Syria crackdown: how far will Assad go?

When does a crackdown become a massacre? It seems that a line has been crossed in the Syrian city of Hama, where rights groups say over 140 people have lost their lives since Sunday. Laura Baines asks her panel what, if anything, diplomacy can do.

DEBATE

Nadim HOURY. Director of the Human Rights Watch Beirut office, Senior researcher on Syria and Lebanon (from Beirut);
Joshua LANDIS. Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma (from Norman, Oklahoma);
Patrick SEALE. Journalist and author of "The struggle for Arab independence" (from Fayence, France);
Majd EID. Syrian Activist.

Watch the second part here.

Presenter

François Picard

02/11/2010 - THE DEBATE

US mid-terms: America decides

It’s finally time for America to decide. Millions of people are voting in today's mid-term elections, the results of which will determine the political landscape for years to come. President Barack Obama's Democratic Party is braced for its worst results in a generation. So is this a referendum on the president? Or on the economy? Or both?

01/11/2010 - THE DEBATE

Ivory Coast: an election to end division? (part 2)

There’s a lot riding on this week’s elections in Ivory Coast. Once one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries in Africa, the nation has been divided and beset by violence for over a decade. Officials say at least 80 percent of voters turned out to cast a ballot. The UN says that’s among the highest turnout ever for an African election. So could this be a turning point for Ivorians? Or a trigger for yet more turbulence?

01/11/2010 - THE DEBATE

Ivory Coast: an election to end division?

29/10/2010 - THE DEBATE

Bin Laden’s threats to France - Part 2

The French government has authenticated a video message which shows the Al Qaeda chief issuing his first direct warning to the French telling them to “get their troops out of Afghanistan” and “stop oppressing Muslims at home with policies such as banning the burqa”. Does France have to take the threat seriously?