Show Notes
It’s been a week that began with US President Donald Trump threatening to wipe out an entire civilisation in Iran if the regime failed to respond to his ultimatum. Presidential decorum quickly went out of the window, with Trump speaking unfiltered – even swearing on Easter Sunday – as he warned Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That message was reinforced in surreal scenes on the White House lawn, as he addressed families and children, flanked by the First Lady and the Easter Bunny. The week ended with a two-week ceasefire announcement, with both Tehran and Washington claiming the upper hand. Pakistan hosted the talks, with Islamabad under lockdown as senior US and Iranian officials arrived. Yet the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows – has not fully reopened, according to energy analysts, despite US demands. Tehran has floated a toll fee of up to $2 million per ship, while US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has maintained a narrative of victory. Attention then shifted to Lebanon, where Israeli forces carried out their deadliest attack yet in the renewed conflict with Hezbollah, claiming exemption from the ceasefire. Dubbed “Operation Eternal Darkness,” the strikes saw 50 fighter jets drop 160 bombs on around 100 targets in just 10 minutes. Israeli officials described it as the heaviest blow to Hezbollah since the “Operation Grim Beeper” attacks two years ago. Lebanese health authorities, however, called it a brutal and indiscriminate assault, reporting at least 250 deaths, including civilians. As concerns grew that the escalation in Lebanon could derail US-Iran talks, pressure from President Trump appeared to prompt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce separate truce talks with the Lebanese government in the coming days, focused on disarming Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Hungary entered the final week of a closely fought election campaign – the tightest in 16 years – with polls suggesting a potential end to Viktor Orbán’s rule. US Vice President JD Vance visited Budapest to endorse Orbán, claiming – without evidence – that Brussels and Ukraine’s intelligence services were interfering in the vote. Opposition leader Péter Magyar made similar allegations, but directed them at the US, Russia, and neighbouring Serbia. Tensions rose further after reports that Serbia had foiled an alleged bomb plot targeting a Russian gas pipeline to Hungary – an incident Orbán suggested could be linked to Ukraine. Critics dismissed the claims as fearmongering; Orbán denied any “false flag” tactics. Finally, it was a week for the history books in space. The Artemis II crew completed a landmark mission, travelling farther than any humans before them – just over a quarter of a million miles – before returning after ten days. The mission marks a crucial step toward future deep space exploration and the prospect of a permanent human presence beyond Earth.
Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Alessandro Xenos.
More from The World This Week
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
This week, Saudi Arabia has turned to its allies for military support as Iran-backed Houthi rebels tighten their grip on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab shipping choke point, while drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure deepen an emerging energy crisis. In Russia, voters head to the polls for a tightly controlled parliamentary election with little meaningful opposition, as Vladimir Putin insists there will be no new mobilisation. Meanwhile, warnings about the risks of AI are coming from inside the industry itself, with Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman warning against treating AI models like humans – and raising the prospect of a new “silicon species” competing with us for resources. Finally, in Britain, the royal family is back on the defensive as Earl Spencer’s new claims about Princess Diana’s funeral prompt an unusually pointed response from Buckingham Palace. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon, Farida Soliman and Laura Burloux