The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

June 01, 2021 Too much pressure? Naomi Osaka quits French Open over media boycott
What are the terms and conditions of success? World number two Naomi Osaka shocked the tennis world when she announced late on Monday that she preferred to quit the French Open before her second-round match rather than face another confrontation over her refusal to attend the post-match press conference.
40 min
May 31, 2021 Back to the lab? US-China rivalry fuels tensions over Covid-19 origins
It's a tale of two worlds. Vaccines and clement spring weather are easing lockdown restrictions in the West, while new variants spread in unvaccinated Asia, Africa and Latin America. Are superpower tensions fuelling discord when we should all be pulling together? Does China need to do more to dispel doubts about the origins of Covid-19?
40 min
May 27, 2021 As far as France can go? In Rwanda, Macron acknowledges French responsibility in genocide
"I remember," spoken in the local language Kinyarwanda by Emmanuel Macron. Did the French president find the right words in his speech at Kigali's genocide memorial? Macron acknowledged France's damning responsibility in the build-up to the 1994 genocide, an era when France backed a regime where hardliners gained influence. Paris should have seen the peace process unravelling, Macron said in a much-anticipated speech by a French president, hoping this marks a new beginning after 27 fraught years.
40 min
May 26, 2021 Overdue reckoning? South Africa and the Zuma corruption trial
An overdue reckoning? It's more than just Jacob Zuma on trial and it's about more than the bribery scandal involving French arms maker Thales. Opening day in court comes more than 20 years after the case was first opened. We ask about the specifics of a deal that led to the conviction of a Zuma former advisor in 2004, long before he became South Africa's president. Any trial of a former head of state is always a test for a nation's institutions.
41 min
May 25, 2021 Lukashenko's way: Why the brazen capture of Belarus journalist?
Was it worth it for Alexander Lukashenko? A European Union that so often struggles to reach consensus on foreign policy was quick to unanimously agree on new sanctions against Belarus over Sunday's forced landing of a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania. More measures could follow after the brazen capture of Roman Protasevich.
39 min
May 24, 2021 Europe's move: What response after Belarus diverts Ryanair flight?
It is enough to hijack the agenda of an EU summit. A supposed bomb threat was the pretext for forcing a Ryanair flight to land in Belarus, where authorities could then pluck an independent journalist from the plane. What kind of a precedent is set by the scrambling of military jets to force a commercial carrier to land? What is Europe going to do about it?
42 min
May 20, 2021 Who wins the truce? Israelis and Palestinians count cost of surprise conflict
So who wins the truce? As international pressure for a ceasefire mounts, we take stock of 11 days of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, the worst since a 50-day war back in 2014. Back then, it was squarely about the Gaza Strip. This time, Jerusalem was the spark, a wake-up call for those who thought the Middle East might move on from the Palestinian cause with the recent normalisation of ties with Arab states.
40 min
May 19, 2021 Will Paris still be Paris? Café culture after lockdown
When it's all over, will Paris still be Paris? No spring shower could keep the locals away from their first outdoor café experience in more than six months. As lockdown eases and before indoor dining resumes, everyone has got their checklist: the first museum, the first movie, the first night at the theatre or a concert. Will it be like before, or will the pandemic have altered our social habits?
41 min
May 18, 2021 New Deal for Africa: How to finance recovery while avoiding debt trap?
If it's all about the post-pandemic recovery and if deficits no longer matter, then what about Africa? France is welcoming leaders for a summit devoted to finance and relieving the debt owed by a continent that felt the full brunt of a world economy under lockdown. The age-old question feels more acute than ever: how to be like the US and Europe and earmark huge sums for healthcare, schools, green energy and infrastructure... instead of using the money to pay interest on old debts?
45 min
May 17, 2021 Biden's problem: Israel-Gaza conflict draws in US president
For the third time in a week, the United States has blocked the United Nations Security Council from approving a resolution that denounces violence on both sides and calls for a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Is it a case of giving diplomacy a chance, or siding with Israel as a default position? The US ambassador to the UN insists that Washington is "working tirelessly through diplomatic channels" to end the worst fighting in years.
40 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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