As part of its series on veterans from some of the world's most brutal and forgotten conflicts Al Jazeera travelled to Russia. Despite being the Soviet Union's largest military operation since the second world war, the decade-long war in Afghanistan is regarded by many as a humiliation and the Soviet 'Vietnam'. However many veterans are still physically and psychologically damaged by their time in Afghanistan and say they do not receive adequate support upon their return.
As part of its special series on Veterans Al Jazeera visisted Sarajevo more than ten years on from one of the longest sieges in modern history. The Bosnian capital is now at peace but the destructive efforts of war endure both physically and psychologically.
The Falkands war is a conflict many people in Argentina would like to forget but which most cannot. Although the war lasted just 74 days the effects have lasted many years for the country's veterans. The Falklands is a group of bleak, wind-swept islands that at one time few people had heard of and fewer still could place on a map. But this anonymity was forever shattered in 1982 when the UK went to war with Argentina over the ownership of this tiny territory. Lying in the Southatlantic Ocean, some 500km off the coast of Argentina and almost 13,000km from the UK, it seemed inconceivable that these two nations would unleash their full military might in a battle for control of this little patch of land. A total of 649 Argentinians died in the conflict and those who survived they became synonymous with a humiliating defeat and an unpopular military junta that collapsed soon after. At least 350 veterans have committed suicide in the years since the war. Las Malvinas is Argentina's name for the Falkland islands, controlled by the British since 1833 and home to 3,000 of its citizens. In Argentina, the term Falklands is never used. Malvinas on the other hand has an almost sacred resonance. Every town has its Malvinas monuments - as much a reminder of whom they believe the islands belong to as a memorial to the fallen. Al Jazeera visited survivors for whom the Malvinas are still an inalienable part of Argentina
After decades of royal rule millions of Iranians took to the streets in a popular movement against a regime that was seen as brutal, corrupt and illegitimate. Revolutionary forces, under the leadership of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, forced the Shah of Iran into exile. His government was overthrown and replaced by a new Islamic order. The Islamic revolution put Iran on a new path - one that brought it to war with its neighbour and ongoing conflict with the West. Anatomy of a Revolution tells this story.
Thirty years after the founding of the Islamic republic, the ideals that inspired the uprising continue to inform every day life in modern Iran. So how has the revolution managed to sustain itself through war, international isolation, economic sanctions, and regional turbulence? And how has Iranian society changed since the seismic upheaval of 1979?
In 1964, Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Egyptian president, convened the first Arab summit. His aim was to lead an Arab response to the state of Israel. The Arab leaders voted to set up a body to organise the Palestinians in their diaspora. Ahmad al-Shuqairy, a Palestinian diplomat, was chosen to head the newly-formed body. Al-Shuqairy wanted an organisation that would not just kowtow to Arab regimes. Four months later, he convened the first Palestinian parliament in Jerusalem. There the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organisation was officially announced.
In the aftermath of Arab defeat in the 1967 Six Day War, Palestinian guerrilla factions consolidated their grip on the refugee camps in the Arab world. In 1969, Fatah leader Yasser Arafat was elected chairman of the PLO, marking a new era in which the guerrillas overthrew the traditional hold of more established Palestinian families. In Jordan, armed Palestinians had set up a state within a state, but Jordan's King Hussein's patience with the Palestinians was wearing thin. The Jordanian army was deployed to the streets and vicious street battles soon erupted between Jordanian soldiers and Palestinian guerrillas.
In 1974, the PLO was named the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and Yasser Arafat received a standing ovation at the General Assembly of the UN. But another Arab country was to be the stage for the next chapter of the Palestinian tragedy. After its expulsion from Jordan, the PLO had moved its headquarters to the Lebanese capital, Beirut. In April 1975, civil war broke out in Lebanon. In 1982, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon and Palestinian forces quickly collapsed and the PLO was driven out of Beirut. After more than 10 years in Lebanon, it was the end of an era.
Yasser Arafat soon found himself engaged in a fratricidal fight for control of the PLO - and for his life. In July 1983, fighting broke out in Lebanon between pro- and anti-Arafat forces. In a daring air and sea journey from his new headquarters in Tunisia, Arafat managed to slip into Lebanon in disguise to join his fighters. The Syrian-backed Amal militia and anti-Arafat factions besieged the Palestinian camps in Beirut and southern Lebanon in an on-and-off onslaught that would last three years and become known as the Camps War.
By 1987, national unity had become the slogan of the time. That unity was about to get a huge boost from an unexpected place. In December 1987, in Gaza an Israeli driver killed four Palestinian labourers and wounded nine when his car ran off the road. The Israelis called it an accident. The Palestinians said it was premeditated murder. The incident sparked an outbreak of Palestinian protests that spread like wildfire throughout the Occupied Territories. The Intifada - or uprising - was born.
There was a promise of a new world order in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War. Negotiations resumed, which would lead to a historic return to their homeland for the PLO leadership. But the challenges of nation-building proved overwhelming and new political forces were emerging within Palestinian society that would threaten the role and the relevance of the PLO. In spring 2002, Israeli forces surrounded Arafat's headquarters. Arafat held out until October, when he was struck down by a mystery illness and eventually died in a Paris hospital.
On July 19, 1979, the Sandinista revolution removed what many considered to be one of Latin America's most brutal dictatorships. Thirty years later, and with the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega once again in power, Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman visited Nicaragua and found that many of the revolution's promises have remained unfulfilled.
Al Jazeera revisits the events of June 1989 through the stories of those present. In 1989, hundreds of thousands of people flooded onto the streets of Beijing and into Tiananmen Square demanding democracy, freedom of speech and an end to corruption. After a seven week standoff, the government called in the troops and a bloody battle ensued. The number of deaths is not known. The Chinese Red Cross initially issued a statement saying that 2,600 people had been killed but rapidly retracted that. The Chinese government claimed that 241 people died, including 23 soldiers. Twenty years on, Al Jazeera speaks to some of those who took part in the world's largest and most influential pro-democracy movement. Through their personal stories and the stories of others who witnessed this historic movement, It happened in Tiananmen Square recreates an era when a new generation of Chinese wanted to finally break from the shackles of Mao's Cultural Revolution.
Seventeen African nations gained their independence in 1960, but the dreams of the independence era were short-lived. Africa states of independence tells the story of some of those countries - stories of mass exploitation, of the ecstasy of independence and of how - with liberation - a new, covert scramble for resources was born.
Cote d'Ivoire was once a bastion of peace in a turbulent region, but political instability now prevails.
On August 11, 1960, Chad gained independence from France. In half a century of independence Chad has known decades of on-off war, poverty crisis, and trouble with its neighbours like Sudan. Then oil was discovered and this year the country signed a treaty with Sudan putting an end to the fighting. So are things finally coming together for Chad, or will its newly found resource become a curse as it has in many African nations?
Senegal, a country on Western-most edge of the African continent with a predominantly Muslim nation of 12 million, has a fully functioning democracy, and has largely escaped incidents of separatist violence that have hampered the progress of several of its neighbours. But Senegal is not without its problems. Its economy has recently faltered, due in part to the relative scarcity of natural resources, and there are suggestions that its cherished tradition of democracy is under threat, with the president allegedly grooming his son to succeed him.
Nigeria has suffered from ethnic tension and corruption but can Africa's most populous nation become the continent's biggest success story?
A look at the current state of the DRC's capital, Kinshasa: its broken infrastructure and institutions, its terrifying development indicators, its rampant poverty. Is the "great new country" Lumumba envisioned about to awaken, or is the sleeping giant malevolent?
Immediately after 9/11, the US announced that 'the gloves were coming off' in the fight against al-Qaeda. In the first of three films on the aftermath of 9/11, we examine the highs and lows of the intelligence war.
A PR stunt which killed thousands and launched a propaganda war that has, so far, lasted a decade. Since 9/11, how far has the US and al-Qaeda been prepared to go to win 'hearts and minds' with elaborate media strategies?
A look behind the headline news of airstrikes and suicide bombings at the post-9/11 war for hearts and minds.
Apple is one of the coolest brands on the planet but it is currently under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. A spate of suicides at one of its main suppliers, Foxconn, has led to allegations of labour rights abuses in its Chinese factories. "News of the spate of suicides [at the] Foxconn [plants] in 2010 alarmed me greatly and I wondered whether the harsh management methodology drove workers to despair. As consumers we should ask ourselves how certain products are made .... Corporate social responsibility is always window-dressing measures without enforcement mechanisms and remedies for workers. So the only way to stop labour rights violations is through campaigning. We hope that more consumers can pressure Apple and Foxconn." Debby Chan, activist This film follows Debby Chan as she works to gather evidence against Foxconn and Apple, often at great risk to herself. An explosion at a Foxconn factory coincides with her arrival in the town and Debby's determined to uncover the cause of the explosion. But Foxconn is a powerful adversary and her mission proves to be a perilous one.
An investigation that raises fresh doubts about the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber.
As the "Arab Spring" protests for justice and democracy spread through the middle east in early 2011, people long repressed by the Bahrain monarchy spontaneously gathered at the central Pearl Square to join in the call for their rights. This is the story of the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world.
An insight into Osama bin Laden's life through the eyes of people who knew him and met him.
The Lockerbie disaster was Europe's worst terrorist outrage, but was it also Britain's biggest miscarriage of justice? This film investigates the case against Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and finds evidence to suggest he may have been wrongly accused.
The Isle of Man TT is described as the world's most dangerous race. Yet every year more and more motorcycle enthusiasts come to this tiny British island to race in the event. It is a three-hour ferry ride from Liverpool to Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, which is a self-governing British Crown Dependency. Year after year in late May more than 25,000 people make this journey to the small island about 70 kilometres off the English coast in the middle of the Irish Sea. The TT race has claimed almost 150 lives in its 105-year history and the course itself has claimed more than 250 lives. Most of the riders are amateurs with full-time jobs a world away from the megabucks of Grand Prix racing, and for them this is a very expensive business. The course is more than 60 kilometres long and lined with kerbs, lamp posts, houses, trees and granite walls. The race is run over a distance of 364 kilometres, or six laps of the course, and takes about two hours to complete. And, it is not a death wish. It is about living. This film was shot during the 2012 Isle of Man TT, and it was only the third time in 20 years that the event passed by without a fatality. Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood, a self-professed 'petrol head', took part in this year's events, though he did not actually race. Through him, we take a close look at the passion and dedication that drives people to risk their lives to ride in this race. We will also look at what makes this race so exceptional and what makes the Isle of Man so unique.
