The Fourcast

What is really going on in Lebanon? Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah across the country.
Iran says Israel is violating the terms of the ceasefire - so could the peace talks set to be held tomorrow in Islamabad collapse before they’ve even started? And is this exactly what Israel wants? 
On this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined from Beirut by Lebanese journalist Rania Abouzeid and in London by Channel 4 News foreign correspondent Secunder Kermani, who’s just returned from Lebanon.

It’s uncertain whether the ceasefire Donald Trump brokered with Iran will hold after Israel launched a massive barrage of airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon leading Tehran to reclose the Strait of Hormuz. 
US vice president JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation to Islamabad in Pakistan, has acknowledged that the ceasefire is “fragile”. 
So is there any chance it could lead to a last peace? Is this a moment where a global economic crisis was averted at the last minute, or just postponed? 
On this episode of the Fourcast Indicators Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by defence and intelligence analyst Mark Urban and Channel 4 News Economics Editor Helia Ebrahimi.

Wireless Festival has been cancelled, following the government’s decision to block Kanye West’s permission to travel to the UK.  
The American rapper, who’s now known as Ye, was due to headline the festival in Finsbury Park in the summer. 
He has a long history of antisemitic comments and actions, including writing a song glorifying Adolf Hitler. Mr West has blamed this on a brain injury and missed Bi-polar diagnosis. 
He has apologised and says he has reached out to the Jewish community in the UK. 
On this episode of The Fourcast, Keme Nzerem is joined by Dr. Toby Greene from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and music journalist Yemi Abiade.

NASA’s Artemis ll mission has blasted off to the moon - with the familiar rhetoric of exploration and human achievement. It’s the first crewed voyage out of low earth orbit in more than half a century - but behind the celebration - another story is taking shape.
The modern ‘space race’ is a high-stakes contest for military, economic and technological dominance here on earth. A contest where whoever controls orbit, controls everything below. 
So what does Artemis tell us about this contest? About the collision of scientific aspiration, strategic military rivalry, and economic leverage? 
How are the world’s governments, militaries and increasingly private companies shaping this orbital order? 
On the latest episode of The Fourcast, Keme Nzerem is joined by Libby Jackson, Head of Space at London’s Science Museum, formerly head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency.
And Gabriel Elefteriu, Senior Research Fellow in Space Power at the Council on Geostrategy. His work is on defence space policy, and the global space power balance.

Is President Trump on the cusp of pulling out of the Iran war or about to double down with boots on the ground? 
He’s lashed out again at his Nato allies threatening to abandon the alliance, raising questions not only about the future of the war, but the future of Western security itself.
On this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei was joined by General Sir Patrick Sanders, who has had a 40 year career in the British Army and rose to Chief of the General staff in 2022, before retiring two years later. He has spent his career thinking about the hard realities of modern conflict, the limits of Western military power and what happens when the United States wavers. Sir Patrick is now the host of ‘The General and the Journalist’ podcast.