The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

December 12, 2022 Xi Jinping in Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's royal welcome of Chinese president worries the West
The red carpet has been rolled out for Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh. Xi is set to meet some 30 heads of state and businesses during his three-day state visit. China is the top customer for Saudi oil and both sides are keen to expand their relationship at a time of economic turmoil and geopolitical uncertainty. The Chinese leader's visit coincides with a US judge dismissing a lawsuit against the Saudi crown prince over the horrific 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
47 min
December 08, 2022 Peru's broken politics: What next after Pedro Castillo's failed coup?
Latin America will long remember what went down on Wednesday in Peru. President Pedro Castillo took to live television to dissolve a hostile Congress, but neither his cabinet nor the military followed. By the day’s end, he was the one out of a job and behind bars for attempting a coup. In his 16-month scandal-ridden stint, how did the 53-year old left-wing trade unionist fail so badly in his campaign pledge to stamp out the corruption that’s plagued the country’s political elites?
44 min
December 06, 2022 Setback to rights in Indonesia: New laws to punish sex outside marriage
Indonesia's parliament has approved legislation that will outlaw sex outside marriage. Critics are already calling this a huge setback to rights. It was endorsed by all nine political parties in a sweeping overhaul of the country's criminal code. Rights groups are protesting against the amendments, denouncing them as a crackdown on civil liberties and political freedoms, as well as a shift towards fundamentalism.
45 min
December 05, 2022 No room for compromise? Iran general strike called as hopes for concessions fade
Can Iran's hardline theocracy make concessions? Since September, there has been no sign of it doing so. Now, though, is something afoot? The attorney general is floating the idea of scrapping the morality police, the force blamed for the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Others hint at a repeal of the 1983 law that criminalised defiance of the mandatory headscarf for women. So far, there's been no follow-up. Are the authorities serious? And will it be enough?
43 min
November 30, 2022 Not over yet? Fresh blowback against China's zero-Covid policy
Last week's surprise burst of protests across China seemed to subside as quickly as they erupted. But overnight clashes have broken out in the southern port city of Guangzhou. Social media images from the megacity's Haizhu district include the sound of glass breaking and shouting, with arrests following. The clashes came hours after local authorities announced a partial loosening of Covid lockdown rules.
43 min
November 29, 2022 Macron goes to Washington: Will brewing transatlantic trade row sour state visit?
It's a state visit that's also a chance to gauge superpower status. French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Washington at a time when Europeans are wondering aloud if Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has not made the EU even more dependent on the United States. Arming the Ukrainians has shown just how much NATO relies on its top contributor. Europe's scramble to replace Russian oil and gas also means turning to places like the US for imports of liquefied natural gas.
47 min
November 28, 2022 China's boiling point? Protests spread over zero-Covid policy
Much of the world is wondering if the worst of Covid has run its course. So why, nearly four years on, is the country where the coronavirus originated still under lock and key? Rare scenes of protest out of China, like in its most populous metropolis Shanghai, have spread during a weekend when citizens clamoured for an end to draconian confinements.
46 min
November 24, 2022 France's answer on abortion: Should constitution include a woman's right to choose?
Who would have thought that a Supreme Court ruling in the United States could trigger a constitutional amendment in France? After all, there is zero threat here to a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy, a right that has been on the books since 1975. Earlier this month we saw blowback in the US to that June decision by the high bench in Washington, with midterm election results pointing to record mobilisation by young people. For them, women's rights were on the ballot.
46 min
November 23, 2022 Call it a Revolution? Iran protest movement defies growing brutality
Back in September, when Iran's protest movement caught the world by surprise, conventional thinking was that with patience and ruthlessness, the regime would eventually outlast whatever came its way. After all, that has been the playbook so many times since the Islamic revolution of 1979. But is this time different?
44 min
November 22, 2022 Putin's Africa endgame: Macron accuses Russia of stoking anti-French sentiment
It was always a stretch. Emmanuel Macron kept the lines of communication open with Vladimir Putin while Russia's propaganda machine and the mercenaries of Wagner fuelled anti-French sentiment in Africa. But in an interview on the sidelines of a Francophone nations summit in Tunisia, it sounds like the gloves are now off.
45 min

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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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