The Real Story

Science has changed the world - it helps us live longer and more productive lives. It helps us communicate, explore the universe, understand our planet and cure our illnesses. It's so powerful a force that it has undermined confidence in religion and challenged humans to rethink their purpose. Yet some of science's keenest advocates fear that there is a problem with science, that there is something wrong with the way it is currently practiced and this at a time when science is under attack not just from old fashioned creationists but from people opposed to vaccination, climate change deniers and those who are suspicious it serves the interest of big corporations. So, are there fundamental problems with the way science is done today? Join Owen Bennett Jones with his guests this week discussing how science can live up to its promise.Photo: Cancer research laboratory, Cambridge UK. Credit: Getty Images

Donald Trump came into the White House promising to tear up the US foreign policy playbook: Russia could be a friend, NATO was ‘obsolete’, and trade deals hurt American jobs. In his first hundred days has President Trump carried out his radical promises or is he beginning to sense the limitations of the most important job in the world? This week on Newshour Extra Owen Bennett Jones and a panel of expert guests discuss Mr Trump’s remaking of American foreign policy.

Is the increasingly autocratic brand of populism adopted by Hungary’s right-wing government becoming a laboratory for right wing parties around the world? Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s tough policy against Muslim migrants and his call to defend Europe’s Christian civilisation have put him at odds with the rest of the European Union. On Newshour Extra this week, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss this Hungarian vision of an ‘illiberal democracy’ and ask whether what was once considered on the edge of the European right, is now becoming an increasingly mainstream ideology.

Highly sophisticated techniques to ‘micro-target’ voters, using personal data and demographics have been credited with contributing to the recent outcomes of both the Brexit vote in the UK and Donald Trump’s victory in America. Strategists involved in the forthcoming elections in France and Germany ignore these latest methods at their peril. But can techniques used in marketing to sell cars and toothpaste really be effective in predicting and then manipulating voters in an election? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests on Newshour Extra as they discuss what part micro-targeting will have in the politics of tomorrow.

How will President Trump's pledge to remove illegal immigrants and create jobs for Americans impact America's agricultural heartlands? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests are in the rural American state of Nebraska to discuss whether Mr Trump's trade policies could in fact hurt farming communities rather than help them.Photo: Nebraska cattle farmer. Credit: Getty Images

The state of Minnesota is home to America’s largest Somali community. This week, Owen Bennett Jones and the Newshour Extra team are there for a special edition of the programme. In front of a live audience, Owen and his guests will examine the impact of President Trump’s executive order to exclude immigrants from majority-muslim countries including Somalia. Mr Trump argues that current immigration laws leave America vulnerable to domestic terror attacks by nationals from those ‘high risk’ countries. So what does this mean for the more than 150,000 Somalis who now live in the United States, many of whom are refugees from conflict in their home country? And what does the future hold for a migrant community President Trump has called a ‘disaster’ for Minnesota.Photo: Members of the Somali community campaigning in Minnesota State elections, Nov 2016. Credit: Getty Images

South Sudan, the world’s newest state, faces a humanitarian catastrophe from famine driven by conflict. According to the United Nations many millions are threatened by severe food insecurity, with at least 100,000 facing starvation. Aid agencies are gearing up their efforts to reach some of the country’s remotest regions, but the presence of armed groups makes food distribution difficult. This week on Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests ask why South Sudan, rich in oil and gas, has failed to live up to the aspirations of its people and what can be done to bring it back from the brink.Photo: Child at an MSF malnutrition centre in Aweil, South Sudan. Credit: Getty Images

This week the UK’s parliament gave Prime Minister Theresa May permission to trigger the process that will take the UK out of the European Union. Two years of negotiations will follow. But what kind of deal should Mrs May go for? Hard Brexit that treats the EU like any other trading partner, or something much closer? On this week’s Newshour Extra Owen Bennett Jones and a panel of experts sift through the tough choices facing Britain over the next two years.(Photo: Brexit Sandcastles. Credit: Getty Images)

