Follow Christiane on social media:
What time is Amanpour on CNN?
Check showtimes to see when Amanpour is on CNN where you are. Or watch online.
Joining forces to end discrimination
Imagine a world where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is joined on stage by Austria's bearded disco diva Conchita Wurst to fight against bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour has the story. Click above to watch.
‘This is Crimea two’, says Ukrainian ambassador about separatist vote
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
The vote for autonomy in Ukraine’s rebel-held provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk is a repeat of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Yuriy Sergeyev told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday.
“This is Crimea two,” Sergeyev said, adding that Russia annexing the eastern provinces is one of the “possible scenarios.”
Voters went to the polls on Sunday to elect leaders to rule the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics. The election was backed by the Kremlin, but labelled by Kiev and several Western governments as illegitimate, echoing what happened in the Crimean peninsula before Russia annexed it in February.
Ukraine is facing an “artificial scenario when alleged leaders backed by alleged support - they will propose, can propose to be a part of Russia,” Sergeyev said.
He also expressed concern that the fragile ceasefire agreed between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in Minsk, Belarus, in September, has now been compromised.
“Because this is the scenario, the scenario of Moscow to keep the region pending in this conflict, and they are interested to have this instability, either to have more arguments and to break more laws during the next talks of the future of Donbas or just to keep the frozen conflict there,” Sergeyev said.
Amid mounting tensions, Israeli and Palestinian officials clash over fundamental issues
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
As tensions between the two countries reached a new level on Thursday, Israel’s Economy Minister and the Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. offered opposing viewpoints on how the two sides can find common ground.
Clashes broke out following Israel’s decision to close access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, or the al-Aqsa Mosque, as Muslims call it. The move came after the shooting of far-right Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who had advocated for more Jewish access to the holy site.
“What we need is for the Palestinian leadership to stop incitement, because they have been calling for these sorts of actions and indeed the words do kill,” Naftali Bennett, the Israeli Economy Minister, told CNN’s Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour.
The Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Ryiad Mansour reacted to the accusations by saying that it is Israel that is provoking Palestine.
Flawed legal system encouraging Mexico’s criminals, says former foreign minister
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
Mexico’s brutal cycle of violence and crime is fuelled by a legal system that continuously fails to investigate, arrest and penalize its criminals, former Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda told CNN’s Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour, on Thursday.
“In general, in Mexico, the rule of law does not really lead to punishment for those who commit crimes. There are no investigations. There are very few trials and very few sentences, let alone prison,” he said.
Protests have broken out across the country following the disappearance of 43 students more than a month ago. They were allegedly taken by the police before staging a demonstration in the south western town of Iguala, never to be seen again.
The incident has brought into light the underlying issues of rampant narco-crime and endemic corruption. Castañeda explained why offenders in Mexico have a “very high level of confidence” they will not be brought to justice.
“So when the army kills 22 people in Tlatlaya, or 43 students from Ayotzinapa disappear, the people who did that, whoever they may be, have very little to fear because they know that the ones who did similar things before have not been punished,” he said.
A change of guard in Zambia
Imagine a world where the heritage of a colonial past becomes an example of a progressive future. Zambia made history on Wednesday when its Vice President Guy Scott became the first white man to lead a sub-Saharan African state in 20 years.
CNN’s Michael Holmes has the story. Click above to watch.
Letting Ukrainian people freeze 'is out of the question', says Russian ambassador
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
Russia will not let the Ukrainian people freeze, Russia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Andrey Kelin, told CNN’s Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour, on Wednesday.
Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in June citing unpaid bills and exacerbating already existing tensions between the two countries, triggered by Russia’s annexation of Crimea in February. The time to resolve the gas dispute is now running out with temperatures in Kiev already falling below zero.
“What I can absolutely guarantee is that Russia will never stop supplying gas to Ukraine because we have a lot of people from Ukraine in Russia, and it is impossible that we let Ukrainian people freeze. This is out of the question,” Kelin said.
“On the other hand,” the Ambassador warned, “we cannot always supply gas for credit to Ukraine, which happened in the past. Ukraine still did not pay, for instance, last three months or the year and we expect this payment.”
Ukraine’s parliamentary elections took place on Sunday and, for the first time since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Communist Party will be left out from parliament.
Despite the “omissions and violations” committed during the election, Kelin remarked, “I think that we are going to recognize the outcome when all calculations will be finalized.”
Iran Human Rights Chief defends detention of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian
Watch the full interview here.
By Mick Krever, CNN
On the heels of a damning new report from the United Nations, Iranian Human Rights Chief Mohammad Javad Larijani defended his country’s detention of Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian.
“Unfortunately, they have been involved in activities which our security people consider those activities definitely beyond journalism,” he told CNN’s Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour. “Their detention is according to the law with the order of the judges.”
Those close to Rezaian, who has been in detention since the end of July, say that there have been no public, specific charges filed against the journalist.
“The charges [have] been raised to them by the security officials as involving activities beyond the sphere of journalism,” Larijani said.
“Accusations – when it is considered as substantial and capable of being prosecuted by law, it becomes charges. So it was not pure accusations.”
The prosecutor considers them charges “that could be – could be – well-founded.”
3,000 languages in danger of extinction
Imagine a world in which there were just a hand full of languages in the world. Michael Holmes has the story. Click above to watch.
New documentary explores perfect storm that allowed ISIS to grow
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
A new documentary from producer and journalist Martin Smith gives insight into the series of failures and unheeded warning signs that allowed ISIS to grow into one of most brutal terrorist groups in the world.
The Rise of ISIS, by PBS’s FRONTLINE, draws on numerous interviews with both Iraqi politicians and U.S. decision makers. It points to Syria’s bloody civil war as the organization’s main breeding ground.
“Maliki's crackdown [on Sunnis] was a factor. But without Syria, I don't think ISIS would have become ISIS,” Smith told CNN’s Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour, on Tuesday.
Smith added that it was around 2011 that “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of then Al Qaeda in Iraq, the precursor to ISIS, sent a few men over into Syria and guerrilla movements need sanctuary and they need open spaces where they can exploit, grow.”
Some former Obama administration officials have criticized the President for not supporting moderate rebels earlier, so that extreme jihadi militants would not gain strength.
Tunisian lawmaker calls for unity as Islamists admit defeat in key election
By Madalena Araujo, CNN
The Vice Chair of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly called for unity on Tuesday, a day after her leading Islamist party conceded defeat in the country’s parliamentary election.
“We are convinced that we shall work together. Tunisians, whether we belong to such-or-such party, whether we are from civil society or political parties. We are still calling for this, calling to work together to push Tunisia forward on the path of democracy,” Mehrezia Labidi told CNN's Michael Holmes, in for Christiane Amanpour.
Although she won her seat in the election, Labidi’s Ennahda party lost out to its mainly secular rival Niida Tounes after Tunisians cast their ballots on Sunday. She said the outcome was expected.
“After the election of 2011 – Ennahda, and not only Ennahda but many other political parties and especially al-Takattul and Congress, they led the government in this very sensitive period of transition with all problems of unemployment, of development, of also the challenge of terrorism. And in such periods, the power indeed… erodes the trust of people and the government,” she said.
Tunisia, whose revolution marked the beginning of the Arab Spring, is often hailed as the movement's only success story. The country has remained relatively stable since the uprising, which overthrew President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. This was also the country’s first election under its new constitution.
@camanpour on Twitter
