Millions of people in the UK and around the whole world are preparing for a rare weekend indeed, with a new king to be crowned. On May 6, the coronation of King Charles III will be held at Westminster Abbey, marking the high point of his accession to the throne. Huge crowds, parades and shows in the street are planned. From around the world, people are heading to London to get a live view of this historic moment. The new King served the longest apprenticeship of anyone waiting in the wings to be...
May 02, 2023•17 min•Ep. 313
Life for many in Sudan has become intolerable. People have been trapped in their own homes by two weeks of fighting and failed ceasefires. Disruptions to power, the internet, water supplies and food have been widely reported. Little wonder then that, since the violence broke out on April 15 between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group and the army, many have chosen to flee. Some have been part of the mass evacuations of diplomats and foreigners. But many Sudanese have also fled their home...
Apr 27, 2023•12 min•Ep. 312
Khartoum has been hit by days of fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force. As the death toll rises, people have been forced to shelter from the violence, and food, water and medicine supplies are running short. The US UK, EU, UAE and Saudi Arabia are among those who have called for calm. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher is joined by correspondent Hamza Hendawi to discuss what is happening in Sudan - and how the dire situation could resolve itse...
Apr 19, 2023•14 min•Ep. 311
Can a handshake transform a region? After long years of tension, Saudi Arabia and Iran decided in March to normalise diplomatic relations. Weeks later, the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers met face-to-face - and the handshake took place. The landmark agreement entails patching up the rift by reviving a security cooperation pact, reopening embassies within two months and resuming trade, investment and cultural accords. The China-brokered deal could lead to a major realignment in the Middle Eas...
Apr 14, 2023•14 min•Ep. 310
Nothing says Ramadan more than joyous gatherings of family and friends, dining tables heaving with delicacies as the sun sets. But this Ramadan, many people are struggling to make ends meet, with the cost of living having soared globally. For months, The National has been tracking the prices of food staples in supermarkets across the Middle East and North Africa – and seen how shoppers have adopted new strategies, routinely searching for discounts and reining in other spending, as higher prices ...
Apr 07, 2023•14 min•Ep. 309
On March 27, Israel ground to a halt in protest at a set of judicial reforms put forward by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right wing coalition. Demonstrations had been rumbling for weeks against the proposals, but then on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu fired defense minister Yoav Gallant for speaking out against the bill. It was like he had lit a match. Within hours, one of the largest demonstrations in Israel’s history took place. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young loo...
Mar 31, 2023•17 min•Ep. 308
On February 21 Tunisia’s president Kais Saied declared that “a criminal plan has been set up since the beginning of this century to alter the demographic structure of Tunisia”. Civil rights groups and activists considered the statement dangerous and warned that it could encourage hate crimes against the sub-Saharan minority, who already face tough conditions. The Tunisian president's comments coincided with an unprecedented crackdown targeting hundreds of sub-Saharan Africans. Lawyers Without Bo...
Mar 24, 2023•15 min•Ep. 307
Thousands died and millions were displaced in a matter of moments following the violent earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey. While survivors are now trying to rebuild their lives, there is one group for whom recovering from the earthquake is an even harder challenge: the children who lost their parents. Some have lost their parents and even a month on at least 160 infants and children remain unidentified. Horror, devastation and heartbreak is what the majority of children in Syria and Turkey ha...
Mar 10, 2023•16 min•Ep. 306
First they were forced to flee their homes in Myanmar after the military regime launched a campaign of ethnic cleansing against them. Then they faced more horrors in the Bangladeshi refugee camps where they had sought sanctuary. Now, Anjana Sankar reports on the perilous sea crossings many Rohingya are embarking on – in another desperate attempt finally to find a safe home.
Mar 03, 2023•16 min•Ep. 305
Since the start of the Russia- Ukraine war, more than 12 million people have fled their homes. Military casualties on both sides are believed to have topped 200,000 while civilian casualties in Ukraine are at nearly 7000, according to the latest UN figures. A year on, and there are still no signs of returning to a normal way of life. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Enas Refaei looks at the human toll of the war and the lives that were changed in the blink of an eye. She also talks to peo...
