The village of Schengen in Luxembourg lends its name to one of Europe's most ambitious agreements - creating a free travel area that now extends to 29 countries. But increased worries over migration, and other crises including Covid-19, have led to the return of border checks, and a quiet fizzling of the dream of a borderless Europe. Is it in terminal decline? Our Germany Correspondent Oliver Crook joins Stephen Carroll to discuss.

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The world runs on dollars. It's the most commonly used currency in international transactions, an important reserve for central banks around the world, and a safe haven in troubled times. There are, however, some countries trying to move away from King Dollar, so what effect is it having? Bloomberg's Senior Washington Correspondent Saleha Mohsin wrote a book on the subject, called 'Paper Soldiers'. She joins Stephen Carroll to discuss.

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Like the weather, the markets have seasonal trends. January is usually good; September is bad. So how do money managers trade around these periods, and what could upset the usual expectations? Our Markets Live Managing Editor Kristine Aquino joins Stephen Carroll to discuss.

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Two and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Europe's energy woes still aren't resolved. Current prices are much lower than the all-time high of €300 per megawatt-hour in 2022 but are still double what they were before Putin's invasion. Our senior energy reporter Stephen Stapczynski joins to explain why there are concerns about supplies of gas in the coming months, even though the continent has filled stockpiles to 90 per cent capacity.

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Central bankers are like celebrities in the finance world: every word they say gets closely scrutinised. Did their comments always elicit such interest, and do they ever tell us anything they shouldn't? Bloomberg Opinion columnist and avid central bank watcher, Daniel Moss, joins Stephen Carroll to discuss.

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It's a trading strategy that was at the heart of the market turmoil in early August: investors have been ditching the carry trade as the value of the Japanese yen fluctuates. Our Managing Editor for Foreign Exchange and Rates Rachel Evans explains what the carry trade is, and what its future looks like now. Hosted by Stephen Carroll.

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Since the Hamas attack on Israel on the October 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza, tensions in the Middle East have been running high. But in the background, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity: negotiations over a truce in Gaza, and attempts to de-escalate the conflict among the various actors. Our head of Middle East and North Africa coverage Stuart Livingstone-Wallace explains to Stephen Carroll why diplomacy still matters in the Middle East.

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A plan by conservatives to reshape the US government, known as Project 2025, has become a key talking point in the presidential campaign. Its architects see it as a resource for Donald Trump if he wins in November, but the Republican nominee has distanced himself from it. Democrats, meanwhile, are eager to tie Trump to its more controversial proposals. Our senior editor Wendy Benjaminson joins Stephen Carroll to explain what Project 2025 is, and why it's getting so much attention.

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