The deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean have been largely unexplored for centuries. But now the ecosystem thousands of metres beneath the surface is under threat - from companies wanting to mine the seabed for rare metals and minerals.

The proposals to allow deep-sea mining are centre-stage at global talks by the International Seabed Authority - the UN body in charge of regulation - and its members in Jamaica in the coming weeks. It comes after a two-year ban on the practice expired when countries failed to reach an agreement on new rules.

Scientists fear a "goldrush" for precious metals beneath the oceans could have devastating consequences for marine life.

But supporters argue that these metals are needed if the world is to meet the demand for green technologies - such as electric car batteries - that will be key in the fight against climate change.

So is this a necessary step in the journey towards cleaner, greener technologies? Does climate change pose a bigger risk to our oceans overall? And what impact might mining have on this rare and delicate ecosystem?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Pierre Josso, mineral geoscientist at the British Geological Survey

Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London and author of 'Blue Machine: How the ocean shapes our world'

Toby Fisher, environment lawyer who has negotiated with the International Seabed Authority

Also featuring: Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company

Photo: An animal from the deep Pacific Ocean known as a 'gummy squirrel'. Credit: SMARTEX Project, Natural Environment Research Council, UK smartexccz.org

Producer: Sarah Passmore and Pandita Lorenz

French cities have been engulfed by almost a week of intense riots, following the death of a teenager. Nahel M was shot at point blank range by police after he refused to stop for a traffic check in his hometown of Nanterre, a north-west Parisian suburb. The unrest led to more than 3,000 arrests and the deployment of tens of thousands of police around France. The riots have exposed deep divisions in French society. On The Real Story this week: why has France again been rocked by violent unrest? What makes so many of those who live in the suburbs of France’s major cities feel neglected by the state and politicians? And what are the government and opposition parties proposing as solutions?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

- Rim-Sarah Alouane, a French legal scholar and commentator at the University Toulouse-Capitole in France

- Professor Philippe Marlière, Professor of French and European Politics at University College London

- Laetitia Strauch-Bonart, French writer and Editor at the French news magazine L'Express

Also featuring:

- Natalia Pouzyreff, an MP from President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party

- Inès Seddiki, founder of GHETT’UP, an organisation which works with young people in France’s suburbs

(Photo: The French interior minister has asked regions to ban the sale of fireworks, petrol cans and flammable products. Credit: Getty Images)

Wagner is a private military company of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has for months been involved in a feud with the Russian defence ministry, but he denies trying to overthrow Mr Putin's regime. The short-lived rebellion, which saw Wagner fighters seize a major Russian city before heading north towards Moscow in a column of military vehicles, was a response to government plans to take direct control of Wagner, Prigozhin claims. This week on the Real Story we are focusing on the implications for Russia's military of the mutiny by a man who was once President Putin's caterer.

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Produced by:

(Photo: Armored vehicles and fighters of Wagner on the streets of Rostov-on-Don, Russia; Credit: Arkady Budnitsky/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A surprise deal between golf’s two main tours and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund sent shockwaves through the world of men’s professional golf at the start of June. It came as increasing numbers of players move to Saudi Arabia's football league, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become a more visual presence on the sporting scene, hosting Formula 1 races and high-profile world title boxing bouts. The controversial purchase of Newcastle United was further evidence of a growing interest in using sport to project Saudi Arabia to a wider audience. But human rights campaigners say Saudi Arabia is trying to sports-wash its poor human rights record.

On the Real Story this week, we examine the reasons behind Saudi Arabia's increasingly prominent presence on the international sporting scene. How does it link to the domestic and geopolitical ambitions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman? And what impact could it have on international sport going forward?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Dina Esfandiary, advisor to Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa Program on research, analysis, policy prescription and advocacy.

Matt Slater, a senior football news reporter with the sports website and podcast, The Athletic.

Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi foreign policy analyst and a fellow at the Sectarianism, Proxies and De-Sectarianisation project at Lancaster University.

Also featuring:

Dan Roan, BBC sports editor.

Lina al-Hathloul, Saudi activist and head of monitoring and communications for ALQST, a non-profit organization promoting human rights in Saudi Arabia.

(Photo: Al-Ittihad officially present Karim Benzema as their new player, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 08 Jun 2023. Credit: EPA)

This week Donald Trump appeared at a federal court in Miami and pleaded not guilty to historic charges relating to his alleged mishandling of sensitive documents. Trump is the most high-profile person ever to face criminal charges under the Espionage Act. It's also the first time that a current or former US president has been charged with a federal crime. Leading Republicans dismiss it as a political prosecution, but some legal experts insist the indictment sets out a strong case. Mr Trump remains the frontrunner to become the Republican nominee in next year's presidential election, but at least ten other high-profile candidates are chasing the nomination.

On The Real Story this week we ask: is Trump's indictment so damaging that Republicans in Milwaukee next year will plump for another nominee to face off against Biden? Or does the crowded field help clear the way for a Trump presidential run? If Trump does seize the nomination, will his legal challenges galvanise or deter voters in the 2024 election?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist who was special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008.

John McCormick, national political reporter for the Wall Street Journal who has covered every presidential campaign since 2000.

Jill Wine-Banks, a former prosecutor at the US Justice Department during the Watergate scandal. She was the first woman to serve as US General Counsel of the Army under President Jimmy Carter.

Also featuring:

Lisa Kern Griffin, Professor at Duke University School of Law in North Carolina and a former federal prosecutor.

Brian Lanza, former Communications Director for the Trump transition team.