Feb 24, 2023•16 min•Ep. 304
The UN says that 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since systematic records began in 2005. Israeli security forces killed 151 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank territories and east Jerusalem last year, while 24 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. This year there is no sign of a decline in the volume of violence. Tensions are high in Israel and the occupied territories after a spate of attacks against Israeli citizens, raids on Palestinian communities by the Israeli military and...
Feb 17, 2023•32 min•Ep. 303
Most people were tucked up in bed when the first quake hit. The ground shook violently as a fault roughly 200 km long and 25km wide slipped, causing a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The force of the quake in the early hours of February 6 caused death and destruction across hundreds of kilometres of eastern Turkey and northern Syria. The UN estimated that 23 million people were affected; the death toll jumped by hundreds, hour after hour. But as a number of experts told us in the wake of the t...
Feb 10, 2023•24 min•Ep. 302
We all know exactly what happened three years ago. The winter we didn’t expect was coming, and it stayed with us for years. This time of the year now comes with memories of the world’s first Covid lockdown in China, and later when almost 3.9 billion people around the world followed suit. But still, more than 6 million people lost their lives due to coronavirus. So what have we learnt from the pandemic? On this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Enas Refaei takes a look at the legacy of...
Feb 03, 2023•21 min•Ep. 301
It took months of wrangling and it nearly didn’t happen - but Ukraine will soon get some of the most formidable tanks ever built. At the start of the war in February 2022, Western aid focused on sending either equipment the Ukrainian military already used, or items like night-vision and body-armour that could quickly be assimilated. And for a long time there were still no tanks. But then that changed. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young takes a closer look at how and why t...
Jan 27, 2023•19 min•Ep. 300
Thousands of business leaders, policy makers, experts, heads of government and state have gathered once again in a snowy Swiss mountain resort in January. There are crises affecting different parts of the world; the war in Ukraine, mitigating the impact of climate change and weakening global economic outlook. But other regions, like the Middle East, are looking at the opportunities from a world in transition. In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines at the World Economic Forum Annual Meet...
Jan 20, 2023•15 min•Ep. 299
Since Covid-19 first emerged in Wuhan province in late 2019, China has pursued an aggressive containment policy. In October, 28 cities across China were in some form of lockdown impacting 207 million people. By comparison, much of the world had got rid of lockdowns, international travel had resumed, and life was returning to normal. But the government still maintained that Zero Covid was the most cost effective policy. People across China started to protest – lift the restrictions. Then the infe...
Jan 13, 2023•20 min•Ep. 298
The Arabian Gulf Cup is returning to Iraq for the first time since 1979. Coming less than a month after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the tournament in the once war-torn city of Basra represents another electrifying moment for football fans in the region. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Robert Tollast takes a closer look at an historic moment in sport for Iraq - and what it means for the country and the region.
Jan 06, 2023•14 min•Ep. 297
2022 was a year of uncertainty on the global stage. Amid the lingering impact of Covid-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a fresh shock to the system and its reverberations were felt across the planet. The unnerving combination of a European land war and the inflation it helped to export worldwide wasn’t what anyone expected as life was just beginning to move forward from the pandemic. This week on Beyond the Headlines, as we turn the corner from 2022, host Jamie Goodwin speaks to The Natio...
Dec 30, 2022•16 min•Ep. 296
2022 was a year in the global spotlight for the Middle East. Mass protests in Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody brought about real hope of change, while in Israel, the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu kick-started a journey towards what has been described as a fully right-wing government. The Middle East held its first World Cup and the region also returned to the forefront of the global drive for carbon neutrality when Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh hosted the UN’s climate chang...
Dec 23, 2022•24 min•Ep. 295
On December 17, 2010, Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the Arab Uprisings. Coinciding with the 12th anniversary of his death, Tunisians head to the polls on Saturday for the second time this year. Over those years, Tunisia has seen new constitutions, changing governments, different presidents and deadlocked parliaments. All played out against a backdrop of terrorist attacks and food shortages. While politicians promise p...