Pakistan was conceived of as a country where Muslims could live free of Hindu domination and discrimination but was that the extent of the project? Was it meant to be a country in which Muslims could live safely or was the idea to establish an Islamic state? And is, in fact, an Islamic state the final goal of Muslims? Are there ways of blending the ideas of Islam with systems of government that do not take a view on religion and allow individuals to live their religious lives as they see fit? On this week’s Newshour Extra Owen Bennett Jones is in the Pakistani capital Islamabad to find out whether an Islamic state is possible in the modern world.The guests this week are Zubair Safdar, Public Policy Analyst and Media Coordinator of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party, Dr Soumia Aziz, Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Islamic International University, Islamabad, and Mosharraf Zaidi, the leader of Alif Ailaan, a political campaign that helps to address Pakistan’s education crisis, and also a columnist and former government adviser.Owen Bennett Jones was also speaking to lawyers Asma Jahangir and Justice Muhammad Raza Khan (Photo: Pakistan's national flag Credit: Getty Images)

If we had the scientific capability to bring back extinct species should we do it? Which ones would we choose and why? How about woolly mammoths roaming across the Arctic tundra, or vast flocks of passenger pigeons – once the most numerous birds on earth – back in our skies again? Scientists believe they are on the threshold of the technologies that could make all this possible. But could the power to bring animals back make us more complacent about their extinction? And what might the consequences be for the habitats into which they’re introduced? On this week’s Newshour Extra Owen Bennett Jones and his guests take a step back from the global news agenda to consider one of the great challenges facing biological and environmental scientists today.(Photo: artist's impression of a woolly mammoth. Credit: Thinkstock)

A presidential race for the Elysee Palace that has torn up the rule book is nearing its tumultuous conclusion. France’s two main parties have cast aside their old leaders and an independent candidate, Emmanuel Macron - the youthful leader of a new left-leaning movement ‘En Marche’ - is now widely seen as the front runner. The only certainty throughout has been the strong support for the far-right Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, riding high in the polls on the populist, anti-establishment policies. Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss which two candidates will make it through to the second round in May, and what the consequences will be for France and the rest of Europe.

Six years ago this week the brutal repression of a protest in Libya's second city of Benghazi inspired a revolution that led to the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Today the country is preyed on by more than 1500 militias. Different governments rule in the west around Tripoli and in the east from Tobruk. Now some international powers are considering abandoning the ineffectual UN-led attempts to find political solutions and instead are turning once again to a Libyan military leader to seize control. General Khalifa Haftar commander of a powerful militia, the Libyan National Army, is seen by his supporters as the only man to restore stability to the country. But his critics argue that the last thing Libya needs is a return to the rule of a strongman.(Photo: General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army. Credit: Getty Images)

Robots, artificial intelligence and automation are spreading beyond the assembly line to compete for many of our jobs. Economists forecast that as many as half of current jobs in the developed world could be lost to computers in a generation, and as many as two-thirds in manufacturing-heavy China. But what about the new jobs that will emerge? And could we be at the threshold of a world in which robots do all the unpleasant work leaving us free finally, in the words of JM Keynes, to learn how to live ‘wisely, agreeably and well’? (Photo: Robot hand holding an apple. Credit: Getty Images)

Steve Bannon is widely seen as one of the most influential – and in some quarters one of the most dangerous - men in President Trump’s administration. He holds the key post of White House Chief Strategist, but who is he and what does he really believe? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests on Newshour Extra this week as they consider Mr Bannon's influence in the future direction of policy. How will his mix of right and left-wing views shape President Trump’s economic plans? How might his interest in fringe historical theories impact on social and foreign policy? And what are the consequences of his belief that the Judeo-Christian West is facing an existential crisis in its confrontation with the Islamic world?

Nuclear weapons and mutually assured destruction are associated with the Cold War but today more countries have the bomb than ever. An American president has the power to unilaterally start a nuclear war. In South Asia, India and Pakistan face off across a volatile border, both countries hold nuclear arsenals primed and ready to fire. Elsewhere, rogue-nation North Korea edges closer to nuclear capability, and a nuclear armed Israel sees its very existence threatened by Iran. So how safe are we from nuclear destruction? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests on Newshour Extra as this week they discuss the nature of the threats we face from nuclear weapons: how secure are global stockpiles, and what is the likelihood that any one of the many thousands of nuclear warheads across the globe could be launched intentionally or by accident?(Photo: Titan II nuclear capable missile Credit: Getty Images)

Turkey straddles the divide between Europe and Asia and is seen as a key ally against the rise of islamist extremism. Yet Turkey is at the same time facing its own potentially destabilising political and security crises. In the week of Donald Trump’s inauguration, Newshour Extra takes an in-depth look at the multiple crises facing Turkey, so important to the stability of Europe and the west. Join the BBC’s former Turkey correspondent, Chris Morris and his guests as they discuss the country’s multiple crises and why they matter to Europe’s stability and the future of the western military alliance.

Three years ago this winter hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians gathered in Kiev's Independence Square, demanding closer integration with Europe instead of Russia, and, eventually, forcing the government's resignation. But what's changed in the years since? Demonstrators continue to protest over poor economic conditions and entrenched corruption, and there has been an exodus of reformers from the government, claiming their attempts at change are being blocked. Meanwhile, despite intermittent ceasefires, the conflict in the eastern Donbass region with Russian-backed rebels seems no closer to peace. Join Owen Bennett Jones for a special edition of Newshour Extra in Kiev, as he and his expert panellists discuss the future of Ukraine.Contributor names:Svitlana Zalischchuk - Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and former journalist. Vladimir Gusak - Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. Taras Berezovets - Political analyst. Tom Burridge - BBC Kiev correspondent(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

In 2016 the murder rate in the American city of Chicago went up by 50% - there were were 762 killings. That's more killings in Chicago than Los Angeles and New York combined. The fact other cities have far lower levels of violence raises the question - what are they doing right? How have they brought murder rates down? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of experts discussing the social, economic, political and policing issues that lie behind the numbers and the possible solutions to dealing with urban violence.(Photo: A march in Chicago to commemorate victims of gun violence held on New Year's Eve 2016. Credit: Getty Images)

BBC correspondents predict what's going to happen on the world stage in the coming year. Joining Owen Bennett Jones to look into the global crystal ball are Lyse Doucet, Jon Sopel, James Robbins and Kevin Connolly. So what are their predictions for Donald Trump's presidency, elections in France, Putin's ambitions and the various crises in the Middle East?

What should we make of the growing influence of Iran in the politics of the region? Along with Russia, Iran has been a key ally to President Assad in turning the tide the Syrian conflict. So is it right to cast this as the growing dominance of Shia powers and their allies over their Sunni rivals, or is this an over-simplistic interpretation of a complex regional power struggle? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss the changing fortunes in Syria and the prospects for a better 2017 for the region.

The delicate balancing act over Taiwan has been a cornerstone of US-China relations for decades, but it appears that Donald Trump wants to shake it up. In early December he broke decades of diplomatic protocol by talking on the phone with the president of Taiwan. It was the first publicly-reported contact between a Taiwanese leader and a US President or president-elect in forty years, and China responded immediately, saying it had "serious concerns". On this week's Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his international panel of experts consider the future of the US-China relationship, and what any changes could mean for the rest of the region and the world.

Opposition leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are warning that the country faces civil war if the current president, Joseph Kabila, refuses to step down at the end of his term of office. That term was due to end this month but elections will not now be held until April 2018, and his opponents have accused him of trying to cling on to power. The DRC is not only a key source of minerals required in modern technology, it also has the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world. As tensions rise, can the negotiations overseen by the DRC’s Catholic bishops find a compromise? On this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his expert guests discuss the future of the DRC, and whether further violence can be prevented.

On just his second day in office, President Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. It’s now approaching the end of his second term and prisoners are still being held there. Why has it been so difficult to close? And what will happen under President Trump, who made campaign promises to expand it? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests on this week’s Newshour Extra as they discuss what the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has achieved and what its future will look like.(Picture: razor wire and an American flag around the perimeter of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. Credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has promised to tear up the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal – or TPP – on his first day in office. The massive trade deal agreed in 2015 would have lowered tariffs and deepened economic ties between twelve countries, which together cover 40% of the world’s economy. The demise of the TPP comes as other global trade deals, such as the TTIP between the US and EU, face calls to be dropped or renegotiated. On this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss why there is now such a backlash against multi-country trade deals, and whether this marks an end to the steady progress of globalisation.(Photo: People hold signs as they demonstrate against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Credit: Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images)

This week, a special programme recorded in Damascus and Beirut looking at the Syrian conflict and its possible solutions. It’s a highly complex struggle. But is it right to characterise it as a civil war, a home-grown uprising to Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime – as many in the Syrian opposition view it? Or is the conflict a war against Syria, conducted by militant jihadi groups supported by Syria’s enemies – as the Assad government would like it to be seen? In Damascus, Owen Bennett Jones talks to supporters of President Assad, and in Beirut he considers the same issues with a panel of Syrian government critics.(Photo: bereaved woman crying outside Aleppo hospital. Credit: Dan Isaacs, BBC)

What might American foreign policy look like under a Donald Trump presidency? Based on his rhetoric during the campaign, the scale of the departure from the status quo will be profound. He promises to upend long-standing relationships with both America's traditional allies and its foes; he says Europe and Asia should pay more for their own security; and his plans to defeat so-called Islamic State are bellicose but unfocussed. On this week's Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests take Trump's campaign promises and hold them up to scrutiny. How much of what he's said does he really intend to implement - and will he be able to put policy into practice?Photo: Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Credit: Getty Images

Across the world we’re seeing the rise of a new kind of popular politics. The old established order is under threat and voters are turning to politicians who offer bold promises for a fresh start. Should we embrace these politicians as charismatic visionaries or deceitful populists manipulating truth in their desire for personal power? Owen Bennett Jones is joined by an expert panel for this special edition of the programme recorded at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas.(Picture credit: a Tea Party protestor holds two microphones)

Donald Trump says the US presidential election is rigged. To what extent are his complaints justified and just how do politicians and their supporters manipulate the results of elections in their favour? In this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests consider the ways elections around the world can be tampered with and the means by which this these manipulations can be minimised.Photo: Polling station in British General Election Credit: Getty Images

South Africa’s universities are being rocked by increasingly violent student protests over tuition fees. The issue has become a flashpoint for a country struggling to provide education, jobs and housing, amid growing political divisions within the ruling ANC party. The president, Jacob Zuma, is facing strong criticism that his government is rife with corruption and mismanagement. Has South Africa failed to live up its promise as the “rainbow nation”? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss South Africa’s growing economic and political crises.Photo: Student protests in Johannesburg. Credit: Getty Images

Is debt essential for economic growth? We look at the economics and morality of debt. Should countries burdened with huge debts be forced to repay them in full? And, if it is fine for an individual to borrow large sums to buy a house, why shouldn’t governments do the same to finance employment schemes or large infrastructure projects? Owen Bennett Jones and his expert panel are in front of a live audience at the How the Light Gets in Festival in Hay-on-Wye to discuss the problems of debt.(Photo: Students pull a mock ball and chain representing student debt. Credit: Getty Images)

The use of mercenaries in warfare has a very long history, and still very much in evidence today. African governments seeking to push back rebel insurgents often employ mercenaries to carry out the task. From Yemen to Syria, mercenaries are directly involved in combat roles. And defence and training work once carried out by national armies is now often done by private military contractors. In this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests consider the role played by these privatised forces fighting someone else’s war.Photo: soldier firing automatic weapon Credit: Getty Images

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are seen as the most unpopular candidates to have ever stood for the presidency of the United States. So why is it so difficult for a third party candidate to break through and make a real impact? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss whether the US political system, trumpeted as a shining beacon of democracy across the world, really does give the voter the best choice.(Photo: A Trump supporter at the first US presidential debate in September 2016. Credit: Getty Images)

Tensions are high in the disputed region of Kashmir. Weeks of protest in the Indian-administered part have left dozens dead and hundreds injured many of them blinded by crowd-control pellets fired by the Indian army. Kashmir has been a dangerous flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan for more than six decades. Currently a boundary – the Line of Control – divides the region in two and it remains one of the most heavily militarised zones in the world. In this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss the future of Kashmir and the options for a political resolution to the highly complex dispute over the region’s sovereignty.Photo: Kashmiri protestors throw stones towards Indian police during clashes in Srinagar. Credit: Getty Images

