Plugged-in planet? COP31 host Turkey leads charge for electrification

It's sweater weather in Paris. But even though November brings brisk temperatures and autumn foliage, it doesn't mean last summer's record heat should fade from our memories. One of the suggested reasons why students are so boiling mad is the hell they endured back in June in overheated classrooms and baking shoebox apartments. The global warming issue is compounded by the war in the Gulf driving up prices at the pump and in stores. In this, an El Niño year where the whole planet is prey to extreme weather, the hosts of the annual UN climate summit in Turkey tout a remedy: turbo-charge the electrification of the world. We ask about what they mean and whether it will work, particularly for the likes of India, whose carbon footprint is growing alongside its economy and its population. Many look at the smog this time of year and compare it with the China of the early 2000s. What lessons can Delhi learn from its neighbour's energy transition? China, meanwhile, remains the planet's manufacturing powerhouse.  Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

It turns out that the new masters of the universe are human – all too human. Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has admitted to an extramarital affair with Singapore-based Chinese tech CEO Alice Huang, who is no relation. She's under scrutiny over the purchase of Nvidia state-of-the-art chips that may have been smuggled back to the mainland illegally. China therefore stands accused of exploiting a vulnerability at the heart of the Silicon Valley giant that reigns supreme over two thirds of the planet's AI computing power production.  We ask about the rise and possible fall of Jensen Huang, the Taiwan-born, leather-clad AI icon. The New York Times reports that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned his boss Donald Trump about the security concerns surrounding the Nvidia boss, and that the US president still invited him aboard Air Force One to attend a Beijing summit back in May. Ahead of Trump's trip to China next week, we ask about Nvidia's relations with the current White House and whether this scandal marks not only the beginning of the end for a largely unregulated tech industry but more broadly, greater oversight for politicians and boardrooms alike. For the wider world, can one dangerous liaison mark a turning point for superpower relations and the AI race?  Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

So this time, it's Iran, not Russia? France – reportedly acting on US intelligence – is summoning Tehran's ambassador over last month's hacking of hundreds of supermarket refrigerators that overheated, 15 of which even caught fire. Why now, at a time when Iran is trying to break its international isolation? We ask about France's role in the region, particularly in defending Gulf states, and about all the other hacks and bomb threats that have rattled Europe in recent weeks, this as the continent's representatives vie for a seat at the table of US-brokered Russia-Ukraine discussions in Abu Dhabi. With Europe's so-called coalition of the willing at the same time conducting military drills in Poland, we ask if a force led by France and the UK can really keep the peace in an eventual deal or further deter Russia. For now, though, Europeans are told they must brace for more. The UK defence secretary has even launched a "Be Prepared" campaign to encourage citizens to keep canned goods, bottled water, medical supplies, pet food and even spare cash in case of a major emergency. Is it overkill? Some French presidential candidates even speak of fearmongering. Or, as the old saying goes, should we hope for the best and plan for the worst? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

How can the nation of haute couture and high-speed rail have an affordability issue? On paper, France boasts the planet's seventh-largest economy. Its top diplomat started the week hosting a G7 foreign ministers' meeting inside the regal setting of its landmark Left Bank ministry. But a few short blocks away, the prime minister was engaging in a more arduous exercise: negotiating pay rises with unions in a bid to quell social revolt while still keeping a record budget deficit from ballooning any further. This is all happening six months out from presidential elections where anti-establishment far-right and far-left candidates promise to take a torch to existing norms. We ask about the disconnect between this lame duck government and all those in the streets who feel unheard. They say conventional metrics no longer add up in a nation where wages and job prospects for young people are slipping. As with last week’s US midterm elections, as with budding protest movements elsewhere in Europe, how to bridge the credibility gap between the policies and messaging of decision makers and the real-life struggle of citizens trying to make ends meet? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

He asked people to pretend he was on the ballot and they did. Voters across the United States have chased US President Donald Trump's Republican majorities from both houses of Congress. How big a landslide is this for the Democrats? We add up final ballot counts and ask if it's the beginning of the end for a US president who's broken norms in his second term with his outsized use of executive powers. How much of that power will he still wield in his final two years, particularly on the world stage? Will he return the US to the fold of traditional allies, or take out his grievances on Europe and Ukraine and side with Russia and China? But more importantly, how do Democrats capitalise on their great election night? What kind of legislation will keep all those new voters on board for 2028, when the US elects a new president? On the day after the midterms, neither party has a clear leader going into the next presidential election cycle. What direction lies ahead for US politics? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

