Sir Vartan Melkonian: From Beirut street child to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Stephen Sackur speaks to Nicola Benyahia, the mother of a deceased ‘IS’ fighter. After terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the UK is preoccupied with questions about how best to counter the Ji...

1 Aug 201723min

Few issues are as controversial as abortion when it comes to discussing women's rights. Pro-life campaigners believe a woman's right to control her fertility does not extend to abortion on demand. I...

27 Juli 201723min

Shaun Ley speaks to Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani. A quarter of the country's population are Syrian refugees which is putting Lebanon’s infrastructure and resources under increasing ...

25 Juli 201723min

What does the UAE hope to achieve by isolating Qatar? The four Arab nations that cut all ties with Qatar have replaced a list of 13 specific demands with six principles including combating extremism a...

24 Juli 201723min

Mohammed Fairouz is a US-Emirati composer - a youthful artist who has spent much of his creative life defying boundaries and stereotypes. His work ranges from symphonies to opera, to unique fusions of...

19 Juli 201723min

Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe drought that has left a third of its fifteen million people dependent on food aid. The state is running out of dollars, workers go unpaid and unemployment is very ...

17 Juli 201723min

In a special edition of the programme, Zeinab Badawi is in Istanbul to speak to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is a year since coup plotters tried to remove him from office in a series of...

14 Juli 201723min

Are radical policies needed to address the current ills of the US? Zeinab Badawi speaks to the progressive Canadian-American writer and activist Naomi Klein, who is calling for mass protests against P...

11 Juli 201723min