Show Notes
From intensifying drone warfare between Ukraine and Russia to mounting fears of a humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan, anti-immigration protests in South Africa and a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court, this week has been shaped by conflicts over power, identity and international law. In Russia, long queues formed at petrol stations after Ukrainian drone strikes targeted oil refineries and fuel infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the attacks were "creating problems", saying strategic reserves were being used and that restrictions on diesel exports were under consideration, though he insisted that the situation was "not critical". The disruption follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's launch of a 40-day campaign of deep strikes against Russian energy facilities aimed at increasing pressure on the Kremlin. At the same time, Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial assaults on Kyiv since the start of the war, firing 74 missiles and some 500 drones during an 11-hour bombardment that killed at least 30 people and struck residential buildings. Our panel examines the military balance, the diplomatic calculations on both sides and whether Russia risks entering what some analysts describe as a "drowning man syndrome" – escalating further as its strategic options narrow. We also turn our attention to Sudan, where the humanitarian situation in El-Obeid is rapidly deteriorating. Around half a million civilians are effectively trapped as paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces tighten their encirclement of the city. Military analysts warn that a major ground offensive could be imminent, while the United Nations says dwindling food supplies and damage to essential infrastructure are placing civilians at grave risk. Amnesty International has warned that the siege mirrors the tactics used during the capture of El-Fasher and is calling for the urgent deployment of an international protection force to prevent what it describes as another potential "stain on the conscience of humanity".
More from The World This Week
It's been a week that’s seen mass protests hijacked by violent rioters across France. The looting of shops, trashing of public buildings, the burning of Lyon’s Tourist Information and the iconic Limoges City Hall. After the riots, came the curfews, and the contemplation, who did what and why weren’t they stopped. Seditious groups, ultra left anarchists and opportunist criminals said President Macron, with a qualified mea culpa: failures in anticipation and authorities dropped the ball in intelligence gathering. Macron is out of breath, exhausted and disorientated claimed the Presidential Frontrunner Marine Le Pen, the far right leader now polling in an even stronger position for the Presidency. Foreign leaders had a free for all too, President Trump wading in and Israel’s prime minister settled old scores ahead of elections there. But France wasn’t isolated in its protests and unrest, Milan was a mirror image, with demonstrations in Spain, Portugal, Belgium too, An Autumn of Discontent, and more protests to follow this weekend: It’s been a week of American flattery in the court of Vladimir Putin. St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace was the setting for the toasting of Russia’s President by President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, after the release of 74 year old US teacher Stephen Hubbard who’d been held for four years accused by the Kremlin of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine, but widely seen as a pawn of hostage diplomacy. Freshly released, Steve Witkoff told Mr Hubbard that Putin sent his blessings, and then blessed Putin himself calling him a “humanitarian”, just as Russia was launching another mass aerial attack on Kyiv. The hostage deal appeared to be one result of the US lifting sanctions on Russian diesel, and, there was also an apparent commitment by Moscow to renew trilateral peace talks with Kyiv and Washington. Critics allege that the Trump administration has disregarded a just peace over the lure of business deals dangled by the Kremlin, and that Witkoff’s in Wonderland, accused of falling down a rabbit hole of Russian propaganda. And it’s been an intense and bitter week of final rallies in Israel ahead of the first election since the October 7th attacks and the global fallout that followed. Prime ministerial candidates have been described as shouting rather than debating on issues of responsibility for the wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran to the escalating settler violence in the West Bank, now on the verge of lockdown after an attack today. Voters head to the polls with a government increasingly isolated on the world stage. A last minute endorsement came Benjamin Netanyahu’s way from President Trump, who behind the public warmth is said to have harboured deep private frustration with Israel’s longest serving leader, previously calling him quote “a conman, who everyone’s sick of” according to New York Times insiders Maggie Haberman and Johnathan Swann, though this was dismissed by the US President as untrue. And Netanyahu claimed this week successive US presidents before Trump had tried and failed to get him out of office … for the past three decades.
Our panel of international correspondents look back at the week's news, from protests in India to a blame game in Ukraine. In India, the "Cockroach" movement felt the crushing boot of the state this week. Thousands of Gen Z protesters were rounded up and detained in sports stadiums and community halls turned into makeshift detention centres, while the movement's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, was arrested on arrival. A mass demonstration over alleged voter fraud was effectively crushed before it could begin. Dipke has been detained again this Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government says the measures were necessary to protect civilians in the capital. But he now faces accusations of choosing repression over democracy, with the UN Human Rights Office urging authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly. It's been a week of blame games and accusations of betrayal in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking of his personal hurt at US President Donald Trump's decision to make a diesel deal with the Kremlin ahead of the US midterm elections, calling it "weak" and suggesting Trump had chosen "the other side". Trump, meanwhile, made it clear he wants Zelensky replaced, warned him against striking Russian refineries and announced an energy ceasefire that went nowhere. Zelensky continued to search for solidarity and a solution in Europe.
It’s been a week of vigils, protests and political upheaval – from Israel, where three years after the Hamas-led attacks, former hostages and mourners called for accountability over the failures of October 7, as questions grow over the stalled path to peace in Gaza; to France, where mass demonstrations over chronic underfunding and poor conditions have drawn students, unions and hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, just months ahead of a presidential election. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made the housing crisis the centrepiece of a high-stakes electoral gamble, as protests intensify following the death of a pensioner whose eviction helped ignite the movement. And in the UK, questions remain over a suspected Iranian plot targeting US aircraft at RAF Fairford, after American B-1 bombers were hastily withdrawn amid warnings of a serious and immediate threat.
This week, student protests at French high schools across the country turned violent as frustrations over learning conditions boiled over, sparking clashes with police. But first: in a week that's seen the heroism of the captain, crew and passengers on board FlyDubai flight 1073 heralded, eyewitnesses report seeing the co-pilot trying to kill the pilot and destroying the cockpit controls in order to crash the plane. Despite being stabbed repeatedly, Captain Smit Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to overwhelm the suspect and regain control of the aircraft after its rapid descent of more than 14,000 feet in 30 seconds. They prevented a 9/11-style catastrophe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Read moreNetanyahu warns of 'very heavy price' if any country found to be behind FlyDubai incident Plus, in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, there's almost nothing left to eat. Some civilians are reportedly surviving on grass and weeds. The OSCE is calling the situation a humanitarian catastrophe. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Delphine Liou.
It’s been a week of walkouts, power plays and diplomatic theatre – from a battle over press freedom in Washington, to a United Nations General Assembly marked by protests and departures, as leaders clashed over Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. There was also a rare red-carpet meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, as the US and China extended their trade truce and turned their attention to the race for dominance in artificial intelligence. And from the geopolitical to the spiritual, Pope Leo brought his call for restraint and regulation of AI to France, as he sought to position the Vatican as a moral voice in a rapidly changing world. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rebecca Gnignati, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux