Press Review

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, October 14: Afghanistan and Pakistan are "lurching toward a full-blown conflict". Also, French newspapers blame President Emmanuel Macron and his "insistence on retaining control" for the ongoing political crisis. Finally, Bolivia is working to destigmatise the coca leaf, traditionally associated with the production of cocaine.

Fears of a possible war between Afghanistan and Pakistan are rising. Radio Free Europe reports that the two countries, once allies, are now “lurching toward a full-blown conflict". The article notes that a conflict seemed unthinkable when the Taliban, an ally of Islamabad, seized power in 2021. However, over the weekend, deadly clashes erupted at the border, marking the most intense fighting in recent history. Pakistan’s defense minister warned that hostilities could resume “at any time”. Pakistani newspaper Dawn explains that the conflict began after Pakistan carried out drone strikes in central Kabul, targeting a Pakistani extremist group believed to be sheltering there. An editorial in the paper urges Pakistan to “prevent the matter from spiraling further,” adding that India and the Taliban are warming up to each other despite being former enemies. Afghan media outlet Pajhwok reports that Afghanistan rejected visa requests from a high-level Pakistani delegation, including Pakistan’s defense minister. Meanwhile, an editorial in The Indian Express stresses that ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan are a “major factor in regional stability” and that India must monitor the situation closely.

In France, a vote of no confidence looms over the new government, increasing pressure on President Macron. The Guardian reports that Macron has accused rival political parties of “fueling instability”, brushing aside calls for his resignation. French centre-left paper Le Monde argues that Macron’s “insistence on retaining control” has led to the failure of two prime ministers in less than a year, warning that it could turn the political crisis into a lasting institutional deadlock. French investigative paper Mediapart is equally critical, calling Macron “the irresponsible one” and accusing him of being “incapable of the slightest self-reflection”.

Finally, the Bolivian government is lobbying the UN to ease international restrictions on coca leaves, the raw material used to produce cocaine. But Bolivians argue that coca is much more than just a precursor to cocaine. The New York Times reports that coca is deeply woven into Bolivian culture; growing, selling, and consuming the leaf is legal there. In its natural form, coca is a mild stimulant, quite different from cocaine. The Bolivian government is urging the United Nations to “remove the leaf from the world’s list of most dangerous drugs”. Proponents argue that equating coca with cocaine "criminalises" an important part of indigenous heritage. A draft report by the World Health Organization concluded that the leaf poses no major health risks and is not highly addictive.

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, July 9: Papers report on the blazing wildfires in Syria, Spain and France. Over in Russia, where independent media are discussing the "alleged suicie" of a high-profile politician, who was found dead hours after being fired. Also, Elon Musk's Grok chatbot praises Hitler and shares hateful comments on X after its latest update. Finally, magazines discuss Kate Middleton's "fashion diplomacy" during Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Britain. 

Syria is still struggling to tame wildfires that erupted at the beginning of the month in the western parts of the country. Arab News reports that Syria is now seeking assistance from Europe to control the "six-day forest inferno". Because of the exceptional weather conditions and a lack of resources after 14 years of war, Syria needs help. Meanwhile, thousands of kilometres away in Catalonia, fires have ravaged more than 3,000 hectares of land, Spanish daily El Pais reports. The winds there are complicating the work of firefighters.

In France, fires are burning in the south of the country. In Marseille, the blaze has destroyed more than 700 hectares of land. According to a local paper from Marseille, La Provence, the fire now seems "frozen", but not yet "fixed". Locals from the affected regions have spoken to left-wing daily Libération about what they went through, saying "it's unbreathable". Libération writes that we have entered a new reality "to which we are painfully adapting".

