The World This Week

In a week that began with President Trump pronouncing that a ceasefire extension was so close with Iran, two or three days max, and that would only take an hour to finalise. Hours later Tehran downed a US Apache helicopter off the Gulf of Oman with the crew rescued from the sea, the attack reportedly an attempt to deter the US’s evolving efforts to increase air patrols that target Iranian drones in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 
Two nights of US military strikes across Iran followed, with counter attacks from the Iranian regime in strikes on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. By Thursday President Trump warned of hard attacks to come by nightfall, declaring a plan to capture Iran’s Kharg Island in the not-too-distant future, but the threat to strike was called off, President Trump claimed Iranian leadership had blinked and approved the final points of a ceasefire extension. Iran’s regime has said no final decision has been made. 
It’s been a second week of mass demonstrations in Albania. What started as an environmental movement against plans by President Trump’s family to build a luxury resort snowballed into a wider political movement expanding by the day and even calling for the Albanian prime minister to resign. Demonstrators are calling it the Flamingo Revolution after the species native to the protected coastline where Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are leading a consortium to create a multi billion dollar hotel project, also eyeing up the idyllic state-owned island Sazan.  Protests have increased since construction work started and when Ivanka gave a podcast interview on how she was wanted to develop it since being captivated by the island after hiking up the island barefoot. Demonstrators say there is no transparency. Bernie Sanders waded in State Side calling it “Albanians versus the Global Oligarchy”. The Albanian Prime Minister claims online bots by a hostile state are magnifying the anger and that an environmental assessment is still underway, while the European Commission reminded Albania not to take action that could undermine its EU aspirations:
It’s been a week that’s seen riots in Belfast triggered by a brutal late-night street stabbing. The suspect is a Sudanese migrant granted leave to remain in the UK for five years. Video of the attack went viral within hours showing a sustained assault on a man in his 40s and bystanders rushing in, one using a wooden hurling stick to drive the attacker back. Two nights of unrest followed and what began as calls to protest the attack quickly turned into anti-immigration riots, amplified online. Addresses linked to migrant and asylum seeker housing were shared on social media. Bricks were thrown through windows, cars set alight,  walls graffitied with the words “local houses for local people.” It’s led to renewed debate over immigration enforcement, and how to counter potential dog-whistle politics or underlying racism while dealing with genuine concerns:
It’s the week that the biggest ever World Cup opened with a ceremony in Mexico in a stadium rich in football folklore, the Azteca where Diego Maradona famously punched the ball in to the net forty years ago this month! He declared after scoring that it had been with, quote, “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”!  Well it was the hand of three red cards in the opening match as Mexico beat South Africa 2 nil in the first game. As for  the controversies, like exorbitant dynamic ticket pricing and the US visa travel bans imposed, blocked upon entry was the case of Omar Artan, the first ever Somali official selected by FIFA to referee at the World Cup, denied entry at Miami airport. The message from FIFA’s boss, “Just, you know, chill”;
It’s also been a week that the pro-European party of the Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashanyan won an election as he attempts to strengthen ties to Brussels whilst assuaging President Putin, with the country heavily reliant on Moscow’s oil and gas.
 
Produced by Gavin Lee, Andrew Hilliar, Alessandro Xenos and Daniel Whittington.

This week, a renewed ceasefire was proclaimed between Israel and Lebanon; a deal that hinges on the complete cessation of attacks from the Iranian-backed militants Hezbollah and withdrawal from the south of the country. But 24 hours later, Hezbollah rejected the agreement that is closely tied to the wider temperamental talks between Iran and the US, with the Iranian regime threatening to abandon negotiations with Washington over the events in Lebanon and growing occupation by Israeli forces, including the capture of a medieval crusader castle on Sunday. 
We also heard this week that US President Donald Trump picked up the phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and swore at him, telling him to pull back, stop derailing the talks and reportedly adding: "Everybody hates you now".
It's also been a week that's seen Ukraine make an unwelcome appearance at the opening of Russia's World Economic Forum in St Petersburg, with drones setting the port's oil terminal and a nearby warship on fire as it underwent maintenance, just hours before President Vladimir Putin played host to representatives of 130 countries with 20 delegates that included a US representative for the first time in years.
Meanwhile, the ferocity of Moscow's aerial campaign against Ukraine has not let up. Yet the Institute for the Study of War says recent Ukrainian counterattacks “are generating tactical, operational and strategic effects that could disrupting Russia's summer offensive”. Speaking in Kyiv this week, the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte claimed the casualties for Moscow were historic.
And just one week away from the World Cup, teams have been arriving in the US, Mexico and Canada. The Brazilian plane was said to have been sprayed with holy water as it touched down in New Jersey. The South African squad were met by a Mexican Mariachi band in Pachuca, while Cape Verde's team had a sing and a dance on the plane as they arrived in Boston.
Produced by Gavin Lee, Maya Yataghene, Alessandro Xenos and Daniel Whittington

