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The Debate

World

Ethiopia back to civil war? Horn of Africa fears spillover effect of renewed fighting

After contagion in the Arabian Peninsula, should the entire Horn of Africa fear a domino effect? Just as US President Donald Trump’s decision to invade Iran drew the Saudis back to Yemen, did threats over the Bab al-Mandab Strait light the fuse in Ethiopia, where last week, unresolved issues between the government and its Tigray region erupted? Could a potential return to civil war draw in regional rivals?

Politics

Still the same far right? Le Pen's National Rally denies fresh anti-Semitism claims

A minor bump on the French far right's road to power, or a car crash that wipes out years of rebranding? Bombshell allegations of past anti-Semitic tropes by the man Marine Le Pen has touted as her future prime minister could test her years-long effort to convince French voters that the National Rally is a party of government, rather than the fringe far-right National Front of old.

World

Leo the moderate? Pope in France defends EU values

There's a new Pope in town and he's got very different ideas on what France's far-right calls the defense of Christian civilization. Leo the 14th concluding his trip to France in the eastern city of Metz, hometown of a founding father of present-day European federalism Maurice Schumann. There, the head of the world's largest organized religion proudly stated fact, that Europe’s roots are Christian, dating back to the Romans, all the while hailing an EU model that transcends 'us versus them' ideology, which brushes aside ‘might is right’ in favor of human rights and international law.

Politics

The future of AI in their hands? Trump-Xi summit dismisses calls for global oversight

It’s their AI world and we’re just living in it. If that's the feeling of those who suffer from AI anxiety, it may worsen watching the Chinese president’s first state visit to Washington in nine years. If there's one issue where the planet's biggest superpowers agree on, it's now’s not the time for global regulation of artificial intelligence. As they sit down to a White House dinner hours after news that OpenAI had hacked the Australian government, we’ll ask who will call to task the US tech titans at the table.

World

Holy regulation? Pope in Paris to press case for 'disarming' AI

It's all about his high holiness here in France. For weeks already, the nation's been abuzz over the upcoming visit of Leo. From Friday evening mass at Notre Dame Cathedral and mass before 600-thousand faithful in Paris to the pilgrimage city of Lourdes and a trip to Metz, hometown of father of European unity Robert Schuman. A papal visit to France usually draws much attention to the symbiotic love-hate relationship between the church and a secular state of mostly-lapsed Catholics. And yes, there have been grumblings about the visit's cost to taxpayers. But the pushback's relatively muted. Thi

World

Trump's world? Leaders navigate consequences of US policy

A year ago, Donald Trump went to the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly and after taking an axe to US aid and development funding, he read the world the riot act. One Iran war later, the US president is sticking to script, with a speech that borrowed much of the language from last year. With citizens on five continents now feeling the pain at the pump, we ask what it will take to tame a global energy crisis whose potential spiral mirrors the contagion of hostilities from the Strait of Hormuz to the mouth of the Red Sea.

Politics

First New York, now Berlin: Why the left turn for major metropolises?

There's the inroads of the far right, but also the broader desire for change. Introducing Berlin's answer to Zohran Mamdani: Elif Eralp, who led the far-left Die Linke party's historic win in Sunday's municipal elections in Berlin. We ask if the 45-year-old daughter of Turkish political exiles can push through her promises of rent freezes and nationalisation of private real estate companies. Just like in New York last year, affordable housing was a hot-button issue. It didn't hurt that her party ran a social media-savvy campaign.