The Inquiry

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)

In 2005 a photo of four-year-old Zoë Roth standing in front of a burning house went viral on the internet. It became a meme known as “disaster girl”. In April 2021, the image sold for $473,000 as an NFT, or non-fungible token - that’s sort of a digital record of ownership.And the sales keep coming. Another NFT recently sold for $69 million. The first ever Tweet went for a huge $2.9 million … and a GIF of a pixelated rainbow cat sold for $690,000. But what is an NFT, and is it really the next big thing? Suzanne Kianpour explores the world of NFT’s.Produced by Soila Apparicio and Olivia Noon.(CryptoPunk digital art NFT displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square NY City, May 12 2021. Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld /Getty Images)

History and geography have conspired to give the city of Chicago an unenviable reputation for guns and gangs, but what will it take to bring the murder rate, which rose 55 per cent last year, down?Low conviction rates and an unwillingness on behalf of witnesses to give evidence play their part in the problem. But others think the time has come to treat murder like any other deadly disease that afflicts the poor.Charmaine Cozier examines the reasons for the city’s stubbornly high murder rate and the options to stop the killing.Produced by Nathan Gower.(a small flag depicting bullet holes at an anti-gun violence march in Chicago Dec.31 2020. Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski /Getty Images)

In the afternoon of Saturday 8th May in the Afghan capital of Kabul, just a few days before the end of Ramadan, students from the Syed Al-Shahda girls school were starting to leave for the day. Without any warning, a car bomb went off. Then a second explosion, followed by a third.The Afghan Government blamed the Taliban, the hardline Islamist movement that has fought a long civil war in Afghanistan. The Taliban, although they have previously targeted the education of girls, denied it and blamed the Islamic State Group.Things were supposed to be getting better in this war torn country. Earlier this year President Joe Biden announced US troops were going to be removed in September. But what will happen after they’ve gone?Produced by Rob Cave and Soila Apparicio.(Taliban militia move towards the front line in Kabul, February 1995. Credit: Saeed Khan /Getty Images)

It was on Good Friday, 2nd of April 2021, that rioting erupted in a corner of Northern Ireland’s vibrant capital Belfast. In days, violence spread. It was on a scale that hadn’t been seen for years. With fears of a return to the troubled period of violence from Northern Ireland’s past, Tanya Beckett asks if the fragile peace is under threat.Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton and Soila Apparicio.'A previous version of this programme gave an incorrect title to Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster this has been corrected.'(Nationalists attack police on Springfield Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 08 2021. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, India’s ruling party was declaring victory in the fight against Covid-19. Some two months on, India set a global record for the highest number of cases recorded in a single country.Kavita Puri asks what went wrong.Image: A queue near a vaccination centre in Mumbai, 26 April 2021 (Credit: Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

Changes to the laws governing cannabis use are happening around the world. The number of States in the USA legalising cannabis is increasing rapidly. Uruguay and Canada have legalised it already, and Mexico may soon follow suit. Tanya Beckett looks at the different models of legalisation and at what might be holding the global cannabis industry back.

Since Islamic State’s hold on Iraq and Syria has weakened in recent years the group has sought to expand into new territories, including Africa.IS insurgents have reportedly killed thousands, including children, and displaced thousands more in Mozambique, Mali, and Somalia, among other territories across the continent. It is believed that IS franchises its brand to local militant groups, providing support, claiming responsibility for deadly attacks, all while spreading its influence in these new territories. Charmaine Cozier asks if Africa is a new power base for the Islamic State group?Producer: Paul Connolly(Al-Shebab fighters, an Islamist insurgent group in Somalia. Credit: Mohamed Abdiwahab/Getty Images)

Peru has suffered one of the highest excess death levels in the world. The government failed to take account of the structure of society and the needs of its people in its response to the pandemic. A culture of corruption and political turmoil are persistent themes that have led to an underfunded health system and a lack of focus how Peruvian people would be able to cope during the dark months of a deadly pandemic. Instead vast numbers of casual workers lost their jobs and started to trek home, taking the virus with them. Also remote communities were cut off by the freeze on transport and unable to get access to vital medical supplies, amid a dwindling supply of oxygen to treat them. We take a look at what lies beneath Peru’s terrible experience during the pandemic.Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Nathan Gower(Peruvians protest at a political rally, March 25, 2021. Credit: Ernesto Benavides/Getty Images)

