Recent Episodes

Inside the Middle East

Episode43

HOSTED BY HALA GORANI FROM BAHRAIN

POVERTY IN BAHRAIN -- HALA GORANI

Oil-rich Bahrain has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But there are those left on the sidelines of this prosperity. Almost fifteen-percent of Bahrainis live on less than five dollars a day - and their country is one of the Arab world’s wealthiest. The majority of these poor are Shia. Many of them blame systematic discrimination for their plight. As Hala Gorani found while reporting from Manama, Bahrain's poverty highlights the tension between the majority Shiites and the minority Sunni ruling class.

SEX TALK WITHOUT SHAME  -- ANEESH RAMAN

It's a first in the Arab world - a talk show with a surprising focus. Heba Kotb is a conservative woman who wears an Islamic head scarf - and hosts a talk show answering questions about sex, without shame. Her show is raising eyebrows in a place not usually accustomed to open discussions about marital relationships. The television talk show pushes the sexual envelope - but not past a point limited by religion. Aneesh Raman reports from Cairo.

BORROWING FOR BEAUTY -- BRENT SADLER

You could call it, "the changing face of banking." Lebanon's First National Bank is offering loans to finance plastic surgery, proclaiming: "beauty is no longer a luxury." Since the loans were first advertised on television and billboards, the bank has been flooded with over 200 calls a day from eager clients. Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler has a look at this booming business.