International Desk

Justin talks to security analyst Paul Buchannan about the reasons why France intervened in West Africa, and why Paris is less likely to face a similar situation in the Sahel as the US faced in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Last week Aramco, Saudi Arabia's oil company, was listed on the Riyadh exchange. The move has been many years in the making, but has not come without its fair share of changes. Exclusively listing on their national exchange, unmet valuation targets and a smaller amount of shares available have all changed how the company will now perform, as well as global pressures surrounding the climate emergency. James talked to Rod Oram, a business and political commentator, about what this could mean not only for Saudi Arabia, but how they and their economy is viewed by the rest of the world.

Political changes involving left-wing politicians occured in several Latin America countries, as Bolivian president Evo Morales is ousted from power while former Brazilian President Lula has been released from prison. Justin talked to Fabricio Chagas-Bastos from the University of Melbourne about the "pink tide" that brought these politicians to power and Aitor Gonzalez, a PhD student at the University of Auckland, about what caused the downfall of Morales.

The European Union has granted a three month extension to Brexit, until the 31st January next year, while the UK will be having a general election on the 12th December.

31st October will also see the end of current European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's term.  They will be replaced by Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen respectively, starting 1st November.