Annexation Day, Trouble in the Baltic Sea, UK tax cuts, Brazil election

When Vladimir Putin says no going back, it comes in a week where it is all coming to a head: the referendum, mobilisation and the explosions that took out the currently-offline Nord Stream pipelines, pipelines hit by the equivalent of hundreds of kilos of TNT according to the Danes. All sides point to sabotage. In whose interest is it to blow up the natural gas link between Russia and Germany? On the day Germany rolled out a €200 billion energy subsidy plan for consumers and businesses. Here in France, there is talk of mandatory measures if the French do not watch their energy consumption this winter.

As for Britain – where utility bills have soared the most of leading European economies – there is good news and bad news. The good news is subjects of his gracious majesty can enjoy, hot from the mint, the first coins with the effigy of their new king. The bad news is their dwindling value, with the pound's biggest slump in decades. It all started last Friday when the new prime minister's chancellor of the exchequor announced tax cuts for the rich that are set to explode the deficit. After the International Monetary Fund made a rare intervention, urging Liz Truss to reverse course, the PM broke her nearly weeklong silence with a tour of local BBC radio affiliates that did not go to plan, like when she tried to play the Putin card.

One round or two? Brazilians vote Sunday in presidential elections with the incumbent facing an uphill battle. There are ten challengers for Jair Bolsonaro, but only one who looms large for the far-right former army captain. His left wing predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Things got ugly in the final candidates' debate when they traded taunts.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain