The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ageing and his ruling Fatah party is deeply unpopular. There have been protests against him and the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinians feel the PA has lost legitimacy.

There’s no plan for how to choose a successor to Mahmoud Abbas and any candidate is likely to be controversial. There’s a risk that an unpopular replacement may throw the occupied territories into chaos, even violence, and have major implications for the future goals of Palestinian people.

Contributors: Dalia Hatuqa, independent Palestinian journalist. Khalil Shikaki, Professor of Political Science and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Ahmad Khalidi, political analyst and writer on Palestinian and Middle East political and strategic affairs. Ines Abdel Razak, executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy.

Presenter: Emily Wither Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Sound engineer: Jack Wood

(Photo: Palestinians celebrate vote. Credit: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

How much do you think about your gut? Are you taking a probiotic or prebiotic? If so, you’re not alone as globally we spend billions of dollars on soothing our stomachs.

Our guts do so much more than just digest our food and there’s a very special connection to our brain.

So how exactly does our gut work? And what do we need to do in order to keep it healthy?

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Matt Toulson Sound engineer: Nicky Edwards

Contributors: Geoff Preidis, a gastroenterologist at Baylor college of medicine at Texas children’s hospital in Houston Dr Jane Foster, Professor of Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center Martin Ham, Business Development Manager, NIZO Dr. Gail Hecht is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology, and Gastroenterology and Nutrition

(Photo: Man bites in to cheeseburger. Credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

In July 2023 a group of lawmakers in the US held a session to explore evidence of extra-terrestrial life. The evidence included the famous Tic Tac videos of mysterious objects flying through the sky.

Pilots described encounters with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon – or UAPs. Congress also heard of a secret US government programme that retrieves and reverse engineers materials made by non-humans, including crashed and intact craft – and possibly the remains of the entities that piloted them.

So does this mean we are not alone in the universe? Do sightings and hearsay provide enough scientific data to answer a question that has been asked by humans for thousands of years – are we alone in the universe?

Contributors: Greg Eghigian is professor of history and bioethics at Penn State University in the US. Leslie Kean is an investigative reporter. Adam Frank is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Rochester, and author of The Little Book of Aliens. Dr Chelsea Haramia is a member of the UK SETI Research Network Post-detection Hub.

Presented by Charmaine Cozier Produced by Louise Clarke Researched by Matt Toulson and Bisi Adebayo Editor Tom Bigwood Mixed by Kelly Young

(UFO crash site sign in Roswell, New Mexico USA / Getty Images)

Working from home became the norm for millions of us around the globe during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now three years on some major employers are insisting on their employees returning to the office, for at least some part of the working week.

The levels of working from home currently vary, depending on the country and its culture. The Netherlands are looking at legislation to allow employees the ability to work remotely, whilst in Japanese culture the preference for employees tends to be going into the office. So how do we navigate a future where both business and personnel needs are met to provide a good work life balance.

This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Is work from home working?’

Contributors: Jose Maria Barrero, Assistant Professor of Finance at ITAM Business School, Mexico and Co-Founder of WFH Research project Dr Saori Sugeno, Lecturer in Corporate Governance and International Business, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey Román Gil, Partner in law firm Sagardoy Abogadas, the Spanish firm of Ius Laboris, global employment law alliance for multinational companies. Dr Wladislaw Rivkin, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Trinity Business School, Dublin, Ireland

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tom Bigwood Technical Producer: Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(A working from home environment / Getty images)

About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil and it is home to more than 300 indigenous groups. But for centuries both the rainforest and its indigenous inhabitants have been under threat, from deforestation, agri-business, mining and politics. Brazil’s current president, Luis Ignácio de Silva, has made the future security of the Amazon and its peoples a key policy pledge. So far, the president has appointed a new minister for indigenous peoples and according to government figures, the first six months of this year saw a 33 percent drop in deforestation.

