The Fourcast

We’ve been here before: Israel is bombarding Gaza, and more than two hundred people have been killed, many of them women and children.

Israel says they have a right to defend themselves after the militant group Hamas began firing rockets, killing at least 10 Israelis.

But there we haven’t been before is the unrest within Israel itself, with clashes between Arabs and Jews. Even the President of Israel has warned of civil war. 

What will take for this latest flare-up to end - and does the violence on the streets pose an existential threat to Israel itself?

We speak to a writer in Gaza, a former spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu, and a Palestinian-Israeli and a Jewish Israeli who live in Acre.

Do we need to be more concerned about the Indian variant of Covid-19 that is causing havoc on the subcontinent?

Bodies are washing up on the shores of the Ganges. This sacred river, the lifeblood of India, now a sign of the death that flows through the subcontinent as the deadly second wave of coronavirus continues - with the end still nowhere in sight. 

In today’s episode, we look at the ongoing tragedy in India, ask the government why they didn’t see this coming, and how this surge in India is spreading to neighbouring countries - and bringing a variant to the UK’s shores too.

Sources: India Today

Myanmar is once again under a military dictatorship. But hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the military coup.

The peaceful protests were met with a brutal crackdown by the military. The Myanmar regime said it was responding to protests that harm the stability of the nation. But protesters pledge to keep fighting until the junta is defeated.

At the end of April, the Domestic Abuse Act was signed into law closing loopholes around rough sex claims that favoured defendants in court and strengthening the laws on revenge porn.   But the bill does not include the automatic inclusion of repeat abusers or stalkers on a national register.   Anja Popp looks at that the law means for victims of domestic abuse and whether it could pave the way for wider changes to the criminal justice system.   And what more still needs to be done to protect women from violence not just at home but everywhere?   Sources: BBC Three, BBC Newsnight, ITV news, ABC. 

Face masks are one of the most fiercely contested issues of the last year, and a striking visual reminder that we are in the midst of a pandemic. But do they actually protect against Covid-19? Why is there so little scientific evidence that they are effective? And how did a piece of health advice get so political? 
On today's podcast, the award-winning Channel 4 News FactCheck team takes us through the science behind the mask, and asks why a small bit of cloth has caused such furious debate.   Sources: Fox News, New York Times, Sky News, World Health Organisation

This is the second episode of a two-part podcast on Northern Ireland, which this year marks its 100th anniversary.

In this episode, Paraic O’Brien looks at the impact of Brexit, the Irish sea border, and demographic shift which could see Catholics outnumbering Protestants for the first time in Northern Ireland’s history, throwing the future of the nation into doubt. 

As some say the call for a border poll on a United Ireland is growing, what would it take to get to that point, and O’Brien asks: what would it mean to be a Unionist, if the Union no longer exists?

Sources: BBC, ITN

This is the first episode of a two-part podcast on Northern Ireland, which this year marks its 100th anniversary.

Yet given this country’s difficult past, and with old sectarian divides flaring up again, there have been no ceremonies: instead, violence in the streets and the resignation of the First Minister have been the ominous markers. 

In this episode, reporter Paraic O’Brien explores how even though Northern Ireland’s youth weren’t around during the Troubles, the stories they are told strengthen the bonds of Unionism today.

Has a year of lockdowns, shut cinemas and limited red carpet events changed celebrity culture forever?   As attention has shifted to the pandemic and everyday heroes, some celebrities have used their platform for activism, be it supporting the NHS or Black Lives Matter, while others have seemingly forgotten their privilege and flouted Covid restrictions.   In today's episode, Red Carpet veteran Minnie Stephenson delves into the past year and asks whether this is a turning point in celebrity culture?   Will we ever return to the glitz and glamour of old, or is the pandemic a catalyst in the shift from the old school celeb to the modern influencer?    Sources:  BBC News, ITV, Eyewitness News, 'Imagine' / John Lennon/ Yoko Ono via @gal_gadot (Instagram) 

 

Covid cases above 300,000 every day, deaths above 2,500 every day, and that’s an underestimate.

India, the vast nation that stretches from the Himalayas to the backwaters of Kerala, this land of colour is now darkened by a Covid dystopia unlike anything we’ve seen before.

An early lockdown last year seemed to help matters, but that masked the uneven spread of this pandemic and made the government and citizens alike complacent when it came to this new wave, with a new Covid variant.

Today, we look at the situation on the ground right now at the heart of this Covid hell and ask: what went wrong in India?

Sources: BBC, India Today, ITN

Sickle cell disease is a painful blood condition that affects thousands, mainly among those with an African or Caribbean family background. A painful disease that is not known by many - even healthcare professionals. The recent case of Richard Okorogheye, a 19 year old found dead in Epping Forest, has revealed the difficulties and discourse around sickle cell, the struggle of shielding for the past year, and the lack of understanding around this condition. 

Our Health and Social Care Producer Toby Bakare talks about living with the condition, how he has found shielding this past year, and about the shocking stories of medical racism where Black pain is not taken seriously.

Sources: Sky News, 5 News