The first round of France’s parliamentary elections and the US presidential debate

We examine a frenetic final weekend of campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election and speak with Ian Brzezinski about America’s role in the world. Plus: The World Weather Attribution report, an interview with director Steve McQueen and why crows hold grudges. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As strikes and rockets continue to fire across the Lebanon-Israel border, there is still a sense of optimism about a ceasefire in the region. Hannah McCarthy joins Emma Nelson to discuss the situation. Plus: Andrew Mueller details the rigorous arguments of bloviating real-estate huxters, William Yang gives us the latest on Taiwan’s record-breaking typhoon and Rebecca Tay explains why Christmas is getting creepier. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monocle’s Simon Bouvier joins Emma Nelson to discuss the future of the Renaissance party, as former French prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Élisabeth Borne avoid a political bust-up over who will be its next leader. Plus: China’s mounting debt problems, Copenhagen’s witch exhibition and the Vatican City’s new anime mascot.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monocle’s Christopher Cermak reports from Washington as Emma Nelson discusses Hezbollah’s new leader choice with Edmund Bower in Beirut. Plus: influence operations and disinformation in Switzerland, historic Italian naval ship docks in Singapore and Bangkok’s Jay Fai announces that she is hanging up her apron. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest on talks for a proposed two-day truce in Gaza. Plus, questions over the legitimacy of Georgia’s election results, a flip through the papers and the role of conspiracies in the US presidential campaign.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has lost its majority in snap elections but Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to stay on. Fiona Wilson, Monocle’s Tokyo bureau chief, joins Georgina Godwin to discuss what comes next. Plus: Lindsey Hilsum on Lebanon and we hear about protecting Slovakia’s cultural heritage and plans for Poland’s new supercity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgia goes to the polls tomorrow in the first parliamentary elections since the country obtained EU-candidate status in December 2023, it is also the first since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Joshua Kucera joins Georgina Godwin to discuss this decisive moment for the country’s future and whether it is shifting towards Russia or the West. Plus: What will chancellor Scholz hope to secure for Germany’s economic future from his visit to India? Then: Dutch navy unveils the world’s first unmanned warships. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We get the latest following the deadly attack on a major defence and aerospace company in the Turkish capital. Plus: North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia, why Tokyo Metro’s market debut is on the right track and a look ahead to our new programme, ‘Monocle on Fashion’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Antony Blinken is back in the Middle East – but prospects for a ceasefire appear slim. We also get the latest on the UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia, find out why a former Peruvian president has been jailed for 20 years and learn how Egypt has managed to eradicate malaria. Plus: the Rome International Film Festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vladimir Putin brings Brics leaders to Kazan, our US politics correspondent brings us the latest two weeks before the presidential election and we discuss King Charles’s testy visit to Australia. Plus: a check-in from San Francisco’s Urban Transformation Summit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.