PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, December 2: We look at reactions to Luigi Mangione's pre-trial hearing, which attracted many of his supporters. The press look at why his case divides Americans so much. Also: Sri Lanka's anger at the government over the devastating cyclone and the rise of scam states in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries. Plus: Eurovision's survival is threatened by a boycott over Israel and we look at Oxford's word of the year: rage bait!

Luigi Mangione's pre-trial hearing continues this Tuesday in New York and is garnering a lot of attention. As The New York Times reminds us, Mangione is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. His pre-trial hearing began this week to determine what evidence can be used at trial. It marks a "critical stage" in the case, as Newsweek notes. Mangione's attorneys notably want to exclude statements he made to the police after his arrest. They argue that officers failed to inform him of his constitutional rights. They also accuse police of an unlawful search of his backpack at a McDonalds. The New York Times reports on the frenzy in court. About two dozen supporters of Mangione sat in the back rows, wearing green – their "signature colour". The Times writes: "With giddy smiles, laughter and whispers, they craned their necks for a glimpse of Mangione", proof of how divisive this case is for Americans. People magazine notes that Mangione has been kept in prison in a plexiglass cell to avoid an "Epstein-style" situation. This is in reference to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's death by suicide in jail before he was able to face charges on sex trafficking.

Next, devastating floods have ravaged Southeast Asia and the subcontinent, particularly Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared last week's cyclone the largest and most challenging natural disaster in the country's history, as The New York Times reports. The anger in the Sri Lankan press is palpable. The Island, an English-language daily, reports on the opposition walking out of parliament on Monday in tense scenes as it accused the government of having ignored cyclone warnings. In the opinion pages of the Daily Mirror, one writer says that successive Sri Lankan governments have "behaved like monkeys" – accusing them of scrambling for solutions only when disaster strikes and not anticipating natural disaster prevention.

We move on to a story from The Guardian about the rise of scam states. The paper takes us into the city of Myawaddy in Myanmar, where KK Park, one of the continent’s most infamous scam centres, was recently dismantled. Tens of thousands of people were held against their will and forced by criminal organisations to defraud people around the world. But those running it were long gone and were setting up shop elsewhere. The Guardian explains that these scam centres have become so monolithic in Southeast Asia that there is now a scam state. Like a narco-state, scam states refer to countries where this illicit industry has dug its tentacles deep into government institutions and transformed the economy. While the dismantling of KK Park was much vaunted by Myanmar's junta, this is deemed largely "performative". The Guardian says that in reality, governments have little interest in stopping such a lucrative billion-dollar business.

After the cancellation of the international Angouleme comics festival, the Eurovision Song Contest could be at risk too. The Daily Telegraph explains that the European Broadcast Union will hold its general assembly this week. The body will have to decide whether or not Israel stays in Eurovision next year, amid anger over its war in Gaza. Things have become "toxic", it says, with two blocs emerging when it comes to Israel. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland have all threatened to boycott Eurovision if Israel stays. Others, like Austria and Germany, say they'll walk out if Israel is forced out. The problem is that five countries contribute the most to funding the contest – including Spain and Germany. So if either one pulls out, it could affect the finances of the competition. The crisis is being described as one of the most severe in the history of Eurovision.

If you read that article and felt intense rage or anger at the thought of Eurovision being cancelled, you could be suffering from Oxford's word of the year: rage bait! It’s defined as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger, outrage or frustration, all with the goal of increasing clicks and traffic. As NPR explains, the term originated in 2002 – back then, the internet was focusing on grabbing our attention through curiosity. The phenomenon is now so prevalent that it beat out competition like aura farming and biohack for Oxford University Press's word of the year!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20 am and 9:20 am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.