Press Review

FRANCE 24 English
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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. 19H AGO

    Who's making money off Trump's war in Iran?

    PRESS REVIEW: Tuesday, March 10 - the world's front pages are torn between heralding a global oil crash and relaying Donald Trump's promise of peace on the horizon. Also, between crypto-bets and arms investments, , who’s making money from this war? In other news, France prepares for a first round of voting in municipal elections, seen as a litmus test for next year’s presidential race. And finally, Kim Jong Un’s International Women’s Day address paid North Korean women some… backhanded compliments. The world woke up to two main headlines on Tuesday: one heralding an impending oil shock, and the other leading with Donald Trump's claim that the war was "very complete, pretty much over". Meanwhile, over or not, the Pentagon spent $5.6 billion on munitions in the first two days of the war alone, The Washington Post reports, and the administration are now preparing an additional budget request for congress to sustain the strikes, something likely to anger lawmakers. War is a costly business, but a lucrative one, as Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have understood. The Wall Street Journal has an exclusive on Donald Trump’s sons backing a drone company aiming to manufacture 10,000 drones a month, targeting Pentagon sales and a share of the $1.1 billion the Department of War has committed to spending on US-made drones by 2027. Other winners in this war include six anonymous online gamblers who made $1.2 million betting on the first US strikes on Iran on cryptocurrency prediction markets. The New Yorker, citing a crypto-analytics company, reports the bets may have come from insiders acting on classified information. In other news, here in France the nation heads to the polls on Sunday to elect the country's 350 thousand mayors. Les Echos describes the far-right National Rally hungry to increase their municipal footprint, with more councillors, more mayors, and even a chance of taking charge in France's second city, Marseille. Polling published in Le Monde reflects a shift rightwards in voter priorities: immigration is now voters' third priority, behind cost of living and healthcare, ousting the environment from the top three. This as multiple left-wing lists will face off in many towns, dividing the left-wing vote. And finally, the whole world celebrated International Women’s Day over the weekend – including North Korea, as documented by The Times. Kim Jong Un heaped backhanded compliments on his country's women, whom he described as "physically weak", "wrinkled", and "plain".

    6 min

  2. 1D AGO

    The 'shadow prince': Mojtaba Khamenei succeeds father as Iran's new Supreme Leader

    PRESS REVIEW – Monday, March 9: The new Supreme Leader embodies both continuity with his father’s hard-line rule and a departure from what was intended to be a non-hereditary system of governance. In other news, Greenpeace has warned of “rogue companies trying to sidestep international law” in the deep seas, while the BBC has published photos from a recent expedition to the Caribbean’s deep waters. Also, a Viking-inspired sport enjoyed a moment of fame in England. Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar ran the headline "The Legitimacy of Blood", after Ali Khamenei's son was appointed to succeed him. While the pro-Hezbollah paper cited the bloodline as a source of legitimacy, L’Orient le Jour criticised what it called a “return to dynastic succession” 40 years after the Iranian revolution. Iran International described the new Supreme Leader as a "shadow prince", who has operated largely out of public view but close to power for decades, playing a key role in suppressing protests in 2009 and 2022, and influencing appointments of senior figures in the Revolutionary Guard. The Times characterised the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as a challenge to Donald Trump, noting that Ali Khamenei had previously said his successor should be “hated by the enemy”. At sea, Greenpeace believe they have evidence that subsidiaries of US company TMC may be in breach of its obligations to the International Seabed Authority. Meanwhile, the BBC brings good news from the deep seas: a recent expedition in the Caribbean, exploring depths of up to six kilometres, has revealed a healthy ecosystem, largely untouched by human activity, with specimens straight out of science fiction. And finally, in Surrey, The Times reports on the little-known, Viking-inspired “wife-carrying” championships held over the weekend, in which duos compete with one partner carrying the other over a 380-metre course. Unsurprisingly, the winners were a Finnish couple, who took home a barrel of ale.

