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Israel's warming relations with Arab Gulf states

Israel's warming relations with Arab Gulf states, up close and personal with Californian's wildfires, plus stories from Lesbos and Tanzania.

Pascale Harter introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

Israel has signed a deal normalising relations with two regional neighbours, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Behind the agreement lies a strategy to try to unite against Iran. The Palestinian authorities have condemned it as a betrayal arguing it makes no progress towards the resolution of the decades-old conflict or the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Yolande Knell wonders what young people in Israel and the Gulf make of it.

Wildfires continue to rage across the West Coast of the United States. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes. Some have lost everything with over two million hectares of land scorched. Our correspondent Peter Bowes knows the reality of what it’s like to be caught up in the fires.

On Lesbos, efforts have begun to move thousands of men, women and children made homeless to a new tent encampment on the Greek island. Bethany Bell has heard from refugees and migrants who have been sleeping on the streets and in olive groves since the Moria camp burnt down. On Wednesday four Afghan asylum seekers were charged with starting the fire in Moria camp.

During any other year, the Serengeti in Tanzania at this time would be in peak safari season; lodges would be fully booked and carloads of tourists would be ranging the reserve, eager to catch a glimpse of a leopard. But as Michelle Jana Chan has found, although Tanzania has officially been relatively unscathed by cases of coronavirus so far, international travel restrictions have hit the tourism industry here hard.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Bethan Head
Editor: Jasper Corbett

(Image: Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Abdullatif Al Zayani and Abdullah bin Zayed wave from the White House balcony after a signing ceremony for the Abraham Accords, 15 September 2020. Credit: Reuters Reuters/Tom Brenner)

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23 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Sep 2020 16:06GMT

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