Will it be a trickle, a wave, or a tsunami? It's Election Day in the United States, with Democrats hoping to take back one or both houses of Congress. We track the turnout, gauge the mood and raise the curtain ahead of midterm results that are sure to shape the last two years of Donald Trump's second and final term. Will a US president who’s already broken norms with his maximum use of executive powers be affected by the results a little, a lot, or not at all?  In the run-up to FRANCE 24's election night coverage, we go live to Jessica Le Masurier in Michigan, where there’s been plenty of drama in the Senate race between a progressive Arab-American Democrat and a Trump-backed Republican Congressman; Andres Espinal in Austin, Texas, where a Senate candidate facing a scandal-ridden attorney general hopes to become the first Democrat to win statewide office since 1988; Fraser Jackson in Rosslyn, Virginia, with an eye to close races in the House of Representatives there and across the country; Kethevane Gorjestani in Washington, who covered the White House under the first Trump administration; and Brussels correspondent Dave Keating, author of "The Owned Continent". Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

How far will the president of the United States press this time if Tuesday's midterm elections don't go his party's way? From "only if the Republicans win" campaign promises to a US Justice Department that's already got involved in races, will the White House weigh on the outcome? How will ballot counting go? What's changed since Donald Trump's "stop the steal" rhetoric led to the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol? How much of a stress test are these US midterm elections for a US democracy where it's individual states, not the federal government, that organise elections? Who controls not just the airwaves but also the digital space? If 2024 was the first TikTok election, this is the first AI election. And if successive court decisions have all but eliminated campaign financing restrictions, then how much will money matter? In 2024, Democrats told voters that democracy was on the ballot, but swing constituencies mostly shrugged and instead broke for Trump on pocketbook issues. Is democracy actually on the ballot this time? And if so, how much does it matter to citizens? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

What in the name of political free speech is off limits? Can you say whatever you want on the campaign trail, no matter how false or racist it is?  If you're the president of the United States, the answer is apparently yes. When Donald Trump calls Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a jihadist, it barely makes news. Does exposing voters to a daily diet of slander and slop work? Does it do lasting damage to our societies? We ask about El-Sayed vying to become the first ever Muslim elected to the US Senate and about his Republican opponent, former Congressman Mike Rogers. We also ask whether, in a swing state that's the birthplace and home of the US auto industry, voters care more about faith and identity or tariffs and inflation. Read moreA tale of two economies: How America's cost-of-living crisis is shaping US midterm elections Speaking of the economy, El-Sayed campaigned as a Democratic Socialist. When he won his primary, pundits predicted a progressive wave within the Democratic Party, but in the closing days of the campaign, he's also had former president Barack Obama and the moderate wing on display. It's not just which party wins these midterms – it's how far those parties move away from the political centre.

In Israel, the surprises only start with election night. They're still counting ballots in a vote that featured the highest turnout in decades, historic inroads by Arab parties and Benjamin Netanyahu's worst result since 1999. And yet, Israel's longest-serving prime minister still has a path to staying in power. As we await the definitive makeup of the next parliament, our panel breaks out the calculators and pie charts: in what scenario does Netanyahu survive? Is the issue with the right-wing Likud leader or his policies?  Horse trading lies ahead between the 11 parties that will make up the next 120-seat Knesset. In the mix, there's nationalists on both sides of the Bibi divide, with bitter battles over religion, the nature of Israel's democracy and over whether a coalition can include the 20 percent of Arab Israelis who this time turned out in droves. Can they enter government or even strike a deal to support the opposition? After years of hardline rhetoric against Palestinians, is that even possible? In other words, is Israel about to get a lot more polarised or forge a whole new path? Read moreArab parties ‘have woken up’: Israel's uncertain election may deliver surprise kingmakers Produced by François Picard, Andrew Hilliar, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

The turnout tells the tale. Israelis are casting ballots in their largest numbers in decades in the first general election since the October 7 attacks of 2023. The vote is seen as a referendum on the bloodiest day in the nation's history. But more broadly, what kind of Israel do citizens want?  While traditional allies have long lost sympathy with the unending punishment inflicted on Gaza and the terror attacks by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Israelis are instead divided over the new normal for them; how a nation that traditionally strived to avoid prolonged campaigns now lives in a semi-permanent state of war. The prime minister has even embraced the concept of a "super Sparta state", a nod to the martial ways of the ancient Greek city. A splendid isolation that's backed up by Benjamin Netanyahu's promise to keep the United States on Israel's side.  We ask about the other issues driving the high turnout, a turnout surely synonymous with surprises. What weight for the country's fastest-growing constituency: the ultra-Orthodox? How about the one in five citizens who are Palestinian? Their turnout is usually lower. And what about all those who have flown in from abroad? Which way will the country break? Produced by François Picard, Maya Yataghène, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.