The Inquiry

A far-right party which came to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic recently showed itself to be a contender to Japan’s centrist political establishment, when it grew from one seat, three years ago to fifteen seats in the recent elections. Known as Sanseito, the party is led by Kamiya Sohei, whose YouTube videos spread conspiracy theories about vaccinations. Its political platform is a nationalist ‘Japanese First’ agenda and warns against a ‘silent invasion of foreigners’. Whilst for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party coalition, the election results were bruising. The LDP lost its majority in the Upper House, having already lost control of the Lower House last year. But its embattled Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, whilst facing calls from within his party to resign, has said he has no plans to quit. Against this backdrop, there’s a growing unease amongst Japanese voters over issues like immigration, over-tourism and the economy and Sanseito are tapping into that. So, on this week’s Inqui

Children in Indonesia are now receiving free school meals — part of a bold new plan by President Prabowo Subianto to tackle malnutrition. Around one in five children in the country are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age. The lunch programme is central to Prabowo’s vision of a “Golden Indonesia” – a prosperous, high-income nation by 2045. But not everyone is happy. To fund this and other populist pledges, the president has reallocated billions in public funds, cutting budgets from ministries including health and education. There have also been reports of food poisoning linked to the programme. Meanwhile, millions of Indonesians are struggling. The International Monetary Fund warns the country's unemployment rate will rise to 5% this year — the highest among the Southeast Asian economies it tracks. On this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking: ‘Can Indonesia afford free lunches?’ Contributors: Dini Widiastuti, Executive Director, Yayasan Plan International Indonesia Julia Lau, Senior Fellow and Coordinat

When the war in Ukraine began back in February 2022, the remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle or drone as its commonly known, was peripheral to the conflict. But three years on, the drone in all its shapes and sizes has taken on a central role in this battle, in the air, on land and at sea, for surveillance, reconnaissance, combat and other purposes. Now drone technology is evolving even further into the area of autonomous weapons. But whilst the drone can offer greater strategic and operational flexibility and a possible reduction in the number of military casualties, there are concerns that the drone, particularly in Ukraine’s case, has prolonged the war. Only last year the United Nations reported that 118 countries now had military drones, along with at least 65 non-state actors. And as an increasing number of countries have begun to manufacture and export their own array of military drones, many are concerned about how drone technology is presenting a big challenge in terms of defensive measur

In July, a brutal highway hijacking in southern Syria sparked tit-for-tat clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters. During the week-long violence, over a thousand people were killed and more than 125,000 displaced. Syrian government forces and Israel also entered the conflict.The latest hostilities come less than a year after Syrians celebrated the end of dictatorship and the promise of renewal. The resurgence of sectarian violence raises urgent questions about interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s leadership and whether his government can truly unify a fractured nation.This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: What does Syria’s recent conflict tell us about Al-Sharaa’s presidency?Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Matt Toulson Researcher: Evie Yabsley Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Richard HannafordContributors: Dr Rim Turkmani, Research Fellow at Director of Syria Conflict Research Programme (CRP)Makram Rabah, Assistant professor of history at the American University of BeirutDr Rahaf Aldoughli,

What lies behind the clashes on the Thai Cambodian border is a fractured friendship between the two nations. In July both countries strike each other with civilians killed and injured in the crossfire. More than a hundred thousand are evacuated. Thailand warns the clashes could escalate to war. In May a brief gunfire exchange killed a Cambodian soldier. Just over two weeks later surprising details from a recorded private phone conversation went public. On that 17-minute call to Cambodia was Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. It was supposed to defuse the situation - instead it has erupted.Away from the border, there’s been public outrage in Thailand, a major prime ministerial setback, fractured friendships, diplomatic ties downgraded and even more political pressure on a far from robust government.Contributors: · Dr Petra Alderman, Centre manager at the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Professor and senior fe

In Chile, a powerful new telescope has just given a taster of what we can expect from it later this year, when it will be used to survey the cosmos over a ten-year period. In one image it revealed vast colourful gas and dust clouds swirling in a star-forming region 9,000 light years from the Earth. Housed in the Vera C Rubin Observatory, which sits on a mountain in the Chilean Andes, the telescope is designed to get giant images of the sky about one hundred times larger and quicker than any other existing telescope can achieve. It contains the world’s most largest digital camera, the size of a large car. When the Legacy Survey of Space and Time begins towards the end of 2025, the camera will film the entire Southern hemisphere night sky for the next decade, every three days, repeating the process over and over. And it will focus on four areas: mapping changes in the skies or transient objects, the formation of the Milky Way, mapping the Solar System and understanding dark matter or how the universe

More and more of the tasks we perform in our daily lives are been guided by artificial intelligence, from searching the internet for answers to relying on satellite navigation in our cars. But studies recently released suggest that our use of AI is having a negative impact on our ability to make informed judgements and decisions. In one recent study from MiT’s Media Lab, a group of people were asked to write several essays. Some of them used AI, others didn’t. Those who used generative AI reportedly became lazier with each subsequent essay. This cognitive offloading, allowing AI to take over from our brains might be less taxing, but there are concerns that if we come to rely on AI, we are in danger of replacing our own critical thinking for a technology that might not always come up with the right answer. However, there are those who argue that AI can be beneficial in helping our cognitive function, that it can be employed to take on the more mundane, repetitive tasks, freeing up headspace to all

