This is the BBC.

Hello. Today, once upon a time,

oil-rich Venezuela offered sanctuary to Columbians seeking refuge from violence. Today it's Venezuelans crossing the

border in search of food and medicine. The recent spate of political

assassinations in South Africa evokes dark memories for our

correspondent of the last days of apartheid. We have a celebration in America's

deep south, complete with kiltsilts sporens and spectacular beards and where was the grandest

train station in Europe once before it was left to rot and rust.

Do you claim victory in a city shattered to rubble and dust?

The American-backed Syrian Democratic forces now control most of Raka, where ISIS used to rule by terror and torture.

In almost a week in the city, Quentin Somerville didn't see a single civilian, but what he did see and here doesn't bode well for those who remain trapped there.

The Surstock Museum in Beirut is a grand Lebanese mansion that looks as if it were made of

pristine white fondant icing.

On the ground floor there's a dark room with a video artwork playing.

It's called Homecoming.

Projected on one wall, the Syrian artist,

Haraya Sarkissian, swings a sledgehammer. Again and again you hear it striking

masonry. He occasionally pauses to catch his breath.

On the opposite wall, a model apartment block,

typical of those across the Middle East crumbles under invisible hammer blows.

Using stop motion photography, the artist makes it gradually disappear before your eyes.

I saw this installation the day after I'd return from Raka.

...