The Inside Story Podcast

Russia is denying paying fighters linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill U.S. troops.

The allegation is triggering renewed debate on Donald Trump's strategy to end the war, and his relationship with Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times says investigators focused in part on a Taliban attack last year that killed three U.S. Marines and an Afghan contractor near an American army base.

President Trump denies being told about intelligence reports dating back to February.

Members of Congress want to know why they weren't told either.

A Kremlin official told Inside Story the bounty killing claims are "fake news".

How could the controversy shape efforts to end America's longest war?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Richard Weitz - Defence Expert at Wikistrat Global Consultancy

Nikolay Surkov - Senior Research Fellow at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations

Omar Zakhilwal - Former Ambassador of Afghanistan in Islamabad, and a former Minister of Finance

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #UnitedStates #Russia #Afghanistan #InsideStory

The killing of Black American George Floyd last month triggered protests across the U.S. and elsewhere against police brutality.

People are demanding justice and drastic changes to policing.

Activists say officers routinely discriminate against minorities, and use excessive force when making arrests.

The protest demands include cutting funding for law enforcement agencies, stripping police of military gear such as armoured trucks, and even abolishing police altogether.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a police reform bill to ban chokeholds, combat racial profiling, and establish a national database to track police misconduct.

But the Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to pass the law.

So is there a political will for genuine change?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Jamira Burley - Human Rights activist

Steven Rogers - Retired police lieutenant

Elisabeth Anker - Professor of American Studies and Political Science at George Washington University.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #US #BlackLivesMatter

For thousands of years, the Nile has been the backbone of civilisations and a source of conflict.

The latest dispute is over the the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam project in Africa.

Ethiopia's government says its $4 billion project on the Blue Nile will provide power to its more than 100 million citizens and create huge opportunities for its economy.

It wants to start filling the dam's reservoir in July when its rainy season begins.

But Sudan and Egypt downstream first want a legally-binding agreement on how long it will take to fill the dam, and the way it will be operated.

The African Union is mediating.

Ethiopia's government says the parties could finalise an agreement within two to three weeks.

Can they find a way to bridge their differences?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Gedion Asfaw - Head of the Technical Committee of the Ethiopian Negotiating Delegation.

Osman El-Tom - Former Sudanese Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Mac Sharkawy - Political Writer and Researcher on Egyptian Affairs.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Africa

The US is taking the first steps to retaliate against a new security law in Hong Kong.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is imposing visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party officials believed to be responsible for undermining human rights in the semi-autonomous city.

China says the law is needed to restore order after months of protests that turned violent at times.

It's bypassing Hong Kong's legislature to push through the measure to ban so-called acts subversion and terrorism, and for the first time allow Beijing to set up a security office in the territory.

China's embassy in Washington has urged the US to "immediately correct its mistake."

The UN and European Union have both expressed concerns about deteriorating human rights in Hong Kong, as well as abuses against minorities in China's Xinjiang territory and Tibet.

But will the international pressure on Beijing lead to changes?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Victor Gao - Chairman and Professor at Soochow University.

Adam Ni - Director of the China Policy Centre based in Australia.

Raffaello Pantucci - Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #US #China

The United States says it's willing to finance other countries' 5G networks, so long as Huawei is not involved.

President Donald Trump accuses Beijing of using its influence over Chinese companies to spy on other countries.

In the UK, Huawei has been given permission to build a new research facility.

That's while the country's cyber security agency conducts an emergency review into the use of Huawei's 5G equipment.

The Chinese firm says it will invest more than a billion dollars in its new site in the east of England.

While insisting the focus will be on the development and manufacturing of semi-conductors.

Which according to Huawei - are not targeted by US sanctions.

But Washington has warned the British government that the decision to approve the new project, will put its trust in the UK at risk.

So, are there legitimate concerns?

Or is this another attempt to fend off China's expansion?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

John Biggs - Reporter for TechCrunch.

Andy Mok - Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.

Nishanth Sastry - Visiting Researcher at the Alan Turing Institute at the University of Surrey in the UK.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Huawei #US

Vladimir Putin was first elected as Russia's president in 2000. Twenty years later he's still there.

He's served longer than any Russian or Soviet politician since the early 1950s.

And he could be on course to be one of his nation's longest serving leaders.

