Inside Story

Ever since Syria and Lebanon were established as nations, residents have been able to travel freely between the two countries. But on Monday, for the first time, Lebanon implemented restrictions on its border. Syrian refugees hoping to enter Lebanon now have to show proof of their purpose and length of stay. Those who want to move for work will have to be sponsored by a Lebanese individual or company. Exceptions will only be made for pressing humanitarian reasons. Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests: George Ghali - Program Officer for the Non-Governmental Organization, ALEF. Sami Nader - Professor of International Relations and Economics at St. Joseph University and Director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs. Khalil Gebara - Head of the Good Governance Unit, Office of the President of Council of Ministers, Republic of Lebanon. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/

Like elsewhere in the Middle East, post-revolutionary Yemen is in trouble. Years of instability created a power vacuum that has been filled with groups trying to overthrow the government. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains a major threat. The US considers it the group's most dangerous offshoot. But it is Shia Houthi rebels who are really wielding power. Presenter: David Foster Guests: Osama Sari - A Houthi Journalist who runs what was formerly a government newspaper, Al Thawra, which is now under Houthi control. Mohammed Jumeh - A Yemeni Analyst who was a member of the national conference in Yemen. Abubakr Al Shamahi - A Freelance Journalist, Writer and Blogger Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/

The US and Iran are criticising the gulf kingdom of Bahrain over its detention of opposition leader. Presenter: David Foster Adel Al Mo'Awda - A Member of Bahrain's Shura Council. Ali al Aswad - A Member of the Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, and a former opposition MP. Justin Gengler - A Researcher at Qatar University who completed the first mass survey of political attitudes in Bahrain. - Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website:http://www.aljazeera.com/

Ships packed with refugees are abandoned and left to drift to their fate off the coast of Europe. Migrants making the journey by sea to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa are facing alarming new dangers. Suspected traffickers are being accused of abandoning ships in rough seas. The European Union's border control agency, Frontex, has reported six such incidents since the beginning of December. The agency took the lead in search and rescue missions from Italy in November. In the latest incident, the Blue Sky M cargo ship, under a Moldovan flag, was abandoned by its crew with almost 1,000 people on board. The rudder was reportedly jammed, with the packed vessel set on a collision-course with the Italian shore. In another development, the Icelandic coastguard, operating as part of Frontex's Operation Triton, rescued a one-time livestock freighter carrying 450 migrants. The Ezadeen had lost power off the south-east of Italy, with no sign of the crew. There's been a surge in migrants heading for Europe in the past year, escaping wars in Iraq and Syria, chaos in Libya and poverty and unrest in the Horn of Africa and West Africa. Increasingly larger ships are being used and what was a seasonal migration has become a year round pursuit. So are criminal gangs placing migrants in ever greater danger? And are authorities simply reacting to a problem which has its routes far from their shores? Presenter: David Foster Guests: Joel Millman - spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration. Ewa Moncure - representing Frontex, the European Union's border control agency. William Spindler – spokesman for UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Migrants making the journey by sea to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa are facing alarming new dangers. Suspected traffickers are being accused of abandoning ships in rough seas. The European Union's border control agency, Frontex, has reported six such incidents since the beginning of December. The agency took the lead in search and rescue missions from Italy in November. In the latest incident, the Blue Sky M cargo ship, under a Moldovan flag, was abandoned by its crew with almost 1,000 people on board. The rudder was reportedly jammed, with the packed vessel set on a collision-course with the Italian shore. In another development, the Icelandic coastguard, operating as part of Frontex's Operation Triton, rescued a one-time livestock freighter carrying 450 migrants. The Ezadeen had lost power off the south-east of Italy, with no sign of the crew. There's been a surge in migrants heading for Europe in the past year, escaping wars in Iraq and Syria, chaos in Libya and poverty and unrest in the Horn of Africa and West Africa. Increasingly larger ships are being used and what was a seasonal migration has become a year round pursuit. So are criminal gangs placing migrants in ever greater danger? And are authorities simply reacting to a problem which has its routes far from their shores? Presenter: David Foster Guests: Joel Millman - spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration. Ewa Moncure - representing Frontex, the European Union's border control agency. William Spindler – spokesman for UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

The disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501 has, for the second time this year, shone a spotlight on flight safety. The plane disappeared on Sunday after it took off from the Indonesian city Surabaya, on its way to Singapore. And its disappearance has prompted a similar mix of anguish and mystery that followed the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane nine months ago. Should the world be more worried about aviation safety? And are airlines doing all they can to track their planes? Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests: Tobias Rueckerl - Aviation Consultant. John Walton - Aviation Journalist and Travel Columnist.