Brazil’s Zebu cattle, or “supercows” are bred for size, strength, and meat quality. Every year the animals are showcased at ExpoZebu, Brazil’s premier cattle fair. These animals are preened, pampered, and prized, before being sold for millions for their genetic material. Zebu cattle were not always part of Brazil’s landscape. After being imported from India in the late 19th century, farmers found their resilience to heat, pests, and poor pasture made them ideal for Brazil’s expanding cattle frontier. Thanks to decades of selective breeding and low-cost pasture-based farming, Brazil is now the world’s largest beef exporter, and demand is only rising. Despite its economic success and domestic popularity, Brazil’s beef has a significant environmental cost due to its emissions and links to deforestation. However, their genetic material has the potential to be used around the world to make cattle more resilient to climate change. Photo Credit: Carolina ArantesContributors: Carolina Arantes, Photojournalist, France

Ahead of last year’s US Presidential elections, Donald Trump was asked if he would defend China against Taiwan, he responded that Taiwan should pay the US for protection from China. Taiwan is a self-governing island, claimed by Beijing and whilst Taiwan is not formally recognised by the US, they do remain the island’s most important security partner. Taiwan manufactures over ninety percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips, which makes some American industries heavily dependent on trade links with the island. But official US policy towards Taiwan is one of ‘strategic ambiguity’. So when the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth recently warned of China posing an ‘imminent’ threat to Taiwan, whilst at the same time urging Asian countries to boost defence spending and work with the US to deter war, it raised the issue of how far America would be prepared to go to defend Taiwan. China in response accused the US of being the ‘biggest troublemaker’ for regional peace. The US has onl

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most important energy corridors in the world. It is the only sea route from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, it serves as the primary maritime route for oil exports from the Gulf. Any disruption to traffic through the strait would have implications for oil markets and regional stability.While some Gulf states have developed pipelines to bypass the strait, the volume of oil transported by sea is far greater, and for many countries, including key Gulf exporters, the waterway is essential to maintaining trade. China is the largest buyer of oil that travels through the strait, making it particularly exposed to any disruption.Iran itself relies on the Strait of Hormuz to sell its oil and any blockage of the route would likely damage Iran’s own economy and could strain relationships with regional neighbours.Despite past threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway has remained open, including during the tanker wars of the 1980s, but any disruption could have a big i

During a speech to the Spanish parliament earlier this year, the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez claimed there’s one thing that would guarantee lasting peace in Europe.His idea is the creation of a new army drawn from the 27 countries whose governments already work together as members of the European Union.The concept isn't a new one - and NATO already exists, the military alliance which includes EU member states and other European countries.But talk of a new military force is reappearing as the continent becomes more vulnerable to threats. Its ally the US is increasingly unreliable and unpredictable too.Other European leaders are also backing the ideaThis week we’re asking - “Are we closer to a European army?”Contributors:Dick Zandee, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Security and Defence Programme at the Clingendael InstituteDr Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign RelationsOana Lungescu, Distinguished fellow with the Royal United Services Institute and former NA

The creation of a landmark gene editing drug used to treat a baby with a rare genetic mutation which could help transform personalized medicine. Blood tests showed baby KJ had sky-high levels of ammonia, a toxic substance the body usually expels. The root cause was his genes - or more particularly a specific gene mutation. The race was on to try and treat him before his condition took a firm hold. His doctors came up with a radical solution - for the first time ever, they designed and applied a gene-editing drug in record time, specifically for him. Have we seen breakthrough in preventing genetic diseases? With Fyodor Urnov, a professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at the University of California, Virginijus Šikšnys professor at the Life Science Center of Vilnius University, Waseem Qasim from the UCL Institute of Child Health in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and Jennifer Doudna, Professor, University of California, Berkeley and founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute. Pr

The economic fortunes of the Southern Africa country of Botswana were transformed back in the mid 1960s when shortly after gaining independence from Britain, its first diamond mine was discovered. A partnership with the world’s biggest diamond firm DeBeers ensured Botswana’s diamonds gained global attention and with some of the world’s biggest diamonds been mined in the country, it now ranks just below Russia in terms of its importance in the industry. But post pandemic, the global market has seen a shift in demand for mined diamonds, with consumers in countries like China, who accounted for around thirty percent of global demand, falling away. Another reason for this shift is the emerging popularity of lab grown diamonds. Originally used in industrial machinery, lab diamonds are now been refined for the jewellery market at a fraction of the price of mined diamonds, with the majority of consumer interest coming from the United States. Botswana has been trying to ride this wave with a policy of diversific

