The Debate

Ursula von der Leyen's message was loud and clear in her State of the European Union address. To drive home the point, the EU Commission President, sporting the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag, had Ukraine's First Lady as her guest of honour. We ask about von der Leyen's message and the cost of a quick segue away from Russian oil and gas.

After Edinburgh, King Charles III goes to Belfast. In a United Kingdom where the monarch plays the symbolic role of unifying figure, the new king of Great Britain and Northern Ireland arguably has a taller order here than in Scotland, where nationalists so far want to keep the crown with or without independence.

Is it a turning point? After weeks of warning of a counter-offensive in the south, Ukraine has caught the Kremlin off guard with the reclaiming of vast swathes of the north, pushing the front away from the country's second city of Kharkiv. We ask what just happened, if there's more to come or if Kyiv is going to struggle to consolidate its gains.

Brazil is celebrating its bicentennial. Four weeks before he stands for re-election, President Jair Bolsonaro is opting for a decidedly martial tone to celebrate the 200th anniversary of a South American giant that has experienced plenty of ups and downs in the 36 years since the generals made way for a return to democracy.

It's day one on the job for Britain's new prime minister and as Russia squeezes natural gas exports, Liz Truss faces a wartime economy. How to keep the lights on across the Channel? How to rein in inflation? As Europeans work to pool their energy purchases, tax windfall profits and collectively ease costs for consumers, will they include Britain and their now Brexiteer PM in that conversation?

She won over the Conservative Party faithful. Now can she win over the UK? Our panel discusses the challenges ahead for prime minister-in-waiting Liz Truss. The one-time Remainer played the hardline Brexiteer in a sometimes bitter Tory leadership campaign, often courting comparisons with Britain's first female PM, Margaret Thatcher.

First the glaciers melt, then the heavens open. As Pakistan bails out from unprecedented monsoon flooding comes the stark realisation that this is not some freak of nature, it is the new normal for a nation that scientists rank among the most vulnerable to global warming. We ask about the challenges faced by rescuers.

Can a single person change the world? Yes is the consensus after the passing of Mikhaïl Gorbachev. And change it for the better, claims the West: the last Soviet leader boldly brought the USSR in from the cold: reforming and agreeing to independence for satellite states, all without bloodshed.

As quickly as Baghdad erupted, Moqtada al-Sadr's supporters went home. All it took was a word from the leader, a demonstration of force by the populist Shiite cleric as protracted coalition-building in Iraq spills over into a power play with neighbouring Iran. Can Sadr stare down pressure from across the border? His umpteenth announcement on Monday that he was quitting politics was the signal for clashes that killed at least 30 people.

How to avoid the unthinkable when Europe’s largest nuclear power plant finds itself on the frontline of war? As UN inspectors prepare to visit Zaporizhzhia in the hopes of securing a facility hit by power outages and alleged attacks, we ask about accusations of Russian shelling from the compound, the risk of a Chernobyl-style meltdown and the toll it’s already taken on a complex that's now under Russian control but still operated by under-pressure Ukrainian staff.