April 23 - Human Trafficking Networks in Egypt and Libya; In Search of a Saudi Strategy as Bombing of Yemen Resumes

We will begin with the E.U. emergency summit to prevent further deaths of migrants, 1,750 of whom have drowned in the Mediterranean so far this year prompting European leaders to promise more naval assets but not much help for those 35,000 who have made it to Europe and no strategy to stem the flow of refugees from Africa and the Middle East. Patrick Kingsley, the Egypt correspondent for the U.K. Guardian, who has investigated networks of human traffickers in Egypt and Libya, joins us from the island of Malta where funerals for 24 of the 800 victims who lost their lives in last weekend’s sinking were held today, with many buried in nameless graves.

Part 2

Then, as Saudi airstrikes resume in Yemen after a brief pause, we look into what possible strategy the Saudis might have as they insist the rebel Houthis must give up all the territory they have captured before any talks begin, while at the same time the Houthis insist they won’t begin talks unless Saudi airstrikes end. Sharmine Narwani, a political analyst and commentator on Mideast geopolitics and a former senior associate at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, joins us from Beirut to discuss the growing problems the Saudis have around their periphery and at home with a restive Shia minority and 25% of the population living in poverty, while a billionaire prince offers 100 free Bentleys to 100 Saudi pilots who are bombing one of the poorest countries in the world.