Spotlight

'Most powerful force is human potential': Ukraine's military prioritises new tactics, technologies 25.09.2026 10min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Kyrylo Berkal, Deputy Commander of Ukraine's Third Army Corps. He sees Ukraine’s struggle centred on human potential, adaptation and will. While Ukraine is outnumbered, outgunned and sometimes outflanked, their answer is to make human initiative a weapon: giving soldiers and sergeants room to innovate, developing technology from the tactical level upward, and trying to outthink their adversary. Berkal says that Operation Vivaldi embodies that philosophy.

US war on Iran: Trump will 'declare victory and go home', embracing the 'Greenland option' 24.09.2026 16min

François Picard welcomes Scott Anderson, journalist, war correspondent and best-selling author of "King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran". For Anderson, there is a striking parallel between 1979 and 2026: Washington's persistent misreading of Iran, and the consequences that follow.

When climate mitigation becomes politicised: The Guardian uncovers IPCC links to Saudi oil industry 23.09.2026 11min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Eoghan Gilmartin, an award-winning investigative journalist and part of The Guardian team whose investigation examined links between IPCC authors and Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, including Saudi Aramco. Their findings take us to the intersection of climate science, political and economic interests, and institutional credibility, and into the politically consequential terrain of climate mitigation: how societies decide to respond to climate change.

Trump admin's hardline deportation policy an 'attempt to break the global refugee and asylum system' 22.09.2026 11min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Washington Post national security reporter Adam Taylor. The Forbidden Stories consortium, involving FRANCE 24 and 25 other media outlets, has spent six months investigating the thousands of people abruptly deported from the United States to third countries, amid concerns over due process and their ability to challenge their removal. The investigation examines how the Trump administration has made deportation a major focus of both US immigration and foreign policy.

It's not malicious, it's indifference: Thousands of books sent to AI woodchipper 17.09.2026 13min

In this edition, FRANCE 24’s François Picard speaks to investigative journalist Emanuel Maiberg, Co-founder of 404 Media. As we embark on AI's uncharted waters, Maiberg has made a most unexpected discovery: the mass acquisition, dismemberment and scanning of rare books for use as training data. His investigation reveals a globalised and deliberately opaque supply chain in which books purchased through anonymous marketplaces arrive at large-scale scanning facilities, where their bindings are removed so that pages can be processed at great speed.

'Revolutionary change in US foreign policy: MAGA does not see itself as leader of democratic world' 15.09.2026 15min

For Spotlight, FRANCE 24 François Picard is pleased to welcome Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of Autocracy, Inc. According to Applebaum, the upheaval in American diplomacy and foreign policy transcends any one administration. She describes a full-fledged transformation in the way the United States exerts power, pivoting away from leadership of a democratic alliance and toward a transactional, mafia-style politics that fuses ideology, private economic interests, personal relationships and geopolitical leverage.

Corruption ‘endemic’ in Trump administration: 'Checks and balances only in effect at lower courts' 15.09.2026 18min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Andrew Weissmann, Author, Professor at NYU School of Law, and former General Counsel of the FBI. He argues that as political deception and deliberate falsehoods become normalized, and politically useful, it erodes any trust we have in our government and our institutions. Drawing on his book, "Liar’s Kingdom", Weissmann questions why political leaders are above the law in the United States, while ordinary citizens risk serious legal consequences for making intentionally false statements.

The 'authenticity' of Celine Dion: 'She appeals to the Boomers and the Zoomers' 13.09.2026 13min

In this edition, FRANCE 24’s François Picard talks to Nick Rees-Roberts, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University about Celine Dion. For Roberts, Dion’s extraordinary return to Paris reveals something larger than the enduring popularity of a global pop star. Her appeal lies in an unusual ability to bridge categories that contemporary celebrity and pop culture often keep separate: generations, languages, cultural hierarchies and even the apparent opposition between authenticity and carefully constructed stardom.

Sweden Election Aftermath: A hard night for the hard right? 13.09.2026 9min

FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee speaks to Scandinavia Correspondent Trine Villeman for some analysis on how Sweden has voted in the 2026 election.

Sucker Punch: How the Houthis shocked the Gulf 13.09.2026 24min

Who are the Houthis, what are their objectives for Yemen, and could the Iranian-backed group hold a significant part of world trade to ransom in the Bab el Mandeb Strait? FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee speaks with Professor Thomas Juneau, a specialist on the Houthis and Iran, explains the intricate dynamics of the group, its repressive nature and the level of the threat to world shipping.

