The Inside Story Podcast

Attacks on journalists are on the rise and becoming more obvious around the world.

The International Press Institute or IPI has recorded 635 violations globally and says at least 49 journalists were killed in the past year.

The main offenders are authoritarian leaders who are increasingly emboldened in their crackdown on the media.

IPI says the pandemic is accelerating those negative trends as governments use the public health crisis to restrict press freedom.

And it warns new censorship rules could become the permanent norm.

On World Press Day, an in-depth discussion on the importance of an open and free media.

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Pauline Ades-Mevel, Editor in Chief and Spokeswoman at Reporters Without Borders

Tom Grundy, Editor-in-Chief & founder of Hong Kong Free Press.

Mohamed Elmasry, Chair of the Journalism Program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

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#WorldPressDay #PressFreedom

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been in dispute over land and water resources for more than three decades.

But that's recently escalated into the heaviest fighting in years.

At least 40 people were killed in the cross-border shelling, and thousands evacuated.

The fighting broke out on Wednesday near a water facility in an area claimed by both nations.

The two sides now say they have reached what they call a 'complete ceasefire', that's after an initial truce broke down.

So, can this violence be contained?

Or will it escalate into a wider conflict?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Bruce Pannier, journalist and Correspondent at Radio Free Europe specialising in Central Asia.

Viktor Olevich, Political Analyst and Lead Expert at Center for Actual Politics.

Domitilla Sagramoso, Lecturer in Security and Development in the Department of War Studies at Kings College London.

Jihan Abdullahi Hassan - Former Director General of Somalia's Defence Ministry.

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#Kyrgyzstan #Tajikistan

Tensions have been high in Chad since the sudden death of President Idriss Deby nearly two weeks ago.

Deby's son was immediately announced as his successor, and a military council set up.

That move's rejected by the opposition. And it's since led to more division

Civil society groups in Chad are calling for more protests to demand a return to civilian rule.

Some demonstrators say they want to choose their leader freely, while others accuse France of backing the military council against the will of the people.

So, can the crisis be contained?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests

Ovigwe Eguegu, geopolitical and security analyst for Afripolitika.

Noufal Abboud, Executive Director of the Nordic Center for conflict transformation.

Nathaniel Powell, associate researcher at Lancaster University and author of 'France's Wars in Chad: Military Intervention and Decolonization in Africa'.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Chad

Russian opposition leader, dissident, Kremlin critic ... Alexei Navalny has many titles.

Some see him as one of the few people who can unite opponents against President Vladimir Putin.

But nowadays, he's limited to speaking his mind in court or in jail.

His allies are disbanding as a Moscow prosecutor seeks to label his organisations 'extremist'.

So what's next for Russia's opposition movement, and those who've stood behind Navalny?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Alexander Soloviev - Open Russia opposition group.

Michael Bociurkiw - Former Spokesman, OSCE.

Maria Lipman - Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian studies, George Washington University.

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #Russia

Somalia's president has backed down from extending his term by two years.

Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has called for preparations to hold delayed elections.

But he and his opponents haven't been able to agree on how that vote should go ahead.

Rival factions have been fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, and Al Shabab is seizing the opportunity to extend its grip.

Could the political instability spark a new conflict?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Abdirahman Ibbi - Somali Member of Parliament.

Hodan Ali - Co-Founder, LeadNow.

Jihan Abdullahi Hassan - Former Director General of Somalia's Defence Ministry.

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#Somalia

India's COVID-19 emergency has reached critical levels.

It has recorded more than 300,000 new infections every day for a week.

Hospitals are out of beds and oxygen, and crematoriums don't have space for the dead.

And India, which has been exporting COVID-19 vaccines, is now forced to import jabs.

So what's the fallout for the rest of the world if the crisis isn't contained?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Harjit Singh Bhatti - National President, Progressive Medicos & Scientists Forum.

Michael Head - Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton.

Patrick Tang - Division Chief of Microbiology, Sidra Medicine.

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#India

Some may think governments facing a global pandemic won't be tempted to spend much on buying weapons.

But, despite the economic impact of COVID-19, military spending reached nearly $2 trillion last year.

That's according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

It's an increase of 2-point-6 percent from 2019.

The researchers have cautioned the trend might not be maintained for the second year of the pandemic.

So, what are the ramifications of this unprecedented military spending spree?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Nan Tian - Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme and one of the report's authors.

David DesRoches - Associate Professor and Senior Military Fellow at National Defense University in Washington DC.

Graham Ong-Webb - Adjunct Research Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

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#Military

The U.S. had long avoided formally recognising the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as a genocide.

Now, President Joe Biden has become the first American leader to do just that.

The move has caused anger in Turkey.

Where the government disputes the number of Armenians killed during the end of the Ottoman empire, and denies it was a genocide.

It strongly rejected Biden's designation and summoned the American ambassador in protest.

But many Armenians and rights groups have welcomed the decision.

So, where does this leave relations between two of NATO's biggest armies?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Nicholas Danforth - Non–Resident Fellow, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy and Author of 'The Remaking of Republican Turkey: Memory and Modernity since the Fall of the Ottoman Empire'.

Mehmet Celik - Managing Editor of Daily Sabah, a Turkish-based English language daily newspaper.

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#Russia #Ukraine

Myanmar's junta's leader has accepted a proposal to stop the violence against civilians.

It came after Southeast Asian leaders met General Min Aung Hlaing during emergency talks in Jarkata, with Malaysia's Prime Minister describing it as 'a success that went beyond expectations'.

The meeting held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - or ASEAN was the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar.

The proposal includes starting a dialogue, allowing aid into the country, releasing political prisoners AND appointing a special ASEAN envoy to Myanmar.

So, could this be the beginning to the post-coup crisis?

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #ASEAN #Myanmar

The EU is the biggest exporter of coronavirus vaccines, yet within its borders its inoculation campaigns have been disappointing.

Major member states like Germany, France and Italy are struggling to cope with another wave of infections, while vaccination drives continue to be hit by delivery delays.

Now, the European Commission is reportedly weighing legal action against vaccine-maker AstraZeneca.

The British-Swedish firm was contracted last September to deliver 180-million doses to the EU by the second quarter of this year.

But it's slashed its deliveries by two-thirds due to what it calls manufacturing issues.

But will legal action work?

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#AlJazeeraEnglish #InsideStory #EuropeanUnion #COVID19