We turn next to Russia, where independent papers are discussing the apparent suicide of the country's former transport minister. The Moscow Times writes that the Kremlin is "shocked" by the death of Roman Starovoyt. He was found dead with a gunshot wound hours after being fired by President Vladimir Putin on Monday, this amid media speculation that he was potentially facing corruption charges. Another article from The Moscow Times says that from 2018 to May 2024, Starovoit served as the governor of the Kursk region of Russia. But after Ukraine's surprise incursion last summer, law enforcement made several high-profile arrests. And while he was not arrested or directly investigated, unnamed sources say that suspects in the case have testified against him. Independent paper Meduza's headline says that his suicide "is linked to a case of embezzlement during the construction of defensive lines in the Kursk region". The paper writes that public Russian media aren't connecting the dots between Starovoyt's resignation, his suicide and the corruption charges.  

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is again making international headlines. The Washington Post reports that an unknown individual contacted high-level officials, including three foreign ministers, using an AI-generated "Marco Rubio" voice. The impersonator copied the style of the US Secretary of State "with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts", according to Rubio's office. On another note, "Grok is spewing anti-Semitic garbage on X", reports tech magazine Wired. Elon Musk's chatbot recently praised Hitler online and made a series of deeply offensive remarks, and this is only the latest example. The hateful posts started appearing after a software update last Friday. Musk had claimed that Grok had been "significantly improved" by the update and that users should notice a difference. 

Finally, with the start of the French state visit to Britain yesterday, some papers are commenting on the fashion choices of the leaders. Fashion magazine Vanity Fair calls Kate Middleton's classic Dior outfit a "dazzling display for the occasion". Her outfit is seen as a nod to both France and the late Princess Diana. Vogue looks at her second outfit, a Givenchy dress. The robe was designed by British designer Sarah Burton for the French fashion house – a clear statement of what Vogue calls "fashion diplomacy" and a symbol of the relationship between the two countries.

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, July 8: The British papers offer hope – and a warning – as French President Emmanuel Macron begins the first French state visit to the UK in over 15 years, where he will discuss the thorny issue of migrants crossing the Channel. A storied hotel in Haiti which inspired literature and celebrities burns to the ground. Plus: some fans of Squid Game hated the ending of the series, so they use AI to create their own alternative endings!

Emmanuel Macron heads on a diplomatic visit to the UK, the first French state visit since 2008. There are high expectations weighing on the French president, particularly on the issue of immigration. On its front page, The Times of London says British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will urge Macron to agree to a "one in, one out" migrant returns deal. The arrangement would allow Britain to return small boat migrants to France in exchange for taking in asylum seekers with a UK family connection. The exasperation is evident from another conservative daily, the Daily Mail. The paper issues a stern message to Macron, echoing criticism that France hasn't done enough to combat illegal immigration to the UK. Hand back our £700 million, the Mail says, in reference to the sum paid by the UK to help fight illegal immigration across the Channel, S'il vous plait (please) – the British are nothing if not polite! The Daily Telegraph cartoonist Patrick Blower sees Macron arriving on one of those dinghy boats, baptised the Pride of Calais, as a royal welcome awaits him.

Nonetheless, some British dailies do see a glimmer of hope in Macron's visit. On its front page, the Daily Telegraph reports that King Charles plans to tell Macron that there are no borders between Britain and France in their collective efforts to overcome complex threats. The Guardian's editors even speak of the renewal of an "entente cordiale" between France and Britain, one that benefits Europe as well. After years of being sabotaged during Brexit, the French-British relationship is one of the UK's "most important" and the Guardian rejoices that it is back on "firm footing".

The BRICS summit wrapped up yesterday in Rio de Janeiro, with India taking the reins of the presidency next year. According to The Hindu, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will give new form to BRICS. His speech at the summit covered a wide array of topics: post-pandemic recovery of the global economy, US tariffs and artificial intelligence. The French business paper La Tribune picked up on one glaring absence from the summit: Chinese President Xi Jinping. He did not attend the BRICS summit, for the first time. The paper wonders: was he preoccupied with the US tariff war? In any case, for La Tribune, it also underlines a crisis within the group. In 2023, BRICS expanded to include – among others – Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Today, it is somewhat hampered in its decision-making ability, as a result.

