The Briefing Room

Gaza is one of the most crowded places on earth. Most of its two million residents live in refugee camps and around half are unemployed. Gaza is governed by Hamas, an organisation that many governments regard as a terrorist group. Hamas extended its control over the whole of Gaza in 2007, after it ousted Fatah, which is now based in the West Bank. Since then Hamas has been involved in a number of conflicts with Israel.. Its military capability has grown over the years. Joining David Aaronovitch to explore who Hamas are and what they want are:Jennifer Jefferis, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies program. She is also author of Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and its Future in Middle East Politics. Dr Nina Musgrave from the Centre for Defence Studies, Kings College, London. She is the author of a forthcoming book, Hamas and the Arab Uprisings: resistance, allegiance, and the departure from Syria. Fabian Hinz, an independent open source intelligence analyst who specialises in Middle East missiles. Natan Sachs, Director of the Centre for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution, Washington. Producers: John Murphy, Sally Abrahams, Luke Radcliff Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Jasper Corbett

Hong Kong has long been at the centre of a tussle between mainland China and the outside world - certainly since the British took it as a colony in 1842. That heralded more than a century of "shame" for the Chinese - but in 1997 the British handed Hong Kong back to China with internationally agreed conditions. The so-called "one country, two systems" principle was meant to last until 2047, but in recent years Beijing has tightened its control over Hong Kong. Major pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019 were quashed and, in 2020, the authorities introduced a controversial and wide-ranging National Security Law to Hong Kong. Over recent weeks pro-democracy campaigners have been locked up, troublesome journalists have been censured or fired from their jobs, teachers have been told they will have to explain the benefits of the National Security Law to their pupils. Some argue that this is the end of Hong Kong. So why is Beijing and its supporters in the Hong Kong legislature taking this action now, and where might it end?Joining David Aaronovitch on this week's programme: Hugh Davies, a former diplomat who negotiated the return of Hong KongMary Hui, journalist for QuartzYuen Chan, Senior Lecturer, City University of LondonCharles Parton, Senior Associate Fellow at Royal United Services InstituteProducers: John Murphy, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Jasper Corbett

In February India's governing party, the BJP, congratulated itself and its “visionary” leader, the prime minister, Narendra Modi,, for “defeating Covid.” Two months on India is in the midst of what one historian has termed “the gravest crisis the nation has faced since Partition” in 1947. Hundreds of thousands of new infections are reported every day and thousands of deaths. The peak may come in a few weeks. Meanwhile the country is short of hospital beds, oxygen and even wood for the funeral pyres. So what’s gone wrong? And what does India’s plight tell the rest of the world about the trajectory of the pandemic and when it might finally end?Producers: Tim Mansel, Kirsteen Knight, Paul Moss Studio Engineer: James Beard Editor: Jasper Corbett

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel bows out of politics later this year after 16 years at the head of the German government. She seems likely to be replaced by one of two people; the man Merkel’s party, the CDU, has designated as her successor, Armin Laschet; or the relative political novice, Annalena Baerbock, from the Greens, a party with its origins in the environmental movement. Most commentators agree that however the cards fall after the September election the Greens will be in government, whether at the head of a coalition or as its junior partner. David Aaronovitch asks how the Greens have gained ground so dramatically in such a short time and what a Green German government might mean for Britain.Producers: Tim Mansel, Paul Connolly, Kirsteen Knight Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Jasper CorbettThe German flag flying in front of the Reichstag, home of the German parliament (Bundestag), Berlin, Germany. Credit BBC.

There’s been violence on the streets of Northern Ireland in recent days, most of it in Protestant areas. On occasion it spilled over the sectarian divide. The proximate cause appears to be twofold: the refusal of the Northern Ireland prosecution service to bring charges against Sinn Fein members who apparently broke lockdown rules to attend a funeral last summer; and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which under the Brexit deal, means that checks apply to goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland. There are other, longer term grievances, in particular a perception that the Good Friday Agreement privileged the Catholic community at the expense of Protestants. Many fingers are now pointing at Westminster where the British government is accused of inactivity and indifference. More protests have been promised. So, how fragile is the peace process?Producers: Tim Mansel, Kirsteen Knight, Paul Moss Editor: Jasper Corbett