“The Nakba did not begin in 1948. Its origins lie over two centuries ago….” So begins this four-part series on the ‘nakba’, meaning the ‘catastrophe’, about the history of the Palestinian exodus that led to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel. This sweeping history starts back in 1799 with Napoleon’s attempted advance into Palestine to check British expansion and his appeal to the Jews of the world to reclaim their land in league with France. The narrative moves through the 19th century and into the 20th century with the British Mandate in Palestine and comes right up to date in the 21st century and the ongoing ‘nakba’ on the ground. Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time.
In 19 April 1936, the Palestinians launched a national strike to protest against mass Jewish immigration and what they saw as Britain’s alliance with the Zionist movement. The British responded with force. During the six months of the strike, over 190 Palestinians were killed and more than 800 wounded. I cannot imagine Zionism without violence, whether before or after the establishment of the state of Israel. Dr Anis Sayegh, the Palestinian Encyclopedia editor. , Wary of popular revolt, Arab leaders advised the Palestinians to end the strike. Palestinian leaders bowed to pressure from the Arab heads of state and agreed to meet the British Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Lord Peel. In its report of July 1937, the Peel Commission recommended the partition of Palestine. Its report drew the frontiers of a Jewish state in one-third of Palestine, and an Arab state in the remaining two-thirds, to be merged with Transjordan. A corridor of land from Jerusalem to Jaffa would remain under British mandate. The Commission also recommended transferring where necessary Palestinians from the lands allocated to the new Jewish state. The Commission’s proposals were widely published and provoked heated debate. As the Palestinian revolt continued, Britain’s response hardened. Between 1936 and 1937, the British killed over 1,000 Palestinians; 37 British military police and 69 Jews also died.
Few Palestinians, if any, could have imagined they were to become victims of what would later be called ‘ethnic cleansing’. When the British were preparing to leave Palestine, we didn’t have weapons. My father gave me money and I bought a gun with only three bullets for 100 Palestinian liras. Sami Kamal Abdul Razek, palestinian refugee, After 30 years of British rule, the question of Palestine was referred to the United Nations, which had become the forum for conflict. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly met to devise a plan for the partition of Palestine. UN Resolution 181 divided Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem as an internationalised city. The Jewish state was granted 56 percent of the land; the city of Jaffa was included as an enclave of the Arab state; and the land known today as the Gaza Strip was split from its surrounding agricultural regions. But making the proposed Arab state all but proved impractical in the eyes of many Palestinians. When the draft resolution was presented for voting, Arab newspapers ran a ‘name and shame’ list of the countries that voted for the UN partition plan, and Arab protesters took to the streets. Following the partition resolution, Britain announced it would end its mandate in Palestine on 14 May 1948.
In early 1948, Jewish paramilitary forces began to seize more land in Palestine. By the end of July, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been forced to flee their homes, and their plight as refugees had just begun. I swear to God, we tasted it; we tasted starvation like no one else did Hosni Mohammad Smada, Palestinian refugee, In May of that year, Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte had been appointed as the UN Mediator in Palestine. His mission was to seek a peaceful settlement. The Count surveyed devastated Palestinian villages and visited refugee camps in both Palestine and Jordan. The scale of the humanitarian disaster became apparent, as he witnessed cramp living conditions, long queues for basic food and scarce medical aid. Count Bernadotte was no stranger to human disaster; with the Red Cross he had rescued over 30,000 prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps. Now he advocated the Palestinian’s right to return to their homes. In a report dated 16 September 1948, he wrote: “It would be an offence against the principles of elementary justice if these innocent victims were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries.” The Count’s first proposal argued for fixed boundaries through negotiation, an economic union between both states, and the return of Palestinian refugees - the proposal was turned down. On 17 September, the day following his UN report, Count Bernadotte’s motorcade was ambushed in Jerusalem. He was shot at point blank range by members of the Jewish Stern gang.
The first episode of this three-part series looks back on what it meant to be both black and French in the decades before France’s African colonies achieved independence.
The second episode of this series reveals the ongoing struggles of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean to achieve rights, form communities and have their contributions to French society recognised.
The last episode of this series focuses on the extreme racism and discrimination black immigrants faced during times of economic hardship and through political shifts in post-World War II France.
Forty years on, Al Jazeera examines three weeks of war from which both Arabs and Israelis claimed to emerge victorious. The first part of the series focuses on the build-up to the war and the role of an Egyptian double agent. It examines Egypt and Syria's lightning attack against an unprepared Israel as well as the Israeli response, the mobilisation of reserves and stabilisation of the Syrian thrust into the Golan Heights in a bloody tank battle in what became known as the 'Valley of Tears'. And it looks at the failure of an Israeli counterattack in the Sinai and the Egyptian consolidation of bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal.
Forty years on, Al Jazeera examines three weeks of war from which both Arabs and Israelis claimed to emerge victorious. The second part of The October War investigates the Israeli counterattack on both fronts, pushing Syrian and supporting Arab forces back across the ceasefire line, and taking control of territory deep inside Syria and almost within reach of Damascus. On the Suez front, Israeli forces under Ariel Sharon identify a gap in the Egyptian Canal defences, and after fierce fighting in The Battle of the Chinese Farm, they succeed in crossing the Canal to occupy positions in Egypt, behind the Egyptian front line. Meanwhile differences emerge in the Arabs' war aims, as Syria looks to conquest, while Egypt seeks only to jump-start peace talks.
Forty years on, Al Jazeera examines three weeks of war from which both Arabs and Israelis claimed to emerge victorious. Stalemate at the battlefront brings the threat of involvement by the two global superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union. For a full 24 hours the world stands on the brink of nuclear confrontation. Kissinger brokers a UN monitored peace deal, but turns a blind eye to an Israeli land grab. Arab oil-producing nations turn the screw on Western supporters of Israel by cutting production. Finally a ceasefire is agreed which paves the way for the eventual return of Sinai to Egypt. But the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to this day.
A debate to mark the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian 'Nakba', a discussion about its roots and ramifications.
Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Richard Gizbert, published by Al-Jazeera broadcasted as part of Al-Jazeera Listening Post series in 2013 - English narration
We follow one man as he becomes the only Israeli granted access to the inner sanctum of the whirling Dervish order. Miki Cohen is a 58-year-old college teacher who has 'discovered' the works of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim poet and Sufi mystic. Attracted by Rumi's writings and philosophy, Miki translates his works into Hebrew and practices whirling in worship. What makes Cohen's story so remarkable is that he is an Israeli. The son of holocaust survivors and a veteran of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Cohen found himself searching for answers to his spiritual identity.
The story of Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden and how he rescued concentration camp inmates from Germany during WWII. In part one of Killing the Count , we explore the story of Count Folke Bernadotte’s efforts during World War II to help prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Bernadotte negotiated the release of more than 30,000 prisoners, one third of them Jews, from German concentration camps, in an extraordinary humanitarian effort which would come to be known as the 'White Buses campaign'.
The story of Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden and how he rescued concentration camp inmates from Germany during WWII. In part two we look at the appointment of the Count, three years later, as the United Nation's first mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and his assassination four months later in September 1948 by Zionist extremists during an official visit to Jerusalem. Al Jazeera's documentary offers unique insight into his life and death, including accessing family and film archives never seen before.
World War One was four years of bitter conflict from 1914 to 1918. Called 'The Great War' and the 'war to end all wars', it is often remembered for its grim and relentless trench warfare - with Europe seen as the main theatre of war. But this was a battle fought on many fronts. There is a story other than the mainstream European narrative. It is not told as often but was of huge importance during the war and of lasting significance afterwards. It is the story of the Arab troops who were forced to fight on both sides but whose contribution is often forgotten. They fought as conscripts for the European colonial powers occupying Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia - and for the Ottomans on the side of Germany and the Central Powers. The post-war settlement would also shape the Middle East for the next hundred years. In this three-part series, Tunisian writer and broadcaster Malek Triki explores the events surrounding World War One and its legacy from an Arab perspective.
Episode two tells the story of the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the fall Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the rise of the young Turk government in his place - and the history of the Ottoman-Germany relationship which led to the Treaty of Alliance between them in August 1914. The war saw the rise of feelings of nationalism among the Arabs of North Africa and the Levant. But the Ottoman response was to crack down hard on the Arabs of Greater Syria – and many leading intellectuals were executed, sentenced to long jail terms or forced into exile under the authoritarian governorship of Jamal Pasha.
Episode three covers the secret Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain and France and the way the two imperial powers carved up the former Ottoman Empire between them, regardless of the rights and demands of rights and nationalist movements across the Arab world. Despite the Egyptian Revolution and the Iraq Uprising, Arab subservience to Ottoman rule was replaced by a series of mandates across the region in which Britain and France seized control of the areas they prized most – to satisfy their own ambitions, interests and ultimately to gain access to region's valuable oil resources. The war gave birth to the Turkish nationalist movement which led to the founding of the modern Turkish state; and to Zionism, aided greatly by the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Treaty of Versaillles, however, was referred to by one German-Ottoman military leader not as a peace but as 'a twenty year armistice' – and so it proved ...
An insight into a girls' school in Afghanistan which imposes an even stricter interpretation of Islam than the Taliban. Filmmakers: Najibullah Quraishi and Jamie Doran Kunduz in northern Afghanistan is the country's fifth largest city and home to more than 300,000 people. It was once a Taliban stronghold where women were deprived of their basic rights and education for girls was prohibited. Today, particularly in towns and cities, women can go outside without their husbands or fathers, they can work, and girls can attend school and even university. But with a new wave of privately run madrasas - or religious schools - being opened across the country, there is a growing feeling among women's rights groups that these freedoms are again under threat. There are now 1,300 unregistered madrasas in Afghanistan, where children are given only religious teaching. This is increasing fears among those involved in mainstream education. Arguably the most controversial of these madrasas is Ashraf-ul Madares in Kunduz, founded by two local senior clerics, where 6,000 girls study full time. The girls attend the madrasa solely to study the Quran and the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. They are taught by male teachers, who they are forbidden from meeting face-to-face, and full hijab must be worn. In The Girls of the Taliban, our cameras gain unprecedented access to film inside this madrasa, to meet with the girls and their families and to question the men behind it.
