selected BBC World Service Podcasts

The Lancashire cotton industry, in the north of England, was at the heart of the world's industrial revolution and the main engine of the British economy. Peter Day finds out how it struggles to survive. Producer: Sandra Kanthal Editor: Stephen Chilcott

We review Facebook's first full day on the US stock market. And as President Obama announces he's keen to tackle hunger in Africa, we talk to those who work directly with small-scale farmers in Africa.

Growth or austerity at G8? Aleppo Syrians protest; ANC uproar over Zuma genitals art.

The Yamal region sits in the north-west of Russia - a land of Siberian tundra and few people. But populations are rising, because here above the Arctic Circle there is potentially enough fuel to heat a quarter of the homes in Europe for the next 35 years. This week on One Planet, Lucy Ash heads into Siberia to explore Russia's new energy frontier. We hear from the recently arrived workers who have been brought into the region to pump up the gas, and from the nomadic reindeer herders who have roamed these lands for centuries.

There's been huge demand for shares in Facebook as it makes its US stock market debut. And as some of the world's richest nations pledge three billion dollars to help Africa feed itself - we'll hear from Malawi why that help is so badly needed.

Facebook fanfare on stock market debut / European stock markets hit slump / Legendary Arab singer, Warda, dies.

Markets react to Greece and Spain woes / Free parenting classes / Queen's Diamond Jubilee lunch / Sacha Baron Cohen's Dictator / Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Facebook goes public; China's most wanted man sentenced to life; how to print a new currency

Sasha Baron Cohen / MySpace founder's advice for Mark Zuckerberg / Africa education / China's most wanted fugitive

Would new US regulations have prevented the trading scandal at JP Morgan Chase? Lesley Curwen discusses this with Roger Nagioff, co-founder of independent investment firm JRJ Ventures, and Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of the non-profitmaking body, Better Markets Inc. Plus Lesley goes to a gallery in London to meet Edward Burtynsky, the photographer who is captivated by the workings of the global oil industry, to find out why he had an 'oil epiphany'.

On May 18th 1980 the huge volcano blew, hear from someone who saw it happen close up.

Social networking company set to release some 420 million shares priced at $38 each/ President Obama holds African food security talks/ The right protocol for a Diamond Jubilee lunch/ Tributes paid to disco icon Donna Summer

Facebook names its share price and the US suspends economic sanctions against Burma, we have an exclusive report from the capital Rangoon. Plus the latest from the US markets.

Mladic trial suspended; US rewards Burmese political reform; a tribute to Donna Summer.

Cancer gene discoveries; State of the Planet; Saving the Arabian Leopard

Cameron defends his euro warning / Mladic trial hit by legal hitch / Statins 'benefit healthy people'

There are new fears in financial markets about the health of some European banks. We hear how the prospect of a eurozone implosion is rattling investors' nerves. After JP Morgan's massive trading losses, the former British finance minister Lord Lawson tells us what he thinks should be done to make banks safer. And as Facebook hits Wall Street, how much is it really worth?

Cameron's warning about Eurozone / Spain auctions off bonds / Greeks' anxiety over economy / Denmark's push for renewable energy / Is Harry Potter great literature ? / Internet stardom for London's singing fish-seller.

Large withdrawals from Greek & Spanish banks; legalised brothels; the value of Facebook.

Matthew Bannister brings you the story of an iconic Olympic protest. During the 1968 Games in Mexico City, two black American sprinters sparked controversy after raising the black power salute. One of those athletes - John Carlos - came into the Outlook studio and told us how meetings with civil rights activists Malcolm X and Martin Luther King inspired him to take a stand.