The Debate

• Kashmir ceasefire: How to spin a stalemate?

  What started it ? Who ended it? After the worst week of fighting between India and Pakistan in a quarter century, the whole world is breathing a sigh of relief that it didn’t escalate further between nuclear-armed neighbors… and wondering how much superpower showdowns weigh on the dynamic in the decades-old rivalry over Kashmir.What started with a terror attack spilled over from the disputed territory with Chinese-made military hardware displayed in battle for the first time, disputes over the reported downing of French fighter jets, and the U-S claiming a star role in mediating a ceasefire.We’ll also ask whether India’s Hindu nationalist prime minister and Pakistan’s religiously devout army chief of staff emerge strengthened or weakened? How to get beyond a zero sum game between Narendra Modi and Assim Munir and avoid a repeat of what has just been endured on both sides of the line of control?Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Jimena Morales-Velasco.

  --------  
• US Cardinal Robert Prevost elected Pope Leo XIV

  Live reactions from Rome and from our guests as Cardinal Robert Prevost is elected the first American pope. 

  --------  
• A welcome guest? France first Western nation to host Syria's new leader

  Is this the right moment to roll out the red carpet for Syria’s new leader? France is the first Western country to welcome Ahmed al-Sharaa, who, with the toppling of Bashar al-Assad last December, shed his fatigues and his Islamist militia leader name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.  The right moment? Yes, if it is time to fully scrap sanctions and help Syria’s economy recover from more than a decade of civil war. The new masters of Damascus say they need money and time to make good on their pledge of an inclusive country that protects its myriad of minorities.Already, there have been missteps and bloodbaths, the most recent involving sectarian killings between Sunni militiamen and the Druze community – a community present across the borders of Lebanon and Israel. Israel also carried out strikes on Syria in the name of protecting the Druze. On that score, what message does Emmanuel Macron send to the Israelis when he welcomes al-Sharaa?Syria was a protectorate of France until its independence in 1946, and in the not-so distant past: Bashar al-Assad was invited to Paris as a guest of honour on Bastille Day in 2008. With hindsight, not a good look despite Assad’s popularity with French conservative and far-right MPs. What’s the right approach this time?

  --------  
• Coalition of the reluctant? Germany's Merz elected chancellor after backbench rebellion

  He had the votes, he had a new coalition sealed in writing and ratified by party members, so it seemed like a formality. But Friedrich Merz's lifelong dream of finally becoming German chancellor had to be deferred by a few hours, with the 69-year-old Conservative falling at the first hurdle as backbenchers sent a signal. A hastily organised second round cancelled out what history may decide to be just a blip. But still, why did Merz fall six seats short in the first secret ballot? Who rebelled inside what now seems like a fragile coalition between Conservatives and Social Democrats?Germany's Trump and Putin-backed far-right co-leader was quick to call for snap elections. Alice Weidel was savouring her revenge after German domestic intelligence last week qualified her Nazi-rooted party as an extremist group, a status that could in theory lead to a ban for an AfD that polled second on 20 percent in February's elections. The moment of wavering in Berlin is also rattling the script in Brussels and Paris, both of which bank on the return of Germany as a strong and steady driver of reform; a nation that just scrapped its fiscal purity rules to level up after decades of chronic underfunding of infrastructure and defence.Now, with the new coalition in Berlin looking over its shoulder, with far-right challenges in upcoming Romanian and Polish elections, all of Europe is asking: will the centre hold?

  --------  
• Why Romania's MAGA surge? Far-right Simion takes lead in presidential re-run

  Despite an annulled election and a different candidate, the re-run of the first round of Romania's presidential election has produced the same outcome. The pro-Trump, Eurosceptic candidate George Simion took 40 percent of the vote ahead of the May 18 run-off. Simion – whose party sits in the same voting bloc as Giorgia Meloni's in the European Parliament – skipped the usual victory speech at campaign headquarters to instead air a pre-recorded message where he pledged allegiance to banned pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu. Back in November, the latter went from unknown to favourite, thanks to a foreign-backed TikTok campaign. Simion even cast his vote alongside Georgescu.He will now face reformist pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan, whose views are diametrically opposed on Europe, Ukraine and NATO, which is due to boost its presence in Romania to 10,000 troops. What has changed in the EU's newest member? Romania boasts steady growth, but also huge governance and corruption issues.More broadly, how do former Warsaw Pact nations view the closening ties between the Trump administration and the Kremlin? Romania's run-off will be held on the same day as Poland's own presidential election. Where do loyalties and interests lie in today's fast-changing world?

  --------  

O The Debate