The News Agents The News Agents

Each Thursday during the election campaign we are answering your questions.
Do MPs get paid after Parliament breaks up? Why do majorities shrink so fast these days? What is purdah and what’s Farage up to?
Later, Salman Rushdie talks to Emily about the knife attack that nearly killed him and the premonition he had that it would happen. We discuss censorship, hate, Gaza and Iran. And whether the attack has changed his political leanings.
The best producer we could have asked for!: Laura FitzPatrick
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

So we finally have a date for the general election, and it’s very very soon.
How is it going to go down with the voters ? How are Tory MPs feeling about being blindsided ? And has Rishi taken a massive, optimistic gamble or just given up?
In our election special we discuss what just happened - and why.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Shane Fennelly, Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

We are not ones to gossip but frankly the Westminster rumour mill is in overdrive, so we thought we should talk you through how the talk of a general election began and why we are all suspicious of a big announcement.
Later, we talk to the Palestinian High Commissioner as three EU states - including Ireland - state their recognition of Palestine. What effect will this have - what changes?
And we speak to the brother of an Israeli hostage - Naama Levi- about the sexual violence inflicted on women being held by Hamas since October.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

David Cameron has accused Rishi Sunak of hurting Britain’s soft power and putting universities at financial risk with his threat to curb the visa rights of international students.
Rishi is desperate to see immigration numbers come down. But what will be the knock on effect of these curbs on our own students?
Later, an interview with Ukrainian and Arsenal footballer Zinchenko - and why is Lee Anderson sounding one mushroom
Short of a full English ?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and Defence minister and three Hamas leaders - accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Israeli cabinet has already hit back - calling it 'moral blindness'. But this means the country's leaders could face arrest in over 120 countries (the signatories to the ICC) if they travel abroad.
Why has the prosecutor sought the warrants now - and what impact could this have on the war in Gaza and on Israel's relationships with the international community? Could Netanyahu really end up in the Hague?
Later, as the infected blood scandal finally acnkowledges decades of failure and cover up we ask why these slow burn scandals that wreck so many lives are such a familiar story in the UK.
And we talk to Omid Djalili about the death of Iran's PM in a helicopter crash.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Shane Fennelly& Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

We are on the ground in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where Europe and Asia meet. For weeks hundreds of thousands of (overwhelmingly) Gen Zs have taken to the streets to protest against their government. The gates of Parliament have been stormed, tear gas repeatedly deployed, protesters beaten up and with even a fist fight among MPs thrown in.
The clash has centred on the governing Georgian Dream Party’s “Foreign Agent” law, which opponents fear will be a tool to suppress political opponents. But the divisions being exposed in Georgia are far more fundamental and go much beyond than that. At the beating heart of it all is the influence of Russia, Vladimir Putin and a question which haunts many of the Soviet successor states- are we the next Ukraine?
Lewis reports from Georgia in this special extended episode, where he tells a tale of geopolitical intrigue, of misinformation and conspiracy, and of a generation yearning for a different future.
Field Producer: Gabriel Radus
Video Producer: Rory Symon
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents