Perspective

I try to take my pains and turn them into art. So says Mana Neyestani, an Iranian cartoonist who lives in exile here in France. He fled Iran whilst awaiting trial after he draw a cartoon deemed highly offensive by Azeris living in northwestern Iran. He insists he never meant any offence in the cartoon. As his new book "Trois Heures" (Three Hours) comes out, he spoke to us about its inspiration: a three-hour wait at Paris's Orly airport with nothing but a refugee travel document.

Just how worried should we be about the impact of microplastics on the environment – and on our health? We speak to Emily Penn, co-founder of eXXpedition, an NGO that runs pioneering all-female sailing research expeditions to investigate the causes of – and solutions to – ocean plastic pollution.

The African continent accounts for 17 percent of the global population, but only 3.5 percent of reported Covid-19 deaths worldwide. What's more, Africa's overall infection rate has been dropping steadily over the past two months. What’s behind the continent’s success? We speak with Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Africa Director at the World Health Organization.

In Germany, a criminal complaint against the Syrian regime has been filed: a demand for justice for the hundreds of victims of chemical attacks carried out in Syria in 2013 and 2017. Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, one of the organisations that filed the complaint, tells us why the case has come before the German courts and his hopes for the outcome. He also tells us about another case against the Syrian regime that's being heard by the German courts and his own horrific experience of being tortured in prison.

As fighting continues over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Neil Melvin, Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, gives us his perspective on what's happening and what may come next in this conflict.

US President Donald Trump is back in hospital being treated for Covid-19 after a brief trip out in his motorcade to wave at supporters. The outing came after a weekend of mixed messages as to the state of the president's health, amid reports that he is taking a number of steroids and antivirals to treat the infection. We speak to Keith Neal, a professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham. He gives us his Perspective on how dangerous Trump's trip outside the hospital was and brings us the latest on treatments for the virus.

When Iranian fashion and underwear model Negzzia learnt that Iran's Revolutionary Guards were onto her for allegedly spreading anti-Islamic culture, she knew she had to get out. She travelled first to Turkey, then to France, where, for a time, she lived on the streets. We discuss her new book and her determination to speak out about the Iranian regime's deep fear of personal freedom.

The "clear loser" in the first US presidential debate was the ten percent or so of undecided US voters who tuned in hoping to see a reasonable discussion of the major issues. That's the view of Thomas Gift, lecturer in political science at UCL, London and founding director of the Centre on US Politics. He says the "constant bickering" in the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden obscured any substantive debate on policy. Gift joined us for Perspective.

Climate change is a "threat amplifier". It takes tough scenarios and makes them more likely to happen and more frequent. That's the view of passionate biologist and activist Niall McCann, who says the death of over 500 elephants in Botswana this summer is just the latest example of how climate change is slowly destroying our world. But he also says it’s not too late for us to change direction. He joined us for Perspective.

For the people of Lebanon, four crises have come at the same time: an economic crisis, a refugee crisis, then coronavirus, and now the recent blast which devastated the port area of Beirut and beyond. Our guest Violet Speek-Warnery of UNICEF says the aid being given by NGOs is "not enough", and real long-lasting reform is urgently needed.