The Debate

• ‘Trump’s Achilles heel’: US president under fire over handling of Epstein files

  Ever since he first ran for president in 2015, Donald Trump has claimed that to “drain the swamp”, America needs a leader who knows where “the bodies are buried” in the corrupt circles of Wall Street and Washington.  So why has the MAGA base turned against him over the Epstein files? Why is it so difficult for Trump – who has already survived allegations of inciting an insurrection, undermining the Constitution and facing multiple criminal charges – to make this story go away? Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Juliette Brown.

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• The prince and the president: What drives US-Saudi relations?

  As the Middle East undergoes a once-in-a-generation shift in political fault lines, great power diplomacy could make the difference for millions between peace and stability or turbulence and endless conflict. So what's driving that diplomacy? Between the US and Saudi Arabia, it's a confusing mix of bilateral security ties, regional reach-outs to the likes of Syria and Israel and personal enrichment. We ask about the Trump family's longstanding ties to the kingdom, as well as reports that the US president is about to get a lot richer. That blurring of lines between affairs of state and private investment is just one of the talking points as the Saudi crown prince is welcomed with honours to the White House for the first time since the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The same Mohammed bin Salman who back then threw his weight around domestically and on the world stage has mended fences with Iran, wound down his country's involvement in Yemen’s brutal civil war and more recently brokered a breaking of the ice with Syria’s new masters. How all-in is Saudi Arabia, a nation whose role is key in guaranteeing that US efforts to end the fighting in Gaza ensure a better future for Palestinians, as agreed in Monday's UN vote which endorsed the Trump plan? For a US president who campaigned against forever wars, will this visit by MBS help him keep that pledge – or keep the United States militarily committed to the region for a long, long time? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

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• Air cover for Zelensky: How much can stepped-up French support boost Ukraine?

  It's much-needed backing from a key ally of Ukraine, along with welcome photo op for a president who's under pressure at home. After a gas deal with Greece, Volodymyr Zelensky is signing a 10-year military pact with France, far from Kyiv where a corruption scandal has brought down two ministers and has the main backer of his 2019 campaign on the run. It's a welcome respite from the political storm back home and a timely morale boost for Ukraine, a nation that needs all the support it can get at a time when the US is scaling back its commitment to the continent, while Russia's advances in the east come with the nightly poundings targeting electricity supply and other critical infrastructure.  What does the deal with France bring? Beyond fighter jet sales, can EU allies band together on defense? And what does a 10-year deal mean when there’s a presidential election here in 18 months, one where the pro-Kremlin far right currently leads in the polls? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Ilayda Habip & Jean-Vincent Russo

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• Could Bamako fall? Mali's capital under threat from al Qaeda-linked insurgents

  A string of coups and the pushing out of former colonial power France in favour of Russian support haven't stopped insurgents from going from strength throughout the so-called coup belt from Burkina Faso to Niger. We ask about the blockade on Bamako that's made it perilous for fuel delivery trucks to reach the capital of landlocked Mali, and what it would take to repel the JNIM.   Mali has seen this movie before. The French intervened back in 2013, when insurgents tried to take the capital a first time. But that hero's welcome in Timbuktu for then-president François Hollande is now a distant memory. How do Malians take back their own country? What's the alternative to what the jihadists are offering? And what's the spillover effect of potential failed states at the heart of the Sahel for the region, and for Europe? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

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• AI's insatiable appetite for cash, energy and data: Bubble ahead?

  Could the artificial intelligence boom already be running out of road? We examine the warning signs. To think that three short years ago, the commercial launch of ChatGPT took the world by storm. AI has since sparked a global race for cash, energy resources and data – all to feed the seemingly insatiable appetite of large language model computing systems. With a few US companies dominating the AI race – and a US president who's all-in with billionaires – market watchers worry about investors tempted by the easy money of rising tech stocks at the expense of the entire rest of the economy. Is it a bubble? Is it about to burst? And with what consequences? How should Europe and the rest of the world prepare? More broadly, is AI changing humanity and our world for better – or for worse? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Charles Wente, Ilayda Habip & Jean-Vincent Russo

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