The Inquiry

Energy prices are spiking in the UK, as gas prices soar and wind turbines stop spinning. The UK's shift to green energy is the envy of the world, but Tanya Beckett asks if there is a lesson for other countries in how to go about it.

For decades China's economic growth has been the envy of the western world. But current signs suggest all is not well. Regulations brought in by government to curb businesses reliance on debt have badly hit the its second largest real estate developer, Evergrande and manufacturing output has been hit by power shortages. So is China’s economy in trouble?Experts: Sara Hsu, visiting scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai Michael Pettis, Finance Professor at Peking University and a Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment Iris Pang, ING's Chief Economist for Greater China Travis Lundy, independent research analyst in Hong KongPresenter: Charmaine Cozier Researcher: Chris Blake Production Co-ordinator: Jacqui Johnson Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill Producer: Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon(Image: People commute in front of the under-construction Guangzhou Evergrande football stadium in Guangzhou, China's southern Guangdong province on September 17, 2021. (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The President of Brazil is reluctant to play by the rules. Elections are due next year and Bolsonaro is increasingly at loggerheads with his country’s democratic system. Between battles with the Supreme Court and a push to change the voting system, he is willing to go to great lengths to secure a second term. Tanya Beckett takes a closer look at Brazil’s politics and whether the country’s constitution is being tested. Researcher: Natasha Fernandes Editor: Richard Vadon(Bolsonaro waves to supporters during a demonstration on Brazil's Independence Day, 7th Sept 2021 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Credit: Alexandre Schneider /Getty Images)

A restriction on abortion from as early as six weeks into pregnancy is now law in Texas. The state has also outsourced enforcing it to private citizens who can get up to $10,000 if they sue those who perform or assist an abortion that breaks the ban. As lawmakers in other American states intend to follow Texas Charmaine Cozier finds out what it means for the political hotspot that is abortion provision in the US.Presenter and producer: Charmaine Cozier Researched by: Christopher Blake Editor: Richard Vadon(abortion rights activists rally at the Texas State Capitol on Sept 11 2021. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

In May, the Biden administration surprised the world by saying it would not object on an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines. America has been a staunch defender of patent protections, which bar new inventions being cheaply copied around the world. So, the first reactions to the announcement were - amazement, really. Second reactions tended to depend on which side of this debate you were on.Who should be the gatekeepers of the knowledge which underpins the development of cutting edge pharmaceutical breakthroughs, like Covid-19 vaccines? In this week’s Inquiry, Sandra Kanthal finds out why the answer to that question really depends on who you ask.Producer: Sandra Kanthal Editor: Richard Vadon(Logos of various companies producing the Covid-19 vaccine. Credit: Artur Widak/Getty Images)

In the wake of the attacks of 9/11, the United States took several measures at home and abroad to prevent such atrocities happening on its soil again. Twenty years later and after two bitter wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, did America get its response to the attacks of 9/11 right?(U.S. Army Staff Sergeant in the Shahi Kot mountains, Afghanistan 2002 . Credit: Jim Hollander/Getty Images)

As US-led troops withdraw after 20 years, the Taliban have made a swift return to power. Four presidents have overseen the war in Afghanistan - with four different approaches.Charmaine Cozier asks which of them is most responsible for how events have unfolded and ultimately setting the path to failure.Produced by Ben Cooper Researched by Sally Abrahams(Image: A US marine walks past an American flag attached to concertina wire at Camp Rhino in Southern Afghanistan. Credit: Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times/AFP via Getty Images)

Sharks are mysterious and ancient creatures. They're also a threat. Yet , the once great killers now face what might be their biggest threat – us. From monster killers of the sea to endangered species, Paul Connolly asks if our fascination with sharks is bad for them. Produced by Soila Apparicio. Researched by Olivia Noon.(Image: Great white shark. Credit: Gerard Soury/Getty Images)

A leaked list of thousands of phone numbers - including Presidents and activists - has drawn attention to spyware. It’s supposed to stop terrorists but are our devices safe anymore? Charmaine Cozier looks into the ever-growing world of high level spyware and explores what its use could mean for citizens and democracies around the globe. Producer: Olivia Noon and Soila Apparicio

The target for many countries around the world is to reach net zero emissions within the next few decades. That means a dramatic move away from fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas. For some the answer to the problem is to boost “green” electricity production, so that we can run our transport, our homes and our industry on electrical power. We already have a lot of the technology to produce clean electricity. But for hundreds of millions of people around the world, especially in sub-saharan Africa, the real problem is the lack of access to electricity.Image: Wind turbines and solar panels in Vietnam (Credit: Quang Ngoc Nguyen/Getty Images)

The jailing of former South African president Jacob Zuma sparked huge unrest in the country, but was there more behind the riots than the fact of his imprisonment?While some believe the riots were not only a reaction to Zuma’s jailing for contempt of court, but a planned attempt to bring the country to its knees, others say poverty and inequality also played its part.Paul Connolly examines the factors behind the riots and asks how the country can rebuild from disturbances that have left many dead and parts of the country in ruins.Producers: Rob Cave and Olivia Noon(Rioters loot the Gold Spot Shopping Centre southeast of Johannesburg, July 12 2021. Credit: Guillem Sartorio /Getty Images)

Haiti was the first Caribbean country to gain its independence after a successful revolt against slavery. But the country has been troubled ever since, suffering dictatorships, coups and natural disasters.Now its most recent president, Jovenel Moise, has been assassinated. His controversial rule was marred by the rise of gang violence, and protests against corruption and impunity. He upset people in the fields of politics and business too. And as he failed to hold elections, parliament is no longer functioning. So in this edition of The Inquiry, Charmaine Cozier asks: why was the president of Haiti assassinated? And where can the country go from here? Producer: Arlene Gregorius(President Jovenel Moise in the capital Port-au-Prince in 2016. Photo: Hector Retamal /Getty Images.)

