The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

September 11, 2019 After Bolton: Trump fires hawkish national security advisor
An isolationist president and an outspoken former US ambassador to the UN. The final straw may have been that aborted summit with the Taliban, but John Bolton's days as Donald Trump's national security advisor were long numbered. It was Trump's decision to call off air strikes against Iran after the shooting down of a US drone off its coast in July that signalled perhaps a turning point in Washington. Does Bolton's departure raise the prospect of a first handshake between US and Iran since 1979?
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September 10, 2019 The road to no-deal Brexit? Boris Johnson's 'people vs parliament' strategy
There are 51 days to Brexit, yet the UK parliament's about to spend 34 of them in recess. Boris Johnson closed shop after failing again in his bid for an snap general election and defying parliament's passage of a bill to stop government from leaving the EU without a deal. Will Johnson's "the people vs parliament" strategy work when that election finally comes? On the day Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her lineup, we ask about the perils of the UK's current crisis for the rest of the continent.
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September 09, 2019 Impossible deal? Trump's aborted Afghanistan peace plan
What to make of Donald Trump's aborted deal of the century for Afghanistan? The whole region is scrambling after a stunning eleventh-hour cancellation of a secret summit at Camp David. The Afghan president is up for reelection, the Taliban insurgency has never stopped fighting, and the US administration has vowed to withdraw troops. Who can fill the void and prevent a drawdown of US troops from resulting in more bloodshed, a possible partition of the country or a return to Taliban rule?
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September 05, 2019 Too little, too late? The withdrawal of Hong Kong's extradition bill
Hong Kong's activists insist it's too little, too late. Nevertheless, the announced withdrawal of the extradition bill that sparked unprecedented mass protests in the former British colony throws up a dilemma for adversaries of Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her backers in Beijing. They say legislation that would have effectively legalised the sending of political prisoners to the mainland has now been overshadowed.
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September 04, 2019 Has Johnson lost control? Move to block no-deal Brexit triggers call for snap poll
So you're the new UK prime minister and you lose your very first vote. Boris Johnson's inauspicious start included 21 MPs from his own Conservative Party shrugging off the threat of banishment and crossing the aisle. Has Boris lost control? Of parliament, definitely. Of the Tories? It's too early to say.
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September 03, 2019 All or nothing: Can parliament stop Boris Johnson's Brexit blitz?
It's another make-or-break day for Britain's parliamentary democracy... only this time there's a new sheriff in town. Forget those happy-go-lucky "Boris the buffoon" caricatures that dismissed the seriousness of the new prime minister. As the Commons once again tries to wrest control of the Brexit process, gone is Theresa May and in her place a Tory leader who looked at his wafer-thin majority, his divided party and opted to come out swinging.
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September 02, 2019 The fight against feminicide: French government opens campaign against spouse abuse
It's a grim milestone: the 100th suspected feminicide of 2019 and we're only at the start of September. What to do to prevent feminicide in France? We ask about the 26-year-old man in the Riviera town of Cagnes-sur-Mer who's in custody after the murder of his 21-year-old partner. We also ask what to expect on the eve of a government seminar to kick off a vast campaign to stop domestic violence. What can teachers, police, courts and policy makers do? What can we ourselves do in our own lives?
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August 29, 2019 Italy's coalition surprise: Can Five-Star/centre-left alliance work?
"Politics makes strange bedfellows," goes the saying. Just ask Italians. Outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been summoned by the president to stay on after the populist Five-Star Movement struck a deal with former foes from the big mainstream formation, the Democratic Party. How can Cinque Stelle swing from an alliance with the far-right to the centre-left?
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August 28, 2019 The suspension card: What response to Boris Johnson's Brexit gambit?
They said he would not dare prorogue parliament to push through Brexit. But just days before lawmakers return from summer recess, the new prime minister Boris Johnson decided to pounce early. Parliament will indeed convene next Tuesday but with a long break soon after - until October 14, two weeks before the UK is due to leave the European Union.
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August 27, 2019 While the Amazon burns: Brazil, France feud over response to spreading fires
What happens when the world's largest rainforest burns? It's too soon to tell, but as vast swathes of the Amazon go up in smoke, Brazil's far-right president has angrily rejected his French counterpart's G7 summit offer of €20 million in emergency aid and troops to assist firefighters.
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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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