The Real Story

In recent months oil prices have fallen to historically low levels. The impact is being felt from Saudi Arabia to Venezuela – revenues are collapsing, and producers are in trouble. Why has the price collapsed and what are the long term consequences? In this week’s Newshour Extra we ask whether global policies to cap carbon emissions could lead to a world in which alternative energy sources will force fossil fuels out of business. Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss the future of oil, and the changing world order it heralds.

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(Photo: An Oil drill against the backdrop of a setting sun. Credit: Getty Images)

What does the future hold for human space exploration? With more countries getting involved and costs falling, increasingly ambitious projects are being proposed. Is a permanent base on the Moon feasible? Are there vast mineral resources to be harvested in space? Will our descendants be forced to abandon planet Earth to live elsewhere? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of extra-terrestrial experts – including science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson – as they discuss humanity’s future in space.

This week's contributors: Lord Martin Rees, British Astronomer Royal; Dr Jill Stuart, specialist in space politics at the London School of Economics; Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University; Dr David Parker, chief executive of the UK Space Agency.

(Picture credit: NASA)

Why are so many Eritreans fleeing their country? With a population of just six million, this young country in the Horn of Africa has accounted for the third largest flow of refugees into Europe this year, behind only Syria and Afghanistan. Join Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of guests on Newshour Extra this week as we try to understand the forces driving hundreds of thousands of Eritreans risking their lives in the hope of a better future.

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Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Our world is getting warmer despite the best efforts of the scientists, politicians and diplomats. A global agreement in Paris on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions may help slow the rise in temperature, but it's rising nonetheless. What might the world look like if the temperature keeps rising? There will be many losers – but who are the likely winners? And what does humanity need to do to adapt to the inevitable changes ahead? Owen Bennett Jones and a star cast of guests discuss how humanity can survive in a warming world.

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Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Remarkable new techniques for ‘editing’ DNA – chemically cutting and splicing sections of genetic code – are revolutionising research in laboratories around the world. The potential for eradicating hereditary diseases is enormous. But are the benefits outweighed by the risks involved? And should these techniques ever be used on humans? On Newshour Extra this week, Owen Bennett Jones and his panel of expert guests discuss the scientific and ethical consequences of this latest research, and ask whether mankind should be tinkering with our genetic inheritance.

Contributors: Prof Robin Lovell-Badge - Head of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute; Michael Le Page -New Scientist magazine; Dr Annelien Bredenoord - Associate Professor of Biomedical Ethics at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht; Marcy Darnovsky - Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society, Berkeley, California; James Rushbrooke - playwrite; Edward Perello - co-founder of Desktop Genetics

Photo Credit: Thinkstock

The rise of the Islamic State group has been both shocking and unprecedented. With ever more violent attacks on civilian targets come outpourings of anger and frustration at the inability of governments and security services to defeat them. The aftermath of the Paris attacks has been no exception. President Hollande has spoken of waging a “pitiless war” against those responsible. Amid the atrocities committed by IS, it’s difficult to perceive a coherent ideology. So in this week’s Newshour Extra, Owen Bennett Jones and his guests discuss where the group came from, what its leaders want, and whether it’s succeeding in its aims. In understanding such motivations, are we better equipped to defeat it?

This week's contributors: Jason Burke - Guardian newspaper and author of "The New Threat from Islamic Militancy"; Jessica Stern - Harvard lecturer and the co-author of "ISIS: The State of Terror"; Hassan Hassan - Chatham House and co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror"; Ghias Aljundi -Syrian writer and human rights activist.

(Photo Credit: AFP/Getty)

In December, the World Trade Organisation will hold major talks in Nairobi, Kenya – the first time ever one of its high-level summits has been in Africa. Global trade has brought enormous economic benefits, but has the WTO failed in its prime directive to “eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” through more equitable trading relationships? Is the world trade regime fair, or is the game fundamentally rigged against developing countries?

And as the major powers increasingly turn to regional agreements like the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership, does the WTO even matter anymore?

Join Owen Bennett-Jones and his panel of experts, including a former director general of the WTO, as they discuss the future of global trade, and whether developing countries can ever reap the benefits.

(picture credit: Getty images)

When Obama first came to office there was a huge amount of global expectation riding on his foreign policy. He promised to heal the breach with the Islamic world, restore America’s good name, and fight fewer wars. But as his time in the White House draws to a close, how should we judge Obama’s record?

Is the world a safer place now than when he took office? And behind all the policy making, is there an over-riding vision – what commentators have called “an Obama doctrine”? Join Owen Bennett-Jones and a panel of global experts, as they discuss President Obama’s foreign policy legacy and America’s place in the world today.

(Photo: President Obama addresses US troops in Afghanistan, May 2014. Credit: Getty Images)

More than two years after the overthrow of elected president Mohammed Morsi, Egyptians are going to the polls in the final stage of a promised return to parliamentary democracy. Morsi, whose government was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, remains in jail; President Sisi, who led the overthrow of Morsi’s government, has been accused of treating his opponents harshly - and press freedoms have been severely curtailed. So, is this democratic process meaningful, or merely a veil for control by the military establishment? Join Owen Bennett Jones and his guests as they discuss Egypt’s democratic path.

(Photo: Egyptian protesters. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The Arctic is the fastest-warming region of the globe, with temperatures rising at least twice as quickly as the rest of the planet. While that means hardship for much of the area’s wildlife and indigenous peoples, it’s also creating many opportunities. As the ice melts, new, lucrative shipping routes are opening up and improving access to potential new oil fields, while valuable minerals are being discovered under vanishing glaciers.

But with new opportunities comes increased interest. In the past few years Arctic countries have expanded their presence in the Far North, opening new military bases and building powerful new icebreakers. They’ve also been trying to further expand their borders under the Arctic Ocean - with three countries claiming ownership of the North Pole.

Will the Arctic become the next "Great Game"? Could this competition lead to conflict? Or have negotiations in the Arctic so far proven that it can remain a zone of co-operation?

Owen Bennett Jones presents a special edition of Newshour Extra from the Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

(Photo: an iceberg in Ilulissat, Greenland. Credit: Getty Images)