An update on Kurdish peace talks as the PKK releases hostages, we hear from Rome about the new Pope, and question how newspapers report on their paymasters.

The value of time zones, an interview with a kidnap victim held hostage for 8 months in Somalia, and Andrew Gilligan joins us from Damascus.

We analyse Nigeria after the latest hostage killings, hear from the Florence Food Festival, and also check in with Monocle foreign editor Steve Bloomfield who is in São Paulo to discuss soft power.

William Lawrence of the International Crisis Group discusses options for ending the hostage situation in Algeria and we speak to Jonathan Katz about the failings of global aid after the Haitian earthquake.

We preview Israel's elections this week with Joseph Dana in Jerusalem and explore the implications of the Algerian hostage crisis with journalist Nabila Ramdani and Raffaello Pantucci of the Royal United Services Institute…

We look ahead to Barack Obama’s second inauguration day, assess the damage of Algeria’s four-day hostage siege, and celebrate the life and work of designer Andrée Putman.

Amid differing reports of Hosni Mubarak’s health, we hear from Tahrir Square protestors, and learn of an al-Qaeda hostage situation in Toulouse.

Italy and the UK’s fall out over a hostage, we talk to traders in Fukushima, and learn why telenovelas are moving from Mexico to Miami.

Nabila Ramdani and Shashank Joshi analyse the hostage situation in Algeria and we review the week’s top media stories with Felix Gillette of Bloomberg Businessweek.

Middle East journalist Borzou Daragahi gives us an update on the Algerian hostage situation, Monocle’s Kenji Hall discusses Shinzo Abe’s tour of southeast Asia, and we find out how to cook a horse.

The latest on the hostage crisis in Algeria, we head to São Paulo to discuss helicopter safety guidelines in cities, and explore the apparently effective combination of rooftop football and speed-dating in Tokyo.