The Debate

Surely Ukraine is not the prelude. As Emmanuel Macron was departing Guangzhou, Chinese warships were cruising towards the Taiwan strait. We ask about the three-day show of force staged as a show of displeasure with last week's visit by the Taiwanese president to California, and about the US Navy destroyer dispatched to what China claims are its territorial waters.

The French president has landed in Beijing for his first post-Covid visit. Emmanuel Macron is accompanied by the European Commission president, who last week went on the offensive over unfair trade practices and Chinese backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Will Ursula von der Leyen speak for other recent EU visitors?

Justice may be blind, but can it block out the noise? Somewhere between spectacle and tribal rage comes the first-ever criminal indictment of a president of the United States. There are Donald Trump’s supporters energised for his return to New York City and the glee of detractors, with both sides using the hashtag #TrumpMugShot on Twitter. We ask about the media circus.

Are those sanctions starting to bite? On the surface, it's business as usual for a Russia that on Saturday took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council and still enjoys plenty of support from the likes of China. But last week, President Vladimir Putin for the first time told his cabinet to expect trouble ahead.

Maybe we are not as smart as we think we are. We thought technology would set us free, liberate us from menial tasks, democratise access to information and knowledge. We marvelled at our ability to connect instantaneously to whoever, wherever, whenever. We even fell for the illusion that each one of us is our own brand with a global reach. But beyond the way the digital age plays tricks on the human mind comes an even bigger threat.

"They cannot continue down this road." Joe Biden's blunt talk on Israel ended speculation that the US president would reward Benjamin Netanayhu with a White House visit, this after the prime minister paused his controversial overhaul of the judiciary. It's not the first time that Biden has crossed swords with Netanyahu, whose own son – without proof – accuses Washington of fomenting the mass protests against the reform.

It's a moment of truth for Israel and its democracy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will pause the second and third readings of a contentious judicial reform bill that has seen hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets for months. So what happens next?

If a Manhattan grand jury hands up a criminal indictment against Donald Trump, that will make him the first US president – sitting or former – to face felony charges. We ask about the case of alleged hush money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels and whether fingerprinting and a possible perp walk for the cameras helps or hurts Trump's chances in the race for 2024.

"In love, there is always one who kisses, and one who offers the cheek." That French proverb was borrowed by Winston Churchill's daughter to describe the British prime minister's relationship during World War II with US president Franklin D. Roosevelt. When observing the optics of Xi Jinping's three-day state visit to Moscow, we ask about the stakes of the first trip to Russia by China's president since Vladimir Putin's decision to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

A nation is up in arms, but Emmanuel Macron still fancies his chances. By turning the passage of a highly unpopular pension reform bill into a vote of confidence, the French president convinced enough conservatives to avoid bringing down the government. But it was close, with PM Élisabeth Borne's government clinging on by just nine votes. We ask about the lasting impact on the rest of Macron's term-limited four years in office.