Amb Paoli: 'In diplomacy, you never give up' so we must support all efforts to elect a new president

Chronic inflation hits Russia as huge pay increases fuel rising prices

Inflation has again spiked in Russia in recent months, fuelled by massive public spending on the Ukraine war and big wage increases in many sectors of the economy. To counter this, the Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a record 21 percent at the end of October, a measure that has y...

'Europe needs to wake up to the reality of Russia's threat'

Russia unleashed its second big attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this month on Thursday, triggering deep power cuts across the country. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Putin's brutal war on Ukraine, FRANCE 24's Nadia Massih is joined by xPeter Zalmayev, Director of the Eu...

Syria: HTS breaches the frontlines of Idlib and Aleppo for the first time since 5 years

Jihadists and their allies cut a major highway linking the main cities of Damascus and Aleppo on Thursday after launching an offensive against government forces in Syria's northwest, a war monitor said. "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions cut off the Damascus-Aleppo international M5 hig...

War in Ukraine: Putin says barrage 'response' to West-supplied missiles

A massive aerial bombardment of Ukraine's energy facilities was in response to Kyiv striking Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Pledging Moscow would always respond to Ukraine's use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles, Putin said his military was co...

Jonathan Coe on 'The Proof of My Innocence', his political satire of the Liz Truss days

The world-renowned British author Jonathan Coe has spoken to FRANCE 24 about the joys of writing, and his love of mixing a variety of genres in his work. He also warned people to be wary of the self-deprecating British form of humour, something often seen in his books. His latest novel "The Proof o...

ICC warrant against Netanyahu: France says Israeli PM has immunity

France said Wednesday that it “intends to continue to work in close collaboration” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite an arrest warrant issued for him by the world’s top war crimes court. For more, Marc Perelman French politics editor for FRANCE 24....

Romania's top court orders recount of presidential first-round votes

Romania's constitutional court on Thursday ordered a recount of votes cast in the first round of presidential elections after far-right, pro-Russia candidate Calin Georgescu took a surprising lead after polling in the single digits before the vote. Georgescu will face centrist contender Elena Las...

Tens of thousands in Lebanon head home as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes hold

Thousands of displaced people started returning to their homes in southern Lebanon in the first hours of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, defying a warning from the Israeli military to stay away from previously evacuated areas. A story by Matthew-Mary Caruchet....

Macron welcomes Nigerian president as he seeks to boost Africa ties

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed President Bola Tinubu to the Élysée palace on Thursday, the first state visit by a Nigerian leader in more than two decades. Paris is seeking to expand its influence on the continent to include English-speaking nations after former colonies Niger, Mali an...

Did France backtrack on Netanyahu arrest warrant in exchange for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire?

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, November 28: The French government's revelation that it may not enforce the ICC arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu draws ire in the press. Some dailies wonder if this "about face" was a requirement in order for France to broker the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon....

'Lot of Ukrainians spent the night in their shelters or in metro stations'

Russian army conducted a “massive” attack against energy infrastructure in Ukraine on Thursday, firing nearly 200 missiles and drones and leaving more than a million households without power, Ukrainian officials said. FRANCE 24 correspondent, Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv....

Live: Russian strikes a 'response' to Ukraine using Western missiles, Putin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a massive aerial barrage against Ukraine was Moscow's "response" to Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian territory with Western missiles. Russia is selecting targets in Ukraine that could include "decision-making centres" in Kyiv, Putin added....

More than 130 killed as Syrian rebels seize territory from army in Aleppo province

Syrian rebels on Wednesday launched a massive offensive against the Syrian regime in Aleppo province, making the first territorial gains since a ceasefire came into force in 2020, army and rebel sources said. More than 130 have been killed in the fighting, according to a Syrian war monitor. ...

At least one million people without power in Ukraine after ‘massive’ Russian attack

At least one million people are without power in Ukraine after Russia staged a “massive” attack on the country’s energy infrastructure in the early hours of Thursday. The missile strikes come as temperatures have dropped to freezing, and a UN official has warned that as Russia continues to ta...

Ukraine says energy sector 'under massive enemy attack'

Trump names retired general Keith Kellogg as envoy for Ukraine and Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump named retired general Keith Kellogg as Ukraine and Russia envoy. Trump, pledging a swift resolution to the war, aims to mediate a ceasefire between Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin....

French borrowing costs spike amid political turbulence

Another looming political crisis is battering France's reputation on global markets. Borrowing costs spiked as investors looked to a possible vote of no confidence over the government's budget proposal. That led the spread between French and German bond yields to hit its highest level since 2012. A...

France says Netanyahu is 'immune' to the ICC's arrest warrant. We did a legal deep dive

The French government has claimed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has immunity from the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for war crimes – on the grounds that Israel isn't an ICC member. This position has garnered criticism, in contrast to Paris's attitude towards the IC...

Netanyahu on 'revenge' path against Gaza, unlikely to make concessions, analyst says

Following the ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel, there are fears for the fate of the Gaza Strip with Israel now able to direct its military effort on the Palestinian territory. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks to Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and senior political risk analyst....

France says it will work closely with Netanyahu despite ICC arrest warrant

France said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had immunity given his country was not party to the statutes of the International Criminal Court that has sought his arrest, and Paris would continue working closely with him. FRANCE 24's James Vasina reports....

UN Resolution 1701 is the linchpin of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Will it hold?

The ceasefire deal agreed to by Lebanon and Israel aims to reinvigorate a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2006 after a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel. Observers say that circumstances are now more complicated than they were nearly two decades ago, with a weakened Lebanese state...

Romania officials to meet over 'cyber risks' to elections after far-right candidate leads vote

Romanian officials will meet Thursday to talk about possible risks to national security by "state and non-state cyber actors" after a far-right candidate secured a surprise lead in the first round of the presidential election. Calin Georgescu's TikTok videos were widely shared during the election,...

Bunkers and survival manuals: The EU countries preparing their populations for war

In this Science segment, we take a closer look at the "bunker plan" launched by Germany as a response to a worsening international threat, particularly from Russia. The goal is to identify all shelters or bunkers capable of accommodating the population in case of an attack on German soil. FRANCE 24...

France says Netanyahu has 'immunity' from ICC arrest warrants

France's foreign ministry has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoys "immunity" from prosecution before the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC last week issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against h...

As ceasefire takes effect, Lebanon's economy is shattered by war

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the US and France, went into effect this Wednesday, paving the way for the more than 1.2 million Lebanese citizens displaced by war to return home. More than a year of cross-border fighting had cost Lebanon an estimated $8.5 billion in phys...

Taiwan's Olympic boxing champion Lin Yu-ting 'quits event' over gender questioning

Taiwan's Olympic boxing champion Lin Yu-ting pulled out of the World Boxing Cup Finals in Britain on Wednesday, the country's sports chiefs said, saying that organisers had questioned her gender eligibility. The featherweight was one of two women boxers kicked out of last year's world championships...

Russia cements rule in occupied Ukrainian regions through propaganda and violence

Russia currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukraine's territory. Yet reliable information about what life is like there is hard to come by, since there is no longer any access for Ukrainian media. Nevertheless, various Ukrainian initiatives aim to shed light on what is happening in the occupied...

Did the Biden administration discuss returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine?

Rumours about the US returning nuclear weapons to Ukraine have been circulating since November 21, when The New York Times published an article citing several unnamed US officials who "suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Sov...

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar’s junta leader for crimes against humanity

The top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday asked judges to grant an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s junta leader. Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of committing crimes against humanity through the deportation and persecution of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority which acc...

The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire seems to be holding, but Gaza sees no end to war

A US-France-brokered ceasefire agreement to the 14-month conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that came into power on Wednesday morning seems to be holding. But for Palestinians in Gaza – and the families of hostages still held there – the deal's failure to end fightin...