But at the recent Amazon Summit in Belém, the president failed to commit to zero-deforestation, to the disappointment of indigenous leaders. They are calling for more protection for their land and their way of life, which they say is crucial to the future preservation of the Amazon and a matter for the whole world. This week on The Inquiry we are asking ‘Can Brazil’s indigenous population save the Amazon?’ Contributors: Pedro Cesarino, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sao Paolo and Writer, Brazil Carlos Peres, Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of East Anglia, England Ana Carolina Alfinito, Legal Advisor at the NGO Amazon Watch Kawá Huni Kuin, Indigenous leader and representative from the Huni Kuin/Kaxinawá people, in the State of Acre, Brazil.

Presenter: David Baker Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tom Bigwood Technical Producer: Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(Image: Kawá Huni Kuin, Photo Credit: Bimi Huni Kuin)

Environmental activists in the UK have disrupted high profile sporting events in an effort to persuade the government to stop oil development. How would stopping oil production impact those countries around the world with economies dependent on oil?

Tanya Beckett explores the history of oil, the implications of the Ukraine war for its price, how countries like Nigeria and Norway are dependent on oil revenues, and the challenges facing new oil producers in the global south as they face international efforts to limit new oil development in order to meet international climate targets.

Presenter Tanya Beckett Producer Phil Reevell Researcher Matt Toulson Editor Tara McDermott Technical producer Gareth Jones

(Industrial offshore oil rig platform on the North Seacoast, UK. Credit Getty images)

South Africa once had the most abundant and cheap electricity on the continent. Now, it is experiencing power blackouts. It’s called loadshedding, the process by which the power company Eskom occasionally reduces the demand for electricity on the national grid.

For many South Africans this means no electricity for up to ten hours a day, almost every day. The result is disruption to everyday life, impacting on work, education, sanitation, food and heating.

In 1994 Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress party promised a better life for all South Africans. So why is South Africa’s infrastructure crumbling?

Contributors: Duma Qgubule, economist and journalist Thomas Mnguni, campaigner with Groundwork Anton Eberhard, professor at the Power Futures Lab at the University of Cape Town Lungile Mashele, energy economist

Presented by Audrey Brown Produced by Louise Clarke Researched by Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Edited by Tara McDermott and Tom Bigwood Technical producer Kelly Young Production co-ordinator Brenda Brown

(Dressmaker Faieza Caswell sews under candlelight at her workplace in Cape Flats, South Africa. Credit: Esa Alexander/Reuters)

In June 2023 the British government announced a £40 million pound pilot scheme to increase access to specialist weight management services in England -It reads “Using the latest drugs to support people to lose weight will be a game-changer.”

The scheme will use prescription drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic, a once weekly injection that slows down the emptying of the stomach and suppresses the hunger hormone in our brains. Both these medications are made of the same of the same drug called Semaglutide.

Semaglutide mimics the hormone released by the body when we eat food, helping people feel fuller for longer and suppressing mental chatter about various food cravings. When prescribed alongside diet, physical exercise and behavioural support, the drug can help obese people lose 15% of their body weight.

Ozempic has been used to treat sufferers of type 2 diabetes since 2018 when doctors noticed that alongside increasing insulin the drug helped people lose weight. In 2021 the drug was approved as a fat loss injection under the name Wegovy.

Since then, stories of the 'fat loss wonder drug' have lit up social media, rumours are rife about who might be using it in Hollywood and international demand has skyrocketed.

But it's not meant for shedding a few pounds to fit into your favourite frock. So this week were asking are weight loss drugs the answer to obesity?

Contributors: Dr Disha Narang Director of obesity medicine at Northwestern Wake Forest Hospital Adrian Van den Hoven Director General of Medicines for Europe Dr Jena Tronieri Director of Clinical Services at its Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at the Perelman School of Medicine Josh Jordy CEO of Eracal Therapeutics a biotech company based in Switzerland.

Presenter Charmaine Cozier Producer Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Editor Tara McDermott Researched by Bisi Adebayo Mixed by Cameron Ward Production Co-ordinator Brenda Brown

(Overweight person on scales./Credit: Peter Dazely/Getty images)

Venezuela is the country with the largest oil deposits, yet 3 in every 4 Venezuelan lives in extreme poverty. More than 7 million people are recorded as having left the country since 2015 in search of a better life, causing the largest ever displacement of people in Latin American history. And it’s only surpassed in numbers by those people leaving Ukraine. But Venezuela is not at war, its current humanitarian crisis is the result of years of political and economic turbulence. International sanctions, imposed on the country with the aim of pressing the government to change its policies and restore democracy have had little impact, other than making it more difficult for Venezuela’s economy to function. Presidential elections are due to be held in the country next year, but talks between the government and the opposition to ensure that they are free and fair are currently at a standstill. This week on The Inquiry we’re asking ‘Is Venezuela a failed state?’

