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

The roll out of Covid-19 vaccines has boosted hopes the virus can be tamed. But it will have to be worldwide effort if it is to be effective, and right now the signs aren’t good. While tens of million...

3 Feb 202124min

President Biden has reportedly paused arms sales to Saudi Arabia as his administration reviews relations with its long-time strategic ally. But is there any prospect of external or internal pressure c...

1 Feb 202124min

The new year sees Ireland facing the twin challenges of Covid and post-Brexit economics. How is the country coping? And is Dublin’s strategic vision of Northern Ireland’s future changing? Stephen Sack...

30 Jan 202124min

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is the most resilient opponent Vladimir Putin has ever faced. Navalny survived assassination by Novichok, returned to Russia and is now in a prison cell. Steph...

29 Jan 202122min

Israel is leading the world in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. More than a million Israelis have had their second dose, the prime minister claims the vast majority of adults will have been immun...

27 Jan 202123min

Can and should anything be done to halt the inexorable rise of the global technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook? Over the past decade we’ve seen these tech titans come to dominate data...

21 Jan 202124min

The Chinese government began this year by intensifying its crackdown on the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong. Amid mass arrests, the surveillance of the media and academia is there any safe space...

20 Jan 202124min

Some of the things the Covid pandemic has taken away are easier to quantify than others. The death toll and the job losses make headlines, but the closed arts venues, the lack of shared creative exper...

18 Jan 202122min