The World This Week

This week, conflict and crisis dominate the headlines. In DR Congo, M23 rebels appear to have seized the key city of Goma, forcing thousands to flee and reigniting tensions over Rwanda's alleged involvement. In Gaza, displaced civilians are finally returning north, but the fragile ceasefire is under strain after a controversial hostage transfer by Hamas. And in the United States, a tragic air disaster – the first major commercial crash in 16 years – is raising serious concerns over air traffic control and sparking political blame games.

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

This week we examine three major global stories shaping the headlines. In the US, the Trump administration’s return to power has brought bold, controversial promises of American expansionism and mass pardons for January 6 rioters, signaling a dramatic shift in policy and rhetoric. In the Middle East, Gaza is experiencing a fragile ceasefire after 470 days of war, marked by hostage exchanges and ongoing struggles for humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, NATO faces internal discord, with its chief warning of a crisis over underfunding, as European leaders call for urgent measures to secure the alliance and support Ukraine.

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

It’s been a week of high-stakes developments around the globe. In Gaza, a long-awaited ceasefire deal has been reached and is set to begin on Sunday, with plans to exchange hostages for prisoners in a bid for "sustainable calm." In South Korea, the dramatic arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol unfolded amid accusations of insurrection. Meanwhile, in the US, TikTok's future hangs in the balance, driving users to a rival Chinese app as a court ruling edges the platform closer to a potential shutdown.

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

We are 10 days BT: Before Trump is back in office. This week saw the US president-elect given an unconditional discharge: spared jail time or a fine, but confirmed as a convicted felon for fraud relating to hush money payments to an adult film star.

Meanwhile, Trump is making ever clearer his long-held desire to acquire Greenland, with his son and apparent envoy Donald Jr. flying in on Trump Force One to the capital Nuuk. Trump's expansion plans also appear to include the Panama Canal. The fact that neither are for sale seems a mere detail as he says he wouldn’t rule out military force to control them.

It was on Trump’s favourite TV station Fox and Friends that a surprise announcement came on Tuesday: a recorded video from Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta – the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The site moderation is being changed, with no more fact checkers being used in the US to fight disinformation and fake news. They are too politically biased, he says.

Meanwhile, arguably the influencer of all influencers right now, Elon Musk, has been engaging in online warfare with the British government this week, attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a daily basis.

Plus, why did Canadian PM Justin Trudeau throw in the towel and who is likely to replace him?

This year, headlines have been dominated by the wars in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. Israel's leader has been accused of war crimes, while the revolution in Syria has led to the downfall of a dictator. However, the full scale of Bashar al-Assad’s regime of terror continues to emerge.

It has been a record year for elections around the world, with more than half of the planet’s population voting in over 60 countries. Recurring themes included populism, polarisation, immigration, and identity politics. It was a tough year for incumbents, with compromises in India and South Africa, and changes of leadership in the UK, Senegal, Ghana, Portugal, and Lithuania.

Meanwhile, in Paris, an Olympic year saw a baton-passing of prime ministers worthy of a relay team, with four changes in total.

In the United States, it has been a year where Donald Trump was re-elected as president, and Time Magazine named him Person of the Year again. This came in a year when he was convicted as a felon, survived multiple assassination attempts, and defeated two Democratic candidates in the race to the White House.

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?