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. قبل يوم واحد

    South Africa anti-migrant wave: UN's Türk urges people 'not to dehumanise'

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this wide-ranging interview, Türk presents a coherent vision of human rights as the essential framework through which to understand some of the defining global challenges of the 21st century. Rather than treating migration, climate change, nationality, international law and institutional governance as separate policy questions, Türk argues that they are deeply interconnected manifestations of a broader crisis of solidarity, legality and political responsibility. The UN human rights chief consistently shifts the discussion away from short-term political pressures and towards universal principles grounded in international law, empirical evidence and shared humanity. Whether discussing anti-immigrant sentiment, the treatment of asylum seekers, climate responsibility or the weakening of multilateral institutions, Türk returns to a recurring proposition: societies become more stable, not less, when they resist dehumanisation and uphold universal rights. At the same time, he warns that political polarisation, environmental degradation and the erosion of international institutions risk undermining the very legal and moral architecture designed to protect future generations.

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  2. قبل يومين

    Pragmatic diplomacy: 'Oman is committed to de-escalation & peace in the region', analyst says

    As French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman amid efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, François Picard speaks to Dawud Al Ansari, a geopolitics and energy analyst. Meanwhile, diplomacy in the Gulf is once again being tested by renewed military tensions. Al Ansari offers a nuanced assessment from an Omani perspective, arguing that the country is playing an increasingly valuable strategic role.  Rather than portraying the Sultanate as simply another Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monarchy, Al Ansari contends that this small but influential nation has deliberately cultivated its influence through neutrality, mediation and pragmatic diplomacy. While regional security remains fragile despite recent agreements, he argues that Oman will continue to prioritise stability, free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and dialogue between regional adversaries. He also places France's recent engagement within a broader geopolitical context. The Elysée’s diplomatic and economic initiatives reflect a wider strategic interest in reducing regional instability that carries significant consequences for global energy markets and European economies. At the same time, Oman faces pressing domestic challenges. In particular, the country must diversify its economy and create opportunities for a predominantly young population, making international partnerships increasingly important. Al Ansari also notes that geopolitical leverage is never static. While Iran has demonstrated its ability to use the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic instrument, the analyst contends that the power of the lever is likely to diminish over time as neighbouring states invest in alternative trade routes and infrastructure. The discussion ultimately presents Gulf geopolitics not as a fixed balance of power, but as an evolving landscape shaped by diplomacy, economics and long-term strategic adaptation.

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  3. قبل يومين

    What happens when lightning strikes the Eiffel Tower?

    The heatwave that's seen much of northern Europe melting in the past week is moving eastwards, with Germany and Hungary reaching or exceeding 40°C in the past 24 hours. Here in France, residents finally saw a break from baking temperatures and the tropical nights with the cooler Atlantic air coming in from the west.  And a momentous moment: a barrage of lightning flashes and storms for more than an hour on Saturday night. Tables were sent flying from the terraces of restaurants, plates and food with it, crashing to the floor with people running inside to take cover and watch. In a viral moment, the Eiffel Tower was struck by lightning. The episode left some wondering why lightning doesn't damage the Eiffel Tower, if it is safe for people to be within the tower, on the observation deck, or even in the restaurants with the ongoing tempest. It turns out the Eiffel Tower is struck several times a year by lightning. Completed in 1889, as the centre piece of the World Fair in Paris, Gustave Eiffel designed the tower not only as a spectacle and to withstand lightning, but to act as a scientific data station. Michael Troubat is the President of France Paratonnerres, the company that handles lightning protection for the Eiffel Tower, and tells us more in this edition. We’re also joined by Marie Segura, the co-founder of My Private Paris, who does curated luxury tours of the capital.

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  4. قبل ٤ أيام

    Iran, US trade attacks in Strait of Hormuz: Navigating the 'Guardian Angel' route

    Shots have been fired in the Strait of Hormuz, creating a diplomatic and logistical conundrum about what to do next. Some 11,000 crew members remain stuck on ships in the middle of the two belligerents who are negotiating an end to the conflict and providing opposing directives on how to safely evacuate. For its part, Iran is telling them to leave, but to first cross via its Larak Island at the northern part of the Strait. FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee spoke to Nitya Labh, Academy Fellow, International Security Programme at Chatham House. Produced by Gavin Lee, Alessandro Xenos, Antonia Cimini and Guillaume Gougeon

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  5. قبل ٥ أيام

    Venezuela earthquakes: 'Countless lives lost that in a normal country would have been saved'

    FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee welcomes Germania Rodriguez Paleo, an American Venezuelan journalist, commentator and former US chief reporter for the Daily Mail. In this interview, Rodriguez Paleo offers a political analysis of Venezuela's devastating earthquakes, arguing that while the seismic event itself was a force of nature, the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe was the product of decades of institutional collapse and democratic erosion. Rodriguez Paleo draws a clear distinction between unavoidable natural destruction and state neglect, corruption and oppression. In her view, entrenched corruption, crumbling infrastructure, hollowed out public institutions and the absence of an effective emergency response transformed a natural disaster into an immense human tragedy. Nowhere, she argues, is Venezuela's institutional decay more starkly exposed than in the aftermath of the earthquake. In most countries, she notes, the military and National Guard are among the first responders, mobilized to rescue survivors and coordinate relief efforts. As she examines the scenes emerging from Caracas and La Guaira, she observes a striking absence. "You barely see any uniformed personnel," she says. "Where is the National Guard? This is the same National Guard that, over the last 30 years, has been quick to suppress protests. They have killed protesters. That is what they have been trained to do. Today, they are nowhere to be found. There are no federal rescue operations, and the military is nowhere to be seen in Caracas or La Guaira." For Rodriguez Paleo, the earthquakes did not merely expose the vulnerabilities of Venezuela. They revealed the profound failure of a state that, when confronted with its greatest test, was unable or unwilling to protect its own people.

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  6. قبل ٦ أيام

    Social infrastructure during heatwave: 'Knock on the door makes the difference between life & death'

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology at NYU and Author of "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago". He challenges one of the dominant assumptions surrounding extreme heat: that technological adaptation alone can protect societies from climate change. Drawing on his landmark study of Chicago's deadly 1995 heatwave, he argues that mortality during extreme heat is shaped as much by the strength of social ties as by meteorological conditions. Neighbourhoods in Chicago with similar levels of poverty experienced dramatically different outcomes during the 1995 heatwave depending on the quality of their "social infrastructure": public spaces, institutions and everyday interactions that enable neighbours to recognise vulnerability and care for one another. Reflecting on France's current heatwave, Professor Klinenberg suggests that climate adaptation is fundamentally a social as well as an engineering challenge. While acknowledging improvements in preparedness since France's traumatic 2003 heatwave, he warns that the accelerating pace of climate change is outstripping the capacity of cities to adapt. Rising temperatures expose not only weaknesses in urban design but also deeper inequalities, social isolation and the invisibility of the most vulnerable. His central argument is that resilience depends not simply on cooling technologies, but on communities capable of transforming social connection into collective protection.

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  7. ٢٣ يونيو

    'A very different Afghanistan: Violence now linked to socioeconomic pressures'

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Silvia Boccardi, a freelance journalist based in Rome. Nearly five years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan occupies an uneasy position in international politics. As European governments increasingly seek practical engagement with the authorities in Kabul, questions persist over whether diplomatic contact can alleviate humanitarian suffering without conferring legitimacy upon a regime whose restrictions on women and civil liberties remain widely condemned. Drawing on recent field reporting from the capital Kabul, Lashkar Gah and northern Afghanistan, Silvia Boccardi offers a nuanced portrait of a country transformed by the end of war yet burdened by deep economic collapse, social fragmentation and profound uncertainty. Her observations challenge both optimistic narratives of stability and simplistic depictions of repression, revealing instead a complex reality where security has improved, but opportunity has vanished; where women continue to work and resist, yet face an increasingly constrained future; and where ordinary Afghans navigate daily life under conditions that remain both precarious and politically fraught.

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  8. ٢٣ يونيو

    Irish company 'assisting in commission of crimes' by supplying alumina to Russia for Ukraine war

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Wayne Jordash, President of Global Rights Compliance Foundation. He argues that the European Union's approach to alumina exports exposes a fundamental flaw: while seeking to constrain Russia's military-industrial capabilities through sanctions, European authorities continue to permit the export of a strategic raw material that may ultimately support Russian weapons production. This deadly contradiction finds itself at the intersection of sanctions policy, corporate accountability and wartime supply chains. Jordash argues that the more important issue is functional dependence and economic reality. Whether Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska formally controls the Irish company Aughinish Alumina or not, Jordash suggests that the scale of its commercial ties to Russia creates a form of de facto influence. More broadly, he contends that governments have obligations extending beyond proving a direct link between a specific shipment and a specific weapons system. In his view, authorities must assess foreseeable risks throughout supply chains and address the possibility that commercial activity may facilitate international crimes.

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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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