When the 400 metre long Ultra Large Container Vessel, Ever Given, got wedged diagonally across the Suez Canal at the end of March, it brought one of the world’s most important trade routes to a standstill for six days. Around ten per cent of global shipping passes through the canal. Shipping itself is responsible for some 90 per cent of global trade. The blockage served to revive worries that global supply chains have become a source of vulnerability for economies that rely on international trade. The immediate effect of the Ever Given accident for the UK may not become clear for several weeks. The Briefing Room asks what longer term vulnerabilities has it exposed and how might these best be mitigated?Presenter: David Aaronovitch Production team: Tim Mansel, Paul Moss and Kirsteen KnightSatellite image shows stranded container ship Ever Given in Suez canal. Egypt March 25th 2021. Credit: Reuters

No crisis has had the global reach and impact of Covid-19. There have been more than 120 million recorded cases of the Coronavirus and 2.7 million people have died and curbs on people’s freedoms have become a familiar part of daily life in many parts of the world. Just over a year since the world started to get to grips with the first global pandemic in more than a century, what can we say about how different countries have dealt it? Which countries have been worst-affected and why? Which public health systems have held up best? Why did test and trace work in some countries but not in others? Around the world governments have propped up their economies accruing eye-watering amounts of debt, but was it money well spent? Where and why has the vaccine roll out been most successful? And what could be the lasting legacy of the pandemic? Contributors: Dr.Thomas Hale, Oxford UniversityProf. Martin McKee, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.Nazmeera Moola, Ninety One, a South African asset management companyDr Monica DeBolle, Peterson Institute for International EconomicsJerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccine InitiativeRasmus Bech Hansen, founder and CEO of AirfinityDr. Jennifer Cole, Royal Holloway, University of LondonKishore Mahbubani, Asia Research Institute at National University of SingaporeProducers: Tim Mansel, Paul Moss, Kirsteen Knight Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Jasper Corbett

Britain's transition period with the EU ended on December 31st. For the first time since the inception of the single market in 1992, British companies were on the outside. A trade agreement was reached meaning that no tariffs would be paid on imports or exports, but it did mean that trade would no longer be entirely friction free. It’s still early days, but what do we now know about the extent of that friction and its possible consequences? How representative are the frustrations of Cornwall’s daffodil growers who say they can’t find labourers or UK companies that are now setting up production facilities in the EU in order to avoid red tape and its cost? To what extent have difficulties been mitigated by new trade deals that the UK is now free to negotiate. And what’s the view from the EU?With Peter Foster of the Financial Times; Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform; Vandeline von Bredow of The Economist; and Maddy Thimont Jack of the Institute for Government.Producers: Tim Mansel, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight Editor Jasper Corbett

The prime minister is due to announce on Monday his plan for lifting the current lockdown in England. He says he wants progress to be cautious but irreversible. And he, like many, is saying that decisions on how and when to lift lockdown need to be driven by data not dates. So what are the risks, for example, in sending primary age children back to school? Of opening pubs? Of opening non-essential shops? To what extent would any of this be possible without the rollout of the vaccination programme? And why is vaccination alone not a magic bullet? With Professor Azra Ghani of Imperial College, London; Professor Stephen Reicher of St. Andrews University; and Dr. Mike Tildesley of Warwick University.Producers: Tim Mansel, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Jasper Corbett

The prospect of independence for Scotland may never have been brighter for the SNP. Elections to Holyrood are due in May and the party has promised to seek a new referendum on independence if it gains a majority. Yet, at the same time, a prominent SNP MP concluded this week that the “turmoil” within her party was “unprecedented”. Others have talked about the “fight to the death” that’s currently being waged between supporters of the leader, Nicola Sturgeon and supporters of her predecessor, Alex Salmond. The feud has its roots in a government investigation of Mr Salmond in 2018 that led to him being charged with a number of sexual offences. A jury cleared Mr Salmond on all counts in a trial last year. So what’s going on in the SNP? How can it be so apparently popular while being so deeply divided? And how might this affect its chances of realising its ambition of an independent Scotland?With BBC Scotland editor, Sarah Smith,; journalist Dani Garavelli; and Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, Sir John Curtice.Producers: Tim Mansel, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight Editor: Jasper Corbett