The Debate

A new U-S-born Pope on a first-ever visit to Cameroon’s restive English-speaking northwest, and who’s not turning the other cheek: “Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”, Pope Leo declared on Thursday in Bamenda. The message was the same when he landed Wednesday in Yaoundé and while it may sound like a rebuttal to a critical U-S president who’s an ocean away, it's first a pointed message to the leader in the room hosting Leo… 93-year old Paul Biya, only the second head of state Cameroon’s known since independence from France in 1960.  
We’ll ask our panel what makes the Bamenda leg of the Pope’s four-nation tour of Africa historic, about the separatist rebels who called a four-day truce during the visit, and how the Church can help in a nation where half the population's under 18 and whose politics can feel like a ticking time bomb, what with zero visibility surrounding Biya’s succession.
And how - less than a year after succeeding Francis - this Pope’s faring under fire from Donald Trump and Catholic conservatives, whether his message resonates among the faithful in an age of wars, growing inequality, artificial intelligence… and – in the face of stiff competition from evangelical churches - the direction of the world’s largest organized religion in the 21st Century.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Iran is proving that missiles don't need to travel thousands of kilometres. Across the Gulf is all it takes to force the world's mightiest army to the bargaining table. Pressure on the choke point for one-fifth of the planet's oil and gas is exposing the vulnerability of Arabian Peninsula monarchies.
They'd spent decades building reputations as reliable havens of stability fuelled by an endless supply of petrodollars. We track the price of crude, the latest movement of tankers through the Strait, prospects for talks, and ask how Gulf states could rethink their alliances with Washington, particularly investments that can sometimes seem like protection money to pay for the US defence shield from Tehran and its proxies like the Houthis, who in the past already hit oil installations.
Read moreUS blockade of the Strait of Hormuz: What do the numbers show?
With Russia and now China accused of actively aiding Iran target its neighbours, where do those Gulf states turn for their defence? Are they all of the same mind when it comes to Iran?
And more broadly, can they restore the veneer of the dream destinations displayed by social media influencers who fled when the fighting started?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

Israeli and Lebanese envoys are appearing together on camera in the same room – that may well be a first. It's happening under the auspices of the US secretary of state in Washington. If you're rooting for peace, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that the Lebanese government's never been so vocal in calling on Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah to disarm and the US president has a real stake in reining in Israel if he wants his attempts to strike a deal with Tehran to bear fruit. 
Read moreUS hails 'historic opportunity' for peace after Lebanon, Israel talks in Washington
The bad news is that the fighting continues, with Israel accused of the Gaza-style levelling of villages in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah refusing both surrender and disarmament.
Will Israel set up for good, pushing boundaries like it did recently in neighbouring Syria? A week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was depicted as omnipotent with outlets like The New York Times reporting on how it was he who convinced Donald Trump to attack Iran.
If that was true, is it still the case? Or was last Wednesday's daytime bombing of Beirut that killed more than 300 people too much, even for Israel's closest allies?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

Eurosceptics may come and go, but there's only one Viktor Orban. It took 16 years and Sunday's record turnout in Hungary to vote out the seemingly unbeatable far-right leader who once boasted of building an illiberal state. Why did the far-right idol of MAGA world finally fall out of favour? And not just by a nose: "The Hungarian people didn't vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change of regime," boasts Prime Minister-in-waiting Peter Magyar. How will the once-ally-turned-pro-EU conservative turn his constitutional supermajority into a rolling back of Orban's consolidation of power?
We ask about the task at hand and reactions abroad – starting with Russia, on which Hungary depends for its oil and gas. How to handle the Kremlin?
The sighs of relief in Brussels and Kyiv are audible, what with Budapest no longer championing a coalition of Eurosceptics that includes France's Marine Le Pen.
But it doesn't mean Hungary will always be pliant, nor that hostility from bigger powers will magically disappear.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

A most confusing Wednesday it was. In the space of six minutes, during a single press conference, the White House spokesperson first hailed the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, then called on Iran to reopen the world’s most oil-sensitive shipping lane. Five weeks of contradictory statements have bred wider uncertainty over the true contents of the ceasefire deal – and even who is party to it. Confusion moves markets, and in a war that has triggered the most severe energy crisis in decades, oil prices reflect that volatility: having fallen sharply on Wednesday, they have since climbed back above $100 a barrel.
And amid such turbulence, there are always those who sense an opportunity to profit.
We’ll examine who stands to gain, and how – whether this is simply smart investing, or something more troubling. With so much power concentrated in the hands of a single man, we’ll also ask whether greater scrutiny is warranted within the cabinet of Donald Trump, amid accusations that the line between national interest and personal profit may be blurring.
If it is oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, that is one thing. But what if it is the United States itself?
 
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.