Russia’s mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed this weekend to have seized control of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian government swiftly denied it, saying their troops still hold some territory, and are fighting to surround Russian forces pinned down there. Russia has thrown wave after wave of mercenaries into the fight for the city, and Ukraine has lost some of its most experienced soldiers. While defenders say morale is high, the grinding battle is taking its toll. Correspondent Nic Robertson meets exhausted and shell-shocked Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut. 

Also on today's show: Vali Nasr, Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; disability activist Sinéad Burke; Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Ballhaus 
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The grinding battle for Bakhmut

Amanpour is CNN International's flagship global affairs interview program hosted by Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

News

As Israel continues its war on Gaza, a strike on a refugee camp on Tuesday killed at least 13 people. Over half were children, according to hospital officials. The latest UN figures show that one child is injured or dies every 10 minutes there. Amongst all this, over the weekend in Gaza rumours of Palestinians being allowed to return home turned deadly. International correspondent Jomana Karadsheh reports on the chaos that unfolded as people attempted to go back north. 
Also on today’s show: Tamir Hayman, Former IDF intelligence chief; Tareq Abu Azzoum, Correspondent, Al Jazeera English; Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, HuffPost 
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Displaced Gazans attempt to return north

Israel's war cabinet met again today to weigh up a response to Iran's strike over the weekend. In Tehran, President Ebrahim Raisi warns even the smallest of actions would be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response. The United States is urging caution and calm from both sides, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin telling his Israeli counterpart that the US goal is "regional stability". Joining the program to discuss is former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who served under Donald Trump and has since become one of his fiercest critics. 
Also on today's show: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani; Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris; author Jonathan Vigliotti 
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Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper

Leaders from the US, UK and EU urge restraint as Israel mulls its response to Iran. America has made it clear it will not participate in a counterattack. Jordan accuses Israel of using this confrontation to take attention off Gaza. Iran’s missile and drone attack was heavily telegraphed and 99% intercepted by Israel and its allies, however it raises the question of how Israel would do in an all-out war, without allied participation. The United States remains desperate to prevent that region from descending into a much wider war. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt Daniel Kurtzer joins Christiane from Washington DC. 
Also on today's show: Neal Katyal, Fmr U.S. Acting Solicitor General / Law Professor, Georgetown University; Eddie Glaude Jr., Author, “We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For” / Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University 
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Fmr US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer

Every week more and more Democrats are expressing frustration with American policy on Israel and the war in Gaza. Some heavyweights, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are now even joining the call for the U.S. to stop arms transfers to Israel. Senator Bernie Sanders has been one of the loudest voices on this issue. At 82 years old, he manages to be the voice of young liberals, and warns that if President Biden doesn't change tack on the Israel war, and doesn’t expand his economic policy for working families, he could lose in November. Senator Sanders joins Christiane from Washington.
Then, the unbelievable life story of the newly elected New York City Council Member Yusef Salaam. He was just 15 when he, and four other teens, were falsely accused of raping a jogger in central park in 1989. The media went all-out, assuming their guilt and the group became known as the "Central Park Five.” Salaam spent nearly seven years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He and the others were exonerated after the real perpetrator confessed and submitted DNA to prove it. But Salaam refused to be beaten by bitterness, and began this year being sworn in as the councilor for Harlem. He speaks with Christiane about all of it as they sit down together in Manhattan.
This Sunday marks a decade since terror became reality in Chibok, Nigeria, sparking a global cry to 'bring back our girls', when nearly 300 innocent students were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants. Many of those taken have yet to return home. And kidnapping has become a recurring horror in the country. Now, CNN’s Stephanie Busari takes us to where tragedy unfolded, as part of CNN’s ongoing series on gender inequality called As Equals.
Also in this week's show, Bill Weir, CNN’s Chief Climate Correspondent who has spent years covering our warming planet, says there is still room for hope, despite all the despair surrounding climate change. His book , ‘Life as we know it (can be)’, goes on sale on April 16th. He joins Christiane in New York.
From the Amanpour Archive: With war raging in Gaza, the Israeli Palestinian conflict may feel more intractable than ever. Peace may feel like a distant possibility. But there was a time when Northern Ireland felt like that too. After decades of brutal sectarian conflict and terrorist violence, its leaders and its people bravely chose peace. And this week they celebrated 26 years since the Good Friday Agreement that secured it. It remains one of the United States' greatest diplomatic triumphs as President Bill Clinton and Senator George Mitchell brokered the talks. Along with British Prime minister tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, and of course Northern Irish leaders themselves, they got the deal over the line. And last year, on its 25th anniversary Christiane travelled to Belfast to speak to Clinton, Blair, and Ahern. A peacemaker’s reunion. We revisit some of that historic conversation.
We end the hour with a little opera for the soul. And a history making show at the Met in New York. “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” by the Grammy-award winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, made history as the first work by a Black composer at the Metropolitan Opera in its 138-year history. And now it's back. Christiane went to the Metropolitan Opera House to meet him.
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‘Not another nickel’ for Israel's war

Arizona has become a flash point for America’s abortion-rights battle, as the Supreme Court there votes to uphold a Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions. To discuss what happens now and how will this development impact people in Arizona and across America, law professor and author Mary Ziegler ("Abortion and the Law in America") joins the show.  
Also on today's show: US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello; author Percival Everett 
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The grinding battle for Bakhmut

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