The Inside Story Podcast

Running battles with the police, fires burning, lootings and protesters arrested.

Riots over the death of George Floyd have spread across dozens of U.S. cities, and close to President Donald Trump's doorstep at the White House.

Governors have imposed curfews and dispatched National Guards.

The Floyd case has reignited rage over the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police and racial inequality.

It's also opened a divisive political debate between Democrats and Republicans.

President Donald Trump has promised to put an end to what he calls 'mob violence'.

Trump says healing is needed, but he's accused of the oppositie - igniting tension.

So can America overcome its divisions?

Presenter: Kim Vinell

Guests

Maurice Jackson, an Associate Professor in the History Department and African American Studies at Georgetown University.

Kevin Powell, author and civil rights activist.

Sahar Aziz, professor of law & Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #UnitedStates

Anger and unrest have spread across cities in the United States over the police killing of yet another unarmed African American.

Like others, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was caught on video and went viral online.

Images of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes, leading to Floyd's death, sparked anger.

Crowds protested, demanding justice and attacking police and vehicles.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray

The violence in Minneapolis prompted a tweet from President Trump, who called protesters 'thugs', adding 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts'.

So, can the government contain the unrest this time around?

And is it able to deal with its root causes?

Presenter: Kim Vinell

Guests

Paris Dennard, Senior Communications Advisor for Black Media Affairs to the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Black Voices for Trump Advisory Board Member.

Linda Sarsour, Organiser, Civil Rights Activist and Author, 'We are not here to be Bystanders'.

Jason Stanley, Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and Author, 'How Fasicsm Works'.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #US #Racism

When COVID-19 started to spread around the world, aid workers warned of disaster for Africa.

Health systems are weak and poorly funded in many places, and crowded cities making social distancing impossible.

But African countries appear to be managing.

Senegal and Ghana are among countries praised for their approach to tackle the disease.

The number of infections and deaths in Africa is much lower than the US, Europe, and Latin America.

But scientists say the figures are misleading because of low testing rates.

So are we getting a full picture of the situation?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Shabir Madhi - Director of the South African Medical Research Council and member of the South Africa Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19

Dr Olive Kobusingye - Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health

Yap Boum - Regional Representative of Epicenter Africa, the research branch of Doctors Without Borders

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Coronavirus #Africa

Donald Trump is often called the Tweeter in Chief.

Twitter is the U.S. president's main social media platform.

It's where he announces policies to more than 80 million followers, and where he's attacked opponents and spread misinformation.

Twitter is now in the president's firing line.

It placed a fact-check warning on two Trump tweets that falsely claimed postal ballots would lead to voter fraud.

The president accused the platform - in a tweet - of stifling free speech and silencing conservative voices.

But Twitter has been criticised for refusing to act on other Trump posts, such as those repeating a debunked claim that a TV host and former congressman was involved in the death of an intern.

With the U.S. election just six months away, can social media companies balance freedom of speech while rooting out misinformation?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Adolfo Franco - Republican strategist and former adviser to Senator John McCain

Derrick Plummer - Democratic strategist and former regional press secretary for the Democratic National Committee

Jim Anderson - Chief Executive of Social Flow, a technology firm dealing with social media content for companies

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Russia is one of the main players in the war in Libya.

It supports warlord Khalifa Haftar, who wants to take the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised government.

The campaign has suffered a series of setbacks.

Russia is now calling for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks to stop the conflict.

But, Moscow is now facing new allegations that it's sending warplanes to aid Haftar, and moving Russian mercenaries fighting alongside Haftar's forces in southern Tripoli.

So, what message is Russia sending?

And with Haftar's campaign faltering, will other foreign backers rethink their support?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Sami El-Atrash - Lawyer and Head of the Political office of the Libyan National Assembly February 17 Revolution.

Jason Pack - Founder of Libya-Analysis LLC, a Libyan Affairs Consultancy.

Wolfgang Pusztai - Security and Policy Analyst and Austria's former Defence Attaché to Libya.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Libya

Trouble is brewing at the roof of the world.

India and China both claim territory along the Himalayas.

Their border dispute goes back decades.

