Press Review

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, February 21: We look at what the French and German press are saying ahead of German elections this weekend, which are the most consequential since World War II, according to Politico. Journalist network Forbidden Stories sheds light on the murder of a Cambodian journalist last year over his environmental reporting. James Bond's creative rights have been sold to Amazon, much to the horror of the British press. Finally, Gisèle Pelicot is among Time Magazine's women of the year.

The all-important elections in Germany come at a very tense time for Europe. For Politico, Germans head to the voting booths this weekend in possible "the most consequential postwar election". In all likelihood, the conservative leader Friedrich Merz will be the next chancellor. He will have three tasks ahead of him: toughening Germany's asylum system, kickstarting an ailing economy and transforming Germany's armed forces.

One country that will be closely watching these elections is France. As Libération, the left-wing paper notes, it will impact the Franco-German couple – the leaders of France and Germany who have historically worked closely together. Germans must make their choice this weekend, La Croix, the French Catholic paper, says on its front page. It notes that forming the next German government will be a complex exercise, particularly with the strong gains expected to be made by the far right in these elections.

Meanwhile in the German dailies, the Frankfurter Allgemeine focuses on Thursday's final debate between the candidates. The evening covered three major topics: how to secure peace in Europe, how to change Germany's health system and the concerns of younger voters. On the question of Ukraine peace talks, the left and far-right parties rejected arms exports, the NATO alliance and military spending. The Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens showed an openness to increase defence spending. The paper nonetheless hails what was a lively and interesting political debate.

This week, the personal life of the far-right leader Alice Weidel has come under the microscope, something the Frankfurter Allgemeine is looking at. The leader of the AfD is a lesbian whose partner was born in Sri Lanka and yet who is fronting an anti-immigration party. Weidel, to her detractors, is a woman of contradictions. The Frankfurter Allgemeine notes that this kind of scrutiny of her personal life does not extend to her male rivals. The paper adds that it’s not as simple as accusing her of "preaching water and drinking wine". Historically, as sociological research shows, people who belong to marginalised groups find the AfD party's issues speak to them directly, even if the party's core ideas include racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism.

The international journalist network Forbidden Stories is shedding light on the murder of a reporter last year in Cambodia. The collective lifts the veil on the shooting death of 63-year-old journalist Chhoeung Chheng. The journalist, who held a press card but was not paid for his work – a common practice in Cambodia – was shot while coming back from a filming a report in the Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary. This is a sanctuary in name only: three quarters of its primary forest has been illegally destroyed in 20 years. As Forbidden Stories notes, covering environmental degradation is a risky business in Cambodia due to the illegal activities of timber magnates and the corruption of authorities. Chheng, who was illiterate and filmed his reports, was more like a whistleblower. He regularly denounced those who felled trees, be it corporations or individuals, and a local farmer is suspected of having killed him over those Facebook posts, which included denouncing locals who fell trees in exchange for payment.

The British dailies are up in arms over the decision to sell the creative rights of James Bond to Jeff Bezos's Amazon. The Daily Express is shaken and stirred with the news that the creative rights to Bond, an historic decades-long British icon, have been sold to the US giant. Will the Skyfall in, the Daily Mirror asks, noting that the future of Bond is now uncertain. The Daily Telegraph calls it an assault on Britishness, saying it feels like 007 is dying a second time. The paper conceded that any franchise needs refreshing, however the buck has always stopped with British company Eon Productions, responsible for Bond since 1961. The Daily Telegraph worries that Amazon might "milk the brand into the ground". It says that for all we know, Bond might start calling his dinner jacket a tuxedo or slugging bourbon from the bottle. Be afraid!

Finally, Gisèle Pelicot has been chosen as one of 13 women of the year in Time Magazine's 2025 list. She is credited with helping to create a better, equal world. The magazine pays tribute to Pelicot, who waived her anonymity to attend a months-long trial against her husband, who was found guilty of drugging her and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious. Time says she galvanised a movement for survivors of sexual violence.

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, February 20: Papers around the world react with outrage to US President Donald Trump labelling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" and blaming Ukraine for starting the war. Elsewhere, a worrying study indicates that glaciers are melting at a rapid rate. Also, archaeologists discover the first pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt in more than a century. Finally, Kylian Mbappé scores a hat-trick as Real Madrid down Manchester City in the Champions League.

