The World This Week

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UPDATED WEEKLY

Our panel of Paris-based journalists review the week's international news: the stories that made the headlines and also those you may have missed! Join us every Friday at 7:10pm Paris time.

3D AGO

Epstein files special: Revelations, redactions & ramifications

In a week where global headlines have been dominated daily by the fallout from what the Trump administration calls the "final release" of Epstein files, we bring you a special edition of The World This Week focusing on the consequences for those associated with the late sex offender. An unprecedented 3 million pages of files, containing hundreds of thousands of videos and images, were finally disclosed a month after the government deadline – the late publication ostensibly due to redactions required for victim protection. Survivors' groups who have been fighting for transparency and justice for years say the redactions are in all the wrong places. One of those survivors is Annie Farmer, who was sexually abused by Epstein and gave key testimony in the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell. It has been a week of remarkably similar statements issued by a list of the rich, the famous and the powerful, many of whom appear to have been less than transparent about the extent of their dealings with the child sex offender. Tech billionaire Bill Gates, the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit, and author and viral anti-ageing influencer Peter Attia spoke of regret, remorse and naivety in their associations. There are also questions of judgement – though no accusations of illegality – surrounding Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Noam Chomsky, Howard Lutnick and Donald Trump, who is attempting to draw the issue to a close. The unearthing of the files has had serious ramifications in the UK this week, with headlines referring to the "Princes of Darkness". The phrase points to long-time Labour peer Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the US, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the ex-prince who is facing fresh allegations of sexual offences now being assessed by police. He denies any wrongdoing but is increasingly isolated, having been seen moving out of Royal Lodge shortly before midnight on Monday. Mandelson has been stripped of his knighthood, forced to leave the Labour Party, and now faces a criminal investigation into the alleged sending of confidential government information to Epstein. It is claimed he exchanged information for money and influence, which he denies. The fallout is also reaching the man who appointed him ambassador, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is now at risk of losing his job over the affair. Elsewhere, the threat of US intervention in Iran appears to have diminished slightly, with direct talks taking place between US and Iranian officials in Oman. Meanwhile, it has been another week of peace talks on Ukraine. In ever-shifting locations, this week's hosts were the United Arab Emirates, with talks brokered by the US and attended by Russian and Ukrainian delegations. Little progress was reported, with Russia's unrelenting demands for additional territory remaining the main sticking point, though another prisoner exchange was agreed and completed. As the fourth anniversary of the war approaches, President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the human cost, telling French television that 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died. The French president told reporters that preparations were under way to restore direct communication between Europe and the Kremlin. Produced by Gavin Lee, Andrew Hilliar, Daniel Whittington, Alessandro Xenos.

48 min
JAN 30

'Minneapolis Now', Iran & the 'Armada', A Gaza milestone

This Friday in The World This Week, we talk about the implications of a fatal week in Minneapolis, Iran & the "Armada" ultimatum and what Trump's goal is for Gaza. The implications of a fatal week in Minneapolis This week, video evidence and citizen journalism have shown their fundamental importance in holding governments to account. In this case, eyewitness footage stood up against the rapid-response accounts of the Trump administration in the hours following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, as government officials tried to define the story, framing Pretti as a domestic terrorist and would-be assassin – narratives which had little bearing on what we could see and hear. Two Border Force agents have since been placed on leave, and the issue is causing splits in the Republican Party and within the MAGA movement. It also brought a rare concession from President Donald Trump, who's more famous for the "attack as a form of defence" route. ICE operations now look set to be reduced in Minneapolis. Iran and the 'Armada' ultimatum It's been a week of final warnings for the Iranian regime. Time is running out, was the explicit threat spelled out on Trump's Truth Social, with a "massive Armada" of US military might making its way into the Arabian Sea. The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has now sailed into the strategic waters, leaving a binary choice: face the wrath of the US military for a second time in less than a year, or agree a new deal on the nuclear programme. This comes two weeks after an uprising was savagely suppressed, with the death toll of protesters now estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Iran's regime has hit back, saying they're waiting with "fingers on the trigger". What's Trump's goal for Gaza? It's also been the week that Israel held a final funeral for the last hostage in Gaza, Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, whose remains were identified by IDF troops in a search of a cemetery in Gaza City, and confirmed as his on Monday. It brought to a close a two year and four month-long search for the police officer known as the Shield, who was killed as he defended a Kibbutz during the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. With neither war nor peace for the population in Gaza dealing with a bleak winter, we look at the next step of the Truce Plan: disarming Hamas. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Alessandro Xenos.

