Stay ConnectedEach week, we focus on one of the major international stories making headlines, drawing upon the Financial Times’s team of foreign correspondents and analysts to make sense of world events. Presented by Gideon Rachman and produced by Hannah Murphy.
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The recent European Parliament elections have transformed the continent’s political landscape. Anti-establishment parties have scored remarkable victories in countries such as France, Greece and the UK while mainstream forces have done less well. But good results for Angela Merkel’s CDU in Germany and Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party in Italy show voters have not completely turned their backs on the EU. In this week’s podcast, Ferdinando Giugliano is joined by Tony Barber, Europe editor, Hugh Carnegy, Paris bureau chief, and Guy Dinmore, Rome correspondent, to discuss the fallout from the elections
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President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Beijing took on added significance because of the deep divisions between Russia and the west, caused by the Ukrainian crisis. The two countries signed a landmark deal on gas supplies, as well as other agreements covering trade and arms sales. So is a new Russia-China axis emerging? Gideon Rachman is joined by James Blitz and James Kynge to discuss.
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This week's podcast explores the rise of Europe's populist parties, and internal ructions over the election process for José Manuel Barroso's successor as EU President. Peter Spiegel, Brussels bureau chief, and Tony Barber, Europe editor, join Gideon Rachman to ask whether strong polling for populist parties should be seen more as a threat to their domestic rivals or to the result of next week's European elections. Also on the agenda is the fear that the disagreement between the European Parliament and heads of state over the process by which the next EU President will be chosen, is exactly the kind of internal standoff that gives eurosceptics justification for disengaging with EU politics
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Nigeria’s status as the new economic powerhouse of Africa was supposed to be the talking point of a meeting of African leaders and top executives in Abuja this week. Instead, the world is in uproar over the government’s slow response to the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram terrorist group last month. In this week’s podcast, Ben Hall, world news editor, is joined by William Wallace, the FT’s Africa affairs writer and Javier Blas, Africa editor, to discuss western governments’ increasing concern at the upsurge in attacks and the Nigerian state’s apparent inability to deal with the militant threat.
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This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Washington for talks with President Barack Obama, and Ukraine will top the agenda. Washington has led the way on sanctions, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on dozens of senior Russians and scores of companies, in an attempt to show Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that his interference in Ukraine will bring rising economic costs. The EU on the other hand, seems deeply resistant to tougher economic sanctions, given the much more important ties between Europe and Russia. In this week’s podcast, Ben Hall, world news editor, is joined by Geoff Dyer, Washington correspondent, and Stefan Wagstyl, Berlin bureau chief, to discuss how the two leaders should handle the escalating situation
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This week, we look at Japan, where President Barack Obama is concluding a state visit. The US leader and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have vital business to discuss, from Japan’s delicate and rather dangerous relationship with China, to the state of the Japanese economy and hopes for a major new trade deal. David Pilling, Asia editor, and Lindsay Whipp, former Tokyo correspondent, join Gideon Rachman to discuss
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Decades of rapid growth have created a new middle class in the developing world, prompting multinational companies to invest heavily in emerging markets as they attempt to serve millions of new consumers. But rising inequality and slowing growth has presented a risk to this new middle class and is forcing companies to rethink their strategy. In this week's podcast, Ferdinando Giugliano is joined by Shawn Donnan, world trade editor and James Kynge, emerging markets editor to discuss this nascent middle class and its prospects in the face of slowing growth
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India, the world’s largest democracy, is in the midst of conducting its general election. Voting has started and is set to go on for several weeks, with the result declared in mid-May. That result could be dramatic, with polls and pundits predicting the end of a long period of rule by the Congress party, and that a new government could be headed by Narendra Modi, the controversial leader of the BJP. To discuss what we can expect from these elections, Gideon Rachman is joined by Victor Mallet, Delhi bureau chief, and James Crabtree, Mumbai correspondent
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President François Hollande's socialist party took a serious drubbing in Sunday's local elections. He responded by swiftly sacking his prime minister and replacing him with Manuel Valls, a tough interior minister and economic reformer from the party's right wing. So does this appointment signal a modernisng direction for France? Gideon Rachman is joined by Hugh Carnegy, Paris bureau chief, and Ben Hall, world news editor and former Paris correspondent, to discuss.
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Gideon Rachman is joined by Daniel Dombey, Turkey correspondent, and Leyla Boulton, head of special reports and former Turkey correspondent, to discuss Prime Minister Erdogan's ban on Twitter and what the year ahead holds for the country and its divisive leader. The Twitter ban adds to a growing cloud of controversy, with allegations of corruption and a blackmail ring also engulfing Turkey's political system, but Erdogan has retained much of his support from coservative groups and is still polling broadly above 40 per cent as this weekend's local elections approach
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