Press Review

PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, December 10, 2025: First, Australia's social media ban for under-16s takes over the Australian front pages. Next, a cartoon in the Guardian suggests that adults might have slight screen addiction problems too. Also, the winner of the Turner Prize this year is Nnena Kalu – the first person with a learning disability to win the prestigious award. Plus: conservation efforts in France pay off, and animals start their own fundraising.

Australia's social media ban has come into effect and is all over the country's front pages. The Courier Mail has quite a dramatic front page: "Today childhood will be rebooted". The Herald Sun headlines with: "Let us be kids". Similarly, The Daily Telegraph says: "It's great to be a kid again". Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers have dedicated their front pages to the ban, and Murdoch's company News Corp has been one of the main backers of the "Let them be kids" campaign since it launched in May 2024. The independent news site Deep Cut is very critical of this campaign. It argues that Murdoch and NewsCorp are "attempting to claw back some of their lost advertising revenue”. 

The Sydney Morning Herald looks at some of the challenges that lie ahead of the ban, be it pesky teens or legal teams. The Singaporean daily The Straits Times reports that alternative social media apps have surged in the last few days. The Independent says that seeing social media as boring could be a better way to get teenagers off their phones. The Guardian has a cartoon suggesting that adults might not be the only ones with screen addiction problems. 

In the UK, Nnena Kalu has been awarded this year’s Turner Prize. The 59-year-old Scottish artist is the first ever person with a learning disability to win the prestigious award. For the Times, her win "represents the erasure of a border that had not been conscious enough of between neurotypical and neurodiverse artists". The Guardian praises her "embodied" and "sensuous" art. 

Elsewhere, Les Echos reports that the World Wildlife Fund has found that protected species have seen their population increase by 120 percent since 1990. It's evidence that conservation works when given the necessary means to be done properly, the WWF says.

Meanwhile, it seems that animals have taken fundraising efforts into their own hands. The infamous drunk raccoon in the US has raised $150,000 for an animal shelter in Virginia, as USA Today reports. As if that weren't enough, octopuses are now on the brink of busking.  

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday. 

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, December 9: The bidding war has begun after Paramount launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, days after shareholders accepted a Netflix deal. Who will prevail? Also: we learn about the growing Japanese community in India. Plus: YouTube launches the first ever AI reality TV series: a "Hunger Games"-style fight to the death.

The bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has begun. Paramount has launched a hostile takeover bid in dramatic scenes worthy of a Netflix series. Days after WBD shareholders agreed to a rival $82.7 billion cash and stock Netflix deal, Paramount launched a hostile $108 billion takeover of all assets of Warner Bros Discovery, one of the most storied studios in Hollywood. This includes news channels like CNN, unlike Netflix's offer. The British daily Financial Times takes us behind the scenes of what it calls one of the most audacious hostile bids in history. Paramount's deal is financed through Chief Executive David Ellison's billionaire father Larry Ellison, who is the founder of Oracle. It is also financed through Middle East sovereign wealth funds and a US private equity fund run by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law. Paramount made six proposals over 12 weeks to WBD's board, but a person close to the company is quoted as saying they were gaslit and then ghosted by WBD. One sticking point was the Middle Eastern sovereign funds, which WBD worried would not pass the test with the US committee that reviews potential national security risks from foreign investment. Deadline reports that to sweeten the deal, Paramount has promised to release 30 or more films each year – an attempt to assuage fears that a Netflix takeover would favour TV and streaming releases over movies. The editors of the Wall Street Journal offer a "novel idea": let the shareholders of Warner Bros decide for themselves. They will have to navigate the mercurial whims of Trump, who wants to be involved in the deal. Both CEOs of Netflix and Paramount have courted Trump like "contestants on the Bachelorette", they write.

In other news, Israel has said Gaza's yellow line demarcation in the US-brokered ceasefire deal is a new border. The Guardian reports that the yellow line is part of Trump's 20-point peace plan that commits the Israel military to progressively hand over Palestinian territory to an international security force until they have completely withdrawn from Gaza. On Monday, the chief of general staff, Eyal Zamir, said Israel would hold on to its current military positions, which give it control of the border crossing with Egypt and most agricultural land in Gaza. The London-based, pan-Arab paper al-Quds al-Araby explains in maps how Israel has continued to divide the Gaza Strip. Its headline reads the "yellow line of death." The first map shows the area carved out of Gaza following the Rhodes Agreement of 1949. The second map highlights the yellow line as it appeared during the Israeli army's deployment last October. The third map illustrates shows the Israeli army's withdrawal according to the Trump plan – showing that Gazans would only have 20 percent of territory, with Israel holding more than the 53 percent of land it has officially declared.