47 min
JAN 23

Taking the peace, Making Europe Grateful Again, No friends but the mountains?

It's been a week of power plays and redrawn lines. In Davos, US President Donald Trump declared victory in the escalating row over Greenland, announcing a framework deal he says delivers "everything we wanted, total security". The White House hails it as classic Art of the Deal brinkmanship — critics warn it’s come at the cost of the old world order, a charge echoed by Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney. It's also been the week the Board of Peace became a formal international body. Born with UN backing to help end the Gaza war, it's now been recast with a global mission to "resolve conflicts and secure peace" — under a structure that grants Trump lifelong chairmanship, billion-dollar membership fees and an open invitation to Vladimir Putin, prompting Europe to keep its distance. And in Syria, the map has shifted once again. A ceasefire between the interim government and Kurdish forces follows fierce fighting, heavy territorial losses for the Kurds and the escape of Islamic State group detainees, reviving a familiar Kurdish refrain: no friends but the mountains. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

49 min
JAN 16

Iran: An uprising and a massacre, The Greenland narrative, Preventing WWIII

It's been a week marked by brutality, brinkmanship and political theatre. In Iran, a third week of protests spiralled into a nationwide uprising as the regime shut down the internet and phone lines. Graphic accounts of a violent crackdown emerged via Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, with human rights groups reporting thousands killed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in what they describe as an unprecedented massacre – even as US President Donald Trump urged protesters on, before appearing to shift his tone. Meanwhile, urgent diplomacy unfolded in the Arctic, as Denmark and Greenland pushed back against renewed US pressure to annex Greenland. Trump insists America "needs" the island for strategic defence, prompting European allies to boost NATO’s presence – and leaving Greenland’s leadership confronting an unsettling new reality. And across Europe, politics turned volatile. France's minority government survived two no-confidence votes sparked by anger over the EU’s Mercosur trade deal, as farmers clogged the country with tractor protests. In the UK, a dramatic defection saw a senior Conservative sacked and swiftly unveiled by Nigel Farage's Reform party, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer added fresh bite to his rhetoric. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

47 min
JAN 9

Capturing Maduro, a grab for Greenland, Iran unrest

In the week that saw the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Operation Absolute Resolve played out in just two hours and 28 minutes. The combined military precision and tactical deception by US land, sea, and air forces led to Maduro and his wife, Cecilia Flores, being snatched from a fortress-like compound in Caracas. They were handcuffed, blindfolded and flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Stunned world leaders barely had time to react before Trump declared that he was running the country by remote control and that Maduro's replacement, former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, would have to dance to his tune, starting with oil flowing towards Washington. It's also been a week of renewed US rhetoric on seizing Greenland. Just hours after the Venezuela operation, Trump reiterated his desire to acquire the Danish territory, citing security concerns: "Russian and Chinese ships all over the place, and Denmark not able to secure it." Copenhagen initially called the idea fantasy, but in light of US manoeuvres in Caracas and murmurs within the administration that force might not be ruled out, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that the threats should be taken seriously. It’s also been a second week of protests in Iran, reportedly the largest opposition movement in over a decade, calling for the overthrow of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to British and US intelligence sources, the country's Supreme Leader is exploring options in case the Iranian Revolutionary Guard turns against him, including fleeing to Moscow. Authorities have imposed an internet blackout, statues of the regime have been toppled, and many demonstrators have been chanting the name of the exiled son of the former shah, Reza Pahlavi. All of this was triggered by a currency collapse, which made life even less bearable, as hyperinflation has made everyday staples like bread, rice, eggs and cooking oil unaffordable for many. And it’s been a week of anger and division in the US after a 37-year-old mother-of-three was shot dead by an immigration agent in Minneapolis. The incident was recorded on video, and the interpretation of what happened has split opinion largely along party lines. Thousands of demonstrators have protested in the aftermath, chanting the name of Renee Good, the woman who was killed, alongside shouts of "murder" directed at officials. In contrast, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called it an act of domestic terrorism against law enforcement. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rhea Smircic, Daniel Whittington and Laura Burloux

