Press Review

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An overview of the stories making the French and international newspaper headlines. From Monday to Friday live at 7:20am and 9:20am Paris time.

  1. 4H AGO

    Two Senegalese celebrities arrested in high-profile 'anti-gay' case

    PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 10: Police in Senegal have arrested over a dozen men, including a well-known TV presenter and a musician, in a case involving "unnatural acts" – parlance for gay sex. The New York Times calls it Senegal's most high-profile anti-gay case in years. Also in the country, a horrific paedophile ring spearheaded by a French man leads to multiple arrests. Finally, who is Ilia Malinin, the US figure skater who is revolutionising the sport? Senegalese police have arrested several men for allegedly committing "unnatural acts" – a reference to gay sex. Among those arrested are Pape Cheikh Diallo, a "beloved" TV presenter and Djiby Dramé, a musician. The pair appeared alongside 10 other men in court near Dakar on Monday. The website Sene News reports that Cheikh Diallo and Dramé have been deferred to prison while awaiting trial. The New York Times explains that the case is the most high-profile anti-gay case in years. According to police, an HIV-positive individual admitted to knowingly infecting other men who were contacted through WhatsApp. The identity of the suspect was not revealed, but the Times notes that the arrests come as part of a crackdown on homosexuality in Senegal, which has become "increasingly intolerant of gay and gender fluid people in recent decades." Cheikh Diallo interviews celebrities on TFM, Senegal's most watched TV channel, which was funded by the musician Youssou N'Dour. He has 3 million followers on TikTok and is particularly popular with young viewers. News website Sene Web quotes the head of Stop Homophobie, a Paris-based gay rights group which regularly comes to the aid of victims of discrimination in Senegal. The group condemned the arrests, saying it will expose LGBTQIA+ people to further stigma in a devoutly Muslim Senegal, where homosexuality is punishable by prison. Staying in Senegal, major arrests have been made in what being called a sickening paedophile project. Wakat Séra, a pan-African paper based in Burkina Faso, reports that 14 people were arrested at the weekend after months of investigation in both France and Senegal. They are accused of organised paedophilia, pimping, rape of minors, sodomy and the intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS. The men are accused of forcing boys to have unprotected sex with HIV-positive men and filming it. Four of the men were reportedly acting on the instructions of a French man in exchange for money. That man was arrested in France last year. According to Le Parisien, the network appeared to target a particularly vulnerable part of the Senegalese population called talibé. They are children who are sent to Koranic schools but often find themselves forced to beg on the streets. Finally, US superstar ice skater Ilia Malinin is getting a lot of attention in the press. Malinin is the new star of ice skating after being the first skater to land the sport's most difficult jump: "a quadruple axel". He did this while competing in the Team USA event at the Winter Olympics, helping them secure the gold medal. The quadruple axel is a four-and-a-half rotation in the air.  As The New York Times reports, the self-proclaimed "Quad God" is the son of two Russian-born Olympic figure skaters who competed for Uzbekistan. Malinin was left out of the US Olympic team four years ago due to inexperience, but has spent four years making a name for himself. At the weekend, he also performed the first legal backflip in Olympic ice-skating history. As NPR explains, French figure skater Surya Bonaly landed a backflip on one blade in 1998's Nagano Games despite it being completely illegal. She knew in her routine that she wouldn't get a medal, so she did the backflip anyway. It cost her points, but cemented her trailblazing legacy, especially as a Black athlete in a sport not known for its racial diversity. Canadian sports website TSN reminds us that the backflip became known as the "Bonaly flip" and some say Malinin owes his feats to those who came before him and paid the price for it. You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    6 min

  2. 1D AGO

    Starmer on thin ice after chief of staff resigns over Mandelson appointment

    PRESS REVIEW – Monday, February 9: The British Prime Minister is on thin ice after his chief of staff resigns. Elsewhere, centre-left candidate Antonio Jose Seguro has won a comfortable victory in an extremely rare second round of Portugal’s presidential election. In France, nine members of the riot police go on trial on Monday over allegations of police violence during the 2018 gilets jaunes protests. And finally, the corporate craze for beehives on office rooftops is booming. Keir Starmer’s precarious position is splashed across the UK front pages, with editorials looking ahead to how he might go, when, and who could replace him. Meanwhile, in Portugal, Sunday was described as a “good night for democracy”, according to Publico, while Antonio Jose Seguro was presented as a “safe choice” on the front page of Diario de Noticias. Expresso, however, remarked that Ventura appeared anything but defeated, suggesting that he and his party had lost the battle but not the war. In France, nine CRS officers are on trial over the violent beatings of gilets jaunes protesters in 2018, who had sought refuge from tear gas inside a Burger King. Images released by Libération in recent days show protesters being knocked to the ground, kicked, and repeatedly struck with police batons. The officers face up to seven years in prison. Finally, The Guardian has covered the buzz in the corporate world: a growing number of companies believe employee wellbeing and productivity can be improved by installing beehives on and around the workplace, a practice frowned upon by many who warn that an overpopulation of honeybees is endangering other insect populations.

