The Debate

Guilty verdicts for all. A court in southern France has sentenced Dominique Pelicot along with the 50 co-defendants he invited over the internet into the family home to rape his drugged wife. The 72-year-old pensioner got the maximum 20 years behind bars, but his co-accused received lighter sentences than those demanded by the prosecution. We ask what the last few months have revealed, first about the courage of ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot who opted to go public. She attended every day of the three-and-a-half month-long trial, saying shame was for her abusers – less than a third of whom expressed remorse in their closing statements. Is the verdict a triumph for victims the world over? Or does it challenge the presumption that after #MeToo, women's rights can only progress? After all, the evidence was posted online years before police or the victim caught wind of what was playing out in the sleepy Provence village of Mazan. Produced by Aline Bottin, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip. 

The killing in the heart of Moscow of Vladimir Putin's general in charge of chemical weapons comes on the eve of the Russian president's traditional marathon end-of-year press conference. Putin is so far yet to comment on his country's precipitated drawdown from Syria after the fall of Assad, but he's sure to opine on the death of under-sanctions General Igor Kirillov, what with the arrest of an Uzbek suspect who's confessed to working for Ukraine. Russia may seem exposed and weak, but time is not on Volodymyr Zelensky's side. The Ukrainian president is making the rounds at NATO headquarters, as the Alliance prepares for the return of a Donald Trump who's talked up a deal to end the war; an agreement that could redraw national boundaries in Moscow's favour.Simply put, which is weaker: a Ukraine exhausted by a decade of fighting, or a Russia that's had to pivot to a wartime economy and still ask for Iranian drones and North Korean reinforcements? In the middle, there's Europe, which is divided over how much it’s going to have to invest in assistance and defence spending for what lies ahead.Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri and Ilayda Habip.

Just as the leader of the Islamist-led alliance that toppled Syria's Assad announced he was shedding his wartime alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, can Ahmed al-Sharaa's HTS shed its past as the al-Nusra Front, a hardline offshoot of al Qaeda? FRANCE 24's Wassim Nasr was one of just a handful of journalists to interview Sharaa on Monday. For the president-elect of the United States, it was Turkey that toppled Assad. Donald Trump calls it a "hostile takeover", this as the outgoing Biden administration reportedly sounds the alarm over a potential Turkish invasion of northern Syria to oust US-backed Kurdish militias. Those same militias guard IS group prisoners for the West.In the middle, Europe is sending dignitaries and diplomats to both Ankara and Damascus. When is the right time for normalisation? How much has the map of the region been redrawn?Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.Read moreExclusive: Syria’s de facto new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa calls for lifting of sanctions

Paris got 46 hours of sunlight in November. The weather wasn’t particularly cold, it was only slightly wetter than usual, but definitely grey. As for France's political climate, the deadlock's enough to make the natives want to hibernate. Emmanuel Macron to name his fourth prime minister of 2024 after a divided parliament ousted the minority government of veteran conservative Michel Barnier. After a surprise call of snap elections, the French president then waited nearly two months to name Barnier and try to double down on a core of centrists and conservatives to pass a budget.  With the country constitutionally unable to return to the polls to replace the hung parliament until summer, will Macron try to change tack and offer concessions to the oppositions, even attempt a German-style grand coalition? France is an outlier in Europe: when there’s a majority in the legislature, its president has outsized powers with the ability to micro-manage day-to-day affairs.   Can the French do compromise? The far left and far right have their eyes on the big prize, the next presidential election in 2027 and demand purity tests of their faithful and allies. But then, how do you get a budget over the line? And does the system safeguard against illiberal methods. One week after South Korea’s president tried and failed at martial law, as the West prepares for the return of Donald Trump … how will France’s democracy weather what’s ahead?  Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip. 

Taking advantage of a brief power vacuum or are we witnessing a scramble for Syria? As Islamist-led rebels savour their surprise swoop on Damascus, foreign powers are seizing the moment to either clean house or settle scores: Turkey targeting Kurds in the north, the US hitting Isis positions in the east and Israel firing on all cylinders in a bid to debilitate Iran-backed military installations.  Assad never bent and so he broke, but for more than a decade, Syria’s seemingly immovable strongman could rely on Russia, powerful neighbour Iran, and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. Supreme leader Ali Khamenei blaming Assad’s fall on a US-Israeli plot and, without naming it, Turkey. How will Tehran react, particularly if the feels under threat?Will the dust settle or is there more to come in the region? Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Annarosa Zampaglione. 

Refugees, asylum seekers, Syrians in exil: the return to Syria begins with people who have given up on returning now back on their home soil. Syria after Assad starts to take shape this Tuesday December 10, with a people still trying to come to terms with the end of the Assad regime that has ruled for over 50 years. Europe starts to close its doors: states that have welcomed Syrian refugees are now stopping processing asylum requests. But does the end of the Assad regime mean it’s safe to go back?The world watches and other states are calculating their stance as a new Syria starts to emerge. Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Annarosa Zampaglione.

And suddenly, they were gone. For more than half-a-century, the Assads ruled Syria with an iron fist, seeing off uprisings, plots and a civil war. But in less than two weeks, encountering little resistance, an Islamist-led rebellion managed to swoop into Aleppo, Hama, Homs and now Damascus. We will ask why, why now, and what to make of Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the onetime jihadist who has groomed a more moderate image and made alliances with Syria’s other rebel factions, including the Kurds.Why the defeat for Bashar al-Assad now exiled to Moscow? What’s next for a former Ottoman dependency-cum-French protectorate that has only known dynasty and dictatorship for most of its citizens’ lives? Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Annarosa Zampaglione. 

Forget that France is without a government, forget illiberal winds, superpower tensions and the overseas wars. On Saturday, the City of Light welcomes the world for the grand reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral.  How the planet has changed in the five years since Our Lady of Paris was destroyed by fire. The presence at the grand reopening of US president-elect Donald Trump can attest to that, further proof that Notre-Dame means so much to so many over the world. So what does it mean? A place of worship? An attraction in the bigger tourist playground that is Paris? A relic of history? A measure of timelessness? What does it mean today and what's the current evolution of that meaning?  Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Ilayda Habip, Elisa Amiri, Rebecca Gnignati 

For Michel Barnier, negotiating with the Tories will have seemed a breeze compared with his short stint as French prime minister. The EU’s former Brexit negotiator is on the cusp of watching his minority government fall to the hands of parliament, a first in this country since 1962. It was always going to be an uphill battle to pass a budget while so far outnumbered by an opposition that goes from the far right to the far left. We will ask what the 73-year old conservative could have done differently, and whether it is all down to an unpopular president who hopes his political luck will carry him from Wednesday’s conclusion of a state visit to Saudi Arabia to Saturday’s reopening of Notre Dame without drawing too much attention during this major institutional crisis.A crisis of Emmanuel Macron’s own making, argue critics. After seven years in power, the French president inexplicably called snap elections that instead of giving his center-right bloc a majority brought Marine Le Pen’s far right closer than ever to power. He still has got two years in power, so is too soon to ask if this marks the start of Macron’s twilight?

It took years for Bashar al-Assad’s forces to take back Syria’s second city. But it took only days for Islamist rebels to overrun Aleppo. Why has a conflict that has been effectively frozen for four years suddenly sprung back to life? What to make of Hezbollah, which says it won’t be sending help for now as it’s pinned down at home by a precarious truce with Israel? What role for Assad-backers Russia and Iran? And what role for Turkey, which backs some of the rebel groups with an eye to pushing Syrian Kurdish forces away from its border? Recep Tayyip Erdogan last summer offered a deal with Damascus, which Assad turned down on the grounds that it would mean ceding the nominal sovereignty he has over a territory never really recaptured in eleven years.Back then, it was the Arab Spring and the leader of a hereditary dynasty who looked ready to fall, but Assad proved predictions wrong. Could this time be different? If so, how?Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip. 

Is France broken? Is France broke? Marine Le Pen to join the left and bring down a minority government that was scrambling to plug France's spiraling budget deficit. What is the plan for the far-right leader of parliament’s largest opposition party? We will ask about a crisis that has been brewing ever since Emmanuel Macron’s surprise call for snap elections backfired last July with a hung parliament that constitutionally cannot be dissolved again until summer. With next year's budget yet to be approved, there will not be a US-style shutdown, but it is anyone's guess how a caretaker government limps along with a spiraling deficit. Yes, the hangover from tax breaks and Covid-era subsidies has France borrowing at a higher cost than Greece … and with an opposition that wants no part of belt-tightening and neighbouring Germany also in political and economic turmoil, it is all of Europe that just might have a problem.  Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Elisa Amiri, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Ibip. 

Is it a mere lull? Or the first time in more than a year, can the Middle East point to genuine de-escalation? We ask about the timing of guns going mostly silent in Lebanon after both Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire. A ceasefire; not a peace treaty. Still, with Egypt now renewing moves to follow up with a truce in Gaza, we take stock of a region that’s still holding its breath. At the centre of it all is the ultimate political survivor: Binyamin Netanyahu. But does Israel's longest-serving prime minister still need a forever war in Gaza to stave off inquiries into the failures of October 7 and his own corruption trial, where he has obtained another delay?But it's about more than one man's fortunes. How much has the Middle East changed in the past 14 months? How much has it changed in 10 weeks of the heaviest fighting Lebanon has seen since 2006? What's left of the Iran-led axis of resistance? And what – if anything – will an incoming Trump administration change?Produced by Aline Bottin, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip. 

Will this trial be remembered as France's reckoning with sexual violence in the digital age? Closing arguments are underway in the mass rape trial of 51 men who were invited over the internet to the home of Dominique Pelicot to assault his heavily sedated wife Gisèle repeatedly, over several years. The defendants come from all walks of life: some confess fully, while others insist they're not rapists, claiming they believed it was all part of a consensual sex game.  The French government is now considering introducing the notion of consent into law. Is such a bill necessary? After two months of testimony in a trial that's drawn global attention, is the public more aware of the concept of toxic masculinity and how it’s perpetuated in today’s world? Awareness may be growing, but so is the backlash. Donald Trump's self-styled image as a "man's man" has made a return to traditional gender roles a winning campaign issue in the recent US election. How do we break through the echo chambers on this issue? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.Watch moreThe Pelicot case: Will it change French attitudes towards rape?

