The Debate

00:44:03

Air conditioning for all? France divided over...

The Debate ·

2026/06/23

The heat is on: enough to make Parisians take the plunge into the once notoriously polluted Canal Saint-Martin. France this Tuesday awakened from its hottest night on record, testing the tempers of Paris city dwellers as they sizzle under the zinc roofs of top-floor apartments built for a bygone age. This is the second heat dome to settle over Western Europe in less than a month. Watch moreHow can France adapt to recurrent heatwaves? France's political class is scrambling to prove it's prepared to

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00:42:09

Labour's last chance? Burnham set to replace Starmer...

The Debate ·

2026/06/22

Another post-Brexit prime minister bites the dust. Keir Starmer has owned up to the obvious: that he's too unpopular to lead the Labour Party into the next general election. After replacing the hard left's Jeremy Corbyn, the same Starmer won a landslide election victory two years ago on the promise of stability after all the chaos of Tory rule. So where did it all go wrong? Can the heavy favourite to replace him win back disgruntled Labour voters who first flocked to the Conservatives and now to the

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00:43:39

Has France failed its children? Outrage over murder...

The Debate ·

2026/06/10

Here in France, outrage. Outrage over what seems like the all-too-avoidable murder of 11-year old Lyhanna. The 41-year old suspect in her May 29th disappearance in a southwestern town - the father of a schoolmate - had twice previously been flagged and never questioned about suspected paedophile crimes. We’ll ask what went wrong and about a string of high profile cases that have recently shaken the nation, from the trial of a doctor in western France who abused patients over a period of decades and

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00:43:49

Unbreakable Kim? China's Xi visits Russia-backed...

The Debate ·

2026/06/09

It takes convincing these days to get China’s leader to go abroad. Xi Jinping’s just wrapped up what was only his first foreign visit of 2026. Why Pyongyang? Hard to deduce from official readouts of that two-day state visit to neighboring North Korea. Politeness after a pair of visits by Kim Jong Un to Beijing? Celebrations of the 65th anniversary of their mutual defense pact? Or is it those closening ties between North Korea and Russia? Moscow's help in exchange for support in the war against

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00:41:42

Who calls the shots? Trump tries to rein in...

The Debate ·

2026/06/08

The US president believed those who insisted he could wrap up hostilities by the end of March, long before the November midterms. If not, the off-ramp would be easy to find. But did Donald Trump factor in that his main ally in the war against Iran was also gearing up for a campaign? That's right: Benjamin Netanyahu is running for re-election. This past weekend, Israel's prime minister ignored the US president and did what most of his constituents want, bombing both Beirut and Iran. Trump could

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00:43:11

Cancer breakthroughs: Does a string of advances...

The Debate ·

2026/06/04

It’s not every day that a standing ovation at a medical conference goes viral. Dateline: Chicago, at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Doctors from around the world rose to their feet to applaud the announcement of a new pill that doubles survival time for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease. The conference also brought major advances in breast, bladder and head and neck cancers, among others. So why are breakthroughs coming so quickly? Is

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00:43:20

Where does Europe's far-right turn? Populists look to...

The Debate ·

2026/05/27

If the first thing Europeans think of when they fill up at the pump is Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran, it's little wonder that previously pro-Maga populists are quietly distancing themselves from the president of the United States. In fact, Trump actively campaigning for Peter Magyar's rival actually helped Hungary’s new conservative prime minister boot out his predecessor of 16 years Viktor Orban… Magyar who hopes to cash in this week with a deal to unlock more than 10 billion euros in

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00:42:45

Hotter than July: Can electrification save humanity...

The Debate ·

2026/05/27

Europe's in meltdown... and it's not even June yet. A not-so merry month of May as record highs explode under a heat dome that’s drifted north from the Sahara. After the frying pan of an energy crisis, the fire of a heatwave forcing a reset by the same politicians who pandered to those who complained about the cost and red tape of recent energy transition policy. Enter Emmanuel Macron. France’s president was precisely one of those politicians who had segued from summits to make the planet great

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00:42:41

End in sight? Hormuz, nukes at the heart of US-Iran...

The Debate ·

2026/05/26

Three months into what was originally billed as four-week war, is an end really in sight? Donald Trump's messaging on bargaining with Iran was enough to push Brent crude oil below $100 a barrel for the first time in two weeks. Both Washington and Tehran are managing expectations of a final deal or "memorandum of understanding". Time is not on Trump's side, what with a World Cup to host in less than three weeks and inflation that's fast erasing the sweetener of tax breaks for voters ahead of the

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00:45:07

China's Xi woos Trump with state banquet: Taiwan on...

The Debate ·

2026/05/14

From the Temple of Heaven to the Forbidden City, plenty of great power pageantry was on display as the leaders of the world's two mightiest nations toasted each other at an official state banquet. The US president was flanked by the likes of Elon Musk, Tim Cook of Apple and Jensen Huang of chipmaking leader Nvidia – tech titans keen to see trade tensions smoothed over. Hardly surprising, then, that the laudatory toasts between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump were not what you might call straight talk

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00:41:35

Should politics and culture mix? Eurovision 2026:...