How comfortable would you feel getting into a vehicle driven by a computer? Versions of the driver-less car are now a reality, already on public roads in Singapore and as a taxi service in the city of Pittsburgh in the United States. But can a computer safely navigate complex, unpredictable situations in poor visibility? And can government legislation keep up with the fast-changing pace of technological progress? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests consider the safety of this new technology and who should take responsibility when things go wrong.(Photo: Cars driving into a sunset in Johannesburg. Credit: Getty Images)

The battle of Stalingrad was arguably the most important strategic battle of the Second World War. The Germans and their allies were eventually defeated by Russian forces after a long, brutal conflict and siege of the city. Aleppo has been described as Syria’s Stalingrad – the country’s largest city, its commercial and trading powerhouse – with rebel held areas under siege by government forces and much of it reduced to rubble. This week on Newshour Extra we’re devoting the programme to the city of Aleppo and its strategic significance in Syria’s long and bloody civil conflict. Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests both from inside and outside the city, along with the politicians currently meeting in London to discuss diplomatic solutions to bring the war to an end.Photo: Amid the rubble after an air strike on a rebel-held neighbourhood of Aleppo. Credit: Getty Images

In the UK most payments now made do not involve cash. Rather than handing over notes and coins, most transfers are made electronically. South Korea's central bank has a target of eliminating cash by 2020 and many other countries want to reduce the amount of physical currency in circulation as it is quite costly. So is cash going to be a thing of the past? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss the possibility of a truly cashless society.

There was widespread shock and international condemnation when the Islamic State group destroyed the ancient Syrian site of Palmyra in 2015. But why does preserving heritage matter? Does an exploration of the past always bring unity, or is there a danger that preserving history can fuel divisions? And are we in danger of prioritising culture over human life? Join Owen Bennett Jones for a special edition of Newshour Extra recorded in front of a live audience in Edinburgh, with guests from the Edinburgh International Culture Summit.(Photo: A Syrian soldier inside Palmyra's Temple of Bel. Credit: Getty Images)

This week it was announced that London was getting a new team of specialist police officers to investigate online hate crimes, including abuse on Twitter and Facebook. But how widespread is the problem, and is getting law enforcement involved the best way to tackle it? In this week’s Newshour Extra, join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss why the abuse happens, and whether there should be limits to free speech on social media.Image: Woman looking at phone Credit: Thinkstock

Is India’s caste system a discriminatory and divisive anachronism that’s had its day, or does it provide stability and order in a complex society with its roots in ancient traditions? Members of the low-caste Dalit community – once known as ‘untouchables’ – are marching in the state of Gujarat following a spate of recent attacks against them. They say they’ll boycott their designated tasks within the caste system, which include the manual cleaning of sewers and the disposal of dead animals. Join Anu Anand and her guests as they discuss whether positive discrimination on the basis of caste works – or whether it’s time to abolish the caste system altogether.Photo: a protester against attacks on Dalits in Gujarat State, India. Credit: Getty

Zimbabwe’s economy is in severe crisis and President Robert Mugabe’s opponents are growing increasingly bold with widespread public sector strikes and protests on the streets of the capital Harare and other cities. As ever, Mr Mugabe remains defiant, and has recently made it clear he intends to be president of Zimbabwe until he dies. He’s now 92 and has led the country since independence in 1980 so it’s hardly surprising that even his most loyal allies are starting to look to the future. In this week’s programme, Rebecca Kesby and her guests discuss who might take over as Zimbabwe’s next leader and how the country can escape from its latest economic crisis.(Picture credit: Getty Images)

“The important thing in life is not to win but to take part, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well”. So said the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, at the end of the 19th Century. How does his noble ideal fit with the modern phenomena of professionalism, doping, individual financial gain, nationalistic pride, huge corporate sponsorship? Is the Olympic ideal still alive? In this week’s edition of the programme, as the Rio Games approach, join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss the present and future of the Olympics.Photo: Athletes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Credit: Getty Images

This week, Owen Bennett Jones is in Istanbul for a special edition of the programme looking at the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in Turkey. We ask who was really behind the putsch and what will be the impact of President Erdogan’s purge of tens of thousands of people from the armed forces, the judicial system and from academic institutions. With Owen will be a panel of guests from across the political spectrum, as well as a former senior member of the military. They’ll discuss the future of Turkish democracy after the violent upheaval and uncompromising government response.Photo: Pro Erdogan supporters at a rally in Istanbul following the failed military coup attempt of July 15. Credit: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images