In 1967, at the height of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, the Israeli Air Force launched an unprovoked attack on the USS Liberty, a US Navy spy ship that was monitoring the conflict from the safety of international waters in the Mediterranean.
Cameraman Yasser al-Jumaili's unseen footage takes us into the lives of Syrian rebels – but he pays the ultimate price.
In late 2011, thousands of Tuareg workers and fighters, many of them mercenaries for slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, return to their Saharan homeland in Niger and Mali. Having lost access to the country that was their only source of livelihood, they find little more than crushing poverty, hunger and drought back home. Barely able to feed their children amidst total state neglect, the men launch a rebellion to found their own country.
Early in 2012, as the massive Tuareg rebellion sweeps northern Mali, defeated Mali Army officers stage a coup d'etat in the south leading to the total collapse of government in the country. Tuareg rebels declare an independent state in the north called "Azawad", but al-Qaeda emerges from the Sahara to take over historic Timbuktu, and compete with the secular rebels for control of northern Mali. Isolated, illiterate and imploding from extreme poverty, Tuaregs provide the foot soldiers of both separatism and jihad
The final episode of this three-part series goes inside the French uranium mining zone in Niger - the most deprived nation on earth. Eighty percent of Niger's people are illiterate and 90 percent have no electricity. Yet under Tuareg land in the north of the country lies a massive and lucrative reserve of uranium which a French state-owned corporation has been mining - with fees to the Niger government - for over 40 years.
Killing the Messenger : The Deadly Cost of News is a riveting documentary showing what censorship looks like close up, revealing the true human cost of news and what it takes to stay alive to get the story. Journalists reporting in Mexico, Russia and the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria relate stories of kidnapping, intimidation and beatings. Their vividly rendered tales about the loss of colleagues in the field and narrow escapes from death point to their dedication to the job, and the illusion of any real protection. These stories are heartfelt, captivating, shocking – and unforgettable.
An inside look at the US Federal Reserve. The most powerful - and least understood - financial institution on earth. Since 1971, the US dollar and the global financial system have been based solely on faith - faith in the guardian of that currency and of that system: The American Central Bank, the Federal Reserve.
Playing a vital role in our everyday lives, technologies based on light are in use all around us. From art and science to modern technology, the study of light - and how behaves and interacts with matter has intrigued scientists for over a century.This year, 2015, marks the 1,000th anniversary of the Kitab al-Manazir (The Book of Optics), a seven-volume treatise written by the Iraqi scientist Ibn al-Haytham - a pioneering thinker who's views have been crucial to our understanding of how the universe came into existence.Shaping our understanding of vision, optics and light, Ibn al-Haytham interrogated theories of light put forward by the Greeks - men like Plato and Euclid who argued that the way we see objects is by shining light out of our eyes onto them. Ibn al-Haytham argued instead, and correctly, that the way we see is by light entering our eyes from outside either reflecting off objects or directly from luminous bodies like candles or the sun.His methodology of investigation, in which he combined theory and experiments, were also remarkable for their emphasis on proof and evidence.In the first episode of Science in the Golden Age, theoretical physicist, Jim al-Khalili, looks at state-of-the-art applications of optics and traces the science of light back to the medieval Islamic world.Al-Khalili recreates Ibn al-Haytham's famous 'camera obscura' experiment with stunning results and also uncovers the work of Ibn Sahl, a mathematician and physicist associated with the Abbasid court of Baghdad. According to a recently discovered manuscript, he correctly described 'Snell's law of refraction' centuries before Dutch astronomer Willebrord Snellius was even born.We also look at the work of Ibn Mu'adh, who brought together knowledge of optics and geometry in order to estimate the height of the atmosphere.
Imagine trying to make sense of the universe before telescopes were even invented. Jim al-Khalili reveals how scholars from the Islamic world played a crucial role in astronomy and navigation, influencing later astronomers in the renaissance.In this episode of Science in the Golden Age, we examine ancient maps dating back to the 9th century at Istanbul's Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam.In the Qatari desert, Ali Sultan al-Hajri, a businessman and Bedouin, shows how the moon and stars have played a crucial role in navigation and timekeeping for centuries.Going through an extensive collection of astrolabes - versatile scientific instruments that could be considered as the 'computers of their day,' we get a rare chance to see the inner workings of this complex device as one of the most elaborate astrolabes at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha is taken apart.Moving from ancient astronomy to the most cutting edge developments in space science, we examine the life of al-Tusi, a great astronomer whose work influenced later astronomers including Copernicus, the renaissance scientist who formulated the model of the universe that placed the sun at the centre and the planets rotating around it.In this episode we also discover how the Persian astronomer al-Biruni devised an ingenious method for calculating the circumference of the earth, which allowed him to come up with an incredibly accurate estimate, within one percent of the accurate value we know today.
From fast cars and aeroplanes to computer encryption – mathematics underpins so much of modern life. In this episode, Jim Al-Khalili uncovers how, between the 9th and 14th centuries, mathematicians from the Islamic world helped mathematicise science and lay the foundations of algebra. He looks at the modern mathematics behind flight, and behind the record-breaking fastest car in the world, tracing the route back from these achievements to the legacy of the Persian mathematician Al Khwarizmi. We also discover the role that the Islamic world played in giving us the modern numeral system that we take for granted in everyday life. And, in the Sulemaniye Library in Istanbul, Jim uncovers a rare text by Al Kindi – perhaps the world’s earliest mathematical code breaker.
Standing in one of the largest neo-natal units in the world at Hamad Hospital in Qatar, you would not immediately be able to draw a link between the pioneering medical research being conducted and the work of physicists from the 9th century.In this episode of Science in the Golden Age, theoretical physicist Jim al-Khalili guides us through a journey of discovery where he highlights the links between medical research in the Golden Age of Science during the 9th and 14th centuries and the modern practice of medicine today.At Hamad Hospital, a new treatment is being trialled for babies born with a neurological disorder called neo-natal encephalopathy. Senior consultant Dr Samawal Lutfi explains how the double blind placebo control method ensures the accuracy of the study. This notion of a control group goes all the way back over a thousand years to a Persian physician by the name of Al-Razi who built the first hospitals in Baghdad. He was an early proponent of applying a rigorous scientific approach to medicine and used a control group when testing methods to treat meningitis in the 9th century.At Harefield Hospital in the UK, we meet Professor Magdi Yacoub, a pioneering transplant surgeon and one of the world's leading heart specialists.Professor Yacoub explains how the 13th century Syrian scholar Ibn al-Nafis redefined the understanding of pulmonary circulation. He challenged the commonly accepted wisdom of the Greek scholar Galen, who had said that blood passes directly between the heart's right and left ventricle through the septum, the dividing wall that separates them. Ibn al-Nafis put forward the idea that blood could not pass directly between the right and left chambers of the heart - and that the lungs had a role to play in this process. Ibn al-Nafis' description was not widely accepted at the time, and it wasn't until his manuscript was re-discovered in the 20th century that his work was universally recognised.From Al-Razi, to Ibn al-Nafis, to the 10th-century
ISIL has been truly devastating to those it comes in contact with and bloody to those under its control. Its sudden rise and expansion in 2014 has perplexed many. It has humiliated its enemies, including those in Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran and Washington. Armed with extensive weaponry, boasting an international fighting force and adept in the art of digital media propaganda, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become the de facto authority across an area the size of the United Kingdom. This two-part series peels back the rhetoric to examine how a volunteer organization managed to rise up from the ashes of post-invasion Iraq and defeat standing armies many times its size and capacity. How did it begin? How did it grow so astonishingly quickly? And how is it being used by global and regional powers to change the geopolitical map of the Middle East? With critical testimony from informed insiders and experts from across three continents, as well as original footage from Syria and Iraq, this series mixes documentary and discussion to unravel the interweaving nexus of events and alliances, at once aligned and conflicting, that have given rise to the world’s most notorious, and powerful, insurgent group.
he Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been truly devastating to those it comes in contact with and bloody to those under its control.Its sudden rise and expansion in 2014 has perplexed many. It has humiliated its enemies, including those in Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran and Washington. Armed with extensive weaponry, boasting an international fighting force and adept in the art of digital media propaganda, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become the de facto authority across an area the size of Jordan.This two-part series peels back the rhetoric to examine how a volunteer organisation managed to rise up from the ashes of post-invasion Iraq and defeat standing armies many times its size and capacity.How did it begin? How did it grow so astonishingly quickly? And how is it being used by global and regional powers to change the geopolitical map of the Middle East?With critical testimony from informed insiders and experts from across three continents, as well as original footage from Syria and Iraq, this series mixes documentary and discussion to unravel the interweaving nexus of events and alliances, at once aligned and conflicting, that have given rise to the world's most notorious, and powerful, insurgent group.
Al Jazeera examines how the death of a Tunisian street vendor led to a wave of uprisings across the Arab world.
Under apartheid, South Africa's police were notorious for extrajudicial killings and the routine use of torture against political dissidents. Only later did it emerge that these same techniques were being used even when the victims were suspected criminals, rather than enemies of the racist state.On the birth of the Rainbow Nation two decades ago, most people believed that this would quickly become a thing of the past, that a new era of prosperity, justice and social harmony would make such abuses unthinkable.But in the past 20 years, with both prosperity and social equality remaining an unfulfilled dream for many South Africans, violent crime has been on the rise. This in turn has generated an increasingly aggressive response from the police - under intense political pressure to stop muggings, armed robberies, gang warfare and murder on the streets of the country's major cities.The problem is that some of those charged with upholding the law have been breaking it themselves. Elements of South Africa's police now stand accused of being out of control in a way that is dangerously reminiscent of apartheid's darkest days.In this episode of Africa Investigates, veteran South African journalists Stephan Hofstatter and Mzilikazi wa Afrika, from the country's Sunday Times newspaper, examine the activities of one elite police unit and allegations that its members have been responsible for the torture and murder of criminal suspects.-Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe-Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish-Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera-Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/
Twenty-five years after the Cold War, fear of Russia's regional ambitions seems once again to be on the rise; while many Russians, in turn, feel threatened and misunderstood by the West.The country's president, Vladimir Putin, had said that he would 'reclaim what was rightfully Russia's', and now this seems to be playing out in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The annexation of Crimea and the support for ethnic Russians fighting the Ukrainian government in eastern Ukraine have made Putin more popular than ever at home. But this hasn't been so well received outside of the country.And there are other, more subtle, ways in which some believe Putin is turning Russia's clocks back - with apparent support from many Russians.So how do Russians feel about their president and his 'strong armed' way of governing
The Russian economy is in crisis. Many Russians are struggling to make ends meet, due to sanctions in the wake of the Crimea crisis and the Ukraine conflict, unstable oil prices, and a fluctuating currency.Even the better off have been affected by the economic crisis in various ways.But who is responsible for the crisisIs it Putin's imperial ambitions, or the western response to them, the Kremlin's economic policies, the infamous corruption, or the communist legacyRussian journalist and filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov travels across the country to try to explain and understand the impact of Russian economic policies.
