This Is Why

A multi-billion-dollar Saudi-backed golf tour is reportedly close to collapse – so could this spell an end to the Gulf state’s interest in sport?
The controversial LIV Golf Tour is just one strand of the Saudis’ sporting portfolio.
Footballing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo plays there, while the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also owns English Premier League team, Newcastle United.
But the PIF - which has plunged $5b into the LIV project - has a new five-year economic strategy that includes no mention of sport. Having been accused of using sport as a political tool to legitimise the Saudi regime, what led to this apparent change of strategy?
Sky News’ sports correspondent Rob Harris joins Niall to discuss what it means for the future of Saudi sport.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show: [email protected]

Another night, another post on Truth Social from Donald Trump criticising NATO. As other leaders try to persuade him to stay in the alliance, plans are being prepared in case the US goes through with its threat to walk away.
At the same time, the UK government is in a muddle on defence spending – with criticism from current and former military chiefs - but no decisions yet on how and when to boost budgets.
Niall and Sky's military analyst Professor Michael Clarke debrief on what a post-Trump NATO might look like.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show: [email protected]

A decade on, you might have thought Brexit was done and dusted – but our relationship with the European Union is still in flux.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is proposing a reset that could result in the UK signing up to EU rules without the need for a normal parliamentary vote, under what are known as Henry VIII powers.
But in pushing for closer ties with the continent, is he risking a return to rule-taking without any say in what those rules are? And what might this new relationship with Brussels look like?
Niall speaks to Professor Anand Menon, director at UK in a Changing Europe, about the significance of this moment in UK-EU relations.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show: [email protected]

After 16 years in power, Hungary's Viktor Orban has been defeated by Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party has won a huge parliamentary majority.
Magyar campaigned to break the country away from Russia's grip and re-establish closer ties to the European Union, in a setback for both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. But is this a genuine turning point and a strategic win for Ukraine's war efforts?
Niall speaks to our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett in Budapest to find out how significant the change of regime could be across the continent.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show – [email protected]

Donald Trump's war in Iran has been polling badly among many of the groups that voted for him in 2024, and that matters as crucial midterm elections are just over six months away.
These elections take place two years into the presidential cycle, with voters able to choose who runs Congress. Currently, the Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, giving the president freedom to enact his agenda.
So how exactly do the midterms work and how much would change for Donald Trump if his Republican party has a bad night?
Niall is joined by US correspondent and co-host of the Trump100 podcast, James Matthews.
For more on politics in the US, listen to Trump100 on your podcast app: https://podfollow.com/trump100/view