Spotlight

FRANCE 24 English

FRANCE 24's prime time interview of the day goes beyond the headlines: join us as news-making guests from around the globe go in depth on the stories that matter. Every day at 6:15pm Paris time.

  1. -1 J

    NASA–ESA partnership: Artemis II paves way for exploring Moon’s far side and south pole

    François Picard speaks to Didier Schmitt, head of future preparation for the European Space Agency. He says the Artemis II mission marks a key moment in contemporary space exploration. It is highly technical and collaborative – a test of systems, international partnerships, and our ability to extend human presence beyond Earth once again. He says the flyby will help validate critical technologies, from life support to propulsion, while also highlighting the growing role of Europe through the European Service Module. At the same time, he stresses the scientific importance of exploring the far side of the Moon and, in the near future, its south pole, where untouched materials may reveal the Moon’s, and by extension, the Earth’s evolutionary history. Ultimately, this mission is seen as a necessary step in a longer journey: mastering lunar exploration before venturing further into deep space, including Mars. What we are witnessing is not a return to past achievements, but laying the foundation of a new era of exploration. Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont and Guillaume Gougeon

    14 min

  2. -1 J

    European Commissioner Síkela announces 'new approach' for global health

    François Picard welcomes Jozef Síkela, European commissioner for international partnerships. He says global health is at a crossroads. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that such crises are not isolated events, but systemic shocks with far-reaching economic and social consequences. Today, a convergence of pressures is adding to the strain: climate change is driving new diseases, funding is declining, and global health governance is fragmented. He says prevention must replace reaction as the organising principle of global health. Europe’s role, therefore, is to sustain a multilateral, science-driven approach while adapting to diminishing resources. This requires rethinking the global health architecture, strengthening country-led systems, investing in regional resilience, and fostering equitable partnerships, particularly with Africa, that integrate health, economic development, and stability. Ultimately, global health security is inseparable from global stability. We are reminded that diseases cross borders, and so must our solutions.

    12 min

  3. 30 MARS

    UK ex-ambassador Westmacott: Whether PM likes it or not, British govt 'a bit involved' in Iran

    For Spotlight, François Picard is pleased to welcome Sir Peter Westmacott, distinguished ambassadorial fellow with the Atlantic Council's Europe Center and former British ambassador to France, Turkey and the United States. As a senior British diplomat with decades of experience across key transatlantic and Middle Eastern postings, he approaches the current crisis with both concern and analytical caution.  Watch moreBoots on the ground? Trump eyes Iran's oil hub of Kharg Island For Sir Westmacott, what we are witnessing in the Middle East is not a clearly articulated strategic intervention, but rather a fluid and, at times, incoherent policy trajectory driven by shifting justifications and severely limited consultation with allies. From his perspective, the central challenge lies in the absence of a discernible core objective behind the United States' actions. The traditional frameworks of diplomacy – alliance coordination, legal justification and strategic clarity – appear to have been bypassed. This has left partners such as the United Kingdom and France in a position of reactive engagement, balancing their security dependencies with growing unease. Ultimately, Sir Westmacott sees this conflict not as a decisive campaign, but as an evolving and costly entanglement: one that risks escalating instability while delivering uncertain strategic gains. The imperative now, as he views it, is to identify a viable diplomatic "off-ramp" before the consequences deepen further for regional and global stability.

    15 min

  4. 29 MARS

    From the Iran war to the US petrol pumps

    Thirty days into the war in Iran, the key Strait of Hormuz is still partially closed. This is making oil prices rise, considerably affecting businesses and citizens all around the world. Business owner John Catsimatidis analyses the situation with FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee.

    13 min

  5. 29 MARS

    Madame la Maire: Maureen Searle becomes first British woman to run a French town

    A British woman who acquired French nationality after living in France for years became the first British-born mayor of a French town in France's recent mayoral elections. Maureen Searle, the mayor of Mont-Saint-Éloi, speaks to Gavin Lee about her life and experience in FRANCE 24's Spotlight programme.

    8 min

  6. 27 MARS

    'New phenomenon of dangerous rhetoric': World leaders embrace proud disregard for international law

    Gavin Lee is pleased to welcome Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. He describes a seismic shift in the conduct of war, marked not merely by violations of international humanitarian law, but by an unprecedented openness in asserting, even embracing, such violations. What distinguishes this moment is not the erosion of norms alone, but the normalisation of dismissing international law and lacking empathy for civilians' suffering. Across the globe, there is an emerging pattern of discourse that shows little regard for the laws of war and the protection of innocent life. This signals a deeper structural weakening of the rules-based international order, which was devised over decades to mitigate harm to civilians. In this context, the role of legal frameworks becomes increasingly contested, as major powers challenge the rule of law, while smaller states hesitate to assert any collective pressure. The result is a widening gap between norms and operational realities. And so we all now bear witness to a global trend towards authoritarianism and the fragmentation of shared legal standards. Will international law remain a living instrument or simply be relegated to the annals of history as a symbolic relic?

    14 min

  7. 27 MARS

    As Maduro appears in New York court, Venezuela's state apparatus 'remains in place'

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, the US and the Americas program at Chatham House. According to Sabatini, the removal of a head of state like Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro through external force may appear, at first glance, as a decisive rupture. Yet what unfolds beneath the surface reveals continuity rather than transformation. The structures of power, the networks of coercion and the embedded systems of corruption do not dissolve with the extraction of a single leader. Instead, they persist, adapt and often reconfigure themselves within the same, and possibly even more hardened, institutional shell. What is presented as regime change is, upon closer inspection, a targeted decapitation: a symbolic and operational act that leaves the governing apparatus largely intact. Without a negotiated transition or the reconstruction of political legitimacy through democratic means, the underlying regime not only survives but recalibrates. Personnel may shift, alliances may subtly realign, but the logic of power remains unchanged. This pattern extends beyond Venezuela. External pressure, when applied without a viable pathway for political transition, risks deepening humanitarian crises while failing to produce structural reform, Sabatini explains. In such contexts, regimes prioritise survival, even at the cost of their own people, while international strategies drift between coercion and uncertainty. What emerges is not transformation, but the endurance of a deep-rooted system, under altered conditions.

    8 min

  8. 25 MARS

    Georgia's links to Iran: Ex-defense minister Khidasheli denounces Al-Mustafa University activities

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Tina Khidasheli, jurist and former defence minister of Georgia. According to Khidasheli, Georgia is suspended between its declared European future and an increasingly authoritarian present. While formally holding candidate status for EU membership, the political reality has shifted toward systemic control, legal ambiguity, and the suppression of dissent. Legal instruments, particularly the foreign agents law, are designed not merely to regulate but to deter, creating an environment where ordinary professional or civic activity risks criminalisation. The result, Khidasheli says, is a chilling effect that extends across civil society, media, and even routine international engagement. At the strategic level, decision-making is no longer anchored in national interest as traditionally conceived, but instead calibrated against external power expectations, most notably those of Moscow. This reorientation reflects not ideological conviction, explains Khidasheli, but political survival. Governance is driven less by values than by the imperative of maintaining power, preserving wealth and avoiding accountability. Simultaneously, security concerns are selectively addressed. While visible signs of radicalisation and foreign ideological influence emerge, institutional attention is redirected toward those who raise alarms rather than the phenomena themselves. This inversion of priorities underscores a broader pattern: the state's mechanisms are increasingly employed to stifle dissent rather than safeguard society. The cumulative effect is a fragmentation of social cohesion.

    14 min
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FRANCE 24's prime time interview of the day goes beyond the headlines: join us as news-making guests from around the globe go in depth on the stories that matter. Every day at 6:15pm Paris time.

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