China’s decades-long One Child Policy has led to a low birth rate, and a shrinking workforce. It has also been placing a heavy burden on the younger generations who will have to support two parents and four grandparents. It’s predicted that in five years’ time, a quarter of the population will be over 65. With a smaller workforce, the country risks becoming poorer.China tried to address the problem by allowing couples to have two children instead of one, but except for an initial uptick, the birth rate has continued to fall regardless. So now China has introduced a three-child policy. But couples continue to worry about the lack of affordable childcare, and the high financial and emotional cost of raising children. So in this edition of The Inquiry, Tanya Beckett asks: can China raise its birth rate? Producer: Arlene Gregorius(A mother and her child waving Chinese flags near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Photo: Peter Parks/Getty Images)

The recent discoveries of unmarked graves at the sites of so-called Indian Residential Schools has put Canada’s treatment of its indigenous peoples back under the spotlight.For more than a century, tens of thousands of children were forced by the state into a religious school system that split families and brutalised the children in its care. Tanya Beckett looks at the history of the residential schools and asks why so many children died there. Producer: Rob Cave and Olivia Noon(former Kamloops Indian Residential School, British Columbia, Canada, 2 June 2021. Credit: Cole Burston/Getty Images)

The kidnapping of at least 140 schoolchildren in the north-west of Nigeria is the latest crime to shake a country already struggling to contain militants in the north and separatists in the south. Add to this young protesters on the streets amid rising food prices and crime and the security situation in the country starts to look even shakier.Charmaine Cozier examines the deeper reasons for Nigeria’s worsening instability and asks if Africa’s largest country is becoming impossible to govern.Producers Soila Apparicio and Rob Cave(A young girl reunites with family after she was kidnapped from her school in northwestern Nigeria March 2021. Photo: Aminu Abubakar/Getty Images)

Rich people are often able to pay little or no tax compared to their wealth because of the way the system works. In recent years, many have called for changes and reforms so that instead of income, wealth is also taxed. But, wealth taxes are not a new thing. Many argue that they are key for addressing inequality but some say they simply aren’t an effective way of gaining revenue.Charmaine Cozier asks can we make the super-rich pay more tax?Producer: Olivia Noon Researcher: Bethan Head(Activists March In Manhattan NY, calling for a tax on Billionaires. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images).

In just under a month’s time Japan’s capital city Tokyo will host the 32nd Olympic Games. They were due to take place last year but were delayed because of the pandemic. But even 12 months later the Japanese public is far from enthused at the prospect of thousands of athletes and their entourages turning up just as the country is experiencing a fourth wave of the coronavirus.So, Tanya Beckett asks if Japan can pull off the greatest show on earth during a pandemic?Produced by Soila Apparicio and Rob Cave.(People pose next to the Olympic Rings in Tokyo, Japan, March 2020. Credit: Carl Court/ Getty Images)

For the last year discussions about the origins of Covid-19 have divided people all over the world. Some say it came from nature and others believe it could have escaped from a lab. The idea of a lab accident was originally dismissed as a conspiracy theory but it’s starting to gain attention all over again.Now President Biden has given the US intelligence service 90 days to try and investigate the virus's origins further. Many still believe the virus jumped to humans from animals but some say that we need to be open minded until we have all of the data. But could Covid-19 really have come from a lab? Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Olivia Noon Researcher: Kirsteen Knight(Virus research in a lab. Tek Science/Getty images)

Over his 26 years in power, Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko has taken more and more control. He has detained protesters and tortured political opponents for years. He is emboldened by his last ally in Europe - Vladimir Putin. And his regime of terror is spilling over into the continent.But, Tanya Beckett asks if Europe’s last dictator can cling on to power for much longer.Produced by Soila Apparicio.(image: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with Commonwealth of Independent States officials in Minsk May 28 2021. Credit: Dmitry Astakhov/Getty Images)

In November 2021, Britain will host the next UN Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP 26. Some 200 countries will come together to try to speed up attempts to make the world carbon neutral by the middle of the century. But many countries are already struggling to ramp up renewable energy sufficiently to meet their greenhouse emission reduction targets. So is there another answer out there? Around a tenth of the world's electricity is generated by nuclear reactors. Global generation has slowed in recent years after the nuclear accident in Fukushima a decade ago prompted governments to take a more cautious stance. But with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, many prominent environmentalists are now taking another look at nuclear energy.Tanya Beckett asks if nuclear energy can helps us transition away from fossil fuel power.Produced by Soila Apparicio.(Exhaust plumes from cooling towers at the coal-fired power station at Jaenschwalde Germany. Credit: Sean Gallup /Getty Images)