World leaders are gathering in Ankara, Turkey for a Nato summit, despite tensions between Donald Trump and Nato allies over financial contributions and the Iran war. The US president hasn’t hidden his consternation with European leaders, and has suggested he is only attending ‘out of respect to President Erdogan’.

Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under criticism for a crackdown on dissent in the country, which has led to over 200 arrests of activists, journalists and public figures in the lead up to the summit. So how has he taken on such a pivotal role within Nato?

We speak to BBC correspondent and presenter, Mark Lowen, who was based in Istanbul for five years, before he was detained and banned from the country while on a reporting trip last year.

Producers: Valerio Esposito and Sam Chantarasak

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Tom Bage

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: President Trump shakes hands with Turkish President Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 7, 2026. Credit: Emrah Gurel/Pool via Reuters

Donald Trump has revealed that he personally called Gianni Infantino, the head of Fifa, to ask him to review the red card given to United States' star player Folarin Balogun. The striker had been given a one-match ban after a hard tackle against Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the punishment was suspended in time for the US to play their final 16 match against Belgium yesterday.

The decision has been widely condemned across the football world, with European footballing organisation UEFA, calling it, "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable", and former Fifa president Sepp Blatter writing on X, “Redcards are not overturned by political phone calls… Football must never become a playground for political power.”Infantino has insisted the decision was made independently by Fifa’s “independent judicial bodies”.

On today’s show, Tristan is joined by BBC football issues correspondent Dale Johnson and New Yorker staff writer Sam Knight, to explain the scandal, and how Infantino’s governance of Fifa has brought football and politics closer together.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin

Mix: Travis Evans

Video journalist: Matt Pintus

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Folarin Balogun of the U.S. looks dejected as he applauds fans after the match following their elimination from the World Cup, July 6, 2026. Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Blake Dahlin

President Trump will be attending a NATO summit in Turkey this week, where he’s likely to hear one consistent message from European leaders: the tide is shifting against Russia in its war with Ukraine. And not just on the battlefield.

Russian cities are being pounded by Ukrainian drones in ever increasing numbers. Fuel shortages have become widespread as key infrastructure has been targeted, with long lines seen at gas stations and trucks abandoned by the side of the road. Vladimir Putin recently made a rare admission; that his country is actually facing problems caused by the conflict, amid growing disquiet about Russia’s enormous economic problems.

In today’s episode we speak to Simon Shuster, staff writer at The Atlantic, and veteran reporter of Russia and Ukraine. And with the war starting to hit home, we ask if Putin is now on the backfoot?

Producers: Lucy Pawle and Hannah Moore

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Mix: Travis Evans

Video producer: Matt Pintus

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Russia's President Putin meets with service members in Moscow, June 12, 2026. Photo Credit: Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters