Audio

News: Macron Forces French Pension Reform, Poland Sends Fighter Jets

March 17, 2023: Emmanuel Macron bypasses parliament to force through pension reform in France. Plus: Poland’s announcement that it will be the first Nato country to send fighter jets to Ukraine, Andrew Mueller’s irreverent round-up of the week’s events and the latest theatre news.

News: South Korea-Japan Summit In Tokyo, Finland NATO Membership Status

March 16, 2023: As the leaders of South Korea and Japan meet in Tokyo, are we entering a new era in relations? Plus: Ankara hints at ratifying Finland’s Nato bid, a flick through the day’s papers and the latest film news.

News: Blinken Travels To Ethiopia, Pakistan Clashes, Russia Downs U.S. Drone

March 15, 2023: Antony Blinken heads to Addis Ababa. Plus: violent clashes break out in Pakistan, Indonesia’s tourist motorbike ban, the latest business news and we head to Frankfurt for the world’s biggest bathroom gathering.

News: U.S. Banking Failure Fallout, Moldova Foils Russian-Backed Unrest

March 14, 2023: Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, is Joe Biden facing a crisis of confidence in US financial institutions?

Plus: political turbulence in Moldova, Nicaragua’s decision to suspend relations with the Vatican and a special interview with Estonia’s former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Opinion: Avoiding War In Taiwan, Mystery Of Dead Britons, Office Irritations

March 13, 2023: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how to avoid war over Taiwan, the mystery of 250,000 dead Britons (9:50) and the small consolations of office irritations (18:20).

News: Biden Meets EU’s Von Der Leyen, China’s Motives, SVB Bank, Nigeria Fallout

March 13, 2023: What’s China’s standing with the West after US president Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen meet in Washington? Plus: unpacking the Nigeria elections fallout, a roundup of Asia-Pacific papers and all the winners and surprises on Hollywood’s biggest night.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

March 10, 2023: Is the Old Masters market struggling? As Tefaf opens its fair in Maastricht, we look at this major moment in the market calendar and what it tells us about the strength or otherwise of the market for historic art.

The Art Newspaper’s Acting Art Market editor, Anny Shaw, joins us from the fair. The Institut du Monde Arabe, or Arab World Institute, in Paris has just received a major gift of more than 1,600 modern and contemporary works from the French-Lebanese dealer and collector Claude Lemand and his wife, France—a collection that will transform the displays in the institute’s museum. We talk to the director of the museum,

Nathalie Bondil, about her future plans and the €6m project to transform the institute. And this episode’s Work of the Week is a self-portrait in red chalk by the Venetian Rococo artist Rosalba Carriera. Dagmar Kornbacher, the director of the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, tells me about the drawing, which is a key work in Muse or Maestra?, the museum’s new exhibition of work by historic Italian women artists.Tefaf Maastricht, until 19 March.Muse or Maestra?: Women in the Italian Art World, 1400-1800, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, until 4 June. 

News: UK-France Summit In Paris, Vatican To Return Parthenon Sculptures

March 10, 2023: Can Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron mend Anglo-French relations at their summit in Paris? Plus: the Vatican returns three Parthenon sculpture fragments, the latest aviation news and the final episode of our series lifting the lid on the world of espionage.