This week, our set of experts gathered around Gavin Lee to take a look at the latest in French politics, with the National Assembly voting to bring down Michel Barnier's government in a no-confidence vote. Meanwhile Syria is plunged back into uncertainty, with various rebel groups taking large cities. We also look at what happened when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol decided to trigger a short-lived martial law.

This week, guests gathered around Gavin Lee to discuss the fragile ceasefire that was agreed between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. We also look at how Donald Trump plans on launching a new tariff war with America's neighbours and discuss the ongoing crisis in Sudan, where a civil war is still raging. And as a Black Friday special, our set of experts also dive into former German chancellor Angela Merkel's legacy book.

This week saw the International Criminal Court issue arrest warrants for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. They are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, alongside the Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.

The news of the warrants was met with a furious reaction from the Israeli prime minister’s office, calling it biased, absurd and anti-Semitic. The impact of the warrants will in part depend on whether ICC members decide to enforce them.

This week also saw the rules of the conflict change in Ukraine. After months of reluctance, US media reported that President Joe Biden had relented and given permission for Kyiv to use American long-range missiles and strike targets deep in Russian territory. Britain and France appear to have followed suit, with reports that their jointly-made Storm Shadow / Scalp cruise missiles were used on Wednesday. Russia responded, with President Vladimir Putin saying it used a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile against Ukraine.

And in the midst of war in Europe and the Middle East, it has been a week where world leaders met in Latin America to focus on other threats to the planet. Global warming and world hunger were the focus of formal talks at the G20 summit in Brazil. But it was in the corridors and briefing rooms that the dominant issue was made clear by diplomats: preparations to deal with the man who wasn’t there, yet who's impossible to ignore. Trump 2.0 is on the horizon, and talk is of transactional geopolitics, replacing consensus agreements.

This week, all eyes are on the United States as Donald Trump has won re-election, defeating Kamala Harris to secure a second term as president. The world is reacting swiftly, including EU leaders who are gathered in Budapest for a summit. Meanwhile, President-elect Trump has been busy assembling his new cabinet, including appointing Susie Wiles as chief of staff.

Produced by Gavin Lee, Luis Miguel Cabrera and Guillaume Gougeon. 

It's been a good week in the polls for Donald Trump. For the first time in two months, several US election forecasters have suggested that he is ahead in the key swing states by a wafer-thin margin. This comes despite his character being questioned again, this time by his former chief of staff John Kelly, who described his old boss as fitting the description of a fascist. Meanwhile, in the battle for headlines on the campaign trail, Elon Musk has been offering million-dollar giveaways to registered voters, while Trump was "loving it" in McDonald's.

Also this week, Vladimir Putin made every effort to show he was far from an international pariah, two and a half years on from Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He personally greeted world leaders in the Russian city of Kazan for the BRICS summit of emerging economies. A notable face at the table was Turkey's leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the only NATO presence in the room.

Plus, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made his eleventh tour of the Middle East. The international hope for peace that increased after last week's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israel’s number one target in Gaza, appears to be ebbing away, with the continuation of relentless bombardment in the north of the territory. Is anyone listening to Blinken? Is US influence in Israel on hold until the outcome of the presidential election there?

It has been a week that has seen the anniversary of the brutal Hamas October 7th attacks. A multi-fronted war now taking place, a year on, with Israel poised to carry out a “lethal, precise and above all, surprising” counter-strike on Iran at any time. Meanwhile, some UN peacekeepers have been injured by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon. World leaders are demanding answers.

It has been a week that has seen a hurricane devastate the east coast of the US. Millions of people left without power, and rescuers searching through the floods waters for survivors in Florida. What started as a category 5 predicted storm, eased slightly – though fears were made clear.

And it has been a week where two works of art have been trashed by critics albeit the first, unwittingly. The repair man at a Dutch museum mistook these meticulously painted artistic recreations of the Belgian Beer, Jupiler, for the real thing, and he binned them! And similar sentiments expressed by cinema goers around the world this week after the release of Joker: Folie à Deux, the much-anticipated sequel to Joker, after laughing all the way to the bank after the Oscar-winning billion dollar box office success of the original...

It has been a week of relentless escalation in the Middle East, with Israeli air strikes across Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen against Iranian-backed militants. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the past seven days, and in the south of Lebanon, a "limited ground offensive" has begun. Iran has retaliated, sending almost 200 ballistic missiles across Israel, leading to much speculation over Israel's response.