    5 min

  3. 4D AGO

    'Operation Epstein Distraction': Sexual assault allegations against Trump emerge

    PRESS REVIEW – Friday, March 6: International papers discuss US President Donald Trump's "warrior transformation" and speculate about how the new war in the Middle East could benefit Russia. Also: the US Department of Justice publishes an interview that outlines sexual assault allegations against Trump. Finally, is the US president trying to distract attention from the Epstein files with the new war? This question has inspired quite a few cartoons. Papers from across the world are following the war in the Middle East. Spanish daily El País writes that "two out of three Spaniards oppose the war against Iran". However, "61 percent support sending a frigate to Cyprus in response to the Iranian attacks" and as a commitment to defend the European Union.  French newspaper La Croix headlines with "Trump's warrior transformation". The attack on Iran shows a dramatic turnaround by the US president, who was once opposed to "endless wars". Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour headlines with "an entire population forced to flee", showing a scared child on the street and massive traffic jams after Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of Beirut's southern suburbs.  Israeli papers are not always on the same page. An analysis in the left-wing paper Haaretz says that "Trump's fantasies for Iran go beyond regime change". It says that the joint US-Israeli war is a "bid to consolidate a new regional order in the Middle East". Trump's vision for this order is not democratic values, human rights or international law, says the analysis. The paper reminds us that his central partners in the Gulf states are authoritarian monarchies where the ultra-rich employ poor migrants from the Global South. Therefore, the new emerging order is driven by economic interests: defence technologies, AI, crypto, real estate and finance, where the Gulf is a "haven for capital," not limited by the "perils of democracy". An analysis in the right-wing paper The Times of Israel says that the Gulf states are living "their worst nightmare", because they've spent decades trying to avoid direct conflict with Iran. The article says that Iran hopes that inflicting enough pain on its neighbours will pressure Trump to end the war. But this strategy might end up backfiring: the Gulf states are cooperating even more closely with Israel, opening pathways to new alliances.  The Washington Post writes that "Russia could benefit from the new war", as Trump's attention may be totally diverted with weapons rerouted to the Middle East. Russian oil might be put back on the table amid surging oil prices. The Ukrainian paper The Kyiv Independent writes that "in the Middle East, chaos is Putin's new ally". The opinion piece says that people shouldn't be worried that Putin will intervene on behalf of Iran; he will instead try to exploit the new war. Meanwhile, Politico reports that the US Department of Justice has published documents that outline sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump. It's a trio of FBI interviews with a woman who says that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was a young teenager, between the ages of 13 and 15. She was introduced to him by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her central allegation is that the president forced her to perform oral sex on him – she says she then bit his private parts to defend herself, after which he punched her. These files come as Democrats have been investigating whether the US Justice Department deliberately withheld material that includes sexual assault allegations against Trump.  Finally, we take a look at some cartoons that imply Trump attacked Iran only to divert global attention from the Epstein files. "Operation Epstein Distraction" was renamed to "Operation Epic Fury" so that's it's not too obvious, says one of the cartoons wryly.   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

