François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Ukraine. "If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland," says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. “If Europe will not support us, we also will fight because it's our motherland,” says Kim, insisting that Ukraine's determination to resist Russian aggression will endure regardless of the outcome of negotiations over European financial assistance. Yet behind this assertion of national resolve lies a more complex reality: a country confronting not only the immediate pressures of war, but also its mounting psychological, social and institutional consequences.

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, 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? 

François Picard welcomes Igor Mladenovic, a French-Serbian sports writer, sports business analyst and former football commentator based in Luxembourg. For Mladenovic, the backlash in China over Kylian Mbappé's playful reference to a meme depicting him in the likeness of Mao Zedong illustrates a dilemma of the digital age: how a seemingly innocuous anecdote from a football superstar can escalate into a geopolitical firestorm.

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? 

François Picard welcomes Helena Ivanov, associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based foreign policy and national security think tank advocating liberal democracy, strong transatlantic alliances, robust Western defence capabilities and the international promotion of democratic institutions. Ivanov describes the election result in Serbia as a historic turning point in the country's politics.

Just two days shy of his 81st birthday, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has emerged as the comeback kid. Coming from behind in the polls after a bitter campaign where he often showed his age, Lula has become the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to win the presidential run-off after trailing in the first round. How did the Workers' Party leader turn a 2.2 million vote deficit against the far right's Flavio Bolsonaro into a 4.4 million vote win? Just three short weeks ago, most races at the federal and state level broke the way of conservatives and the far right.

Can Europe continue to sustain one of the world's most ambitious social models while falling increasingly behind its major economic competitors? For Pascal Lamy, former European Commissioner for Trade and former Director-General of the World Trade Organization, this question lies at the heart of the continent's mounting economic and political tensions.

Brazil's future is within the margin of error ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff: most of the latest polls put the far-right's Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – a lead that's narrowed after last weekend's acrimonious debate. 

Youth-driven protests have been popping up all over Europe: in Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania, Serbia and Greece. The spark here in France was deteriorating conditions in high schools and universities, particularly for students from underprivileged backgrounds. Meanwhile, wages aren't keeping up with inflation. The housing crisis is front and centre in places like Spain and Portugal, while corruption and democratic backsliding have sparked uproar in Albania and Serbia.

François Picard welcomes former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Jim Townsend and former US Air Force officer Michael (Mikey) Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Is American military power becoming an instrument of political and religious coercion, both at home and abroad? From the reported restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite communications to the Trump administration's overtures towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and the growing controversy over religious ideology within the Pentagon, the two guests offer a stark assessment of the direction of American foreign and defence policy.

Two weeks out from the US midterm elections, there's bipartisan pushback against data centres that suck the water and power out of communities. Just two years ago, ChatGPT was still a brand-new thing, and AI was admired with awe by most voters. Like in 2024, the hot-button issue in swing constituencies remains inflation, or "the price of eggs". But anxiety over the end of the month is now coupled with anxiety over the end of the world.

Can a flick of a switch really be enough for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to end Ukraine's hopes of holding out against Russia? With Kyiv already reeling from daily strikes by Russia's new motor-powered drones, the US decision to slow SpaceX's Starlink service was felt immediately on Wednesday, when air raid warnings failed.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Petros Konstantinidis, a financial journalist for Greece's leading daily newspaper TA NEA. The current controversy surrounding the US ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has all the makings of a reality TV show or a telenovela, or both. "This is diplomacy under Trump turning into lifestyle diplomacy," Konstantinidis explains.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, an advocate against the death penalty, author and member of the association "Ensemble contre la peine de mort" (Together Against the Death Penalty). She asserts that capital punishment is "really a political agenda, especially in electoral times."

Do voters care about attempted coups? Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro is on the cusp of unseating Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the country's October 25 presidential runoff. Bolsonaro's father was jailed over the Brazilian version of the January 6 storming of the US Capitol. Up and down the ballot, other Bolsonaros have been elected in the first round as the far right surges. Is it about incumbent fatigue? Do Brazilians subscribe to Bolsonaro's "God, Homeland, Family" mantra?