The Debate

Forty-eight hours after France’s new government collapsed after just 14 hours, caretaker Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is still trying to pull off the impossible and a strike a deal that can get a budget over the line before the end of the year and avoid a further spiralling of public borrowing costs. But for that, you need a compromise.

To Lecornu's left, the Socialists want to go back on the 2023 pension reform; to the right, the conservative Les Republicains say "no way". We review the stumbling points and possible ways President Emmanuel Macron can avoid another snap election that's sure to further shrink his support in France's lower house of parliament, 18 months out from the election to pick his successor.

The front-runner for 2027 is staying far from Paris on the PM's self-imposed deadline day for a compromise. The far-right's Marine Le Pen is instead claiming that all this haggling in the high halls of power smacks of a cabal. And while the left and the moderate right tear themselves apart, her National Rally party's been quietly canvassing constituents, anticipating their next trip to the ballot box.

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

On the second anniversary of Israel's worst day of bloodshed in its history, Hamas still holds hostages and Israel is still demolishing Gaza. Often during the past 731 days, panellists on this show have insisted it's impossible for the two sides to hear each other until the guns go silent. That's yet to happen.

We ask about the faint hopes stirred by the US plan on offer, and about the impact of the longest war in Israel's history on its citizens, who are torn between those who support a defiant prime minister who wants a 'super-Sparta' state to take on all comers and those who reject a forever war and a messianic land grab in the West Bank. 

Watch moreTwo years after October 7 attacks on Israel, war in Gaza drags on

Here in France, home to both Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations, a commemoration has taken place to mark the October 7 terror attacks and the 51 French nationals killed on that day. Two years of killing innocent civilians in Gaza have eroded sympathy for Israel in French public opinion, particularly among young people. 

Produced by Théophile Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Emmanuel Macron has lost his third prime minister in the 16 months since he dissolved parliament and lost ensuing snap elections. Sébastien Lecornu has broken a Fifth Republic record by lasting just 27 days as head of government. 

We ask why Bruno Retailleau, the head of the Conservative Les Républicains party, first accepted to stay on as interior minister and then – faced with uproar in his own ranks – slammed the door 90 minutes later on Sunday night.

As for the president, he's got three choices: try again to find a PM who can work with an opposition-led parliament, call snap elections as demanded by far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, or, as the far left would have it, resign now.

Macron has made it crystal clear that he's not leaving before 2027. So what can he decide to federate alliances, reassure markets and salvage the legacy of a disrupter who eight years ago broke the mould of French politics but now has to contend with uncompromising, fragmented formations?

When Macron broke parties, did he also break the system?

Produced by Théophile Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

A long list of European states are contributing personnel and equipment to secure a pair of EU summits this week in Denmark. A spate of mystery drones in the buildup has exposed NATO's vulnerability to harassment and hybrid warfare.

We ask about unexplained flyovers, ghost ships and Russian denials. We also about spiking tensions across the Baltic Sea, where the stakes have never been higher since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

From calls for "drone walls" to the return of conscription, how do Europeans beef up their own defence? And how much do they turn to NATO's historic guarantor, when the US seems to critics more interested in coveting Danish protectorate Greenland than defending against Russian expansion?

Produced by François Picard, Aline Bottin, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

First his war secretary warned against wokism and "fat generals", before Donald Trump told hundreds of generals summoned for an unprecedented gathering of US top brass to expect more deployments to fight the "enemy from within". His bragging about federal troops sent to cities run by "radical Democrats" came amid a rambling speech, one that railed against the press and affirmative action but also included praise for firemen and Barack Obama's way of going down staircases without holding the handrail.

We ask about the US commander-in-chief's intentions, and those of Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host who served as a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who declared war on beards, woke culture and anonymous whistleblowers, as well as women and unfit servicemen who can't meet physical training standards.

So how should armies evolve? What's the role of the military when you're the world's biggest superpower, one that's never seen a coup in its 249 years of existence?

Produced by Théophile Vareille, Jean-Vincent Russo and Ilayda Habip.

So far, Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to avoid almost any concessions in his dealings with Donald Trump. Instead, despite growing global outrage over the demolition of Gaza, Washington has always put the onus squarely on Hamas to first release the Israeli hostages. But did Netanyahu go too far with the targeting of a Hamas delegation hosted by US ally Qatar? Will the United States finally impose an end to the war?