    Trouble in MAGA paradise over war with Iran

    PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, March 5: The mass exodus from southern Lebanon makes front pages. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is lambasted for a lack of clarity on its war with Iran, including from the US president's own supporters. Plus, we get some bad news on sea levels globally, but there’s good news for Punch, the baby macaque in a zoo near Tokyo. The front page of French Catholic newspaper La Croix reads "Lebanon trapped". Libération tells the stories of the tens of thousands forced to flee the south of the country, some of them leaving with a heavy heart. Meanwhile, L'Orient-Le Jour hypothesises about Israel's next steps: the type of ground offensive, and Israeli hopes of dictating a new security order in southern Lebanon after the disarming of Hezbollah. The French-language Lebanese paper does not preclude the possibility of an Israeli incursion into Iran too, which could have a knock-on effect on Lebanon, by weakening Hezbollah's number one backer. Meanwhile in the US, Democratic lawmakers emerged dumbfounded on Wednesday from a classified briefing by the Trump administration on the war. The New Republic cites lawmakers less convinced than ever that there is a plan, and increasingly fearful of the US deploying troops on the ground. Politico, meanwhile, evokes a chaotic last-minute scramble to evacuate civilians, bolster intelligence gathering and send drone defence systems to the region after the outbreak of war, implying that the conflict has taken on proportions the administration did not anticipate. The New Republic describes a "MAGA Meltdown" still in its infancy, meanwhile, as prominent voices in the MAGAsphere speak out against the war, which they deem a betrayal of Trump's "America First" policy. In climate news, a new study shows sea levels have been inaccurately recorded all over the world, and in most cases underestimated. The New York Times explains that this means hundreds of millions more people than we realised face the threat of rising sea levels. Finally, the Guardian brings us some good news for Punch the monkey in Japan's Ichikawa Zoo, who, rejected by his mother and bullied by the group, turned to an Ikea soft toy in the form of an orangutang. After a few sad weeks with only the teddy for comfort, his keepers are pleased to say that he's now interacting more with the other monkeys, even if he still curls up with his toy when it's time for bed. 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

  5. 6D AGO

    Dubai influencers 'interrupted' by Iran strikes wake up from a 'senseless dream'

    PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, March 4: The war in the Middle East has transformed the lives of influencers and expats living in Dubai. But first: papers discuss why US President Donald Trump chose to strike Iran. Also: junior doctors in England use ADHD as an excuse to skip working overnight. Finally, a story about mini (and maxi) pet pigs.  Papers are still analysing the rationale behind the US strikes on Iran. The Guardian writes that Trump "has still not settled on reasons for going to war with Iran". The paper's analysis piece says that his administration has run through a number of justifications – from Iran planning an imminent strike and the country's evolving nuclear programme, to lobbying by Israel. The Washington Post writes that for the first time, Donald Trump acknowledged a personal dimension to his decision to attack Iran. He cited Iran's alleged efforts to assassinate him in 2024, saying, "I got him before he got me", "I got him first". The paper says that in 2024, Trump went through two assassination scares and had to ramp up his security measures. However, no evidence has yet connected Iran with those two assassination attempts.  In Dubai, influencers and expats are still trying to grasp their new reality. French investigative paper Mediapart calls it "the end of illusions". The paper writes that the "Emirati city has awakened from a senseless dream" in which it thought it was a zone immune to the crises affecting the world. The Guardian writes that influencers have been "interrupted by Iran strikes". The paper writes that online, residents are posting videos of parties, but also missiles in the sky and emergency messages urging residents to take shelter. Dubai has long been painted as a safe playground for the ultra-rich and one of the safest places on Earth, the paper notes, but "this image of safety has been shattered". A cartoon by Stephen Collins makes fun of Dubai expats "having their first ever geopolitical thoughts".  Next, junior doctors in England are trying to dodge night shifts by claiming they have ADHD, The Times reports. The number of doctors who say they are neurodivergent has almost doubled since the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper says that junior doctors are using social media to coach each other on how to avoid night shift work.  Finally, The Wall Street Journal writes about the myth of the "teacup pig", and those who had to find out the truth the hard way.  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

  6. MAR 3

    Papers discuss future of Ukraine after Trump's 'Iran gamble'

    PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, March 3: Papers discuss the new war in the Middle East and what it could mean for Russia's war in Ukraine. Also: Russian independent paper Meduza analyses the narrative of Russian state TV. Finally, did Jim Carrey attend the César Awards... or was it his clone?  International papers focus on the new war in the Middle East. "Struck at its heart, Iran is choosing a strategy of chaos," reads the headline on the front page of French daily Le Figaro. The paper says that the Iranian regime is "faced with an existential threat", so it chose to set the Middle East "on fire", trying to save itself. "Devastating" reads the headline on the front page of the left-wing British daily Morning Star. The paper reminds us that "Iran has long threatened to drag the region into total war" if it gets attacked. Meanwhile, the title of a feature article in The New York Times reads "As Maduro and Khamenei learned, it's harder than ever for leaders to hide". The article explains how a surge in sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence has transformed US intelligence. Today, it's much easier to track foreign leaders in real time. The New York Times writes that this ability opens up new horizons for presidents like Trump who wish to change "the attitude of foreign regimes – or change their leadership".  Papers are also discussing the impact of the conflict on Russia's war in Ukraine. Politico writes that "Trump's Iran gamble risks leaving Ukraine as a forgotten war". The paper says that Europeans are struggling to deal with Trump's "inflammatory interventions", but there is one thing that's worse: losing his attention. European officials fear that the new war will distract Trump, who will lose interest in ending Russia's war in Ukraine.  If the US gets itself into a long war in the Middle East, Ukraine may lose access to American-made weapons as well. It's an analysis echoed in The Kyiv Independent, too. The Ukrainian paper discusses how Zelensky's backing of Trump will impact Ukraine. It says that for Kyiv it's a logical choice, since Iran is a Russian ally and Volodymyr Zelensky wants to show that his country is reliable. However, it's unclear whether the strategy will work, because Trump's hostility towards Iran or Venezuela hasn't affected his relationship with Russia.  The Russian independent paper Meduza analyses the narrative of Russian propaganda about the new war. Russian state TV channels are saying that "diplomacy is ruined" and "what is happening is reminiscent of wars in Iraq and Libya". They paint America as a "predator" and as someone who's been planning the war in Iran for a long time. State media also warn that Russia needs "to draw conclusions" from what is happening in Iran. The fear of Russia being the next target is also present in an illustration called "Panic in the Kremlin" by Ukrainian cartoonist Serhiy Kolyada. We see Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov watching the news from Iran, looking scared behind their desks.  Finally, a conspiracy theory surrounding Jim Carrey's appearance at France's César Awards has gone viral. Many people think that a clone went to the awards and not the actor himself. Vogue France says that it all started as a joke, with people saying he got botox or a full facelift. The joke then turned into a more intense theory: what if this isn't the real Jim Carrey? Drag artist Alexis Stone posted a picture on Instagram suggesting that he had impersonated Carrey, fuelling even more conspiracy theories. Gregory Caulier, the general delegate of the awards ceremony, had to send a statement to Variety Magazine calling the rumours a "non-issue" and speaking about the actor's dedication to learning his speech in French. 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

  7. MAR 2

    'Trump seeks Nobel War Prize': Papers react to new conflict in the Middle East

    PRESS REVIEW – Monday, March 2: We look at reactions from across the Middle East to the killing of Iran's supreme leader and ahead to what might be next for the region. Meanwhile in the Western press, US President Donald Trump is slammed as seeking a "Nobel War Prize". Read moreLive: French FM Barrot calls for ‘Lebanon to be spared from this regional escalation’ The Tehran Times, loyal to the Iranian regime, bears a sobre, monochrome photograph of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on its front page, with the headline "For Iran's independence and glory". Over in Lebanon, Hezbollah-aligned Al-Akhbar leads with a drawing of Khamenei, with the headline "Resist".  Staying in Lebanon, L'Orient-Le Jour hails "the tearing of the axis", celebrating Khamenei's death as a blow to the Islamic Republic. On the inside pages, journalists break down various possible outcomes to the current crisis: the capitulation of Tehran as supplies run out, the backing down of Washington should its allies in the Gulf lose patience, or the toppling of the Iranian regime from within. The commentator deems the latter scenario the least likely.  In Israel, Haaretz focuses on Israeli casualties in the Iranian missile strikes, and comments on an Iranian regime showing "no signs of surrender".  Meanwhile in the West, indictments of Donald Trump are abundantly available: French paper L'Humanité says that the US president is seeking a Nobel Prize for War, while The Times jibes that "less than two weeks after the first meeting of his Board of Peace, President Trump grew bored of peace."  Finally, commentary in the US is sharply divided between those who take Trump's motive of liberating the Iranian people at face value, and those who fear that this weekend's interventions will not bring an end to the tyranny.

