Midterms: A MAGA postmortem, Europe's 'shape-shifting' protests

On The World This Week with Gavin Lee, our panel distills the breaking news and global stories of the past 7 days into 45 minutes.  Ukraine: Who will speak for Europe? In a week thats seen the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since February, with the US in the room and the Europeans relegated to the lobby according to Moscow. A new ‘European Security Architecture’ is discussed. The Downfall of Jensen Huang In a week of scandalous headlines of sex, spies and Silicon Valley, revelations mounted about the affairs of Jensen Huang — the so-called Taylor Swift of AI, - which ultimately cost him his job. It leaves significant questions for the White House over the effect of alleged Chinese espionage. Denied by Beijing. We assess the whole affair European Protests & Election Manouvres We’ll discuss the ongoing wave of demonstrations, with Spain now making headlines with the first general strike in 14 years taking place over housing and living costs. Here in France, unions rejected the prime minister’s offer to increase the national minimum wage, and Olympic Gold Medal Winning Judoka Teddy Riner throwing his hat on the tatami for a run for the Presidency Written and presented by Gavin Lee Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon, Laura Burloux and Guillaume Asskari

For a World This Week midterms special, Gavin Lee is joined by a panel of four distinguished international correspondents to assess the aftermath of the worst Republican election result since the 1970s in the wake of the Watergate scandal. We ask: is peak MAGA over? What will now change at home and abroad? And who ends the week in pole position as presidential frontrunner for 2028? We also consider the scale and scope of Europe-wide protests. This week, housing organisations, trade unions and activist groups from seven countries met in Paris issuing a joint call for demonstrations. Are national protest movements becoming a coordinated European movement? Written and presented by Gavin Lee. Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux.

France braces for another weekend of unrest as the Yellow Vests return to the streets under the rallying cry of "Act III – Halloween", with 70,000 police and security forces deployed after the riots and looting of recent weeks. A cash-strapped French government faces mounting grievances, a rolling protest movement and little room for manoeuvre ahead of elections, as it struggles to restore order while grappling with crippling debt. In Israel, an inconclusive election has left both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Gadi Eisenkot claiming victory, with neither securing the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab parties have made historic gains, potentially holding the balance of power, but Netanyahu is challenging the legitimacy of their result, while Eisenkot insists on a Zionist government. Meanwhile, in the US, the final days of the midterm campaign have taken a distinctly theatrical turn, as Donald Trump and Barack Obama trade barbs in a public back-and-forth involving gold-plated White House décor, accusations of elitism and an unlikely cameo from the Cheesecake Factory. Written and presented by Gavin Lee. Produced by Nicholas Rushworth, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Marguerite Lacroix.

This week has seen mass protests hijacked by violent rioters across France, with the looting of shops, trashing of public buildings, the burning of Lyon's Tourist Information Office and the iconic Limoges City Hall.  After the riots came the curfews and the contemplation: who did what and why weren't they stopped? French President Emmanuel Macron blamed seditious groups, ultra-left anarchists and opportunist criminals, with a qualified mea culpa: authorities made mistakes in anticipation and dropped the ball in intelligence gathering. Macron is out of breath, exhausted and disorientated, claimed the presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader who is now polling in an even stronger position for the presidency. Foreign leaders had a free-for-all too, with US President Donald Trump wading in and Israel's prime minister settling old scores ahead of elections there. But France wasn't isolated in its protests and unrest. Milan was a mirror image and there were demonstrations in Spain, Portugal and Belgium too, with more protests to follow this weekend. It's been a week of American flattery in the court of Vladimir Putin. St Petersburg's Constantine Palace was the setting for the toasting of Russia's president by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, after the release of 74-year-old US teacher Stephen Hubbard. He'd been held for four years, accused by the Kremlin of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine, but was widely seen as a pawn of hostage diplomacy. Freshly released, Witkoff told Hubbard that Putin sent his blessings, and then blessed Putin himself, calling him a "humanitarian", just as Russia was launching another mass aerial attack on Kyiv. The hostage deal appeared to be one result of the US lifting sanctions on Russian diesel, and there was also an apparent commitment by Moscow to renew trilateral peace talks with Kyiv and Washington. Critics allege that the Trump administration has disregarded a just peace over the lure of business deals dangled by the Kremlin, and that Witkoff's in "Wonderland", accused of falling down a rabbit hole of Russian propaganda.  Finally, it's been an intense and bitter week of final rallies in Israel ahead of the first election since the October 7 attacks and the global fallout that followed. Prime ministerial candidates have been described as shouting rather than debating on issues of responsibility for the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, plus the escalating settler violence in the West Bank, which is now on the verge of lockdown after an attack this Friday. Voters head to the polls with a government increasingly isolated on the world stage. A last-minute endorsement came Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's way from Trump, who behind the public warmth is said to have harboured deep private frustration with Israel's longest-serving leader, previously calling him "a conman, who everyone's sick of", according to New York Times insiders Maggie Haberman and Johnathan Swann, though this was dismissed by the US president as untrue. Netanyahu also claimed this week that successive US presidents before Trump had tried and failed to get him out of office for the past three decades. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Alessandro Xenos. 

