Beyond the Headlines

The Syrian conflict is now entering its eighth year. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, clashes are fierce in rebel-held areas and the regime of President Bashar Al Assad has again been accused in recent weeks of using chemical weapons in his push to reclaim territory. Eastern Ghouta's 400,000 residents have lived under government siege since 2013, facing severe shortages of food and medicines even before the latest offensive began. Host Mina Aldroubi talks to the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Panos Moumtzis, about the challenges that civilians and aid works are facing in Ghouta. We also spoke to Damien McElroy, The National's London bureau chief who is closely following developments of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's high-profile visit to the UK.

It has been six months since Myanmar military operations sparked a mass exodus of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority to neighbouring Bangladesh. But although the crisis has now fallen out of the headlines, on the ground it is only growing by the day. Rohingya refugees are continuing to arrive at the already overcrowded camps in the Bangladeshi district of Cox's Bazar and, as the rainy season approaches, aid workers are preparing for high winds and flooding — which could exacerbate the spread of disease and illness and destroy shelters. Host Laura Mackenzie talks to Médecins Sans Frontières' Kate Nolan who is working to co-ordinate the organisation's response to the refugee crisis in Cox's Bazar. Next up, we hear from Ammar Khamees, the director of an Erbil-based NGO who answered a call to help rescue a bear and lion from Mosul zoo amid the military campaign to retake the city from ISIL.

On this special edition of Beyond the Headlines, host Naser Al Wasmi is joined by the Emirati Ambassadors to three very important countries in the UAE’s global diplomatic network: Ali Al Ahmed, UAE Ambassador to Germany; Dr Ahmed Al Banna, Ambassador to India; and Dr Ali Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to China. The diplomats are in Abu Dhabi this week for the Annual Ambassador’s Forum held at the UAE Foreign Ministry. They discussed issues ranging from the effectiveness of soft power diplomacy and EXPO 2020, to trade as a pillar of diplomacy and the importance of security cooperation in the battle against extremism. The UAE has excelled at developing foreign policies and forged a diplomacy that is both unique to itself and effective at streamlining ties for such a young country. This episode brings a unique view into how it conducts itself abroad. Follow Beyond the Headlines and the rest of our shows on Apple Podcasts.

Iran and Israel were on the brink of war. Tensions arose when Israel shot down an Iranian drone on February 10, after it entered the country from Syria. Then one of the Israel’s F-16 fighters was shot down, the first Israeli plane downed in decades and a huge blow to their air force’s aura of invincibility. Damien McElroy, The National’s London bureau chief, covered a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Iran over their intrusion. He joins host Naser Al Wasmi in discussing how war could break out in the region over the two countries’ interests. Regardless of the credibility behind the Israelis' claims, it is no secret Iran is trying to push its interests in the region through limited direct military engagement. Nazenin Ansari, the managing editor of Kayhan-London, sheds light on how Iran, Israel and the wider region is conducting operations in a precarious situation in Syria.

An international donor conference opened in Kuwait on Monday with hopes of rebuilding Iraq following its devastating war against ISIL. We discuss Iraq's reconstruction efforts in this week's edition of Beyond the Headlines. The conference brings together 70 countries, aid groups, UN agencies and corporations aimed at investing in Iraq's crippled economy, infrastructure and humanitarian crisis. Host Mina Aldroubi is joined by Dr Renad Mansour, senior research fellow at London’s Chatham House, to discuss the challenge of rebuilding and its implication for Iraq’s ability to seal the peace and prevent ISIL from reemerging. Decades of violence have left 4 million Iraqi children in desperate need of immediate humanitarian help. Juliette Touma, UNICEF’s regional chief of communications in the Middle East and North Africa, discusses how vital it is for Iraq to get the necessary funds to invest in children in order to break the cycle of violence. Also, Dr Fanar Haddad explains how western powers are suffering from scepticism and donor fatigue and after years of turmoil in the region. Hopes are now resting on Gulf Arab states to step forward for Iraq. Follow Beyond the Headlines and the rest of our shows on Apple Podcasts.

All six Arabian Gulf countries import between 80 to 97 per cent of their food. Due to water scarcity and poor soil, it typically costs less to import food than to grow it here. According to the ministry of climate change and environment, the demand for food will increase by 300 per cent, putting a huge strain on our economies. We tackle the food-scarcity issue on this week's Beyond the Headlines. Host Naser Al Wasmi is joined by Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Director General at International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, to discuss how governments are working to better ensure the growth of local food. We also get into the scientific side with Abdul Rahman Al Fraih, a researcher at the public authority of agriculture in Kuwait. Science is key in developing the methods and capacity to grow food locally. The Arabian Gulf, with its arid environment and desert soil, is not ideal — nor are cold, northern hemisphere environments. The greenhouse has gone through centuries of development to get to the point where growing food in minus-20 degrees (C) was possible. Follow Beyond the Headlines and the rest of our shows on Apple Podcasts.

