MORINA, MONTENEGRO, July 2010

One of the most divisive issues between Russia and the United States in recent years has been the expansion of NATO – a Western military alliance seen largely by Moscow as a mechanism to keep Russian power in check. Many of the governments from the former Cold War Eastern Bloc have or are planning to join. One is the tiny country of Montenegro, wedged between Croatia and Albanie, where the prospect of NATO membership fills many of its citizens with horror, as Humphrey Hawksley reports. […]

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UST KAMENOGORSK, KAZAKSTAN, January 2010

Some sixty countries from the developing world are planning to use nuclear power in the near future. Many believe that their fuel supplies could be blocked by Western sanctions totally unrelated to their nuclear ambitions, creating the nightmare scenario that they will begin enriching their own uranium. One solution is to create stockpiles of uranium, controlled by the United Nations, that these governments could draw upon. They would be known as international nuclear fuel banks. Two have already been earmarked – one in Russia and one in Kazakhstan – from where Humphrey Hawksley reports. […]

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DOURHO VALLEY, PORTUGAL, December 2009

One of the traditions of the Christmas festival is the bottle of port, that fortified wine used to wash down mince pies and Stilton cheese. But is it still like that? And given all the traditions surrounding port, from the Royal Family to crusty clubs – who exactly drinks port nowadays – particularly given the recession. Port comes from one of the oldest demarcated wine growing areas in the world in northern Portugal where Humphrey Hawksley went to see how the port trade was faring. […]

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ZOGORWEE, LIBERIA, June 2009

In 1935, the writer Graham Greene set off on a journey through Sierra Leone and Liberia. In his book Journey without Maps, Greene asked what were the Europeans doing there? What did the slogans about civilising the natives actually mean? Humphrey Hawksley has been there to retrace Graham Greene’s journey. […]

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BAGHDAD, IRAQ, March 2009

One of the most controversial aspects of the Iraq war has been the use of private contractors, who provided everything from bodyguards to catering. President Obama’s has ordered a review of the practice saying that the American people’s money must not be spent lining the pockets of contractors and that a fundamental public trust must be upheld. One of the darkest incidences of Iraq was the Abu Ghraib prison scandal where – although working under US military command many of the interrogators and translators had actually been supplied by private companies. The companies deny doing anything wrong, but Washington officials say clearer regulations must be drawn up.
HH reports. […]

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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, March 2009

The American state of Utah is home to the Mormon church that more than hundred years ago banned the practice of Polygamy – where a man can take more than one wife. But a group of fundamentalist Mormons broke away and now some 40,000 in Utah live in polygamous families that under American law is a felony crime.Now, however, these families have begun a campaign to lobby for a change of law which they see as discriminatory and unfair. Humphrey Hawksley joined them in one of the first days of campaigning. […]

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BUCHAREST, October 2008

While much of the world is facing recession and jobs are being lost, one European country is in desperate need of hundreds of thousands of workers. Since Romania joined the European Union in 2007 more than two million people have left to earn higher wages in wealthier European countries. One of the hardest hit industries is construction which has lost about half a million skilled workers.[…]

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NARVA, ESTONIA, September 2008

The recent fighting in Georgia has raised concerns over Russia’s long term policy towards other former Soviet territories. Baltic states like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are watching developments closely. They are now members of the European Union and NATO but have significant Russian populations. Moscow has already been accused of meddling, and Humphrey Hawksley reports from Estonia as to whether Russia may be able to use its expatriate populations to cause trouble for the West. […]

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MOSCOW, August 2008

As Russia and the West warn of a new Cold War after the Georgian conflict, the BBC’s Humphrey Hawksley in Moscow tries to imagine what it would look like.

Evgenia Evlenteva strode past a row of old radiation suits hanging on pegs like raincoats.

With a bounce in her step and a torch stuck into her jeans back pocket, she asked: “Right, it’s more than 60 metres (200ft) deep so do you want to take the stairs or the lift? […]

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VANCOUVER, CANADA, June 2008

The international cannabis trade has become a major industry in Canada ranking alongside tourism and forestry, with billions of dollars of marijuana being smuggled across into America every year. But much to the anger of the Americans, far from cracking down on it, Canada boasts its own Marijuana Party, allows pot to be smoked in public and barely punishes people who are caught growing it – although technically it’s all illegal. […]

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