The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

September 30, 2019 The Chirac era: The life and times of France's former president
The bells of Notre Dame have tolled for Jacques Chirac. The Cathedral honoured the former French president, a figure whose popularity was reaffirmed by the long lines that extended outside Invalides until dawn so citizens could file past his coffin one last time. Why the popular outpouring for a leader who sidestepped the limelight for over a decade and who was not always so popular while in office?
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September 26, 2019 Jaques Chirac's legacy: Remembering four decades on the political stage
What legacy for Jacques Chirac? France's two-term president, two-time prime minister and longtime mayor of Paris passing away at 86.From the 1986 privatization of industries to the 2003 refusal to join the war in Iraq, the dignity of recognizing the French state's role in the deportation of Jews to a long list of party financing scandals.
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September 25, 2019 The road to impeachment: Beginning of the end or road to re-election?
The beginning of the end or the road to re-election? The Democrats are finally pressing the trigger on impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. The US president was quick to call it a witch hunt and authorised the release of the transcript of his conversation with Ukraine's new president, the one where a whistleblower claims Trump asked Volodymyr Zelenskiy eight times to probe the activities in that country of Joe Biden's son.
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September 24, 2019 Maximum pressure: EU powers warming to Trump's call to rewrite Iran deal?
Those who still hold out hope of a handshake in the halls of the United Nations will be disappointed. Donald Trump is touting new sanctions on Iran and threatening even more. With world leaders gathered in New York at the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, the chances were always slim of a first face-to-face meeting between the US and Iranian leaders since before the 1979 revolution.
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September 23, 2019 How to cool it? The pressure to speed up clean energy transition
It's always a great venue for a round of "how green was my politician". The United Nations is hosting a climate summit to kick off its annual opening of the General Assembly. Lofty speeches aside, the problem is that world leaders answer to their constituents back home with virtually no sway over what happens beyond national boundaries.
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September 19, 2019 Who to stop no-deal Brexit? UK Supreme Court to rule on suspension of parliament
Do we even know the real deadline for avoiding a no-deal Brexit? The UK's Supreme Court is to decide whether Boris Johnson had the right to order parliament's longest suspension since 1945. Finland and France are telling the UK’s prime minister that he has until the end of this month to put proposals in writing in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit. But does Johnson even want a deal? Those in the front line suddenly seem more open to compromise. Could an eleventh hour settlement still be possible?
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September 18, 2019 Has Bibi lost it? Israel vote fails to deliver majority for Netanyahu
Has time finally run out for Benjamin Netanyahu? He has been proving the polls wrong since 1996, but this time the ballots really don't add up in his favour. We ask about Bibi's fate - amid corruption cases - and what swung Tuesday's do-over of another snap election just five months ago. Would Israeli policy be much different under former army chief of staff Benny Gantz of the Blue and White Alliance? Could he even do a deal with the Likud? Or is this chapter one of a new political direction?
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September 17, 2019 Battle for Israel's soul: Snap election pits religious against secular
Benjamin Netanyahu's long career as Israel's prime minister is once again on the line, this time with a second snap general election in less than six months. The aim of the conservative Likud leader is to find a path to 61 seats in the Knesset without having to again rely on Lieberman to govern. To his left is the centrist Blue and White coalition of retired army chief of staff Benny Gantz, which rejects any grand coalition that includes Netanyahu. We ask about what's at stake in this election.
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September 17, 2019 Attacks on Saudi oil fields: US-Iran blame game as fuel prices set to rocket
The fallout over the drone attacks on Saudi oil installations continues and petrol price rises are expected to be imposed very quickly as world oil production is badly disrupted. Donald Trump blamed Iran for the attacks, but Tehran denied responsibility. Meanwhile, it was the Houthi rebels in Yemen that claimed the bombings, saying they are ready to attack again. We ask our guests how this new escalation of tensions in the Middle East will play out.
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September 12, 2019 Generation vape: How dangerous are e-cigarettes?
Are e-cigarettes ticking time bombs? Our panel looks at vaping's first major health scare as Donald Trump considers a ban on flavoured brands of e-cigarettes. They are under scrutiny after hundreds of cases of mostly very young users falling seriously ill. But is vaping really dangerous? It's so new that one can only wonder if it's too soon to measure the long-term effects. Do you ban, regulate, restrict? And how - in less than ten years - did it become such big business?
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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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