The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.
Indonesia has announced it is thinking of building a new capital city, moving the government away from Jakarta which is overcrowded and suffering from subsidence. Other countries, including Brazil, Kazakhstan, Russia and Tanzania have previously moved their capital cities, so just how difficult is the process, and can Indonesia learn from their mistakes? (Photo: Jakarta's expanding skyline. Credit: Gerhard Joren/Getty Images)
It's a multi-billion dollar industry, with bands selling out stadiums across the world. K-Pop, or Korean Pop has created some of the biggest global music stars. How did bands, singing in Korean come to such prominence? The Korean government has capitalised on the soft power that its music industry has offered. But with the latest scandals involving the rape and abuse of women is there a darker side to it all? And could it tarnish brand Korea? Photo: BTS performs 'DNA' onstage Credit: Getty Image...
After months of protests, the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir was removed from office on 11th April by a military coup. Initially there were celebrations, but weeks later, with no clear plan for the military to hand over power to a civilian government many in the country are starting to worry whether their victory has been lost. So is the country heading towards democracy or another autocratic regime? Photo: Sudanese protesters wave national flags near the military headquarters, Khartoum, Apr...
In 2007, Ecuador decided to recognise some of its street gangs as cultural and social organisations. Since then its murder rate has fallen sharply. Can inclusion policies turn gang membership into a force for good? Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Jordan Dunbar and Bethan Head (Photo: Members of the Latin Kings gang pose for photographs and throw up their gang sign, New York. Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images)
The world’s population is set to grow from 7.7 to 11 billion by the end of this century. The challenge is to produce enough food to feed this number of people. In the 1960s the Green Revolution provided answers to similar problems – but the projected population growth of the future is on a much greater scale than before, and so new measures are required. In east Africa they’re working to reduce the amount of food that’s lost before it even gets to market – globally this stands at around 30 per c...
Who benefits from our fear and is there more than just global reporting behind it? Has the world become more dangerous or has our perception of the world just changed? Rolling news and social media makes us aware of every threat no matter where in the world. From Ebola to flying we investigate the deeper reasons behind our modern fears. Speaking with experts in public health, risk and fear to find out why we are all so afraid. This week The Inquiry asks ‘How Scared Should We Be?’ Presenter: Ruth...
In February a bomb blast killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police officers in Kashmir; the worst attack by Pakistani militants in years. Indian military jets were deployed and one was shot down. As concerns over the pilot’s fate grew, fears mounted that India and Pakistan might go to war over Kashmir – again. The countries have been at war four times since partition in 1947. And Kashmir, which both countries claim in entirety but each one controls only in part, has been a key factor in the ...
Life expectancy is going up as we develop new cures for the diseases that kill us off. But can we beat the most fatal condition of all - old age? We talk to scientists on the frontier of fighting the ageing process itself, when our bodies just start to wear out. In India, Tuhin Bhowmick is working towards 3D printing new organs so people don’t die waiting for transplants. In the US, Meng Wang is developing ways to use the tiny creatures that live in our guts to extend our lives. And in the UK, L...
Many nations have now entered the space race. China first sent a man into space in 2003 and in the last few months made a successful, unmanned, landing on the far side of the moon. This was a world first. India has its own record. A few years ago it launched more satellites into space, in one go, than any other nation. Nigeria is talking about sending an astronaut into space. And Kyrgyzstan is developing its first satellite, built entirely by female engineers. The Inquiry explores what lies behi...
In recent years, in trouble spots and war zones around the world – places such as Syria, Eastern Ukraine and Central African Republic – The Wagner Group has been active. They are fighters for hire. But very little else, for certain, is known about them. Are they mercenaries working for the Russian intelligence service? Or are they muscle men securing the financial interests of powerful oligarchs? The Inquiry traces the history of the group; why they emerged and how they operate now. It is a stor...
The European Union was formed in the years after the Second World War to secure peace and promote economic progress. It aimed to achieve that by ensuring that countries worked together. But that optimistic vision has now been shaken. There is mounting anxiety about whether the EU can hold together. Some are even saying that the EU is facing an existential crisis. That’s because the elections in May are likely to bring in another wave of populist politicians promoting nationalist agendas. The Inq...
Driverless cars powered by renewable energy whisking their healthy and happy citizens between gleaming skyscrapers, criss-crossing efficient roads. That’s the dream of many so called smart cities. The trend for ‘smart cities’ has grown immensely over the last decade and their definition has evolved too. Hundreds are planned or are already being built around the world, in both rich and poor countries. From Google’s Sidewalk city to Eko Atlantic in Nigeria, tech companies are seeking to tame our e...
Tens of thousands of children have been forced to join militia or terror groups in recent years. The Inquiry looks at conflicts around the world to find out what it takes to rehabilitate a child who has witnessed or taken part in violent extremism. We hear from experts who say it is as important to mend the community as much as the child. And we consider the position of stateless children, including those who have never been registered anywhere and those whose nationality is in dispute. If they ...
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally. But innovative and unexpected ways to tackle this public health issue are emerging. From Nigeria to Finland, ordinary people and experts are putting their own experiences and expertise to use in coming up with ways that help prevent deaths in their communities. School timetables, video games and social media are among some of the new ways being trialled to cut deaths and break the taboo surrounding youth suicide. We ask...
Three million people in Yemen have been forced from their homes, and the dead are estimated to number many tens of thousands. But, compared to similar conflicts, global attention has been slight. The Inquiry asks why. It explores how the media has told the Yemeni story, and the impact valuable arms sales have had on international pressure – or the lack of it – to bring the conflict to an end. There are other factors too. The conflict in Yemen has created countless refugees, but they have not fle...
