Gunfire and tanks, teenage girls detained in psychiatric wards, Internet blocked, yet from the outside, Iran's nationwide protests seem to be gaining momentum one month after the death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. What next? In a nation with no independent opposition or trade unions, we measure the resilience of a leaderless movement and of a theocracy whose values are law of the land. The restrictions imposed by the government mirror restrictions from abroad.
Jun 27, 2022 • Who has got who over a barrel? G7 leaders are pushing the idea of capping the price they pay for Russian oil and gas, effectively forcing Moscow to choose whether to supply at a discount or cut off the revenue stream of its pipelines.
Jun 22, 2022 • Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman is visiting Turkey, less than four years after dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered his consulate in Istanbul, never to reemerge. Does President Recep Tayyip Erdogan burying the hatchet with the Gulf oil giant have anything to do with Turkey's skyrocketing inflation and soaring energy costs? As for the crown prince, this trip is part of a broader return to grace, precipitated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the scramble for alternatives to Russian oil.
Dec 16, 2021 • What is it really like inside the new Afghanistan? Four months after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, France 24 went to the capital and beyond to speak with citizens from all walks of life. What they heard was a mix, relief that the guns have gone quiet and worry over the prospect of a bleak winter. What with more than half the population facing "acute" food shortages, international isolation, and new rulers who have yet to let women return to school and to work and yet to prove they can run a country.
France is on again, off again row over the Muslim headscarf is on again. This time, was it the president who started it? With March municipal elections on the way, Emmanuel Macron telling MPs from his own party not to let the far-right own the conversation on secularism, radicalisation and sectarianism. But his own camp emerged divided from a parliamentary debate and when a far-right regional councilor baited a mother who had accompanied children on a school outing, all bets were off. We ask what the law says and what the French want.
After the overnight proroguing of parliament, could the UK be headed straight towards a no-deal Brexit? Boris Johnson's bound by law now to ask for an extension unless there's an agreement with the European Union... but the new PM's defiant, saying come what may, Britain's leaving October 31st. With MPs in recess for the next five weeks, François Picard's panel measures just how much Johnson is testing the UK's democracy.
Extreme is a word that may come to mind when describing the behavior of the Saudi regime. However what seems to be unfolding in Istanbul, Turkey, is beyond extreme and mind boggling. The disappearance of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi seems to have taken place in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and now Turkish media reports are saying he was killed and dismembered inside of the Consulate. As shocking as this is, it isn’t the first time that the Saudi regime has been accused of killing those with a different point of view.
US President Donald Trump has once again humiliated Saudi Arabia by saying that the country’s king “might not be there for two weeks” without Washington’s support. Speaking at a campaign rally in Mississippi, Trump said he loves King Salman but the US is protecting the king therefore he has to pay for the military backing. What does Trump’s comment reveal about Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and independence? What does it say about the two countries’ relationship which, under Trump, has become void of any veneer of the polite diplomatic language? Let’s now cross over to Washington and talk to Press TV’s Colin Campbell about the issue. Colin; in May, Trump humiliated the Saudi Crown Prince at the Oval Office by boasting arms sales to the Kingdom and on Tuesday night he was at it again by addressing the King himself. What else can you tell us about Trump’s comment and reactions to it?
You may start a war but be assured we will be the ones ending it. That message from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani to the United States is one to not be taken lightly. This can be seen in context of Trump’s all-caps tweeted threat to President Rouhani, Bolton’s attendance of the MKO terror group gathering as well as the growing anti-Iran alliance between Israel & Persian Gulf sheikhdoms. As Gen. Soleimani has said, Iran is no pushover & if the US couldn’t even succeed in Iraq or Afghanistan, how can it ever take on Iran? Join me Waqar Rizvi, as we discuss growing threats to Iran.
Israel's military chief of staff, in an unprecedented interview with a Saudi newspaper, says that Tel Aviv is ready to cooperate with the Saudi kingdom to confront Iran. He said the Israeli regime & Saudi sheikhdom are united in their mutual enmity towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. While the world’s worst kept secret of a relationship between the Saudis & Israelis is that much more obvious now, what will its repercussions be in a volatile region? Join me, Waqar Rizvi, as we seek to answer that & more in tonight’s discussion.
