Beyond the Headlines
394 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 8 ratingsDive deeper into the week’s biggest stories from the Middle East and around the world with The National’s foreign desk. Nuances are often missed in day-to-day headlines. We go Beyond the Headlines by bringing together the voices of experts and those living the news to provide a clearer picture of the region’s shifting political and social landscape.
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Episodes
The global monkeypox outbreak amid a pandemic
August 26, 2022 03:55 - 23 minutes - 32.8 MBAs much of the world’s focus remained firmly fixed on ending the coronavirus pandemic, another illness was quietly spreading in the background and has now emerged as a global health concern. A few months ago, monkeypox, an infectious viral disease, began cropping up in countries across Europe for the first time in years. The virus is spread from person to person through close contact. Historically, monkeypox has been largely confined to west and central Africa but had occasional and short-li...
Stories from the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition
August 18, 2022 03:55 - 34 minutes - 47 MBOn August 15, 1947, British Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten formally announced India's independence from British colonial rule. The Indian subcontinent was partitioned into two countries – India and Pakistan. The borders were drawn hastily along religious lines. Muslim-majority provinces became part of Pakistan, Hindu and Sikh majority areas remained in India. The borders cut through villages, rivers and homes, leading to one of the largest migrations in history. Unexpected and unprecedente...
The future of farming in the UAE
August 11, 2022 03:55 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MBIt’s amazing how the UAE’s home-grown produce has become so diversified. Over the years, farms have been modernised and new crops introduced. The supermarket aisles we browse in the UAE vividly illustrate the country’s progress. The UAE aims to be the most food-secure nation by 2051, according to the National Food Security Strategy. But will this ambition be realised and can local farms keep up with the demand? This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Nilanjana Gupta explores the future o...
Future-proofing our cities against record-breaking temperatures
August 04, 2022 01:55 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MBThis summer is breaking temperature records like never before. The rising mercury is a reminder of the impact of climate change. Unless drastic action is taken, the temperatures seen in recent weeks will become increasingly common. Failing to find sustainable ways to heat and cool our offices and homes when temperatures soar – or plummet in winter – could lead to more Co2 being produced as more people turn to AC units or turn up their thermostats. But experts say there’s another way. Rethink...
Lebanon’s silent crisis
July 29, 2022 03:55 - 20 minutes - 28.1 MBFor nearly three years, Lebanon has been steadily collapsing under the weight of a financial crisis that is one of the worst in the modern world. But what is life like for those who have to live through the situation on the ground? To be Lebanese is to navigate a slew of daily challenges caused by the economic rupture. So people have developed coping mechanisms. And they’re not always healthy. Experts say mental health is declining, and substance use is on the rise. This week on Beyond t...
Tunisia’s contested referendum
July 22, 2022 12:32 - 22 minutes - 30.4 MBFor more than a decade, Tunisia was seen as the poster child for democratic transition after the Arab Uprisings of 2011. By 2014 the country had had two free and fair elections and ratified a new constitution. But the consensus-building that went into drafting that new constitution soon dissolved, leaving behind partisan bickering and political deadlock. Successive governments and parliaments failed to deliver on the socioeconomic demands that had driven the revolution: jobs were still scar...
How will President Biden’s visit to the Middle East be remembered?
July 15, 2022 15:51 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBJoe Biden has made his first visit to the Middle East as US president. He might be no stranger to the region, having visited dozens of times as vice president and senator for Delaware, but this is the first time since he was elected to America’s top office. And it comes at a time of uncertainty. Oil and food prices have surged since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and global inflationary pressures are pushing up prices across the board. Talks with Iran on reviving a nuclear accord to limit ...
Five years after ISIS, when will Mosul be rebuilt?
July 08, 2022 11:08 - 21 minutes - 29.9 MBFive years have passed since Iraq liberated Mosul from ISIS in a bloody, street to street battle that left 11,000 civilians dead and much of the northern city in ruins. Millions fled the brutal three year rule of the terror group and hundreds of thousands more fled the deverstating fighting to recapture the city. But five years after victory, several neighbourhoods in Mosul still lie in ruins. On this week's episode, host Robert Tollast asks why is it taking so long to rebuild Mosul.
What is the future of Nato?
July 01, 2022 12:08 - 15 minutes - 21.1 MBOn June 29, world leaders gathered in Madrid to discuss the future direction of the The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. On this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Mina Aldroubi speaks to Michael Stephens, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, about the Nato summit’s biggest talking points.
How to live longer
June 22, 2022 13:44 - 19 minutes - 27.3 MBSteve Jobs once said: "The most precious resource we all have is time." For most of history, the average human life expectancy has been about around 70 years. Although average life expectancy has been rising for years, this is because more of us make it that far and many beyond. Fewer of us are dying at birth, in childhood, in the midst of raging battle or being mauled to death by wild animals. Take out those threats and an average human is capable of a 70th birthday. And now, with breakt...
How rising prices in the Middle East are pushing people into poverty
June 17, 2022 13:13 - 14 minutes - 19.7 MBWhen you hear of Arab cuisine, what imagery does it conjure up? Hummus, bulgur wheat, meat, chicken and spices like sumac, cumin and cinnamon. Lavish dinner parties with popular dishes like Egyptian koshary, Jordanian mansaf and Iraqi tashreeb. The bigger the dish, the more generous the host. That is a deeply rooted belief in Arab culture. Despite the Gulf countries being insulated from the rising costs of living, people in many places in the Middle East - and around the world - are strugg...
When and how can America stop the mass shootings?
June 10, 2022 11:30 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MBOn 14 May, a white gunman in body armour killed 10 black shoppers and workers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Ten days later, an attacker shot dead 19 students and their two teachers in their classrooms at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Then, on 1 June, another gunman killed two doctors and two others at an Oklahoma medical building in Tulsa. These are just some of the recent, chilling examples of how gun violence has traumatised America - they’re only the tip of the iceber...
What can be done to stop the tide of dust storms?
June 02, 2022 03:55 - 18 minutes - 25.3 MBThe sky turns orange as a huge cloud of dust rolls toward you. Your vision is impaired and your chest feels tight as you struggle to draw breath. You grab a scarf and wrap it around your face as you hurry inside, but the coughing continues long after you reach safety. For those in refugee camps, even this escape is denied. Sand is buffeted against flimsy tents and belongings and residents become swiftly covered in a film of dust. You may think this is happening to a character in an apocal...
Davos 2022 biggest takeaways
May 26, 2022 15:01 - 22 minutes - 30.3 MBThe Berlin Wall fell more than three decades ago, precipitating a generational collapse of political and economic boundaries in Europe. Now, in 2022, conflict and confusion is on the continent's doorstep once again. Experts and leaders, including around 50 heads of state and government, have gathered in the Swiss resort of Davos this week for the World Economic Forum annual meeting, where they are considering whether history has reached another turning point? Mustafa Alrawi, The National’s ...
Will the Lebanese election be a turning point?
May 20, 2022 13:47 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MBPeople across Lebanon cast their votes last Sunday in an election that was meant to be different. So much has happened since the last poll, in 2018, when familiar faces were elected from parties largely made up of the same people who had fought the civil war decades earlier. First, the economy started to creak - and eventually collapsed. In 2019, hundreds of thousands of people across Lebanon rose up in a popular protest movement, apparently determined to change a political system that s...
Sheikh Khalifa’s legacy
May 14, 2022 17:29 - 12 minutes - 17.8 MBPresident Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed died on May 13, 2022, at the age of 73. He was born in September 1948, before the UAE existed as a single nation and before the discovery of oil in the Emirates. In his lifetime he saw the rise of the nation from a collection of Bedouin and fishing villages to one of the leading and most competitive economies in the Middle East. As the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa’s involvement in public ...
Is the Covid-19 pandemic over?