Read moreChampions League: Madrid outclass Man City as PSG power into last 16

PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, February 19: European leaders are set for another emergency meeting in Paris, as Russia says it won't allow British troops on the ground in Ukraine. Elsewhere, Sudanese paramilitaries have announced plans for a breakaway government. Also, there's a 3.2 percent chance of an asteroid hitting the Earth in 2032, according to astronomers. Finally, a new study suggests that men are more romantic than women.

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 18: Saudi Arabia emerges as a key diplomatic power as it hosts Russian and US officials for talks on Ukraine this Tuesday and a Gaza summit on Friday. How did Riyadh go from global pariah to key partner? Also: France's 2030 Winter Games preparation kicks off, actress Julianne Moore's children's book on a girl with freckles risks being banned by the Trump administration and a Belgian couple set a record for the longest marriage in Europe – 82 years!

There's lots of focus on Saudi Arabia in the press as Russian and US officials meet in the capital Riyadh for Ukraine peace talks. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio already met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, a meeting that makes the front page of the Saudi paper Arab News. Rubio will meet Russian officials on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for negotiations on Ukraine. Later this week, Riyadh will play host to an Arab summit on Gaza, as Saudi Arabia plays peacemaker. For Asharq al-Awsat, an Arab-language Saudi paper, this Tuesday's summit is a major change for international diplomacy and huge step forward towards world peace. It seems at the moment that "all roads lead to Riyadh", as the Middle East Eye notes in this article. The talks this week, the website says, could rewrite the security architecture of Europe.

It seems that European leaders have become mere bystanders – at least for the illustrated press. Patrick Blower for The Daily Telegraph sees Donald Trump and a blood-soaked Vladimir Putin carving up Ukraine while Europe’s leaders sit at the proverbial kids' table. All the while, for Morten Morland, the Times cartoonist, the world's autocratic leaders are enjoying the show.

The French paper Le Figaro provides some analysis as to why Saudi Arabia has suddenly been thrust into a leadership role. According to the French daily, it’s been carefully curated since the beginning of the war. Riyadh helped facilitate a prisoner swap in August 2022 between Ukraine and Russia. Prince Mohammed bin Salman was careful not to condemn Russia when it invaded Ukraine, nor slap sanctions on Moscow. Years earlier, Putin had warmly welcomed the crown prince at the 2018 G20 summit, weeks after the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which had left Riyadh an international pariah. The mutual, tacit support of each other, plus Trump's election, has facilitated Saudi Arabia's influence today.

Here in France, the organising committee of the 2030 Winter Olympics will be officialised this Tuesday. The announcement had been delayed by several months. As Le Parisien reports, gold-medal winning biathlete Martin Fourcade was initially tipped to be president of the organising committee. However, he quit spectacularly earlier this month, saying his vision did not align with that of the politicians from the regions where the Games will take place. Fourcade has been replaced by Edgar Grospiron, a gold medal-winning skier.

There are many concerns around the financial and ecological cost of hosting such Games. Left-wing French daily Libération slams the event, calling it an incredible farce set against an domestic political battle and coming to the detriment of the environment.

Before the 2030 Games, Milan will host the 2026 Winter Games in less than 12 months. As The Washington Post reports, they too will be a logistical nightmare. They will also be the most spread out Games ever, stretching hundreds of kilometres between Italy, Switzerland and Austria. The trip between the men's and women's downhill skiing venues could take up to 12 hours. Multiple athletes' villages will be improvised, instead of having one for the cities and one of the mountains. Organisers say the goal is to reduce costs by using existing infrastructure. The tradeoff, however, will be the large distances to travel.

Elsewhere, Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore says she's shocked that a children’s book she wrote is at risk of being banned in schools. The Guardian reports that her 2007 children's book "Freckleface Strawberry" has come under review of part of a book ban in US schools. Moore’s book is about a girl who dislikes her freckles but learns to live with them. It's under review as part of a book ban in schools serving children of US military personnel and civilian defence employees. This is part of Trump's executive orders regarding so-called gender ideology and racial indoctrination in schools.

