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Crises in the Caucasus

Political turmoil erupts in both Georgia and Armenia. Plus: a mass reburial in Iraq of Yazidi victims of an IS massacre; a vaccine row in Peru and Iceland's pandemic precautions.

The cities of Yerevan and Tbilisi have recently been roiled by mass demonstrations, police sieges and rancorous rhetoric. Both Armenia and Georgia are living through tumultuous days as political rivals plot, scheme and deride their opponents by a multitude of means. The 麻豆社's Reyhan Demytrie reveals what it's like to try and cover two complex constitutional crises at once.

Pascale Harter introduces her report, and more insight and analysis from correspondents, journalists and writers around the world.

As the Pope visits Iraq, Lizzie Porter describes a recent, and far more sombre ceremony recently held in the formerly Yazidi agricultural village of Kocho. This was the site of one of the so-called Islamic State's worst massacres as its fighters rampaged through the border between Syria and Iraq; now there are attempts to rebury the dead they threw into mass graves with more dignity. But for survivors who fled the area, and are now tentatively trying to remake their lives nearby, there's still little sense of security and living conditions are harsh

Voters in Peru traditionally set little faith in politicians - but the country's recent 'vaccine-gate' scandal has taken public trust in the ruling class to a new low. Dan Collyns reveals the backlash after a scandalous leak revealed that many of the country's most influential people had received their Covid vaccinations unusually early - and in some cases, despite voluble denials that they'd ever jump the queue.

In Iceland, the response to the pandemic has been rather more orderly - though that's obviously a little easier to achieve on an island nation with around 350,000 people. Tira Shubart explains how it's managed the pandemic and its impact on tourism -and explores some possible roots of its pragmatic and science-based approach.

(Image: Opposition supporters hold a rally in Yerevan, Armenia. Credit: Reuters/Artem Mikryukov)

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23 minutes

Last on

Sun 7 Mar 2021 17:06GMT

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  • Sat 6 Mar 2021 02:06GMT
  • Sun 7 Mar 2021 05:06GMT
  • Sun 7 Mar 2021 09:06GMT
  • Sun 7 Mar 2021 17:06GMT