May 13, 2022 11:14 - 24 minutes - 33.3 MBOn May 16, the European Union will no longer require people to wear masks on planes. Many countries around the world have already started to relax Covid-19 restrictions. And some, like Greece, New Zealand and Japan, are preparing to drop all rules in time for summer. So is it finally time to get back to normal? At least to the way life was before the pandemic. Or is it time to simply embrace the ‘new normal'? This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Suhail Akram asks experts and health car...
The desperation that drove refugees from Lebanon to their deaths at sea
May 06, 2022 12:18 - 19 minutes - 27.5 MBLate one Saturday night towards the end of April, a boat set off to sea from near Lebanon’s second city, Tripoli. It was an ageing craft, nearly 50 years old, built to comfortably hold maybe a dozen people, at a push. But on this voyage it was carrying perhaps 60, maybe as many as 80. Among those on board were Amid Dandachi, his wife and their three children. In all, around 22 members of the extended Dandachi family were on the boat. The family are from the suburb of Qibbe, one of Tripoli’...
Is Rwanda really the solution to Britain’s migrant issue?
April 29, 2022 14:15 - 28 minutes - 38.5 MBRescued from the choppy seas of the English Channel or landing on the windswept beaches of the east of England, over the last three years thousands of people in small inflatable dinghies have made the perilous crossing from France. As dozens died making the journey, the UK deployed the coast guard, the navy and the lifeboat service to try and rescue those attempting to make the journey. In 2021, an estimated 28,526 people crossed the channel in small boats. Data for the first half of 2022 s...
The Ramadan food crisis
April 22, 2022 13:04 - 19 minutes - 26.9 MBMuslims around the world are marking the first Ramadan in three years to take place largely without Covid-19 restrictions. But now another crisis is casting a pall over the holy month. The war in Ukraine, a global economic downturn and a high oil price, among other factors, are driving food prices to an all-time high. Nations which import most of their food - including many in the Middle East such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen - are suffering the most. And the head of the World Bank h...
Is this really the end for Imran Khan?
April 15, 2022 13:18 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBPakistan has a new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif. The 70-year-old this week replaced Imran Khan, who failed to stop a no-confidence motion against him in what was a dramatic last-minute vote on the night of April 9. Sharif won with 174 votes, after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf party resigned and walked out. Khan’s ousting and Sharif's win mean that no Pakistani prime minister since the country’s formation has been able to complete a full five-year parliamen...
How Afghans in Poland are helping Ukrainian refugees
April 07, 2022 03:55 - 20 minutes - 27.9 MBA group of Afghan refugees in Poland have rushed to support the millions of Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion. The painful memories of their own war are a shadow only too recent. One of the group, 27-year-old Sabur Dawod Zai, escaped the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. He, like so many others, embarked on an arduous journey to avoid the harsh rule of the Taliban and found himself in Poland. So when Sabur and his friends saw a newspap...
What happens after Expo 2020 Dubai?
March 29, 2022 08:54 - 16 minutes - 22.1 MBYour curtains open on a timer. You rise with the sun shining - which it does most days of the year here - and a sensor detects when you’re standing under the shower, activating the water at your preferred temperature, no time or water to waste. Your refrigerator has the right ingredients to grab breakfast and pack a quick lunch; it automatically orders your groceries when you begin to run low. As you head for the door, the lights switch off, the climate control readjusts to account for an em...
Ukraine’s women in war
March 24, 2022 09:27 - 22 minutes - 31 MBSince the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, millions of people have fled the country in search of safety elsewhere in Europe. Most are women and children, with men of fighting age required to stay and protect their homeland. So often the story of war is told through masculine eyes — soldiers fighting heroically on the front, typically male politicians battling for control of the narrative through speeches and summits — but as more and more women stream out of the country, it is falling to ...
Why Iran is raining rockets on Iraq
March 17, 2022 18:10 - 26 minutes - 36 MBIn the early hours of March 13, 2022, streaks of light punctuated the sky above the northern Iraqi city of Erbil as a barrage of rockets rained down on a building near the old town. The thud and blasts shook the city, orange flames rose up and thick black smoke stood out against the deep purple of the night. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young looks at why Iran is raining rockets down on neighbouring Iraq.