In its 21-point plan, the Trump administration is no longer pushing the mass deportation of Gazans and is even siding with Gulf states in rejecting an annexation of the West Bank. 

So for his fourth trip to the White House since Inauguration Day in January, the Israeli prime minister finds himself squeezed between Trump and the far-right West Bank settlers who prop up his coalition.

Read moreNetanyahu supports Trump's Gaza plan, but Hamas has yet to agree

As for Trump, it's a choice between hardcore Evangelicals like his ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and the Gulf states who've raised billions for his ventures and those of his family, like son-in-law Jared Kushner, who's suddenly back in the foreground of negotiations.

Who wins in this struggle between ideology and money?

Produced by Marion Lory, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip and Guillaume Gougeon.

France's former leader Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in jail for his part in the illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Muammar Gaddafi's Libya. He'll do prison time, even during his appeal. That's on top of his electronic bracelet he wore in a separate case of eavesdropping on magistrates. "I'm innocent," insists the former conservative leader. 

Sarkozy still casts a long shadow over French politics and regularly advises current president Emmanuel Macron despite the four criminal cases against the founder of the Les Républicains party, whose current leader Bruno Retailleau also serves as Macron's interior minister.

Is this verdict a triumph of a judicial branch of government that's independent of political pressures, or overreach as claimed by far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, who's got legal issues of her own?

We look at the facts and ask about the masterminds and bag men of the Libya corruption trial, one that harks back to a time when Gaddafi was back in the good graces of the international community, before Sarkozy himself led the charge to have the UN intervene and stop Gaddafi from quashing the Arab Spring rebellion out of Benghazi. How does Thursday's verdict sit here and there?

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Guillaume Gougeon and Charles Wente.

Donald Trump has surprised Ukraine and NATO allies with an apparent about-face on Russia at the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. We ask why the US president suddenly thinks Kyiv can win militarily, the same Trump who up until now blamed both sides for the war and most recently assured that Russian drones fired into Poland might be a mistake. We also ask what concrete steps to expect for Ukraine, and also frontline NATO members like former Soviet state Estonia after last weekend's 12-minute violation of its tiny airspace by Russian MiG fighter jets.

But it goes beyond the eastern flank: major European airports have been hit by ransomware attacks and mystery drone flights. The hand of Moscow? There's no firm evidence yet, but with Washington's wavering, it doesn't take much to fuel the anxiety on this continent. 

Produced by Théophille Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

A fleeting flicker of hope soon to be snuffed out, or are fault lines finally moving in the Middle East? Donald Trump is addressing the United Nations on the heels of the recognition of a Palestinian state by France, Britain and a host of others. The US president condemned the move and blamed everything on Hamas. Has he given up on his Gaza Riviera scheme? 

What's the alternative? Already on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron laid out steps for a two-state solution while Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto volunteered peacekeepers for when guns go silent. We examine options for both the current humanitarian emergency and paths to lasting peace.

Read moreFrance recognises Palestinian state, Abbas vows Hamas will have 'no role' in governance

Peace cannot be imposed from a conference hall in New York, but only from the protagonists themselves. Would Israelis and Palestinians still be willing to make concessions in the name of lasting peace?

Produced by Ilayda Habip, Aurore Laborie, Théophile Vareille, and Charles Wente.

With Gaza under siege and the West Bank under threat, will the symbolic act of recognising a Palestinian state give its inhabitants reasons to hope or despair? Some 715 days since Hamas orchestrated the worst terror attack in Israel's history, what's clear is that Israel has since squandered sympathy with its incessant pummelling of Gaza and the unchecked land grabs by the state and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Among the dozen nations recognising Palestine is former colonial power Britain, as well as France, which is home to both Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations. Is this a lone act of frustration directed as much at Israel as its main backer, the United States?

Or can Europe move the conversation towards actual peace building? We ask our panel and gauge the mood with our correspondents. We also ask about the "us versus them" statements of Israel's prime minister in the face of calls for international isolation and sporting boycotts. Critics are comparing the pressure to that exerted on apartheid-era South Africa.

But in this showdown, there is no Nelson Mandela figure. At least, not so far. Where is the leadership – on both sides – and the actors who can bargain in good faith?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Ilayda Habip, Aurore Laborie and Charles Wente.