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia seems to be on the rise once again, reasserting itself as a regional and global military power.Looking at its intervention in eastern Ukraine and the volatile civil war in Syria, this episode of In Search of Putin's Russia sees journalist and filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov explore Russia's attempts to rebuild its standing in the world by confronting unrest at its borders and beyond.But why is Putin so determined to involve the country in international conflictsNekrasov tries to find out if the idea of annexing Crimea is one shared by the population at large and reflects a nostalgia for the glory days of Russia's past.We meet Ukrainians who have fled to Russia, obtained citizenship and refuse to go back.Nekrasov visits the Republic of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region adjacent to war-torn Chechnya which has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus.We meet residents who have endured years of oppression, had their homes vandalised and destroyed by the state to quell dissent. Does the biggest threat to Russia's grand ambitions actually come from within
We explore Russian arts and culture and its relationship with the country's long, vibrant and, at times, brutal history.
In rural Ghana, bursaries and extra training are helping girls stay in secondary school and shape their futures.
This exclusive Al Jazeera documentary is the incredible behind-the-scenes account of one man's extraordinary battle against judicial corruption in Ghana, one of sub-Saharan Africa's most developed countries.Over the course of two years, acclaimed investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas secretly filmed 12 of the country's High Court judges, 22 other judges, and 140 other court officials accepting bribes.In early September this year, despite huge pressure to keep his findings confidential, Anas released them to the Ghanaian public, unleashing an almost unprecedented crisis of confidence in the nation's judiciary - hitherto one of its most trusted and revered institutions.Justice! follows this most unconventional journalist, a qualified barrister in his own right, as these dramatic events come to a climax; revealing the complex moral and ethical dilemmas involved in an self-funded crusade that always looked likely to humble some of the most powerful men in the country, but which controversially also led to the release of alleged violent criminals from police custody. Although his identity is a closely guarded secret - because maintaining his anonymity is so crucial to working undercover - Anas has long enjoyed huge public support in Ghana and across Africa. Famously his work has even been endorsed by US President Barack Obama. But this this time even many of his friends feared he had bitten off more than he could chew, that the stakes were too high, that the risks to his safety were too great.This film tells of the huge political and personal pressures that saw Anas put his own and his family's lives on the line as the day of revelation drew near, the number of deaths threats increased and tense last-minute manoeuvring was needed to outwit the shadowy enemies trying desperately to stifle the story.The resulting scandal, which is still playing out, is changing the political landscape of the nation and its effects may be felt for years to come. As Kofi Annan, former
Raising its black flag over the rugged mountainous regions of Afghanistan, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has emerged as a new threat to the war-ravaged country as it battles the Taliban for supremacy. Employing violence and brutality used by the group in Syria and Iraq, Wilayat Khorasan, (the ancient name ISIL has chosen for the region made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of neighbouring countries), has emerged in seven different areas and vowed to step up operations, where the veteran fighters, the Taliban, once held sway.Fighting to reconstitute the historical Khorasan into the so-called 'Caliphate' of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group says it has grand plans for the region, starting with uprooting the Taliban and the government of President Ashraf Ghani.Causing friction with the regional and overall leadership of the Taliban, armed battles have increased over the past few months with dozens of Taliban fighters killed in the clashes, most notably in the Taliban stronghold of Nangarhar province.ISIL's local chapter has also managed to attract dozens of fighters from the Taliban's ranks into its fold, while foreign fighters unable to make it to Syria and Iraq have thronged to the group's territory.In ISIL and the Taliban we look at the group's growing popularity, how it made steady inroads into the country and the threat it poses for the future of Afghanistan.We gain exclusive access to ISIL's central leadership, and meet children as young as 5-years-old being trained to fight and dedicate their lives to the 'Caliphate'.
In an attempt to shield itself from the armed group al-Shabab, Kenya has started construction on a 700km-long wall along its porous border with Somalia.The ambitious project, which consists of brick walls, fences and observation posts, will stretch from the town of Mandera in the north to Kiunga in the south. The goal is to lock out al-Qaeda-aligned fighters who have repeatedly crossed into Kenya to wage attacks. Kenya, an al-Shabab target due to its military involvement in Somalia, has seen an upsurge in large scale attacks recently.Earlier this year, 148 people, including 142 students, were killed after gunmen stormed the Garissa University College, some 200km from the Somalia border .The massacre piled new pressure on Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to deal with the group which has killed more than 400 people in the country over the past two years.In Kenya's Enemy Within we look at the government's proposed border wall and whether it will help stop attacks on Kenyan soil.Investigative journalist John Allan Namu speaks to people with direct access to the project, who say the plan is unfeasible and won't enhance the country's security. We hear how corruption among immigration officials, poor coordination with intelligence agencies and slow responses from the security forces have left Kenya unable to stem the attacks.With exclusive access to al-Shabab fighters in Kenya, we are told how the wall represents a futile effort to shut out the group and the biggest threat the country is facing is from within. We also speak to the Muslim community who say that constant harassment and intimidation at the hands of security forces, and scare-mongering by the government, are helping drive al-Shabab's recruitment and creating the perfect breeding ground for the group.
We visit Havana to find out how politics affects food and how recent changes are being reflected in Cuban cuisine.
Femi Bamigboye is the coach and founder of the Remo Football Academy in the small Nigerian town of Iperu.He is not just a football coach, he is a pastor with a loyal congregation who worship every Sunday in a lean-to church in the middle of the thick forest that surrounds Iperu.We spend a week with Femi Bamigboye as he gets his players ready for the cup final of a local knock-out competition. Femi's son Sam leads the team of youngsters against an older and more experienced team.
For over 4 decades Peru has fought the war on drugs with backing from the US. Ten of thousands of coca plants and hundres of tonnes of cocaine have been destroyed. Despite all these efforts, United Nations now claims Peru is the most important producer of cocaine in the world; with this has come levels of corruption and violence that threatens the very fabric of the country. Over the past year that battle has focused on the capital's port, with criminal cartels fighting for control of the main exit rout for drugs.It is a war that everyone knows cannot ever be won, but not to fight it is un-thinkable, and Sonia Medina Peru's current anti-drug Prosecutor continously risks her life - and that of her family - to face down the growing grip of the narcotic cartels on her country.Globally, drugs supply and consumption have gone up. The price of drugs has gone down. Governments have spent billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives.
Bolivia is the third largest coca and cocaine producer in the world.The country has a long history of using the coca plant for many of its traditional medicines, in food and in daily consumption. It is something Bolivians, young and old, have chewed for centuries. The plant is one of the most important agricultural commodities in the country.Since the election of Evo Morales in 2006 many of the laws that had for generations outlawed coca farming have been thrown out in recognition of the plant's important role in the country's heritage and the economy of the indigenous people.But this has also created an opportunity for those wanting to exploit the new laws for cocaine production. This growing industry is not only using endless acres of the coca plant fields. It is also threatening the traditional way of life.
We explore how a new generation is keeping Turkey's centuries-old culinary traditions alive in a modern world.- Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera- Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
How the financial crisis turned into an opportunity to revive culinary traditions and revolutionise Icelandic cuisine.- Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera- Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
Visitors to London could be forgiven for thinking that they are seeing a quintessentially English city. In fact, behind the picture postcard facade of some of its most recognisable monuments, the English capital is one of the most multicultural places in the world.More than a third of Londoners belong to an ethnic minority group, making the city of more than eight million people one of the world's most linguistically diverse. According to 2011 census data, almost every borough is home to at least 100 different languages.Nowhere is this more evident than in the city's East End, an area that has experienced centuries of migration as the traditional first port of call for migrants. In fact, in the 19th century, London became the biggest city in the world t
Egypt has long been called Umm al-Dunya, or the 'mother of the world'. Ancient Greeks described it as 'the gift of the Nile' whose flooding each year provided two rich harvests. Egyptian wheat fed the pharaohs and was used by the Roman state to supply the free bread which kept its citizens loyal.With one of the oldest agricultural economies in the world, Egypt has for centuries been an economic and cultural powerhouse in the region, and at the heart of this is its capital, Cairo. Street life in the sprawling metropolis is vibrant and much of the city functions as a marketplace. Although international chains such as KFC and McDonald's exist, their offerings are often too expensive for locals who prefer their own versions of fast food bought at carts arou
We explore the role of traditional, cheap dishes in promoting healthier eating and tackling inter-tribal differences.- Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera- Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
An in-depth look at the most famous whistleblowers of the 21st century and what drives them to speak out.
Exploring the cultural diversity exemplified throughout the vibrant street food scene in New York City.
All eyes are on the UK, as Britons head to the polls on Thursday to decide whether they want to stay in the European Union, or leave.The UK is fiercely divided on the issue, with all living former British prime ministers, from both political parties, backing the 'Remain' campaign.But nearly half of the Conservative Party's MPs are backing the 'Leave' campaign, with Michael Gove, the secretary of state for justice, and Boris Johnson, the former London mayor, joining ranks with the far-right, anti-immigration party UKIP and its populist leader Nigel Farage.On the continent, the vote is being watched with much more concern, with fears that a 'leave' vote could deepen the crisis facing a continent already struggling with economic weakness, a refugee crisis and growing geopolitical instability.Apart from disrupting financial markets, a leave vote could bring far more dramatic change, along with many uncertainties.In this Al Jazeera special, Barnaby Phillips looks at the key issues surrounding Thursday's vote that could shape British-EU ties for generations.
