麻豆约拍

What can a lost dog tell you about a country? Quite a lot, if it is the tale of Kerouac, who went missing in the Malian capital Bamako. The police found and looked after him, and then contacted Alex Duval Smith. Kerouac is not her dog, but that of a Frenchman called Stephane who stayed in his campervan on her street for a week. When it was time for Stephane to leave, Kerouac had disappeared. Would Alex be able to get the dog back without having to pay a little something - or a rather big sum - to the police?

How did hundreds of African refugees end up in a tent village in a square in the German capital Berlin? And what should Germany do about them? That's what Nalina Eggert wanted to know, when she visited relatives in Berlin. European Union asylum rules say that would-be refugees have to lodge their claim in the first EU country where they arrive. So if they reached the Italian island of Lampedusa from the North African coast, that means staying in Italy. But Italy has actively helped many to leave, giving them 500 euros each to do so. Hundreds made it to Berlin, hoping to find work in the EU's biggest economy. But that's harder than they imagined, and far from getting jobs and houses, they are surviving on handouts in tents. Now their very presence has stirred up a debate - not just about what do do about the refugees, but about what kind of country Germany is - or should be - today.

(Photo of Kerouac the dog by Alex Duval Smith)