Political change in Britain has dominated the headlines this week with Keir Starmer’s resignation paving the way for Andy Burnham to become prime minister, while the country also marks 10 years since the Brexit vote. Also, fresh peace talks between the US and Iran have begun amid continuing tensions and sharply different accounts of progress from both sides. In Venezuela , the country’s strongest earthquakes in more than a century have left hundreds dead, with rescue efforts continuing and fears...
Jun 26, 2026•49 min
This week, an interim peace agreement was signed between the US and Iran, bringing a temporary end to the conflict and the beginning of a 60-day window to negotiate the many unresolved issues between the two sides. US President Donald Trump signed the Memorandum of Understanding over a dinner at the Palace of Versailles , and before he'd had time to digest his dessert of hot chocolate pie and French vanilla ice cream, there were already grumblings within the Republican Party that a military win ...
Jun 19, 2026•46 min
This week began with US President Donald Trump pronouncing that a ceasefire extension was so close with Iran, two or three days max, that it would only take an hour to finalise. Hours later, Tehran downed a US Apache helicopter off the Gulf of Oman, with the crew rescued from the sea. The attack was reportedly an attempt to deter the US's evolving efforts to increase air patrols that target Iranian drones in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Two nights of US military strikes across Iran foll...
Jun 12, 2026•48 min
This week, a renewed ceasefire was proclaimed between Israel and Lebanon; a deal that hinges on the complete cessation of attacks from the Iranian-backed militants Hezbollah and withdrawal from the south of the country. But 24 hours later, Hezbollah rejected the agreement that is closely tied to the wider temperamental talks between Iran and the US, with the Iranian regime threatening to abandon negotiations with Washington over the events in Lebanon and growing occupation by Israeli forces, inc...
Jun 05, 2026•48 min
It's been a week where, 90 days into the conflict and ceasefire stand-off with Iran, both Tehran and Washington are insisting time is on their side – each claiming the other needs a deal more urgently. Pressure is growing on the Trump administration with soaring energy prices and midterm elections approaching, while Iran is reportedly losing huge oil revenues with tankers backed up in port. Reports suggested a temporary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was close, before the US struck Ira...
May 29, 2026•49 min
It's been a week marked by major geopolitical and cultural developments across several fronts, from Beijing to Havana to Cannes. In the Chinese capital Beijing , Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to see Xi Jinping , with a carefully staged ceremony and renewed pledges of "unyielding relations", while Ukraine reported continued deep-strike drone operations inside Russian territory. In Washington, the Trump administration indicted 94-year-old former Cuban president Raúl Castro ove...
May 22, 2026•47 min
This week has seen the world's superpowers take centre stage with US President Donald Trump in Beijing for the first state visit of a US leader in almost a decade. With tensions over trade, technology and Taiwan, what stayed tacitly implied was the deeper, more difficult question of whether the two alpha powers of world order can share the 21st century. Or is confrontation ultimately unavoidable? Chinese President Xi Jinping has long indicated that he wants China to be the number one military, e...
May 15, 2026•47 min
This week has seen renewed hope for ending the war in Iran, 10 weeks since it started, with four weeks of stalemate, a ceasefire and skirmishes over the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Intermittent peace talks have boiled down to a 14-point, one-page "memorandum of understanding", crafted by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which has been sent to Pakistani mediators and is being reviewed by Tehran. If agreed, the conflict would be declared over, with a 30-day window for talks on core issues, n...
May 08, 2026•49 min
In this edition of The World This Week, Gavin Lee's panel discuss King Charles's state visit to the US, US President Donald Trump's phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and the court battle playing out between Elon Musk and Sam Altman. It's been a week where King Charles III has been earning his crust as head of state on a high-profile visit to the United States, with soft power on full display and some diplomatic heavy lifting needed to improve strained ties at the top of the...
May 01, 2026•47 min
In a week where a stalemate appears to have developed after nearly two months of asymmetric warfare between the US and Iran, President Donald Trump's Truth Social posts have swung between belligerent maximalism and breezy deal-making: one minute suggesting a within-reach deal, whereby Iranian forces would personally help their enemy confiscate what he calls the "nuclear dust" and move it to America. The next moment: threats of nationwide annihilation. "No more Mr. Nice Guy," he warned. Meanwhile...