Sicilian judge Antonino Di Matteo is one of the most threatened - and protected - men in Italy.As the chief prosecutor in Italy's 'trial of the century', he has more than 20 bodyguards, ensuring his safety around the clock.On trial are 10 men who stand accused of being part of a conspiracy between the mafia and the state. Five of the defendants are mafia bosses and five are members of the political establishment, including senior police chiefs and politicians.Central to Di Matteo's case is the story of Italy's most famous anti-mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.During the 1980s they prosecuted hundreds of Cosa Nostra members in what was known as the Maxi Trial, the largest mafia court case in history. Four-hundred-and-seventy-five mafiosi were brought to court and 346 were found guilty.'For over 130 years in Italy we pretended the mafia didn't exist. Not until Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino did we have magistrates in Sicily who said, 'No. The mafia in Italy exists. The mafia in Sicily exists. And it's the judiciary's duty to fight and try to destroy the mafia',' says Saverio Lodato, author of Forty Years of Mafia.The Cosa Nostra 'boss of bosses', Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, had been tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. After the trial, Riina allegedly sought revenge.Judge Giovanni Falcone was assassinated on May 23, 1992 near the mafia heartland of Palermo. Two months later, while investigating Falcone's murder, Judge Paolo Borsellino was also killed by a massive car bomb in Via D'Amelio, a residential street in Palermo.Inspired by these two judges, Di Matteo is now taking up where they left off. He is trying to shine a light on Italy's so-called season of terror from 1991 to 1994, when the mafia organised a series of bombings and murders to force a negotiation with the government.'I was brought up with the legend of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. I was a law student when they were working on the Maxi Trial. In those men ...
US-Mexico border wall: The great wall of AmericaA border of more than 3,000 kilometres separates the US from Mexico - but it is defined not only by physical barriers made of concrete and steel but by an immigration policy which is failing to address the issues behind illegal migration.Despite the US spending billions of dollars on border enforcement, the lure of work sees illegal migrants enter the country at a rate of 850,000 a year.A series of walls along the Mexican border were designed to stem this flow but based on current estimates it has failed. Instead, the walls have re-routed human traffic into remote desert areas where people risk their lives in deadly conditions attempting to enter the US. This film shows what US immigration policy looks like on the ground for the people making the perilous journey for a better life, and for the Americans who call this borderland home.Update: Since this film first aired on Al Jazeera English in 2007, the US continued to increase spending on border security. At no other time in history has there been as many border patrol officers on duty as there are today.And now the authorities are bracing for a new challenge: children. Since 2014, the number of families and unaccompanied children apprehended at the border keeps skyrocketing. Young people are filling family detention centres near the border, having fled poverty or extreme violence in Central America.And today the issue is taking centre stage in this US presidential election, with Donald Trump calling for more walls, leading some migrants to say they will cross the border now before it may be too late.
The city of Ceuta is the southernmost outpost of fortress Europe. Yet it is on mainland Africa - opposite the Straights of Gibraltar. It is one of the last vestiges of Spanish rule in northern Morocco.Madrid insists it will never relinquish control and has cordoned it off - prompting comparison with other walls of shame.However, there are growing demands for a more constructive approach to the problem of illegal immigration. One man has already started a grass-roots initiative that proved much more successful than walls and fences.But within the town of Ceuta is another divide - a social division that is religious and economic - between the wealthy Christian Spaniards and their poorer Muslim compatriots of Moroccan descent.This episode of Walls of Shame first aired in November 2007.Update: 2015 was the deadliest year on record for migrants and refugees attempting to get into Europe. Over 3,700 people died - the majority on sea crossings between Libya and Italy or Turkey and Greece.Almost ten years ago, when the film first aired, the number of migrant deaths on Spanish territory had reached its peak. The world's media only started to take notice when the drowned bodies of African migrants began washing ashore on the tourist beaches of the Spanish Canary islands. Spain's response was to stiffen its border security, but despite all the effort and expense spent on beefing up its borders, migration is on the rise.Migrants, hoping to be among the lucky few to reach the other side, have often rushed the border fence - sometimes with tragic consequences. On one occasion in Ceuta in 2014, at least 14 African migrants drowned when trying to swim their way from Morocco to Spain.Those who made it alive were deported back to Morocco, on the other side of the wall.Today this no longer an issue isolated in a faraway Spanish enclave. The number of people hoping to reach Europe has swelled by a huge wave of refugees from wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.Thousands of people are te
It matters little what they are called - whether walls, barriers or fences - the intention is the same: to redefine human relations into 'us' and 'them'.The Walls of Shame series is about division, and about the barriers that men erect, in calculation or desperation, to separate themselves from others, or others from them. When diplomacy and conciliation fail, this is the alternative, and not since medieval times have walls been so in demand around the world.Tens of new walls, barriers and fences are currently being built, while old ones are being renovated. And there are many types: barriers between countries, walls around cities and fences that zigzag through neighbourhoods.This series will look at four examples of new and extended walls around the world. It will examine the lives of those who are living next to them and how their lives are impacted. It will also reveal the intention of the walls' designers and builders, and explore the novel and artistic ways walls are used to chronicle the past and imagine the future.Taking its name from John F. Kennedy's reference to the Berlin Wall in his state of the union address in 1963, this series will examine four new walls: The one on the American-Mexican border, the West Bank wall, the Spanish fence around Ceuta, and the walls inside the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.The Unity of the Separation WallIn this episode of Walls of Shame, we look at the plight of Palestinian farmers whose land has become inaccessible because of Israel's 700km security wall.Most ancient cities had so-called 'protective' walls - and while we see some around Jerusalem dating back to the 16th century, the wall erected by Israel in the last few years not only looks different - it serves a completely different purpose. Israel claims the wall is vital for its security, but according to the International Court of Justice it is in clear violation of international law.This episode also looks at the real intention of those who first drew its outl
The modern history of Northern Ireland has been dominated by one thing, 'The Troubles' - a violent, bitter conflict, both political and religious, between those claiming to represent the predominantly Catholic nationalists and those claiming to represent the mainly Protestant unionists.But what Northern Ireland has now is not so much 'peace' as 'an absence of conflict' after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. Far from disappearing, the walls have grown. Instead of reconciliation, there is partition - an ill-tempered stalemate of separate identities and separated lives.Broadly speaking, the nationalists - also called 'Republicans' - want Northern Ireland to be unified with the Republic of Ireland while the unionists want it to remain part of the United Kingdom, along with England, Wales and Scotland.This episode of the Walls of Shame series looks at life on both sides of the barriers between the warring communities.Update: Al Jazeera returned to Belfast, almost a decade after this film first aired in 2007, to touch base with Catholic muralist Danny Devenny. As the walls of separation - or 'protection' as some view the barriers - start to come down, much of Danny and his muralist friends' work is also being destroyed, with calls to 'reimagine' their art. The government has vowed to destroy the walls but the community is reluctant, scared and not appreciative of attempts to gloss over a difficult past.
For almost 13 centuries, from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 to the overthrow of the last Ottoman caliph in 1924, the Islamic world was ruled by a caliph.Translated from the Arabic ‘Khalifa’, the word ‘caliph’ means successor or deputy. The caliph was considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad.It is a term that has, at times, been abused.In June 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL or ISIS) declared the establishment of a caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a caliph. This proclamation was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.ISIL had attempted to appropriate a title imbued with religious and political significance – and in doing so had cast a dark shadow over a rich history.This is the story of the caliph, a title that originated 1,400 years ago and that spanned one of the greatest empires the world has ever known. In this episode of the Caliph, Al Jazeera tells the story of the caliphate, providing a fascinating insight into how the first caliphs of Islam built and expanded their empire.
For almost 13 centuries, from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 to the overthrow of the last Ottoman caliph in 1924, the Islamic world was ruled by a caliph. Translated from the Arabic ‘Khalifa’, the word ‘caliph’ means successor or deputy.The caliph was considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad. It is a term that has, at times, been abused. In June 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL or ISIS) declared the establishment of a caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a caliph. This proclamation was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims. ISIL had attempted to appropriate a title imbued with religious and political significance – and in doing so had cast a dark shadow over a rich history. This is the story of the caliph, a title that originated 1,400 years ago and that spanned one of the greatest empires the world has ever known.In this episode of The Caliph, Al Jazeera tells the story of the caliphate, looking at the Sunni-Shia divide, and how this split arose from a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad.
Al Jazeera tells the story of the 1,300-year-long struggle for the caliphate and looks at how different dynasties rose and fell - ending with the decline of the Ottoman caliphate.
A film by Sasha Djurkovic and Alex NiakarisGood primary care is pivotal in a healthcare system - it is an aspiration for countries around the world desperate to keep costs down and reduce pressures on their hospitals.The UK boasts nearly 10,000 local doctors' practices, providing primary healthcare to some 60 million people.Britain's National Health Service was founded in 1948 with the ethos that healthcare should be free at the point of need.Primary care is critical to making this a reality; today it delivers 90 percent of all healthcare for only 8.5 percent of the total health budget.With the ever-increasing costs of care and an ageing population, doctors are under a lot of pressure to keep everyone healthy.Through the lives of the doctors and patients at Killick Street Health Centre, a busy London doctors' practice that opened its doors 17 years ago, we explore their crucial role in the health system and the challenges they face.
