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Politics

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.

World

‘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.

Politics

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 Vladimir Putin and the growing controversy over religious ideology within the Pentagon, the two guests offer a stark assessment of the direction o

World

Art crime detective Arthur Brand warns: 'All museums have been, and will be, victims of theft'

François Picard is pleased to welcome art crime detective Arthur Brand. "In the old days they stole a painting, but a painting is unique; you cannot cut it in two," explains Brand, "In the last 10 years they have been targeting more and more objects made of gold, silver". He examines the transformation of international art theft, warning that increasingly sophisticated criminal opportunism is shifting attention from irreplaceable paintings towards precious metals and gemstones that can be dismantled, melted down or dispersed.

Politics

French riots: A gift for Le Pen?

How much damage has the unrest in France caused to a protest movement rooted in genuine grievances but hijacked by rioters, violence and vandalism? Is it a gift to Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader and presidential frontrunner? Or is it a spectre of trouble to come in a deeply polarised society, amid an increasingly poisonous political atmosphere? FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee speaks to French analyst Renaud Foucart, a senior lecturer in economics at Lancaster University.

Politics

'US tilting toward Russia: Europeans are standing more and more solidly with Zelensky'

As transatlantic relations confront renewed geopolitical uncertainty, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivers a pointed assessment of Washington's shifting approach to Russia's war on Ukraine and the profound implications for European security. At the heart of his analysis lies a fundamental question: can Europe develop the political unity, strategic independence and military capabilities necessary to defend its interests in an increasingly unpredictable international order? Ilves response: "If there's any time for Europe to begin to act as Europe and not as being strictly self

World

Oxfam takes France to court over 'tax inequality': 'Problem' with tax system, public service funding

François Picard is pleased to welcome Layla Abdelké Yakoub, Tax Justice and Inequality Advocacy Officer at Oxfam France. "Today in France a billionaire pays less taxes proportionally than a nurse or a firefighter," Yakoub explains. She challenges the foundations of France's fiscal system, arguing that the growing concentration of wealth and preferential tax treatment of the ultra-rich are undermining the constitutional principle of equality before taxation. As Oxfam pursues legal action against the French state, Yakoub describes a widening disconnect between the government's efforts to attract

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World

‘Amazing progress’ in lung cancer: Immunotherapy extends survival as mRNA vaccines offer hope

François Picard is pleased to welcome Siow-Ming Lee, Professor of Medical Oncology at the University College London and a specialist in lung cancer. “Lung cancer is not one cancer. There are many different types of lung cancer,” explains Lee. For decades, lung cancer has been closely associated with smoking, late diagnosis and poor survival prospects. Yet there is a broader revolution in cancer brewing: Medicine advances in molecular oncology, minimally invasive surgery and immunotherapy are fundamentally transforming both the understanding and treatment of the disease, including among patient

World

Digital distrust and polarisation: 'We need to get back to engaging with one another as a society'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Valdemar Osted, partner and head of technology at Danish digital consultancy Common Consultancy. Can the fear of disinformation become as dangerous to democracy as disinformation itself? Osted challenges widely circulated claims that attacks on Russian data centres have triggered a sudden collapse in online engagement among supporters of Donald Trump and Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Drawing on social media monitoring and research into inauthentic behaviour, Osted reports finding no unusual decline in Facebook interactions following th

World

ISS amid global conflict: A rare bastion of 'scientific collaboration' between the East and West

François Picard is pleased to welcome Alban Guyomarc'h, Researcher in Space Geopolitics at Paris's École Normale Supérieure School of Higher Learning. As a new era of space rivalry unfolds, the International Space Station remains one of the last bastions of cooperation between geopolitical adversaries. For Guyomarc'h, the latest ISS mission is more than a remarkable technological achievement. "It's one of the rare collaboration spaces we still have today in a very conflictual era".

Entertainment

Polygamy, Ghosts and Grief Collide in ‘Marlina’ Director Mouly Surya’s Busan Asian Project Market Drama ‘The Wife Who Can See Dead People (Or Jinn)’

A young bride who sees ghosts joins a polygamous Muslim household and forms a bond with one of her husband’s other wives in “The Wife Who Can See Dead People (Or Jinn),” the new project from Indonesian director Mouly Surya (“Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts”). The project is part of the Asian Project Market, […]

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Entertainment

Locarno Title ‘Rapture’ Director Dominic Sangma Confronts Unregulated Stone Mining in Busan Asian Project Market Drama ‘Veil of Dust’

A villager maimed by a mining blast and his wife’s fight for compensation open up a story of exploitation, complicity and indigenous belief in “Veil of Dust,” the new project from “Rapture” director Dominic Sangma. The project is part of the Asian Project Market, which runs within the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents & […]

World

Ukraine: Coerced into a corner?

It's reported that Ukraine is right now facing intense diplomatic pressure and coercion from the Trump administration to end the war quickly.

Politics

Raphaël Glucksmann, the man who wants to be French president

Raphaël Glucksmann has won the primary to represent the French centre-left in the upcoming presidential elections, securing 66% of the vote. He now faces the challenge of building support for the centre-left in a political landscape where the far right, led by Marine Le Pen, remains a major force.