Finally, we leave you with an uplifting story. Eduard and Angelique, 101 and 99 years old respectively, have set a new record for being the longest married couple in Europe. They’ve been married since January 20, 1943: that's a union lasting 82 years, a European record according to the European Supercentenarian Organisation! 

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, February 17: European leaders flock to Paris to discuss an uncertain future, as US President Donald Trump excludes both Ukraine and Europe from peace talks with Russia. Elsewhere, an investigation by The Observer reveals that Google has been working with Russia and other autocratic regimes in order to facilitate censorship requests. Finally, a New Zealand tourism campaign is ridiculed for its slogan.

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, February 14: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's phone conversation continues to spark concern, panic and worry among European leaders. What does this mean for the future of Europe? Also, The New York Times takes us inside the family succession drama that has torn apart Rupert Murdoch's family. Plus: for the non-romantics this Valentine's Day, name rats after your exes and watch them being devoured by owls!

There is alarm, panic and great concern in the European press this Friday after Wednesday's call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in which the pair appeared to discuss plans for an end to the war in Ukraine. The British daily The i says the call has left European leaders scrambling, but notes that NATO’s leader Mark Rutte has commended Trump’s honesty and said that Europe needs a wake-up call about its defence spending. "Castaways" is how Libération, French left-wing paper, describes the two leaders on its front page. The paper's editor calls the conversation with Trump the greatest victory for Putin in three years of war, and it didn’t even come on the battlefield. 

There is great concern that talks to end the war in Ukraine will come at Ukraine's expense and will completely sideline Kyiv. In Ransom's cartoon in French paper Le Parisien, Trump tells Volodymyr Zelensky that there is no chair for him at the proverbial negotiating table with Putin.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine, the German daily, wonders if Berlin is simply watching all this unravel from the sidelines. The paper notes that Putin and Trump's conversation and subsequent comments this week have not only shaken Germany's understanding of its own role in the conflict. They also come in the middle of an election campaign in the country and beg the question: how can Europe take responsibility for Ukraine's security and its own? Writing in the Daily Mail, Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO, says that Trump has handed Ukraine on a platter to Russia and says it's worse than Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Nazi Germany. He also acknowledges that this agreement is catastrophic for the courageous Ukrainians who've been fighting for three years. Politico quotes a European official as saying that European leaders simply lack a master plan when it comes to Trump's new world disorder. The official, speaking anonymously, tells Politico that Trump discussing peace talks without even involving Europe shows to what extent Washington disregards the continent. The US president has delivered a rude awakening to the cruel world of today.

The New York Times takes us inside the messy court battle and bitter succession fight between Rupert Murdoch and his four children over the future of his empire. Based on 3,000 pages of court documents, the Times article details a family succession saga that reads like a script from the TV series "Succession" (itself inspired by the Murdoch family). Ninety-three-year-old Murdoch has always intended for his empire to be passed on to his four children. In recent times, however, he has sought to consolidate power in the hands of just one child: Lachlan Murdoch, the most politically conservative of the four siblings and who represents the conservative direction Murdoch wants for the future of his news empire. In 2023, he sat down with his two daughters to announce that he'd be changing the trust to give Lachlan majority powers. What ensued was a bitter family legal battle that’s played out in dramatic fashion, culminating in a secret trial in which they testified to the power plays, backstabbing and grievances that have defined the family.

Finally, it's Valentine's Day and if you're a non-romantic, there are many ways to hate-celebrate this day! The Independent reports that animal shelters and zoos around the world are offering many possibilities to help you forget about your exes. At a bird shelter in Alaska, you can pay $100 to name a frozen dead rat after your ex and then watch it being fed to resident owls at the shelter. If rats aren't your thing, you can always name a feral cat after an ex before it – the cat, not your ex – gets castrated! Meanwhile, Memphis Zoo in Tennessee gives you two options: for $10, you can send a lovely video of a red panda eating a grape to your loved one … or, you can send a video of an elephant pooping. The options are plentiful this Valentine's Day for lovers and haters!

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, February 13: The political crisis in Austria deepens after coalition government talks fail once again and far-right leader Herbert Kickl gives back the mandate to form a coalition. What's next? Also: French Prime Minister François Bayrou threatens to sue over allegations he covered up physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic school in the 1990s. Plus: find out why swamps and marshes could be crucial to the fight against global warming.

