The Fourcast

A dramatic escalation in Yemen has plunged the Middle East into a fresh geopolitical crisis, after a series of deadly Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil and gas infrastructure. 
The long running civil war is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. But why are the Houthis at war with Saudi Arabia? And how does it fit into the wider Middle East conflicts?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Middle East Eye Editor-in-Chief David Hearst and investigative journalist Iona Craig, who examine the catastrophic humanitarian emergency facing over 22 million Yemenis, the formation of rival regional alliances, and whether Saudi Arabia can ever achieve a decisive victory in Yemen.

What influence does the UK still have on the world stage? And can it use it to prevent some of the world’s worst atrocities?
On this episode of the Fourcast, we’re joined by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and member of the Standing Group on Atrocity Crimes, Oleksandra Matviichuk.
From Ukraine to Sudan and Myanmar to Xinjiang - this decade has seen some of the worst crimes against humanity amid an ever more uncertain world order.
Matviichuk however says that the UK can - and should - become a ‘world leader’ in the prevention of atrocities around the world - and that doing so is in our national interest.

Zack Polanski and the Green Party are facing pressing questions after Andy Burnham’s Labour held Keir Starmer’s former seat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
The result is a setback for Polanski’s hopes of challenging Labour on the left of British politics. With calls for his resignation after he declined to vote on the Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion, is this just a blip for the Green Party leader or is his leadership really under threat?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Jackie Long spoke to Green Party’s deputy leader Rachel Millward, as well as the political correspondent from the New Statesman Megan Kenyon and pollster from More In Common UK, Luke Tryl.

In the last few days a former German spy chief has been accused of selling state secrets, a British navy sailor has been charged with espionage and now two Latvians have been picked up near a British air base in Cambridgeshire - not to mention the mysterious goings on at RAF Fairford.
So are Western intelligence agencies facing a growing threat? Or was it ever thus? 
In this episode of the Fourcast Indicators, Krishnan Guru Murthy and Mark Urban are joined by former national security adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant.

The unprecedented survival of Christa Pike following a botched lethal injection in Tennessee has plunged the American capital punishment system into a deep legal and constitutional crisis.
Sentenced to death at age 18 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, Pike was scheduled to become the first woman executed by the state in over two centuries. However, after two lethal doses of pentobarbital failed to kill her, she survived and was rushed to intensive care.
Pike is now reportedly conscious and speaking in hospital while handcuffed to her bed.
In this episode of The Fourcast, Anushka Asthana is joined by Dr. Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike's defence team,  Robin Maher from the Death Penalty Information Center, and "Surviving Execution" author Ian Woods. The panel asks: Can an execution ever truly be humane, or has America reached a breaking point with capital punishment?