Countries that largely make up the BRICS group, like India and Brazil, are increasingly choosing to "play the field" when it comes to international diplomacy. That's the focus of a new book, which the Australian academic website The Conversation is talking about. "The Non-Aligned World" is written by Jorge Heine, a former Chilean ambassador. It focuses on active non-alignment – a foreign policy approach whereby countries refuse to take sides in the great power rivalry between US and China. Rather, they choose whose side to take depending on how it helps them nationally.

Turning to Haiti, The New York Times reports that a renowned hotel has burned to the ground in a suspected arson attack. As the capital Port-au- Prince is engulfed by gang violence, the paper reports that the Oloffsen Hotel, which stood for over a century, was burned down last weekend in a suspected arson attack. The hotel was an architectural gem – its wooden latticework, turrets and spires reflected the typical gingerbread Caribbean style of buildings which emerged in the 19th century. The hotel even survived the 2010 earthquake and was made famous by visitors like Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Taylor. Most famously, it inspired the setting of Graham Greene's novel "The Comedians".

Finally, fans of the TV series "Squid Game" hated the ending so much that they’re using AI to create their own one! Gizmodo reports that fans of "Squid Game" – Netflix's most watched series – hated the ending of the third and final season which has just wrapped up. So they’ve used AI to create alternate endings that are much more satisfactory, for them at least, and posted them on social media! The ending is indeed extremely bleak and cynical. The creator of the series said he initially wanted a happier ending, but the state of world affairs pushed him to imagine a bleaker one. It turns out that for some, the ending was too bleak, even in a show about desperate people murdering each other for money!

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, July 7: The British papers are remembering the 7/7 attacks in London. Also, the European Parliament is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have another public disagreement. Next, two original sports events take place in France. Finally, a chihuahua saves the day in Switzerland.

It has been 20 years since the 7/7 terror attacks in London, which killed more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. The commemorations are obviously very present in the British press. The Telegraph highlights the king's message ahead of the ceremonies, who praised the countless stories of courage and compassion. Much like the king, the Guardian focuses on human resilience, looking at how families of 7/7 victims used their heartbreak to help others. The Times, meanwhile, features the testimony of a journalist who reported on the attacks at the time. 

The London bombings are not the only tragic event being remembered in the press this Monday. The Sarajevo Times reports that the European Parliament is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide on July 11, in which 8,000 men and boys were slaughtered. French paper Libération dedicates five pages to the massacre. Libération's reporters travelled to Srebrenica, where it found that denial of the genocide remains a key issue.  

Turning to the US, Musk and Trump have had yet another public dispute, as seen in Time Magazine. Musk has announced that he has launched a new party, originally named the America Party, "cementing his split from Trump and the Republicans", according to Time. Politico reports that Trump has argued that third parties only create total chaos and disruption.  

Meanwhile, it's a brilliant summer for sports fans but some more unusual sporting events also deserve attention – starting with the international grey shrimp peeling championship, as reported by franceinfo. La Marseillaise, meanwhile, features the world's largest pétanque competition, where 14,000 players are competing for the trophy. 

Finally, we all know that the iconic Saint Bernards make brilliant Alpine rescue dogs. But the Tribune de Genève suggests that chihuahuas are not bad either, after a loyal chihuahua saved his owner's life after he fell in a crevasse on a glacier above Saas Fee in Switzerland. 

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, July 4: We look at reactions to US President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill", which he will sign today. Also: Russia recognises the Taliban as Afghanistan's government, becoming the first country to do so. Tributes in the football world pour in for Diogo Jota, a star of Liverpool FC who has died in a car crash alongside his brother, André Silva. Finally: a new study shows orcas offering gifts to humans – but scientists are puzzled about what their intentions really are.

Papers are reacting to Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill", which he's set to sign this Friday, July 4, which is US Independence Day. The bill will cut major welfare programmes and add trillions of dollars to the national debt. The Washington Post calls it one of the most consequential and expensive economic legacies in modern American presidential history. The Wall Street Journal takes us through how the bill managed to pass the finish line. Trump used his executive authority to made deals to avoid the bill heading back to the Senate. He agreed to explore new tariffs on parts used in wind turbines in a bid to placate conservative Republicans who wanted greater limits on renewable energies. The Journal notes that his "vague promises and cajoling" paid off, with the House passing the bill on Thursday. It also underscores his iron grip on the Republican Party.

