At b.b.c. World Service dot com slash life stories and in 30 minutes on b.b.c. Trending this week one of the most talked about pieces of clothing online their job while Western fashion brands now using the Muslim headscarf Stay with us from our own correspondent is next on their own line and don't move by oh this is the b.b.c. World Service the world's radio station. On From Our Own Correspondent off to the news as the world worries about North Korea with it out on the town in Pyongyang we could have been an any Asian capital at the next table young she cleaned dressed couple were focused on their locally manufactured mobile phones she was busy texting while he used an app conversation was sparse and only between nibbles of fast food one man's explanation for Dubai's debt as a ling rise the Arab world is way down by it's history he says think of Cairo Damascus Marrakesh the Emirates may have less history he continues but partly because of this it has more of a future and sweetening the better history of chocolate in South I'm a wee funny a state former hospital in school now consumed by Jungle their assets were like small cities she says but the workers were slaves all at arms the prep time for getting married in his back a stand that's from our own correspondents off to this bulletin. B.b.c. News with Sue Montgomery the manager of on the rainy and television network has been shot dead in the Turkish city of Istanbul Saeed Karin the un was driving with a business partner when massed gunmen opened fire in their vehicle he is David Bohm from and the reports from Istanbul say that Saeed carry me and the chairman of the rainy and language gym civi network and his Kuwaiti business partner were driving through the city when a 4 by 4 vehicle carrying the attackers blocked their path they opened fire on the 2 men killing them both the assassins skate Mr Kerry me and t.v. Network dubs western and other foreign shows into Persian and broadcast them into Iran he's been previously convicted in his absence of spreading anti Iranian propaganda South Korea says the United States has agreed to pay for a $1000000000.00 missile defense shield despite President Trump earlier saying that so should bear the cost the American commitment came in a telephone call between the 2 countries national security advisers under the deal the u.s. Has agreed to pay for the hardware with South Korea providing the Lunde. Donald Trump has marked the 100th day of his presidency with a speech attacking the media and defending his own record Mr Trump told supporters in Pennsylvania he druther be with them than at the White House Correspondents' Dinner one of Washington's biggest social events he defended his own record of consistently making good on campaign pledges my administration has been delivering every single day whether it's putting our coal miners back to work protecting America is still here and aluminum workers or eliminating job killing regulations we are keeping one promise after another a flotilla of Chinese naval vessels arrived in the Philippines for the 1st time in 7 years as Manila continues its efforts to improve ties with China the warships a destroyer a frigate and a supply ship docked in the southern city of devote my Coopers to reports the Chinese ships are preparing to visit around 20 countries but the stop off in the Philippines is significant it shows 2 countries that were involved in a fierce dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea and I'll try to put that behind them another indication of that came following a meeting of Southeast Asian Nations that's just finished in Manila some of those countries wanted to criticize Beijing's Island building in the South China Sea But in the end host took a softer stance on the issue the former Italian prime minister material says seeking reelection as head of the center left Democratic Party today he faces 2 rivals the justice minister and 3 Orlando and Mikhail in 1000000 No the governor of the pool your region of Italy whoever wins will lead the center left into the general election probably this year b.b.c. News. Pope Francis has called for international mediation to ease tensions between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile program he said the situation was overheating and criticize the United Nations for failing to assert diplomatic leadership saying it had become too watered down that as well as foreign minister has called for a dialogue with the opposition to end weeks of violent demonstrations in which at least 30 people have died della Sera Regas blend of the deaths and what she called extremist opposition forces saying most of the victims had been supporters of the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro one of the most famous climbers in the world has been killed on Mount Everest stack who was 40 died in an accident while a climate ising for an attempt on the mountain on a new route Steve Jackson reports. New standards in Alpine climbing breaking a string of records by making breathtakingly quick solo or a sense of classic roots he also played a big part in bringing the sport to a new audience through the epic films made of his exploits he was nicknamed the Swiss machine for his ruthlessly methodical approach and his ability to keep going even after pushing himself to the limits of human insurance in 2015 he climbed one of the world's most famous walls the north face of the Eiger in 2 hours 47 minutes a time that would have been unthinkable to the early pioneers of the sport who took days to complete it the sport of boxing has been hailing a new hero after the British fighter Anthony Joshua beat Vladimir Klitschko to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world the fight at Wembley Stadium in London saw both men recover from being not done before it was stopped in the 11th round when the Ukrainian was on the ropes the former world boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard said it was an amazing fight b.b.c. News. Hello and welcome to from our own correspondent I'm Pascal harder in today's program the United Arab Emirates land of opportunity but just how secure are those skyscrapers built on sand to buy is a storyteller extraordinaire a village a fisherman and pole divers that in and a half a century has grown to become an a Raby and beacon of hope and tolerance the official narrative doesn't mention the special privileges or the lack of meaningful votes for the indigenous amorality 10 percent or so the crop which once made millions from the 1470s on words Portuguese planted sugar cane and coffee here and imported slaves from Angola and Cape