The Debate

The US Congress recovenes but cannot yet get down to work because there is no House speaker elected. Quick explainer here: the US Congress is in two chambers. The Senate is where the Democrats have the majority. The House of Representatives is where the problem lies. Without a House speaker, the wheels of power cannot turn. And a split in the majority party there, the Republicans, is causing a seizure in the motor of governance.

Why did China suddenly go from draconian Covid restrictions to an "anything goes" approach? The nation where the coronavirus originated kept a lid on it for three years and an easing was expected after the October Communist Party congress. But to go from Covid protests in November to suddenly opening the floodgates and stopping the count on casualties makes for a stunning U-turn.

Sometimes a single person really can change the world. Pelé not only captured the planet's heart with his Midas touch, he also made football the world’s top spectator sport, acting as the graceful ambassador for the beautiful game. The king also put Brazil on the map. As a nation mourns, we ask about the Black shoeshine boy from the favelas who made a point – like the recently departed Queen Elizabeth II – of staying out of his country’s politics, both through dictatorship and democracy.

When did the French get so good at football? Perennial losers back in the 1980s, the defending World Cup champions are now in their second consecutive final, their fourth since 1998. Back then, a nation feted a win on home soil and a golden "black, blanc, beur" generation. On Wednesday night, France celebrated another black, white and Arab generation. The communion even included opposing fans, proud of a Morocco that's the first African and first Arab side to reach the final four at a World Cup.

We've seen African summits in Paris, Brussels, Beijing and Ankara. For the second time ever, after 2014, Washington is hosting an African leaders' summit. With superpower rivalries heating up, no long lectures are planned on human rights and corruption. Instead, the Biden administration is bowing to the African Union’s own blueprint for sustainable growth. Is it the same script as former colonial powers France and Britain?

The cold will not let up. Neither will the fighting. As a conference for Ukraine brings allies and investors to Paris, Russia continues to pound critical infrastructure. How to talk rebuilding when Moscow is still destroying? We ask our panel where the priorities lie, who pays for what and at what point national security interests trump trade and business as usual.

Just when the on-field drama of the football finally seemed to be eclipsing everything else coming out of Qatar, the World Cup hosts are back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Doha denies any part in the piles of cash uncovered by Belgian police or the arrests that include a vice president of the European parliament. The greasing of the wheels allegedly came as the EU started to ponder visa-free travel to Qatari citizens. Why would the Gulf emirate even want the waiver?

The red carpet has been rolled out for Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh. Xi is set to meet some 30 heads of state and businesses during his three-day state visit. China is the top customer for Saudi oil and both sides are keen to expand their relationship at a time of economic turmoil and geopolitical uncertainty. The Chinese leader's visit coincides with a US judge dismissing a lawsuit against the Saudi crown prince over the horrific 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Indonesia's parliament has approved legislation that will outlaw sex outside marriage. Critics are already calling this a huge setback to rights. It was endorsed by all nine political parties in a sweeping overhaul of the country's criminal code. Rights groups are protesting against the amendments, denouncing them as a crackdown on civil liberties and political freedoms, as well as a shift towards fundamentalism.

Can Iran's hardline theocracy make concessions? Since September, there has been no sign of it doing so. Now, though, is something afoot? The attorney general is floating the idea of scrapping the morality police, the force blamed for the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Others hint at a repeal of the 1983 law that criminalised defiance of the mandatory headscarf for women. So far, there's been no follow-up. Are the authorities serious? And will it be enough?