In the conservative press, the Washington Times is hailing "big, beautiful wins." The sweeping tax cut legislation caps a "summer of victories" for Trump, it says. The National Review calls the bill's passage a significant conservative policy win that will make permanent the "meat of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017", in reference to a bill passed during Trump's first term in office. The magazine celebrates a provision defunding planned parenthood from Medicaid but laments that it's pared back to just a one-year restriction. It does say, however, that the failure to get spending under control will come back to "haunt any Republican who wants to be remembered for helping bring our debt under control".

In other news, Russia has acknowledged the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, something a lot of the press is reporting on. The New York Times notes that Russia has become the first country to recognise the Taliban as Afghanistan's government, four years after the group seized control of the country. Russia's recognition is a "significant victory" for the Taliban, the paper says, reminding us that their draconian restrictions on women have made the country a pariah state. The Taliban moved to eradicate opium production in a bid to entice foreign partners, but its refusal on women's rights means it has stayed diplomatically isolated. Last year, China and India appeared to soften towards Afghanistan.

The football world is mourning the loss of Diogo Jota, a Portuguese player and Liverpool forward. The 28-year-old and his brother André Silva were killed when the Lamborghini they were travelling in veered off the road in Santander, Spain. Jota was heading back for Liverpool's pre-season training. A Bola, the Portuguese sports paper, goes with a sober black and white photo of Diogo and André and their respective date of births. You’ll never walk alone, reads the title in English – a nod to Liverpool FC's slogan. "Forever our number 20", the Liverpool Echo says in an edition featuring several pages dedicated to the footballer. The Guardian also focuses on the terrible accident on its front page. The pair were driving to Santander to catch a ferry back to England because Jota was advised against flying back to England after recent surgery. He had just recently married his partner and was a father of three.

Finally, a new study has shown wild orcas appearing to present humans with gifts of food, but it's unclear if this is a gift or an attempt at manipulating us. The Times of London reports on the study which notes 34 examples of this behaviour in six different orca populations, from Norway to New Zealand. The orcas approached people in boats, in the water or on shore, and brought fish, bits of whale, birds, seaweed and even a turtle. They then usually hovered around waiting to see what would happen. In a few cases, the food was picked up, inspected and tossed back. The whales then retrieved and returned the gift. The results were published in a psychology journal and offer some theories about what this behaviour could mean: that the orcas were extending a flipper of friendship and nothing more. Or a darker, "Machiavellian" explanation: it was an attempt to attract a species of prey – us – and kill us but not eat us. With the word killer in their names, you'd be forgiven for being a bit suspicious!

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, July 3: We look at reactions to the verdict in Sean "Diddy" Combs's trial and what it means for the #MeToo movement. Also: for the first time, France arrests a man on terrorism charges relating to the incel movement. Plus: the Dalai Lama defies pressure from China and says he will appoint a successor the traditional way as he celebrates his 90th birthday. Finally, the Tour de France kicks off this Saturday with a uniquely French itinerary! 

The press is full of reactions to the verdict in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial. A judge acquitted rap mogul Combs, aka Diddy, of the most serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges. But he was found guilty on prostitution-related charges, the Daily Mirror says on its front page. The verdict is largely seen as a mixed result, but one in which Combs comes out on top. Even though he is being kept in custody while awaiting sentencing, he now faces years in prison, but not life behind bars. Lawyers are calling for a 20-year sentence, as the Daily Star notes on its front page. The Wall Street Journal credits Diddy's lawyer for helping his case. Marc Agnifilo steered a team of nine lawyers. He took on a risky strategy: acknowledging Combs' history of abuse while arguing that it didn’t constitute a criminal enterprise. Agnifilo’s "affable affect" helped him build a rapport with the jury of four women and eight men while they grappled with the facts of some of Diddy's "stomach-turning" acts.  

