between Mali and Burkina Faso and found whole communities fleeing the violence.

The situation is extremely complex: the Tuareg have yearned for secession for decades, the fall of Gaddafi in neighbouring Libya has changed the balance of power, and the Islamist militants of Al Qaeda are in the mix too. With such an array of interests to contend with, can ordinary people find safe refuge?

A blemish-free Bentley
No-one goes to Dubai expecting to be surprised by the amoung of luxury on display. But on a recent visit, our correspondent Mary Harper met up with a Somali telecommunications millionaire - and was even taken for a short drive in his car. And this was bling as you've never seen it: a Bentley worth half a million dollars, so luxurious that even the leather of its upholstery has to be sourced from blemish-free calves.