Is Bangladesh losing control to violent fundamentalists? That’s the question Razia Iqbal and her guests are discussing on this week’s Newshour Extra. In early July Islamist gunmen took hostages in a Dhaka cafe, leaving 20 dead. That’s part of an upsurge of deadly violence across the country that has included the brutal murders of many bloggers, atheists and secular intellectuals. Who is to blame? How much of the violence can be pinned on international groups like so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda? And what should be done to bring stability back to Bangladesh?(Picture shows secular activists holding a torch-lit protest against the killing of blogger Niloy Chakrabarti. Credit: Getty Images)

British politics is in turmoil following the EU referendum result, and the American political establishment has been turned upside down by the rise of populist candidates. Is this a sign that democratic institutions are being successfully wrested from the grip of established elites, or that democracy itself is in crisis? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of experts as they discuss whether there's a better way of doing democracy - and whether we should still be promoting it worldwide as the best form of government.(Picture shows ballot boxes in the United States. Credit: Getty Images)

Google famously said "don't be evil" in its mission statement. But what does this actually mean in practice? The giants of the internet such as Google, Facebook and Amazon have transformed our world by creating a virtual space within which we express our personal thoughts and satisfy our consumer demands. But in using them, we also reveal huge amounts of information about ourselves. This week, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests consider the duty of large technology companies such as these to act responsibly and use this power wisely. Join Owen and his guests for this edition of the programme recorded in front of a live audience at the ‘How the Light Gets In’ Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.(Photo credit: AP)

What does the UK leaving the EU say about the strength of the organisation going forward? Can it perhaps accomplish more with a reluctant partner gone? Or is the ambition of ever-closer political and economic union doomed? Owen Bennett Jones is in Brussels with a panel of European politicians and experts to reflect on the implications of the UK voting to leave the European Union.On the panel: journalist Tom Nuttall, Lithuanian MEP Antanas Guoga and Rosa Balfour, senior fellow in the European Programme at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel. With contributions from former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, Italian MEP Laura Ferrara, German MEP Beatrix von Storch,

This week Owen Bennett Jones and his guests on Newshour Extra explore the reasons behind the shocking level of fan violence at the Euro 2016 football championships in France. English and Russian supporters clashed both on the streets and inside the stadium, there were serious injuries, and tear gas was used by the police the break up the riots. We ask what motivates groups of young men to participate in group acts of violence, and to what extent they are organised by political groupings intent on fomenting unrest and confrontation with the police.(Photo: a tear gas canister explodes as England fans clash with police in Marseille. Credit: Getty Images)

What might foreign policy look like under the next president of the United States? This week, Ritula Shah presents the programmes from Washington, asking how President Trump or President Clinton might face up to the big global challenges: multi-dimensional war in Syria; Putin flexing his muscles in Russia; Beijing's territorial claims in the South China. These headaches and more await the next occupant of the White House, but how much do we know about how they’ll tackle them?Photo Credit: Getty Images

Will future wars be fought online? Just how much damage can be done by cyber terrorists hacking into to top secret military sites, secure government networks, or perhaps vital public utilities running our power and water supplies? And when does a hack become true cyber-warfare, requiring a military response? Join Owen Bennett Jones in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, as he talks to some of the world’s leading experts gathering for a conference on cyber conflict, discussing what measures can be taken to minimize these risks, and how much we really know about the secretive world of cyber-attacks.(Photo: Composite image of technology interface. Credit: Thinkstock)

How has a country so rich in natural resources ended up so poor? That’s the question Owen Bennett Jones and his guests are discussing in this week’s Newshour Extra. Venezuela’s economy is in freefall, the shops are empty of even the most basic commodities, and its people are desperate. For a nation blessed with vast oil wealth, the descent into chaos has been spectacular. President Maduro’s government is widely blamed for the mess, but how much does the fault lie with the policies of former president Hugo Chavez, and, more recently, the low price of oil? Join Owen and his panel as they analyse these issues, and ask - what possible hope is there for a recovery in Venezuela? (A child stands in front of graffiti in the 23 de Enero neighbourhood in Caracas, where the remains of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are kept. Photo credit: Getty Images)