Benjamin Netanyahu has outsmarted many attempts to drive him from power - but a new alliance is manoeuvring to unseat him. Tom Bateman reports from Jerusalem on the unusual array of parties now teaming up in coalition - ranging from right-wing Jewish nationalists to a religious party for Muslim Israelis of Palestinian heritage.

Sarah Rainsford has reported on several waves of repression in Belarus for the BBC. But her most recent visit to Minsk revealed a pall of fear settling over the country's news media, dissidents and protesters.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently visited Costa Rica to talk migration and development aid with the foreign ministers of Central America. What changes in policy is the Biden administration considering - and what does it have to offer the region to deter people from trying to make it to the Mexico/US border? Will Grant was in San Jose to see what was on the table.

Japan is a nation famous for its team spirit, its hospitality, and its love of a big event. But as Rupert Wingfield Hayes comments from Tokyo, there's little public enthusiasm for the Olympic Games - as the opening ceremony in July draws closer, even as new doubts arise over pandemic safety and travel restrictions.

For more than twenty years the late Milan Bandic served as mayor of Croatia's capital, Zagreb - and some citizens say he treated it as a personal fiefdom. He had many colourful run-ins with the law, but there was also a far wider range of accusations that corruption and cronyism were spoiling the city's reputation and driving young Croatians abroad. Guy De Launey explains why nearly two-thirds of voters just chose a young, Green candidate to clean up their surroundings.

Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör BBC Radio 4. Innehållet i podden är skapat av BBC Radio 4 och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.