Elsewhere, The Washington Post looks at the growing Japanese community living in India. It seems quite improbable, but there were over 8,000 Japanese citizens living in India last year. It's barely a drop in the ocean in terms of India's 1.4 billion-strong population, but it is a nearly four-fold increase from 2005. Most of them have come to work for Japanese companies like Panasonic or Toyota. The expat presence has particularly grown in Gurgaon, a financial and tech hub near New Delhi. There are more and more Japanese restaurants and Japanese mahjong rooms, while Indians are increasingly hooked on anime culture and Studio Ghibli dreamscapes. East meets subcontinent in this micro expat community! 

Finally, we bring you a story that seems like something out of science fiction – the world’s first ever AI reality TV show. "Non Player Combat" launched on YouTube on Monday by AiMation Studios and it's the first reality TV show where all the contestants are virtual. The four-episode series is a hyper realistic fight to the death competition between six characters who are hunting each other and facing off threats like polar bears and venomous snakes. It's said to be a blend of "Hunger Games", "Fortnite" and "The Traitors". The London Evening Standard explains that each contestant is programmed with a human backstory – past lovers and personal tragedies. They also face hunger and fatigue, like real humans in the competition. Among the AI contestants are a murderer, a Navy Seal and a content creator who are parachuted into the virtual jungle.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, December 8, 2025: First, papers discuss the one-year anniversary of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Also, a leak at the Louvre Museum damages hundreds of books. Next, tributes pour in for British photographer Martin Parr, who passed away on Sunday. Meanwhile, France names its 2026 Miss Super Grandma. Finally, Lando Norris wins his first Formula 1 world championship.

This Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. The event is generating a lot of coverage around the world. L’Orient le Jour headlines with "the new Syria blows out its first candle", which is a quote by Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. Qatari newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed says that the country faces economic difficulties and a challenging path toward reconciliation. Der Spiegel asks: "Twenty years ago, Ahmad al-Sharah planted bombs against the Americans... today, he is welcomed at the White House... but what future does the former terrorist want for Syria?" Le Monde features a collection of testimonies from the hellish conditions in Assad's concentration camps.  

Another brazen heist has shocked the art world, this time in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reports that 13 artworks are missing, including eight engravings by famed French painter Henri Matisse. This comes only weeks after the heist at the Louvre. The famous museum is not out of troubled waters though, as the Times reports that a water leak has damaged hundreds of historic books from the Egyptian Antiquities library. The New York Times says it is just another example of the poor state the museum is in.  

Meanwhile, the world’s press is remembering acclaimed British photographer Martin Parr. Libération celebrates him as the King of Kitsch on its front page. Vogue remembers him as a chronicler of the beauty and banality of British Life, who excelled at studying the mundane and the colourful. The Guardian takes a look back at his career in photos.  

In other news, France has named its 2026 Super Grandma! Le Parisien reports that Ana Maria Ciortea has been crowned "Super Mamie". The candidate from the Hautes Pyrenees was chosen for her kindness and family spirit. France Info has an interview with Fabienne Olivier, the creator of the competition, which has been running since 1997. 

But Ana Maria Ciortea is not the only champion to have been crowned this weekend, Formula 1 fans are celebrating their new world champion, as is The Telegraph: Lando Norris! 

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, December 5: The European Broadcasting Union votes to keep Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, sparking a boycott from Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Ireland. We look at reactions from the front pages. Also: the FIFA 2026 World Cup draw will be unveiled in Washington this Friday, with US President Donald Trump receiving a special "FIFA peace prize". Plus, Pantone unveils 2026's colour of the year and a "kindness influencer" helps raise over $1.5 million for an 88-year-old US army veteran.

Four countries have withdrawn from Eurovision 2026 after a decision to keep Israel in the competition. The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) cleared Israel on Thursday to take part in 2026, which sparked a boycott by Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Spain. The crisis has plunged the contest into its "deepest ever crisis", Politico says. The event is much more than just a glitzy, campy music competition; it has always been a bastion of European soft power and politics. The four countries who withdrew say their decision was based on Israel's war in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis. We look at the reaction from the Irish dailies. The Irish broadcaster RTE will not ever air the contest as Ireland shuns Eurovision over "GAZA horrors", the Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star say. There is also anger over allegations that the Israeli government intervened in voting this year, after the Israeli candidate received the largest number of public votes during the final. The Jerusalem Post relays the controversy of the boycott on its factual front-page story.

The competition's crisis will also be financial. Spain's exit represents the loss of a major source of funding. As the Spanish daily El Pais notes, five countries provide the most funding to Eurovision – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – and they contribute €350,000 each. It means they automatically qualify for the grand final each year. Spain's absence means a large chunk of funding will be absent. As the paper explains in its article, the EBU has tried to compensate for the planned absences by extending the deadline for registration and encouraging other countries like Romania and Bulgaria to participate.

Elsewhere, there's anticipation in the sports papers as the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will be announced in Washington. We will finally know the groups of each of the 48 competing nations in the 2026 World Cup, which is taking place across the US, Canada and Mexico. French sports paper L'Equipe provides us with a guide to the announcement of the draw – and their predictions about the ideal draw for France. L'Equipe notes that the draw will be "highly political" too. It was initially meant to be held in Las Vegas, but FIFA pandered to Donald Trump, who wanted it in Washington. FIFA President Gianni Infantino will also be bestowing upon the US president FIFA's inaugural peace prize – in the absence of another peace prize that Trump has desperately sought. For an obscure prize, an obscure prize-giver: The Guardian reports that a close ally of the Myanmar junta will be handing this prize to Trump. Zaw Zaw is head of the Myanmar football association. The US described him in 2009 as a "crony of the Myanmar junta". A shadow of corruption looms over this inaugural FIFA peace prize. 

Pantone is the world's colour authority and announces a colour that will dominate art, architecture and fashion for the year to come. Next year will be all about Cloud Dancer, the first ever white shade. It is a bland, boring shade, but that is exactly the point! It is a "whisper of calm in a noisy world", according to The Washington Post. This does not bode well for some, who see it reflecting a year dominated by rising White nationalism. Pantone assures us, however, that politics and skin tones do not factor in at all. 

We end with a wonderful story about the online community rallying behind an 88-year-old military veteran in the US. Ed Bambas has not had a restful retirement. He lost his pension and health insurance in 2012 and then sold his house to pay for his sick wife's health care. For the past seven years, he has been working eight hours, five days a week at a store in Detroit. An Australian kindness influencer shared a video of Bambas's story and set up a GoFundMe. Total strangers donated, raising more than $1.5 million in three days to help Bambas finally retire. The story is proof that social media can bring out the best in people sometimes!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, December 4: Russian leader Vladimir Putin begins a two-day visit to India, which is garnering a lot of attention in the press about the close ties between the two countries. Also, Australia prepares to roll out a social media ban for under-16s, but adolescents are already finding ways to circumvent the new rules that go into effect next week. Plus: New Zealand gets its first Ikea store and a drunk raccoon delights the internet.

Vladimir Putin kicks off a visit to India this Thursday and it's garnering a lot of attention in the Indian press. The Russian president is holding a two-day summit with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. It's his first visit to India since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce has taken out a front-page, full-page ad in Indian business daily Financial Express, welcoming Putin to New Delhi. The Hindu Business Line offers us a "shopping list" of trade topics to be discussed: pharma, medical devices and automobiles but also SU 57 fighters – products that Russia may purchase from India. Two topics will dominate this summit: defence deals and hydrocarbons. However, the editors of the Hindustan Times urge the Indian government to use Putin's visit to push for more access within the Russian market. India, it says, currently has "piecemeal" access to a handful of Russian sectors. A solid and "wide-ranging trade basket" will add further depth to this bilateral relationship and "go beyond just optics", it adds.

More widely, this visit is viewed as symbolic in terms of geopolitical relations. The Indian website Firstpost says that the visit sends a "powerful message to the world, especially the US, which thought it could coerce India to abandon Russia by imposing punitive tariffs for purchasing Russian crude". There is also an interesting analysis from Foreign Affairs magazine, which says Donald Trump's departure from India-friendly policies – this year, he imposed 50 percent tariffs on India and agreed to a raft of deals with India's rival Pakistan – has pushed India to a form of "multi-alignment." In other words, India has sought to build stronger ties with several countries, even when they have contradictory interests. One Russian news agency, though, paints a different picture. "Russia invites India to throw off its Western shackles," it says.