Luis Silva, 37, spends much of his time in character as Panfilo Epifanio, a 78-year-old man. Panfilo is the protagonist of Vivir del Cuento, which roughly translates as 'surviving by your wits', a sitcom regularly voted the most popular programme on state-operated Cuban television for its humorous take on the struggles of life in Cuba. Even President Barack Obama wanted to meet Silva's much-loved Panfilo; they filmed a sketch together in Havana during Obama's historic visit to Cuba in March. Cuban audiences tune in each week to watch Panfilo's skits about the changes and realities of daily life in the country. 'Will this character make people laugh Maybe he'll make them cry, because the issues he raises can really make you cry,' says Silva about his character's social criticism. 'I try to give Panfilo small misfortunes, ups and downs, constant problems with bread, with the ration book, with groceries, with potholes. I try to approach it in a funny way, in a way that you can say, he is bringing this issue to light,' Silva says. 'We Cubans laugh at our problems.' A former mathematics professor at the University of Havana, Silva now performs stand-up routines nearly every night at local nightclubs. The stage name, Panfilo, comes the word 'pan', or bread, and grew out of jokes with friends about the poor state of the daily bread Cubans receive with their ration books. In a country in which celebrity endorsement is a still nascent concept, Silva's brother is launching a line of Don Panfilo peanut bars, while his mother makes meringues under the same brand. From his nightclub performances to his home, from the everyday locations where he films skits for Vivir del Cuento, to the baseball pitch where he plays with a team of comedians- 'frustrated baseball players', he explains, who happen to have found success in theatre - Silva takes us into his dual world to show us how Panfilo pushes the envelope to critique Cuban society - one joke at a time.
Laura Rodriguez Quesada is one of 25 dancers with Acosta Danza, a new Havana dance company founded by Carlos Acosta, the famous ballet dancer and Cuban star of the Royal Ballet in Britain. Acosta Danza's vision is to meld the traditionally separate worlds of classical and contemporary dance. Rodriguez lives with her boyfriend Jesus Corrales in Centro Havana, the most densely populated neighbourhood in the Cuban capital. They moved there from Camaguey after successfully auditioning to join Acosta's company. Both are thrilled to be able to work with Acosta as competition to get in is stiff. Each year, 300 world-class ballet dancers graduate from schools across Cuba. 'We never imagined either of us would be in Carlos' dance company,' Rodriguez says. 'In the beginning it was a bit difficult for me because when I danced with him [Acosta] I didn't know how to address him. How formal to be with him. But he ... gives you that confidence,' Rodriguez explains. Acosta, in turn, is humbled by the talent found in Cuba. 'Cuba dancers, they are passionate, they are hungry for it. They really love what they do and they give you their life, and I think it's very contagious, and it is really inspiring to work with them,' Acosta says. Among her peers, Rodriguez is considered a rising star. Dancing and performing for an audience is what she loves most. 'I think nerves are part of each presentation. I once heard someone saying if you don't get nervous it's because something is failing, because you are no longer excited, no longer motivated. But I think my reaction is different from others. I tend to be very calm,' she says. Rodriguez is set to dance with Acosta in the company's premiere at the Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso in Havana. A knee injury might make it impossible, however, and Rodriguez isn't sure if she'll be ready to dance in time. As she strives to be fit for the premiere, this film gives us an intimate look into the simple, daily lives of Rodriguez and Corrales, and the world
Every Christmas, fierce rivalry between Remedios' two neighbourhoods erupts into a festival called 'Las Parrandas'.
In Matanzas' poorest neighbourhood, one woman is challenging the tradition of rumba by getting girls to play the drums.
Exploring the cultural diversity exemplified throughout the vibrant street food scene in New York City. Known as the Big Apple, New York City is home to about nine million people [≈ population of Honduras, nation] and hosts an additional 40 million visitors every year, which makes for a lot of stomachs to feed. Quick snacks, above all the hot dog, are as synonymous with New York as yellow cabs and skyscrapers and reflect the city's eclectic ethnic mix. Yet few people realise that many of the city's thousands of street vendors - including Brooklyn's famed 'Falafel King' - face a daily struggle that belies the city's wealthy and glamourous image. As the first signs of Manhattan's morning hustle and bustle surface, the city's street vendors have already been at work for many hours. Storage garages are busy with the sound of these business owners cleaning and gleaming, stocking and getting things in order for their long days ahead. Although there are many vendors native to NYC, there is a significant number of immigrant owners - many of whom have run their businesses for decades. Their food carts symbolise a lot more than a quick and convenient snack for the hundreds of thousands that pound the pavements of the city. They are a chance to live life on their own terms, often after escaping political turmoil or significant economic instability in their homelands. But the challenge is far from ideal. Obstacles to a successful business range from finding the perfect selling spot - in spite of an unspoken brotherhood between the vendors that can and has led to rivalries - and adhering to legislation surrounding health and safety, to liquidity and endless working hours. On the other side of the river, street vendors in Brooklyn and Queens face an even tougher uphill battle. Catering to a rougher demographic, and often without the means - both financial and otherwise - food cart owners, many of whom are new to the US, tend to find themselves operating illegally and, at tim
The Indian Ocean is one of the world's oldest and largest free trade zones. For centuries, trade and migration have marked the history of the many communities living along its shores. But the name of one place on the coast of Africa has long captured people's imagination: Zanzibar, also know as the spice island. For centuries, merchants of of all colours and creeds came to the island off the Tanzanian mainland on wooden vessels - and each of them left their own mark on the island. As a result, Zanzibar has one of the richest and most diverse food cultures in East Africa encompassing influences from Arabia, India and Europe. Street food is a term often interpreted literally as food served on the streets, but in Zanzibar the real roads are the ocean, dhows are the link between sea and the land, and the presence of seafood is everywhere on the menus. The island's wealth was largely founded on the spice trade. Zanzibar's original settlers were Bantu-speaking Africans. But Arabs, especially Omanis, had a huge influence. They set up trading companies in Zanzibar in the 17th century, ending 200 years of Portuguese dominance on the island. In 1832, the Sultan of Oman moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, which had become a major slave-trading centre. He encouraged the commercial farming of cloves, so when the slave trade was abolished in 1873, the spice trade continued to flourish - giving Zanzibar wealth and prestige as well as its legendary name, the spice island. As anti-colonialism spread across Africa, Zanzibar gained independence in 1963. The following Zanzibari revolution, which aimed to give power back to Africans, became one of the bloodiest chapters in the island's history. 'Most of the Omani people were killed, more than 14,000 people were killed, tortured, cut into pieces, murdered, butchered,' says Nassor Mazrui, a businessman. Professor Abdul Sherif from the Zanzibar Ocean Research Institute explains that Arabs were targeted in particular because 'they w
A journey of discovery in search of Oud, one of the world's rarest and most expensive commodities and the basis of some of its most exclusive perfumes.
Alexis Martinez Pena, 52, was a schoolteacher for 14 years in the city of Bayamo. He loved working with children, but found the system to be too rigid and dogmatic. So he left and moved to San Pablo de Yao, a village of just over 1,200 in the Sierra Maestra mountains of eastern Cuba. He has now found satisfaction working as a shoemaker. He is the only one in the area. 'I ended up here, quietly. A cobbler with my degree in a drawer,' he says with a laugh. 'This is a job that won't make anyone rich, but I don't complain,' he says. 'Although I don't have high profits I know to value all this as profit, because emotionally and spiritually it gives me a very pleasant lifestyle.' Martinez lives on his own with his puppy. His two daughters, who study elsewhere, visit him whenever they can. He is largely self-sufficient and grows fruit, vegetables and coffee on his plot of land; he finds anything else that he needs in his small village. But while he may have left teaching, he still maintains his connection with children - performing as Piruli the clown in the neighbouring villages. We follow him as he prepares to perform in neighbouring Maguaro, where many of the children will be seeing a clown for the first time.
As new business opportunities open in Cuba, we meet one of the country's new type of entrepreneurs.
Ten years ago, in November 2006, Al Jazeera English was launched. To mark that anniversary, we've created REWIND, which updates some of the channel's most memorable and award-winning documentaries of the past decade. Filmed against the dramatic backdrop of Doha's iconic Museum of Islamic Art, our team finds out what happened to some of the characters in those films and asks how their stories have changed in the years since our cameras left. In this episode, we're spooling back to Afghanistan in early 2011. NATO's war against the Taliban was still in full swing at the time, with neither side disposed to show the other much quarter. As a result, every day added to the numbers of combatants and civilians being wounded or killed in the conflict - many of them in remote communities cut off from emergency medical facilities or in exposed positions right on the frontline. Few people understood what this meant in practice better than the medevac personnel, who were helicoptering out across the country to pick up casualties and often coming under fire themselves. To find out what it was like on board one of these units, veteran cameraman spent two weeks with the paramedics of the US Army's 214th Aviation Regiment. His extraordinary footage was made into Blood and Dust, a much-acclaimed episode of People and Power, which revealed both the shocking reality of war and the remarkable even-handedness of those providing care. As previous viewers may remember - and new ones will see - the film contains some deeply disturbing images right from the start. But it also introduced us to a truly memorable character, Sergeant Tyrone Jordan, whose composure, compassion and skill under pressure was quite remarkable to behold. Now five years on, Tyrone Jordan has agreed to tell REWIND how his life has moved on.
We investigate a secret order that allowed Israel's army to kill Palestinian civilians to stop the capture of a soldier.
The little-known story of secret negotiations between the Taliban and the US to build a pipeline through Afghanistan.
Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Thomas Dandois and Francois Xavier Tregan, published by Al-Jazeera broadcasted as part of Al-Jazeera Witness series in 2016 ISIL deserters and the men who helped them escape from Syria reveal testimonies of life and death under the armed group. In southeast Turkey, a few dozen kilometres from war-torn Syria, a secret network, at great risk to themselves, is rescuing fighters who have decided to leave ISIL. For the first time, these deserters have agreed to give a detailed account of the roles they played and what life was like under ISIL. Most of them have lived in Raqqa, ISIL's political and military stronghold in Syria. Personal accounts of this sort are extremely rare because, in general, ISIL deserters go into hiding and keep quiet. If they give themselves up to authorities, they are immediately imprisoned and can no longer have any contact with their lawyers or families. The smuggling network, made up of long-term fighters of the Free Syrian Army, agreed to reveal a few of its working methods. By helping the deserters to flee and by collecting their testimonies, they want to denounce ISIL's lies, its false promises, its cult of violence and its widespread corruption. The members of the network are convinced that, in doing so, they will discourage future candidates and block recruitment channels.
'War on terror' or competition for natural resources? A look at the US and French military presence in Africa.
Collecting bomb fragments, taking toxic samples and filming mutilated bodies. The story of the evidence hunters - the unsung heroes of the Syrian conflict.
Investigating allegations that private security companies are being hired to murder organised crime gang members.
We investigate Colombia's backstreet cosmetic surgery trade and the scams that leave victims scarred for life.