In the opinion pages, The New York Times looks at the "nine lives" of Diddy. It says that with this trial, he escapes the fate of other disgraced celebrities, such as Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly, who were held accountable for their actions in the #MeToo era. 

The website Vox, meanwhile, looks at what this verdict means for the #MeToo movement. Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex-partner who led the charges against him, filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act. This law was passed in response to the #MeToo movement and allowed sexual violence survivors to file civil lawsuits against their attackers for one year between November 2022-23 even if the statute of limitations had lapsed. But this period also coincided with a backlash against the movement and the feeling by some that it had gone too far. For Vox, this verdict represents the fraught place of the movement in America’s public consciousness today. 

Here in France, Le Monde is reporting on the arrest of a man on terrorism charges relating to the incel movement. It's the first such case in France. The young man, "Timothy G", is just 18 years old. He was arrested last Friday by national security forces near a public high school where he was attending pre-graduate classes. He had been under surveillance for some months and is suspected of seeking to kill women. He claimed to be part of the incel movement and posted incel videos on TikTok. The "involuntary celibate" movement is of composed of men who harbour anger and resentment towards women they believe are denying them sexual relationships. The case resembles the fictional TV series "Adolescence", which made waves this year for its exploration of toxic masculinity in adolescent boys. 

Elsewhere, The New York Times reports that the Dalai Lama will turn 90 this Sunday. At a conference of monks held yesterday in Dharamsala in India, there was lots of chatter about how he will pick a successor. The current Dalai Lama fled China in 1959 after the army invaded Tibet and has lived in India even since, where he raises awareness of the plight of Tibetans. At one time, he even considered ending the institution to prevent giving China a target. But on Wednesday, he reverted to tradition, saying the institution will continue and as usual, through the process of a reincarnation successor. Choosing a successor is inherently political. China maintains only it can choose the successor, despite atheism being imposed in politics. Xinhua, the state-run news agency in China, issued an editorial yesterday – a reminder that the reincarnation of living buddhas is not just an internal religious matter but one of national sovereignty and governmental authority. 

Finally, with the Tour de France beginning this Saturday, Le Figaro Sport notes that the cyclists will take off from the northern city of Lille. This year’s race will see them ride 3,320km: exclusively in France, for the first time in five years. The Tour de France organisers have reinvented the last stage of the race, to the displeasure of some riders. On July 27, riders will climb the Butte Montmartre three times before heading down to the Champs-Elysées. It's an unprecedented climb in the history of the Tour – the 21st stage is usually reserved for sprinters. Good luck to the riders, they will need it! 

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, July 2: Russia is ramping up AI disinformation abroad, but also at home, where it's using bots to justify high utility rate hikes. In the US, President Donald Trump is reigniting fears of a global trade war amid tensions with Japan. Also in Japan, "proxy quitter" companies help workers avoid an awkward conversation with their bosses. Finally, the current heatwave is igniting fierce pro- and anti-AC debates in France. Is "AC guilt" justified? 

Russia's ongoing disinformation efforts are intensifying. Tech magazine Wired says the Kremlin is using free AI tools to fuel "pro-Russian narratives" in many countries overseas, but most notably in Ukraine. This comes in the form of not only videos and pictures, but also QR codes and fake media pages. What's new is the intensity and sophistication of the fakes. The paper cites a report saying that between September 2024 and May 2025, the amount of content "has increased dramatically" and is being viewed by millions of people around the world. But Russia's disinformation efforts aren't just international. Russian independent paper The Moscow Times reports that the Kremlin has launched an online bot campaign inside Russia to justify the country's "biggest utility rate hikes in years". More than 10,000 bot comments were analysed and many of them defended the hikes, framing them as beneficial or simply routine. Some even claimed that wages in Russia are also increasing.

