Perspective

Malta has one of the strictest abortion laws in the world and is also the only country in the EU to prohibit the procedure. It's banned in cases of incest and rape, and sometimes even when the mother's health is at risk. Women seeking to terminate a pregnancy are forced to either order abortion pills online or travel abroad. As the coronavirus pandemic complicated that option, they have turned to other solutions. Maltese gynaecologist Isabel Stabile joined us on Perspective to tell us more.

Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte became obsessed with dinosaurs as a teenager thanks to his dinosaur-crazy younger brother. He's now one of the world's leading palaeontologists and a consultant for the film franchise "Jurassic Park". Professor Brusatte is in Paris to promote the French translation of his recent book, "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs". He joined us for Perspective to chat about what Hollywood gets wrong about dinosaurs, whether dinosaur bones should be sold and his favourite dinosaur: the T-Rex.

How do you investigate human rights abuses in your own country as a civil war rages in part of it and where there are inevitably abuses happening on both sides? Daniel Bekele, head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, admits that the job is not easy as he works alongside the UN to investigate abuses in the country's Tigray region. He joined us for Perspective to tell us more.

When the international community gets involved to try to sort out a country, does it ever work? It's a question that's been posed in recent weeks about Afghanistan.  But it's also true of how the world has tried to help the African countries of Sudan and South Sudan. Both were separated in a peace deal a decade ago and remain highly unstable. Our guest Sharath Srinivasan is the author of the book "When Peace Kills Politics: International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudans". He joined us for Perspective.

Young people's hopes of saving the planet from climate catastrophe are the subject of a large event in Milan at the moment. The Youth4Climate summit is aiming to summarise ideas from youngsters ahead of the COP26 summit next month. One of those attending is Neeshad Shafi from Doha, Qatar. He's already been named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in climate policy and is the co-founder of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar. He spoke to us for today’s Perspective.

With approval ratings as high as 80 percent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves office with support that leaders across the world can only envy. But her popularity wasn't enough to lead her conservative bloc to victory in Sunday's elections. Instead, the CDU/CSU plummeted to historic lows, gathering just over 24% of the vote compared to the centre-left SPD's 25.7%. So what might a post-Merkel Germany look like? And can French politicians learn anything from the experience as they prepare for presidential elections in April of 2022? Leo Klimm, a German journalist based in France, joined us for Perspective.

Our guest warns of a devastating crisis in Cameroon's western Anglophone regions, where for five years the military has been fighting separatists who want to break away from the Francophone country. Education has been one of the main casualties, with separatists allegedly attacking thousands of teachers, students and parents as they enforce a boycott of schools. Meanwhile, Cameroon's military is accused of killing civilians, razing homes and burning down villages. Human Rights Watch is calling for a response that focuses on dialogue and crimes perpetrated by both sides. The NGO's senior researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi joined us for Perspective.

Kenyan environmental activist and whistleblower Phyllis Omido discovered in 2009 that the smelting plant where she worked was poisoning the community with lead – including her infant son. She spearheaded an effort to get the plant shut down and won the community an unprecedented $12 million settlement. But state agencies are appealing the case and more than a decade after the poisoning was discovered, the victims have still received no compensation. Many in Mombasa's poor Owino Uhuru neighbourhood are suffering from long-term effects like kidney and liver failure, with no money to pay for medical care. Omido joined us for Perspective.

Almost six years ago, close to 200 signatories came together and agreed to tackle climate change by aiming to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement was lauded as a landmark deal that would change the future. But today, analysts say global emissions are set to rise more than 15 percent by 2030, which could lead to a temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Celsius. So are these international summits just hot air? François Gemenne, a specialist in environmental geopolitics and migration dynamics, joined us for Perspective.

Our guest survived child sex abuse and went on to change laws and help police officers in the fight against paedophilia. Grace Tame is Australia's woman of the year, recognised for her work in breaking a silence that was imposed not just by perpetrators but also by society and even Australian legal systems. Not only did she survive being raped and abused by a maths teacher when she was only 15, she then went on to analyse how child grooming is made possible and now works to ensure that all survivors have a voice. She joined us for Perspective.