Will Kashmir attack cause new India-Pakistan war?
The Fourcast
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following a deadly attack in a tourist hotspot in Kashmir, with Indian Prime Minister Nerandra Modi saying he will pursue the attackers to the ‘ends of the earth’ after they killed 26 people. With India blaming Pakistan for the attack, retaliatory actions between the two countries have ramped up. India has cancelled visas, excluded diplomats and suspended a landmark water-sharing treaty - while Pakistan has halted all trade. So, what will Prime Minister Modi do next? Could this attack lead to a bigger conflict between these two nuclear...
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How to take on Trump’s ‘unhinged’ politics | Rutger Bregman
The Fourcast
With the world still reeling from Donald Trump's tariffs, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed the UK's growth forecast and says the global economy will see a "significant slowdown" - add to that, wars in Europe and the Middle East, climate change and the promise and peril of AI. So is it possible to find hope amongst this constant chorus of doom and gloom? One person who thinks they have an answer is Rutger Bregman, a progressive historian famous for taking on the Davos billionaires. He joins Matt Frei on the latest episode of The Fourcast. Produced by Holly Snelling, Calum...
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President Xi or Trump - who's the UK's biggest threat? | Fourcast
The Fourcast
Following President Donald Trump’s tariffs and President Xi Jinping's refusal to back down, the world is in a new era and the UK has a decision to make. Does it line up behind the US President and freeze diplomatic relationships with Beijing? Or, with an increasingly radical leader in Washington DC, do they switch their allegiance? What does the UK do about China’s human rights record? In a world of strong men hostile to liberal democracies, where does the UK go? On this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by Victor Gao, vice president of the Center for China and...
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JD Vance would back Trump third term, says close friend
The Fourcast
President Donald Trump’s second term is almost at 100 days. Unlike 2016, he is now surrounded by passionate supporters and close allies. One key figure in the second series of Trump is Vice President JD Vance, a pure believer in the MAGA movement. On this episode of the Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Dr James Orr, JD Vance’s ‘British sherpa’, self-described ‘national conservative’ and leading intellectual figure of the right. Orr is the UK Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation and an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of...
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'This is amateur hour': Joseph Stiglitz on Trump tariffs and China
The Fourcast
Economic relations between the US and China are effectively over as the world’s two largest economies trade blows in a tit-for-tat trade war that’s brought the global world order into a new era. As Xi Jinping calls on the EU to join him in opposing President Donald Trump’s ‘bullying’, where does this leave the rest of the world? Is globalisation over? On this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, former adviser of Bill Clinton and former chief economist of the World Bank. Produced by Ka Yee Mak, Tom...
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How trade wars can lead to real wars | Trump China tariffs
The Fourcast
President Donald Trump has authorised a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for all countries except for one, China. The president slapped a bespoke 145% tariff on Beijing, effectively ending trade between the world’s two largest economies. What does this new world order mean for the rest of us? Where will this tit-for-tat trade war end? Will there be any winners? Or could it escalate into something much worse? On this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Fiona Hill, who was senior director for European and Russian affairs on the US National Security Council during the first...
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Will Trump’s tariffs cause global economic crash? | Robert Kaplan
The Fourcast
Donald Trump has announced global tariffs on an unprecedented scale, holding up a chart in the White House Rose Garden outlining what each country will pay and while the UK seems to have got off relatively lightly, almost nowhere has escaped America's determination to bolster its home-grown trade and manufacturing. Even the penguins that are the only inhabitants of a chain of remote Antarctic islands have been slapped with a 10 percent tariff. Prices in the US are likely to go up. The global economy faces a period of chaos amid plunging markets. But is a trade war inevitable? And could it...
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Is Israel already enacting Trump’s Gaza plan? Israel's deputy FM
The Fourcast
Benjamin Netanyahu has said his intention is to implement Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, while Israel comes under intense criticism after the bodies of 15 emergency workers were discovered dead in southern Gaza and the UN says they were killed “one be one” by Israeli forces. Sharon Haskell is from the New Hope party in the Israeli parliament and she is the deputy foreign minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. She spoke to Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the latest episode of the Fourcast. Produced by Ka Yee Mak, Calum Fraser, Girish Juneja, Rob...
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UK Economy - How Bad Is It? The Spring Statement Explained | Fourcast Live
The Fourcast
The Fourcast breaks down a huge day for the UK economy and British politics, as Rachel Reeves delivers her Spring Statement with cuts to welfare and a new forecast from the OBR slashing the UK’s prospect for growth. Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined by our Economics Correspondent Helia Ebrahimi and our Senior Political Correspondent Paul McNamara to explain what this means for you and explore the political fallout. Produced by Girish Juneja, Rob Thomson, Ka Yee Mak, Calum Fraser
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Russian ambassador to the UK on Trump Putin talks and Ukraine’s future
The Fourcast
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have spoken on the phone for over 90 minutes thrashing out a deal to halt the bloodshed in Ukraine, and Russia has now agreed to a 30 day energy and infrastructure ceasefire as well as negotiations on the implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. In this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Russia’s Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, about the talks between Russia and the USA over Ukraine, Europe's attempts to provide security guarantees and what there is to stop Russia wanting more territory if it gets everything it wants in...
info_outlineWith the Israel Gaza war reportedly on the brink of a ceasefire and Iran reeling after the devastation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Middle East is on the cusp of a complete realignment in 2025.
Will Syria buck the trend of so many nations after the Arab Spring that have descended into chaos after the fall of a tyrant? The country’s new de facto leader Mohammed al-Jolani, who is now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, says he will be moderate and will stay out of his neighbours affairs. But will neighbouring powers stay out of Syria?
What will Iran do now that so many of its proxies have been devastated since October the 7th?
And if there’s a ceasefire in Gaza, what next for the Palestinians?
To discuss all this and more in this week’s episode of the Fourcast, Matt Frei was joined by Channel 4 News’ Foreign Affairs Correspondent Secunder Kermani and Jonathan Rugman - who covered the Middle East for years at Channel 4 News and is a now a Senior Associate Fellow at the defence and security think tank Rusi.
Produced by Calum Fraser, Rob Thomson, Silvia Maresca, Ka Yee Mak