Contributors: Maria Gabriela Trompetero, Migration Researcher, Bielefeld University, Germany Alejandro Velasco, Associate Professor of History, New York University, author of ‘Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela’ Dr. Luisa Palacios, Senior Research Scholar, Centre on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University Mariano de Alba, Senior Adviser, International Crisis Group.

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(Oil spills over a hand and river in Venezuela. Credit: John Harper/Getty Images)

Canada is in the grip of the worst wildfires in recorded history. Blazes are devouring millions of acres of forest, forcing more than a hundred thousand people from their homes. Toxic smoke has blanketed cities across North America.

Why are wildfires getting more frequent and intense across the world?

Part of the reason is climate change, but part of it is also population growth and land management. The question is, what should we do about it? How can we stop wildfires?

Contributors: Mike Norton, Director General of the Canadian Forest Service Liz Goldman, World Resources Institute Jon Keeley, senior research scientist with the US Geological Survey and adjunct professor at the University of California Matt Oakley, fire investigation officer and wildfire officer, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service

Presented by Tanya Beckett Produced by Louise Clarke Researched by Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Edited by Tara McDermott Mixed by Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator Brenda Brown

(Wildfires at Lebel-sur-Quevillon in Quebec, Canada June 23 2023. Credit: Frederic Chouinard/Getty Images)

Following the Wagner mutiny in Russia, and with fighting intensifying as Ukraine presses on with its counter-offensive, there’s concern about increasing instability around potential use of nuclear weapons. President Putin has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Gary O’Donoghue asks how likely this is, and if the nuclear threat level is rising across the world. Are countries around the world looking at what is happening in Ukraine and adjusting their nuclear thinking? As China seeks to increase its own nuclear arsenal, experts are talking increasingly of Tripolar nuclear competition, taking in Russia and the US. In this uncertain world, what role - if any - is there for nuclear non-proliferation treaties and how can the nuclear threat be contained ?

Contributors Nikolai N Sokov: The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Robert Litwak: Director of international security studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Henrik Hiim: Associate Professor, the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies Rose Gottemoeller: former Deputy secretary general of NATO, now at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Presenter: Gary O’Donoghue Producer: Phil Reevell Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda -Dougherty Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Nicky Edwards

(Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launched during exercises on October 26, 2022. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via Reuters)

The medieval city of Venice is situated in the heart of a lagoon on the coast of northeast Italy. It was built on a large area of low-lying marshland. A system of wooden poles driven into the soft mud created an underwater forest. It still forms the foundations of the city we see today. For centuries the City has had to battle with ‘aqua alta’ or high tides from the Adriatic sea. And the gradual combination of water erosion and rising sea levels means the City is now facing a more urgent battle to stay afloat.

In recent years a series of barriers which sit on the sea floor and which are raised when an ‘aqua alta’ is expected have been successful in keeping the majority of the city dry. But its already been acknowledged that the Mose Barrier, as it’s known, is not a permanent solution for the future.

An idea designed to complement the Mose Barrier, one which was suggested more than a decade ago, is to inject seawater into wells underneath the city. The scientists behind the project are confident that if it were to be adopted, it would provide a uniform uplift to the city without causing any structural issues to the buildings.

This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Can seawater save Venice from flooding?’

Contributors: Prof Claire Judde de Lariviere, Medieval Historian, University of Toulouse Hermes Redi, Director General of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova (responsible for the Mose Barrier) Professor Pietro Teatini, University of Padua, Chair of UNESCO International Initiative on Land Subsidence Prof Carlo Ratti, MIT, Co-Chair at the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities.

Presenter: David Baker Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Bisi Adebayo Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(The Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Woman standing in flood water. Credit: Getty Images)