The Debate

What happens when the people no longer believe their own leaders? With a stroke of the pen, Vladimir Putin annexed Russian-held parts of Ukraine even as those territories shrink in real time. As the casualties mount and amid the blowback against mobilisation, what will this Russian president do if he keeps losing on the battlefield? How does a cornered nuclear-armed strongman react?

The whole region knows the drill by now. Dateline Ouagadougou. If you are watching images of pro-junta demonstrators protesting the visit of West African mediators looking for rule-of-law guarantees from their new interlocutors after a coup, there's no need to reach for the remote control as this is not a re-run. The capital of Burkina Faso just experienced its second coup in eight months, once again following a rout by an emboldened jihadist insurgency.

Brazil's pollsters got it wrong, very wrong. Not only did far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro rob left-wing predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of a first-round knockout, he can also boast upset wins for key allies in gubernatorial and congressional races. Next up is the October 30 presidential run-off, where Lula still boasts a sizeable five-point lead, but where the momentum undoubtedly is with his rival.

All summer, we asked if Europe was ready for winter. Now, is Europe ready for hybrid warfare? Swedish authorities are reporting a fourth leak on the Nord Stream pipelines that connect Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The EU calls Monday's explosions sabotage, with Poland and Ukraine blaming Russia. Moscow asks: why would we do billions in damage to our own pipelines? Four days on, we are still asking whodunnit and why.

There's a run on the pound and panic in the markets over the UK's biggest tax cut for the rich in half a century. New Prime Minister Liz Truss is taking the concept of "going for broke" to a whole new level, with an almighty gamble that the deficit will take care of itself once all the investment pours in.

What happens when there is that knock at the door? Moscow's hastily-organised referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine – complete with house-to-house searches of ballot recipients – take the concept of "get out the vote" to a whole new level. We ask about turnout numbers that already beggar belief and what happens after Vladimir Putin's Friday address scheduled before a joint session of the Russian parliament.

How far to the right will Italy go? The new face of European politics is called Georgia Meloni. Her fascist-rooted Brothers of Italy party has swept to power, overshadowing her hard-right coalition partners Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi and routing the centre-left, which finished under 20 percent. Why did voters go for a Meloni whose allies include illiberal parties in power in Hungary and Poland, along with Spain's far-right Vox?

There's been no let-up in Iran's biggest protests since 2019, which have seen unprecedented footage of public burnings of the hijab. Despite disruptions to the internet, popular unrest has flared for a sixth day across the country over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year old Kurdish woman had been detained by the morality police for improperly wearing her hijab. We ask our panel: how far will this women's rights movement go?

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it deployed 160,000 troops. Vladimir Putin has now called up 300,000 after major setbacks  in Ukraine, while coupling his announcement with his most overt nuclear threat to the West. Our panel analyses Biden's answer to Putin and the world at the UN General Assembly. One year after the messy US pullout from Afghanistan, what's Washington's stature in the face of Russia's nuclear-sized threats over Ukraine and the knock-on effect on US-China tensions over Taiwan?

How does a Russia in retreat read the room at the United Nations General Assembly? On the day that world leaders gather in New York for UN Week, Vladimir Putin's proxies are unveiling plans for hastily-staged referendums to annex conquered parts of Ukraine that are now under assault from a counter-attack.