The Debate ·

2026/05/13

Eurovision has hit a "bum note" over the participation of Israel in this year's song contest. Demonstrations are planned in Vienna against the presence of Noam Bettan and his song "Michelle." He succeeded in getting through the semi final 24 hours ago, but his appearance was greeted by chants of "Stop the Genocide." Five nations who usually take part have pulled out in protest, including serial Eurovision winners Ireland. The Netherlands, Spain and Iceland are the others. The question is should

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00:45:50

Still no sign of a solution in Iran: US president...

The Debate ·

2026/05/07

Donald Trump again says the Iran war will be over "soon". The US president has said this in some way, shape or form a number of times in recent days. Yet there's still no solution on the horizon in the Middle East. On March 9, Trump said the war was "very complete, pretty much". On March 24, he reportedly said the US and Israel had "won" the war. On April 14, in a Fox Business interview, Trump said the war was "very close to being over." On April 16, CBS reported Trump again saying the conflict was

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00:40:55

Starmer's last stand? The UK local elections

The Debate ·

2026/05/06

Never has a local election in the United Kingdom been so loaded with implications. The rise in popularity of two parties - Reform and the Greens - raises questions about the political system, for so long based on two main parties. But on a wider scale the fate of the UK prime minister could be in play. Sir Keir Starmer has been under pressure it seems ever since winning the election. There are already reports of plans to push Sir Keir aside if Labour loses heavily in the local elections on

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00:42:47

Pakistan in the middle: What benefits and risks from...

The Debate ·

2026/04/29

There are those who want the US and Iran to settle and those who want regime change. Among the latter, there’s Israel of course and then there’s the United Arab Emirates who’ve signaled OPEC’s cautious response as a reason for quitting the cartel. The end of OPEC? How will its biggest producer Saudi Arabia respond? The Emirates also seem to have it in for Saudi ally Pakistan, suddenly demanding the immediate reimbursement of a 3-and-a-half billion dollar loan from the cash-strapped facilitators of

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00:42:41

Charles on a mission: Can king's state visit salvage...

The Debate ·

2026/04/28

Call it the royal trump card: King Charles III has been dispatched to Washington on a state visit at the lowest point in the "special relationship" in at least seven decades. We ask if catering to Donald Trump's enthusiasm for the British crown can dispel the bad blood over tariffs, the war in Iran and repeated jibes by the US president to make Canada the 51st state. Canada is of course a Commonwealth member whose head of state is the same Charles III who's invited to address Congress and feted at a

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00:44:47

Culture of hate? Trump's America and the White House...

The Debate ·

2026/04/27

Even if it's the act of a "lone wolf", as first suggested by US President Donald Trump, Saturday night’s White House Correspondents' Dinner drama certainly did not happen in a vacuum. And just as mass shootings have become commonplace in a United States overrun by firearms, so have attempts on the lives of political figures. Read moreSuspect in press gala shooting charged with attempted assassination of Trump We ask about the latest targeting of the US president and the echo chambers that amplify

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00:43:18

Truce without talks: What room for diplomacy between...

The Debate ·

2026/04/23

How to mediate between Iran and the United States when one side wants revenge for the killing of its leader and the other's erratic messaging seems ratings-driven? Donald Trump's unilateral ceasefire declaration has brought neither side back to the bargaining table, what with more ships seized in the Strait of Hormuz and lockdown mode relaxed in Pakistan's capital for talks that may or may not resume. We ask about US demands that can change course inside the same presidential tweet, and an unclear

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00:42:08

World's worst energy crisis? Iran war sparks scramble...

The Debate ·

2026/04/22

Will the world have enough fuel to fill the tanks and fertilise the crops? The seizure of ships by Iran is adding to global jitters as the extension of a ceasefire offers zero visibility on prospects for the planet's biggest choke point for oil and gas. Nearly two months on, the Paris-based International Energy Agency is calling it the biggest-ever energy disruption in history. We ask about prices at the pump, cancelled flights and more broadly, if oil's not flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,

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00:43:20

What exit strategy? Trump, Iranians send mixed...

The Debate ·

2026/04/20

A container ship seized in the Gulf, a ceasefire deadline that's running out fast and plenty of bargaining table brinkmanship between the US and Iran. With the price of oil back on the rise, de-escalation would certainly offer relief to Donald Trump's constituents. So what's the plan of a US president who’s proved impulsive – at times threatening civilizational erasure, at others floating the idea of splitting the profits with Iran on a Strait of Hormuz toll for tankers? How to bargain when your

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00:43:10

Leo and 'the tyrants': Does new pope's defiant...

The Debate ·

2026/04/16

The new US-born pope is on his first-ever visit to Cameroon's restive English-speaking northwest, and he's not turning the other cheek. "Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," Pope Leo XIV declared on Thursday in Bamenda. Read morePope Leo blasts 'handful of tyrants' ravaging world during Cameroon visit The message was the same when he

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