We move on to Australia, which is preparing for a world-first social media ban on under-16s. That ban comes into effect next week, but Australian broadcaster ABC explains that the ban is not really a ban. Social media companies will be forced to prevent – or try to prevent – teens under 16 from holding an account on their platform. The loophole is that they cannot prevent teens from using the account. The outlets affected include Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, TikTok, Snapchat and others. The Australian government has warned, however, that new sites could be added, setting the stage for "the world's most expensive and annoying game of whack-a-mole." Crikey, an Australian website, notes that teens are already finding ways to get around the ban. Some teenagers have started using platforms not covered by the ban, while others are using photos of their parents to convince platforms they are adults. In certain cases, parents themselves are helping kids set up an account. In fact, Australian federal government research showed that 34 percent of parents were likely to help their kids circumvent the ban.

Next, the website The Spinoff reports that flatpack mania has arrived in New Zealand: the first Ikea shop has opened in Auckland. Thousands of people assembled for the opening, complete with a local news outlet live blog. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was there to cut the ribbon. New Zealand is one of the last Western nations to get Ikea. Lucky New Zealanders will now get to spend hours trying to decipher those Ikea manuals!

We end with a story of a raccoon whose Friday night was wilder than yours or mine! The New York Times reports that a raccoon dropped from the ceiling into a liquor store in Virginia last weekend and went on a raging bender that ended with its face down on the toilet floor, blind drunk. The mammal broke 14 bottles of spirits and drank rum, moonshine and peanut butter whiskey, as well as holiday eggnog. Its hangover lasted an hour and a half before authorities safely released the animal back into the wild. There were no injuries, simply remorse and embarrassment!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, December 3: Bulgarians protest against a controversial budget and widespread corruption, with faith in mainstream media declining. Next, US President Donald Trump goes on a "xenophobic rant" against Somali migrants. Also: Sabrina Carpenter is not Trump's "best friend". Finally, some research on cats discovers what women already know about men.

Mass protests have erupted in Bulgaria. Monday night saw demonstrations across the country against the 2026 budget and widespread corruption in the country, as Deutsche Welle reports. The protesters are calling on the government to step down, in the biggest protest movement the country has seen for years. The Bulgarian News Agency said that around 50,000 people attended, but many protesters claim that the media is trying to minimise the movement and is unfairly blaming the protesters for unrest on the streets. The Bulgarian National Television, for instance, chose to show many images of unrest across the capital, but according to protesters, the country's state TV is twisting reality. 

The Times calls the protests a "Gen Z" movement. A lot of information is being circulated on social media, where people give each other advice on how to protest safely and show what they claim is not being relayed in the mainstream media. A cartoon by Gurbetstudio shows those in power as the puppet masters of journalists, the police and those who are causing unrest. Bulgarian daily Dnevnik reports that after the huge demonstrations, the government decided to withdraw the controversial budget and will propose a new one. The ruling coalition, however, will not step down, despite calls from protesters and the opposition. Gen Z members now say that more and bigger protests are coming.

Over in the United States, President Donald Trump has railed against the Somali migrant community in Minnesota. As The Washington Post reports, he used "dehumanising language" by calling Somalis "garbage". Trump also said he "doesn’t want them in our country" and accused Somalis of having "ripped off" Minnesota. The verbal attacks come after dozens of Somalis are accused of stealing millions in public funds over the past years. The Guardian calls Trump's attacks a "xenophobic rant" and notes that Trump is ramping up deportation efforts. CBC News then reports that after Trump's verbal attacks, his administration paused "all immigration applications from 19 non-European countries", including Afghanistan and Somalia. 

Also in the US, pop star Sabrina Carpenter has condemned the Trump administration after it used one of her songs. Carpenter may be a "man’s best friend" – the title of her new album – but not Trump's, as Politico reports. The White House posted a video on Trump's crackdown on immigration, using Carpenter's song in the background. The singer called it "evil and disgusting" and asked the White House not to ever involve her or her music in their "inhumane agenda".

