Perspective

A summer heatwave in Siberia saw wildfires sweep through the region, pouring unprecedented levels of C02 into the atmosphere. With temperatures in the High Arctic rising three times faster than the rest of the world, just how concerned should we be? We speak to Thomas Smith, Assistant Professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics.

After a lull in the number of migrants risking their lives to reach Europe by sea in recent years, clandestine crossings are on the rise once again. As Europe grapples with how best to handle the crisis, rights groups say they're seeing a worrying trend of countries including Greece and Malta employing illegal and dangerous tactics to push migrants out of their territorial waters. We speak to Louise Carr, a migrant rights campaigner at Amnesty International.

More than one month after a devastating explosion levelled large parts of Beirut, the question remains: how can the people rebuild? Will a new foundation further entrench corruption and mismanagement, or will it tear down barriers and promise a more inclusive future? We speak to Professor Mona Fawaz from the American University of Beirut about the challenges and pitfalls that come with this daunting task.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to appear in court in London in the latest stage of his legal battle against extradition to the US, where he faces 18 charges and a prison sentence of up to 175 years. Critics say he should be prosecuted, while activists say he should be celebrated for exposing abuses of power by the US government. In this edition of Perspective we speak to Antoine Vey, a member of Assange's European defence team.

Noha Baz's recently published autobiography is a hymn to the complex contradictions of modern-day Lebanon. An experienced paediatrician and passionate food writer, Baz has spent her adult life fighting for a fairer start for Lebanon's most marginalised children, while always advocating for life's simplest pleasures. She joined us for Perspective.

Ireland's traveller communities live on the margins of society. They're often unable to access state services because they have no permanent address, and they're also physically pushed out of the country's urban centres. What's it like growing up as a traveller in modern-day Ireland? German photographer Tamara Eckhardt has been documenting daily life in a traveller community on the outskirts of Galway. She joined us for Perspective ahead of a group exhibition for young photographers here in Paris.

What use are mathematics? To answer that question accurately one would have to use, well, mathematics. From enabling traffic lights to function, to providing the answers to your internet searches, our world today is structured by sums and to fully understand it we need to do the maths, says mathematical philosopher Stefan Buijsman. In his new book he also questions whether or not we can live a happy life without numbers and tells us that in very, very small communities this is possible. Buijsman joined us for Perspective.

Stopping to help women who are injured and look distressed at the side of the road; offering food to a hungry child or tea to a parched man who has been walking for days. These acts of solidarity and compassion are increasingly being treated as crimes across Europe. Amnesty International has released the results of an investigation into how eight European countries are operating contrary to international human rights laws. Researcher Rym Khadhraoui joined us for Perspective to tell us more.

Imagining the mindset of Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett in the final days before his death in Paris, author Maylis Besserie delves into death, fragility and what remains of a rich life. Beckett becomes one of his own characters as he remembers, sits, observing and analysing his world reduced to one room in a nursing home. While using solid facts based on Beckett's life, Besserie lets her imagination run free to fill in what he might have thought about in the endgame. She joined us for Perspective to tell us more.

Almost a decade after the Arab Spring began, the wave of protests that toppled authoritarian leaders across the region has led to a more complicated political reality than the first demonstrators could have anticipated, from Libya to a still continuing war in Syria. Hazem Kandil, an author and reader in political sociology at the University of Cambridge, joined us for Perspective to talk about what the Arab Spring achieved, the conflict in Syria and what lies ahead for the region.