    6 min

  3. 4D AGO

    'Sana-mania' hits Japan ahead of key snap elections

    PRESS REVIEW – Friday, February 6: As Japan heads for snap general elections this weekend, the press looks at "Sana-mania". Incumbent Sanae Takaichi, the country's first female prime minister, looks set to win that vote. Also: Libération reports on Belarusian woman Karyna Shuliak, who played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein's activities and inherited a large portion of his wealth. Plus: the Winter Olympics begins and we look at winners from the Close-Up Photography awards. We begin with the Japanese press ahead of general elections there on Sunday. The incumbent ultra-conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to win. The Japan Times focuses on the Komeito party, which ended its 26-year coalition with the ruling LDP last year over corruption scandals and Takaichi's commitment to reform. This election will play out in terms of who gets those precious votes, the paper says. Japan Today's website headlines with US President Donald Trump's endorsement for Takaichi, who he described "strong, powerful and wise". He also announced her upcoming visit to Washington next month. Some hot-button issues will be foreign residents' caps and nuclear policy. The paper explains that Takaichi is a security hawk and is expected to update key defence and security documents in the face of growing threats to Japan's security: an assertive China, but also North Korean missiles and nuclear threats. Her party has advocated the sharing of nuclear-powered submarines with the US and seeks to deepen that alliance.  In the international press, there is a lot of focus on Takaichi's charisma. The Times of London says the two-week electoral campaign is the shortest in modern Japanese history. It has generated "little policy debate" but instead has "become a pageant of celebration for Takaichi." The Guardian documents the "Sana-mania" gripping Japan – voters are obsessed with everything about her, from her choice of outfits and train journey snacks to the pink pen she uses to take notes in parliament. Despite a very conservative outlook, Takaichi has ignited interest among young voters by leaning into her feminism and playing on what she is not: "a hereditary, male politician."  Here in France, Libération is headlining on a new development in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The paper hones its focus on an enigmatic woman: Karyna Shuliak, a Belarusian and sort of successor to Ghislaine Maxwell. Shuliak featured prominently in Epstein's will – she was his girlfriend at the time of his death and reportedly the last person to speak to him. He bequeathed his luxurious Parisian apartment and diamonds to her. Her entry into his world began with her rebuffing his advances and refusing to become one of his victims. She later became a main administrator in his criminal activities, of which she denies a role. Shuliak has for the moment has not been convicted for her role in Epstein's crimes.  A quick word now on the sports front pages ahead of this Friday's Winter Olympic opening ceremony. There's much excitement over the "big show in the cold", according to L'Equipe, the French sports paper. The German daily Der Tagesspiegel is also giddy ahead of the "fun, games and excitement" that will take place over the next fortnight.  Finally, we look at the winners of the Close-Up Photography Competition. The competition is in its seventh year and received more than 12,000 entries from 63 countries this year. Australian photographer Ross Gudgeon won the grand prize for his photo, an extreme close-up of the inside of a cauliflower soft coral in Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. You can check out other winners in Gizmodo.  You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    7 min

  4. 5D AGO

    Are Washington Post layoffs an attempt to pander to Trump?

    PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, February 5: Are Keir Starmer's days as British prime minister numbered? That's what the British papers are asking after the latest scandal involving ex-ambassador Peter Mandelson and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Also, "bloodbath" and "murder" are the words used to describe mass layoffs at The Washington Post in what some think is owner Jeff Bezos's attempt to appease Donald Trump. Plus, an Armenian political party wants to create a ministry of sex to keep women satisfied. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is getting some serious heat over his knowledge of Labour Lord Peter Mandelson's connections to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Guardian says that Keir Starmer's days as prime minister could be numbered, according to opposition MPs and some of his own Labour MPs. The scrutiny centres on Starmer's appointment of Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US in 2024. Files pertaining to Epstein revealed this week that Mandelson leaked confidential financial information to Epstein as minister during the financial crisis of 2009-10. He also maintained a friendship with the disgraced paedophile even after his conviction. On Wednesday, Starmer admitted to knowing about Mandelson's relationship with Epstein when he appointed him to the plum diplomatic post, but maintained that Mandelson lied about how close the pair were. Nonetheless, the Financial Times calls it a torrid day for Starmer – painting it as the beginning of the end for the British prime minister.  The conservative press focus on a revolt led by Angela Rayner, the former Labour deputy prime minister, against Starmer in parliament. The Daily Mail reveals that Rayner essentially forced the prime minister into allowing a parliamentary committee to decide which documents pertaining to Mandelson's appointment would be released, in order to abate fears of what some fear is a "cover-up." The Daily Mail notes the fact that Rayner is widely seen as a successor to Starmer and that her revolt could indicate that the PM's end may be close. The conservative Daily Telegraph is also focusing on Rayner's showdown with Starmer in parliament, wondering what possessed him to make the Mandelson appointment. Meanwhile, the editors at the Times of London say that Starmer can't absolve himself of this crisis. It adds that "there's blood in the water" and someone is going pay – not only Mandelson. Over in the US, The Washington Post has laid off a third of its staff, a decision that was a long time coming but has nonetheless sent shockwaves through the paper's newsroom. There is very little mention of this in The Washington Post's Thursday edition. More than 300 people have been laid off, including all Middle East correspondents and editors but also the sports department and literary section. It's a sad ending for a paper whose reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein made history for their coverage of the Watergate scandal. The reactions are muted in the Post but elsewhere, The Atlantic calls it the "murder" of the Washington Post. The New Yorker blames owner Jeff Bezos, who was brought in to save the paper but instead contributed to its decline, it says. Some staff at the Post reportedly feel "betrayed" by Bezos's lack of communication and silence around the layoffs, the International Business Times reports. One former staff member accused Bezos of focusing on "surviving Trump" rather than protecting the paper's independence.  Finally, an insurgent political party in Armenia wants to create a ministry of sex. The Daily Telegraph reports that Sargis Karapetyan from the Strong Armenia party suggested creating the ministry to ensure all women are sexually satisfied in the country. But it's not coming from the kindness of his heart or concerns about female pleasure. Rather, he appeared to refer to previous comments by a sociologist that the rise in activism among middle-aged, White women is because they are not sexually satisfied. Women's rights groups have rightly taken issue with Karapetyan, with one even lodging a criminal complaint, according to the pan-Caucasus website Jam News. Is it perhaps just a ploy to get people talking about the party ahead of June elections? You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    6 min

  5. 6D AGO

    Team USA's 'Ice House' renamed ahead of 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy

    PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, February 4, 2026: Team USA's Olympics base camp is making headlines since it had to change its name from Ice House to Winter House. But first, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the country is planning a social media ban for under-16s. Next, Russian athletes could soon be back competing under their national flag. Meanwhile, the 2030 Olympic Games in France are off to a slow start. Finally, scientists study what love might look like in space. The Spanish government plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16. La Vanguardia quotes PM Pedro Sanchez, who says that he wants to protect minors "from a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence". El Pais celebrates the policy and says that "it is good to see the global debate on teenagers and social media finally moving towards holding companies accountable for their harmful practices". El Mundo is slightly more sceptical when it comes to implementing the ban. Meanwhile, the idea seems to be spreading throughout Europe. According to Diario de Noticias, Portugal is also considering a ban. The concept has spread to Greece as well, with Kathimerini reporting that the government is about to announce a Greek version of the plan.  The first events of the Winter Olympics begin this Wednesday, a few days ahead of the opening ceremony. Athletes have already arrived at their Milan base camps, but Team USA's base has been getting a lot of coverage. The New York Times reports that Team USA's club house has had to be renamed. Initially called the "Ice House", it has now been re-baptised "Winter House". The Guardian, for its part, looks at Team GB's home base, which it describes as being full of 5,000 teabags, 130 kilos of porridge and tons of popcorn.  Meanwhile, Russian athletes at the Olympic games are in the spotlight again. This year, they will still be competing as Individual Neutral Athletes. The Athletic goes over the various bans that have been imposed on the country since 2016. The Guardian reports that Russian athletes could be competing under the Russian flag soon. L'Equipe's cartoonists suggest Vladimir Putin might be next up for the FIFA Peace Prize. In France, though, the 2030 Winter Olympics are not going according to plan. L'Equipe reports that three senior officials have quit in the last two months amid rising tensions within the organising committee. Le Monde reports that the French Games are already behind schedule.  Finally, scientists are planning for humanity's future as a space-travelling species, as The Times reports. You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    7 min

  6. FEB 3

    Epstein's correspondence with Norway's crown princess was 'flirtatious and intimate'

    PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 3: The British and Norwegian papers examine the fallout from the latest release of the Epstein files, which are incriminating Labour peer Peter Mandelson and the crown princess of Norway. In Italy, anarchist protesters' clashes with police make front-page news. A new social media platform is raising eyebrows because it's for AI bots only. Finally, a 91-year-old British man wins a trampolining championship in Portsmouth! Backlash continues over the Epstein files, which are continuing to engulf European nations, from palace to parliament. Lord Mandelson, a high-ranking Labour Party member, is splashed across the front pages. He was revealed to have passed on confidential information pertaining to a €500 billion bailout of the euro to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a cabinet minister in 2009-10. The papers focus on British MPs seeking a police probe against him. The conservative tabloid Daily Mail calls him a "dark lord". In the Norwegian press, meanwhile, there is a lot of focus on the crown princess's connections to Epstein. Mette-Marit was mentioned 1,000 times in the latest documents, which indicate the nature of their relationship. As the daily Dagbladet notes, the tone is "flirtatious and intimate". The exchanges were clearly written by someone who didn't believe that the correspondence would ever come to light. One exchange about infidelity is "fit to make someone blush." For this paper, the revelations are damning – not least of all because it counters the palace's previous statements that the princess had met Epstein just a few times in social settings. Elsewhere, the Italian city of Turin has been the theatre of violent protests between anarchists and police. Il Manifesto reports that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is fast-tracking a security decree in the wake of the weekend's violence. Over 100 officers were injured in the clashes and one policeman was beaten with a hammer. Protesters were opposing the eviction of a left-wing social centre. The paper slams Meloni's security measure, saying it will not impact security but will further restrict the right to dissent. On the other hand, a conservative Italian daily applauds the government's initiative. The editors say it should be implemented "as soon as possible."  The New York Times focuses its attention on Moltbook, which is a social network... for AI bots. Moltbook was launched much in the same vein as Facebook or Reddit – it's a social media platform, but one in which humans are not allowed. This one is only open to Moltbots – an AI assistant very common in Silicon Valley. Since its release, more than 10,000 Moltbots have had automated chats with each other on the platform. Us humans can only watch on the sidelines in "awe and dread." In any case, the bots knew that humans were eavesdropping on their conversations – as demonstrated by a screenshot of one such conversation posted on X. Finally, a great-grandfather has won gold in a British trampolining competition. As the Daily Mail reports, Peter Quinney is 91, a former champion gymnast and a Royal Air Force veteran. He won the British Men's Trampolining Championships in 1960. Forty years after his last competition, he entered the over-40s trampolining contest and won two gold medals in the team and individual categories. He wowed judges with a 360-degree spin and a seat drop. According to the Daily Mail, he says he'll ring in his centennial birthday with 100 backflips!  You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    7 min