Finally, obese cats can now use an animal-friendly version of Ozempic, as The New York Times reports. In other pet news, it turns out that cats miaow more at men. It's simply because men don't listen, The Times reports. A study found that cats are way noisier when greeting their male owners. According to researchers, this shows that they've learned to be more insistent with those who are slower to respond, ie male humans. 

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, December 2: We look at reactions to Luigi Mangione's pre-trial hearing, which attracted many of his supporters. The press look at why his case divides Americans so much. Also: Sri Lanka's anger at the government over the devastating cyclone and the rise of scam states in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries. Plus: Eurovision's survival is threatened by a boycott over Israel and we look at Oxford's word of the year: rage bait!

Luigi Mangione's pre-trial hearing continues this Tuesday in New York and is garnering a lot of attention. As The New York Times reminds us, Mangione is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. His pre-trial hearing began this week to determine what evidence can be used at trial. It marks a "critical stage" in the case, as Newsweek notes. Mangione's attorneys notably want to exclude statements he made to the police after his arrest. They argue that officers failed to inform him of his constitutional rights. They also accuse police of an unlawful search of his backpack at a McDonalds. The New York Times reports on the frenzy in court. About two dozen supporters of Mangione sat in the back rows, wearing green – their "signature colour". The Times writes: "With giddy smiles, laughter and whispers, they craned their necks for a glimpse of Mangione", proof of how divisive this case is for Americans. People magazine notes that Mangione has been kept in prison in a plexiglass cell to avoid an "Epstein-style" situation. This is in reference to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's death by suicide in jail before he was able to face charges on sex trafficking.

Next, devastating floods have ravaged Southeast Asia and the subcontinent, particularly Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared last week's cyclone the largest and most challenging natural disaster in the country's history, as The New York Times reports. The anger in the Sri Lankan press is palpable. The Island, an English-language daily, reports on the opposition walking out of parliament on Monday in tense scenes as it accused the government of having ignored cyclone warnings. In the opinion pages of the Daily Mirror, one writer says that successive Sri Lankan governments have "behaved like monkeys" – accusing them of scrambling for solutions only when disaster strikes and not anticipating natural disaster prevention.

We move on to a story from The Guardian about the rise of scam states. The paper takes us into the city of Myawaddy in Myanmar, where KK Park, one of the continent’s most infamous scam centres, was recently dismantled. Tens of thousands of people were held against their will and forced by criminal organisations to defraud people around the world. But those running it were long gone and were setting up shop elsewhere. The Guardian explains that these scam centres have become so monolithic in Southeast Asia that there is now a scam state. Like a narco-state, scam states refer to countries where this illicit industry has dug its tentacles deep into government institutions and transformed the economy. While the dismantling of KK Park was much vaunted by Myanmar's junta, this is deemed largely "performative". The Guardian says that in reality, governments have little interest in stopping such a lucrative billion-dollar business.

After the cancellation of the international Angouleme comics festival, the Eurovision Song Contest could be at risk too. The Daily Telegraph explains that the European Broadcast Union will hold its general assembly this week. The body will have to decide whether or not Israel stays in Eurovision next year, amid anger over its war in Gaza. Things have become "toxic", it says, with two blocs emerging when it comes to Israel. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland have all threatened to boycott Eurovision if Israel stays. Others, like Austria and Germany, say they'll walk out if Israel is forced out. The problem is that five countries contribute the most to funding the contest – including Spain and Germany. So if either one pulls out, it could affect the finances of the competition. The crisis is being described as one of the most severe in the history of Eurovision.

If you read that article and felt intense rage or anger at the thought of Eurovision being cancelled, you could be suffering from Oxford's word of the year: rage bait! It’s defined as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger, outrage or frustration, all with the goal of increasing clicks and traffic. As NPR explains, the term originated in 2002 – back then, the internet was focusing on grabbing our attention through curiosity. The phenomenon is now so prevalent that it beat out competition like aura farming and biohack for Oxford University Press's word of the year!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, December 1: Papers discuss HIV figures across France. Next, Israeli papers react to PM Benjamin Netanyahu's pardon request – a "resounding no" or a "necessary" act? Also: the "Sunday Scaries" are more common than we might think. Finally, we bring you a love story about a widow, a widower and water aerobics.

