Lebanon braces for an attack and Puigdemont returns

Chapter 1

Foreign citizens told to leave Lebanon

We discuss growing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East as Lebanon remains on high alert and a number of countries tell their citizens to evacuate. Iran has vowed ‘severe’ retaliation against Israel, which it blames for the death of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week. His death came hours after Israel killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. What plans are being made in the event of an Israeli invasion and how are Lebanese citizens, who have endured years of conflict and crisis, coping?

Chapter 2

Puigdemont returns from exile and then disappears

We discuss Carles Puigdemont’s shock return to Spain for the first time in seven years, followed by his prompt disappearance. The former Catalan separatist leader has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium after organising an illegal independence referendum. Despite facing an outstanding arrest warrant, he gave a short speech near the Catalan parliament in Barcelona ahead the expected swearing in of the region’s new leader – and then vanished. We look at what’s next.