It is the NATO frontline, but three years after the invasion of Ukraine, Lithuanians worry their country could be next. Defence spending is rising fast, NATO has committed a permanent brigade and Lithuanians are organising themselves into rifle clubs and citizen defence forces. The rights of minorities, US designs on Greenland and relations with Denmark all feature as Jonny Dymond and a high power panel debate Lithuania’s biggest issues at the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius.

Panellists:

Soaring house prices, the rights of indigenous people, healthcare and knife crime – just some of the issues raised in this debate about the future of Australia. Jonny Dymond is joined by a panel of leading politicians and commentators who take questions from across this vast nation.

The panel:

Gangsterism, immigration, economic inequality, land reform and whether the historic prison of Robben Island could be turned into a luxury resort: World Questions is in Cape Town to debate issues raised by South Africans thirty years after democracy came to their nation.

Democracy, the deepening polarisation of politics, race relations and President Macron’s grip on power – all are up for debate as Jonny Dymond is joined by a panel of leading French politicians who take questions from the public.

The panel:

Producer: Helen Towner

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female President takes office while protests still rage over changes to the constitution. World Questions explores the challenges she faces with a sharply divided panel facing questions from around the country. Does scrapping the national police force and putting the army on the street, mean a safer Mexico? Will forcing the country’s judges to fight for election loosen the grip of the drug cartels? Is it time to ban bullfighting for good? What is the future for relations with the USA? Jonny Dymond presents a deeply felt debate from a country undergoing change.

The Panel

Audio updated on 15 October 2024

With less than a month until the election, the BBC’s flagship political debate programme Question Time broadcasts from the key swing state of Pennsylvania. The programme hears directly from American voters as they get the chance to put their questions to a panel of politicians and prominent figures, holding them to account on the topics which matter most as they prepare to go to the polls.

On the panel, Republican and Democratic members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, Martina White and Malcolm Kenyatta; the British-American political commentator Mehdi Hasan; Bryan Lanza, who’s an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump; and the BBC North American correspondent, Anthony Zurcher.

Chaired by Fiona Bruce, the debate was recorded at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia on 9 October 2024.

Mass migration, employment and opportunities, democracy, joining the EU and widespread corruption. Just some of the issues debated by a public audience in the Albanian capital, Tirana. Jonny Dymond chairs the discussion with a panel of leading politicians and civil society activists.

The panel:

Nomadic life and climate change, air pollution and endemic corruption - Mongolia’s economy has tripled in size since becoming a democracy thirty years ago and the sudden growth has brought many challenges. It is a nation of sweeping grassland pastures and an ever-growing Gobi desert, sealed between Russia to its north and China to its south. Such large autocratic neighbours bring a sense of threat to this fledgling democratic nation. All those issues and more are raised by the public and debated by a panel of politicians at the moment a new coalition government is being formed. Presented by Jonny Dymond at the Chinggis Khaan Museum in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar.

The panel:

Producer: Charlie Taylor

Anu Anand presents a lively debate over the lack of affordable healthcare, access to clean water, racial disparities, the war in Gaza and the upcoming Presidential election in the swing state of Michigan, USA.

Could a new amnesty law on Catalan independence threaten Spain's unity? The nation is also facing complaints about corruption, a critical water shortage and a growing inequality between the old and the young. Jonny Dymond asks Spanish people how they see the future of their country.

On the panel:

Producer: Steven Williams