Verde to cultivate them but as the introduction of cocoa in the 19th century affords great wealth the audience became the world's largest exporter by 913 or even nicknamed the chocolate islands are we witnessing a cocoa comeback. And her small yourselves up because It's wedding season in Central Asia and no one wants to miss the window of opportunity no couple wants to marry a May he tells me that's because we believe those who do will not conceive a child then there are the religious holidays to consider the following month of Ramadan say there won't be any wedding then either more on the great Beck wedding rush coming up later in the program but 1st to North Korea the great stead down between Washington and Pyongyang has been making the headlines daily as the rest of the world worries whether hostile words could turn into war on either of these nuclear powers actually prepared to use the military might they boast of and which the North Korean regime has been parading the government of the United States says it is readying its missile defense system South Korea is gay it China the largest regional power is clearly concerned but inside North Korea itself what's the atmosphere like in Pyongyang Nick Danziger has just returned from access some areas and as a repeat visitor he could spot some surprising changes it's hard to get away from the sense that war is never far away crossing the Yalu River that separates China from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea you can still see the crumbling remains of a bridge bomb repeatedly by the Americans through 195-1951 a soon as the train from Beijing pulls into sion with you the 1st North Korean train station everyone is under suspicion nationals and foreigners alike dozens of officials from different branches of the state flood the train it's one of the few occasions during my visit that there's a real buzz of activity officials in a variety of green brown blue all of in khaki uniforms check passports rummage under blankets and mattresses and leave no bag on searched. Soldiers walk along the top of an adjacent goods train the book we have on European customs law is closely examined by Bill jokes the customs inspector knowing that importing one of those could lead to arrest it's a relief after a couple of hours of scrutiny to be on the move again and heading towards p.r. Nyang unlike my previous visit in 2013 the train now has truly ladies selling refreshments then 1900 style Navy and sky blue outfits back to the coming of age of jet travel but the scene beyond our Windows is much more archaic strong plows dirt roads the grind of planting with a shovel and Saif facilitators Mr Kim and Mrs Lee waiting for us appealing young central station my immediate impression is of a much busier happier city the occasional passing car has been replaced by traffic jams there are now rival taxi companies and fleets of new vehicles yet outside a subway station a poster declaring lets Lauralee go through the tasks outlined in this New Year's message seemed to signal the nation hasn't lost any of its revolutionary. On my 1st visit to Pyongyang the choice of restaurants was limited but this time around we never ate in the same place twice on our 1st evening we could have been in any Asian capital at the next table a young chic lead dress couple Shion abroad a coat he and a bomber jacket were focused on their locally manufactured mobile phones she was busy texting while he used an app conversation was sparse and only between nibbles of fast food chicken nuggets and dips washed down with a shake and a cold beer at the end of the dining room a large plasma screen was playing a music video only here it's not beyond c. And Lady Gaga but the North Korean military choir. More and more shops now bring with imported goods beer and biscuits from Vietnam Chelsea and Real Madrid football jerseys Persian from France wine from Bordeaux Vonetta and yes even from the Sonoma Valley in California soft power seems to be creeping into a hermit state on e. Mail Mrs Lee had warned me that I'd see many changes and indeed whole neighborhoods of Pyongyang have sprouted skyscrapers like mushrooms as anywhere else trust is rare on a 1st encounter but I found these facilitators much more open than those on my 1st visit jokes could be made and both sides seem to know where the boundaries lie often there was a sense that they know you know that they know you know last time to my great annoyance they taken me to see a sterile show apartment this time they took me to a living apartment in one of those new neighborhoods that goes 24 hour electricity and therefore functioning lifts and running water even if the cooking gas has to be hauled from the shop up to the 14th floor well beyond these dwellings are given to favored scientists professors and researchers and such bright minds seem grateful to the government the passion for building replicates China's at each new site we visited we were told how many tens of thousands of square meters had been built in a matter of months and of course no new public spaces without a statue of one of the great leaders even of the newest water park every family must still kowtow to a statue of Kim Jong Il It's a sculpture of him on North Korea's e.c. Shoreline standing next to 2 parasols on sand which was specially transported here from that very coast over 200 kilometers away. Nick Danziger now back from North Korea next from a place where it's a surprise to find imported biscuits to a place where people actually jet in just to go shopping Dubai His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum And Mayor of Dubai and u.a.e. Vice president and prime minister has approved a tourism plan to position this glittering cosmopolitan city as the number one leisure and business destination in the world by 2020 but while you may be able to ascend the tallest skyscraper in the world they're all browse the finest luxury brands in one of the world's largest shopping malls Divina society itself is not necessarily an open book says Julio Wheeler even with her experience as former un eco respondent for over a decade part of the frustration and intrigue of reporting from a country that many describe as a benign dictatorship is reading between the lines did you sing just how far what's permitted in the newspapers or noted in official circulus relates to reality just as it takes time to get your ear back in with a language not spoken in a while so it took a couple of days to get my own life back in and regain some fluency for the news stories reported in the Gulf. Much of it is about identifying the stories that a place tells