46 min
2025-12-12

The World This Year: 2025 in review and what's in store for 2026

In this special edition of The World This Week, our panel of journalists look back at the big stories from 2025 and ahead at what to expect in 2026. The year started with a political tempest in the US. A chaotic, unpredictable diplomatic circus by White House design: friends are foes, foes are friends as the art of the deal went global and the 45th president Donald Trump became the 47th. "The madman theory" said supporters, "a madman reality" said critics, as 12 months of temperamental tariffs ensued, and the term TACO was born (that's "Trump Always Chickens Out", in case you need it for the Christmas pub quiz). European allies started to find the "pay as you play" rules overwhelming, triggering the shifting of alliances elsewhere. President Vladimir Putin was allowed back in from the cold, embraced in the physical chill of Alaska. A man wanted by the ICC is not a concern for Trump, who started a trend of "limo diplomacy" as the world’s strongmen leaders took a series of on-camera car-shares as they spoke, albeit without microphone or karaoke. It's also been a year where it turned out the war in Ukraine wasn't solvable in 24 hours, but remains a country digging in and holding on. So is President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is now under political fire for a corruption scandal, and under pressure from Trump to concede territory and call elections despite the conflict raging on. It's also been a year of aggressive enforcement of US immigration policies, with ICE raids, a surge in deportations, paused decisions on asylum applications and Somalis labelled as garbage. The top trending Google search was Charlie Kirk, another most searched was Zohran Mamdani, the social media savvy politician who optimised the algorithm, going from zero in the polls to hero of the left and elected the next mayor of New York. He campaigned on the making the Big Apple affordable again and raising the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. After two ceasefires and the death toll reaching 70,000 in Gaza, all of the living hostages were released, with the Trump plan still holding as we speak. In Iran, Operation Midnight Hammer saw extraordinary US air strikes on its nuclear bunkers. Meanwhile Sudan, the world's biggest humanitarian crisis and so-called "forgotten war", continued in the shadows of international attention. There were coups in Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, and conflict brewing in Latin America, where US gunboat diplomacy continues to play out off the coast of Venezuela. It was also a year that has seen a shower of online AI slop. It took a while to verify that Venezuela's autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro was in fact dancing to his own speech, retitled "No War, Yes Peace". In Paris at the Louvre, the crown jewels were gone in 420 seconds. In Italy, a new era began at the Vatican with an American papacy as Cardinal Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV. Three hours north in Venice, the world watched the Bezos' so-called "wedding of the year": three days of chaos in the floating city, after the world had also watched him send his fiancée into space on a celebrity rocket trip, with a strange mix of passengers, leading many critics to speculate what planet they were on. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rhea Smircic, Daniel Whittington and Laura Burloux

51 min
2025-11-28

Ukraine & the shape-shifting 'dim wit' plan, Venezuela, Europe's call of duty

This week brought frantic peace manoeuvres over Ukraine, as a leaked 28-point plan triggered emergency talks and a swift Geneva rewrite, with President Donald Trump quietly shelving his ultimatum while Kyiv grappled with a corruption scandal. In West Africa, Guinea-Bissau plunged into turmoil after a sudden military coup left President Embalo telling FRANCE 24 he had been deposed. Nigeria declared a national emergency after the worst mass school kidnappings since Chibok, as pressure mounted from Washington. Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves' tax-raising budget in the UK sparked a full-blown political pantomime, drawing furious fire from the opposition. Produced by Gavin Lee, Antonia Cimini, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

47 min
2025-11-21

Ukraine: Compromise or capitulation?, Epstein & the MAGA rebellion, G20 summit

This week saw Ukraine brace for a fourth winter of war as President Volodymyr Zelensky shores up support amid reports of a secret 28-point peace plan involving territorial concessions and military cuts – a proposal blasted by European allies – while rolling blackouts, relentless strikes and a corruption scandal trigger calls for a no-confidence vote. In Washington, a defining moment in President Donald Trump’s second term saw a MAGA rebellion force through the release of all government and FBI files on the Epstein investigation, prompting a visibly irritated president to sign it into law while insisting it marked a victory for transparency. Plus, a G20 summit is taking place in South Africa, but the US is boycotting the event. Produced by Gavin Lee, Antonia Cimini, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

46 min

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Our panel of Paris-based journalists review the week's international news: the stories that made the headlines and also those you may have missed! Join us every Friday at 7:10pm Paris time.