A look at the life and legacy of Thailand's King Bhumibol and the challenges facing his successor.
Investigating an apparent culture of impunity that allows some in Mexican law enforcement to detain and kill at will.
Investigating allegations of corruption involving one of Latin America's wealthiest Roman Catholic societies.
Investigating child trafficking and sexual exploitation along the border between Bolivia and Argentina.
An investigation into the origins and ideology of the rebel group and its bloody rise.
Investigating allegations of slave labour and exploitation in the garment industry.
A look at the invisible weapon of Bashar al-Assad's regime: the kidnapping and torture of tens of thousands of Syrians. When Syrians first protested in the Spring of 2011, their only weapons were banners and songs and a deep desire for freedom. Syria has been ruled by a strong, strict and often merciless regime, handed down from father to son since 1970. "We, the old guard, couldn't believe it. Protests like that? In the state of Hafez al-Assad? In Syria? For the old guard, it was impossible. Forty-five years of rule had brainwashed us. When the revolution began, our orders were to shoot," says Munir al-Hariri, a former member of the Syrian intelligence service.
The story of the secret deal between the British and French, concluded in May 1916, which aimed to carve up the Middle East in ways that most benefited the two European powers. Modern world history has been heavily influenced by events in the Middle East, whose strategic importance has been magnified by both a global dependence on oil and the Israel-Palestine conflict. A hundred years ago, World War I saw Britain, France and Russia locked in combat with Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottomans. As the war in Europe fought itself almost to a standstill, Britain cast a strategic eye towards key areas of the Ottoman Empire. Should the allies be victorious, it would be important to claim the most strategically valuable territory - Greater Syria and Mesopotamia - particularly in relation to the French.
How a school with a rigorous curriculum for children as young as two makes a world of difference to Mexican students.
"The London Nautical School was founded in 1915 to train students in maritime skills. Today it's a modern, non-selective inner London state school for boys - with a very different approach to learning. At the start of the year, teachers pitch their courses to the students, who are given the power to choose what courses they want to study. This forces staff, students and parents to work closely together to evolve the content of the courses on offer. And it has created radically different courses, which are highly engaging and are placing students at the centre of the learning experience. This fresh approach to learning started in the school's English department. They wanted to push the British education system as far as they could - a system that is often perceived as prescriptive and restrictive for teachers. In this film, we follow some of the teachers putting together their syllabus for the year and students choosing their preferred course. We also talk to teachers, students and parents about the pedagogy in practice: What happens to the teachers if no students choose their course? And how has this approach affected the school's exam results?"
At TUMO, technology and art merge to provide teens with a competitive edge in a digital world.
In the 21st century, for many young people "finding a job" is just not an option. And in Uganda, with youth unemployment at around 66 percent, the highest rate in Africa, schools need to tailor their education to meet the different needs of society.
An inside look at how world leaders and the American public were duped into a war that cost thousands of lives. On the evening of 9/11, George W Bush made a vow to the American public - that he would defeat terrorism. Unknown to those listening in shock to the presidential address, the president and his advisers had already begun planning their trajectory into an invasion of Iraq. It was packaged as "holding responsible the states who support terrorism" by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser between 2001 and 2003.
Can innovative science education turn Thai students into agents of change and boost the country's economy?
Kenyan prison inmates learn how to read and write as well as gaining legal skills to represent themselves in court.
The story of Canada's residential school system and the indigenous survivors who bear witness to its abuses.
Mouawiya Syasneh was just 14 when he sprayed anti-government slogans on his school wall in Deraa, Syria. It was February 2011, and he could never have imagined that such a minor act would spark a full-blown civil war. More than half a million people have been killed in Syria since the start of the war. Mouawiya's home city has been ravaged by street fighting, shelling and barrel bombing. The war has left scars that may never heal. Now a young man, fighting on the frontline for the Free Syrian Army, Mouawiya admits that had he known what the consequences of his actions would be, he would never have taunted the country's president, Bashar al-Assad. His life has been transformed by that adolescent prank. He has lost friends and relatives, including his father. And Syria has been changed forever. The Boy Who Started the Syrian Civil War offers a glimpse into life in Deraa since the start of the conflict. We meet Syrians trying to lead normal lives amid the chaos as well as those who have taken up arms against Assad's forces.
The election of Donald Trump in November 2016 exposed a deep vein of distrust across the US, where millions have become disillusioned with a political and corporate elite out of touch with the sentiments of ordinary Americans. We explore the construction and mythology of the American Dream and uncover the reality of exclusion and denial. In this two-part series, we chart the history of post-Second World War America to uncover how race has dominated the political landscape and continues to shape American society. We reveal the nexus of political, corporate and institutional interests that created and now curtail a withering middle-class, pushing people into polarised camps, and now furthering disaffection with the traditional ‘establishment’.
The election of Donald Trump in November 2016 exposed a deep vein of distrust across the US, where millions have become disillusioned with a political and corporate elite out of touch with the sentiments of ordinary Americans. We explore the construction and mythology of the American Dream and uncover the reality of exclusion and denial. In this two-part series, we chart the history of post-Second World War America to uncover how race has dominated the political landscape and continues to shape American society. We reveal the nexus of political, corporate and institutional interests that created and now curtail a withering middle-class, pushing people into polarised camps, and now furthering disaffection with the traditional ‘establishment’.
"Croatian philosopher Srecko Horvat is going on a journey across Europe, searching for the connections between the crises he believes are tearing the continent apart. Unemployment, debt and an influx of refugees are often pointed to as the causes of a European identity crisis. But, Horvat asks, could they in fact be the results of it? He travels from Idomeni in Greece, where in 2015 refugees fleeing war and poverty entered Europe, to the dockyards of the Greek port of Pireaus, where workers' unions say they are fighting a new kind of privatisation, and from Romania, where people are fighting to protect their forests from international investment firms, to the City of London. Along the way, he argues that the real cause of Europe's identity crisis stems from the trauma of it colonising itself. ""I think Idomeni is the best metaphor for what's happening in Europe today,"" he reflects. ""It shows people, refugees who were fleeing from war, and wars such as Syria - but also Afghanistan and Iraq - became a problem. Why? Because we are at a train track and they were blocking the train track. ""So it became a problem for the corporations, for other countries, not only [for] Greece because this way was blocked. ""So on the one hand what you can see is refugees don't have the right to move freely, [while] on the other hand goods can move freely as far and as much as they want."" How, he asks, can this colonial process of dispossession be taking place on such a massive scale without becoming headline news? The answer, he explains, is that: ""This 21st century colonialism doesn't ride into town waving a national flag, it just seems to happen."" ""But it's actually the result of institutions and rules that are designed to be hidden."" It is those institutions and rules that Horvat hopes to expose in Europe's Forbidden Colony."
In this episode, Croatian philosopher Srecko Horvat explores how the anger and frustration of self-colonisation impacts the politics of Europe (2/2).
A look at the information wars waged by Israel and its supporters to win the hearts and minds of the American people.
We investigate the clandestine world of art and antiquities trafficking.
Hundreds of women's police stations have been set up across India to combat domestic abuse and sexual violence, following the Delhi rape case in December 2012. Parmila Dalal is second-in-command at the women's police station in Sonipat, in the northern state of Haryana. Every day she has to deal with the cases the public bring to her. She encounters family members at war over such contentious matters as caste, dowry payment and relations with abusive in-laws. India's Ladycops reveals how women's lives are changing in India today, and how they often struggle to reconcile the conflicting demands made upon them.
An unprecedented election takes place in Wukan after villagers protest land grabs by corrupt local officials. Jiancheng, 27, who was arrested during the uprising, now stands as a popular candidate for the election. Lin Zuluan, 68, is another former rebel leader who stands as the primary candidate for village chief. Jiancheng’s younger brother, Jianxing, is the citizen journalist who kept the world informed of the uprising and is now covering the election as it unfolds. We follow these characters through the days of this extraordinary vote to discover that nothing is straightforward when it comes to democracy. Even on voting day, Jiancheng has to deal with an unexpected event. From the vote to the first meeting of the newly elected village committee, watch the former rebel leaders become politicians as an extraordinary experiment with democracy in China begins.
Three months after the elections, village committee Chief Lin Zuluan makes headway with their plans to reclaim the land and new committee member, Jiancheng, is busy dealing with the mundane infrastructure problems of leaking pipes and rubbish disposal. Despite the promising start for the committee, things soon turn sour. Jianxing discovers a conspiracy against the newly elected chief, and the villagers are impatient for the return of their land. Six months after the election the committee members are losing faith in democracy. On the anniversary of the 2011 uprising the villagers descend upon their newly elected committee and hold a shambolic protest demanding their land back. Committee members try to defend their positions but the chief is left furious.
With the village divided after the latest protests, committee members Jiancheng and Suzhuan try valiantly to continue their work for the unhappy villagers. For one committee member, Zhuang Liehong, life as an official is not what he expected and, in a surprise move, he resigns from the village committee. The chief is struggling and refuses to accept visitors as he works from home. In an attempt to bring the village together the resigned committee member Zhuang Liehong and village chronicler Jianxing Zhang hold a memorial for Xue Jinbo who died in police custody during the uprising. The event is not sanctioned by the village committee and the divide in Wukan deepens.
The fourth episode starts with Chinese New Year celebrations and hopes for a fresh beginning in Wukan. It is not long before another committee member resigns in frustration. The Chief refuses to give up on the village and democracy when he discovers some extraordinary news about the borders of Wukan and the stolen land. One year after the election, the first piece of land is returned but when the villagers arrive to inspect the land their joy quickly turns to anger. Roadblocks, a police stand off and protests against the Village Committee bring the series and this first year of democracy in a Chinese village to a fiery end.
The fifth film in a five year-long look at democracy in China takes place during preparations for new polls as corruption scandals rock the village.
In the final episode of this six-part series, Wukan's fragile democracy takes an unexpected turn sparking protests and a crackdown by authorities.
A 17 year long campaign for justice. The trial of Chadian dictator, and former ally of the US and France, Hissene Habre, for crimes against humanity.
Exploring Germany's long term pursuit of Arab migrants as a demographic and economic strategy and how newly arrived immigrants are being received.