Why Iran is raining rockets down on Iraq
March 17, 2022 18:10 - 26 minutes - 36 MBIn the early hours of March 13, 2022 streaks of light punctuated the night sky above the northern Iraqi city of Erbil as a barrage of rockets rained down on a building near the old town. The thud and blasts shook the city, orange flame rose up and thick black smoke stood out against the deep purple of the night sky. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young looks at why Iran is raining rockets down on neighboring Iraq.
India’s hijab row
March 10, 2022 16:25 - 24 minutes - 34.2 MBA row has been brewing for months in the southern Indian state of Karnataka after dozens of Muslim students were barred by authorities from entering colleges because they were wearing the hijab. Widespread protests and counter protests by students attending local colleges and pre-universities have erupted across the southern coastal state, raising tensions in the communally sensitive region. Female Muslim students have lobbied for days outside the gates of their colleges, demanding the ad...
Ukraine’s refugee crisis
March 04, 2022 17:37 - 10 minutes - 13.8 MBMore than a million people have now fled Ukraine. As Russia targets cities across the country, ordinary people have been faced with the unthinkable choice of staying put and facing bombardment - or leaving their homes, their communities, their lives. It is already the biggest European refugee crisis since the 1990s Balkan wars. The UN fears there could be 4 million people displaced in the coming weeks and months. If things continue to get worse it could be Europe’s biggest refugee crisis ...
Ukraine Special: Kiev under siege
February 25, 2022 18:37 - 11 minutes - 15.3 MBOn the morning of February 24, Katya Niporka was woken up by the sound of Russian artillery shaking Kyiv. Soon after, the rest of the world was waking up to the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war on Ukraine and that an invasion was underway. For weeks Ukrainians had been hoping for the best and planning for the worst as hundreds of thousands of troops massed on the border. Most expected that, if an invasion happened, it would be in the south-east of the country, wh...
How archeology is inspiring Omanis - and the world
February 25, 2022 12:47 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBLast month, archaeologists working in Oman’s north found what they believed to be a 4,000 year old board game. The discovery sparked interest worldwide, giving us a peek into the leisure time of the Gulf’s ancient people. Unlike in other areas of the world, where archaeological marvels focus on kings, queens and grand temples, much of the heritage work going on in the Sultanate right now focuses on how ordinary people lived. The artefacts, often dating back millennia, are some of the most w...
Will nuclear fusion save mankind?
February 18, 2022 12:57 - 27 minutes - 38.3 MBLast week, a team of scientists at the JET laboratory in England announced a major step towards making what some hope will be the energy source of the future. Nuclear fusion offers the hope of producing near-limitless supplies of safe, clean energy to power our homes, workplaces and cities. It is also one of the greatest engineering and scientific conundrums that humankind has ever grappled with. It took decades of research to get to a test that only lasted five seconds. There is still ...
The Middle Eastern challenges of competing in the Winter Olympics
February 11, 2022 14:40 - 14 minutes - 20.2 MBWhen you think of the Middle East, you might imagine hot weather, date palms, camels, coffee and hummous - but would the Winter Olympics ever cross your mind? Twelve competitors from five countries in the Mena region are taking part in the winter games in Beijing. And they have some interesting stories to tell about how they came to be there. On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou asks what it takes to compete in the Winter Olympics, and how much more of a challenge it ...
What is the metaverse and can it replace the real world?
February 04, 2022 15:57 - 20 minutes - 27.9 MBThe idea of a virtual world existing in parallel to the real one was once the stuff of science fiction. But today, millions of people are already spending hours a day in virtual spaces and spending billions of dollars on things that simply don’t exist in a physical environment. When Facebook changed its name to Meta last year and rebranded itself as a “metaverse company”, what was once a controversial idea among tech enthusiasts came crashing into the mainstream. Now, the company and other...
