Suzanne Lynch on the fall from grace of New York State governor Andrew Cuomo, whose early handling of the pandemic won him praise but is now subject to increasing scrutiny, and whose declining fortunes have been worsened by accusations of sexual harassment.

How Andrew Cuomo went from Covid hero to pariah

Brazil's often chaotic political scene got even more complex recently when former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's conviction for corruption was suddenly overturned. Will Lula's expected return to politics, combined with the government's disastrous pandemic response, spell the end for current right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro?

Will Lula's return to Brazilian politics end Bolsonaro's reign?

Voters in Israel went to the polls this week in a bid to free the country of the political stalemate that has seen it hold four elections in two years.

But after another cliffhanger result, the deadlock continues and it may be weeks before it becomes clear if prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be able to form another government.

Exit polls after Tuesday’s vote indicated it might be possible for Netanyahu - or Bibi as he is known to some – to form a wafer-thin majority if he could persuade the right-wing Ya-mina party to come on board.

But that was before the anti-Zionist Arab party, Ra’am, surprised pundits by crossing the threshold needed to win a place in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

Ra’am’s projected five seats means the support of Ya-mina will no longer be enough to keep Netanyahu in power – he will need the support of both. An unlikely prospect, given that Ra’am and Ya-mina would seem very unlikely to countenance going into government with each other.

To find out more, we talk to our correspondent in Jerusalem Mark Weiss.

Israel's election leaves Netanyahu needing unlikely allies

Brazil's Covid-19 case numbers and deaths have hit staggering new highs in the past month: over 60,000 died in March alone. Now it is facing a political crisis to match its health crisis. President Jair Bolsonaro, his authority undermined by the raging pandemic, sacked his defence minister and three top military chiefs in what looks like a struggle for control over the armed forces. Tom Hennigan in Sao Paolo reports.

Brazil's health and democracy are both on the brink

Dan McLaughlin explains the background to a new flare-up in the war in eastern Ukraine between the government in Kiev and Russian-backed separatists, and the news that Russia has sent troops and tanks to its border with Ukraine for what it insists are military exercises. Why is trouble in the region increasing now, and is the threat of a major escalation real?

Why is Russia sending troops to the border with Ukraine?

Angela Merkel is on her last lap as German Chancellor and will stand down when September’s federal election ends her fourth and final term in office. Meanwhile her party, the ruling Christian Democratic Union, is trapped in a high-stakes stand-off with its Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union. The impasse? Which of their leaders should guide their centre-right alliance through the upcoming election campaign, the first in over two decades without Mrs Merkel at the helm. In this episode, the Irish Times Berlin correspondent Derek Scally has the latest in Germany's unfolding political drama.

Merkel succession battle threatens CDU/CSU alliance

Recent polls of Welsh voters show growing support for the idea. To find out what's behind the trend and what it would take for it to become a reality, we talk to Denis Staunton.

Could Welsh Independence actually happen?

In the Indian capital of  New Delhi, one person is reportedly dying of Covid-19 every four minutes. With a population of 1.3 billion, the surge in new infections has pushed the country’s health system to breaking point, with hospitals running out of critical supplies of oxygen and available beds to treat the seriously ill. In this episode Irish Times India correspondent Rahul Bedi describes the scenes in New Delhi and a country struggling to cope with a deadly second wave.

India's covid catastrophe

Joe Biden has spent his first 100 days as US president powering through an ambitious agenda and tackling issues on the economy, coronavirus and climate policy. What are the key actions he has taken thus far and where has he fallen short? Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch joins Chris Dooley to take a look back at the start of his presidency.

Looking back at Biden’s first 100 days

Are the UK's Labour Party facing an existential crisis? Is there a way back to power for the party - for example, by following the advice of its last successful leader Tony Blair? We talk to Denis Staunton.

UK election: can things get better for Labour?

Mark Weiss reports from Jerusalem where there is a possibility of a ceasefire between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel. What needs to happen to make a ceasefire work, and how do Israelis feel about the conflict that has claimed many more Palestinian than Israeli lives and been met with widespread condemnation as disproportionate?

A ceasefire in the Middle East?

May 6th 2014

As news breaks of a further kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Chris Dooley asks our correspondents Simon Carswell in Washington and Mark Hennessy in London about the potential for international intervention. 

We also examine the state of politics in South Africa where the elections are taking place on May 6th. We talk to Bill Corcoran in Cape Town. 

