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Featuring new episodes of The President’s Path, Unspun World with John Simpson, and The Media Show.
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This year marks 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, signed by politicians from Northern Ireland and the British and Irish governments in an attempt to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Over his 26 years at the BBC, Denis Murray reported extensively on the peace process, including this pivotal moment. He explains to Claire Graham how it came about, its legacy and how it's still discussed in today's political battles.
Producer: Owen McFadden Presenter: Claire Graham
Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia have historically been difficult. Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war. A bitter border war between the two countries began a few years later. But by 2020, Eritrea sent troops to fight alongside the Ethiopian government against rebel forces in its northern Tigray region.
Kalkidan Yibeltal is a BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa. He explains the complex history between the two countries, and looks at the tentative peace now emerging in Tigray.
Presenter: Claire Graham Producer: Owen McFadden
A military coup in 1989 brought Omar al-Bashir to power, until being overthrown by the military in the face of mass protests in 2019. During this time, war has raged in Darfur, South Sudan has gained independence and the Sudanese people demanded a return to civil government.
BBC journalist Mohanad Hashim grew up in Khartoum and has reported extensively on the Middle East and Africa. He speaks to Claire Graham about Sudan’s journey from independence to revolution.
Producer: Owen McFadden Presenter: Claire Graham
After almost a decade of fighting, civil war in Yemen has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Nawal Al-Maghafi is a Special Correspondent with the BBC who has been reporting on the Middle East since 2012. She explains to Claire Graham how this complex war began between government backed forces and the Houthi rebels.
Presenter: Claire Graham Producer: Owen McFadden
China has been accused of the mistreatment of the Uyghur people in the north-western region of Xinjiang for a number of years. This Muslim ethnic group are distinct with different culture, language and history to China's ethnic majority, Han Chinese. But why did the government start this crackdown? And what’s really going on?
Senior correspondent John Sudworth was based in China for nine years, and reported on the treatment of the Uyghur people. He speaks to Claire Graham to help us understand the region and how Xinjiang became a surveillance state.
Presenter: Claire Graham Producer: Owen McFadden
Cuba and the United States share a long, complex history. From the Spanish-American War of 1898 to Fidel Castro's Cuba, these neighbours have often had an uneasy relationship. Claire Graham speaks with BBC World Service journalist Ana Maria Roura to understand the history between the two nations.
Fifty years ago, Jane Roe found herself at the centre of a ruling that would fuel US politics for the following decades. The Roe V Wade case gave women the constitutional right to abortion, until 2022 when it was overturned by the US Supreme Court.
Claire Graham speaks with Katty Kay about the 1973 legal case, the legacy of that ruling and how abortion became such a central issue in contemporary American politics.
Presenter: Claire Graham Producer: Owen McFadden
Inspired by the Arab Spring, peaceful protests began in Syria in early 2011. However, a complex civil war followed which has lasted over a decade and involved many other countries. Lina Sinjab, a BBC Middle East correspondent, explains how the conflict in her native country began. From the arrest and torture of protesting teenagers in Daraa to the rise of the Islamic State (IS), the last 12 years have devastated the country and inflicted immense suffering on the Syrian people. Is there an end to war in sight? Presenter: Claire Graham Producer: Owen McFadden
Claire Graham talks to former BBC foreign correspondent Kevin Connolly about what has historically bound Russia and Ukraine together, and what has pulled them apart.
Claire Graham talks to the former BBC News Africa Bureaux Chief, Milton Nkosi, to get a better understanding of why the post-apartheid dream of a ‘Rainbow Nation’ has still not materialised.
The Explanation is a snackable audio guide giving you the backstory behind the headlines. Unpacking complex chains of events, The Explanation will make the stories in question much easier to understand.
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