Dec 16, 2022•18 min•Ep. 294
A group of men in green uniforms and women in loose black chador head scarfs roaming the streets in a van is a familiar sight in Iran. This is a patrol by Iran’s so-called morality police Officially called the Guidance Patrol, officers have the power to arrest anyone deemed to be flouting the country’s strict rules on how men and women should dress and act in public. While officially they police everyone - men wearing shorts or showing visible tattoos can fall foul of officers - it is women who ...
Dec 09, 2022•23 min•Ep. 293
The UAE is launching the Arab world's first mission to the Moon - a new milestone for a country that hasn’t looked back after sending the first Emirati astronaut into space in 2019. The Rashid rover is flying on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram looks at the build-up to the launch of the rover and the legacy it will leave behind for the UAE’s future space ambitions.
Dec 01, 2022•19 min•Ep. 292
The world came together in Qatar when the FIFA World Cup kicked off for the first time in the Middle East and Arab world. But even before a ball had been kicked, there are many reasons why the Qatar tournament is unlike any other. It is the costliest World Cup to date and Qatar is also the smallest country to host the competition by land size and population. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Gully Burrows takes a look at the World Cup in Qatar to find out exactly what it’s like on the grou...
Nov 25, 2022•17 min•Ep. 291
For millions of Americans, it is an unwelcome blast from the past. For millions of others, it is a hope for a second chance to "drain the swamp" of American politics. Whatever your view on Donald Trump and his mission to make America great again, there is no doubt that the former president's recent announcement that he intends to make another run for the White House in 2024 is deeply divisive. True to form, Mr Trump heralded his possible campaign with a combination of rhetorical showmanship, bom...
Nov 18, 2022•35 min•Ep. 290
“Conflict, climate and the economic consequences of Covid-19 are feeding off each other in a vicious circle, with 54 conflicts, 100 million displaced people and 345 million people going to bed hungry every night.” This was the stark picture painted by President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband in this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines. The National's editor in chief Mina Al-Oraibi spoke to Mr Miliband during his visit to Abu Dhabi to discuss concerns about the l...
Nov 09, 2022•33 min•Ep. 289
There is a debate raging internationally about climate change. As we’re greeted by dire headlines and alarm, the UN had a stark warning - the battle against carbon emissions isn’t going well. As the world gathers in Egypt for the Cop27 global climate forum, it can be hard to understand exactly where we stand, what’s being done and whether it's even still possible to stop climate change. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young looks at where the world is on climate action and a...
Nov 04, 2022•25 min•Ep. 288
Britain has seen two monarchs and three prime ministers in the space of just two months. If a TV writers’ room pitched anything like the events of the last few months, they probably would have been told to dial back the drama and make the storyline more believable. So how did this all happen, and who is the man now in charge of the United Kingdom? This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Gully Burrows asks: can Rishi Sunak restore the public’s trust in government and pull the Conservative Party t...
Oct 28, 2022•22 min•Ep. 287
Ten years ago, one family’s future was changed forever when a single bullet fired by a militant extremist shattered a 15 year old girl’s face in a small village in Pakistan. That was when the world learned who Malala Yousafzai is. On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at how Malala’s story, advocacy and activism have inspired generations in her hometown of Swat in Pakistan and beyond.
Oct 18, 2022•9 min•Ep. 286
Drawing a line on a map is never straightforward – there are many places around the world with no set boundaries. But now there is one less unmarked border as Lebanon and Israel have, after years of indirect talks, agreed on where the line lays. This is a remarkable feat for two countries still technically at war. It might appear just an administrative achievement, an event to be noted as a quirk of geography and diplomacy. But this agreement could already have averted a war and have major conse...
Oct 14, 2022•23 min•Ep. 285
Microchips are integral to almost everything we do - they keep planes in the sky and cars on the roads, they are the brains of almost every modern device we use. It is microchips that mean we can walk around with smart watches more powerful than computers that took up whole rooms just a few decades ago. But what would happen if we suddenly couldn't get hold of new chips? This is a question that has worried experts and legislators around the world for a while. And it is no longer a hypothetical t...
Oct 05, 2022•19 min•Ep. 284