Is it about the man or the nation? The International Criminal Court’s indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has sparked global debate, highlighting just how much Israel and its longest-serving leader have lost international sympathy since the Hamas-led attacks on innocent civilians on October 7, 2023. As we examine the merits of the war crimes case, we also ask: are the reactions to Netanyahu a reflection on one man, or on a nation that has charted a controversial course in recent years?  Netanyahu has doubled down against rivals abroad and at home, where he is already on trial for corruption. Now, he faces fresh turmoil over allegations of leaked or falsified intelligence seemingly aimed at shifting blame for the 101 hostages still unaccounted for in Gaza. Is the focus on his leadership, or does it expose a deeper shift within Israeli society? As Israel moves further to the right, we also explore the international dimension. With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, can Israel sustain its current trajectory? Or could it revert to the pre-October 7 strategy of the Abraham Accords, which prioritised regional normalisation over addressing the plight of Palestinians? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

With just two months to go until Donald Trump’s anticipated return to the White House, tensions are rising on multiple fronts amid the war in Ukraine. The Biden administration, in its final stretch, has eased restrictions on Ukrainian use of Atacms long-range missiles, approved the provision of landmines to Ukraine, and announced $4.7 billion in debt forgiveness for Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russia is ramping up nuclear threats. Although Washington has downplayed Ukrainian claims of Moscow's first-ever use of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the US was alarmed enough to briefly shut its embassy in Kyiv this week.  The unease extends beyond Ukraine. Suspicions of sabotage to critical data cables in the Baltic Sea coincide with Finland and Sweden distributing war preparedness guides to their citizens. Is this all spiralling out of control, or is it a calculated lead-up to hard bargaining? And if the US steps back, is this the last opportunity to shape realities on the ground before borders are redrawn for good? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Mélissa Kalaydjian.

Is it all part of a bigger plan, or has Donald Trump simply decided that cabinet picks no longer matter? What to make of a TV host for defence secretary, a vaccine sceptic for health secretary, an ex-pro wrestling executive for education chief and a Putin-friendly conspiracy theorist to head intelligence services? Not to mention a now former congressman under investigation to head the Justice Department. Our panel tries to rise above the outrage du jour over conflicts of interest and competence issues to ask if the US president-elect is simply tapping into a deeper rage: rage against the establishment; rage among many voters that earned him a return to the White House. Do Americans now actually want the gutting of the institutions that run the world's most powerful nation?And how far does that rage against the system go on this side of the Atlantic? For those who like the welfare state, it's all about coming up with answers fast. 

Will history remember Rio as the swansong gathering of the US-led world order as we now know it? The curtain is coming down on Joe Biden's last G20 summit – his last big global gathering before the return of Donald Trump to the White House. The outgoing US president, who turns 82 on Wednesday, is slightly older than the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; all institutions that evolved on Washington’s watch. The neoliberal rules of the global game are often referred to as the Washington consensus. But already there are clubs to rival that consensus, including the BRICS, whose most recent summit was in Russia, and bids to bypass the US dollar as the world's currency. Trump himself is a convert to crypto and is vowing to ratchet up tariffs. Are we seeing the end of an era? Amid foreboding in Rio, we ask about the G20's bid to frontload financing on global poverty and climate change. Can the rest of the world "Trump-proof" common rules to rein in the excesses of globalisation? 

Major escalation or final gesture? Nine weeks before handing over power to Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden has approved the use of American-made long-range missiles by Ukraine inside Russian territory. The decision comes in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines in the Kursk region. Will the missiles be limited to this area, and what will US policy look like after Inauguration Day on January 20? On the eve of the decision, Ukraine’s president acknowledged that, as his forces lose ground, 2025 could be the year his country sits down at the negotiating table. With NATO-skeptic Donald Trump on the horizon, how will the next few weeks shape the situation? Will countries like France and the UK continue to follow the US lead on the use of long-range missiles? Europe remains far from the strategic autonomy championed by Emmanuel Macron. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has warned of “a rise in tensions,” a familiar refrain whenever the West crosses its red lines in Ukraine. Will this time be different?

Ukraine is at a crucial point in its existential fight against the full-scale Russian invasion launched by Vladimir Putin in February 2022. US president-elect Donald Trump is said to want to accelerate the timetable to a truce. Ukraine wants guarantees against any future Russian invasion before any discussion of talks. And there is the question over Ukrainian territory now occupied by Russia. Kursk could be a major bargaining chip for Volodymyr Zelensky if it ever comes to that stage.Our panel discusses how the war in Ukraine might evolve between now, Trump's inauguration in January and beyond.

A football match in Paris is raising concerns over potential clashes between Jewish and Palestinian sympathisers. Security measures have been heightened following last week's violence in Amsterdam, where Israeli supporters clashed with both local men of Arab origin and Dutch fans. Tensions fuelled by the Gaza conflict have brought emotions to a boiling point. We ask our special panel: can we still say that sport and politics don't mix? Produced by Mark Owen, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.