The World This Week

It’s been a good week for the world’s most powerful woman. EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen moves a step closer to another five years in office as she announced her candidacy for a second term.

Israel-Hamas war: No end in sight 

A week of raised hopes for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, which came to nothing and saw increasing US frustration with Israel.

France enshrines abortion rights in constitution 

It’s been an historic week here in France. The country became the first in the world to explictly include the right to abortion in its constitution. President Macron wants his European neighbours to follow suit

Gavin Lee is joined by our panel of guests to discuss the news that made headlines this week. 

Produced by Luis Miguel Cabrera, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux. 

Is there no end in sight to war in Gaza? The week began with a flurry of diplomacy to seal a truce before Ramadan, but that has now gone quiet, what with more than 100 civilians killed after a scramble surrounding an aid convoy delivery in Gaza City.

Final act of resistance: Thousands turn out for Navalny's funeral. His funeral turned into a protest. Thousands turned out to a small church on the outskirts of Moscow to pay their final respects to Alexei Navalny, two weeks after the Kremlin critic's sudden death in an Arctic prison colony.

Fifteen years and counting: The World This Week then and now. The camera can be oh so cruel. It is there to remind us that actually, 15 years is a long time. From the financial crisis to the Arab Spring, Brexit and the rise of populism, Covid and superpower tensions, global warming and the dawn of the digital age, this studio on Fridays has been the place where the Paris press corps took stock.

Produced by Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

"My memory is fine." With those words, US President Joe Biden dismissed his critics after succession of gaffes. The US presidential election campaign is only starting, the vote's not until November, and for the oldest incumbent in history, it's been a bad week.

A matter of months? Gaza truce deal far from done

At that Thursday press conference, Joe Biden did not just lose his patience with the special prosecutor. After four months of war, Israeli forces are now pounding Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah and Israel's prime minister is pouring cold water on hopes of a truce deal any time soon, despite US, Qatar and Egyptian mediators being hard at it.

Beacon of democracy? Uproar in Senegal as president extends his stay 

For decades now, it has been hailed as a rare beacon of democracy in a neighbourhood peppered by coups and corruption, but it is not a good luck when gendarmes in Senegal clear parliament of opposition MPs so that presidential elections scheduled for later this month can be delayed until December.

And the winner is...Taylor Swift overshadows build-up to Super Bowl

And the winner is...Taylor Swift, of course. On Sunday, she became the first artist to win Best Album for a fourth time at the Grammies in Los Angeles. That was before tour dates in Japan and ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl in Las Vegas, where her boyfriend Travis Kelce is the star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

After nearly four months of war in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis and the mounting civilian death toll have triggered growing international calls for a ceasefire. Amid intense diplomacy, a deal is taking shape. The first truce, in November of last year, lasted just seven days; this one could endure for one or two months and free many or all of the remaining 100 or more Israeli hostages in stages.

Biden ups pressure on Israel: US sanctions West Bank settlers over violence

It’s one of the Biden Administration's strongest critiques of Israel since the war in Gaza began, but it does not directly address the war. The US president has approved sanctions on four Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Inevitable spillover? US blames Iranian-backed militia for deadly attack on soldiers

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base to honour three American service members killed in a drone attack in Jordan. Washington has blamed an Iranian-backed militia group in Iraq for that attack, and the Pentagon warned that multi-tiered action is coming.

Clear signal to Moscow? Ukraine's Zelensky welcomes EU's €50 billion aid package

While aid in the US for Ukraine has stalled in Congress, more help is on the way from Europe. All 27 EU leaders have agreed on a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine. This money is not for the frontline, but for the Ukrainian government to keep the lights on. Meanwhile, Hungary's PM Viktor Orban reiterated that peace talks should start between Ukraine and Russia, since each day that goes by tilts in favour of Moscow.

France farmers lift blockade: Protesters head home as anger spreads elsewhere in Europe

The effects of the war in Ukraine are one of the major grievances of European farmers. Here in France, farmers are upset over cheaper cereals and poultry from Ukraine, as well as low wages and what they deem excessive regulation. But the two largest unions agreed to lift their blockades of key roads after winning a number of concessions from the French government.

Protests – be they roadblocks, lane closures or demonstrations – have affected more than 150 locations around France for the past week, with motorways around major cities including Paris and Lyon affected. It was the first major crisis for France's new PM Gabriel Attal. Among the concessions he offered: an annual €150 million for livestock farmers and a ban on food imports treated with a pesticide already banned in France.

