Show Notes
This week began with US President Donald Trump pronouncing that a ceasefire extension was so close with Iran, two or three days max, that it 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 was 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, 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. Trump claimed the 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 also been a second week of mass demonstrations in Albania. What started as an environmental movement against plans by Trump's family to build a luxury resort has 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 of Sazan. Protests have increased since construction work started and 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. US senator Bernie Sanders waded in stateside, 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. Finally, 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. Produced by Gavin Lee, Andrew Hilliar, Alessandro Xenos and Daniel Whittington.
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