This week has also seen "Mr Teflon" Mark Rutte take over the helm at NATO. It's a nickname he's going to need as he takes on the job in the midst of spiralling international crises. He has also been called "The Trump Whisperer", which could come in handy, depending on who gets the keys to the White House. Rutte’s first trip was to Kyiv. It is inevitable, he says, that Ukraine will become a NATO member.

And it has been "Veep week" in the US, with the two running mates going head-to-head in a 90 minute debate. It was a surprisingly cordial affair, with tough questions for both. Tim Walz says he "misspoke" when suggesting he was in Hong Kong at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. JD Vance says he only compared Trump to Hitler in the past because of the mainstream media. We ask: who won, was it worth it and does it matter? 

This week has seen Israel and Hezbollah step closer to all-out war. Air strikes across Lebanon on Monday killed more than 500 people – the deadliest day in the country since the civil war more than three decades ago. Hezbollah struck deeper into Israeli territory. Then the chief of the IDF told Israeli soldiers to prepare for the possible entry of ground troops into southern Lebanon. Unified calls came for a 21-day ceasefire from the UN and Western allies, but the rhetoric of the Israeli PM suggests anything but peace.

In France, several defendants have testified in the mass rape case of Gisèle Pelicot. Her ex-husband Dominique has already admitted to organising the sedation and rape of his wife by strangers over a period of 10 years. The horrifying case has had a ripple effect across France and beyond, in a case that would have stayed behind closed doors if it wasn't for the strength, courage and dignity of Gisèle Pelicot in deciding to lift her right to anonymity. We look at how she has become a national and global symbol in the fight against sexual violence.

And it has been a week where both sides of the Channel have seen their new governments setting out their stalls. Here in France, after a left-wing victory and two months of uncertainty, with a right-wing minority government now in power, the new conservative interior minister set out three priorities.

Meanwhile in Britain, it was conference speech time for the centre left prime minister nicknamed "Free Gear Keir" in the press this week for accepting donor gifts of clothing and VIP football treatment. Then came a terrible faux pas: a sausage gaffe, while talking about Israel.

This week has seen a new method of technological warfare – used against Hezbollah in Lebanon. First Pagers, then Walkie-Talkies simultaneously exploding in people’s hands, pockets, bags. Dozens killed, thousands injured. No comment from Israel’s spy agency who is said to have meticulously planned and physically infiltrated the group’s supply chain. We will look at how it happened, why now, and what next?

It has been a week that has seen another apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump. A 58-year-old suspect, said to have hid for hours in the shrubbery at the seventh hole of the Trump International Golf Course before being spotted by the FBI agents on Sunday morning. The former president says he was bundled into a gold buggy as gunfire rang out and seized on the moment to claim it is the inflammatory language used by his rivals that is stoking political violence.

It has also been a week in which the head of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke to reporters about what he has seen on his visit to Sudan, a country in the midst of war with little sign of resolution. He said the mass displacement – now more than 12 million people – was shocking and had become the largest displacement crisis in the world. Dr. Tedros said he believes the “really low” attention that the global community is paying to the ongoing crisis is partly due to racism.

Finally, it has been a week of waiting for the new French government to be announced, a decision that is supposedly imminent. And Prime Minister Michel Barnier, only two weeks into the job is finding he is a hit with the public! New polls suggest he is now France’s most popular politician. It is his colleagues he has been struggling to convince – news of a clash with President Macron, and a barney between Barnier and his predecessor Gabriel Attal over plans to raise taxes. We will try and peak behind the curtains and let you know what is really going on.

This week has seen another US presidential debate take place. The last 90 minutes cost President Joe Biden his job. This time it started with niceties; an extended hand from Kamala Harris that has become known as the "power move handshake": look it up on TikTok. 

"Let’s have fun," said Donald Trump. And if they didn't, we did! News lines emerged that would make the satirical website The Onion proud. "Immigrants are eating dogs and cats in Springfield", read one. Then one very famous self-styled "childless cat lady" set out her stall. Has Tuesday night altered the race to the White House?

It has also been a week that's seen a world first: a non-professional crew carrying out a spacewalk 700 kilometres above earth. Orbiting at a higher altitude than any mission for five decades, US billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis took on what is considered one of the riskiest manoeuvres.

Finally, it turns out rock stars can be lifesavers. This week, Nashville police credited Jon Bon Jovi for saving a woman's life by talking her down from the ledge of a bridge. We ask our panel for their reasons to be cheerful this week in an often difficult world.