The first programme will show how rapidly the shock wave of the credit crunch is spreading and why it is now moving far beyond the sub-prime homeowners where it began.

There are now as many private security contractors in Iraq as there are US soldiers. To whom are they accountable when things go wrong? Steve Evans reports on the most controversial contractor, Blackwater, which has been criticised by the Iraqi government, American politicians and its own employees.

Peter Day reports on whether the US Food and Drug Administration will licence the HIV/AIDS drug Maraviroc.

Allan Urry investigates links between the Pentagon, politicians and weapons manufacturers.

Since the Uzbek government put down an uprising in Andijan in 2005, the country has become more and more isolated from the west. But ahead of the country’s first Presidential election since 2000, our Central Asia correspondent Natalia Antelava made a secret trip across the state, recording her impressions.

Building democracy: What is the role of radio in building democracy? In Papua, a new radio station is being installed as part of Indonesia's 68H network. 68H has introduced electricity by building a dam to power the station in the village. How did 68H get around censorship under Suharto? And why is radio such a key player in building civil society?

Freedom of the internet:How do the motives of mainstream news websites compare with the agendas of blogs? In part two of 'Press for Freedom', we talk to Iraqi blogger Salam Pax and others who have delivered on-the-ground viewpoints in regions where the government would have otherwise silenced them. In Kuala Lumpur, we hear from the government-owned Bernama press, who also fund Nam News Network, supposedly the only unfiltered news wire in a non-aligned world.

What is the future of news, when the internet may undermine the old-fashioned paternalistic precepts? BBC's Alan Little investigates.

BBC's Roy Greenslade looks at how far reporting 'the truth' can be endangered by governments, corporations and the new wave of internet publishing.

The BBC and other international broadcasters boast "objective" news and impartial window onto the world, but is such a thing really possible? Alan Little investigates.

Leila is a young woman in Iran, sold into prostitution by her family at the age of 9, later forced into a temporary marriage, and then sentenced to hang at the age of 18. She was finally reprieved, but what does her story tell us about Iran's ability to legally protect its own children.

Africa's Cocaine Coast - Guinea-Bissau is awash with cocaine and is ranked by the United Nations as the fifth poorest country in the world. Grant Ferrett investigates.

Jonathan Marcus explores the impact of these two conflicts on the american political psyche.

Angus Stickler travels into the disputed "Red Zone" of Southern Thailand to discover the victims of a brutal and under-reported war.

Six months ago, the radical Palestinian faction Hamas took total control of the Gaza Strip. Israel and Egypt responded by closing their borders with Gaza. Magdi Abdelhadi travelled to the Gaza Strip to see how the 1.5 million Palestinians living there are coping.

Correspondent Jonathan Marcus compares the impact of the two conflicts on American society and politics.

Roger Hardy follows the money trail and looks at the case of two prominent Saudi charities.

This week on Assignment, a story of lust, deception and betrayal on the internet. It tells the extraordinary story of a middle-aged factory worker who undergoes a virtual and very real transformation after he goes online - a transformation which ends in murder.

The final part of a four part series in which Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.

In the third of a four part series Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.

The BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan explores how the US could retreat from its role as the planet's biggest polluter. In the final part of the series, Laura explores the degree to which Americans are speaking out and altering their lifestyles in the face of global warming.

In the second of a four part series Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax. Maurice visits Zambia to examine what has happened to the money generated by the country's booming copper industry.

Has Saudi Arabia fanned the flames of Muslim militancy by exporting its own puritanical form of Islam to every corner of the globe?

Fifty years ago, the drug thalidomide was introduced as a treatment for pregnancy sickness. The results for unborn children were devastating. Many of those affected have been compensated - but not thalidomiders in Spain. Geoff Adams-Spink investigates why.