UpFront

Jamal Khashoggi: The world demands answers

We discuss reports of the Saudi journalist’s death and ask a former EPA head about the IPCC climate change report.

In this week’s UpFront, we discuss the disappearance and possible murderof Saudi journalist and critic, Jamal Khashoggi.

In this special discussion, we talk to  Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and foreign policy analyst Rula Jebreal, who both know and have worked with Jamal Khashoggi, and ask what should happen next.

And in a special interview, we ask Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s dramatic report issued this week.

Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman: ‘Gaddafi on steroids’?

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2 and has not been seen since.

One of the most famous Arab journalists, he is also a former adviser to top Saudi officials who over the past year became critical of some policies implemented by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Unnamed Turkish officials told The Washington Post Khashoggi was killed in the consulate. With no evidence or details provided, their claim has been denied by Saudi officials. Both countries have agreed to a joint probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Sarah-Leah Whitson, executive director of The Middle East and North Africa division of HRW, believes there is enough evidence showing that Khashoggi was dead.

“The evidence that he entered and did not leave the consulate of his own accord, there’s no dispute about that,” says Whitson.

With regards to pressure on the US to modify its relationship with Saudi Arabia, Rula Jebreal, a journalist who wrote a recent Newsweek cover story on bin Salman, said “I don’t know if Trump will change, but he will be forced to change by the public opinion and that’s why it’s important to keep the pressure on.”

Did the Saudi government abduct, and possibly murder, Khashoggi? If so, will bin Salman face any consequences?

No ‘political will’ for action on climate change

We ask former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy about the recent IPCC report warning of catastrophic climate change in just 12 years.

Global warming will reach disastrous levels in just 12 years, if the world fails to take “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes”, according to a recent UN report.

The report, issued by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says global warming should be limited to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels to avoid extreme climate and risky living conditions.

It also concluded that the 2015 Paris accord – the agreement the US is in the process of withdrawing from – is no longer enough to limit global warming.

But with the US – under Donald Trump’s leadership – rolling back environmental regulations and increasing fossil fuel use, is it possible to avert the coming climate disaster?

“…. that doesn’t mean that we’re all going to sit around and wait for President Trump to tell the rest of the world that the US is not going to participate,” says McCarthy.

She adds that instead of finding someone to be blamed for the dire situation the world is facing, we should look forward to making progress.

“We can but it’s going to be not about pointing fingers in the past but about thinking about a low carbon future, as a future that’s healthier, that’s safer, where our national security is protected, and where individuals can have the kind of clean air and water that they need to survive,” says McCarthy.

Reality Check: Why the US is behind when it comes to women in politics 

Also this week on UpFront, we look at why a record number of women running for office in the United States still isn’t enough to close the gender gap.

Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront and Facebook.