The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

November 04, 2019 Ripe for revolution? Iraq street protests defy political status quo
One month on, and there's no let-up in Iraq's unprecedented anti-government protests. In fact, they may be entering a new phase. At least five people were killed as security forces fired live rounds on demonstrators in the capital, demonstrators who were marching on state television. They say now is not the time to be airing nature documentaries when the country is up in arms. They are sick of the whole system, with its sectarian power-sharing enshrined in the constitution after the 2003 US-led invasion.
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October 31, 2019 Macron and Islam: French president weighs in on new headscarf row
France's on again, off again row over the Muslim headscarf is on again. This time, was it the president who started it? With March municipal elections on the way, Emmanuel Macron has been telling MPs from his own party not to let the far right own the conversation on secularism, radicalisation and sectarianism. But his own camp emerged divided from a recent parliamentary debate. And when a far-right regional councillor baited a mother who had accompanied children on a school outing, all bets were off. We ask what the law says and what the French want.
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October 30, 2019 'Down with all of them': Can Lebanon protests upend status quo?
Can the Lebanese really scrap the status quo? What started as a revolt against a quickly aborted tax on WhatsApp communications quickly mushroomed into a movement that has brought the entire nation to a standstill for two weeks. It has been long coming, this simmering frustration over corruption, mismanagement and a divvying up of portfolios among the rival factions borne of the civil war that ended in 1990.
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October 29, 2019 December election: Could snap poll break UK deadlock over Brexit?
For the first time since 1923, the UK is now gearing up for a Christmas time election. With parliament hopelessly deadlocked over Brexit and the threat of a no-deal crashout avoided for now, the leader of the opposition has agreed to a December date for the vote. We review what has been another rollercoaster session in the Commons. We also ask what a December election means, and who will win it.
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October 28, 2019 After Baghdadi: What next for Islamic State group after US raid?
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was not in Iraq after all - nor anywhere near the remnants of his former "caliphate". US helicopters flew all the way over to northwest Syria's Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, to carry out Saturday's raid against the leader of the so-called Islamic State group, this in an area that's a stronghold of jihadist rivals al Qaeda. In a region replete with lots of outside powers, all claiming to be fighting terrorism, what does that say? And what to make of an operation perhaps precipitated by Donald Trump's abrupt decision to pull out of Syria?
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October 24, 2019 'Let someone else fight': What next for NATO after US pullout from Syria?
"Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand." Those were Donald Trump's words from the White House on Wednesday as the US president lifted sanctions on Turkey, endorsed a deployment brokered by Russia and chastised European allies for, as he put it, their "unresponsive" attitude to taking back jihadists held up to now by the Kurds in northeast Syria.
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October 23, 2019 Russia in Africa: What's behind Moscow's big return to the continent?
Vladimir Putin is welcoming more than 40 leaders to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, hot on the heels of the deal he brokered there on Tuesday with Turkey, Syria and the Kurds. It's another diplomatic coup that's sure to be picked up on by guests who see US foreign presence in retreat on their continent, a UK in the throes of Brexit and who get the value of hedging their bets when it comes to strategic partnerships with the likes of China and France.
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October 22, 2019 Rage against the system: From Chile to Lebanon, why the sudden wave of protests?
What if France's Yellow Vest movement was only the start of it? From the Middle East to South America, witness the sudden eruption of social media-backed leaderless protests against politicians from across the spectrum. This new age of transparency we live in has laid bare growing inequality that is simply not being addressed. In Lebanon, Chile and Ecuador, the spark was some sort of new fee or levy.
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October 21, 2019 Brexit can wait: Can Johnson's divorce deal pass without strings attached?
The end is near... or is it? Boris Johnson's got the deal, parliament has to vote and with trust between the two in short supply, the speaker of the House of Commons is telling the prime minister to first the pass all the legislation needed for an orderly departure from the European Union before any straight up-or-down vote on the divorce deal Johnson's brought back from Brussels.
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October 17, 2019 Brexit breakthrough: Can Johnson's divorce deal pass UK parliament?
European Union leaders unanimously backed a new Brexit deal with Britain on Thursday, leaving Prime Minister Boris Johnson facing a battle to secure the UK parliament's backing for the agreement if he is to take Britain out of the EU on October 31. Watch our special edition of the FRANCE 24 Debate live from the European Commission in Brussels.
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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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