Cleared of all charges: India releases pigeon accused of spying for China

Finally, a suspected Chinese spy in India has been cleared of all charges and released after spending eight months in detention. Its identity has not been released. That's because it's a pigeon, whose ordeal began in May when it was captured in Mumbai with two rings tied to its legs, carrying a message that was said to look like it was in Chinese. It is not the first time a bird has come under police suspicion in India.

Produced by Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

It is the beginning, not the end for South Africa's complaint before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The court found that Israel must prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid in, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Macron in India: France guest of honour at 75th Republic Day

Happy 75th birthday to India. Like the French, they love a military parade for Republic Day. And just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was guest of honour on Bastille Day, a French contingent was invited to march in New Delhi while their commander-in-chief watched from the review stand.

Farmers on the brink: What's driving Europe-wide protests?

Emmanuel Macron will return to France to a farmers' revolt. Tractors are converging on Paris this Friday ahead of the government's announcement of a farm bill to streamline paperwork and in scenes reminiscent of Wednesday in Warsaw or last week in Berlin, French agriculture workers are fuming mad.

Hits and misses: Oscar nominations serve up snubs and surprises

Nothing is more subjective than awards season. In Los Angeles, the nominations are out for the Oscars (Academy Awards). A few short years after a boycott campaign against the under-representation of women by the Oscars, this time, a record three movies directed by women are up for best picture. But elsewhere, there was a notable absent.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

Did the map of the Middle East suddenly just get bigger? On Tuesday, Iran hit points in Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria and – all the way over on its eastern border – separatist militants in Balochistan province. It was payback for recent attacks targeting police in its own Sistan and Baluchestan province. Hitting nuclear-armed Pakistan came as the neighbouring countries were carrying out joint naval exercises. 

How about never? Netanyahu rejects US-backed Saudi peace plan

The plan is straightforward: Gulf states rebuild Gaza and Israel signs onto Saudi Arabia's decades-old roadmap for lasting peace with the Palestinians. The Americans are on board. One party, though, still needs convincing: Israel.

China's baby bust: Population drops for second year in row

China's troubles may only just be starting: for the second year running, the population is declining with two million fewer people: that's double the drop of 2022. Despite the lifting in 2016 of the country's one-child policy, the birth rate seems stuck, fuelling that favorite question: will the country grow old before it grows rich?

For whom the bell rings? Macron's education minister apologises over private school row 

French politics junkies call her AOC: sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who last week was also promoted to education minister when her predecessor Gabriel Attal became prime minister. There were doubting Thomases who wondered if she could handle both portfolios in a year when Paris hosts the Olympics. Then, within 48 hours of her nomination, she hit the political third rail when, on a visit with Attal to a public school northwest of the capital, Oudéa-Castéra was asked why she took her child out of a Paris Latin Quarter public primary school to put him in an exclusive private Catholic school.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati, Peter Hutt-Sierra and Imen Mellaz.

The attacks on commercial shipping off Yemen had gone on for nearly two months. Now comes the response: an international coalition led by the US and the UK have hit 60 targets in 16 locations, according to the Pentagon. At least people have been five killed in Iran-aligned Houthi rebel strongholds.

Israel's war on Gaza is having its day in court. South Africa, a fellow member of the 1948 Genocide Convention, is lodging the charge that with more than 23,000 killed since the October 7 surprise attack by Hamas, Israel's campaign aims to bring about the" total destruction" of Gaza's population. 

Remember when Emmanuel Macron ran for president at 39? Now, in his term-limited second mandate, without a majority in parliament, and with polling stuck in the doldrums, he's appointed France's youngest-ever prime minister. Gabriel Attal is taking the reins from the technocratic Elisabeth Borne, who in her 20 months on the job, dutifully pushed through unpopular pension and immigration reforms.

When a popular anti-corruption crusader was assassinated in Ecuador on the presidential campaign trail, few outside the Americas noticed. Now, the whole world's paying attention after massive weekend jailbreaks that included the brief takeover of a private television station. Dozens of prison guards are still held hostage. The crisis was sparked by plans to move the leader of the Los Choneras drug gang, Adolfo Macias, to a high-security facility. Better known as Fito, he has not been seen since the weekend.

Thankfully no one was hurt, but after tragedies that befell earlier models of the 777, Boeing's got explaining to do about the fuselage door that flew off an Alaska Airways flight shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

It's dirty, it's crowded, there's always a strike, the waiters are rude…and it's the place to go in 2024. We bring you a special edition of The World This Week, as the French capital gets set to host the Olympics for the first time in exactly 100 years. Why is it that for better or worse, old stereotypes stick about the City of Light?

