The Debate

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.

A container ship seized in the Gulf, a ceasefire deadline that's running out fast and plenty of bargaining table brinkmanship between the US and Iran. With the price of oil back on the rise, de-escalation would certainly offer relief to Donald Trump's constituents. So what's the plan of a US president who’s proved impulsive – at times threatening civilizational erasure, at others floating the idea of splitting the profits with Iran on a Strait of Hormuz toll for tankers? How to bargain when your opponent enjoys home field advantage and knows you don't want to put boots on the ground?
Contrary to the mantra that went viral last year, Trump does not always chicken out. He certainly proved it on February 28, when he started the war and took out Iran's supreme leader.
Not only that, but he doesn’t always seem to have a plan. We ask about erratic messaging, fresh reports of impulse decision-making inside the White House and an apparent disregard for winning hearts and minds.
Case in point: allowing Israel to continue a Gaza-style bulldozing of towns in southern Lebanon that flies in the face of Trump's objective of pursuing normalisation on Israel's northern border and a broader deal with Hezbollah patron Iran.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Margot Loizillon.

The new US-born pope is on his first-ever visit to Cameroon's restive English-speaking northwest, and he'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 XIV declared on Thursday in Bamenda.
Read morePope Leo blasts 'handful of tyrants' ravaging world during Cameroon visit
The message was the same when he landed on Wednesday in Yaoundé and while it may sound like a rebuttal to a critical US president who's an ocean away, it's also first a pointed message to the leader in the room hosting Leo: 93-year-old Paul Biya, only the second head of state Cameroon has known since independence from France in 1960.  
We 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 is under 18 and whose politics can feel like a ticking time bomb, with zero visibility surrounding Biya's succession.
We also ask how, less than a year after succeeding Francis, this pope is faring under fire from Donald Trump and Catholic conservatives, and whether his message resonates among the faithful in an age of wars, growing inequality and artificial intelligence.
In the face of stiff competition from evangelical churches, the direction of the world's largest organised religion in the 21st century is at stake.
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.