In response to President Vladimir Putin's policy of military involvement in Syria ISIL are organizing and training armed cells in Afghanistan to target Russia.
A look into the global economic system, focusing on the role of debt and Europe's debt crisis spiraling out of control. Debt drives financial markets, creates profit and generates an endless cycle of production and consumption. Many aspects of modern life revolve around credit. Our homes, cars, schools and government expenditures are financed by borrowing. Debt has become the engine of growth, the lifeblood of the economy. It is a machine that creates more and more debt, day after day. This debt machine has grown to epic proportions, and now seems to have spiralled out of control. Public debt, the debt held by governments, is soaring. The Eurozone is having a much harder time than other economies emerging from the crisis of spiraling debt. Why? How can the debt be repaid? And how can we ever get out of the spiral? This documentary takes viewers on a fascinating journey through the rugged landscape of economics and finance. Fast-paced and dynamic, it recounts the history of sovereign debt from the late Middle Ages to the present day and offers unexpected exit routes to safeguard the Eurozone from future crises.
The June 1967 Arab-Israeli war lasted only six days but left a lasting mark on the middle east, with consequences still felt today in the on-going conflict.
Mobile apps, sticker collections and anti-corruption tours, Romanians are using media and technology in creative ways in their fight against endemic corruption.
A hundred years since Britain's infamous declaration, its repercussions are still felt across the Middle East today. The Balfour Declaration was a public promise by the British government during World War One, announcing support for the establishment of "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. Palestine was still a part of the Ottoman Empire at the time, with a minority Jewish population.
Venezuela is gripped by crisis. Economic collapse and political meltdown have devastated a country that boasts the world’s largest oil reserves. Latin America’s once ‘model democracy’ now struggles to maintain order and feed a divided people. But the seeds of its current demise were sewn a century ago, when the events of its formative years ensured that the fate of Venezuela would be written in oil. The Big Picture: The Battle for Venezuela examines how the exploitation of oil created the modern nation of Venezuela and, how the oil industry helped create a divided society as well as endemic inequality. We chart the impact of industrialisation and the flux between dictatorships and democracy, highlighting the legacies of prominent leaders to shed contextual light on the troubles afflicting Venezuela today.
Vincent van Gogh only sold a few paintings in his lifetime, but Chinese copy artist Zhao Xiaoyong has sold over 90,000 reproductions of the Dutch painter's masterpieces over the past 20 years. Born in a rural Chinese village, Zhao moved to Dafen Oil Painting Village in 1996, with thousands of other migrant workers and aspiring artists, who had been flocking to Dafen since the late 1980s to paint copies of iconic works for global export. He has long admired Van Gogh's work and feels a special connection to the artist's tragic life. After decades of studying the artist's paintings through photos, Zhao is invited to Amsterdam by his top client to see Van Gogh's original work. The trip is a shock and a revelation for Zhao and inspires him to pursue his own artistic expression, for as long as he can afford to do so.
On June 5th, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar - closing their land, air and sea borders with it - accusing it of funding 'terrorism' and fomenting regional instability. The Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini governments told their citizens to return from Qatar. They also asked Qatari citizens who were visiting, studying or living in their respective countries, to leave for Qatar within 14 days. This diplomatic move left Qatar partially isolated - economically, politically and culturally. As this crisis continues without a solution, this film follows several people in Qatar to find out how they are facing up to life under blockade.
On June 5, 2017, Bahrain, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off all diplomatic ties with the state of Qatar. Accusing it of funding terrorism and fermenting regional instability, all land, air and sea links to the country were severed. National carriers declared they would be suspending flights to and from Qatar the following day, and those from Qatar were banned from even transiting through their countries. With the exception of Egypt, the blockading states recalled their own citizens and gave the Qataris residing and working in their countries 14 days to leave their territories. The bloc of four also closed their airspace to Qatari aircraft, leaving only a small corridor, funnelling all their planes in and out of the Arabian Gulf. At 1.30 pm the only land border was closed and Saudi Arabia stopped all movement of vehicles from its side. Trucks carrying food, raw materials, equipment and medicines could no longer cross into Qatar. All vessels destined to, or carrying the flag of Qatar would not be allowed to call at ports in the UAE. In less than 24 hours, Qatar was effectively cut off. The coordinated move by the four countries has caused the greatest rift in years, between some of the most powerful Arab states. And the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was unable to deescalate the situation. "The GCC was never intended to deal with an act of aggression between one of the constituent GCC members. This is unprecedented in the extent of it, the scope of it, how it took everybody by surprise," says Rory Miller, PH.D. Professor of Government, Georgetown University, Qatar. However, he says, in recent history there were many signs that Qatar was being targeted. "This current crisis is not an isolated incident. From 1995 up to the present day the dominant team in relations between Saudi Arabia the UAE and Qatar has been one where Saudi Arabia and the UAE has viewed Qatar as definitely the subordinate actor and the Qataris have refus
A harrowing look at killings and kidnappings undertaken by Russia to scare off Crimea's Muslim Tatars.
Interrupting violence in South Africa, overcoming gang life in LA, and making peace in Ecuador’s toughest streets.
Is water a commodity or a human right? Cities across Europe are fighting water privatisation. In 2010, water was officially recognised as a universal human right by the United Nations. However, the European Union has yet to do the same. The management of water has long been in the hands of private companies, but resistance to this profit-driven model has increased in Europe since 2000. Activists against water privatisation in Greece, Portugal and Ireland say that the EU applies pressure to privatise water services using the economic crisis as a pretext for the creation of a water market in Europe.
Mountains of waste from Johannesburg's omnipresent gold industry may be ruining the health of nearby residents.
The Big Picture: The World According to AI explores how artificial intelligence is being used today, and what it means to those on its receiving end.
We go undercover in Ghana to expose gold scammers tricking foreign investors out of huge sums of money. In 2011, Ghana was Africa‘s second-largest producer of gold. In recent years, it has been home to a multibillion-dollar industry which, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, accounts for nearly half of the country’s exports.
It is the age-old debate that accompanies all new advancements in technology: We love to adopt the latest tech, and we do not think too much about the consequences for our safety and privacy. Facial recognition is great to unlock a phone, but it is also being used by security agencies to pick us out of the crowd. The internet still holds the promise to make our lives easier and knowledge more accessible. But it comes with the price of selling ourselves to "surveillance capitalism". The biggest companies in the world thrive on tracking our behaviour - what we are searching for, where we buy our things, and where we go. They bundle and sell that information to other companies. And the more our lives become digitised, the greater the risk of hacking and blackmail becomes. In this episode, Steve Clemons hosts a panel of technologists and scientists to discuss technology and how dystopian our future is becoming.
In the United States, there are more guns than people. Gun deaths are a daily occurrence, and the country is a world leader in public mass shootings. Most attempts to curb gun ownership, control the types of weapons that can be sold, and reduce the number of guns in the streets fail, due to the strength of the weapons industry and its lobby in Washington, DC. Join Steve Clemons as he speaks with Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who just published a book on the ideological, racial, sociological and financial reasons behind Americans' obsessions with guns.
The Truth about 5G investigates the rise of the anti-5G movement and the spread of wild conspiracy theories tying the COVID-19 pandemic to the 5G rollout plan. In the process of piecing together the viral spread of these theories, a sophisticated misinformation campaign is uncovered. Activists claiming 5G is an invisible and potentially deadly health hazard, blame the radiation emitted by the technology for a range of long-term health problems. They have demanded an immediate end to the current rollout, protesting in the streets even amidst the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. This documentary investigates these claims, exploring how 5G technology really works and examining the scientific studies undertaken into whether it is in fact a threat to our health.
He has been called one of the most wanted men on the planet, the shadowy mastermind of the now infamous $4.5bn 1MDB fraud that robbed Malaysia of its sovereign wealth – and brought down a prime minister. But Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, as he is known, has so far managed to elude Malaysian and international law enforcement agencies – somehow staying out of the public eye and keeping one step ahead of Interpol red notices for his arrest.
Time is money, and in high-frequency stock exchange trading, the fastest data network is the one that makes the deal. But there are dangers in reaching too far too fast. On February 5, 2018, the Dow Jones stock market index plummeted as though it had been hit by lightning. It fell more than 1,500 points in just a few minutes. Never before in the history of the index had American stocks lost so much in a single day. Approximately $2,000bn vanished in a puff of smoke – and New York was not alone. The collapse spread like wildfire, to Frankfurt, Sydney and Tokyo. Panic erupted but no one knew what caused the disaster at the time. There was no discernible real-world economy reason, no new economic predictions, no unemployment statistics. The only explanation offered sounded very strange – apparently the trading computers were just too fast. This documentary exposes the world of high-frequency trading, how it is performed exclusively by Artificial Intelligence computers rather than people, and how these computers trade against other computers, solely committed to the logic of their algorithms. Essentially, they are warring bots – money bots.
Michoacan state is an epicentre of Mexico's cartel war. While criminal groups, vigilantes and government forces fight, a terrified population is trapped in the middle. Al Jazeera spent a month travelling in the state to find out more.
Governments have been hacking into people's privacy for years. Some of the technology to do it is for sale and tens of thousand of politicians, journalists, lawyers and activists have been targeted. The system's called Pegasus. It's from an Israeli spyware company called NSO. Thanks to evidence collected by the Paris-based NGO Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, it seems there are 50-thousand people whose phones have been selected. Most of the numbers were in Gulf Countries and North Africa. But others include India, Pakistan and France. So, how much of a threat is advanced technology to privacy and human rights?
A year on since one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, Beirut continues to search for answers. Families of the victims of the explosion at the port continue to demand answers. The investigations have not uncovered what triggered the explosion and the origins of the shipment that exploded. And attempts by the lead judge to prosecute some of those believed responsible for unsafely storing tens ammonium nitrate at the port for years have faced political backlash
Dissidents, politicians, journalists, business leaders - all have been targeted by intelligence agencies using Pegasus, Israeli spyware that can extract all data from phones without the users’ knowledge. A global investigation called the Pegasus Project is shedding light on the scope and tactics of the hacking software. Host Steve Clemons speaks with one of the co-authors of the project, Washington Post journalist Dana Priest, along with one of the main sponsors of the project, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard, and John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Citizen Lab, which first exposed the work of Pegasus five years ago.
