A Doomed Romance

A love affair going nowhere in Damascus -- it's what happens when a rebel footsoldier falls in love with the daughter of one of the Syrian regime's security chiefs; one correspondent comes face to face with what she describes as 'the most exquisite banquet in Chinese history' while another is with the protestors in the Ukrainian capital Kiev saying the city 'looks and feels like some surreal parallel universe where an idealised, heroic past has collided with a menacing dystopian future.' We hear that Kazakhstan is suffering an identity crisis: while some now chase post-perestroika wealth, others are looking to the past and seeking guidance from the cults of their ancestors. And their songs have been labelled 'vulgar and slanderous' but we find out that the Calypsonians of Guyana claim their government's trying to silence them.