We begin in the Ukraine with Dan McLaughlin where the violence continues to escalate. 

Worldview is a foreign affairs podcast presented by the deputy editor of the Irish Times Denis Staunton and produced by Sinead O’Shea. 
It can be listened to and downloaded via Soundcloud and iTunes.
It can be delivered for FREE to you each week via this link. 
itun.es/i66S3JH #iTunes
Android users can access this podcast via stitcher.com/s?fid=44906&refid=stpr


Nigerian Schoolgirls, Ukraine, South African latest

Denis Staunton discusses the extraordinary election results from the UK with Paddy Smyth, Mark Hennessy and Alex Massie. 

World View is a weekly foreign affairs podcast produced by Sinead O'Shea and presented by Denis Staunton. 

UK Election Results

This week Chris Dooley hears about David Cameron's campaign for EU reforms from Mark Hennessy and Suzanne Lynch and he discusses the Turkish elections with Stephen Starr in Istanbul. 

World View is a weekly foreign affairs podcast produced by Sinead O'Shea and presented by Denis Staunton. 

Turkish elections, Cameron and the EU

We're facing at least two more weeks of the current restrictions, and probably many more in one form or another. Pete Lunn, a behavioural economist with the Economic and Social Research Institute, talks about what will drive people to abide by, or break, the social distancing and stay-at-home rules in the weeks ahead. But first health editor Paul Cullen on the state of play in the nation's efforts to overcome the outbreak.

Can we keep this up? A behavioural economist says yes

As the world continues its battle against the spread of coronavirus, testing remains one of the key ways to keep infection under control. But how can we reach a level of testing which will allow the public to return to their daily lives while preventing a second wave of the disease? In today’s episode, we hear from Peter Fraizer, a professor of Operations Research at Cornell University in New York. Together with his colleagues, Fraizer has devised a group testing protocol, which if implemented, would see over 90% of Americans returning to work in just one month.

Could group testing for Covid-19 contain the virus in just one month?

Next week, Ireland will enter phase two of the roadmap out of lockdown. We’ll be able to travel 20km from our homes and visit another household while maintaining social distancing. Street level shops will open and some sporting and fitness activities will begin again. But will this taste of freedom mean people will push the boundaries even more? Large crowds flocked to beauty spots over the long weekend, while thousands gathered in close proximity at a Black Lives Matter protest earlier this week. In today’s episode, Deirdre Veldon speaks to Pete Lunn a behavioural economist with the Economic and Social Research Institute. With community transmission quite low, Lunn explains how this may affect willingness to comply to ongoing restrictions.

"Compliance is not as good on the way down as it was on the way up"

In this episode, Irish Times Features Writer Patrick Freyne brings us back to the year 2011 and the release of the scientific thriller movie Contagion. Starring Matt Damon, Contagion tells the story of a deadly virus which explodes into a global pandemic, bringing society to its knees. Nine years on, in the midst of our own virus outbreak, it all feels eerily familiar. Freyne catches up with Contagion’s screenwriter Scott Z. Burns and the virologist who advised the script and plotline for the movie, Dr Ian Lipkin. The pair explain how their working relationship began over a couple of cocktails in a Manhattan bar and was sealed on the agreement that this pandemic movie would be grounded in science rather than blockbuster action. So, nine years on from its release, what it is like looking back on Contagion for Burns and Lipkin? Has the pandemic played out like they expected both scientifically and politically?

How Contagion predicted a pandemic - with screenwriter Scott Z. Burns and Dr Ian Lipkin

Traditionally, one in five of the population experience mental health challenges. In the coming year there will be many more. In today’s episode, Clinical Psychologist Tony Bates speaks to Deirdre Veldon about the emotional impact of the pandemic and how different sections of society will be affected in the weeks and months ahead.

The emotional impact of Covid-19 with Clinical Psychologist Tony Bates

This is the final instalment of the Confronting Coronavirus podcast series. For the final two-part episode, we’ve asked a handful of Irish Times journalists to reflect on the last couple of months and how the pandemic has played out. Today, we’ll hear from Public Affairs Editor Simon Carswell and our Political reporter Jennifer Bray.

The biggest story of our lives, part one

Suzanne Lynch on how Tuesday night's ill-tempered debate between President Trump and Joe Biden is affecting the race. 