Concussion is now a powder-keg issue in world sport, as concerns deepen about the potential links to brain disease.The long-term effects of careers spent making and taking heavy tackles are being revealed in ever-increasing detail, but the risks are not exclusive to so-called full contact sports.Some governing bodies have sprung into action, implementing new rules and safety measures. But others turn a blind eye. So, we’re asking – how will the concussion issue affect the future of sport?Presenter: Paul Connolly Producer: Stefania Okereke(Photo: Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker (83) lays on the field after getting a concussion in the second quarter. Credit: Getty Images)

Could humans ever trust machines with the power to make life or death decisions on the battlefield? And have we already begun to?Advances in artificial intelligence are slowly creeping into almost every aspect of the world, including warfare. Suzanne Kianpour explores the technology, fears and even potential advantages of developing autonomous weapons.Producers: Nathan Gower and Viv Jones(Mock-up of the IAI Harop Drone, a loitering munition. Credit: Aviation-images.com/Getty Images)

After the government of Giuseppe Conte collapsed amid an economic and public health crisis, Mario Draghi has formed Italy’s 65th administration in 73 years. So what are the long-term causes of Italy’s political woes, and does Draghi stand any chance of solving them? Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Nathan Gower(Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi during the traditional handover ceremony in Rome. Photo: Andrew Medichini / Getty Images)

Vivid and sometimes wild claims about the antifascist group Antifa have been circulating in America. Some say that the group participates in widespread violence, while others have argued that it is a small but justified part of their fight against fascism.Tanya Beckett takes a closer look at what is true and what is exaggeration.Producer: Nathan Gower(Members of Antifa protest at a far right Rally in Portland, Oregon USA. Credit: Diego Diaz/ Getty Images)

After surviving an assassination attempt, the opposition leader returned to Russia - and was immediately arrested and jailed. What does he have to gain by returning home, and can he still lead an effective campaign from prison? Charmaine Cozier asks what does President Putin have to fear in Alexei Navalny's rising popularity, and could his anti-corruption campaign make a difference at the Russian parliamentary elections in September?(Alexei Navalny at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport upon arrival from Berlin January 17, 2021. Credit: Kirill Kudryatsev /Getty Images)

As protests continue in Myanmar against the generals who staged a military coup, and with Aung San Su Kyi under house arrest and facing criminal charges, has the country lost all prospects for a democratic future? With Tanya Beckett.(A little girl shouts slogans with protestors waving flags of Myanmar, 22 February 2021. Credit: Peerapon Boonyakiat /Getty Images)

The world is entering a new space race but every new satellite launched into Earth’s orbit runs the risk of colliding with one of the millions of pieces of space junk left behind by previous missions. So how can we solve our space junk problem? Featuring former NASA astrophysicist, Don Kessler; Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, Moriba Jah; space systems engineer, Richard Duke; and Victoria Samson of the Secure World FoundationPresenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Viv Jones(A spent S-IVb rocket floats in Earth orbit. View from Skylab Space Station 1973. NASA photo via Getty Images)

On June the 12th of last year the 27 health ministers of the European union signed off on a plan to buy vaccines on behalf of all the EU’s member countries. The aim was to secure enough doses to immunise all of its 450 million citizens. But the delivery and vaccination programme has lagged far behind countries like the UK and US. Tanya Beckett finds out why.(Waiting to be vaccinated at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo: Patricia de Melo Moreiro /Getty Images)

With President Trump no longer in office and a clampdown by social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, what is the future for the QAnon conspiracy theory? It’s had a considerable following from the Republican rank and file who supported Donald Trump but was strongly associated with the attack on Capitol Hill. Now Republican party leaders have warned QAnon is dangerous. But will ordinary Americans turn their backs on it? With Tanya Beckett.(A pro-Trump mob confronts U.S. Capitol police outside the Senate chamber in Washington DC. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has moved out of the White House, he’s been banned from Twitter and suspended from Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube. Parler, a twitter alternative for conservatives, went offline after Amazon stopped hosting it. Amazon say this is because they found dozens of posts on the service which encouraged violence. All of this has raised questions about the power of tech companies and who should decide who’s voice is heard on social media. So this week Charmaine Cozier asks, has big tech gone too far in limiting free speech?Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producers: Sharon Hemans and Bob Howard Editor: Richard Vadon(Twitter suspended Donald Trump's account for violating app rules, January 2021. Credit: Jakub Porzycki/ Getty Images)

