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0120120306The Global Reach is a new weekly programme , presented by Katie Derham ,which aims to shine a light on international affairs through the personal stories of those directly involved in the making of history.

This week, a year on from the Japanese earthquake, we hear the story of sixty one year old Hiromitsu Shinkawa, who was rescued 10 miles out to sea, sitting on the roof of his house 2 days after a massive Tsunami hit his home

We go ringside with Yamar, a big fan of La Lutte or Senegalese wrestling, which is fast becoming the West African country's biggest sporting obsession.

Narcorridos are the most popular musical genre in northern Mexico but their jaunty polka-style rhythms often hide something far more sinister and insidious. The drug cartels use them to recruit gunmen to their cause and to frighten their rivals. We find out who sings them, who listens to them and why.

As Azerbaijan gears up to host this year's Eurovision, Azeri activist and donkey blogger Emin Milli takes a wry look at his country's record on human rights.

Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

A Japanese tsunami survivor on his rescue after two days at sea on the roof of his house.

Katie Derham presents real-life stories from people around the globe

0220120313The Global Reach is a new weekly programme, presented by Katie Derham, which aims to shine a light on international affairs through the personal stories of those directly involved in the making of history.

This week, a family of Syrian refugees from Homs talk about daily life in the besieged city, their flight to Lebanon and why they still don't feel safe.

The Russian journalist and documentary maker Alexander Korobko tells us why he thinks the western media has got it all wrong about Vladimir Putin.

Also, an exclusive interview with Constantino Davidoff, the argentinian scrap metal dealer whose business deal to dismantle three whaling stations in South Georgia led to the Falklands War.

And we go rodent hunting with Ma Dayong, a multimillionaire Chinese ratcatcher.

Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

A family of Syrian refugees from Homs talk about daily life in the besieged city.

Katie Derham presents real-life stories from people around the globe

0320120320On the global reach this week, we speak to Dr Jacques Beres, just back from the horror of Homs where he performed 89 operations in 12 days under constant bombardment. He doesn't worry about his own safety, though he is frustrated he can't sit on the floor to eat with his Arab colleagues. He's 71 and has a dodgy hip.

Apostolos Polyzonis was so outraged by the behaviour of his Greek bank last autumn that he set himself on fire in protest. He tells us his story.

Also we have a letter to Kandahar - a very personal reaction to the tragic civilian shootings there. .

And we meet Red Band ... a raucous and irreverent Israeli muppet rock band.

Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

A 71-year-old French surgeon on performing 89 operations in 12 days in the horror of Homs.

Katie Derham presents real-life stories from people around the globe

0420120327The Global Reach is a new weekly programme , presented by Katie Derham ,which aims to shine a light on international affairs through the personal stories of those directly involved in the making of history. It is built on the premise that participants in a happening story are more than mere soundbites and will feature voices which are simply never heard elsewhere on BBC Radio 4.

We will hear extended testimony from those on the frontline, both in the form of extended interviews with key players in global events and in a series of blogs from an international network of citizen journalists.

Featured stories will include that of King Zero, a Burmese monk at the heart of his country's struggle for democracy; the narcocorridos, or drug ballads, of Mexico, which glorify the violence which has claimed the lives of around 40 thousand people in the last 5 years and the multimillionaire rat-catcher from China.

All human life is here. Too often a foreign news story is played out without any real sense of its longer term human impact. The Global Reach will remedy that.

Producer: Will Yates

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

The Mayor of Mogadishu on bringing order to 'the most dangerous city in the world'.

Katie Derham presents real-life stories from people around the globe