Apr 24, 2026•49 min
In a week where Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz fully open for commercial trade – effectively ending its nearly seven-week de facto blockade of the critical shipping lane – President Donald Trump imposed a US blockade on Iranian ports to strangle its ability to trade. Trump vowed to continue enforcing what is effectively a US siege until a peace deal is finalised. Meanwhile, in Lebanon , a 10-day ceasefire was announced: no bombs would be dropped, and no shots fired. However, Israeli military...
Apr 17, 2026•47 min
It’s been a week that began with US President Donald Trump threatening to wipe out an entire civilisation in Iran if the regime failed to respond to his ultimatum. Presidential decorum quickly went out of the window, with Trump speaking unfiltered – even swearing on Easter Sunday – as he warned Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That message was reinforced in surreal scenes on the White House lawn, as he addressed families and children, flanked by the First Lady and the Easter Bunny. The week ...
Apr 11, 2026•46 min
It has been a week that began with President Trump addressing the nation for the first time since the Iran war began five weeks ago. Expectations that he might signal an end to the conflict – or announce a ground offensive, or a split from NATO – were not met. Instead, his 18-minute speech echoed his social media rhetoric: a mix of “we’re almost done” and threats of escalating attacks, including striking every Iranian power plant if a deal is not reached. On the Strait of Hormuz, he told allies ...
Apr 03, 2026•48 min
In a week of movable ultimatums set by US President Donald Trump to "obliterate Iran’s power plants", a deadline was set initially of Monday at midnight, then extended by five days on account of "very productive conversations", then to 10 days with Trump claiming "talks are ongoing" and "going very well". Tehran claimed suggestions of negotiations were fake news, and US talk of de-escalation was a front designed to buy time for a ground invasion with an amphibious force of US marines heading fro...
Mar 27, 2026•48 min
In a week where assassinations have continued within the top ranks of Iran's regime – the minister of intelligence, the commander of the Bases paramilitary and the powerful security chief Ali Larijani included – a weakened government seems to have had little bearing on Tehran's retaliation across Israel and nine Gulf states. Just one week ago, US President Donald Trump spoke of a war that was "very complete, pretty much". That statement now appears to have been premature and over-confident. Ther...
Mar 20, 2026•46 min
It’s been a week that's seen a new ayatollah proclaimed in Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has not been seen in public and is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being injured in the same strike that killed his father. State television showed crowds chanting "Long Live Khamenei", while at night in Tehran some residents risked arrest to shout from their windows "Death to Mojtaba". A statement attributed to the new leader vowed continued attacks o...
Mar 13, 2026•46 min
A major war erupted in the Middle East this week when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and at least forty senior Iranian officials – reportedly within the first five minutes of the bombing campaign on Saturday morning. Day seven. As more figures in the Iranian regime are hunted, hundreds of police and paramilitary bases continue to be bombed, along with Iran’s ballistic missile and drone launch sites, storage facilities and naval fleets. Th...
Mar 06, 2026•47 min
It's been a week that began in silence in Kyiv's Independence Square, where European leaders laid flowers for Ukraine's war dead – even as the fighting grinds on in the east, across vast drone-dominated front lines in territory Russia now claims as its own. In Washington, US President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address on record, hailing what he called a "roaring economy " and the most secure border in American history, in a speech heavy on superlatives and light on ne...
Feb 27, 2026•47 min
It’s been a week that saw Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on his 66th birthday, facing charges of misconduct for sharing confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein – deepening the crisis for the monarchy. The US also mourned the loss of civil rights icon Jesse Jackson, who passed away at 84, remembered for his pivotal role in the movement and his influence on future leaders. In China , the Spring Festival Gala featured groundbreaking humanoid robots, while world leaders gathered in New Delhi...
Feb 20, 2026•49 min
This Friday in The World This Week , we talk about the unravelling of the Epstein files, the end of the Old World Order and the Olympic helmet dilemma. Epstein files unravelling This week, the names of those listed in the Epstein files have continued to feel the consequences, at least on this side of the Channel. Resignations and investigations are underway now in France and Norway . The British prime minister has narrowly survived, for now. And while Keir Starmer was fighting for his political ...
Feb 13, 2026•42 min
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 requ...
Feb 06, 2026•48 min
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 Pre...
Jan 30, 2026•47 min
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...
Jan 23, 2026•49 min
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...
Jan 16, 2026•47 min
