The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim

Fully automated frontlines? Robots on the battlefield? Drones fighting drones?
The Ukraine war has been transformed from an old-fashioned trench war to a modern one in a matter of years. On this episode of the podcast, Richard talks to Professor Phillips O’Brien, a defence expert and head of international relations at St Andrews University - an expert on the Ukraine war.
He tells Richard how Ukraine's frontlines have developed with the use of tech and how Ukraine is now able to strike deep into the heart of Russia.
Four years into the war, has the tide now turned in Ukraine's favour? Professor O’Brien gives Richard his assessment.
Yalda also discusses Sky News' exclusive reporting in Minab, Iran. International affairs editor Dominic Waghorn is at the site of an alleged US strike on a primary school which left more than 150 people dead, most of them children, on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
You can watch Dom’s full report here
You can email your questions to Richard and Yalda at [email protected]
You can also watch our podcasts on our YouTube channel here.

A US President has not been to China since Donald Trump’s last trip nine years ago, so what will happen when Xi Jinping rolls out the red carpet for him again? Could there be progress made in Iran, Taiwan, or rare earth minerals?
Yalda tells Richard what her contacts in the region are making of the meeting and where the war in Iran might be heading.
Richard also details some of his reporting in the West Bank, in light of the New York Times investigation which alleges Israeli forces committed crimes against Palestinians. Some details of this story may be upsetting.
You can watch Richard’s full report from 2023 here.
And read Kristoff’s NYT piece here.
You can email your questions to Richard and Yalda at [email protected]
You can also watch our podcasts on our YouTube channel here.

More than eight weeks into the war in Iran, an unlikely country has emerged as the go-between for the two sides: Pakistan. How did General Asim Munir emerge as both the Trump and Iran whisperer?
Yalda explains to Richard how this came about and why India may feel sidelined.
Richard also tells Yalda about the fear of Israeli extremists felt by some members of Jerusalem's Christian community. He has spoken to religious leaders following the attack by a 36-year-old man on a nun.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault but not charged. The Israeli Foreign Ministry says: "This shameful act stands in direct contradiction to the values of respect, coexistence, and religious freedom upon which Israel is founded and to which it remains deeply committed".
You can email your questions to Richard and Yalda at [email protected]
You can also watch our podcasts on our YouTube channel here.

On Saturday 25 April armed terrorists rode into the capital of Mali in West Africa.
Al Qaeda affiliated jihadists now say they are going to launch a total siege of the capital – home to some four million people.
Who are these jihadists? What do they want? And could Mali be about to fall?
Yalda speaks to Yousra Elbagir, Sky’s Africa correspondent, about the growing threat of jihadism in West Africa and why the world needs to pay attention - because what happens in Africa does not stay there.
Meanwhile, Richard is back in Israel and talks about the potential opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu and why he’s keen to stay on a war footing.

You can email your questions to Richard and Yalda at [email protected]
You can also watch our podcasts on our YouTube channel here.

With Trump saying the ceasefire with Iran is 'extended', how could this conflict end? And what are the long-term implications for the region, and who will dominate – Israel or Iran?
Richard is joined by Hamidreza Azizi, an Iranian analyst and Visiting Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. He has spent much of his career in Iran, studying the regime, and talks at length about the current war, its origins and what could happen next in the Middle East.
The two also discuss Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' in the region - made up of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Azizi's new book The Axis of Resistance: Iran, Israel and the Struggle for the Middle East is out later in the spring.
You can also watch our podcasts on our YouTube channel here.
You can email your questions to Richard and Yalda at [email protected]