The Documentary Podcast Folgen

Assassination, sabotage, cyberattacks - the undeclared war between Israel and Iran is one of the longest running conflicts in the region. As attempts to create a new deal to limit Iran's nuclear programme fail and Israel makes unprecedented alliances with its Arab neighbours, tensions are rising. Suzanne Kianpour talks to leading players in the region to find out how it all began and where it is heading.

Sports climber Elnaz Rekabi has become the latest symbol of the anti-government protests, begun and led by women in Iran. She competed in the Asian Championships in South Korea with her hair uncovered, breaking Iran’s strict dress code requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf. Although Ms Rekabi later said her hijab had fallen off "inadvertently", the images had already gone viral. We hear from an Iranian female footballer who was in a similar position a few years ago and speak to a chess referee who took off her own headscarf during a tournament in 2020.

Paul Kenyon investigates the ‘brain drain’ of doctors from developing countries to work in the UK. The large scale recruitment of foreign doctors from nations with the greatest need to retain their medical personnel is increasing on a massive scale. What’s more, thousands of doctors are being targeted despite guidance which says recruitment from developing countries should not happen. It is though - because the UK trains too few doctors and nurses and needs these staff to plug the gaps. There are also big concerns about how many of the doctors flown into the UK are expected to work extremely long hours which they say is putting patient safety at risk.