Saudi Arabia's crown prince is mending fences with Syria and Iran, soothing rivalries with Gulf rivals and now welcoming the Biden administration's point man on security to Jeddah. Ten months after that frosty fist bump with the US president, Mohammed bin Salman is talking peace-brokering in Sudan and a winding down of his eight-year campaign in Yemen.

There is the outrage and the timing of the outrage. Russia's state media is in overdrive after the purported downing of two drones over the Kremlin, just days before the May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square. The Russian capital was quick to brand it a plot to assassinate Vladimir Putin, with calls to eliminate his Ukrainian counterpart and bomb its capital Kyiv. But while no one was injured at the Kremlin, the daily dose of strikes on Ukraine left at least 23 dead in the southern city of Kherson on Wednesday.

Two years and one World Cup after hosts Qatar bought the greatest footballer of our time, Lionel Messi is leaving Paris Saint-Germain. But perhaps the Argentinian player is already gone. We discuss Messi's suspension for taking an unannounced late-season jaunt to 2030 World Cup candidate Saudi Arabia.

If the international community secretly hoped it could stay out of the crisis in Sudan, and that maybe one of the country's two warring generals could settle their long-simmering rivalry with a quick blow, it's now time to face reality. With no clear winner in sight, nearly three weeks in, Sudan's capital Khartoum is being laid to ruin. Civilians who braved bullets for four years to demand an end to military rule can only hunker down or flee, if fleeing is even an option. Reports of militias in places like Darfur taking sides as civilians flee to neighbouring countries are particularly alarming.

The first day of May marks International Workers' Day, with marches and demonstrations erupting across the world in recognition of everyone who works hard for a living. In France, Labour Day is referred to as "La Fête du Travail", and this specific May Day falls in the middle of strikes and industrial action following the most controversial reform in decades.

Don't be fooled by tenuous truces. Nearly two weeks on in Sudan, with no clear winner in sight, the personal power play between rival generals shows all the signs that it could spiral into all-out civil war. Residents are desperately trying to leave the capital Khartoum. Tens of thousands have also fled the Darfur region for neighbouring Chad, as armed factions choose sides while local rivalries and banditry flare up. How to stop the spiral? Who to stop it?

After US President Joe Biden announced he was tossing his hat in the ring for a second term, we ask about his fitness for the job. Is Biden up to the task of being once again the world's most powerful person? More broadly, is US politics skewed towards seniority? Is it a misperception that the baby boomer generation born before 1965 continues to hold a lock on power? Can Biden – and Donald Trump, for that matter – convince the voters?

Which Lula is it this week? In Lisbon, Brazil’s president charmed his hosts in a speech before the Portuguese parliament to mark nearly half a century since the Carnation Revolution that ended the dictatorship there. Lula had raised eyebrows with his recent visit to China, where he accused the US of "encouraging" the war in Ukraine, and then with last week's warm welcome for Russia's foreign minister.

Is he a loose cannon, or did China's ambassador to France just test the waters for a more offensive posture on Ukraine? Lu Shaye has made headlines before, most notably with his wolf warrior calls to order over Taiwan. Now come his latest comments questioning not only Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea, but the very legitimacy of the 14 independent states that peeled off from Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed. The embassy claims he was speaking only for himself.

Is Sudan heading for civil war? Since last Saturday, the country has been caught in the crossfire of an argument between top brass. Neither junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan nor his nominal number two Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo seem ready to listen to outside mediation attempts. The longer the death match continues, the greater the risk that armed factions at home and abroad get drawn in.