The tech giant has had a meteoric rise over the last ten years. It has overtaken Apple in the global smartphone market, and its equipment is in telecommunications systems in 170 countries worldwide. But Huawei now finds itself at the centre of a global scandal. Its chief financial officer - the daughter of the company’s founder - is under house arrest in Canada, accused of selling telecom equipment to Iran in contravention of US sanctions. A week later, a US court charged the whole company with ...
More children than ever before attend school – so why have reading rates been so slow to improve? In some countries teachers are absent from class one day every week, in others early years education barely exists. And many children are taught to read in languages they do not speak. The Inquiry explores what reading skills get measured, and whether they are the right ones. And it asks how the quality of literacy education could best be improved. Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Rosamund Jones (im...
In November 2018, a Chinese scientist stunned the world by announcing that he had successfully edited the genes of two embryos. These twins had their DNA changed to try and make them resistant to HIV, it was only successful in one. Shock and outrage followed as the media proclaimed that the age of the designer baby had arrived and we had opened a door that could never be closed. The Chinese government ordered an inquiry and the scientist rumoured to be put under house arrest. For many in the gen...
Ever since Donald Trump took office in 2016 his critics have been focussed on getting rid of him. As the Mueller probe into Russian collusion in the presidential election heads into its last six months, several members of President Trump’s inner circle have been convicted of serious crimes. For some, it’s only a matter of time before Trump himself is implicated. For others, the evidence so far is simply not substantial enough. With Democrats now in control of Congress, the votes are there to imp...
Human activity is sending animals and plants extinct. But there is a fightback going on. Scientists all over the world are coming up with radical solutions to save them - from transplanting polar bears, to “de-extincting” a very strange frog. And experts say each one of us can make a difference. So is it too late to save the planet, or can we stop a mass extinction? Contributors include: Dr Simon Clulow – Macquarie University, Australia Dr Karen Poiani – CEO, Island Conservation Professor Jane H...
This week we’re looking at nothing less than the state of life on earth. The planet has seen mass extinctions before, periods of widespread and dramatic species loss. Some now fear human activity is driving another one: land cleared for farms, homes and roads; waters filled with pollution and emptied of fish; skies choked with gasses causing climate change. But does it add up to a mass extinction? In the first of a two-part series, we examine the evidence of species loss and compare it with the ...
Millions of us take a vitamin tablet every day - how did they become so popular? We follow the rise and rise of vitamins from their discovery just a century ago, to the multi-billion dollar market of today. The story of how the vitamin supplement entered our daily lives takes us from the targeted guilt-tripping of concerned mothers, to the use of vitamins as a weapon against the Nazis, via a plan for vitamin doughnuts. Experts question whether most of us need to take them at all – so how did we ...
#MeToo became viral following allegations of sexual harassment and violence at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Now women and men in their millions around the world have been mobilised by the hashtag to share their stories of abuse. But its founder Tarana Burke fears the movement has moved away from its original remit to give a voice to victims of sexual violence. She worries it is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men. So what is the reality on the ground around the globe? We hear a...
Journalists have been subject to more killings, and increasing levels of violence and intimidation in 2018, according to monitoring groups. This year alone more than 30 have been murdered, including Mexican veteran journalist Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez who was stabbed to death in January, 5 journalists shot dead at their office in Annapolis in the US in June, and the story that has dominated the news, the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his consulate in Istanbul in October. The sus...
The UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. More than two years on, it’s still not clear how that will happen, or what will come after. Consensus within Westminster seems impossible, and if the deal currently on offer from Brussels is voted down on December 11, the UK could crash out of the EU with no deal at all. What makes it so hard to come up with a solution? The BBC has followed all of the twists and turns of the Brexit negotiations in minute detail. In this special programme, fo...
There’s talk of a new Cold War between Russia and the West. What responsibility does the West carry for the dismal state of relations? Russian leaders say Nato has expanded far beyond the borders that were agreed when the Soviet Union collapsed and a new European order was thrashed out. They see troops and hardware stationed close to their towns and cities as highly provocative. America and the EU are seen as meddling in the internal affairs of Russia and the states surrounding it by funding pro...
There are currently a number of serious allegations made in the West against Russia. They include the attempted murder of the former spy Sergei Skripal on British soil; interference in the 2016 US election; the hacking of the American electricity grid. To some, it feels like the West is under attack. But do any of these actions amount to war? Olga Khovostunova, a Russian media analyst, describes the effect of the collapse of the Soviet Union on the psyche of President Putin and his close knit ci...
There are different routes to pariah status. North Korea, with its gross human rights abuses and illicit nuclear weapons programme tops the list and represents the classic pariah - completely ostracized from the international system. Another sure-fire way to become a pariah is to sponsor international terrorism, like Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya in the 20th century. But as his example shows, international rehabilitation can happen almost overnight. Then there are less clear cut pariahs like Zimbabwe,...
Warnings about the approaching post-antibiotics apocalypse have been sounding for years. There are now strains of deadly bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics. This means that doctors are faced with patients who have completely untreatable infections. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are dying due to antibiotic resistance - and this number is set to rise rapidly. If we carry on like this, scientists predict we will return to a pre-antibiotic era, where organ transplants, chemot...
The burgeoning relationship between China and Africa has been one of the great economic stories of the 21st century. Billions of dollars of investment and loans from China have created radical change in many African countries. But not everyone is happy, with some even claiming this is a new form of colonialism. As signs of discontent grow in countries like Zambia, and investment numbers start to slip down, we ask: is the China-Africa love affair over? Contributors include: Dr Lauren Johnston – R...
