The Debate

Did it finish with Saturday night, or will it spiral further out of control? Iran's first-ever direct attack against Israel has already sent the whole region into uncharted territory. We ask about the measure of its response to Israel's targeting of Tehran's embassy compound in Syria. We also ask whether the proportionality shows Iran's strength or weakness, and whether Israel's prime minister will heed the call of G7 allies to leave it there and move towards an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Roll out the red carpet for Japan. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is being feted with a speech before a joint session of Congress and a White House state dinner. Key to the courtship is Tokyo's ramped-up role in policing the Pacific. Like the Germans in Europe, the Japanese have had to shed the post-war pacifism that's even embedded in their constitution. It’s with an eye to China, North Korea and Russia that they’ve drawn closer to South Korea and supported Ukraine.

It's not only in the US and UK that border protection is on the ballot. The European Parliament's vote on a migration pact was always going to be a nail-biter, especially two months out from EU elections. We ask about the close result and about burden sharing, this as the numbers of those crossing the Mediterranean hit their highest level since 2015.

"To choose not to choose is still to act," as French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said. Judges at Europe's highest jurisdiction agree. Their non-binding ruling against Switzerland over its failure to formulate a concrete climate action plan resonates as scientists confirm that the planet is coming off the hottest month of March on record.

After six months, are we seeing proof that Israel's longest war since the 1980s is winding down? Or is the weekend announcement of troops withdrawing from southern Gaza the calm before a whole new storm?

How to prevent a genocide? Rwanda is marking 30 years since the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. During those 100 days of horror, a stunned international community watched from the sidelines. On that score, France's president is slated to recognise the international community's failure to prevent the 1994 genocide.

Originally, it was supposed to be a NATO foreign ministers' meeting to plan a birthday party. But at 75, the same alliance that just a few years ago wondered whether it had outlived its purpose, now has to instead figure out how to quickly take on more responsibility. Up until now, the United States led efforts to arm Ukraine. But the eventuality of a return of Donald Trump has members – including the current administration in Washington – preferring that NATO HQ safeguard that remit.

Israel is certainly taking on all comers. Monday's air strike on Damascus that killed three senior Iranian commanders is the most spectacular of its kind since Hamas's October 7 attacks. We ask about Tehran's response, whether it will try to draw in the United States, and – after months of cross-border rocket exchanges between Israel and Lebanon – about the risk of all-out war on a second front.

After more than two decades of uninterrupted rule, is the tide turning in Turkey? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threw all the weight of his AKP party behind a bid to unseat Istanbul's charismatic mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. Instead, the possible presidential contender extended his gains in Sunday's local elections.

If you're wondering why Sweden and Finland broke with neutrality and joined NATO, just look at a map. Long before 2022 and Vladimir Putin's play for Ukraine's capital, Stockholm was already boosting its military, reintroducing a base on the strategic island of Gotland in 2018. Across the Baltic Sea lies the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. We bring you an exclusive FRANCE 24 report from Gotland.