For World AIDS Day, French papers are discussing the HIV epidemic across the country. Nearly half a century after HIV/AIDS was discovered, misinformation is extremely widespread, as the French TV channel BFM reports. Almost one in four French people still believe that kissing someone on the mouth can transmit the virus. Some 36 percent believe that the virus can be transmitted by drinking from the same glass or by a mosquito bite. And more than eight out of 10 people think that unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person who is undergoing treatment can transmit the virus. BFM reminds us that when taken correctly, treatment prevents HIV-positive people from transmitting the virus, even during unprotected sex. For some more statistics, The Conversation interviewed epidemiologist Dominique Costagliola. She says that in France, in 2023, more than 180,000 people were living with HIV. The highest figures were recorded in the Paris region: 162 cases per one million inhabitants. 

Elsewhere, Israeli papers are reacting to PM Benjamin Netanyahu's pardon request. For left-wing Israeli paper Haaretz, the decision is clear. In an opinion piece, Haaretz writes that "the only sensible answer to Netanyahu’s pardon request is a resounding no". The article says that even though Netanyahu is asking for a pardon, he isn't willing to admit anything and continues to claim that the cases against him were "fabricated". The paper says that his request is an "aggressive act" by someone who seeks to exploit the institution of the pardon and abolish justice. The right-wing paper The Jerusalem Post has a different opinion. It says that "pardoning Netanyahu is an imperfect but necessary end to the PM's long legal saga". The opinion piece says that the deeper question is what prolonging the trial is doing to the country and whether ending it "might finally allow Israel to move on". The Jerusalem Post says that it's time to close the chapter – "not for Netanyahu, but for the country".

Over in the US, Inc. Magazine talks about the "Sunday Scaries", the dreadful feeling we experience on a Sunday afternoon when we realise that the weekend has almost ended. The magazine says that more than 80 percent of American workers report "Sunday Scaries", with symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, loss of productivity and motivation.

Finally, The Washington Post has a heartwarming story about a widow and a widower who fell in love during water aerobics... and three years later, got married in the pool.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, November 28: The US press are talking about one story only: the death of a young National Guardswoman who was shot alongside another guardsman in Washington on Wednesday. The suspect, an Afghan native who came to the US in 2021, has sparked intense debate about the repercussions of the war in Afghanistan. Also: Denmark sets up a night watch to make sure Donald Trump doesn't try to seize Greenland while Copenhagen sleeps. Plus: a French town finds novel ways to make its locals stop complaining!

US President Donald Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom on Thursday. The 20-year-old National Guardswoman died of her injuries after she and a fellow guardsman were shot in what authorities say was a brazen attack in Washington on Wednesday. The other guardsman is fighting for his life. The perpetrator is believed to be an Afghan national who worked with the CIA, as the Wall Street Journal reports on the front of its website. In the wake of this, the Trump administration has paused immigration from Afghanistan. The US president blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for the shooting, saying the alleged shooter arrived amid the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan. For The Washington Post, Biden's team failed to prepare for the fall of Kabul in 2021, and this inevitably brought "dangerous people" into the US. The paper adds that these people should be identified and repatriated. However, it says, threatening the status of all 77,000 Afghan refugees who have made America their home is "morally bankrupt". The daily reminds us that they put their lives and their families' lives at risk to help the US during its two-decade war in Afghanistan.

The New York Times' editors evoke a tragedy – the "uniquely American heartbreak of tragedy". It follows a year of political violence – Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in June – and a few months ago, the conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead. The editors say that while Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard is "outrageous", he is not to blame. The paper urges readers to condemn the rise of political violence in America. For the conservative magazine National Review, the shootings are an "atrocity", not just a tragedy. It says: "Without Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Congress’ lethargy, it would have been far less likely that this terror attack would have occurred."

Moving on, Denmark has set up a night watch on Donald Trump’s declarations and movements concerning Greenland. The "Game of Thrones"-style system was set up by the Danish foreign ministry, as reported by the Danish paper Politiken this week. The idea is to ensure they are on top of all things Trump, especially when it comes to his unpredictable movements while Copenhagen sleeps. The Guardian notes that the night watch starts at 5pm each day until 7am and the Danish government and its department will be informed about Trump's statements and actions during European nighttime. It was implemented after Denmark’s diplomatic row with Trump, who threatened to take control of Greenland earlier this year. According to one defence analyst, the Trump night watch shows that the US-Danish alliance is dead, at least under the current Trump administration.

