The Take

For the last eight months, Tunisian President Kais Saied has initiated several political changes in the North African country: sacking his prime minister, suspending parliament, announcing rule by decree, and dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council. His opponents have accused him of a coup, while the country deals with a deep economic crisis and food shortages. 

This week, a national consultation process to help frame a new constitution ended. Still, many are left wondering whether the country will continue down a democratic path.

In this episode: 

• Fadil Aliriza @FadilAliriza, journalist and editor in chief of Meshkal.org

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Kateryna Malofieieva is no stranger to war. She was raised in Ukraine's Donbas region, from one of the territories that was claimed by Russian-backed separatists in 2014. Now, she's covering her second war in her home country, and coping with a loss of her own.

In this episode: 

• Kateryna Malofieieva @KatyaMalofeyeva, Al Jazeera producer 

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The holiday Nowruz is meant to be a fresh start for those who celebrate, both in Iran and around the world. But it also includes an upsetting tradition that the Collective for Black Iranians is working to expose and eliminate.

In this episode:

• Priscillia Kounkou-Hoveyda (@priscillia_pkh), founder of the Collective for Black Iranians (@BlackIranians)
• Pegah Bahadori (@pegahbhd), resident storyteller for the Collective of Black Iranians

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Gas prices around the world have soared in the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine. But the fuel supply in many places hasn’t actually changed yet, so what’s causing the rise in prices?

In this episode: 

• Kareem Chehayeb (@chehayebk), Beirut correspondent for Al Jazeera
• Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt), a climate reporter
• Nelson Bocaranda (@bocaranda20), journalist in Caracas
• Maziar Motamedi (@MotamediMaziar), Tehran correspondent for Al Jazeera

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What can 11 years of war in Syria tell us about Ukraine? This week marks the anniversary of Syria’s uprising and there still seems to be no end to conflict in sight. There’s also another date that resonates: September 30, 2015, when Russia intervened on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Russia has said it’s tested at least 320 new types of weapons in Syria, some of which are now in use in the war in Ukraine, and Russia is using tactics that seem to come from what’s been called “the Syria playbook.” We look at how the people all too familiar with that playbook see Syria’s story in Ukraine. 

In this episode: 

• Natasha Hall (@NatashaHallDC), Senior Fellow with the Middle East Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Alex Gatopoulos (@AlexGatopoulos), Defense analyst for Al Jazeera English

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With the recent changes to the Gates Foundation’s board in the wake of Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce, many people are asking questions about the its future. But this is not the first time questions about the foundation have been raised. One development expert we spoke with claims AGRA, Bill Gates’ 20-year-old program to feed Africa through agriculture, failed in its goals. On this episode of The Take we look at the Gates Foundation, and at AGRA and what went wrong.

In this episode: 

• Timothy Schwab (@TimothyWSchwab), investigative journalist and author of the upcoming book, The Good Billionaire on Bill Gates and The Gates Foundation
• Timothy Wise (@TimothyAWise), researcher and international development expert, also author of “Eating Tomorrow”
• David Otieno Ciddi, small scale farmer, leader of Kenya’s peasants’ league and member of Via Campesina

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It's been two weeks since Russia launched its invasion in Ukraine. People within Russia are finding themselves more isolated with every passing day, whether that's thanks to actions from foreign countries and companies, or from their own leaders. Independent Russian media outlets are shutting down, and a human rights monitor says more than 10,000 people have been arrested in anti-war protests across the country. Meanwhile, foreign governments are also trying to cut Russia off from the rest of the world financially. So what can Russians expect as the country’s war on Ukraine continues?

In this episode: 

Dorsa Jabbari (@DorsaJabbari), Al Jazeera correspondent

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It’s hard to convey just how fast and how much Europe has changed, including at its borders. More than a million people fled from Ukraine to the EU in just over a week. But in Ukraine, residents from Africa and Asia have reported racism as they fled. On the EU side of the border, Ukrainian refugees have been granted an unprecedented legal status. After years of hardening its borders, EU migration had become largely a story of limbo. Is what we’re seeing now a new chapter – or is there fine print? 

In this episode: 

• Franck Duvell (@fduvell), Senior Researcher, Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies, Osnabrück University 

• Alexander Somto Orah (@nzekiev), student at State University of Telecommunications Kyiv

• Erik Edman (@edmantweet), Political Director, DiEM25 (@DiEM_25) 

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A debate around the headscarf has sparked protests in India after a group of Muslim students in the southern state of Karnataka were barred from entering their school and asked to remove their hijab. While end-of-year exams are underway, some girls say they are facing the possibility of choosing between their hijab and their education. So what does the hijab ban row mean for religious freedoms in India?

In this episode: 

• Muskhan Khan, Karnataka Student
• Sania Farooqui (@SaniaFarooqui), Journalist 

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Nigeria is facing an epidemic: Thousands of people have escaped from Nigerian correctional facilities, also known as prisons, jails, or custodial centers, since 2010. And the problem only seems to be growing. So what's behind the spate of prison breaks? And what do those jailbreaks say about the state of the country’s prison system as a whole? 

In this episode: 

• Eromo Egbejule (@EromoEgbejule), Al Jazeera Africa editor
• Dr. Uju Agomoh (@DrUjuAgomoh), Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action

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