With Olympic events designed to showcase the grandeur of Paris's historical sights, we ask how the 2,000-year-old city is evolving today. Is the world’s top tourist destination thriving…or losing its soul? 

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

Read moreCould Emily afford to rent in Paris? An author's guide to surviving gentrification

As 2023 draws to a close, our panel of guests look back on the stories that made the news: the Israel-Hamas war, Russia's continued war in Ukraine, Africa coups and elections, the Turkey-Syria earthquake and much more.

Produced by Charles Wente, Guillaume Gougeon and Juliette Brown. 

Is Washington's patience wearing thin? It all started on Tuesday, when Israel's prime minister issued a video address in Hebrew. Within hours, Joe Biden had reacted, first at a fundraiser where he called on Netanyahu to sack his far-right coalition partners, then at a White House Hanukkah ceremony where the US president called on Israel to stop its "indiscriminate" bombing of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The US Senate is putting off its Christmas recess for a shot on voting on military aid for Israel and for Ukraine. Ukraine's president has been globetrotting this week, with stops that included Washington, where Volodymyr Zelensky lobbied senators as well as the pro-Trump speaker of the House of Representatives. Mike Johnson is holding out for domestic border control reform. To keep Kyiv's financial lifeline alive, Zelensky travelled all the way to Buenos Aires for last Sunday's inauguration of Argentina's new populist president, Javier Milei, but the main reason was to lobby Viktor Orban ahead of a crucial EU summit.

In the end, Hungary's prime minister left the room to abstain when fellow leaders approved the start of membership negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova. But despite the European Commission unfreezing €10 billion in funds for Budapest, held up over Hungary's rule of law issues, it was still a no to a four-year, €50-billion aid package for Kyiv. 

No one expected a COP28 summit hosted by the world's seventh-biggest oil producer to save the planet in 12 days, but COP28 in Dubai did conclude with a document that for the first time recognises the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Finally, relatives are bemoaning the second death of World War II hero Léon Gautier. The last surviving French soldier from D-Day, who landed on the Normandy beaches with France's Kieffer commando, died back in July aged 100. Relatives are now suing over a book on Amazon and Kindle written by a certain Grace Shawn that's filled with factual errors, including Gautier's supposed detention in Germany. Grace Shawn is unknown. Amazon has pulled the book over the outrage. But we did find that for £8.99, one can buy a biography of Gautier, written by a certain Gilbert Predmore. How concerned should we be about books being generated by artificial intelligence?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

It's back to the brutal reality of war. A week ago at this time, some were still holding out hope of that a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could be revived. Now, it's house-to-house combat in the streets of Gaza's central city of Khan Younis and a fresh draft resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire at the United Nations Security Council. For the first time in over half a century, a UN Secretary-General has invoked article 99 of the UN Charter.

Some $50 billion are on hold in the US after Senate Republicans insisted on tying aid to a tightening of domestic border controls. What does this mean for aid to Ukraine going forward?

The 2024 Olympics are in Paris, but the scandal of the week is eleven time zones away, in the village of Teahupo'o on the French Polynisean island of Tahiti, which is hosting the surfing competition at next summer's Games. The vintage wooden judging tower beloved by surfers the world over had to go, insisted the International Olympic Committee. But when it came time to break ground on a new metal tower for judges and journalists, it happened just as environmentalists had predicted: the wrecking of the bay's delicate coral reef.

As far back as 1988, Time Magazine put saving the environment on the cover for its Person of the Year. For 2023, it's Taylor Swift who succeeds last year's choice of Volodymyr Zelensky. The US pop star's current Eras tour is breaking box office records. Is she a wise choice?

Produced by Charles Wente, Guillaume Gougeon and Marguerite Lacroix. 

Our panel of journalists review the news that made headlines this week. Israel launches new air strikes on Gaza after a seven-day truce. Meanwhile in Dubai, leaders gather for the COP28 summit. UK-Greece relations deteriorate following a row over the Parthenon Marbles. Finally, we look back at the legacy of US politician Henry Kissinger, who died this week aged 100.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Samy Vicente Lacerda.

Where does the four-day truce lead? Thirteen hostages have been released by Hamas this Friday. The deal had been in the offing all week. A truce for four days; a release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners being freed.

Also, how will Geert Wilders change the Netherlands? The country has a reputation as one of the most liberal societies in Europe, if not the whole world. So why did Dutch voters this week endorse the far-right candidate in the elections? Wilders was once thought of as a niche political act. It seems now he has taken centre stage.