Finally, here in France, one town is trying to fight the stereotype that French people are rude! The Times of London reports that the Brittany town of Saint-Brieuc set up a novel experiment this week – daring its locals to abstain from complaining for an hour, a day, even a week. Moreover, they’re encouraged to engage in something the French are not known for: polite conversation. They've even been given some talking points – discussing whether putting pineapple on pizza is a crime against humanity or a culinary delight and discussing why socks go missing in the washing machine. The idea is to transform Saint-Brieuc into the "French capital of courtesy". A 2023 survey found that 68 percent of French people themselves agree that they are very rude – Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Paris topped that list!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, November 27: We look at reactions to the deadly fire at a residential estate in Hong Kong and examine why The New York Times has compared the tragedy to that of London's 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. Also, there's anger in India after the acquittal of a man found guilty of killing and dismembering several women and children in 2006 in a case that highlights flaws in the judicial system. Plus: Donald Trump uses his presidential powers to revive Hollywood's "Rush Hour" franchise.

The deadly fire at Hong Kong's Tai Po residential estate is dominating the press there. Dozens of people have been killed, and hundreds are still missing in Hong Kong's worst fire on record, in which flames engulfed seven of eight towers. The images are quite spectacular and splashed all over the local press, like the Hong Kong version of Chinese government newspaper China Daily. It also headlines on President Xi Jinping calling for full coordination and support in stopping the blaze and assisting local authorities. Like China Daily, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post also has its masthead in black, in deference to the victims of this fire. The daily focuses on the speculation behind the causes of the blaze: alleged irresponsible smoking of workers in the extensive renovations of the housing estate, as well as flammable scaffolding. The New York Times, meanwhile, looks at comparisons to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed 72 people. It was the subject of multiple investigations due to the flammable exterior cladding on the building which helped spread the flames. The New York Times interviews Jonathan Barnett, managing director of a fire engineering firm. He notes that the Hong Kong towers were cloaked in bamboo scaffolding during renovations. Bamboo is lightweight and easy to transport but also highly flammable. He speculates that this could have played the same role as the cladding in the Grenfell Tower fire. He also notes another big challenge for rescue efforts. Like Grenfell, the high-rise nature of the towers means that getting water up to the higher levels is a challenge. The way is to do it from inside, which obviously puts firefighters' lives at great risk.

Turning to India, the acquittal of a man found guilty of heinous rapes and murders of multiple women and children has sparked outrage in the country. The story is covered over six pages in India Today, the most widely read weekly magazine in India. Surinder Koli walked free earlier this month after two decades in prison for the Nithari killings in 2006. In a grisly case, the skeletal remains of several women and children were found in a drain behind a villa in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. There was evidence of necrophilia and dismemberment. Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher were sentenced to death, but served life sentences. Pander was freed two years ago and now, after claiming to be the victim of botched investigations, Koli also walked free this month. The magazine calls it a "shameful acquittal" that highlights criminal failures in the justice system. India Today also notes several other overturnings of convictions. This year, 12 men walked free after being acquitted of their role in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. The magazine notes one unmistakable theme: that the real perpetrators of crimes remain unidentified, not because they evade the law but because the system fails to catch them. One of the reasons for this: botched investigations. Forensic evidence is "routinely trampled, contaminated or ignored at crime scenes," the magazine says.

Elsewhere, the Hollywood franchise "Rush Hour" will be getting a new instalment thanks to Donald Trump. As Rolling Stone notes, it has been 18 years since the last "Rush Hour film", "Rush Hour 3". The buddy cop franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker was a global hit, particularly in China, but a fourth film has stalled since director Brett Ratner's career collapsed in 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations. Since "under a Trump administration no one is truly ever cancelled", Ratner appears to have bought Trump's good graces by producing an upcoming feature documentary about Melania Trump. In turn, Trump pressured Paramount studios into reviving the "Rush Hour" franchise. "Rush Hour 4" has reportedly been green lit in what Rolling Stone calls "one of the strangest imaginable uses of presidential power."

Finally, for something more out of this world, we leave you with a gorgeous picture of a planetary nebula captured by the Gemini South telescope in Chile. They are in fact not planets at all, but glowing shells of gas ejected by dying stars, Gizmodo explains. While they are usually circular in shape, this one looks like a gorgeous orange-hued butterfly!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.