Austria faces a deepening political crisis. The far-right Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl won 29 percent of votes in national elections last September. Since then, the party has been unable to form a coalition government with the conservative Austrian People's Party on multiple occasions. According to The New York Times, the most recent talks collapsed on Wednesday because the two parties could not agree on who should get the interior ministry portfolio. Kickl's party wanted it to push their anti-immigration policies. The conservatives were worried that if the far right got the portfolio, foreign intelligence agencies would stop cooperating with the interior ministry, which controls Austria's intelligence agencies. On Wednesday, Kickl announced he was giving up his mandate. The Austrian liberal paper Die Presse wonders: "What happens now?" In its editorial, the paper says that Austria has been spared a Chancellor Herbert Kickl, for the time being at least. The editor calls the crisis "political dysfunction" bordering on embarrassment. The coalition talks have lasted for five months, the longest in Austrian politics since 1945. Der Standard, a left-leaning liberal paper, announces emphatically that Kickl has failed. In its editorial, the paper says Kickl is not fit to govern for countless reasons, evoking his decision in 2018 as interior minister to dismantle the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution with the help of people suspected of spying for the Russians.

In France, Prime Minister François Bayrou is accused of covering up physical and sexual violence at a Catholic school. The scandal is relayed by French investigative website Mediapart. It concerns a private Catholic school called Notre-Dame de Betharram. The school is accused of allowing physical and sexual violence on students over nearly six decades. Bayrou's wife was a teacher there and some of his children attended the school. Bayrou, who was president of the general council of the department where the school is located, says he had no idea about the accusations levelled against the school. Mediapart says he had to have known – he met with a judge investigating the priest accused of the crimes in 1998. Bayrou angrily defended himself in parliament on Tuesday, saying he would file for defamation if necessary. Some opposition MPs accuse him of having lied before parliament.

Elsewhere, swamps and marshes may be a boring part of nature, but they could play a crucial role in combating global warming. As The Washington Post notes: "The soggy spots have been dismissed as inhospitable smudges on the map." Swamps, bogs, fens – whatever you call peatlands, no one is exactly rushing to visit them and yet, they will play a crucial role in the future. Under the soggy soil, swamps trap huge amounts of CO2. And yet, less than a fifth of world's peatlands are protected. If they disappear, they could release all that trapped gas into the air. In Canada for instance, peatlands are at risk because stocked underneath are vast sources of clean energy that authorities hope to exploit. Meanwhile, DR Congo is home to largest swathes of tropical peatlands – but farmers want to drain them to grow crops. A new study from journal Conservation Letters this week warns that restoring peatlands and protecting them will be crucial to fighting climate change.

Finally: Andy Murray is a grand slam-winning tennis player known for his exploits on-court, but he's no skier! The Telegraph explains that Murray revealed that he recently had to be rescued from the Swiss Alps in a embarrassing first attempt at skiing. He was trying to take on a 3km downhill slope at the end of the day after the lifts had closed. After picking up speed, he quickly realised he had no idea what he was doing. Thankfully, rescuers came to help him off the mountain. Murray says he still plans to go back skiing later this year. It turns out that you can win grand slam titles, but skiing is a pretty tough sport to nail!

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, February 12: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Marseille in order to inaugurate his country's second consulate in France. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky gives an exclusive interview to The Guardian. Also, a petition urging Denmark to buy California goes viral. Finally, Jude Bellingham makes the back pages as his goal seals a dramatic Real Madrid victory over Manchester City.

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 11: Day 2 of the Paris AI summit kicks off today. It is likely to be overshadowed by the absence of Elon Musk and a draft statement to which the UK and US have objected. In other news: the Wall Street Journal publishes an exclusive report about the terrifying abuse and cruelty inflicted by Russian guards on Ukrainian POWs. And, a man in the UK is considering buying a rubbish tip in order to find a hard drive with Bitcoin which he says is worth over half a billion dollars.

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, February 10: Paris gears up to host the AI summit. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says he has spoken to Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, as one 72 year-old finds himself locked up in Russia. Also, Keir Starmer marks HIV Testing Week by taking a public test in an attempt to end the stigma. Finally, Kendrick Lamar steals the show at the Super Bowl, as the Philadelphia Eagles triumph on the field.