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The World This WeekAuthor: FRANCE 24 English
Our panel of Paris-based journalists review the week's international news: the stories that made the headlines and also those you may have missed! Join us every Friday at 7:10pm Paris time. Language: en Genres: News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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King Charles and the art of the seal, Moscow calling, Musk vs Altman & OpenAI
Friday, 1 May, 2026
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 shop. The king's carefully crafted speeches at the state dinner and in Congress brought up reminders of the shared history and wartime alliances. Half sermon, half stand-up: it's the art of the seal! We assess whether it landed, and if it made any difference to a relationship that's not been so special of late. Also this week, Trump spent an hour and a half on the phone with Russia's Putin. With a fragile ceasefire and effectively a double blockade in the Strait of Hormu occupying Tehran and Washington, the Kremlin initiated the call, they say, to the White House. A post call read-out from Putin's spokesperson said it contained an offer of assistance to help de-escalate in the Middle East; to help the US take 440 kilos of buried, enriched uranium from Iran and move it to Russia. Finally, it's been a week that's seen a battle between two tech billionaires commence in a Californian court. Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman, seeking his dismissal as CEO of Open AI and $130 billion in damages. Taking the stand, Musk set out how he co-founded OpenAI with Altman, injecting $38 million into early funding and calling himself a "fool" to believe its stated mission as a non-profit charity for the good of humanity. He claims OpenAI betrayed its principles in the hunt for profit to enrich the executives. OpenAI portrays Musk's lawsuit as being driven by regret and jealousy over OpenAI's success without him, and this is playing out during a wider battle between the few tech bros for control of advanced artificial intelligence. Produced by Gavin Lee, Rhea Smircic, Juliette Laffont, Marguerite Lacroix, Andrew Hilliar.
