This time, the South is addressing its own problems - and its conclusions, launched this month in Caracas, are refreshingly honest.

The rulers of Wales were speaking Welsh when French-speakers ruled England. But today most Welsh speak only English. Paul Williams meets life-long Welsh nationalist Gwynfor Evans.

For many years, although some of my closest friends in Ireland were Catholics, in my inmost feelings I felt superior to them - intellectually, socially and in terms of religion.

The Norwegians wanted help in rediscovering the true value of freedom in their own society as well as to give support to the Polish nation.

At the moment a delicate balance of power prevails. The de Klerk government wields institutional power backed by the defence force and police; the ANC has demonstrated the weight of popular power and forced the government to come to terms with it.

In Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia, John Williams finds that the 'smiling revolution' was built on an uncompromising search for truth.

Last year, Sri Lanka topped world tables for the numberof-political-murders per head of population. The Sarvodaya movement - active in a fifth of Sri Lanka's villages - is answering the roots of violence as well as poverty. Jehan Perera explains.

A multi-million dollar network of graft, involving top policemen and their political mentors: the allegations had been spilling across Australia's front pages and television screens.

When Rajmohan, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, announced that he was running against the incumbent PM, few thought that he might win.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland Edited by RF Foster Oxford University PressDr Roddy Evans