Douglas Herbert meets Jane Burbank, Professor of history and specialist in Russian studies at New York University. She has co-written a book entitled "Empires in World history". Be it the Mongols, Napoleon, Charlemagne, Imperial Russia, Jules Cesar or China, all of these states dreamed of being or have been empires. She tells us more.
Pomp, splendour and a bonanza of business deals mark Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to France. Billions of dollars worth of contracts are signed but not a single press conference is held. China is conducting the world's largest census. But will Chinese parents who have defied the one-child policy officially declare their hidden children? Once viewed as remote backwater, Mongolia today is seeing an economic boom. But will it benefit ordinary Mongolians?
Talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban have many fearing peace could come at too high a price - NATO says it will support a political deal only if it respects women's rights. Mixed signals from the Burmese Junta leave the outside world convinced that the upcoming poll will only put a civilian mask on military rule. And anti-Chinese sentiment fuels the rise of neo-Nazi groups in Mongolia.
“Babies” simultaneously follows four babies around the world, from birth to first steps. Drifting from the naturally grandiose vistas of Mongolia and Namibia to the urban enclaves of San Francisco and Tokyo, Balmes’s cameras reveal the universal curiosity that all young children share. A beautiful film that recalls, if it weren’t already obvious, that all babies look alike.
In this edition: the most dangerous assignment on Earth - we meet the journalists risking their lives to document what's going on in Afghanistan; Japan gets its fifth prime minister in four years - we ask if Naoto Kan will be able to stay the course, and Mongolia's worst winter in decades - millions of livestock perish leaving herders on the brink of starvation.
In this edition: five years on, survivors of a deadly earthquake in Pakistan are still living in squalor; freezing temperatures in Mongolia have killed hundreds of thousands of livestock, pushing many people to the brink of starvation; and it's been a turbulent few weeks for the world's biggest carmaker, nowhere more keenly felt than in Toyota city.
Mongolia's opposition Democratic Party (DP) announced Monday that its candidate, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, has won Sunday’s presidential election, while incumbent Nambariin Enkhbayar of the ruling party has conceded defeat, according to media reports.
Mongolians are choosing between Nambaryn Enkhbayar of the ruling MPRP party and Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj from the Democratic Party in presidential elections on Sunday. A total of 27 teams of international observers are overseeing the voting process.
In a northern region of Paris, one family lives in a yurt, the traditional Mongol home, but adapted to our modern idea of comfort. Eco-friendly and mobile, is this dwelling created from an old recycled circus tent the home of the future?
