Episodes
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One month after Emmanuel Macron’s surprise announcement of snap elections, the French Parliament has been elected, but France still needs to find a Prime Minister, with no group holding a majority. Meanwhile, Joe Biden hosted a NATO heads of state meeting, which raised concerns when he confused Kamala Harris with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky with Vladimir Putin. In Barcelona, angry residents splashed water on tourists and expressed their frustration with mass tourism through protests.
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It's been a week that's seen a new government sweep into power in the UK. A landslide win by Labour has ended 14 years of Conservative rule. It's the Conservatives' worst defeat in living memory. After electoral devastation, voters are trusting the centre left to get the UK through choppy waters. Can Keir Starmer steer calmer?
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This week we discuss France's political turmoil, Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea, the prosecution of Arundhati Roy, and Netflix being sued over the veracity of its "Baby Reindeer" series.
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It's been a week of political aftershocks in France, after the earthquake that was President Emmanuel Macron's sudden decision to call snap elections. His gambit, in testing the far right's EU election triumph and his banking on it being just a sign of voter frustration, is an "all the chips on the table" moment and early polls suggest the National Rally is still on course for victory. Meanwhile, an "electionally challenged" G7 gathers in Italy.
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This week has seen world leaders gather on the beaches of northern France to commemorate 80 years since the Normandy landings – the moment that marked the start of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany. This year, Ukraine's leader was invited but Russian officials were cold-shouldered. We discuss the politics of D-Day diplomacy.
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This week has seen the mass arrests of students at US universities. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators "have a right to dissent, not chaos", said President Joe Biden. It's also been yet another week where a breakthrough seemed possible in talks for a Gaza ceasefire. But come what may, Israel says the Rafah offensive will happen.
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It's been a week where the midnight oil was burnt in Britain at a late-night session of the House of Lords. The controversial Rwanda bill was finally passed, two years since it was proposed. PM Rishi Sunak says the plan to fly migrants to Africa will be the solution to "stop the boats". But will it actually serve as a deterrent?
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How can a conflict that's regarded as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world become known as the forgotten war? Aid agencies say that after exactly a year of civil war in Sudan, driven by a power struggle between two military factions, the world has turned away. The UN estimates that at least 14,000 Sudanese civilians have been killed. Another 8 million are displaced; 4 million of them children. Some 18 million people are facing acute hunger.
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Could this week be remembered as a turning point in Israel's war in Gaza? Israel has admitted it killed seven aid workers in Gaza, stemming from a "serious failure due to a mistaken identification" that has led to widespread condemnation. Western countries say initial Israeli answers that it was a "tragic accident" are not sufficient. The recently unwavering support from the US is now wavering and conditional on the steps Israel takes in protecting civilians.
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It’s been a week of international disbelief at Russia's insistence in linking Ukraine to the Moscow concert hall shooting, despite all evidence pointing to the Islamic State group. We look at Putin's motive and also the threat posed by IS-K in Europe.
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Is there no end in sight to war in Gaza? The week began with a flurry of diplomacy to seal a truce before Ramadan, but that has now gone quiet, what with more than 100 civilians killed after a scramble surrounding an aid convoy delivery in Gaza City.
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After nearly four months of war in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis and the mounting civilian death toll have triggered growing international calls for a ceasefire. Amid intense diplomacy, a deal is taking shape. The first truce, in November of last year, lasted just seven days; this one could endure for one or two months and free many or all of the remaining 100 or more Israeli hostages in stages.
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Did the map of the Middle East suddenly just get bigger? On Tuesday, Iran hit points in Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria and – all the way over on its eastern border – separatist militants in Balochistan province. It was payback for recent attacks targeting police in its own Sistan and Baluchestan province. Hitting nuclear-armed Pakistan came as the neighbouring countries were carrying out joint naval exercises.
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