Show Notes
In this edition of The World This Week, Gavin Lee's panel discuss King Charles's state visit to the US, US President Donald Trump's phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and the court battle playing out between Elon Musk and Sam Altman. It's been a week where King Charles III has been earning his crust as head of state on a high-profile visit to the United States, with soft power on full display and some diplomatic heavy lifting needed to improve strained ties at the top of the shop. The king's carefully crafted speeches at the state dinner and in Congress brought up reminders of the shared history and wartime alliances. Half sermon, half stand-up: it's the art of the seal! We assess whether it landed, and if it made any difference to a relationship that's not been so special of late. Also this week, Trump spent an hour and a half on the phone with Russia's Putin. With a fragile ceasefire and effectively a double blockade in the Strait of Hormu occupying Tehran and Washington, the Kremlin initiated the call, they say, to the White House. A post call read-out from Putin's spokesperson said it contained an offer of assistance to help de-escalate in the Middle East; to help the US take 440 kilos of buried, enriched uranium from Iran and move it to Russia. Finally, it's been a week that's seen a battle between two tech billionaires commence in a Californian court. Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman, seeking his dismissal as CEO of Open AI and $130 billion in damages. Taking the stand, Musk set out how he co-founded OpenAI with Altman, injecting $38 million into early funding and calling himself a "fool" to believe its stated mission as a non-profit charity for the good of humanity. He claims OpenAI betrayed its principles in the hunt for profit to enrich the executives. OpenAI portrays Musk's lawsuit as being driven by regret and jealousy over OpenAI's success without him, and this is playing out during a wider battle between the few tech bros for control of advanced artificial intelligence. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rhea Smircic, Juliette Laffont, Marguerite Lacroix, Andrew Hilliar.
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