The Debate

There are those who want the US and Iran to settle and those who want regime change. Among the latter, there’s Israel of course and then there’s the United Arab Emirates who’ve signaled OPEC’s cautious response as a reason for quitting the cartel. The end of OPEC? How will its biggest producer Saudi Arabia respond? The Emirates also seem to have it in for Saudi ally Pakistan, suddenly demanding the immediate reimbursement of a 3-and-a-half billion dollar loan from the cash-strapped facilitators of US-Iran mediation efforts.
How did Pakistan emerge as a central player? What are the benefits and risks when you raise your hand to facilitate dialogue between sworn enemies, particularly when one’s your neighbor and the other's a global superpower that can scuttle an IMF bailout if relations sour? At the heart of it all is the powerful chief of the military, Field Marshall Asim Munir. He knows Iran well from his time as head of intelligence and has infuriated India by ingratiating himself with Donald Trump. But what if the US president turns out to be a fair weather friend? And can the art of the deal bring down prices at the pump for ordinary Pakistanis left reeling by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Call it the royal trump card: King Charles III has been dispatched to Washington on a state visit at the lowest point in the "special relationship" in at least seven decades. We ask if catering to Donald Trump's enthusiasm for the British crown can dispel the bad blood over tariffs, the war in Iran and repeated jibes by the US president to make Canada the 51st state. Canada is of course a Commonwealth member whose head of state is the same Charles III who's invited to address Congress and feted at a state dinner.
Does the successor to Queen Elizabeth II have what it takes to keep a poker face and stick to the script prepared by his prime minister? All it takes is a hot mic moment or a raised eyebrow for the media covering the four-day visit to go into overdrive.
Then there's the matter of the king's brother, the former prince Andrew, who's been criminally indicted following the same Epstein files revelations that brought down the UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.
A coincidence of the calendar has Prime Minister Keir Starmer's former chief of staff testifying on the same day back in London over the bungled vetting that led to the appointment of a former Labour Party insider whose nickname is the Prince of Darkness. Mandelson's reputation was no secret, yet he was appointed anyway. Why? To please Trump.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Even if it's the act of a "lone wolf", as first suggested by US President Donald Trump, Saturday night’s White House Correspondents' Dinner drama certainly did not happen in a vacuum. And just as mass shootings have become commonplace in a United States overrun by firearms, so have attempts on the lives of political figures. 
Read moreSuspect in press gala shooting charged with attempted assassination of Trump
We ask about the latest targeting of the US president and the echo chambers that amplify vilification and hate, that turn adversaries into enemies, as well as a social media landscape where conspiracy theories can make a better fit than facts, both as ideology and as a business model.
In the buildup to that White House Correspondents' Dinner, all the talk was of how traditional media – already on the backfoot – would respond to all the bashing, particularly in the week that saw a mega-merger that could change the course of globally renowned news outlet CNN. But we'll never know, as the speech never happened. 
Read more‘Staged’: Conspiracy theories spread online after thwarted shooting at White House press gala
Partisanship has always existed. But as the United States gets set to mark its 250th anniversary, is this time different? Is the level of verbal violence specific to a nation where gerrymandered constituencies encourage radical rhetoric? Or do more and more people globally think they're above the law?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

How to mediate between Iran and the United States when one side wants revenge for the killing of its leader and the other's erratic messaging seems ratings-driven? Donald Trump's unilateral ceasefire declaration has brought neither side back to the bargaining table, what with more ships seized in the Strait of Hormuz and lockdown mode relaxed in Pakistan's capital for talks that may or may not resume.
We ask about US demands that can change course inside the same presidential tweet, and an unclear chain of command on both sides: why was US Vice President JD Vance flanked by Trump confidantes Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff last time? Does it actually matter that none of those three are trained diplomats or Iran specialists?
And who's really calling the shots in an Islamic Republic that's in survival mode? On that score, what are Tehran's intentions regarding Hezbollah? Its proxy militant group in Lebanon is absent as the US State Department in Washington brokers more old school-style negotiations between the Israelis and the Lebanese.
Who's got leverage over whom and if diplomacy fails, what does escalation look like?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Marguerite Lacroix, Andrew Hilliar.

Will the world have enough fuel to fill the tanks and fertilise the crops? The seizure of ships by Iran is adding to global jitters as the extension of a ceasefire offers zero visibility on prospects for the planet's biggest choke point for oil and gas. Nearly two months on, the Paris-based International Energy Agency is calling it the biggest-ever energy disruption in history. We ask about prices at the pump, cancelled flights and more broadly, if oil's not flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, where to find it and what's the alternative?
Cue images of the French president who staged his Wednesday cabinet meeting in the central Allier region, where Emmanuel Macron also inaugurated a large lithium mine.
How fast can the energy transition make up for lost oil? How much of a bind is this for Europe, when harmony among the 27 rests on Russian oil flowing to eastern members through the Druzhba pipeline and when China's dominance of the battery and electric vehicle markets makes it very hard to compete?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew Hilliar.