Fungal diseases are becoming more common, more dangerous, and more difficult to treat. There’s concern that they may cause the next global pandemic. Rising global temperatures, better survival rates for vulnerable patients, and increased medical interventions contribute to the rise in fungal infections. Access to effective diagnostics and treatment remains limited, with significant disparities between high and low-income countries. Treating fungal infections is becoming more challenging as they build resistance to the drugs used to treat them. New therapies are being developed, including treatments that disrupt fungal DNA replication or interfere with essential proteins, offering some hope for long-term control.Contributors: Adilia Warris, Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Exeter, UKRita Oladele, Professor of Clinical Microbiology, University of Lagos and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, NigeriaArturo Casadevall, Professor and Chair of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns

A domestic rice shortage in Japan has caused supermarket shelves to empty and prices to double. Rice is more than a staple food in Japan—it carries deep cultural, historical and even spiritual significance. The rice crisis highlights broader weaknesses in Japan’s economy. Japan imports over half of its food and has experienced persistent inflation. The country’s economic resilience is being tested by supply chain pressures, demographic shifts, and increased trade tensions.Efforts to address the shortage have focused on auctioning rice reserves, but underlying economic challenges persist.Contributors: • Yi-Chun Ko, Professor, Asian Growth Research Institute, Fukuoka, Japan • Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, William F. Vilas Research Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US • Stefan Angrick, Senior Economist, Moody’s Analytics, Tokyo, Japan • Norihiro Yamaguchi, Lead Economist, Oxford Economics, Tokyo, JapanPresenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Katie Morgan Editor: Tara McDermott Technical

“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call,” proclaimed one regional director from the World Health Organisation who went on to add, “without high vaccination rates, there is no health security.”Measles is a childhood disease which can be deadly. We’ve been successfully vaccinating against it for decades. So much so that many younger physicians have never seen a child with the disease. But recently, the recorded number of cases has been rising - and this is a global trend. Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known to man. In an unvaccinated population it will spread like wildfire. So what’s behind the rapid rise of measles cases around the world? According to one of our expert witnesses it comes down to three Cs: complacency, convenience and confidence.In this edition of the Inquiry, Sandra Kanthal looks into what’s causing the rise in measles cases around the world and asks how this trend can be reversed.Contributors:Doctor Claudia Cojocaru – Romanian physician and neonatologistRobb Butler - D

Serbia’s citizens have been protesting for over six months, taking part in demonstrations around the country in reaction to their government’s alleged corruption. Though the country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, has attempted to appease them, the movement shows no sign of slowing down.Situated in the Western Balkans, Serbia has had a long history of conflict; from the Ottoman Empire to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, but the ongoing civil unrest comes at a crossroads moment for President Vučić. Serbia is awaiting approval to join the European Union yet remains closely tied with the Kremlin.As the Serbian government seeks to solidify its place in the world, protestors continue their calls for transparency and accountability. This week on The Inquiry we ask “Will Serbia’s mass protests unseat the president?”Contributors: Gordana Andric, Executive Editor at Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Belgrade, Serbia Dr. Andi Hoxhaj OBE, Lecturer in Law and the Director of the European Law LLM pathway programme, Kin

Scientists at a bio-technology firm made headlines when they announced the “de-extinction” of the dire wolf, a species of wolf that went extinct on Earth over 10,000 years ago. Colossal Biosciences examined DNA from ancient dire wolf fossils and used it to create wolf puppies with traits of the extinct species. The gene editing technology sparked curiosity around the world, and although the new wolves were not exact replicas of the originals they had similar traits. The development raises serious questions about what de-extinction really means.Mass extinctions have shaped the history of life on Earth, and nature has adapted across the millennia, but with almost half of all species already in decline, including some frogs, how seriously is de-extinction technology being taken? Contributors: Dr. Beth Shapiro, Chief Science Officer, Colossal Biosciences, California, USA Dr. Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Global Change, Queen's University Belfast, UK Torill Kornfeldt, Sc

Earlier this month President Trump announced radical new taxes on foreign imports amounting to what he described as ‘Liberation Day' for the United States. It was a promise he made to American voters during last year’s election campaign but the scale of the tariffs caught many countries by surprise.Global financial markets plunged as investors braced themselves for a shock to the flow of international trade. Faced with prolonged market turmoil, within days the US president paused most of his plans.A to-and-fro between Washington and Beijing has left many world leaders confused who to side with, as many look towards the White House wondering if there is a detailed plan at the heart of these unprecedented few weeks.Contributors: ● Carla Sands, Vice Chair for the Center for Energy and Environment at America First Policy Institute and former US Ambassador to Denmark ● Emily Kilcrease, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security ● Victor Gao, C

For Russia’s President Putin, the return of President Donald Trump to the White House ushered in a new world order. This has created new diplomatic space for Russia, as Trump’s world view seems more closely aligned with Moscow’s ambitions. Support for Ukraine has diminished, peace talks have been floated, and speculation has grown about a lasting ceasefire. While the relationship between Washington and Moscow appears to be warming, recent tensions show how unpredictable diplomacy between the two leaders can be.Putin’s ambition for Russia as an influential superpower remains but with shifting global alliances how much potential leverage does Putin have to reshape the international order?Contributors: • Kadri Liik, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations • Maria Snegovaya, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies • Ivan Klyszcz, Research Fellow, International Centre for Defence and Security • Mark Galeotti, Director, Mayak Intelligence; Honorary Professor, University Co