Spotlight

FRANCE 24 English
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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.

  1. 1d ago

    Marine Le Pen's 'Renaissance': Fourth time lucky?

    Just before half past four this Sunday, Marine Le Pen took to the stage under the stadium strobe lights at the Zénith Arena in Orléans. The far-right French politician, who analysts say is on the doorstep of the presidency, is a polarising figure yet increasingly popular with her base, and has topped the popularity polls for months in France. Her entrance came 24 hours after the latest protests across the country, which included over 10,000 anti-Le Pen demonstrators outside the venue on Saturday. The lead-up had seen some problems play out with the press: four journalists from the investigative team Mediapart were ejected. There is ongoing animosity between the National Rally party and the online site, which has published private Facebook messages allegedly written by party leader Jordan Bardella as a teenager, containing highly anti-Semitic language. He has sued for defamation and described it as a political attack designed to damage the credibility of the National Rally. The journalists were later allowed back.  The stage was set for Le Pen, with the event sandwiched between Swan Lake and Vanessa Paradis in the Aréna's schedule. The theme was Renaissance, and notably not nostalgia or a turning back of the clock to the past, she said. Amid months of convulsions across the country, student protests and accusations of poisoning politics from the radical right and left, she spoke of her platform for law and order, which she claimed was absent under President Emmanuel Macron, and her vision of what she called a National Community. For more, we're joined by Alexandre Sabatou, the National Rally MP for Oise, which covers Chantilly, Beauvais and Compiegne in the north of France.

  2. 1d ago

    Brazil presidential election: Lula's late surge

    It's a coin-flip election in Brazil, with little separating the country's left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his far-right rival Flavio Bolsonaro. The results of the run-off vote will become clear in a few hours. The two contenders have traded insults as they cast their votes, with Lula describing the choice as one between himself and a morally, ethically and personally unqualified candidate. Bolsonaro, for his part, claimed that Brazilians couldn't stand another four years of worsening living conditions and would vote for change. For more, we're joined by Richard Lapper, a biographer of both Lula and Bolsonaro, as well as Elena Lazarou, an associate fellow in the US and the Americas Programme at Chatham House and specialist in Brazil.

  3. 2d ago

    France: Watching the post-riot protests

    After the French protests turned into riots last weekend, followed by curfews and the alleged racist mass shooting on Friday on the outskirts of Paris, there has been much anxiety, planning and preparation ahead of this Saturday's protests. Intelligence reports had predicted up to 500,000 people taking to the streets nationwide, and suggested there were elements of ultra-left agitators plotting online for a repeat of the riots. What's passed off so far is a picture of genuine grievances being aired, the spotlight back on the demonstrators for now, and not on the looting and violence that hijacked the last event. The story of the day appears to be confusion in some cities over last-minute changes to the permitted protests, with tear gas fired in several cities. Read moreGovernment says protests across France 'went well' despite nearly 1,000 arrests "It's all calm so far," was the police update from Paris in the past hour. A Paris with museums closed, many businesses shuttered for the day in anticipation and officers saying they had seized weapons and gas masks in a crackdown this morning. Some 110,000 people have turned out in Paris, according to the latest police figures, the same number as last week. Only the route had been changed, and changed again, ensuring it was far enough away from the city centre. For analysis, we're joined by Fatima Khallouk, a French disability rights activist who writes for Yanous, the French disability magazine, and is an activist with the French Communist Party.

  4. 2d ago

    'Witkoff should step down,' says Ukraine foreign policy committee chief

    Ukraine's access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday. "The speeds are now where they need to be," Zelensky wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and was sufficient by Saturday morning, improving front-line logistics and defence against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. The restoration follows a new US diplomatic push to end the war. Russia agreed on Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localised ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. Watch moreTrump faces fresh questions over ties to 'humanitarian' Putin For more, we're joined by Oleksandr Merezhko, a Servant of the People MP and chair of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign policy committee.

  5. 2d ago

    NFL Paris premiere: The Saints' Alvin Kamara on global reach and sport as an opportunity for youth

    FRANCE 24's François Picard and Selina Sykes are pleased to welcome New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara as the National Football League (NFL) expands its international reach to Paris. As the Saints prepare to face off with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kamara calls the occasion "an opportunity unlike any other" while reflecting on his remarkable career, his interest in representing his country in flag football at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and his ambitions to develop sporting opportunities in Liberia, his parents' country of birth. At the heart of the conversation lies a broader question: how can the globalisation of professional sport translate into meaningful opportunities for communities beyond its traditional centres of influence? Kamara sees flag football's accessibility as a potential catalyst for wider participation, arguing that the simplified format gives newcomers an opportunity to discover the sport "on a smaller scale". His ambitions extend to Liberia, where he hopes to support youth engagement, entrepreneurship and development. "I go to Liberia as frequently as I can, not only to be an ambassador for sport, but also for economic growth and development," he explains. This Spotlight segment offers a revealing portrait of an athlete whose vision connects elite performance with international representation, cultural exchange and grassroots development. From the historic stage of Paris to the prospect of Olympic competition and the future of American football in Africa, Kamara's reflections illustrate both the opportunities and the challenges of a sport seeking a genuinely global identity.

  6. 3d ago

    Netanyahu weighs West Bank operation ahead of elections: ‘Politically, it will not help anybody’

    As Israel approaches a consequential parliamentary election amid renewed violence in the occupied West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth Senior Journalist Ben-Dror Yemini offers a critical assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu's political prospects, the limits of military escalation and the shifting relationship between national security and electoral legitimacy. Since October 7, 2023 "Netanyahu is not popular anymore," Yemini argues, identifying the Hamas-led attacks as a decisive turning point in the Israeli prime minister's public standing. "There is a huge change in the Israeli public opinion," he adds, suggesting that the election represents not merely another contest for parliamentary power but a broader judgment on Netanyahu's leadership. Speaking against the backdrop of a deadly attack near Hebron and the prospect of further Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, Yemini questions whether escalation would offer any meaningful political advantage: "I'm not sure that this is something which is going to happen, because politically it's not something that will help anybody." Yet his analysis also underscores the complexities of Israel's parliamentary system. Although opinion polls point towards Netanyahu's declining popularity, Yemini cautions that electoral outcomes depend less on the prime minister's personal standing than on the capacity of his political bloc to command a governing majority. Historical precedents, he notes, demonstrate Netanyahu's ability to overcome highly unfavourable polling. And he concludes with a striking reflection on Donald Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu. Recalling Netanyahu's own claims that all of the previous American presidents opposed him while he nevertheless prevailed, Yemini offers an ironic inversion: "Now there is someone who recommends that he will win, so maybe this is the time that he is going to be defeated." His closing assessment is unusually direct. Netanyahu's defeat, he suggests, would be "for the benefit of Israel."

  7. 4d ago

    'The best on Earth': Can weak economic growth undermine Europe's 'very sophisticated social system'?