Putin's opponents say he plans to never leave office.

Constitutional reforms introduced in January will allow him to stay in power for another two six-year terms.

His current one ends in four years. Russians have started voting in a week-long referendum on the amendments.

But the state Duma has already approved those changes to the constitution- while also passing a law that said, the reforms must have the public's support.

So, how will this shape Russia's future?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Andrei Fedorov - Director of Fund for Political Research and Consulting and former Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia.

Jim Jatras - A former U.S. Diplomat who served at the USSR desk at the State Department and a former Foreign Policy Advisor to the U.S. Senate Republican Leadership Attorney.

Alexander Solovyev - Moscow Division Chairman at the Party of Changes and a former Assistant to the Independent Member of Parliament Dmitry Gudkov.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Russia

It's eighty eight years since the revolution in Thailand which was the end of the absolute monarchy and the start of democracy.

But it's the army and the Royal palace which define much of Thai politics.

The King by law has few direct powers, but he is very influential.

The Prime minister is elected but many Thai's question the democratic process. Prime Minister Prayut Cha-o-cha took over last year after five years of military rule.

He's the former army general who led the last military coup in 2014.

It was the twelfth coup since the end of the absolute monarchy

The military's control on society alarms pro-democracy activists.

Protesters in Bangkok have defied the ban on mass gatherings because of coronavirus.

They fought briefly with police as they rallied, all to commemorate the events of 1932.

On Inside Story, an in-depth discussion on the future of democracy in Thailand

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests: Pravit Rojanaphruk - Political Analyst & Columnist at Khaosod English.com news website.

Pavin Chachavalpungun, Founder of the FORSEA Pro-Democracy Organization & Associate Professor at Kyoto University in Japan.

Dominic Faulder - Associate Editor of the financial newspaper,Nikkei Asian Review.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Thailand #InsideStory

Girls, immigrants, ethnic minorities and the disabled - just some of the world's children at risk of not getting any education.

The United Nations says poverty and discrimination continue to prevent huge numbers from going to school.

The total was around two hundred and sixty million children two years ago. And that figure will be higher now because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Forty percent of low and lower-middle income countries failed to support teaching during the global spread of Coronavirus.

Many students were cut off from online courses during school national lockdowns.

The UN's education organisation UNESCO is urging countries to support those left behind as life begins to creep to the new normal.

So, what should be done to secure education for all?

And can the gap be bridged?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests

Manos Antoninis, Director of Global Education Monitoring Report UNESCO

Lahcen Haddad, International Consultant at The World Bank,

Maan Al-Khatib, Professor at the Islamic University of Malaysia.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Education #Coronavirus

The latest flashpoint in Yemen's five year civil war is a remote island in the Arabian sea.

Socotra is sometimes compared to the famous Galapagos islands in the Pacific.

The plants and animals on the World Heritage Site are found nowhere else on earth.

Now they are in a war zone.

The Southern Transitional Council in southern Yemen has deposed the island's governor and declared self rule.

The fighters are backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government supported by Saudi Arabia calls the takeover a 'coup'.

So what makes the island so valuable to Yemen's warring sides? And how will the events affect efforts to end the conflict?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Raiman Al-Hamdani - Research Fellow on Yemen at the European Council for Foreign Relations

Elisabeth Kendall - Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford

Nabeel Khoury - Senior Researcher at the Atlantic Council Center for Studies, and a former US Deputy Chief of Mission in Yemen

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Yemen

The battlelines of Libya's civil war are changing quickly.

A few weeks ago, Khalifa Haftar's forces were on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli, battling to remove the UN-recognised Government of National Accord.

But the warlord's campaign failed, and he's been in retreat since.

GNA troops, reinforced by military support from Turkey, are pushing towards Haftar's power base in the oil-rich south and east.

Egypt, one of Haftar's foreign backers, is threatening to send in its soldiers if GNA fighters attack the strategic city of Sirte.

Could Egypt and Turkey go to war and further complicate the Libyan conflict?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Guma El Gamaty - Special Envoy of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj to Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia

Nabil Mikhail - Political writer and a former Professor of Political Science at George Washington University

Ibrahim Fraihat - Conflict Resolution Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Libya #Turkey #Egypt