Moving to the US, Trump is reigniting fears of a global trade war. This time, the US president is pushing Japan to agree to a trade deal by July 9. The Financial Times reports that Trump is threatening to raise tariffs on Japan again, this time by 30 to 35 percent. Japan Today reports that Trump used the argument that Japan is not importing enough American rice, in a post on Truth Social. The paper says that Trump "singled out Japan in a way he rarely does online". The Wall Street Journal is analysing the divide by looking at the car industry. The American paper cites people familiar with the matter who say that Americans might demand "a cap on the number of vehicles exported by Japan" into the US. But Japanese officials are standing their ground, refusing any deal that preserves Trump's 25 percent auto tariff. The paper says that Trump used the rice argument, despite Japan's imports worth "hundreds of thousands of tons of US rice annually". The Japan Times's headline asks the question: "Is the shine coming off the US-Japan 'Golden Age'?" The paper says that as recently as January, Trump described the relationship between the two countries as "a friendship like few others", but not even half a year later, cracks are appearing. The trade talks have stalled, and a distance has opened between the US and Japan on what’s happening in the Middle East. 

Staying in Japan, the rigid hierarchies of Japanese companies are pushing people to find innovative ways out. The Washington Post reports that if you're avoiding your boss, "in Japan, you can hire someone to quit your job for you". The article talks about "proxy quitter" companies, whose agents "quit on behalf of clients" who want to avoid the awkward conversation. People use the service because they've been harassed at work, for instance, or if they weren't allowed to express their concerns freely, due to the strict work culture in the country. 

Finally, Europe's scorching heatwave is igniting a divisive debate in France, and it's all about air conditioning. A "pro-AC" column in right-wing paper Le Figaro notes that more and more French people are thinking of investing in an air conditioner, not without a "certain amount of guilt". Le Figaro asks, however: "Is this guilt really justified?". Left-wing paper Libération asks what the alternatives are and quotes experts who say that adopting energy-consuming AC is a sign of bad adaptation to climate change. And the heated debate isn't just in newspaper columns. "Team air conditioning" versus "team open window" is very much present in the office, writes French newspaper Les Echos. The financial daily says that each person has a different perception of temperature, depending on their sex, health or other factors. And body regulation depends on all of those factors. As a result, adjusting the air conditioning can generate high tensions, particularly in open plan offices. 

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, July 1: The French left-wing papers rejoice after a controversial public broadcasting bill is rejected by parliament. The New York Times looks at how the Sinaloa cartel is making new alliances with enemies, which could reshape the global drug trade. Also: a photo report documents horrific sexual violence inflicted on Tigray women in Ethiopia. Plus: Oliver Tarvet, an amateur player, will face world n° 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round at Wimbledon. 

French MPs have rejected a bill that aims to bring France's public services under one holding company. The text was rejected in the National Assembly on Monday before it could even be debated. It will now head to the Senate for a review. L'Humanité, the Communist paper, says: "Dati persists, public services resist." That headline is in reference to French Culture Minister – and Paris mayor hopeful – Rachida Dati, who spearheaded the controversial bill. Libération says the MPs' outright rejection of the text is a "slap in the face" for Dati, noting that she was abandoned in the vote by Macron’s ruling coalition. In its editorial, Libération says Dati failed in her fourth attempt at passing the deeply controversial bill. It accuses her of being dogmatic in her bid to seek revenge on the journalists who have investigated her many corruption scandals.

As Le Monde explains, the proposal seeks to merge France's three major public broadcasting companies: France Télévisions, Radio France and INA, the national archives. This merger has been likened to a French-style BBC. Those opposed to the move say it would hamper editorial independence and offer fewer resources at a time when maintaining editorial independence is crucial. Le Monde notes that this reform comes at a time when French public services are in relatively good health: Radio France's podcasts are among the most listened to and France Télévisions is holding strong against competition. This doesn't detract, however, from the challenges the sector faces: ageing audiences and fierce competition from on-demand television.

In other news: The New York Times looks at how tough times for the Mexican Sinaloa dug cartel could push them to make dangerous alliances. The Sinaloa cartel is the world's most feared fentanyl cartel. It is reeling from internal fighting and a crackdown by Mexico and the USA. The cartel has for years run a global empire through alliances with affiliates around the world. But now, amid troubled times, a faction of the group have allied with a powerful adversary: the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. This alliance could turn the latter in to the world's biggest drug trafficker and redraw alliances and power structures around the world. As one expert puts it, it’s as if the East Coast of the US seceded during the Cold War and reached out to the Soviet Union.

