The Interview

The Covid-19 vaccines give rise to the hope that humanity will soon turn the page on a devastating pandemic. But with conspiracy theories flourishing against the backdrop of widespread scepticism, these new vaccines developed in record time have raised many questions. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden's chief medical adviser on Covid-19, said that if the majority of the world's population is vaccinated, we could "begin to get back to normal" towards the end of 2021.

Alain Bifani resigned suddenly at the end of June from his position as director general of Lebanon's finance ministry, a post he had held for 20 years. The former top official had supported an IMF-backed recovery plan for the heavily indebted country, but this was blocked by the political elite. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Bifani says the plan was about "having those who benefited most from the system contribute most". He says its failure will lead to more "huge inequalities" and warns that Lebanon is "going towards some kind of a Somalia [of] a few years ago".

Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, speaks to FRANCE 24 about the worrying impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on poverty and social protection systems.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Salah el Din Al-Namroush, the Defence Minister of Libya's government of national accord, which is recognised by the United Nations. Salah el Din Al-Namroush described Khalifa Haftar as a ‘war criminal’, and claimed that no future political agreement will be reached with Haftar, the general commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Lord Chris Patten, who was the last British governor of Hong Kong, said China had betrayed its commitment to preserve "one country, two systems" in the city. "Hong Kong's been put into handcuffs by the Chinese regime," Lord Patten said, referring to Beijing's crackdown there in recent months. Of the Chinese Communist Party, he said: "You can't trust [it] further than you can spit."

On December 12, 2015 in the French capital, 195 countries sealed the first universal pact aimed at reducing global emissions. Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation, is often described as the architect of the Paris climate agreement. But five years on, is it fair to say that not enough was promised in Paris and not enough has been done since? "I am more optimistic than I was seven months ago," Tubiana tells FRANCE 24 as she shares the reasons for her cautious optimism.

Twenty-year-old Ofelia Fernandez is a Buenos Aires MP and a leading voice for the legalisation of abortion in Argentina. Her struggle may be on the verge of bearing fruit: Argentina's Congress will soon vote on a historic bill to make the procedure legal. The feminist activist tells FRANCE 24 about being politically aware at a young age and becoming the youngest lawmaker in South America.

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered in the US the worst crisis since World War II, according to the OECD. Our guest is one of the people who gave America and the world hope to turn the page on Covid-19: Moncef Slaoui is the scientific adviser to US Operation Warp Speed, which will implement the distribution in the US of vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna laboratories. The scientist explains to us why the discovery of these vaccines represents “the beginning of the end of the pandemic”.

His country is very much at the heart of the as-yet unresolved Brexit negotiations, facing the prospect of a “no deal” scenario in the middle of a pandemic: FRANCE 24 spoke to Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. He says that bridging gaps such as the ones on fisheries and fair competition “is not an easy political compromise to strike” between Britain and the EU. Brexit however, has to be resolved “within days”, he says, warning that the absence of an agreement would result in “huge uncertainty and costs that both economies and societies can’t afford right now”.

In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Azerbaijan’s acting culture minister vowed that Christian heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh were not at risk after his Muslim-majority country gained control of the restive region, adding that any destruction on Azerbaijan’s behalf had been unintentional.