The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

July 07, 2021 Haiti's president assassinated: What next after the death of Jovenel Moise?
Who's behind the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise? We ask about the overnight attack on his private residence that's also left his wife in critical condition. In a nation that's known coups, revolutions and foreign interventions, to actually kill the sitting president comes as a shock.
40 min
July 06, 2021 Dangerous game: Does football have an online gambling problem?
What's as addictive as alcohol or tobacco, targets the young and underprivileged and makes millions for sports franchises? As we set our gaze beyond the ball at the pitch-side billboards at Euro 2021, ads for beer and home appliances seem a dying breed. Instead, online sports betting rules. It's been more than a decade since most European nations loosened rules on online gambling. What are the consequences?
40 min
July 05, 2021 Turning point in Tigray: What next for Ethiopia after rebels retake Mekelle?
A ceasefire on whose terms? The leadership in Ethiopia's rebel region of Tigray has set terms for a truce in reply to what government forces billed as a unilateral cessation of hostilities and what aid groups worry may in fact be a siege, with aid blocked and internet cut off for the restive region. Some 1.7 million displaced people now face a food crisis, with up to 400,000 people potentially facing famine.
42 min
July 01, 2021 Built to last? China celebrates centenary of Communist Party
It is a celebration of Marxist-Leninism in what could soon be the world's top capitalist power. Communism is alive and well and living in China, where the party partied this Thursday to mark its centenary birthday. Much of those 100 years were indeed a struggle and a bloody one. But for three decades now, the planet's most populous nation has gone from strength to strength.
40 min
June 30, 2021 Will Zuma go quietly? South Africa's former president faces jail time
Will he go quietly? Jacob Zuma has five days to leave his KwaZulu-Natal ranch and start serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court. South Africa's 79-year-old former president had refused to appear before the corruption inquiry that's been looking into the alleged siphoning of public funds on his watch. Why does Zuma seemingly prefer jail to answering questions about what South Africans call state capture?
40 min
June 29, 2021 What next for Afghanistan? Taliban on the offensive ahead of US withdrawal
Will history repeat itself when the US leaves Afghanistan? The Taliban continue to advance ahead of a drawdown that could be finalised in a matter of weeks. The insurgency has even reached the gates of Kunduz, far from its traditional base in the south. As we illustrate in an excerpt from our exclusive report, the Taliban already control vast swathes of the countryside. Is their return to power inevitable? Does it signal an end to women's rights and civil liberties as was the case in pre-9/11 Afghanistan?
40 min
June 28, 2021 Grand disillusion: Macron and Le Pen see setbacks in French regional elections
Should Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen worry? Polls still predict a rematch next year of the 2017 presidential runoff, but a record abstention rate in Sunday's second round of French regional elections shows how volatile outcomes can be when citizens vote with their feet. Indifference or disillusion? How would a low turnout upset the form in 2022?
40 min
June 24, 2021 Bitcoin bubble? Cryptocurrency at a crossroads
What's up with Bitcoin? It's down, dropping to its lowest level since January after China announced a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining. Is it, as stated, about going green and cooling it in the nation that's home to an estimated two-thirds of the energy-sucking giant computer servers that create virtual currencies? Or is it about reining in a cottage industry that is out of not only Beijing's control, but that of central banks and regulators the world over?
41 min
June 23, 2021 No politics, please: UEFA ban fuels backlash against Hungary anti-LGBT law
Human rights activists are saying thank you to UEFA. By siding with Budapest and barring Munich city hall from displaying rainbow-coloured lights for the Germany-Hungary match, European football's governing body has unwittingly drawn attention to Hungary's new anti-gay legislation that de facto criminalises references to homosexuality. We ask about the backlash and the support of Viktor Orban's government for UEFA's position that sports shouldn't mix with politics and religion.
41 min
June 22, 2021 Sanchez's gamble: Spanish divided over pardons for Catalonia separatists
Bold step or betrayal? Spain's Socialist prime minister went to Barcelona on Monday to announce the conditional pardon of nine prominent Catalan separatists, jailed for organizing a banned 2017 independence referendum. With two years left in his mandate, Pedro Sanchez says he sees an opportunity, with the promise of dialogue to follow. He's ready to brave public opinion: a recent survey has more than six in ten Spaniards against clemency.
39 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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