Episodes
How did an argument in Khartoum between two rival generals drag Sudan into civil war and push it to the brink of a repeat of the Darfur genocide of two decades ago? It has not happened yet, but the stage is certainly set in El Fasher, the west's only city still in the hands of junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan but besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – aka Hemedti.
Published 05/02/24
Published 05/02/24
Concerns over "too much screen time" for youngsters are nothing new. In pre-internet days, young people sometimes saw their TV viewing curtailed as a punishment. But it's now been three decades since mobile phones went mainstream, and nearly two since the advent of the tablet and the smartphone. Many teachers and psychiatrists link long hours of scrolling and exposure to violent and pornographic images, as well as cyberbullying, anxiety and sleep deprivation among a generation whose attention...
Published 05/01/24
For the first time since November, could there finally be a respite in Gaza? As warring parties and negotatiors shuttle through Cairo, we try to see through the smokescreens and the mixed messages if the stars are truly aligning. Beyond a swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, it's tough at face value to comprehend indirect talks between two sides whose official line is the elimination of the other. The US Secretary of State has hinted at a grand bargain from which a truce...
Published 04/30/24
The expression went viral in the 1960s: generation gap. Those in power had fought in World War II and were shocked to see college students in the US rebel against the call to serve their country and go to war. How much has the current movement on college campuses exposed a new generation gap? Will the consequences be as far-reaching? For the first time since the Vietnam War, Columbia University brought in police to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment, sparking further sit-in protests across...
Published 04/29/24
In 2017, France’s new president went to Paris's Sorbonne University to defend Europe’s strategic autonomy. Since then, there's been Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now, ahead of June's EU elections, Emmanuel Macron was back with an update. 
Published 04/25/24
Is it a spiraling superpower showdown or a glorified trade negotiation? The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is kicking off a three-day visit in China’s economic capital, Shanghai. Unlike during the Cold War, when exchanges between the blocs were anecdotal, today it's the world's two biggest powers at the table – powers whose biggest trading partners happen to be each other. 
Published 04/24/24
Ecuador's new president is on a winning streak, with the recapture of the alleged leader of the Los Lobos gang coming hot on the heels of a referendum giving Daniel Noboa a mandate to get tougher on drug cartels. 
Published 04/23/24
Will it be enough to dissipate doubt over Ukraine's ability to hold out in a war of attrition with Russia? After months of delay, the US House of Representatives has finally approved a $60 billion military aid package for Kyiv. Overruling the objections of Republican hardliners, Speaker Mike Johnson praised lawmakers who came together to "answer history's call". That said, he also conferred first with Donald Trump.
Published 04/22/24
A world record of 969 million citizens are called to the polls for what some see as a referendum on one man. India is about to embark on the world's biggest election, staggered over seven weeks, with Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP expected to extend its solid lead in parliament. Modi has been pointing to a decade of unprecedented growth and power for a nation courted by the West and beyond.
Published 04/18/24
Ukrainians wonder if there's a double standard. An international community that comes together to fend off Iran's attack on Israel can't increase its air defence commitments in time to defend against Russian air strikes, such as the one that took out the Trypilska thermal power station last week. We ask if Volodymyr Zelensky is right, and whether EU leaders gathered at a summit in Brussels need to treat Iran and Russia as one common foe, particularly given how close the pair have drawn in the...
Published 04/17/24
Did it finish with Saturday night, or will it spiral further out of control? Iran's first-ever direct attack against Israel has already sent the whole region into uncharted territory. We ask about the measure of its response to Israel's targeting of Tehran's embassy compound in Syria. We also ask whether the proportionality shows Iran's strength or weakness, and whether Israel's prime minister will heed the call of G7 allies to leave it there and move towards an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Published 04/15/24
Roll out the red carpet for Japan. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is being feted with a speech before a joint session of Congress and a White House state dinner. Key to the courtship is Tokyo's ramped-up role in policing the Pacific. Like the Germans in Europe, the Japanese have had to shed the post-war pacifism that's even embedded in their constitution. It’s with an eye to China, North Korea and Russia that they’ve drawn closer to South Korea and supported Ukraine. 
Published 04/11/24
It's not only in the US and UK that border protection is on the ballot. The European Parliament's vote on a migration pact was always going to be a nail-biter, especially two months out from EU elections. We ask about the close result and about burden sharing, this as the numbers of those crossing the Mediterranean hit their highest level since 2015. 
Published 04/10/24
"To choose not to choose is still to act," as French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said. Judges at Europe's highest jurisdiction agree. Their non-binding ruling against Switzerland over its failure to formulate a concrete climate action plan resonates as scientists confirm that the planet is coming off the hottest month of March on record. 
Published 04/09/24
After six months, are we seeing proof that Israel's longest war since the 1980s is winding down? Or is the weekend announcement of troops withdrawing from southern Gaza the calm before a whole new storm?
Published 04/08/24
How to prevent a genocide? Rwanda is marking 30 years since the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. During those 100 days of horror, a stunned international community watched from the sidelines. On that score, France's president is slated to recognise the international community's failure to prevent the 1994 genocide.
Published 04/04/24
Originally, it was supposed to be a NATO foreign ministers' meeting to plan a birthday party. But at 75, the same alliance that just a few years ago wondered whether it had outlived its purpose, now has to instead figure out how to quickly take on more responsibility. Up until now, the United States led efforts to arm Ukraine. But the eventuality of a return of Donald Trump has members – including the current administration in Washington – preferring that NATO HQ safeguard that remit. 
Published 04/03/24
Israel is certainly taking on all comers. Monday's air strike on Damascus that killed three senior Iranian commanders is the most spectacular of its kind since Hamas's October 7 attacks. We ask about Tehran's response, whether it will try to draw in the United States, and – after months of cross-border rocket exchanges between Israel and Lebanon – about the risk of all-out war on a second front.
Published 04/02/24
After more than two decades of uninterrupted rule, is the tide turning in Turkey? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threw all the weight of his AKP party behind a bid to unseat Istanbul's charismatic mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. Instead, the possible presidential contender extended his gains in Sunday's local elections.
Published 04/01/24
If you're wondering why Sweden and Finland broke with neutrality and joined NATO, just look at a map. Long before 2022 and Vladimir Putin's play for Ukraine's capital, Stockholm was already boosting its military, reintroducing a base on the strategic island of Gotland in 2018. Across the Baltic Sea lies the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. We bring you an exclusive FRANCE 24 report from Gotland. 
Published 03/28/24
Kindred spirits or odd couple? Three days of joint photo ops featuring Emmanuel Macron and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva make for more than just entertaining viewing: they're downright confusing. The first state visit by a French president to Brazil in 11 years highlights how long overdue this reckoning was.
Published 03/27/24
With the war between Israel and Hamas now in its sixth month, the needle is moving. But by how much? For the first time, the United States has lifted its veto on a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. In past conflicts, whenever Washington has called time, Israel has bended. But what's to say this story follows the pattern?
Published 03/27/24
The West blames jihadist radicals, the Kremlin is searching for a Ukraine connection and Moscow is reeling. Russia's deadliest terror attack in nearly two decades follows the same modus operandi as the 2015 Bataclan concert hall massacre in Paris.
Published 03/25/24
Ukraine is the central theme of EU talks in Brussels, and notably whether Russian assets frozen in Europe should be diverted to Kyiv for the war effort. The support of the 27 states is increasingly under the spotlight as doubts persist over America's continued financing of the Ukrainian resistance. 
Published 03/21/24