The Debate

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

If you build it, they will come. Qatar 2022 is now upon us, with the opening kickoff slated for Sunday. The World Cup is taking place in a tiny desert dictatorship with virtually no footballing tradition. What could possibly go wrong? When the opening whistle blows, will we all forget about human rights, the carbon footprint of air-conditioned stadiums built from scratch and a fall schedule that factors in the desert heat?

All it takes is a spark. After a day when Russia missiles rained down across the whole of Ukraine, two projectiles landed over the border in a Polish farming village, killing two people. We gauge the evidence and the latest reactions from NATO headquarters where according to its Article 5, an attack against one is an attack against all.

The US and Chinese leaders have held a three-hour bilateral from which the two sides produced completely different accounts. What we do know is that Xi Jinping was adamant that Taiwan was a red line he would not cross. Although Joe Biden stated there is "no Cold War" between China and the USA, there is not a lot of love lost either. Biden's $3 billion military aid package for Taiwan may not help thaw the situation, with Taipei looking to deepen the Taiwan-US security accord. This amid fears that Taiwan could be invaded by China.

How does a nation teetering on the brink of becoming a failed state restore its legitimacy? Welcome to a special edition of The Debate. Fed-up Haitians have been speaking out in the streets and on social media about gang rule in the Americas’ poorest nation. Citizen journalists and fact checkers from FRANCE 24’s Observers website have put together a short documentary.

What happens when the world's richest man, who fancies himself as a champion of free speech, buys a global brand that aspires to act as the planet’s digital town square? There has been plenty of turmoil in the two weeks since Elon Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.