Can Javier Milei's populism pay off? Argentina has a not-too-distant past peppered by the worst of far right extremism. Many still bear the scars, both physical and mental, of the military junta that fell only after losing the Falklands War in 1982. Memories of voters are clearly getting shorter as they voted in a far-right president (he calls himself an anarcho-capitalist).

What's behind the firing and rehiring of Sam Altman? OpenAI has taken on the aspect of a soap opera. The ins and outs have made headlines that have had business editors the world over shouting "stop the press". Our discussion now veers towards the future and how artificial intelligence will change it, and what role will be played by a certain Sam Altman.

Produced by Charles Wente, Guillaume Gougeon, Rebecca Gnignati and Louise Guibert.

For Israelis, it's a long-eyed target. For Palestinians, it's a symbol of their suffering. After days of laying siege to Al Shifa hospital, Israeli soldiers moved in overnight on Tuesday, after years of claiming that Hamas operated a command centre on the grounds of Gaza's largest medical centre.

Now it's on to the next objective, with many parts of northern Gaza laid to waste. Israel has now dropped leaflets telling Palestinians to evacuate four specific neighbourhoods of Khan Younis. In the last 24 hours, Israel's ground operation has netted the bodies of two hostages: a 65-year-old woman and a 19-year-old female soldier, a reminder that there's more than 200 still believed to be held.

Meanwhile, Germany has welcomed Turkey's president for a long-planned state visit, one that shows up opposing views on the eruption in the Middle East. 

The EU's executive arm has joined IBM and halted advertisements on Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The last straw was Musk's seeming endorsement of a tweet from a far-right account claiming that members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against White people.

What this world certainly needs is a healthy dose of de-escalation. So even if they didn't issue a joint statement, many found reason to at least exhale when Joe Biden sat down with Xi Jinping for four hours on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco. A joint agreement on climate targets, reassurances on opening a hotline between US and China's military all seemed positive signs. But then there was a press conference where reporters asked if Biden stood by his June branding of his Chinese counterpart as a dictator.

Finally, David Cameron has become the first former UK prime minister in decades to return to government. His first trip abroad was to Ukraine: a reminder that David Cameron was in power a decade ago when it all kicked off.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Brown and Lila Paulou.

One month after the massacre of some fourteen-hundred civilians in Israel, Palestinians are now bearing the brunt of a response that has killed more than ten-thousand and displaced tens of thousands this week from the Gaza Strip’s north to south. An estimated one-third of the buildings in the north of the enclave are damaged or destroyed.

Over the past month, we have taken stock of just how much the conflict in the Middle East has led to a spike in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Europe.

Thursday evening, there were commemorations throughout Europe for the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht when the Nazis carried out pogroms against Jews in riots defined as a seminal moment of the Holocaust.

In Iran, authorities bended to public pressure by allowing this year's Nobel peace prize winner to receive medical treatment despite not wearing the obligatory head covering which was mandatory. The family of Narges Mohammadi said she has ended a hunger strike which was to protest against the regime’s denial of healthcare to women refusing to wear headscarves.

In Spain, a coalition deal between the outgoing Socialists and the Catalan separatists convicted of using state funds to stage a banned 2017 independence referendum has sparked fury among critics of Pedro Sanchez. He is looking to weather the storm and keep his own troops in line as he moves to secure a razor-thin majority in the next parliament.

Here in France, we had the breakup of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy's marriage play out in public. More recently, Canada's prime minister announced that he and his wife of eighteen years were separating.

That is life, right? Same goes for Giorgia Meloni, who, announced on Instagram last month that she and the father of her daughter were parting ways.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Lila Paulou, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz. 

Four weeks after Hamas's shock rampage, Israel's military says it has got Gaza City surrounded. But at what cost? The Palestinian territory's largest refugee camp has been bombed twice in two days, with dozens killed. And with each day that passes, the world is fed tales of horror and despair. 

The call to protect civilians was broadcast loud and clear by the US secretary of state. It's the fourth visit in four weeks to Israel for Antony Blinken. He now arrives in Jordan, where earlier thousands turned out in the capital to rally for a ceasefire. Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel earlier this week after the bombing of Gaza City's Jabalia refugee camp.

Also, Britain's King Charles III has made his first visit to a Commonwealth nation since his coronation. In Kenya, Charles said there was "no excuse" for the atrocities committed during British colonial rule, but stopped short of a full apology. 