The number of attacks and kidnappings of media workers soared in 2014. Carefully staged murders of reporters became all too common. And governments around the world increasingly used national security as an excuse to detain journalists and stifle criticism of their actions. The Middle East, and Syria in particular, was the worst place to be a journalist. While China, Iran and Eritrea were among the countries that imprisoned the most journalists. Presenter: Hazem Sika Guests: William Horsley - International Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media at the University of Sheffield. Martin Schibbye - A Freelance Journalist, who spent 14 months in an Ethiopian prison after being found guilty of terrorism. Alison Bethel McKenzie - Executive Director of the International Press Institute. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/

The treaty, signed by 130 countries, will put controls on governments to help limit the flow of weapons to countries where they would be used to commit atrocities, war crimes or attack civilians. Supporters hailed the treaty as a new chapter, while campaigners said they will make sure it will be strictly and properly implemented. But how will the treaty be implemented? And will it help put an end to the many armed conficts around the world? Presenter: Hazem Sika Guests - Martin Butcher: Policy adviser on arms and conflict at Oxfam. He is also a former NATO policy analyst for the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. Alexandre Vautravers: Editor of the Swiss Military Review Kirck Jackson: Coordinator of the Campaign Against Arms Trade

Elections in Indian-administered Kashmir have for the most part been viewed with deep scepticism. Many Kashmiris say the process is illegitmate and futile. As a result, boycotts and low voter turnout have been common. But things may be changing in the conflict-ridden region. The latest state assembly elections attracted a record number of Kashmiris to the polls, with a voter turnout not seen in 25 years. Inside Story asks whether a shift is afoot in Kashmir. And what the future of the region looks like under a Narendra Modi government.

As oil prices fell, many expected OPEC members to lower their production in an effort to boost prices - but they didn't. And analysts now say it is part of a long term strategy by OPEC's most dominant member, Saudi Arabia, to keep its market share and push out competitors. Join Inside Story as we take a look at how the world's biggest oil producers are using low prices, to keep their domination of the market.

Dramatic, the thaw in ties with the Castro regime has been in the works for months. Now, Washington is moving to normalise relations with Havana. Obama has yet to obtain consent from Congress before completely lifting sanctions against Washington's longtime enemy. But what's behind this sudden shift? And why now? Presenter: Martine Dennis Guests - Hugh O'Shaughnessy: Latin America Correspondent for The Observer. Fransisco co Dominguez: lecturer at Middlesex University Xavier Cortada: Cuban-American artist

A day after the Peshawar attack in which 162 people were killed, the government, the army and the intellience services are under pressure to take on various armed groups inside the country. But what can Pakistan do to deal with the homegrown "militancy"? Presenter: Martine Denis Guests: Talat Masood: former Pakistani military general Ameen Jan: Country Director at Aktis Strategy. Ayesha Sadiqqa: Pakistani military analyst and author of Military Incorporated: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/

Russian economy under serious threat as the currency continues to plummet. Guests: Timothy Ash: head of emerging markets research at Standard Bank in London. Pavel Felgenhauer: defense analyst and columnist with Novaya Gazetta. Martin McCauley: Russian specialist at the University of London and author of the book The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. - Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website:http://www.aljazeera.com/

Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Abdullah Bozkurt - bureau chief for the Today's Zaman newspaper. Galip Dalay - Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Fadi Hakura - Associate Fellow at Chatham House and a specialist on Turkish politics and the economy. - Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website:http://www.aljazeera.com/

Can South Sudan's warring rivals set aside their personal differences for the good of the country? Civil war has been raging for a year. And with half the country in need of help, what will it take to a force a breakthrough in peace talks?

Shinzo Abe called snap elections last month, hoping to have a stronger mandate to go ahead with his economic agenda, also known as Abenomics. He has pledged to revive the economy with a mix of loose monetary policy, government spending and reforms, while moving ahead with plans to rein in Japan's massive public debt. Abe strongly believes that Abenomics will be successful, insisting it is the only way out. But will Japanese voters back him in Sunday's poll? Is Abenomics able to help their economy? And why did Abe called snap elections in the first place?