Sweden's unorthodox approach to handling the health crisis has made headlines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike most European Union members, the Swedes did not impose any strict lockdown measures. While the relaxed strategy is expected to ease the impact on the economy, Sweden has the worst death toll by far in Scandinavia. So what went wrong? And what should have been done differently? Sweden's minister for health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren, talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Al Jazeera Correspondent

Sweden's unorthodox response to COVID-19: What went wrong? | Talk to Al Jazeera

From Cairo's narrow downtown streets and alleys to the affluent residential areas in the outer reaches of the city, nothing escapes the attention of the ever-vigilant doormen. Sitting at the entrances of apartment blocks in Cairo and Alexandria - and often mindful of the chance to make a quick buck - the "bawabs" have been an integral part of the social fabric of Egypt's big cities for decades. This Al Jazeera World documentary celebrates the men, their history, their job and their influence. Of course, the bawabs are often much more than doormen. They are the all-seeing eyes and ears of the buildings they live and work in, observers of residents' "moral practices", as well as plumbers, electricians, security guards and keepers of personal secrets. But today's doormen are disappearing. As a new wave of construction takes place in Cairo, Egyptian society is undergoing profound change. Many of today's doormen have become security guards, with smart blue uniforms replacing traditional galabeyas in what many see as the sad loss of a unique social group from Egypt's 20th century.

The Doormen of Egypt | Al Jazeera World

Luiz Inacio da Silva, also known as Lula, was president of Brazil from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2010. The former labour union leader lifted millions of people out of poverty in one of the world's most unequal countries. Lula was jailed in 2018 after the "car wash" investigation saw dozens of politicians imprisoned and accused of corruption. He was released after 580 days on grounds that he had been denied a due process. The 74-year-old former president talks to Al Jazeera about current President Jair Bolsonaro's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the United States's involvement in Latin American affairs. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Lula da Silva: US 'always behind regime change' in Latin America | Talk to Al Jazeera

John Bolton is one of the most divisive figures in American politics today. To some, he is Washington's most famous warmonger. To others, a fearless defender of US interests. From Iraq to Iran, Syria to North Korea, his decades of conservative foreign policy have influenced the position and actions of the US in conflicts worldwide. Since first serving under President Ronald Reagan's administration in the 1980s, Bolton built a career as a solid, conservative Republican politician. He was assistant secretary of state for international organisation affairs when President George HW Bush was in the White House, and was under-secretary of state for arms control and international security as well as ambassador to the UN for President George W Bush. Most recently, he was national security adviser to President Donald Trump. But their working relationship ended in acrimony and accusations after 17 months. Trump tweeted that Bolton's services were no longer needed in the White House, while Bolton insisted he had quit. His recent book - The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir - caused controversy as Bolton portrays a president driven only by his desire for re-election. On this interview, we go beyond this latest well-covered controversy to explore what was the truth of his policy advice and positions and whether he has any regrets. Did he really encourage the Trump administration to "take on the whole world at the same time", as President Trump stated? Or was he just misunderstood? We find out as John Bolton talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

John Bolton on Iran, North Korea and 'accountability' for US wars | Talk to Al Jazeera

In July 1995, an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys - sons, husbands and brothers - were dragged away never to be seen again. The Srebrenica massacre marks a particularly inhumane and brutal act within the tragedy and bloodshed of the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian War. This film follows four survivors of the massacre as they look to the future despite the pain of their loss and the angst of trying to make sense of the past. *This film, first broadcast in 2012, was updated in July 2020, 25 years after the Srebrenica genocide.