A journey into the future of the UAE’s Etihad Rail
January 28, 2022 11:48 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBThe UAE is a country of cars and buses. The only way to travel between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two major cities, is by road - a journey of at least 70 minutes. But soon, that’s going to change. Right now, the UAE’s railways only transport freight… but Etihad Rail is building a passenger service that will eventually connect all seven emirates. With trains racing at up to 200 kilometres per hour, travelling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai will then just take 50 minutes. Soon, the country will feel ...
How CIA pop music helped elect the president of the Philippines
January 21, 2022 01:55 - 15 minutes - 20.8 MBFilipinos will go to the polls in May to elect a new president, marking the end of Rodrigo Duterte’s years in power. Presidential hopefuls will be using what Filipinos call political campaign jingles to attract voters, a tradition that has been going since 1953. But did this ritual begin because of the secret pop aspirations of a CIA officer? The National has seen remarkable evidence that supports this suggestion. On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Robert Tollast looks at the stran...
What Israel’s Omicron wave means for global vaccine push
January 14, 2022 16:01 - 23 minutes - 32.1 MBIn Israel in January 2021, then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the people that if they turned out at vaccine centres then Israel would be the first country to see an end to the pandemic, leading the world and acting as a global model for handling Covid. But that’s not quite how it’s worked out. While the country had begun to open up and life had started to return to normal, Israel, like much of the world, has been hit hard by the Omicron variant. On this week’s Beyond the H...
Israel’s Covid-19 situation and the lessons learnt
January 14, 2022 16:01 - 23 minutes - 32.1 MBIn Israel in January 2021, then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the people that if they turned out at vaccine centres then Israel would be the first country to see an end to the pandemic, leading the world and acting as a global model for handling Covid. But that’s not quite how it’s worked out. While the country had begun to open up and life had started to return to normal, Israel, like much of the world, has been hit hard by the Omicron variant. On this week’s Beyond the H...
Can Iran and the US reach a new nuclear deal?
January 07, 2022 11:13 - 14 minutes - 20.5 MBTalks in Vienna between Iran and the US have resumed in the hope of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. It was then US President Donald Trump who, in 2018, decided to ignore foreign policy experts, and his own advisers, and pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. By many accounts Trump’s decision was underpinned by a belief that he could get better terms. But he did not get the outcome he wanted. In fact, after a year of continuing to be in compliance with the lapsed deal,...
A look back at 2021 (Part 2): The Taliban takeover and the Gaza-Israel War
December 30, 2021 17:28 - 25 minutes - 35.2 MBThis week, as we wrap up 2021, we’re looking at two conflicts that have defined not only the past year, but the past few decades. We’re talking about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the collapse of the government and the country’s future under the resurgent Taliban. Also, we talk about May’s war in Gaza, the legacy of 11 days of rockets and air strikes, and whether there is any hope for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.
A look back at 2021 (Part 1): Covid-19 and the space race
December 23, 2021 20:37 - 43 minutes - 59.6 MBLockdowns may have given way to Covid vaccine drives in 2021 but as the year ends, the spread of Omicron has pushed millions back into some form of social restriction. From the fall of Afghanistan to the electoral defeat of Israel’s longest serving prime minister; from the billionaires’ space race to renewed global action on tackling climate change, 2021 has been a year of change, a year of firsts and lasts and, for many, a year of ups and downs. In the final two episodes of 2021, we wante...
How worried should we be about the Omicron variant?
December 16, 2021 12:57 - 16 minutes - 22.5 MBA new variant of coronavirus is spreading across the globe. Named Omicron, after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, it has sparked travel bans around the world. In South Africa, where the variant was first identified, it has quickly become the dominant strain. And on Monday, UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced what is believed to be the first death caused by Omicron. On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Cody Combs asks: how worried should we be about Covid’s new variant?
