The Arab World's New Drug of Choice

Captagon is a popular recreational drug used across the Middle East and Arabian Gulf. It can temporarily boost a user’s mood - though long-term it is highly addictive. Production is concentrated in Syria, and smuggled across the border into Jordan and onto the Gulf. Officials in Jordan say militant groups are profiting from the production of the drug, and Yolande Knell has been out on patrol with the people trying to stop them. About 2500 miles due south of Jordan, there is another criminal trade at large: the illegal catching and selling of Tanzanian fish. Mark Weston has been to Lake Victoria to hear about its controversial local delicacy: Nile Perch. Celebrations of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee are not restricted to Britain. Elizabeth II is head of state in 14 other countries, and a figurehead around the Commonwealth. Another country which feels a connection to Britain’s royal family is Greece, because Prince Philip was born there, on the island of Corfu. Julia Langdon has been to the spot where the Queen’s future husband began his life. The recent shootings in Texas and Buffalo garnered headlines around the world, but gun-violence is a full-time tragedy in the United States. More than 40,000 people are killed each year by gun-related injuries, and this affects many others indirectly. In New York, there has been a spate of shootings and other crimes on the subway, and now Laura Trevelyan thinks twice about whether to use it. For many Ukrainians, it has become a matter of principle to try and retain their normal way of life as far as possible, amidst the current horrors of the Russian invasion. Those horrors have touched the city of Odessa among others, with a series of missile strikes reminding residents how close they are to the invading troops. When Colin Freeman reached Odessa, however, he found himself in what, at times, felt suspiciously like a regular holiday resort.