itself as opposed to a more balanced truth to buy is a story teller extraordinaire a village a fisherman and Pearl diver's that in under half a century has grown to become an Arabian beacon of hope and tolerance thanks to canny leadership business now says and a can do attitude a place where economic migrants from almost 200 countries are welcomed as guests live peacefully and a given opportunity is to create rags to riches stories of their own the official narrative doesn't mention the special privileges or the lack of meaningful votes for the indigenous amorality 10 percent nor those hundreds of thousands from Asia who I see scrambling on Sandy building sites or who work as domestic servants they're often low paid badly housed or worse one of the latest twists in the story the Emirates likes to share stars a new heroine she's the minister of state for happiness who'd been called Fan a roomy is serene her hair tucked tight beneath her peach colored shale a real head scarf a matching a buyer covering her clothes today she's not wearing the huge gold necklace blazing the word happy across her chest which she chose for her swearing in the past all shades and white smile mask a steeliness in this young woman tasked with ensuring that everyone in her country is happy among the initiatives all the launch of the world happiness Council and the naming of a road in Dubai's financial district happiness street she speaks of inextricable links between positivity and happiness of governing being not only about legislation and infrastructure but also optimism and future vision I can talk from today until tomorrow about this she says and I believe her. Later I meet old friends who've seen another side to this drive when their friend was approached by men from the ministry about business and footfall in the marble floors shopping while they tell me he explained things weren't so good takings down in his shop rents high afterwards the businessman received a fine for not projecting the right image basically for not being quite happy enough. Omar safe I'll go back seems happy at least he laughs a lot sometimes at himself which for a government appointee in this part of the world is rare and refreshing the ambassador to Moscow leans forward in his chair putting people at ease Omar's own tale isn't altogether joyful he began writing it down at $43.00 the same age at which his father the Minister for Foreign Affairs was assassinated in Abu Dhabi in the 1970 s. Omar was 6 the story has written is called Letters to a young Muslim and it's addressed to his teenage son offering guidance in case he's not always around to give it looking out into the crowd of m.r. Artes and foreigners Omar encourages his sons generation to ask difficult questions about Islam being hijacked by extremists uncomfortable questions about why Arab leaders aren't doing more to prevent it he calls on them to demand more than what he describes as legal and theological arguments about why chopping someone's head off is a bad idea he wants brave moral leadership from his fellow Arabs Ideally it seems homegrown this is a call for boldness in the u.a.e. Next chapter and Omar says the Emirates relatively short story so far in comparison with the epic sagas of its neighbors is an advantage the Arab world is way down by its history he says think of Cairo Damascus Marrakesh the Emirates may have less history he continues but partly because of this it has more of a future a future questioning leading Islamic thinkers I wonder and again I'm reading between the lines. That was Julio Wheeler you were listening to from our own correspondent on the b.b.c. World Service now chocolate is having a moment not only is Asia developing a taste for the stuff but in North America and Europe where it has long been considered the stuff of naughty treats chocolates has been rebranded now we have being told it's good for us the dark and less sugary stuff anyway you can buy it in health food shops as cocoa neighbors or gluten and lactose free bars or mixed with rice milk but what about when you hold a bar of organic chocolates in your hands trying to decide if that makes a difference well if it comes from sound to me the fact is that organic can mean quite a lot to its produces Mark Strassmann the boys from the Ross or the est kick a football around the pitch so certain a duck floats on the penalty spot others play cards slapping down hands with gendering force what a woman loves a wailing child under a cold water standpipe there's a powerful air of stagnation this roster form part of a network of cocoa plantations established during the Portuguese colonialists era on Souter may in principle between Ireland state 260 kilometers of equitorial West Africa from the 14th seventies on words Portuguese planted sugar cane and coffee here and imported slaves Rangoli in Cape Verde to cultivate them but as the introduction of cocoa in the 19th century the Fords great wealth the islands became the world's largest exporter by 913 or even nicknamed the chocolate islands. But after independence in 1905 but action declined dramatically at all but ceased by the 1990 s. With coca being replaced by subsistence crops grown by impoverished farmers working parcels of the fragmented their office at the last supporter rail on principle the squalid ex workers' houses the sons armors remain habited by the descendants of those who are best indentured laborers everything collapsed after the Portuguese left Remember 62 year old Catarina can say Sao walking around we find the estates form a hospital and school now consumed by jungle there are sas were like small cities. But the workers were slaves several on principle they are being revitalized for tourism by a South African market investment group but over the past decade on the larger neighboring island or south to May an inspiring reemergence in production has been driven by grassroots communities and organic based fair trade I drive from South amaze upon us Capitol down the wildly picture rest West Coast were broken shards of volcanic Peekskill or tropical forests rippling with parrots or one particular black sand beach I see villages whole ashore a giant fishing net and celebrate and need to catch with some gusto at last a Agra zoo an important cocoa estate in the 19th century the warehouses freshly painted orange and full of Hessen sacks of export ready dried cocoa beans it looks organize and relatively prosperous one of its supervisors Jassi 0 Farah was born on that Arthur his ancestors Cape Verdean slaves the sounds are as here remain occupied but exe you life with a new ish kindergarten and rap music po