What would the potential loss of Syria naval and air bases mean for Russia? The fall of the Assad regime triggered the start of possibly the greatest reshaping of the Middle East in decades, throwing into uncertainty the fate of Russia’s military bases in the country, among many other things. Tartus and Hmeimim served as a springboard for Moscow’s foreign missions elsewhere. We assess their significance for the Kremlin’s strategic footprint in Africa, and explore the alternatives.

Producer: Kriszta Satori

A shock offensive on Aleppo turned Syria’s forgotten conflict into hot war. The group spearheading it, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), has been at pains to present itself as a credible governing body, having renounced its jihadist past. With a bounty on his head, its leader, Abu Mohammed al Jawlani, has been spinning his propaganda machine in the northern province of Idlib, wearing western suits and taking selfies with the locals. We track his journey of transformation in this episode, first published in 2023.

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Anne Dixey

Why is the Kremlin worried about population decline? President Putin has made the increase of human capital a national priority. Decision-makers have been competing to offer a solution, from fiscal incentives to encourage women to have more children, to restricting access to abortion, to banning "propaganda" of “childless lifestyle”. Will their plan work?

Producer: Francis Scarr, Veronika Malinboym, Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov

What’s behind the evolution of President Erdogan’s narrative on LGBT issues, and how did Turkey’s Islamic conservatives find common ground with American Evangelicals? President Erdogan skipped the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris in August after his granddaughter warned him about the “LGBT show”. He berated the French organisers for “debasing humanity to a level below animals”. His anti-LGBT push is relatively recent. We take a look at one battlefield of the global culture war.

Producer: Kriszta Satori

Ten years on, where do the warring parties stand? And is there a way out of the stalemate? This is not just a civil war - it’s a battle between rival camps in the Middle East, led by Iran on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia on the other. The Houthis are said to be Iran’s proxy, but they sometimes act against Tehran’s interest. We go granular on the complexities in the alliances and the rivalries that shape the conflict.

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov

Ten years after the start of the civil war in Yemen, Sanaa, Aden and Taiz are stuck in a “no war, no peace” limbo. The three ancient cities are ruled by different warring parties, all vying to expand their reach. We look at life under the Houthis, the “government of hotels”, the separatists and the snipers.

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov, Sumaya Bakhsh

The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan has led to the erasure of women from public life. There’s a UN-led campaign to recognise it as “gender apartheid”, but the international community is divided and lacking leverage. Three years after the group took the capital Kabul, our experts explain what life is like for half of the population and why women have become a proxy for the nation’s image of itself.

Producer: Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov

The geopolitical tectonic shifts in Africa that could be felt in Europe too. A year after the coup in Niger, which was seen as a key ally of the West, Africa’s ‘coup belt’ faces growing uncertainty about its future security. As US and international forces withdraw, legacy Wagner groups seek to conquer new zones of influence for Russia in the face of a growing jihadist threat. What hope is there for the region?

Producers: Kriszta Satori, Linnete Bahati, Elchin Suleymanov

After a lull in activities, in 2024 the Islamic State Group claimed to be behind several major attacks, showing the world they haven’t gone away. Among them was the storming by gunmen of a Moscow concert hall. Ten years after the Islamist extremists declared the establishment of a caliphate, our Jihadist Media Monitoring Team considers the current capabilities and ambitions of the group that once ruled over a large territory in Iraq and Syria.

Producer: Kriszta Satori

What does it take to track media in Africa where radio is king? Originally set up as the East Africa Unit after the Suez crisis, BBC Monitoring’s Nairobi operation has seen history unfold on the continent over six decades. The Global Jigsaw team travels to Nairobi to meet the monitors.

Producer: Kriszta Satori