麻豆社

Pascale Harter introduces analysis, reportage and personal reflections from correspondents around the world.

Voters in the United States go to the polls in just over two months and this week the Republican Party formally set out its stall for four more years in government. Front and centre of the convention has been the Trump family. To get to the White House it鈥檚 important to win states such as Pennsylvania. Jane O鈥橞rien has been there gauging the political mood.

Alexei Navalny lies in a coma in Berlin, as German doctors try to discover more about the poison they suspect caused him to be taken seriously ill on a plane from Moscow to Siberia. But the Kremlin says the Germans are jumping to conclusions about what happened to the opposition leader. No crime has been committed say the Russian authorities. The truth about what happened to Alexei Navalny may never be known. But what is clear is the extreme lengths the Russian authorities will go to in order to discredit the opposition, as Sarah Rainsford reports from Moscow.

The explosion at a port in the heart of Beirut last month blew a hole in what was left of the Lebanese state鈥檚 reputation among its people. The country was already in the grip of a currency crisis, the central bank rocked by rumours of a credibility scandal, meanwhile politicians remained too deadlocked to agree the terms of a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Many people had slipped below the poverty line. Then the explosion made 300,000 Beirutis homeless. Security forces met protestors with tear gas. Gabriel Gatehouse has met someone intent on fighting back.

France is in the grip of a second surge in coronavirus cases, the figures show the highest increase since mid-April. Face masks have been made mandatory in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron has urged anyone who is over 70, or with underlying health conditions to stay at home and limit social contact. In bigger cities like Marseille, bars and restaurants are closing early. These new restrictions may have been a blow to some of the people enjoying their freedoms when rules were relaxed. In Paris, Christine Finn had found joy in outdoor swimming, especially with fewer tourists.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Bethan Head
Editor: Jasper Corbett

(Image: US President Donald Trump next to First Lady Melania Trump and members of their extended family at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Credit: Reuters)