World Questions

Following a swing to the right in elections last year, Austria is governed by a coalition between the ruling Conservative People’s Party and the far-right Freedom Party. It has taken over the presidency of the Council of the European Union with the motto, “A Europe that protects”, with a focus on efforts to prevent illegal immigration into the EU.

Jonathan Dimbleby chairs a public debate on Austria’s political and economic future at the Theatre Museum in Vienna. The panel includes Government spokesperson Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Liberal Party leader Beate Meinl Reisinger, Eva Blimlinger, Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and Claus Raidl, former President of the Austrian National Bank.

(Photo: Vienna Old Town, Credit: tupungato/Getty Images)

After 70 years of independence Global Questions travels to New Delhi to assess India today, where it stands on the international stage, and its fast growing economic strength, which some say could help it rival China as a global powerhouse.

On the panel:

Meenakshi Lekhi – MP and spokesperson BJP

Producer: Ben Carter

Can engineering solve the world’s problems? Three of the world’s greatest bio engineers discuss climate change, crop failure and infertility at a special event staged in partnership with the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Professor Madeleine Van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science is developing heat resistant corals; the Ethiopian agronomist Gebisa Ejeta from Purdue University, USA is engineering drought and pest resistant crops; and Kathy Niakin leads a team at the Crick Institute, UK and is the first scientist worldwide to get national level approval to use CRISPR to edit the DNA of human embryos.

They join Razia Iqbal and a public audience at the Natural History Museum in London to discuss important and ground-breaking work.

BBC World Questions is in Copenhagen to host a debate on Denmark's future. It has a reputation for being one of the happiest places on the planet but for many that has always felt like a bit of a myth. Increasingly the challenges of immigration, integration, and high taxes are causing some Danes to question whether their country can still afford a generous welfare state. Others feel that new laws to 'ban the burka' and cuts to welfare have put the character of their nation on the line.

Jonathan Dimbleby is joined by an influential panel to debate the state of the nation and its role in the world:

Martin Henriksen, MP – Spokesperson on Immigration and Integration for the Danish People’s Party

(Photo: Colourful traditional houses in Copenhagen old town at sunset. Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark, Credit: Getty Images)

From Zimbabwe to Hong Kong, Washington to Seoul, World Questions showcases the views of a vast array of panellists and audiences from around the world. No two programmes are the same – yet the questions asked are often similar. Immigration, the environment, the rise of populism, wealth distribution and corruption - the themes are of universal concern. Jonathan Dimbleby highlights some of World Questions' key moments and offers a unique insight into how the programmes are made.

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

Lagos - Nigeria’s biggest city and its commercial centre. It’s a noisy, vibrant, hectic place, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities and the most populated in Africa. Like most of Africa, the majority of Nigeria’s population is aged under 30. That’s more than 100 million people. And yet, the young are barely visible in the corridors of political power. But are they ready and willing to rise to the challenge?

In a highly charged debate, an audience of Zimbabweans debates the upcoming presidential elections, land reform, the economic crisis and the legacy of the former President, Robert Mugabe.

Allan Little chairs the public debate with Paul Mangwana of Zanu PF, Welshman Ncube of the MDC Alliance, Fadzayi Mahere – independent parliamentary candidate, and Trevor Ncube – the journalist and publisher.

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: A supporter of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party waves the flag of Zimbabwe. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

At a packed event in Seoul, a Korean audience debates unification, nuclear weapons and the cancellation of war games in the wake of the Singapore Summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim.

Jonny Dymond chairs a public debate with Professor Moon Chung-in, the South Korean President's Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Yonsei University; General Hwang Jin Ha, former Chair of the Defence Committee of the National Assembly; Kim Jiyoon, Research Fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies; and Sohn Jie-Ae , former Seoul Bureau Chief for CNN and Invited Professor of International Studies at Ewha, the Womans University - where the debate is held.

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: Sunset at Seoul City Skyline, South Korea, Credit: Getty Images)

This month’s World Questions comes from the Czech Republic and tackles some of the big questions facing the country. In the capital, Prague, Allan Little brings politicians and commentators together to answer questions from the public. There was heated debate about billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis who has been struggling for months to form a coalition government. Which political direction should the country now take on issues like immigration, the health service, membership of the EU and foreign relations? All these were debated in the Archa Theatre, Prague in front of a large audience.

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: Cityscape of Prague, Credit: Getty Images)

What can be done to counter the spread of false and misleading information on social media? Sir David Spiegelhalter, Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University, has been travelling to classrooms around the world for a World Service documentary examining new strategies to combat the phenomenon. Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London in April 2018, David talks to a group of the Commonwealth's brightest young minds about the challenges of assessing the truthfulness of claims in the news today. The six participants, drawn from the Commonwealth's affiliated youth organisations, discuss the issues affecting social media in their home countries and how they work to distinguish fact from fiction.