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?