Iraqis are heading to the ballot box in less than a week, and it's a direct result of activists' efforts. But as the parliamentary election inches closer, a lot of Iraqis are wondering whether it can withstand influence from the US and Iran, and actually deliver on the changes they're asking for. 

In this episode: 

Imran Khan (@ajimran), Al Jazeera senior correspondent 

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Sixteen years of Angela Merkel in Germany have ended in an election with a three-way split, and nothing yet is settled – including the legacy of Merkel, whose stability helped reshape a continent. The possible next chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is famously boring, but still has a scandal percolating around him. As the parties haggle it out, it’s left Germany and the world with one question – what’s next?

In this episode:

Ruairi Casey (@Ruairi_Casey), reports on Germany for aljazeera.com

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US officials are saying upwards of 4,000 Haitians were sent back from the Texas border over the past few weeks, but what happened next? Daniel left Haiti for Chile four years ago. Last week, he finally made it to Texas. He says he was shackled, beaten and sent back to Haiti again. Today on The Take, what Daniel was hoping for and what happened in the end.

In this episode: 

• Santcha Etienne, Organizer for The Black Alliance for Just Immigration in Florida (@BAJItweet)
• John Holman (@johnholman100), Al Jazeera correspondent - Mexico City 
• Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK), President of RFK Human Rights (@RFKHumanRights), lawyer and activist 
• Translation: Charles Jean-Pierre (@cjpgallery) and Roberto Massillon (@PAPCuisineDC)
• Voiceover: Bechir Slyvain (@bechirsylvain)

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It was supposed to be an announcement of a pact, not the start of a foreign relations crisis between allies. But as Australia announced a new security partnership with the UK and the US, dubbed AUKUS, it also canceled a multi-billion dollar contract to buy submarines from France. So how did an abandoned deal for a dozen submarines turn into the diplomatic version of a lover's quarrel?

In this episode: 

• Natacha Butler (@natachabut), Al Jazeera Paris correspondent 
• David Brophy (@Dave_Brophy), Senior Lecturer in Modern Chinese History at the University of Sydney

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A lot of Canadians are frustrated with the 600-million-dollar pandemic election that took place earlier this week and resulted in an almost identical parliament. But the five weeks of electioneering did raise a lot of issues and highlight some trends that could define Canada’s future.

In this episode: 

Fatima Syed (@fatimabsyed), host of BackBench podcast (@backbenchcast) and reporter at The Narwhal (@thenarwhalca).

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Lebanon has had a few bright spots of news in its long running economic collapse. On Monday, a new government was confirmed for the first time in 13 months, and fuel is coming in to fill a dire need for electricity. But it was brought from Iran by Hezbollah, which could pose its own set of geopolitical problems. So could Lebanon finally be turning a corner? Or is optimism still out of sight?

In this episode: 

Kareem Chehayeb (@chehayebk), Lebanon-based reporter 

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This September, El Salvador rolled out Bitcoin as official legal tender. Nayib Bukele, the youngest president in the history of the country, wanted to adopt cryptocurrency to improve the economy. But his critics say this might be a distraction from the measures Bukele has taken to dismantle democratic institutions and criticize the press.

In this episode: 

• John Holman (@johnholman100), Al Jazeera Correspondent 
• Roman Olivier Gressier (@romangressier), Reporter for El Faro (@_elfaro_)

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Forty million Afghans still in the country live under the fear of their hospitals and healthcare system falling apart. Without international aid, medical supplies are running short. Since the Taliban took control of the country, the United States has led the way for many other countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to stop necessary assistance from flowing into Afghanistan. As a result, doctors are left in the heartbreaking situation of doing their best to keep patients alive without proper resources. In this episode, we hear from those doctors who implore the international community to help heal Afghans rather than leaving them to die.

In this episode: 

• Dr Najmussama Shefajo: Ob/Gyn specialist, founder of Shefajo Group of Laboratories, and president of the Afghanistan Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
• Dr Tankred Stoebe, MSF doctor
• Dr Ashuq Urrahman, physician in Kabul
• Dr Muhammad Mustafa Sahibzada, physician in Kabul

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This is the final episode of a three-part series looking at the past, present, and future of the so-called ‘war on terror’. 

For an idea of the next phase of the US’s war on terror, we look to East Africa, where a different version of the war has been unfolding for the past 20 years. American soldiers may not patrolling the streets of Kenya, but the US’s counterterrorism presence is very much there.

In this episode:

• Fauziya Hussein (@diamamyn4zi1), Sister of disappeared Kenyan man
• Samar Al-Bulushi (@samar42), Political Anthropologist at University of California Irvine

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This is the second episode of a three-part series looking at the past, present, and future of the so-called ‘war on terror’. 

Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison was once a front-page headline in the "war on terror". Today, public knowledge of the torture that made it infamous is starting to fade – but 17 years later, one US lawsuit for its victims is still going on. It centers on private contractors: companies that became an integral part of the US military efforts post-9/11 attacks, which changed the way war is fought – and accountability is sought.

In this episode: 

• Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov), human rights activist 
• Katherine Gallagher (@katherga1), Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights 
• Majid, Abu Ghraib plaintiffs' legal team member in Iraq

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