Plus, the Democrat's plan for dealing with the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

US election: after a dreadful debate, what comes next? With Suzanne Lynch

Last month Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a peace deal after six weeks of fierce fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Tens of thousands have died and up to a million people have been displaced, since a bloody war between the two countries ended in a ceasefire in 1994. Central and eastern Europe correspondent, Daniel McLaughlin, explains the background to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and its regional and global implications.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

In this week's podcast, Chris Dooley speaks to foreign policy expert Thomas Wright about the incoming Joe Biden administration and the issues that the president-elect will have to deal with  when he takes office in January. How will president Biden deal with China? What will an international taxation agreement mean for Ireland's relationship with the US? Can Biden hold the Democratic Party together? 

Thomas Wright is a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank, where he is also the director of the Center on the United States and Europe.

The challenges facing the Biden administration - with Thomas Wright

Yesterday the world watched on in disbelief as a group of pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol, in a violent display of loyalty to the president. While Congress gathered to certify the election results, thousands of flag-waving supporters broke through police barriers and gained access to the historic building, tearing through offices, breaking furniture and smashing windows. In today’s episode, Irish Times Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch joins David McKechnie to discuss how the dramatic events unfolded.

Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol

The race is on to roll out the coronavirus vaccine across the European Union. Denmark is sitting proudly in first place, with 2% of their population already vaccinated. All EU countries have had the same level of access to the first vaccine approved by the bloc, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, so how has Denmark managed to administer doses at such an efficient rate? Joining David McKechnie to discuss the different elements of the rollout process and the reasons behind the delay in some member states is our Europe Correspondent Naomi O’Leary.

EU Vaccine Rollout: Who is doing well and who is lagging behind?

Our Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch was one of the lucky few to attend President Joe Biden's inauguration yesterday. She talks to foreign editor Chris Dooley about the message Biden sent in his address and his early policy moves. 

And we talk to Omar Wasow, an assistant professor of political science at Princeton University. He says the violent events of January 6th were more akin to a lynch mob than a riot or a coup, and explains why he thinks calls for unity are unlikely to work in the long run.

Biden's inauguration, and the meaning of January 6th

A few months ago Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was lying in hospital in Berlin, recovering from being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. This week he was imprisoned after returning to Russia to continue his campaign against Vladimir Putin, despite the clear risks. But who is Alexei Navalny? And does his campaign have any chance of success? We talk to our correspondent Dan McLaughlin. 

Plus, the story of the Chinese writer first praised but then shunned for sharing her insider account of the Wuhan lockdown.

Who is Alexei Navalny?

The issue of Brexit and the popularity of SNP leader and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have put the idea of Scottish independence back on the agenda. Public opinion polls show a majority in favour, but with implacable opposition from Boris Johnson assured, what paths are there to an "Indyref 2"? Denis Staunton reports. 

And Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid explains the social complexities behind the jailing of a Catalan rapper for insulting the royal family and glorifying terrorism.

The path to Scottish independence, Spain's free speech problem

Italy's new prime minister Mario Draghi, a compromise choice asked to lead a national unity government after the collapse of the previous coalition, has several tough challenges on his hands: to administer EU Covid-19 relief funds in an effective way, to navigate the pandemic, and to retain control of the unwieldy coalition of parties that voted him in. Can he do whatever it takes? Chris Dooley talks to Brussels correspondent Naomi O'Leary.

Plus, how did some Texans end up paying thousands of dollars in electricity bills?

Can Mario Draghi turn Italy around?

When voters elect a new government in Germany this year, it will bring the curtain down on the 16 year chancellorship of Angela Merkel. In parliament since 2005, Merkel has been one of Europe’s most influential leaders, steering her country and the bloc through numerous crises. What will be the consequences of her departure from office and who will replace her? Derek Scally reports from Berlin. 

Later, London editor Denis Staunton takes us through the highlights of Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s testimony to a parliamentary committee inquiry into her government’s handling of sexual harassment complaints made against her predecessor Alex Salmond.

Life after Merkel, Sturgeon survives but scandal may leave scars

The Irish Times' unrivalled foreign affairs coverage, now brought to you in weekly podcast form. Hosted by Chris Dooley with regular contributors Patrick Smyth, Denis Staunton, Lara Marlowe, Suzanne Lynch, Derek Scally, Tom Hennigan, Clifford Coonan and Ruadhan Mac Cormaic.

World View - The Foreign Affairs Podcast

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