The Sky News Business Podcast · Sky News

How the conflict in the Middle East might put Donald Trump in the White House

·31 min

NBC's Richard Engel and Sky News' Yalda Hakim launch their new podcast 'The World,' reporting from Beirut and Jerusalem respectively on the escalating Middle East conflict. They contextualize coverage with October 7th's massacre (1,200 killed, 97 hostages held) and Nova Music Festival atrocity (364 dead, described as bloodiest festival in history). Yalda describes firsthand the October 7th memorial and nearby Gaza bombardment; Richard reports from southern Lebanon facing Israeli evacuation orders. The core analysis identifies a fundamental narrative divide: Israelis frame as existential self-defense (justified by historical trauma and Holocaust memory), while Arab world sees victimization with no acknowledgment of October 7th. Visceral ground details—naked children bathing by roadsides in displacement camps, dumpster massacre testimony, artillery fire every 90 seconds—illustrate humanitarian scale. Deaths in 4 days of bombing exceed 2006 war's 30-day toll. Episode positions as ongoing series from conflict front lines.

As heard by us

Front-line reporting that turns regional escalation into a clear, steady briefing.

This episode is a brisk front-line briefing on how Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Israel keep pressing on one another's pressure points. Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim stay close to what reporters can see and hear, moving from Beirut and southern Lebanon to Tyre and Israel to show how…

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Why you'd press play

You want the Middle East mapped from Beirut to Israel without the diplomatic fog.

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