On Sept 12th, 'everyone was compassionate': The world needs 'to be together again' - Richard Roeill 13.09.2026 17min

FRANCE 24’s François Picard talks to Richard Roeill, former New York Firefighter and 9/11 First Responder. Roeill’s testimony reframes the legacy of September 11th not as a historical event confined to a single day, but as living history. The former New York City firefighter describes an anniversary that reactivates trauma, while the illnesses suffered by first responders make the consequences of Ground Zero ever-present decades later. He says that responders were misled about the dangers they faced and demands accountability and long-term healthcare for those exposed to the toxic air.

Has Trump Left MBS hanging over Yemen? 12.09.2026 22min

The Yemeni and Saudi governments are under pressure. The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman reportedly called US President Donald Trump twice to ask him to authorise US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen over the threat to the Bab el Mandeb Strait. According to Axios, the US President declined. FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee discusses that decision and the wider conflict with the retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of US ground forces in Europe, and former Commander of NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey.

US government has decided on 'Guantanamo forever' 11.09.2026 19min

In this edition, FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee speaks to New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg, widely regarded as one of the foremost American journalists covering the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Several alleged suspects in the 9/11 attacks are still being held there, including their so-called “architect”, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He is scheduled for trial in June 2028, 27 years after the tragedy. To mark the anniversary, Rosenberg has written a reflective piece titled A Place Where Memories Have Faded Away.

RN 'breach': Amid 'severe' differences with 'bright, young' Bardella, Le Pen 'dictates party line' 10.09.2026 14min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Victor Mallet, Financial Times Senior Editor at the World News Desk. He interprets the emerging tensions between Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella as more than a clash of personalities. They reveal a deeper struggle over the political future of France's far-right National Rally is becoming as they find themselves in prime position in their hunt to capture the French presidency. Bardella is formally president of the party and has developed his own political constituency, particularly among younger voters and parts of the business community. Yet Mallet argues that Le Pen continues to exercise the decisive ideological and strategic authority.

‘Was this a state visit?’ Indian opposition leader raises serious questions over Paris BAPS temple 09.09.2026 5min

FRANCE 24’s François Picard speaks with Anish Gawande, spokesperson for the Nationalist Congress Party. He sees the controversy surrounding the inauguration of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple near Paris as more than an isolated dispute over the treatment of female staff at the Eiffel Tower. From his perspective, the incident exposes a broader and insufficiently scrutinized intersection of religion, diplomacy, political power, labor practices and diaspora politics.

Accelerating diversification: Canada seeks economic sovereignty amid Trump's 'nonsensical' posturing 08.09.2026 12min

FRANCE 24’s François Picard speaks with Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminum Association of Canada. According to Simard, the US-Canada aluminum dispute is not a conventional disagreement over trade, but rather a 'Trump posture that makes no sense". As American industrial demand substantially exceeds domestic production capacity, tariffs will do nothing to reduce Canadian aluminum from the US market. Protectionism does not eliminate interdependence, explains Simard, it makes that interdependence considerably more expensive.

'Polarised Brazil': Lula remains a 'strong candidate' despite challenges of incumbency 07.09.2026 4min

François Picard is pleased to welcome Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos, Director of King’s Brazil Institute at the School of Global Affairs, King’s College London and Associate Professor in Brazil and Latin American Studies. According to Aruska, Brazil’s approaching elections can be viewed through competing prisms: macroeconomic performance and political confidence are moving on different tracks. While headline indicators may suggest an economy performing relatively well, she argues that many Brazilians experience a much harsher reality, shaped by the cost of living and a volatile job market.

'Ready to talk': German far right celebrates victory in Saxony-Anhalt 06.09.2026 15min

"Everything is possible" was the campaign slogan of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right party has won a landslide election victory, although they appear short of a majority in the state parliament. Ulrich Siegmund, who is in pole position to become the state leader, knows he has history in his grasp. We get reaction from CSU MP Tobias Winkler.

Witkoff: Putin's messenger? 05.09.2026 16min

What did Steve Witkoff know about Russia when he was first sent to see President Vladimir Putin in February of last year?