It has been called the world’s biggest protest. In November 2020, thousands of farmers marched to New Delhi to protest against new laws that the Indian government says will modernise farming. The farmers set up camp in and around the capital, blocking major highways. Over 50 days later they are still there, in spite of freezing temperatures. Even after the Supreme Court stayed the laws until further notice, the farmers say they aren’t budging until they are repealed completely. They say these reforms will strip them of protections they’ve enjoyed for decades, resulting in lower prices and ruined livelihoods. Kavita Puri hears why the protests matter for India’s millions of farmers, for the future of the country’s crisis-ridden agriculture, and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With contributions from agricultural policy expert, Devinder Sharma; Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, Sadanand Dhume; Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Jayati Ghosh; and BBC correspondent Soutik Biswas.Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Viv Jones(Women farmers form a human chain during the protest against the new farm laws, January 18 2021 at the Delhi borders in India. Credit: Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

With countries shutting their doors to foreign recyclable waste and a lack of processing capacity back home, is the recycling system broken?China used to accept 55% of the world’s plastic and paper waste. But it closed its doors in 2018. Initially other countries in South East Asia, like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam took over China’s waste processing role. But they too are now sending much of the waste back, arguing it is contaminated and is harming their own environments. This has created major problems for countries in the West who traditionally relied on others to process their recycling waste. In addition, there’s confusion about what households can and cannot put into their recycling bins, along with that lack of recycling capacity back home. So what is the answer to the growing mountains of what was supposed to be recyclable waste? Could Sweden, which has reduced the amount of household waste it sends to landfill to under one per cent, have an answer? It’s not one everyone agrees with.Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: John Murphy(A man picks up plastic waste to be recycled at the Kawatuna landfill in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo credit: Basri Marzuki / Getty Images)

There’s a problem in education – and it’s probably not what you expect. Around the world, from schools to universities, boys are trailing girls in their academic performance. It’s a complex problem which has divided expert opinion and leads us to complex questions of genetics and social conditioning. David Grossman examines what’s going on and how to fix it.

The idea of a breakaway football league for Europe’s elite clubs has been discussed for decades.It hasn’t happened yet, but could that be about to change?Industry experts say officials from the continent’s biggest and most successful teams are meeting behind-closed-doors to discuss the proposition.So we’re asking - has the time come for a European Super League?

The French brand of secularism - laïcité - is central to the country’s national identity. It requires that public spaces – whether state classrooms, workplaces or ministries - be free of religion. But the way the French government is applying the concept has come under fresh criticism. Many French Muslims claiming this cornerstone of French identity is now being used as a weapon against them. This week, Tanya Beckett asks has French secularism gone too far?A boy holds a sign asking 'Liberty, fraternity?' at a gathering in Toulouse, France. Credit: Alain Pitton/Getty Images)

In Ethiopia, a political battle has sparked a bloody conflict.Federal Forces have engaged in combat with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front - or TPLF.Hundreds have reportedly been killed and tens of thousands displaced.Just last year, Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, won a Nobel Prize for his part in brokering peace with neighbouring Eritrea.So, Charmaine Cozier asks why Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is bombing his own country?

Test results from coronavirus vaccines are fast emerging, fuelling hopes that the end of the pandemic is in sight. But are countries ready to share the vaccine fairly? Global efforts to coordinate are already gaining ground - but some are concerned the battle for who gets what will mean some lower income countries could get left behind.

For nearly two weeks last month, angry young Nigerians took to the streets in their tens of thousands, blocking major roads in cities across Africa's most populous nation. What began as a protest against the hated police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, soon became a conduit for a wider anger with the people who have been in charge of Nigeria for decades. in this week's Inquiry, Kavita Puri asks: will the EndSARS movement change Nigeria?

Pro-democracy protests have happened before in Thailand, but there’s something new about the latest one - the king is being publicly criticised. It’s a serious criminal offence to do that. This week, Charmaine Cozier asks why people are protesting against the Thai monarchy.

National polls ahead of the US presidential election suggest a clear win for challenger Joe Biden. But could they be getting it wrong as they did four years ago? In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but - because of the US electoral system - lost the election. Could history repeat itself? In this week’s Inquiry, Tanya Beckett asks: can President Trump still win?

