Syria sets election date, Indonesia's presidential race and press freedom in Zimbabwe

Syria has announced it will hold presidential elections in June. President Assad has not officially said whether or not he would run but it is assumed that he will. The government has positioned the vote as a way to help solve the country’s ongoing civil war, which is now in its fourth year. We’ll discuss the ongoing conflict and the country’s humanitarian crisis with Bassam Haddad, the director of the Middle East Studies program at George Mason University. Then, Indonesia is set to hold a presidential election in July. Ten parties won parliamentary seats earlier this year but it remains unclear yet which parties will build coalitions for the July vote. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the current president of Indonesia, is stepping down after two terms in office. We'll take a look at the candidates with Jeffrey Winters, the founder and director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program at Northwestern University. And, Beatrice Mtetwa made international headlines when she defended two western journalists against charges by the Zimbabwe government under a little enforced media law. She even found herself targeted by Robert Mugabe’s regime. Recently she won the U.S. Secretary of State’s award for International Women of Courade, recognizing “women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for human rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk.” Mtetwa joined us while being hosted in the U.S. by World Chicago. She’ll talk about some of her cases and the state of free speech in Zimbabwe.

(Photo: AP/Firdia Lisnawati)Elderly women check the name lists of parliamentary candidates at a polling station in Bali, Indonesia,