NATO reinforcements started arriving in Kosovo this week, following violent clashes in majority-Serb north Kosovo in late May. Outbreaks of violence erupted following disputed local elections, which Kosovo Serbs boycotted, allowing ethnic Albanians to take control of councils in northern Kosovo. The unrest comes after an apparent breakthrough in March when Kosovo and Serbia agreed to an EU-backed plan aimed at normalising ties. On the Real Story this week we’ll ask whether the latest crisis endangers those negotiations, and what needs to happen to defuse tensions in both the short and long-term. How do people living and working in North Kosovo deal with the complex issues of ethnic identity that have shaped the region for decades? What is the role of outside players like the United States and European Union? And how has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the West’s approach to the Balkans?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Misha Glenny, Rector of the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and a former BBC Central Europe Correspondent.

Dr Gezim Visoka, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University

Dr Helena Ivanov, visiting fellow in the international relations department at the LSE and an Associate Research Fellow with The Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank that advocates the spread of liberal democracy.

Also featuring:

Image: Members of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) stand guard in Zvecan, Kosovo, May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

Produced by Imogen Wallace and Rozita Riazati

Plastic is the dominant material of modern life, used in everything from furniture to cars to packaging to medical equipment. In most parts of the world it’s hard to live a single day without coming into contact with plastic. But as its use has exploded over the past century, so have the problems associated with it. Plastic pollution has created huge islands of waste in our oceans; microplastics have been found in freshly fallen Antarctic snow, and even in human blood. This week delegates from nearly 200 countries have been in Paris for UN-sponsored talks aimed at developing a landmark treaty to end plastic pollution. But how could such a treaty work? What could other solutions to the scourge of plastic pollution - or 'stupid plastic' - look like? And does the world really want to live without plastic?

Joining Shaun Ley are panellists -

Also featuring -

Produced by -

(Photo: Plastic bag drifting in the Botnia Gulf,Finland; Credit: Olivier Morin/AFP)

The winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, Bola Tinubu is due to be inaugurated on 29 May but the opposition are challenging the results.

Only 27 percent of voters participated in the election, the lowest turnout in the country’s history. And a recent BBC investigation has found evidence suggesting some results from the February election may have been manipulated.

As well as the contested election results, the incoming president faces huge challenges governing Nigeria: the country is struggling with high inflation and an array of security threats – jihadist insurgencies in the north east, kidnapping and banditry especially in the north west, herder-farmer violence, and separatist violence in the south-west. It has huge oil wealth, but its oil industry has a documented history of corruption.

President-elect Tinubu says he'll hit the ground running by cracking down on those trying to split the country.

Shaun Ley in conversation with:

Nnamdi Obasi - senior Nigeria adviser with the International Crisis Group.

Fidelis Mbah - a freelance journalist based in Abuja

Idayat Hassan - director of the Center for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank.

also featuring:

Katch Ononuju - special adviser to the Nigerian Labour party 's Peter Obi.

Produced by Alba Morgade and Ellen Otzen

(Photo: Nigeria's President-elect Bola Tinubu sits at the International Centre waiting to receive his certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on March 1, 2023. Credit: Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, is now the main driver of drug overdose deaths in America. The US Drug Enforcement Administration says 67% of the 107,375 US deaths from drug overdoses or poisonings in 2021 were linked to fentanyl or similar opioids. US authorities blame Mexican drug gangs for supplying fentanyl to users across the US. Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his country has proof that illegal shipments of the powerful opioid drug fentanyl are arriving from China; while China's foreign ministry has denied that there is illegal trafficking of fentanyl between China and Mexico. The US government is deploying law enforcement to crack down on fentanyl dealers and also taking steps to prevent and treat substance use and the harms it produces. But why is it still struggling to contain the fentanyl epidemic? Would stronger US cooperation with Chinese and Mexican authorities make a difference? What should President Joe Biden's administration do going forward to tackle the fentanyl crisis?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Regina LaBelle, who served as acting director in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in the White House when Joe Biden became president in 2021. She now directs the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, Director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington.

Uttam Dhillon served during Donald Trump’s presidency as acting head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA, from 2018 to 2020. He now works for law firm Michael Best and Friedrich and its consultancy, which provides advice on drug policy to clients including healthcare companies. Uttam is on the board or advises several companies involved in tackling the opioid crisis.

Also featuring:

Gustavo Mohar, head of Mexico´s national security intelligence agency from 2007 to 2011

Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne

FILE PHOTO: Plastic bags of Fentanyl are displayed on a table at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection area at the International Mail Facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 29, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Lott/File Photo

Produced by Ellen Otzen and Imogen Wallace

In recent weeks, vigilante groups in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince have beaten and burned to death gang members. The country has been plunged into increasing lawlessness following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Haiti has been led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry for almost two years, but he has failed to rein in the gang violence. One former US envoy to Haiti says the Biden administration has ‘betrayed’ Haitians by turning its back on the country and not pushing for democratic elections. Other have called for an intervention by foreign forces to tackle the gang violence. But is deploying international forces the answer? Should there be a Haitian-led solution? What needs to happen to prevent Haiti from complete collapse?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean Correspondent for the Miami Herald

Robert Fatton, Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia

Pamela White, former US Ambassador to Haiti under President Obama

Also featuring:

Dave Fils-Aimé, Founder & Executive Director of the nonprofit organisation Baskètbòl pou Ankadre Lajenès in Port-au-Prince

Daniel Foote, former US special envoy for Haiti from July 2021 - September 2021

Image: Police patrol the streets after gang members tried to attack a police station in Port-au-Prince on April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

Produced by Imogen Wallace and Ellen Otzen