Official figures report that there are more than eight million houses standing empty across Japan, the reality could be even higher. One of the highest concentrations of empty houses or ‘Akiya’ as they are known, is in the Prefecture of Akita, in Northern Japan, where in the past five years, houses have been abandoned at a rate of 13.6 percent. The problem is being put down to a number of factors. The lack of employment or education opportunities in rural economies means more migration into the cities. An ageing population combined with a low birth rate is upending traditional living arrangements. The land on which property sits benefits from tax relief, and if a property disappears so does the preferential measure. Building codes are strict. Religious reasons are cited as another factor - it’s believed that the spirits of ancestors still dwell in the home. The Government has invested heavily in the housing sector, from financial incentives to occupy older empty houses, to focusing on building preferred new and expensive homes in Japan’s cities in order to boost the economy. But as the population demographics continue to shift and shrink, unless the balance of supply and demand is addressed soon, then the suggestion is that empty Akiya will be an ongoing issue for Japan. This week on the Inquiry we’re asking: Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? Contributors: Ayumi Sugimoto, Associate Professor, Rural Studies, Akita International University, Japan Misa Izuhara, Professor of Social Policy, University of Bristol, UK Kazuki Morimoto, Associate Professor in Japanese, University of Leeds, UK Jiro Yoshida, Associate Professor of Business, Pennsylvania State University, USA; Guest Professor of Economics, University of Tokyo, Japan Presented: Charmaine Cozier Produced: Jill Collins Researcher: Bisi Adebayo Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Richard Hannaford Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown (Photo: Abandoned wooden house in Tambasasayama, Japan,5 April, 2023 Credit: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

The Great Green Wall is one of the most ambitious environmental projects ever conceived, creating a vast belt of vegetation spanning Africa by 2030; from Senegal on the Atlantic to Djibouti on the Red Sea. It was heralded as Africa’s contribution to the fight against climate change, reversing damage caused by drought, overgrazing and poor farming techniques. The regreening of 11 Sahel countries on the edge of the Sahara Desert would create millions of jobs, boost food security, and reduce conflict and migration. The plan was launched by the African Union in 2007, and despite political consensus, only 4% of the Great Green Wall had been completed by 2021. So what has gone wrong? What lessons have been learned, and will a change of strategy ensure its success by the end of the decade? Presenter: Audrey Brown Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Tara McDermott Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Broadcast Co-ordinators: Brenda Brown (Photo: The Niger river in Mali. Credit: Getty images)

For the first time in his 20 years in power Erdogan is facing serious pressure - and the choice voters make in this month’s presidential election could define Turkey’s destiny for decades. The impact of February’s devastating earthquake in Turkey is one of the key factors determining how voters will decide on their next president. The Turkish economy is also under pressure with inflation running at 55%. Against that background, a coalition of opposition parties, The Table of Six, are supporting a single candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, against President Erdogan. As polls predict a tight result in the first round of the election, The Inquiry asks: What does this presidential election mean for Turkey’s future? Presenter: Qasa Alom Producer: Phil Reevell Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda -Dougherty Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Nicky Edwards (Turkish citizen living abroad casts her vote in advance of the presidential election in London UK April 29 2023. Credit: Rasid Necati Aslim/Getty Images)

Last November Israel elected its most far right government in its 75 year history. Months of protests followed over its plans for reform of the judicial system. Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition government is proposing an agenda that goes beyond domestic reforms – and not everyone is happy. As well as domestic protests, some of Israel’s allies are nervous as, with the government’s attention taken up by internal challenges, new alliances are forming in the middle east. This episode of The Inquiry explores the reasons behind the tension and protests in the country and asks, why is Israel in turmoil? Guests: Tamar Hermann, senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and Professor of Political Science at the Open University Anshel Pfeffer, journalist and biographer of Benjamin Netanyahu Professor Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow at Chatham House Hugh Lovatt, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations Presented by Gary O’Donoghue. Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Editor: Tara McDermott. The programme was mixed by Richard Hannaford (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 20 Apr 2023. Credit: Menahem Kahana/ Shutterstock)

Next year Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. For many, the race has already begun. Digital electioneering in US elections has been steadily developing over the last 15 years, but this time around, advancements in artificial intelligence could be a game changer. There have been huge strides in generative AI in the past year. One of the most accessible AI tools now available to the general public is the software known as ChatGPT, which can scour the internet for information, producing text for speeches and essays. Generative AI is widely used to produce social content around image and text, but what will happen when full on AI video becomes more readily available to any user? AI systems will be able to reach voters with messages targeted specifically to them, but will they be able to trust them? There are concerns that voters will have an increasingly tough task working out which campaign messages are genuine and which are not. To date, there is currently little regulation of a system which has already been used to create deep-fake manipulations of people and what they say, provoking questions over authenticity. So do we all have to be more aware of how much we allow AI to shape our democracies? This week on the Inquiry, we’re asking: Will AI decide America’s next president? Contributors Betsy Hoover, Higher Ground Labs Prof Hany Farid, University of California Berkeley Martin Kurucz, CEO, Sterling Data Company Nina Schick, author of ‘Deepfakes’ Presented by Tanya Beckett Produced by Jill Collins Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Richard Hannaford Broadcast coordinator: Brenda Brown Image: Unused privacy booths are seen at a voting site in Tripp Commons inside the Memorial Union building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, November 3, 2020 (Credit: Bing Guan/Reuters)