From Our Own Correspondent - 14/10/2010

What the mine rescue has revealed about the Chilean national character. A daring escape from a rebel camp in the Colombian jungle. In super-secretive North Korea we get a rare glimpse of a desire for change. And how even the tropical heat can't melt the enthusiasm for ice hockey in Malaysia. Journalists are often accused of dwelling too much on the world's troubles. But the truth is, we love a good news story....if it's good enough. And what's been happening in Chile could hardly have been better. Hundreds of journalists from all round the world have poured in to witness the moment when the miners finally came to the surface. But our correspondent, Gideon Long lives in Chile. He was at the mine from the very beginning of the rescue effort. And he reflects now on his many days spent waiting with the wives and children of the men buried beneath the mountain... Central Asia has no tradition of democracy. For centuries the Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrghyz peoples were controlled by authoritarian emirs and khans. Then came the rule of the Russian Czar, and later the Soviet Union.... Now the local peoples have formed independent nations. But still democracy has struggled to take root in the steppe lands.... Kryghyzstan always seemed most ready to embrace it. But as Rayhan Demytrie explains, the weekend's elections have brought complications..... North Korea is supposed to be a communist state. But when it comes to matters of leadership, it feels more like a monarchy. Kim Jong-il....known as "the Dear Leader"....seems to be positioning his son, Kim Jong-un to inherit the throne. Millions of portraits of the heir apparent are being prepared for distribution, and songs have been composed in his honour. But Chris Hogg has been trying to work out what North Koreans really think at this time of change... For decades, Colombia has been plagued by criminal and political violence. In the past, huge drug cartels ran ruthless private armies. Today, left-wing rebels continue to wage their long guerrilla war. And they're still powerful right-wing paramilitary groups. But the violence is by no means as intense as it once was. And Robin Lustig has been meeting some of the tens-of-thousands of Colombian fighters who've decided to put down their weapons.... Ice hockey in its modern seems to have its origins in Canada. There are accounts of early players slithering about on the ice-bound St Lawrence River, in Quebec. Today the game's played with huge passion in many countries. But you always tend to associate it with the frozen lands of the north -- like Russia and Finland. You don't associate ice hockey with tropical Malaysia.....but Jennifer Pak says the game's caught the imagination of some in Kuala Lumpur....