The Indian military says in the first week of May, Indian and Chinese soldiers scuffled and threw stones at each other in the Pangong Tso lake and Naku La areas.

Chinese state media say Indian troops trespassed on Chinese territory, but India's government said its soldiers stayed on its side.

Satellite images appear to show both sides bolstering their presence along the Line of Actual Control separating the two armies.

So why is this happening now?

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Brahma Chellaney - Professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research, and a former Adviser to India's National Security Council.

Adam Ni - Specialist on China's Foreign Policy and Security issues.

Sumit Ganguly - Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Indiana University Bloomington.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #China #India #InsideStory

The inner circle of Syria's president Bashar Al Assad has always been tight, any disputes within the ruling family were kept strictly behind closed doors.

Until recently.

There's a rift between the president's cousin Rami Makhlouf and the Syrian government, and it's very public.

Makhlouf has long been considered untouchable, but now he's accused of owing millions of dollars in back taxes to the state... an indication the tycoon is being isolated from power.

But in an unprecedented move, Makhlouf posted his views on social media, accusing government officials of trying to take over his telecommunications company and arresting his employees.

Makhlouf said he won't step down from Syriatel - one of Syria's biggest firms.

But he's already been barred from traveling and his assets have been seized.

So what's exactly triggered this now, after nine years of war?

Presenter:

Bassam Barabandi, former Syrian diplomat and a non-resident Fellow at the Center for Global Policy.

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and Editor of the 'Syria Comment' blog.

Alexey Khlebnikov, a Middle East specialist at the Russia International Affairs Council.

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It's normally a time to outline the strength of the China and the Communist party, but then what's normal about these times?

Already the annual session of the National People's Congress had to be postponed from its usual slot in March, but it's happening now, amid a pandemic that's altered China's agendas and shuffled its priorities.

The country's facing the challenge of restoring an economy that's shrunk almost 7 percent in the first quarter of this year.

In fact, Beijing's been forced to abandon setting an economic growth target for the first time in decades.

Now, it has other priorities: stabilising employment and living standards.

The announcement was made by Premier Li Keqiang at the start of the parliament meeting.

And while China's faced widespread criticisim for its handling of the crisis, Li praised its response:

So how will China move forward?

Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria

Guests

Dan Wang, economist and analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit's Access China Service.

Gordon Chang, author of 'The Coming Collapse of China' and 'The Great U.S.-China Tech Way'.

Einar Tangen, China political affairs analyst and former provinical government adviser.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #China #PostCoronavirus

Eight West African countries will soon be using a new currency.

And it may well be that you didn't even know they had an old one!

But for 75 years, the CFA as it would be said in French, has been used as money from Senegal to Niger and most places in between.

But now, the French government's officially approved the end of the CFA Franc.

It means France will cease to co-manage the West African currency. The Bank of France will no longer hold half of the currency's reserves, and a replacement currency, the ECO, will be introduced.

But it will keep its exchange rate fixed to the Euro.

France negotiated with its former colonies for three years before reaching the deal last year.

But is this genuine change, or just a rebrand?

Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria

Guests

Ken Ife, macro-economic policy analyst and consultant to the ECOWAS Commission.

Marie-Roger Biloa, a West Africa analyst and Chief Exective Director of the Africa International Media Group.

Tony Chafer, Professor of African and French Studies at the University of Portsmouth.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #France #Africa

China is moving toward passing a national security law for Hong Kong, that could see the most significant reduction in its autonomy since it was handed over by Britain in 1997.

Premier Li Ke-Chiang announced the bill at the National People's Congress or NPC, China's biggest annual political gathering.

The draft law has seven articles and will almost certainly be approved by the congress.

Once passed it would allow Chinese agencies to operate in Hong Kong to ''prevent, stop and punish acts endangering national security''.

So with China now planning to get directly involved in the territory's affairs, is this an assault on democracy?

Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria

Guests

James To Kun-Sun, Senior Legislator for Hong Kong's Democratic Party in the Legislative Council.

Andreas Fulda, Senior Fellow with the Asia Research Institute at the University of Nottingham.

Rong Ying, Vice President of the China Institutue of International Studies.

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