    7 min

  8. FEB 26

    Is the Berlin Film Festival's leadership in trouble over anti-Israel speech?

    PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, February 26: We look at reactions from the Indian and Israeli press after Narendra Modi's speech to the Israeli parliament. His visit is controversial back home. Also: the Berlin Film Festival's future leadership is in jeopardy after a film director's anti-Israel speech at last weekend's closing ceremony. Plus: superhero fatigue is here! A survey shows that teens want more sensitive portrayals of male heroes in the media.  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech to the Israeli parliament is making a lot of front pages. The Indian PM is on a two-day diplomatic visit aiming to strengthen trade and defence ties. Modi told lawmakers in Jerusalem that India stands "firmly with Israel" after Hamas-led October 7 attacks. He did not explicitly mention the tens of thousands of Gazans killed since then. The PM did say however that India backs the Gaza peace plan, the Deccan Chronicle reports. He began his speech by affirming that India's connection to this land was written in blood and sacrifice. Modi reminded lawmakers that 4,000 Indian soldiers died in the region during the World War I. The Indian Express headlines on his words "blood and sacrifice." An opinion writer for The Hindu notes that Modi's visit comes just after India signed a joint declaration at the UN criticising Israel's actions in the West Bank. The writer says Modi's objective will be to boost India's trade ties with Israel while also balancing West Bank tensions. In the Israeli press, The Jerusalem Post analyses one particular phrase uttered by Modi in his speech. He ended with a phrase in Hebrew, saying "Long live the Israeli people". The writer notes that this phrase would never have been spoken by India's founding father Mahatma Gandhi or Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister after India's independence. Both were firmly against Zionism, so the fact that Modi concluded with this phrase is all the more significant. Modi's visit has indeed been extremely controversial back home. The Indian Telegraph reports that opposition leader Rahul Gandhi from the Indian National Congress criticised the PM's visit to Israel, as did the communist party. India's official stance has always been to back Palestinian independence and a two-state solution. The communist party says Modi's visit was a betrayal of that cause. Moving on to another controversy, the Berlin Film Festival wrapped up last weekend – but comments by an award-winning director about Israel have prompted questions over the festival's future leadership. The Guardian reports that Germany's federal government commissioner for culture and media convened an emergency meeting with a state-owned company that manages the festival to debate its future direction. At Saturday's closing ceremony, Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah al-Khatib accused Germany of being complicit in what he called Israel's genocide of Gaza. His comments prompted a walkout by Germany's environment minister. As the Guardian explains, the Berlinale sees itself as an overtly political film festival. However, the war in Gaza has been a point of contention – with international artists rubbing up against a strong pro-Israel consensus among the political authorities who fund the festival. German paper Bild reports that the government intends to dismiss Tricia Tuttle, the American director of the festival, over Saturday's night controversy. The conservative daily calls al-Khatib's speech "a hate speech against Israel and Germany". It alleges that the government wants a fresh start after the festival's grand stage was "repeatedly misused for blatant anti-Semitism and propaganda".  Finally, a survey of teens shows that superheroes are no longer in fashion! Gizmodo reports that Gen Z and Alpha were surveyed over what kinds of male representations they want to see in the media and their responses were unwavering. They want less emotionally stunted superheroes and more emotionally sensitive males on screen. The teens surveyed favour male characters who express their feelings, men taking care of others, fathers enjoying parenting and men seeking help or mental health care. Superhero fatigue is well and truly present! 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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