It's been a week where, 90 days into the conflict and ceasefire stand-off with Iran, both Tehran and Washington are insisting time is on their side – each claiming the other needs a deal more urgently. Pressure is growing on the Trump administration with soaring energy prices and midterm elections approaching, while Iran is reportedly losing huge oil revenues with tankers backed up in port.
Reports suggested a temporary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was close, before the US struck Iran's southern coast, calling it self-defence against mine-laying boats and drone launch sites. Tehran threatened retaliation, US bases in Kuwait were targeted within hours, and talks over a wider deal continue.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli operations in Lebanon will intensify despite the supposed truce, with more than 120 air strikes launched in a single day and Beirut hit again for the first time in weeks. The UN has described the scale of destruction as horrific.
We also discuss the crisis in Bolivia, where protesters are calling for the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.
Meanwhile in Scotland, Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP and ex-husband of Nicola Sturgeon, has pled guilty to embezzling party funds, having spent them on what police described as a lavish lifestyle he couldn't afford.
We also discuss the situation in Spain, where the ruling Socialist Party faces several court cases ⁠involving allegations of graft, ​influence peddling and other crimes that have implicated members of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's inner circle.
Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophille Vareille, Emmanuel Miculita, Guillaume Gougeon, Alessandro Xenos and Laura Burloux

It's been a week marked by major geopolitical and cultural developments across several fronts, from Beijing to Havana to Cannes. 
In the Chinese capital Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to see Xi Jinping, with a carefully staged ceremony and renewed pledges of "unyielding relations", while Ukraine reported continued deep-strike drone operations inside Russian territory.
In Washington, the Trump administration indicted 94-year-old former Cuban president Raúl Castro over alleged murder and conspiracy to kill US nationals, linked to the 1990s downing of two civilian aircraft. It's a move officials describe as long-delayed justice, but which critics see as part of a wider push on regime change.
And there has been an uproar in the French film industry over Vincent Bolloré, a right-wing billionaire tycoon, the owner of Canal+, and with it, Studio Canal, Europe's largest film production company. On Sunday, at the Cannes Film Festival, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada dropped a bombshell. He said the company would no longer work with more than 600 French cinema professionals who had signed a petition entitled "Switch off Bolloré", criticising the tycoon, warning about his growing control and calling for mobilisation against what they claimed was his attempt to lead a far-right "civilisational project" throughout French media. 
Produced by Gavin Lee, Alessandro Xenos, Antonia Cimini, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

This week has seen the world's superpowers take centre stage with US President Donald Trump in Beijing for the first state visit of a US leader in almost a decade. With tensions over trade, technology and Taiwan, what stayed tacitly implied was the deeper, more difficult question of whether the two alpha powers of world order can share the 21st century. Or is confrontation ultimately unavoidable?
Chinese President Xi Jinping has long indicated that he wants China to be the number one military, economic and political force by 2049. But it was flattery and fanfare, smiles and waves in the Great Hall of the People. Trump had vowed to make China pay for "ripping us off like no one has ever done before". But after a banquet of Beijing roast duck and crispy beef ribs, Trump toasted his great rival with the words "You're a great leader. I say it to everybody." But on the question of Taiwan, no comment.
It's been a week of will-they-won't-they, watch and wait in Westminster as a leadership challenge seemed likely against the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, a week on from the worst local elections result in history for the ruling Labour Party. Starmer dug his heels in while rumours spread of cabinet unrest and private calls for him to go. Downing Street insisted bigger issues were at hand than party navel-gazing, like Iran and Ukraine. But once the pomp of the king's speech was over, including a heckle of "Not now Andy!", as Black Rod knocked to enter parliament, it was back to the question of political succession: will it be Wes, Angela or the aforementioned Andy knocking at the Downing Street door? Wes Streeting resigned from cabinet, and with Angela Rayner looking to be back in the frame, for Andy Burnham it's a question of plotting a route back to parliament, while the carry on continues.
It's also been a week where French President Emmanuel Macron has been on the move in Africa: jogging through the streets of Alexandria and taking morning runs in Nairobi with an Olympic marathon champion. He's being playing football in the Kenyan capital too, living his best life according to the French paper Libération. He'll need to master the diplomatic equivalent of the Cruyff Turn to succeed in his quest to pivot French interests away from its former colonies, to carve out a new sphere of relevance in anglophone Africa, where he was playing co-host at the Africa Forward summit in Kenya, and investing €14 billion, an ambitious reorientation in a fiercely competitive market dominated by China. 
Produced by Gavin Lee, Andrew Hilliar, Daniel Whittington, Emmanuel Miculita, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux.