The Debate

Never has a local election in the United Kingdom been so loaded with implications. The rise in popularity of two parties - Reform and the Greens - raises questions about the political system, for so long based on two main parties. 
But on a wider scale the fate of the UK prime minister could be in play. Sir Keir Starmer has been under pressure it seems ever since winning the election. There are already reports of plans to push Sir Keir aside if Labour loses heavily in the local elections on Thursday. So could this be Starmer's Last Stand?
 
Produced by Mark Owen, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Iran's economy may be teetering on the brink of collapse, but does that really threaten its regime? Monday's flare-up of hostilities across the Strait of Hormuz makes clear that oil's not about to start flowing freely again. Tehran and Washington are both signalling they can bear the pain of lost revenue and inflation, with Iran arguably taking that brinkmanship further.
When missiles target the Emirates' prized Fujairah pipeline, which bypasses the Strait, they're shooting at what was a favoured hub for parking its cash and bypassing sanctions. We ask about who feels more pain in the divorce with the same UAE that last week quit OPEC, in part because it thought Gulf neighbours weren't tough enough on Tehran.
Read moreUS and UAE report Iran attacks as military pushes to reopen Strait of Hormuz
The Islamic Republic knows that its main nemesis, the one that killed its supreme leader, faces the pain of rising prices at the pump ahead of November US midterm elections. But what about ordinary citizens in Iran, a nation where mass New Year's protests were sparked by soaring inflation?
At what point is the regime in danger? A messianic streak and a survival mode honed over decades are both factors. But Iran and its powerful Revolutionary Guards also rely on a vast patronage system. Behind the cloak of an internet blackout, how's it looking on that score?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew Hilliar.

Just as Europe frets over fresh Trump tariffs, a US troop drawdown announced for Germany and the message it sends to a hostile Russia, how about not one but two summits in former Soviet state Armenia. Before a first-ever gathering of EU leaders in Yerevan on Tuesday comes the European Political Community: a talk shop with regional players which also include Ukraine and NATO heavyweights like the UK, Norway and an outside guest who shares superpower proximity problems. 
We revisit Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's clarion call for so-called middle powers that share common interests and values to band together.
Read moreEuropean and Canadian leaders hold security talks in Yerevan amid uncertainty over US policy
Is this summit a show of strength? Or a provocation sure to rile both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, one month before Armenia's incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan goes before voters to sell his US-brokered peace deal with neighbouring Azerbaijan in a general election?
More broadly, do wars in Iran and Ukraine make Western-style liberal democracy an easier or a harder sell?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew Hilliar.

Is it just another billionaires' battle of egos or does the $150 billion lawsuit that pits Elon Musk against Sam Altman go to the heart of how artificial intelligence could determine the future of humanity? We ask about the origin story of OpenAI, founded by some of Silicon Valley's leading luminaries as a non-profit organisation that would put innovation at the service of a socially responsible AI, the growing pains and fallouts that followed, leading up to the launch of ChatGPT and OpenAI's alliance with Microsoft.
Watch moreMusk vs Altman: Two tech mavericks go head to head in OpenAI trial
Is there an air of inevitability in this tale of ambition? Is it human nature that profit eventually comes before safety, particularly when investors want a return on their record sums? A ruling in California against Altman could scuttle the transformation of OpenAI from non-profit to publicly traded company.
We've seen this movie before – literally. The 2010 film "The Social Network" chronicled the ambitions and betrayals surrounding the rise of Facebook. Since then, the stakes have risen exponentially. Gone are the days when tech titans mused about effective altruism.
The big question: does the rest of the planet watch passively as the United States moves towards less, not more regulation at the dawn of an era where machines are sure to upend the way we work, think and live? 
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Guillaume Gougeon, Charles Wente.

There are those who want the US and Iran to settle, and those who want regime change. Among the latter, there's of course Israel and then there's the United Arab Emirates, who've signaled OPEC's cautious response as a reason for quitting the cartel. Is this the end of OPEC? How will its biggest producer Saudi Arabia respond? The Emirates also seem to have it in for Saudi ally Pakistan, by suddenly demanding the immediate reimbursement of a $3.5 billion 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 neighbour 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 Marshal 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.