Srebrenica: Women Who Refuse to Die | Al Jazeera World

Stretching from Mozambique in south-east Africa to Syria in the Middle East, the Great Rift Valley is home to the world's lowest city, Jericho, which was established over 10,000 years ago. Farmers and shepherds have tended flocks and lived off the land in the Jordan Valley for thousands of years. But Israel's continued occupation of the region since 1967 is threatening people's traditional way of life, restricting Palestinian development on the land - and Bedouin homes in the area have repeatedly been razed. Some 56,000 Palestinians live in the part of the valley that lies in the West Bank, many of who are Bedouin living in temporary communities, always moving with the herds. Their determination to remain on the land is becoming ever more difficult in the face of constant attempts by the Israeli military and settlers to drive them off their land. With water resources and agricultural potential, the valley would be the breadbasket and water source of any future Palestinian state. The Jordan Valley has some of the most fertile land in all of the occupied territories. Arable farming is a lifeline for many rural Palestinian communities, yet Israel controls most water resources in the area. While making life difficult for local communities, Israel has also encouraged the spread of settlements - regarded illegal under international law - across the occupied West Bank for over five decades. The number of Jewish settlers in the Jordan Valley has nearly doubled from 2011 to 2018. Israeli settlers already use the vast majority of the area's water resources and an increased influx would further threaten the living conditions of Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley, limiting their opportunities for economic growth and pushing the people living there into greater poverty. "The Israeli policy is to drive us away, not to aid our survival here," says Abu Saqr, one of the Jordan Valley residents struggling to stay on in the face of Israeli policies of home demolitions and arrest. His home has been destroyed three times. Between 2011 and 2018, 458 housing units were demolished by the Israeli Army in the Jordan Valley districts of Tubas and Jericho. During that same period, three of Abu Saqr's eight sons and Abu Saqr himself spent time in Israeli prisons. Since then, Israel's policy on settlements has also hardened and in 2018, it announced plans to expand 14 of the 20 existing illegal settlements and build three new ones, effectively doubling the Israeli settler population. Local campaigners like Sirene Khudairi, have consistently protested against Israel's human rights violations in the Jordan Valley; and her activities led to her detention for nine months. "I get so upset when I see this well nearly empty and the settlement draining our water to turn their areas into a Garden of Eden," says Sirene, during one of her visits to Abu Saqr. Since this film was originally made in 2011, Sirene has got married and moved to Bethlehem to start a family. Those like Abu Saqr and Sirene are stuck between a rock and a hard place. There's Israel on one hand, and the Palestinian Authority - whom they constantly have to pressure to support their cause – on the other. The PA does its best to protect Palestinian farming communities in the valley and considers itself the last line of defence for any future, self-sufficient Palestinian state. But unfortunately, the Valley forms a third of the occupied West Bank, with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C (under the terms of the 1993 Oslo Accords), which falls under full Israeli military control. This film documents the struggle of Palestinian shepherds and farmers in the Israeli-occupied Jordan Valley as they try to cling on to an age-old way of life.

The Last Shepherds of the Jordan Valley | Al Jazeera World

On December 24, 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. Leaders of the Soviet Union said they had been invited by Afghanistan's communist leader Babrak Karmal. But the invasion set Afghanistan on a path of decades of conflict - from the Soviet-Afghan War to Moscow's complete withdrawal in the late 1980s, and the eventual collapse of the communist government. Civil war followed, eventually leading to the Taliban's rise to power. Once backed by the United States's CIA, the Taliban ruled most of Afghanistan until 2001, when the US-led coalition invaded after the 9/11 attacks, and the group's leadership fled Kabul. After that, general elections were held in 2004, then 2005, 2009, then 2010, 2014 and 2018. Afghan politicians squabbled for power and struggled to control large swathes of their own territory. But the Taliban did not recognise the authority of any of the elected governments. Nearly 20 years later, US forces signed an agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan - on condition that the Taliban will not harbour hardline groups or attack the US and its allies. The agreement came after nearly seven years of efforts to facilitate political reconciliation between the Taliban, the Afghan government, the US, and other countries after Qatar agreed to open an office for the Taliban where Afghan leaders and western governments could negotiate face-to-face. But as attacks continue, efforts to arrange intra-Afghan talks have been delayed yet again. So, what will it take to achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan? We find out as Khairullah Khairkhwa, a member of the Taliban's political office in Qatar, talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

What will it take to achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan? | Talk to Al Jazeera

The coronavirus is changing the world as we know it. When infections soared earlier this year, governments worldwide implemented strict social distancing measures that slowed the global economy dramatically. So far, more than half-a-million people have died, with 10 million infected worldwide. But the pandemic's huge cost has forced many countries to lift restrictions and reopen their economies. The United Kingdom, one of the world's largest economies, has one of the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates globally. British scientists, like many others, are working around the clock to find a vaccine, and one of the country's most renowned institutions, Oxford University, is fighting the pandemic on multiple fronts. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Martin Landray is one of the scientists leading The Recovery Trial, the world's largest randomised clinical trial of potential COVID-19 treatments. He is not looking for a cure on its own. He is more focused on finding treatments with drugs used for other viruses such as HIV and SARS. But will there ever be a cure for COVID-19? Or will we all just have to learn to live with it? And how? Find out more as Professor Martin Landray talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Martin Landray: World needs a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 | Talk to Al Jazeera

After Yugoslavia fell apart in the early 1990s and descended into a bitter regional conflict, Alija Izetbegovic fought for the survival of his country and people. The first president of the independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Izetbegovic was no stranger to controversy and had served five years of a 14-year prison sentence in the 1980s. This two-part documentary series uses interviews with members of his family and major regional figures as well as archive footage and reconstruction to tell the chequered history of this part of the Balkans through Izetbegovic's eyes.