When he was elected, President Trump promised to put ‘America First’, but how has he governed? Charmaine Cozier looks at trade, diplomacy, defence and the environment to examine the results of four years of a very different approach to international affairs.(Image: Donald Trump at public address, Credit: Getty Images)

As new students start at universities in many countries around the world, governments are grappling with how to contain a second wave of Coronavirus. Already many universities have put lectures online and students are being told to stay in their rooms. But is this fair? Covid-19 is a deadly virus but not so much for the young. Can or should we keep the world locked down until there’s a vaccine or cure? Or, Tanya Beckett asks: should we learn to live with Covid?(Students wait to start their entrance exams outside the University of Madrid, Spain. Credit: Eduardo Parra/Getty Images)

In 2018, the electric car maker, Tesla, was struggling to get the Model 3 electric vehicle off the production line. Its CEO, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, was working up to 22 hours a day on the factory floor, trying to solve a host of problems on the car he’d bet the company on. It was close to running out of money. Two years later, the company’s doing better. It says it will grow 30-40% this year.No surprise then that Tesla’s share price has gone up. But the amount may surprise you – up eight fold in the last year, to $400 a share. Making it the most valuable car company in the world.It’s now worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda put together. But yet it still manufactures only a fraction of the cars they make. So are shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla vastly overvalued? Sumant Bhatia finds out from our expert witnesses, who include a Tesla owner who’s a shareholder and superfan, a fund manager who thinks the shares are in a bubble, an investor with millions of dollars in Tesla and an expert in electric vehicles.

In July, billionaire musician Kanye West announces on Twitter that he’s standing as a candidate in November’s US presidential election. After a scramble to meet the registration deadlines, his name is on the ballot in fewer than 20 states. His manifesto is confusing, his motive unclear.In the past, Kanye West has been a vocal supporter of president Donald Trump. And it seems his campaign is being run largely by those with close ties to the Republican party. The Democrats say his entry in the race as an independent third party candidate is a dirty trick by Republicans. Others claim it’s simply a publicity stunt to promote his new album. But, in battleground states, where every vote counts, could his celebrity status have a significant impact on the election result? How seriously should we take Kanye West’s run for president? Kavita Puri finds out from our expert witnesses, who include professors of African-American studies at US universities, a Washington-based politics reporter and a Democratic pollster and strategist.(Kanye West at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Beverly Hills, California. Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images)

On the 29th September the two US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden will take part in the first of three 90-minute live televised debates ahead of the presidential election in November. Tanya Beckett asks can the debates affect the outcome of the election?(Composite image of Joe Biden (Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) and Donald Trump (Credit: John G Mabanglo/EPA)

Online fraud takes many forms, from deceptive e-mails and websites which trick us into paying money to the wrong bank account, to romance scams and malicious software copying our bank and credit card details. It's regarded by criminals as a highly lucrative and relatively low risk crime, so why is it so easy for fraudsters to manipulate our personal data and steal our money, what can be done to end online fraud?Charmaine Cozier talks to some of those trying to disrupt the scammers and protect the public.Guests: Rachel Tobac, Ethical Hacker CEO of SocialProof Security Muhammad Imran, Criminal Intelligence Officer, Interpol Financial Crimes Unit Stéphane Konan, Cyber Security Consultant & African Government Advisor Tamlyn Edmonds, Fraud Prosecutor, Edmonds Marshall McMahon(Laptop owned by an online romance scammer, Accra, Ghana. Credit: Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images)

President Trump says opening up November’s election to more postal voting will make it more vulnerable to fraud and election interference. Many more Americans are expected to avoid going in person to polling stations because of the coronavirus pandemic and will rely on postal voting to ensure their voices are heard. Tanya Beckett examines President Trump’s claims and how the US postal service will cope with millions of ballots. Producer: Sharon Hemans and Diane Richardson (A voter drops off a mail-in ballot at a collection box outside Cambridge City Hall, Mass. USA. Credit: Lane Turner / Getty Images)

A maverick American general, a call to the Russian ambassador and allegations of spying on Donald Trump’s incoming administration. But what exactly is “Obamagate” and what impact might it have on this year’s US presidential election? With Tanya Beckett.