They broke up in 1970, but thanks to artificial intelligence, The Beatles are putting out a new single this week. "Now and Then" features a polished version of an unfinished demo tape with the late John Lennon on vocals. 

Produced by François Picard, Andrew Hilliar, Laura Burloux, Meiqi An 

It was a rare ray of hope amid three weeks of hell. In a deal brokered by Qatar and the US, Hamas has released two elderly hostages. But even then, some Israelis objected to the image of 85-year old Yocheved Lifshitz shaking the hand of one of her Hamas captors. They liked it even less when the lifelong Kibbutz resident blasted Israel's security lapses at a press conference hours later at the hospital where she was recovering in Tel Aviv. That said, she also provided a trove of information on the enemy.

Last week it was missiles from Yemen intercepted from US warships. Now it's the US retaliating against Iran-aligned militias in Syria following attacks on US forces present both in Syria and Iraq as part of the fight against the IS group. On Wednesday, Lebanon's al-Manar television put out a photo showing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah meeting the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziyad al-Nakhalah and deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri.

It was the week where Turkey's president voiced fury at the bombing of Gaza and insisted he'd be staying away from Israel for the foreseeable future. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and 84 million other citizens have a birthday to celebrate this coming Sunday. A century ago, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proclaimed the Turkish republic, changed the alphabet and instituted the separation of religion and state.

Just in time for the Christmas shopping season comes the 40th volume of the adventures of Asterix the Gaul. The original writer and cartoonist are long gone, but the best-selling series continues. Keeping up with the times, the villain in this one, Vicévertus – Julius Caesar's chief doctor – promotes meditation and vegetarian new ageism.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Lauren Bain and Laura Burloux.

Trucks loaded with desperately needed aid are still stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing but should be "rolling in the next day or so", says the United Nations. On Day 14 of a conflict triggered by Hamas's cross-border slaughter of more than a thousand Israeli civilians, the UN Secretary-General made his way to Rafah.

Meanwhile, on his trip to Israel, US President Joe Biden pointed to "America's mistakes after 9/11", warning his hosts not to "be consumed by rage" and squander worldwide sympathy. In his first address from the Oval Office since it all started, the US president connected the dots between Gaza and Ukraine.

It turns out that those US warships sent to the region aren't just for show. In the Red Sea, the USS Carney intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement from Yemen, potentially towards Israel. 

The Arab street is not only mad with Israel and the United States. In former French protectorate Tunisia, Tuesday's shelling of the hospital in Gaza had an angry crowd spontaneously converging on the French embassy.

France is still processing last Friday's second fatal attack on a high school teacher in three years. Thursday, in the northern city of Arras, saw the funeral of French teacher Dominique Bernard, who tried to stop a radicalised former student as he embarked on a stabbing spree on the grounds of the high school where Bernard taught.

Produced by Charles Wente, Lauren Bain and Juliette Brown.

First came the shock, then the horror and now the escalation. Israel's government had been putting the squeeze on the West Bank when the unprecedented attack came from Gaza, stunning the world and targeting the innocent. Seven days later, Israel is dropping leaflets on the Gaza Strip: the prelude to a possible ground offensive.

In the past, Israelis have morbidly likened intervening in Gaza to "mowing the grass", operations that are a periodic necessity. This time, it's different.

After days of bargaining, PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Wednesday with the opposition on a national emergency government that brings former army chief of staff Benny Gantz into a war cabinet.

Social media has been bombarded with toxic missives since last Saturday. The EU Commissioner in charge of Digital Affairs made use of the new Digital Services Act to warn the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, as well as Facebook's parent group Meta and China's TikTok.

Whenever there's conflict in the Middle East, passions run high here in France – home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim population. Adding to the tensions is the fatal stabbing spree at a high school in the northern city of Arras. The knife attack by a former student is akin to the one that felled a social studies teacher three years ago.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Louise Guibert.

Would you be willing to risk arrest to stand up for what you believed in? How about 13 times? François Picard invites a panel of journalists to discuss the Nobel Peace Prize going to human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, who's currently serving what amounts to 12 years behind bars in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. From her cell, the 51-year-old activist put out a statement for a prize that's a nod to all those who have risen up since last year's death of Mahsa Amini in the hands of Iran's morality police. 

The panel, which included regular guests Paul Moreira, Nico Hines, Matthew Dalton and Ana Navarro Pedro, went on to discuss the situation in Ukraine, whose leader was in Granada this Friday asking for aid to European allies as American support wavers, and in the other two conflicts on Europe's doorstep: Armenia and Kosovo. Finally, what to make of Paris's bedbug scare?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.