Our panel of international correspondents look back at the week's news, from protests in India to a blame game in Ukraine. In India, the "Cockroach" movement felt the crushing boot of the state this week. Thousands of Gen Z protesters were rounded up and detained in sports stadiums and community halls turned into makeshift detention centres, while the movement's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, was arrested on arrival. A mass demonstration over alleged voter fraud was effectively crushed before it could begin. Dipke has been detained again this Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government says the measures were necessary to protect civilians in the capital. But he now faces accusations of choosing repression over democracy, with the UN Human Rights Office urging authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.  It's been a week of blame games and accusations of betrayal in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking of his personal hurt at US President Donald Trump's decision to make a diesel deal with the Kremlin ahead of the US midterm elections, calling it "weak" and suggesting Trump had chosen "the other side". Trump, meanwhile, made it clear he wants Zelensky replaced, warned him against striking Russian refineries and announced an energy ceasefire that went nowhere. Zelensky continued to search for solidarity and a solution in Europe.

It’s been a week of vigils, protests and political upheaval – from Israel, where three years after the Hamas-led attacks, former hostages and mourners called for accountability over the failures of October 7, as questions grow over the stalled path to peace in Gaza; to France, where mass demonstrations over chronic underfunding and poor conditions have drawn students, unions and hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, just months ahead of a presidential election. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made the housing crisis the centrepiece of a high-stakes electoral gamble, as protests intensify following the death of a pensioner whose eviction helped ignite the movement. And in the UK, questions remain over a suspected Iranian plot targeting US aircraft at RAF Fairford, after American B-1 bombers were hastily withdrawn amid warnings of a serious and immediate threat. Produced by Gavin Lee, Alessandro Xenos, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

This week, student protests at French high schools across the country turned violent as frustrations over learning conditions boiled over, sparking clashes with police.  But first: in a week that's seen the heroism of the captain, crew and passengers on board FlyDubai flight 1073 heralded, eyewitnesses report seeing the co-pilot trying to kill the pilot and destroying the cockpit controls in order to crash the plane. Despite being stabbed repeatedly, Captain Smit Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to overwhelm the suspect and regain control of the aircraft after its rapid descent of more than 14,000 feet in 30 seconds. They prevented a 9/11-style catastrophe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Read moreNetanyahu warns of 'very heavy price' if any country found to be behind FlyDubai incident Plus, in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, there's almost nothing left to eat. Some civilians are reportedly surviving on grass and weeds. The OSCE is calling the situation a humanitarian catastrophe. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Delphine Liou.

It’s been a week of walkouts, power plays and diplomatic theatre – from a battle over press freedom in Washington, to a United Nations General Assembly marked by protests and departures, as leaders clashed over Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. There was also a rare red-carpet meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, as the US and China extended their trade truce and turned their attention to the race for dominance in artificial intelligence. And from the geopolitical to the spiritual, Pope Leo brought his call for restraint and regulation of AI to France, as he sought to position the Vatican as a moral voice in a rapidly changing world. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rebecca Gnignati, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Laura Burloux

This week, Saudi Arabia has turned to its allies for military support as Iran-backed Houthi rebels tighten their grip on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab shipping choke point, while drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure deepen an emerging energy crisis. In Russia, voters head to the polls for a tightly controlled parliamentary election with little meaningful opposition, as Vladimir Putin insists there will be no new mobilisation. Meanwhile, warnings about the risks of AI are coming from inside the industry itself, with Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman warning against treating AI models like humans – and raising the prospect of a new “silicon species” competing with us for resources. Finally, in Britain, the royal family is back on the defensive as Earl Spencer’s new claims about Princess Diana’s funeral prompt an unusually pointed response from Buckingham Palace. Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon, Farida Soliman and Laura Burloux

In a week that marks 25 years since 9/11, Americans paused to pay tribute. Six bells tolled to signify six fatal moments in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania– with a seventh bell rung this year to commemorate those who later died from 9/11-related illnesses. A private memorial ceremony for families of the victims and dignitaries sparked controversy with a 100,000-signature petition against the attendance of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. We ask: who gets the right to remember? We also look at how al Qaeda has fragmented how the group has morphed 25 years later. Relations between the UK and Israel hit a new low this week. Britain’s new Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to “settler terrorism” and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank. Alongside France and Canada, the UK announced an import ban on Israeli goods coming from the settlements. Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s Foreign Minister dismissed the comments as “Outrageous lies, a morally distorted stunt”, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog called them “a grave miscalculation”. Within hours of the announcement, Israel closed the British consulate in East Jerusalem and kicked UK staff out of a security training mission in Ramallah, as well as an aid coordination team for Gaza. We discuss whether the new sanctions can help stop settler expansion, or whether they will boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ratings ahead of elections. This week, there have been many headlines warning of the grave risks of AI from people inside the leading companies, as some researchers have estimated the odds of humanity being wiped out by the computer intelligence within three and a half years. Up to a 10 percent likelihood was the forecast of Evan Hubinger, a senior researcher at Anthropic. He responded to a similarly apocalyptic viral tweet posted by Jacob Coxon, a former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher who resigned this week, accusing his former employers of acting irresponsibly. His thread, which had more than 153 million views, warns that AI could wipe out all humans by the end of the decade, and that the tech giants racing for AI superintelligence supremacy are gambling with our lives in the process.   Produced by Gavin Lee, Margot Loizillon, Théo Vareille, Daniel Whittington and Laura Burloux