The Take

We knew that people were buying diplomatic passports. We even had an idea about how they were doing it. But in order to get the full story, we had to try to buy one. In part three of our investigative series, we send someone undercover to try to purchase an ambassadorship.

Buying citizenship is a surprisingly common practice. Buying a diplomatic passport is next-level. In episode two of our new investigative series — running this week and next on The Take — we bring you the story of the Iranian billionaire who bought himself an ambassadorship, and ended up as a cautionary tale in a Calypso song. Subscribe to Al Jazeera Investigates and catch the next series later this spring: Find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen. Connect with The Take: Twitter (@AJTheTake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod). Summary This week and next week, we're bringing you the first series of a new podcast — Al Jazeera Investigates. It's a four-part look at the shocking trade in ambassadorships, and the diplomatic passports that go with them.

This week and next week, we're bringing you the first series of a new podcast — Al Jazeera Investigates. It's a four-part look at the shocking trade in ambassadorships, and the diplomatic passports that go with them.

A horrific 2012 gang rape in New Delhi sparked protests and legal reform across India. That's in addition to a constitution that's already one of the most progressive in the world on women's rights. So why is sexual violence in India still so prevalent? Hint: The patriarchy.

In January 2010, a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. What followed was a cascade of man-made crises. The U.N. pledged $2 billion in aid, but many have yet to reap any benefits. We're revisiting Haiti in the decade after the powerful temblor.

Mexican security forces were outgunned by the Sinaloa Cartel in a bloody shootout in Culiacán last October. Al Jazeera's John Holman wanted to know exactly how the cartel acquired massive firepower in a country with strict gun laws. He sat down with members of the cartel to learn just how the guns are smuggled in from the U.S.

Scientists and doctors agree: Pollution is killing Indians. In 2017, more than 1 million people in India died from pollution-related illnesses. But the Indian government denies any correlation. Amidst a public health emergency, we examine the stark differences in how the crisis is affecting Delhi's rich and poor.

This is a story about Gaza that you don't ordinarily see, and it starts with strawberries. A set of under-the-radar, indirect talks between Hamas and Israel has brought some ease to economic restrictions at the border. We hear from a farmer whose livelihood has been soured by the blockade, but whose fruit remains incomparably sweet.

Palestinians say the US proposed peace plan would strengthen an apartheid system. President Donald Trump says his "Deal of the Century" would bring Palestinians and Israelis peace. Al Jazeera's West Bank producer, Rania Zabaneh, explains why Palestinians say the plan would never work.

Yahya Jammeh, the Gambian leader with a fantastical belief that he could cure HIV, was replaced in 2016 by Adama Barrow. Plucked from obscurity, he promised to usher in an era of justice. But the country is spiraling into instability, and Gambians have yet to see change.

On opposite coasts of the U.S., two towns are facing one big problem: They're eroding and sinking. Neither community denies climate change's effects on their vanishing shorelines. But they have very different ideas about how to save their land.

Almost 60 million people in China are confined to their cities due to the 2019 novel coronavirus. Al Jazeera's senior cameraman in Beijing, Peng Peng, has been trapped in Hubei province for two weeks. Stuck 1,000 kilometers from home, he shares his story with The Take.

The US and Iran have stepped back from the edge of war. But in Iran, which is still facing more than a thousand US sanctions, normal life feels like war. In this episode: Dorsa Jabbari in Tehran, Iran and Lili Ghazian in San Jose, California.

The Take is back — and we want to reintroduce ourselves.

The Take is returning soon, and in the meantime, we've got something new for you.