Bosnian Leader Alija Izetbegovic: From Prisoner to President (Part 2) | Al Jazeera World

On February 26, Brazil became the first country in South America to confirm a COVID-19 infection. And as the number of cases increased over the subsequent weeks and months, its president, Jair Bolsonaro, refused to take any drastic measures. He fought with state leaders who imposed lockdowns and mandated social distancing rules - calling their actions "economically ruinous". Bolsonaro still refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of the global pandemic. He has called the virus nothing more than a "little flu". His priority has been to keep the economy going at any cost. But now, Brazil has recorded more than 1.2 million infections - and has the world's second-highest death toll. And as Bolsonaro pushes for people to go back to work, two of his health ministers have walked away. Nelson Teich had taken office on April 17, but left the job just four weeks later. Teich had replaced Luiz Henrique Mandetta, whom Bolsanaro had dismissed. The president called it "a consensual divorce", but Mandetta's sacking caused anger across Brazil - with many banging pots and pans from their windows. So, how will President Bolsanaro's handling of this pandemic affect the more than 200 million Brazilians? And are his decisions influenced by his friendship with US President Donald Trump? We put those questions to one of the men who played a central role during this crisis - Brazil's former health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Luiz Henrique Mandetta: 'Bolsonaro follows Trump' on coronavirus | Talk to Al Jazeera

Bosnian Leader Alija Izetbegovic: From Prisoner to President | Al Jazeera World

One of the world’s most fertile fishing grounds is beset by scandal. Al Jazeera goes undercover to expose how foreign companies get a corrupt cut of a priceless natural resource in Namibia. Host Kevin Hirten sits down with producer James Kleinfeld to break down the “Anatomy of a Bribe” that engulfed a nation.

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How much would you pay for diplomatic immunity? The trade-in Caribbean diplomatic passports has become a magnet for wealthy foreigners, corrupt businessmen, and criminals from around the world. Al Jazeera exposes two prime ministers who are complicit in the deals. The investigation reveals details of how an oil smuggler, turned ambassador, turned international fugitive bought his way into the diplomatic class. Investigators go undercover to reveal the inner-workings of a secret system: to find out how much it costs and what it takes to purchase what’s become the ultimate luxury item a diplomatic passport.

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Maestro Daniel Barenboim is one of the leading figures in the world of classical music. He has conducted all the major orchestras and performed at some of the world's most prestigious concert venues. Born in Argentina, his first performance came at the age of seven back in 1950. Two years later his family moved to Salzburg, Austria, and then to Israel, where he became passionate about politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Barenboim has since had an outstanding international career and is also recognised for his humanitarian work. In 1999, he created the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with young musicians from across the Middle East to promote dialogue and peaceful coexistence. But Barenboim has also faced controversy and criticism from some of the musicians who have played under his baton. As Israel's recently elected government plans to annex parts of the illegally occupied West Bank, can peace in the region ever be achieved? And can arts and culture play a new role in our lives after the global coronavirus pandemic? To discuss this and more, the general music director of the Berlin State Opera and the Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, talks to Al Jazeera. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Maestro Daniel Barenboim: Live music must survive the pandemic | Talk to Al Jazeera

Just how free are women in Saudi Arabia today? The Saudi government has said it supports the empowerment of women and young people. While there have been reforms, including lifting the ban on women driving in June 2018, the arrest and detention of women speaking out against the government appear to have continued. Al Jazeera World looks at the individual cases of five Saudi women currently in detention, or who have fled the country following apparent harassment for their political views. It asks whether Saudi Arabia is publicly championing the rights of women while privately punishing those who challenge the status quo. In this film, the family of one detainee makes serious allegations of torture during her imprisonment, while others give testimonies about random arrests and arbitrary detention at Dhahban prison near Jeddah. According to Human Rights Watch, and following international pressure, the Saudi Human Rights Commission carried out an investigation into conditions at Dhahban and found no evidence of torture. This film examines the consequences of activism in Saudi Arabia, hearing from women detainees and international human rights organisations, as well as seeking responses from those at the heart of decision-making within the country. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Saudi Women: Reform or Repression? | Al Jazeera World

From addiction to digital devices to the search for the roots of yoga, Al Jazeera correspondents take us on their journeys of discovery.

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Al Jazeera Correspondent

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