Iraq could face another summer of bloodshed

Iraq could face another summer of bloodshed

Hundreds of protesters converged on the streets of the southern Iraqi city of Basra last week. Demonstrators across the province are calling for structural change to fix rampant corruption, a stagnant economy, high unemployment and underfunded public utilities. Protests in Iraq are common, but last summer's demonstrations saw an escalation into violence. Hundreds were wounded and killed, and many thousands more were arrested after clashes with police forces. Government buildings were set on fire, and the province was on the edge of revolt. Despite the violence, little has changed. The government still suffers from mismanagement and fraud. The country's elite have done little to improve conditions for the lower classes. As temperatures creep closer to 50°C and the struggling electrical grid and fresh water supply are strained, many question whether the protests will spiral into similar violence. On this week's episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Campbell MacDiarmid speaks with Dr Renad Mansour, a research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, and Belkis Wille, the senior Iraq researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. Read more on our website:

Episoder(477)

Peace efforts, economic leverage and spoilers: prospects for UN solutions in Libya, Yemen and Syria

Peace efforts, economic leverage and spoilers: prospects for UN solutions in Libya, Yemen and Syria

Another session of the United Nations General Assembly has come and gone. Fiery speeches, discussions of nuclear war and celebrity appearances made the headlines. But beyond the headlines, there were ...

27 Sep 201731min

President Trump's address to the world: The big three takeaways from his speech at the UN

President Trump's address to the world: The big three takeaways from his speech at the UN

President Trump has addressed world leaders at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for the first time since taking office, and he didn’t mince words. He took direct aim at the regimes in ...

20 Sep 201728min

United Nations preview: How much does the General Assembly matter?

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The United Nations general assembly kicks off in earnest next week. We analyse what might happen in some of the highlights expected from the meeting, including American President Donald Trump’s first ...

13 Sep 201734min

"Begging for war": North Korea, Lebanon and Charlie Hebdo

"Begging for war": North Korea, Lebanon and Charlie Hebdo

Despite two potential wars on the horizon, people are still finding it in them to get angry at cartoons. This week, nuclear war might break out between the US and North Korea in an unpredictable game ...

6 Sep 201731min

Hajj: The spiritual side the media rarely shows

Hajj: The spiritual side the media rarely shows

This week, more than 2 million people will go to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, Islam’s holiest event on the calendar. What draws so many to go through what is not an easy journey, one that is...

30 Aug 201725min

Understanding the war in Yemen; ISIL's last stronghold; Pioneering pilot

Understanding the war in Yemen; ISIL's last stronghold; Pioneering pilot

This week, Yemen might be approaching the first step towards a peace agreement in the three-year war. We use poetry to understand what that means. Oxford University academic Elisabeth Kendall gives us...

23 Aug 201728min

Why do white supremacists support Bashar al-Assad? Plus, An Emirati girl's space dream comes true, and Pakistan turns 70.

Why do white supremacists support Bashar al-Assad? Plus, An Emirati girl's space dream comes true, and Pakistan turns 70.

This week, half a million kilograms of rocket fuel launch an Emirati high school student’s experiment into space, as part of the Genes in Space competition. The show features a clip from Alia Al Manso...

16 Aug 201727min

What does it mean to be young and Arab?

What does it mean to be young and Arab?

For International Youth Day, Editor in chief Mina Al Oraibi is joined by a few of The National's resident youngsters -- Mina Al Droubi, Juman Jarallah and Naser Alwasmi -- to discuss what it means to ...

10 Aug 201724min

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