The massive explosion that tore through Beirut on August 4th left more than 200 people dead, 6,000 injured, and as many as 300,000 homeless. The explosion was caused by a fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port. When the blast hit, Lebanon was already in the middle of an unprecedented economic and political crisis that has triggered hyperinflation, poverty, and hunger. Many Lebanese feel that the blast was not the cause of catastrophe in Lebanon, but the result of it. Tanya Beckett asks, what’s gone wrong in Lebanon?Producer: Viv Jones(Lebanese protester waves a national flag amid clashes with security forces in Beirut, August 10 2020. Credit: Joseph Eid/Getty images)

Researchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now in development. Most vaccines take years of testing and additional time to produce at scale, but scientists are hoping to develop a coronavirus vaccine at record speed. Several potential vaccines are now in the final phase of testing but it could still be months before we discover if they are safe and can effectively prevent people from being infected. If a vaccine can be found, there are concerns about how the world will manufacture enough. There may be challenges in storing it at the right temperature and transporting it safely around the world. Plus, rich countries might hoard supplies. Although hopes are high it is entirely possible that a safe and effective vaccine is a long way off, or never discovered. Experts warn that ‘waiting for a vaccine syndrome’ could be distracting us from finding other solutions for controlling the spread of Covid-19.Presenter: Tanya Beckett(A scientist works on an experimental coronavirus vaccine at a laboratory in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Credit: Juan Mabromata/Getty Images)

US lawmakers are deciding whether to act against the country’s powerful tech giants. Some believe the likes of Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple are stifling competition. The companies have made huge profits during the Covid crisis and critics believe they will use this cash to buy competitors. With Charmaine Cozier.Clockwise from top left: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook. Getty Images

Winter is coming in the northern hemisphere and traditionally it is time for colds and flu. This has raised fears that coronavirus will surge when the seasons change, possibly leading to a second wave of the disease that is even bigger than the first. However, predicting what a Covid winter will look like is complex and uncertainty reigns - there are reasons both to be worried and to be reassured.Contributors: . Micaela Martinez, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University . Katherine Wu, a health and science journalist with The New York Times . Judit Vall, a professor in health and labour economics at the University of Barcelona . Dominique Moisi, the author of The Geopolitics of Emotion.(A man walks through a snowfall in Sarajevo, wearing a mask as protection against Covid-19. Credit Mustafa Ozturk / Getty Images)

With an estimated million Uighurs in detention camps, China has used a variety of means to successfully stifle world criticism. They include its economic muscle, political alliances with like-minded countries and sanitized tours of the facilities for opinion formers. With Charmaine Cozier.(Uighur prisoners shackled and blindfolded in Xinjiang, China. Still from anonymous drone footage.)

The presidential opposition candidate Joe Biden has barely emerged from his home since America’s lockdown at the end of March. But polls suggest that the low-key strategy is working in his favour – as his rival President Donald Trump comes under increasing pressure over his handling of the coronavirus and a resurgence of racial tension. With four months to go until the election, is staying in the basement Joe Biden’s best option? What are the risks if he does? And how could Donald Trump turn things around? Contributors: . Jason Zengerle, writer at large for the New York Times Magazine . Rachel Bitecofer, Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and host of the Election Whisperer. . Niambi Carter, Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University and author of “American While Black”. . Whit Ayres, Republican pollster at North Star Opinion Research.Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producers: Estelle Doyle and Victoria McCraven Editor: Richard Vadon(Image: Joe Biden at campaign event, Credit: Leah Mills/Reuters)

The recent border clash between China and India is seen as a watershed moment in the two nuclear nations’ relationship. How will its repercussions affect Asia, and the rest of the world? Contributors: . Chris Dougherty - a senior fellow with the Defence Programme at the Centre for New American Securities. . Ananth Krishnan – a correspondent for the Hindu newspaper. And the author of “India’s China Challenge” . Tanvi Madan – a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy programme at the Brookings Institution. . Yu Jie - a Senior Research Fellow on China at Chatham House. Presenter: Tanya Beckett Series Producer: Estelle Doyle(Chinese President Leader Xi Jinping with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2017 BRICS Summit. Photo: Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Getty images)

Why are Covid cases dramatically increasing in some U.S. states, where rates had been low? The number of new coronavirus infections in a single day has passed fifty five thousand. Is it because of more testing, or is something else going on?(Demonstrators outside the State Capitol in Auston.Texas protesting against Coronavirus restrictions. Credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images)

President Vladimir Putin has been in power for 20 years. The Russian people have been voting on a change to the constitution that could keep him in the Kremlin until 2036. While world leaders and opponents struggle to second guess him, some objectives appear to be clear: stability at home, respect abroad and power maintained for his inner circle. Presented by Charmaine Cozier(President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, February 2020. Credit: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)