The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

May 27, 2020 Cummings not going? UK PM Johnson stands by embattled adviser
No apology, no regrets from Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s top adviser, who refuses to resign over a 264-mile trip home to the north in March, at the height of lockdown in the UK. Why is the prime minister standing by Cummings in the face of a backbench revolt by Conservative MPs? Politicians and civil servants were already seething at a man described as the embodiment of the outsized powers of unelected consultants. Will the duo that teamed up in 2016 in the campaign for Brexit ride out the storm?
44 min
May 26, 2020 Doctor, is it serious? French healthcare pushed to the brink by Covid-19
France is in the grip of a pandemic, with a medical sector more and more angry over its status. An average nurse takes home less than €2,000 a month and French health workers are among the lowest paid in the OECD countries. On Monday, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe promised that they would soon get pay increases as part of an overhaul of France's hospital system. Will it be enough? Mark Owen and his panel of guests examine the problems and the issues facing the doctors, nurses and carers who are on the frontline fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
44 min
May 25, 2020 What future for cars? Covid-19 sparks calls for switch to electric
Can Europe's carmakers trade in their old business model without crushing jobs? As Renault talks of plant closures, François Picard's panel examines conditions for a €5 billion bailout from the state and whether what many consider an overdue reckoning for the industry will indeed accelerate the switch to electric vehicles. "Industrial sovereignty" becomes the buzzword as the planet turns from fossil fuels to batteries to power motors... batteries most often made nowadays in China.
43 min
May 21, 2020 What future for universities? Coronavirus upends higher learning
Cambridge University’s decision to shift all its face-to-face learning online for a year in response to Covid-19 has shaken the basic assumptions about higher education to their core.
44 min
May 20, 2020 Lonely at the top? Macron's support in parliament erodes
Seventeen left-leaning dissidents inside French President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party are forming a breakaway voting bloc at the National Assembly. The shock move announced on Tuesday leaves Macron one seat shy of an outright majority. Because of the support of centrists, the party defections are hardly expected to bring down the government but it does chisel away at its ability to pursue reforms in the two years remaining before the next presidential poll.
43 min
May 19, 2020 Football without fans? Coronavirus rocks sporting world
Is it too soon for Project Restart? The English Premier League is taking its cue from the Bundesliga and allowing teams to resume training but is it still football when the Covid-19 pandemic forces matches to be played before empty stadiums? When’s the right time to return? With guests that include England and Chelsea goalkeeper Carly Telford, François Picard's panel reflects on what life under lockdown has been like for both players and fans.
41 min
May 18, 2020 Toxic reaction? Coronavirus and medical nationalism
As superpower rivalries dominate the UN annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, FRANCE 24’s François Picard asks tonight’s panel about the impact of nationalism and financial interests on the supply of face masks, the rolling out of affordable coronavirus tests and the race to discover and market an effective Covid-19 vaccine.
41 min
May 14, 2020 How to adapt to new normal? WHO warns Covid-19 'may never go away'
Long after lockdown has been lifted, everybody may still be social distancing, warns the World Health Organization. In a week that's seen new outbreaks of the virus dampen the mood in countries like France where confinement has been eased, the panel of FRANCE 24's François Picard asks about testing, contact tracing and whether national interests are hampering the race to find effective remedies and a vaccine against the coronavirus.
40 min
May 13, 2020 How's West Africa doing? Covid-19 tests region's resilience
What's West Africa learned since the Ebola pandemic? When's the right moment to ease lockdown? What are the conditions for staging elections during the current crisis? As the pressure builds to re-open the economy, François Picard's panel looks at the sanitary challenges for a region that's shown both resilience and clear signs that it should not rely on the outside world to fix weak public health sectors or – in the case of the Sahel – more outside help in the fight against radical insurgencies.
41 min
May 12, 2020 How contagious? Conspiracies, lies and the Covid-19 'infodemic'
From anti-science conspiracy theories to state-sponsored disinformation, the United Nations warns that an "infodemic" of half-truths and falsehoods is undermining the effort to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. How is social media driving anti-lockdown protests and just how much traction are they getting? François Picard and Deutsche Welle's Melinda Crane team up for a special edition of The Debate that asks about the role of fringe groups, social media giants and populist leaders everywhere – from the US and Brazil to China.
40 min

About The Debate

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A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

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