    Can Europe continue to sustain one of the world's most ambitious social models while falling increasingly behind its major economic competitors? For Pascal Lamy, former European Commissioner for Trade and former Director-General of the World Trade Organization, this question lies at the heart of the continent's mounting economic and political tensions. Lamy looks beyond the immediate turmoil in France to identify a deeper European predicament: a widening disconnect between the continent's social commitments and its capacity to generate the economic growth needed to sustain them. "The common cause of these turbulences is the mismatch between a very sophisticated European social system, which is the best on Earth, and Europe's weak growth," he argues. His diagnosis is particularly stark: Europe's potential growth rate, he maintains, is only half that of the United States, one-third that of China and one-fourth that of India. The implications extend well beyond public finances. Across Europe's diverse socioeconomic models, weak growth raises fundamental questions about the long-term sustainability of social protection, economic competitiveness and the political consensus underpinning the European social contract. France's unrest, in Lamy's interpretation, reflects both a distinctive national tradition of political mobilisation and broader structural weaknesses shared across Europe. Rising living costs, energy vulnerabilities and mounting pressures on lower-income households compound social tensions that cannot be explained by unemployment figures alone. These pressures also reveal Europe's exposure to geopolitical conflicts over which it exercises limited influence. Yet China's expanding industrial and commercial power introduces another consequential strategic dilemma. As surging Chinese exports threaten the survival of parts of European industry, Lamy advocates a graduated response: negotiation first, stronger trade defences if necessary. "There is a trade war, but this is not the European Plan A," he explains. Europe's preferred strategy, in his view, remains negotiated restraint rather than immediate escalation. But he is equally explicit about the economic consequences of confrontation: "Any trade conflict with China would raise prices in Europe." His argument exposes a fundamental tension in Europe's emerging economic security agenda. Protecting industrial competitiveness may be necessary to preserve the continent's productive capacity, yet the measures adopted could increase the cost of living for the very households whose economic insecurity is already fuelling political discontent. The prospect of Chinese retaliation further raises the question of European solidarity and how the costs of economic confrontation should be shared among member states. Lamy thus points to a larger challenge for European integration: reconciling social protection, economic competitiveness, strategic autonomy and openness in an international economic order increasingly shaped by rivalry rather than cooperation. Ultimately, the question is not simply how Europe should respond to China, but whether it can restore the economic foundations of its diverse socioeconomic models while preserving the prosperity, solidarity and social protections that remain central to the European project.

  8. 5d ago

    Trump admin 'destroying' US democracy with 'autocratic, terrorist version of Christian nationalism'

    François Picard welcomes former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Jim Townsend and former US Air Force officer Michael (Mikey) Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Is American military power becoming an instrument of political and religious coercion, both at home and abroad? From the reported restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite communications to the Trump administration's overtures towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and the growing controversy over religious ideology within the Pentagon, the two guests offer a stark assessment of the direction of American foreign and defence policy. Townsend argues that the reported disruption of satellite communications for Ukraine represents something far more consequential than a dispute over technology. "This is a tool that the administration uses to coerce the Ukrainians," he says, questioning the suggestion that Elon Musk acted independently of the White House. He is equally critical of Washington's diplomatic engagement with Moscow, describing Trump and Putin as "two strongmen stroking each other to get at things that they want". In Townsend's assessment, their increasingly transactional relationship, marked by diplomatic flattery, political calculations and reciprocal gestures, serves a common purpose: to intensify pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while advancing the respective interests of both leaders. What appears to be diplomacy, he suggests, risks becoming an exercise in coercion, with Ukraine's sovereignty caught in the middle. Meanwhile, Weinstein warns that the promotion of what he describes as Christian nationalism within the armed forces threatens military cohesion, constitutional principles and the institutional integrity of the Pentagon. "We are doing not momentary or gradual damage. We are doing generational damage," Weinstein warns. Townsend echoes that assessment, arguing that the removal of experienced senior military officers has deprived the Pentagon of expertise that could take an entire generation to rebuild. Together, their analyses raise a fundamental question: are the Trump administration's policies merely reshaping America's strategic priorities, or are they transforming the institutional foundations of American military power and challenging the constitutional principles it is meant to defend? Weinstein offers an unequivocal warning about what he sees as the ideological forces driving that transformation: "The Military Religious Freedom Foundation represents over 100,000 members of the military, active duty, reserve, Guard and veterans. We have hundreds more each month. I can tell you as the leader of this organisation, because if anybody comes to us, they're well aware of the Christian nationalist push of the Trump so-called administration, the attempt to destroy our constitutional democratic republic and replace it with an autocratic, terrorist version of Christian nationalism."

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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    FRANCE 24 English
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © France Médias Monde
  • Show Website
    Spotlight

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