The British daily The Guardian has a haunting photo report looking at the horrific sexual violence inflicted against Tigray woman in Ethiopia. Uruguayan photographer Ximena Borrazas specialises in documenting humanitarian conflict. During the 2020 war, tens of thousands of Tigrayan women were gang-raped by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers. As Borrazas reports, some had foreign objects forcibly injected into their uterus – metal screws and even letters written by soldiers covered in plastic. These letters expressed a desire to render the women infertile so as to end the Tigrayan population. Some expressed a desire to seek revenge for Tigray's border war in the 1990s. Other women were subjected to acid attacks and still suffer today. The Guardian notes that nearly 90 percent of victims have not received any medical or psychological help. Justice for them seems an even more distant prospect.

Finally, an amateur tennis player will face world n° 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of Wimbledon. Britain's Oliver Tarvet, who is ranked 733rd in the world, is the lowest-ranked player in the entire singles draw. His three-set first round win over a Swiss opponent earned him nearly £100,000. But his amateur status and the fact that he's a US college student mean he can only received £10,000 in profit this year because of the national collegiate athlete rules. Nonetheless, he has a mammoth task ahead of him: his second-round match will be against Alcaraz on Wednesday!

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, June 30: The heatwave across Europe is making international headlines, with Spain and Portugal recording record temperatures. Next, settler violence is escalating amid what Haaretz calls a "West Bank pogrom". Also, The Washington Post tells the bittersweet story of a seven-year-old girl's last midsummer Christmas. Finally, we test if our anchor can differentiate an AI-generated video from a real one.

The sizzling heatwave is making headlines across Europe. The Financial Times reports that Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Portugal and the UK have all been experiencing "unusually high temperatures" in recent days. British daily The Guardian reports that, in the UK, the heatwave could result in the "hottest ever start to Wimbledon". By Tuesday, temperatures in some parts of England are expected to reach 35°C. France isn't being spared from the heat. French daily Courrier Picard reports that 84 departments have been placed under orange heatwave alert. French left-wing Libération’s headline reads “Heatwave: fire at home”. The paper reports from Aubervilliers – a northern suburb of Paris – where many people live in concrete buildings that retain heat and aren’t equipped with air conditioning. Some apartments can reach 40°C inside when it's 30°C outside. Further south, Portuguese paper Diario de Noticias writes that Portugal reached a new heat record yesterday: 46.6°C was recorded in the region of Evora, in the centre of the country. That's the highest temperature ever recorded in Portugal in the month of June. A record was also broken in Spain, where the mercury reached 46°C in El Granado, Andalusia, the Spanish daily El Pais reports. That's almost one degree more than the previous record set in 1965. 

We turn next to the West Bank, where violence has been escalating in the past few days. Last week, settlers set fire to Palestinian property and over the weekend, the IDF said they had detained Israeli settlers in the occupied territory after they attacked security forces. Israeli left-wing paper Haaretz reports that settlers rioted and attempted to break into an army base, after a 14-year-old Israeli was shot, possibly by the IDF. The officer involved said there was another riot, in which rocks were thrown at his vehicle. He shot into the air, thinking the rioters were Palestinian. Right-wing Israeli paper The Jerusalem Post writes that "Violent Jewish settlers are a moral and strategic liability". It says the last thing the country needs, amid the war with Iran and in Gaza, is IDF soldiers having to fight "Jewish extremists". Haaretz says that a "Quiet, West Bank pogrom" is in progress. The paper says that the condemnation of the attacks has been "very weak" and that it was only a matter of time before the settlers would start attacking Israeli soldiers "who prevent them from carrying out their wicked schemes against Palestinians". 