Clashes broke out in Aden over the weekend when the Southern Transitional Council called to its constituents to demonstrate. The Yemen government banned protests on the streets and prompted the semi-autonomous group to confront the presidential guard. Dozens were killed and hundreds injured. Both are blaming the violence on the other side, but are now adhering to a ceasefire organized by the Arab coalition. Host Naser Al Wasmi is joined by Professor Elisabeth Kendall, an Oxford academic, who was supposed to be in Yemen at the time the protests broke out. She explained the history of the conflict and provided context to the war. Later in the show, The National correspondent Ali Mahmood reports from the streets of Yemen. Mr Mahmood covered the three days of violence and sheds light on where this clash might go from here. Beyond the Headlines is The National's weekly analysis and insight from the Middle East. Follow, subscribe and rate us at Apple Podcasts, Audioboom, Pocket Cast or your favourite podcasting app.

Turkey launched this week a military offensive into Afrin, a heavily Kurdish enclave of Syria. Ankara is calling it an 'anti-terror campaign,' targeting the US-backed Kurdish group, the People’s Protection Units. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is justifying the offensive as a pre-emptive strike, or Turkey’s right to self-defence. The war is likely an attempt for the country to hide behind anti-terrorist rhetoric to settle old scores against the Kurds. Kareem Shaheen, a journalist based in Turkey, joins the show to break down why this move shifts Turkey’s political alliances. The Kurdish people have long been a part of the region and believe they have been severely marginalised. Sofia Barbarani, an editor on the foreign desk, has spent several years reporting out of Kurdish-heavy areas of both Syria and Iraq. She joins the show to discuss Kurdish history in the region, their ultimate goals and the political differences among the several factions spread across the region. This is an acronym-heavy show so we’ve provided a guide to the initials below: • Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK: the Kurdish organization that have been involved in an armed conflict with Turkey since 1984 with the aim of creating an independent state. They have more recently demanded equal rights in Turkey. • Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units, or the YPG: Syrian rebels fighting president Bashar Al Assad. Accused of displacing local Arabs ot expand the areas of northern Syria under Kurdish control. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK. • Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF: a militia alliance dominated by the Kurdish YPG and backed by the US. Beyond the Headlines is The National's weekly analysis and insight from the Middle East. Follow, subscribe and rate us at Apple Podcasts, Audioboom, Pocket Cast or your favourite podcasting app.

Reporting from The World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, taking place during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, host Naser Al Wasmi talks to two Paraguayan girls who have been honoured for their conservation efforts in their rainforest home. If not for young students Pamela Armoa and Analia Velazquez, the distinct, bell-like sound of the Bare-throated Bellbird risks fading away. We also spoke to H Harish Hande, the founder of the Selco Foundation and winner of the Zayed Future Energy for Prize best non-profit organisation. His group looks to empower residents of India’s slums. And we sat down with the recipient of the lifetime achievement award, Shuji Nakamura. The Japanese scientist is responsible for developing the LED. The technology is found in everything from the iPhone to lightbulbs that are ten times more efficient that traditional lighting. Beyond the Headlines is The National's weekly analysis and insight from the Middle East. Follow, subscribe and rate us at Apple Podcasts, Audioboom, Pocket Cast or your favourite podcasting app.

This week, Israel banned twenty activist organisations over their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel or BDS for short. The movement, whose co-founder we speak to in the show, is built upon three founding ideas: To put an end to Israeli occupation of all Arab lands and dismantling the wall as per international law; second, to recognize the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and finally, to respect and protect the right of Palestinians refugees to return to their homes as stipulated by the United Nations. These three causes reflect what are widely recognized as the basic human rights Palestinians deserve. For supporting the cause, twenty international groups were banned from entering Israel. Host Naser Al Wasmi is also joined by an activist from one of the organisations that were banned, Ariel Gold. The American is an activist at Code Pink: Women for Peace, an NGO aimed at providing a peace and social justice movement. The organisation identifies as women-initiated and has done a lot of work within Gaza. However, with the boycott, the international organisation will be unable to reach those Palestinian beneficiaries who benefit from their work. Another one of the twenty organisations that were banned earlier this week was the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Fatin Al Tamimi speaks to us on how this move will interfere with her work promoting Palestinian statehood. BDS: bdsmovement.net; @bdsmovement Code Pink: codepink.org; @ArielElyseGold IPSC: ipsc.ie; @ipsc48