  7. FEB 2

    Daily Mail: Epstein's 'sex empire' was 'honeytrap' directed by the KGB

    PRESS REVIEW – Monday, February 2: We take a look at the oddest stories following the release of the latest batch of Epstein files. Moving to Serbia, the Chinese workforce is accused of harming nature and the local collective memory. Next: Japan's lack of trash cans continues to surprise tourists. Finally, we take a look at the Grammys fashion. Papers are discussing the latest release of more Epstein files. British tabloid The Daily Mail quotes "intelligence sources" that say that Jeffrey Epstein was running "the world's largest honey trap operation" on behalf of the KGB. According to these anonymous sources, Epstein was working on behalf of Moscow and possibly Israel. Sources also say that Epstein was introduced to the world of espionage by his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's father Robert Maxwell, who was an alleged spy for Mossad and Russia. Serbian media News 18 is talking about the prediction of the country's president, Alexander Vucic. After the release of the documents, Vucic said that he expects a military strike on Iran within the next 48 hours, linking the timing with the release of the files. He said: "When such nonsense appears, like with Monica Lewinsky back in the day, someone usually gets bombed". What Vucic is referring to is August and December 1998, when Bill Clinton's admissions on the Lewinsky affair coincided with strikes on Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq.  Our next story is also on Serbia, where Chinese investments are disrupting the lives of local mine workers. Politico tells the story of the northeastern Serbian town of Bor, which has one of Europe's "most significant gold and copper deposits". For decades, the mining centres there sustained the lives of workers from all over Yugoslavia, but since 2018, the mining complex has been bought by a Chinese state-owned mining group that invested more than €2 billion. The expansion is transforming the land and the lives of its inhabitants. Forest and rivers are being destroyed, wildlife is under threat, air pollution is alarming and the Chinese workforce does not want to integrate with the locals. Politico paints a battle between "economic profit and the slow erosion of collective memory".  In Japan, tourists are experiencing culture shock after seeing the lack of trash cans, The Wall Street Journal reports. The paper explains that trash cans disappeared in 1995 after a doomsday cult spread toxic gas in the subway in Tokyo. Many public trash cans were removed to prevent similar attacks in the future. But with the surge of tourists, the paper says that the Japanese might need to rethink their trash policy.  Finally, we take a look at Vanity Fair, Variety magazine and Vogue, to discuss some of the most interesting Grammy fashion choices. You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    6 min

  8. JAN 30

    'Too big to fail': TotalEnergies relaunches Mozambique gas project linked to 2021 massacre

    PRESS REVIEW – Friday, January 30: We look at reactions to the EU's designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation. What consequences will follow? Also, French energy giant TotalEnergies announces it will reopen a controversial natural gas project that was the site of a massacre in 2021. Finally, another 90s craze is back – Tamagotchis! There are lots of reactions in the press after the EU listed Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation. The website Politico takes us behind the scenes of the decision, which comes after great hesitation. For weeks, a group of EU capitals led by France opposed the move, warning that a terror listing would close off the little diplomatic leverage the EU still had with Tehran and risk reprisals against EU nationals. Il Riformista, an Italian daily, headlines with "Outlawed" and hails the EU's "historic decision". It calls it one that is "significant and far reaching". The paper quotes Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign affairs chief, as saying "if you behave like a terrorist, you must be treated like a terrorist". The Iranian press focuses on Tehran's reaction. Mehr news agency quotes Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as saying that the Revolutionary Guard is one of the strongest and most effective anti-terrorism forces in the world, while a columnist for Tehran Times slams the "double standards between the West and Iran". The author argues that in the West, police pursue opposition figures all the way to hospital beds and call it law enforcement. In Iran, police restraint is called a bloody crackdown, she claims. This is not a media mistake, she says, but "a core component of the narrative war against Iran". We move on to French paper Libération, whose Friday edition is 100 percent comics. Once a year, Libération recounts the news in cartoons to honour the illustrated press and the international festival of Angoulême, which is dedicated to comics, the "ninth art". That festival is not taking place this year due to bitter internal politics and controversy within the organisational structure. Le Monde recounts however that a fringe festival is taking place. Angoulême's town hall has organised meetings between comic book authors and the public, comprising round tables, exhibitions and dedications. In other news, French energy giant TotalEnergies is set to reopen a controversial natural gas pipeline in Mozambique. Politico reports that the company's CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, was in Mozambique on Thursday to announce that the $20 billion natural gas mega pipeline project will begin work again. The project was halted in 2021 after a deadly jihadist attack in the region. In 2024, Politico revealed that Mozambican soldiers based inside the site had brutalised, starved, executed and disappeared 200 men in three months. This prompted Britain and the Netherlands to withdraw their funding. TotalEnergies was accused of war crimes but denied the allegations. French business paper Les Echos explains why this project is still going ahead, despite multiple controversies. In a nutshell, it is too big to fail. The project could constitute some 20 percent of TotalEnergies's gas projects. Finally, a nineties trend is making a comeback. Libération tells us that Tamagotchis are back. The little beepers were made by Japanese company Bandai and allowed us to care for a virtual pet. The device has found new popularity with kids today, encouraged by parents for its educational value and lessons about responsibility and care!           You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

    6 min
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About

An overview of the stories making the French and international newspaper headlines. From Monday to Friday live at 7:20am and 9:20am Paris time.

Information

  • Channel
    FRANCE 24 English
  • Creator
    FRANCE 24 English
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © France Médias Monde
  • Show Website
    Press Review

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