Turning to the US, we bring you a bittersweet story reported by The Washington Post. A community in the DC region decorated dozens of houses for Christmas in the middle of summer. They did it to put a smile on the face of a little girl with terminal cancer who might not make it to December. The paper writes that in a period filled with global and local crises, the community felt grateful "to do something tangible" and help the family and little Kasey "find a moment of happiness in the face of a certain tragedy". And it certainly worked: she even got to meet Santa.  

Finally, as artificial intelligence keeps progressing, it's getting almost impossible to differentiate an AI-generated video from a real one. The New York Times has generated several AI videos and put them together with real ones to create an online quiz. We test the skills of our presenter. 

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, June 27: Donald Trump's health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr moves to rescind recommendations for the flu vaccine over a longstanding anti-vaxxer belief that it causes autism. The US will also pull funding for a global alliance that provides free jabs to impoverished populations. Meanwhile: Libération looks at the instrumentalisation of famine in the war in Gaza. Finally, Jeff Bezos' opulent three-day wedding kicks off in Venice.

An advisory panel for US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has voted to rescind recommendations for the flu vaccine, The New York Times reports. Kennedy recently fired 17 experts on the advisory panel, replacing them with eight anti-vaxxers. On Thursday the panel voted to walk back vaccine recommendations for the common flu. The reason? A common (and false) argument of anti-vaxxers: that thimerosol, an ingredient in the flu vaccine is linked to autism. The Times says the decision signals a "powerful shift" in the way federal officials approach vaccines. It also delivers the first blows to a scientific process that has provided effective and tested vaccines to Americans for decades. 

It's important to note, as the Australian academic website The Conversation explains, that the preservative thimerosol is mercury-based and used in some drug products because it prevents contamination by killing microbes. However, it is hardly ever used in flu vaccines today. The website explains that the argument that vaccines cause autism first surfaced in 1998 when a now-discredited report in the medical journal The Lancet was published, claiming that several children developed autism following the flu vaccine. 

The Financial Times reports that the Trump administration will also stop funding for GAVI, the global vaccine group that provide free shots for meningitis, malaria and other disease prevention to people in poor countries. Kennedy says the alliance has ignored science and failed to justify billions of dollars the US gives in funding. The US being the alliance's top donor, this decision will sharply dent GAVI's efforts to raise over $9 billion for vaccination campaigns dedicated to a half a billion children in the next five years. The Washington Post's editors, meanwhile, profile Susan Monarez, a respected scientist who is acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and who could be on track to hold the position permanently. She had a confirmation hearing this week with US senators and impressed with her ability to avoid contradicting Kennedy's decision and avoid endorsing it at the same time. The Post's editors say that if confirmed, she could be a real impediment to those seeking to upend vaccine policies that have saved countless lives.

French newspaper Libération looks at the famine in Gaza on its front page and asks the question: Is famine being used as a weapon of war by Israel in Gaza? The paper investigates the chaotic distribution of humanitarian aid in the Strip. Liberation explains that the system of aid is built around the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American NGO and the only organisation allowed to distribute aid. Traditional NGOs are refusing to work with the GHF, telling Libération they believe it has militarised humanitarian aid and facilitated the chaos. Over 500 people have been killed since the GHF set up its aid distribution points. Libération also accuses the Israeli army of setting up aid mainly in the south of the enclave, cutting off aid to the rest of the population – a form of ethnic cleansing, it says.

Finally, the controversial nuptials of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are underway in Venice this weekend. His opulent three-day wedding celebration has drawn support from Venetian business owners who are happy to cater to the hordes of rappers, celebrities and tech billionaires descending on the Italian city. Nonetheless, it's sparked widespread protests from locals and activists fed up with the added strain it will put on a region that's already suffering from overtourism. Il Giorno, the Italian paper, looks at the controversial wedding of "Mister Amazon" and Lauren Sanchez. In many ways, The New York Times says, San Giorgio, where emperors once met with popes, is fit to host the patron of Amazon.com. Protesters say it’s not about the wedding but what it represents: the Americanisation of an inherently European city, and a tech billionaire who's cosied up to US President Donald Trump.

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