Macron in the Middle East
December 09, 2021 15:06 - 28 minutes - 38.5 MBPresident Emmanuel Macron of France has been back in the Middle East. This time he was in Saudi Arabia, his first visit to the kingdom since 2017, before heading to the UAE. The French leader has made something of a name for himself in the region in recent years. He staked significant political capital on cajoling Lebanon’s leaders to pass reforms to solve their dire economic crisis. He hosted a political summit in Baghdad with officials from across the region – including Iran and the Gulf ...
50 years of the UAE through the eyes of those who lived it
December 01, 2021 04:55 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBThe UAE is 50 years old. Half a century of growth and change has taken place to bring a small desert country to the forefront of global recognition. Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world; in February, the UAE successfully sent an orbiter to Mars; and in November the UAE announced it would be the first country in the Middle East to test self driving cars. Not only is the country a hub for tourism and business, but it is also consistently found to be one of the safest coun...
Do children need the Covid-19 vaccine?
November 25, 2021 14:31 - 18 minutes - 26.1 MBThere's been an ongoing debate over whether children should be vaccinated against Covid-19. Many countries have already begun inoculating those aged 12 and over. Some experts say that vaccinating the young is necessary for a return to normal life and for kids to get back to school. While there are parents who are happy about this, there are others who are cautious, particularly when it comes to vaccinating younger children aged between five and 12. One this week's Beyond the Headlines h...
Is Belarus using migrants to get back at the EU?
November 18, 2021 16:08 - 18 minutes - 26.2 MBAs winter approaches, thousands of refugees are stranded at the Belarus-Poland border. From young children to the elderly, all wrapped up as best they can be to cope with the deteriorating conditions as they wait for sanctuary in the European Union before the weather worsens. Some are chopping down trees in the forest to make fires for heat. At least 10 have already died in these freezing conditions. But the worst of the winter is still ahead of them. But this is no ordinary case of refuge...
The Middle East water crisis and regional stability
November 11, 2021 17:00 - 15 minutes - 20.7 MBAcross the Middle East countries are struggling with the impact of climate change. Temperatures are higher and water more scarce. As populations grow, global warming and bad management have given rise to tensions between nations for what may one day become the world's most precious resource. On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Leila Gharagozlou looks at how water scarcity is threatening not just the environment but the political stability of the region. Hosted by Leila Gharagozlou ...
How Sudan’s political tensions escalated into a national crisis
November 04, 2021 13:56 - 19 minutes - 26.9 MBOn October 25, soldiers in Sudan arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, announced the dissolution of the government and declared a state of emergency. As the news got out, protesters flooded Khartoum and other cities, demanding his release and a return to the power-sharing agreement between a civilian political alliance, led by Hamdok, and the military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Then came a deadly crackdown on the mass rallies in the capital Khartoum, killing at least 12 peop...
How the Gulf is getting serious about climate change
October 28, 2021 14:19 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBSaudi Arabia, the word’s largest oil exporter, has announced it is going net zero on carbon emissions by 2060. A day later Bahrain followed suit and the UAE has already committed to doing so by 2050 Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also pledged $186 billion dollars towards cutting carbon emissions. Over 100 countries have so far made the promise that experts say is vital for all countries if humanity is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Only two small nations – Bhutan and Surin...
Will shooting shatter hopes for Beirut blast justice?
October 20, 2021 16:04 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBOn October 14, another protest began on the streets of Beirut. An angry crowd marched with purpose, blocking traffic and yelling slogans. It is a city where such demonstrations have become an almost daily occurrence – but this one would be different. All of a sudden, shots rang out. Chaos ensued. And in the violent exchanges, seven people were killed and dozens more injured. Unlike the popular protests in 2019, these demonstrations were not against political corruption, unemployment, taxes...
Will the Iraq elections bring change?
October 14, 2021 15:02 - 13 minutes - 18.5 MBIraqis went to the polls on October 10, 2021. Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi had promised an early election when he came to power in last May amid mass protests, which began in 2019. People had taken to the streets against government corruption, failing public services and unemployment. But as the ballots were counted it appeared that only about a third of the Iraqi population turned up to vote. Will the Iraqi elections bring a change? asks host Leila Gharagozlou on this week's Beyond the...