FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert breaks down what could be Putin's strategy and ultimate goal, following the proposal accepted by Ukraine of an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
In the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam, some villages are covered in waste, sorted by hand by residents who have no other option for work. Although no clear link has been established between cancer rates and the handling of plastic waste, the UN is warning about these dangerous practices....
Ukraine and 34 other countries approved compensation body for damages from Russia's invasion. The plan would help finance the Ukraine government and its battlefield needs for the next two years. For Europe, it is a "matter of survival to show it deserves a place at the negotiating table", says FRAN...
FRANCE 24's Dheepthika Laurent tells us about Emily's adventures in Rome, as the heroine of "Emily in Paris" embarks on a fifth season in neighbouring Italy. We debate whether the show has run out of steam and discuss romantic lead Lucas Bravo, who plays Gabriel, as he stars in new French series "L...
The demographics of France are undergoing a major shift. For the first year since the end of World War Two, there were more deaths than births. The change is happening sooner than expected and can have long-term effects on the French economy. But how can this birth decline be explained? Our journal...
The war in Ukraine has pushed defence issues to the top of the agenda in Germany, where the federal government has confirmed that a military call-up will return as early as next year. All young men born from 2008 onwards will have to register and undergo medical exams, starting in 2027. To begin wi...
A French court handed ex-rebel leader Roger Lumbala a 30-year jail term on December 15 over complicity in crimes against humanity during the Second Congo War in what activists hailed a "historic" verdict. He was found guilty of being the mastermind of atrocities including rape and torture in the co...
The prosecution is to present its closing case in the trial of the French cement manufacturer Lafarge, accused of financing terorrism. Eight former executives are suspected of having paid jihadist groups in Syria until 2014 - including the Islamic State Group to keep the company's activity in the c...
The U.S. has agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a peace deal to end Russia's nearly four-year war, U.S. officials said December 15 following the latest discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin. But although there is reason to be optimist about tal...
Ukraine must have "robust security guarantees" before any talks on whether Kyiv will cede territory to Moscow to end the war, President Emmanuel Macron's team said Tuesday. European leaders will meet on Tuesday to launch an International Claims Commission to compensate Kyiv for hundreds of billions...
The European leaders in a joint statement at the Berlin talks proposed a force as part of US-backed "robust security guarantees" aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war, which started with Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion. Zelensky said earlier that talks wi...
European leaders meeting in Berlin on Monday agreed that Ukraine required robust security guarantees, including a European-led "multinational force" with US support, before making any decisions on potential territorial concessions to Russia. A statement issued by 10 European leaders said security g...
In tonight's edition: Some 200,000 people are displaced in DR Congo as the M23 rebels eye the mineral-rich south of the country. Also, former Congolese rebel leader Roger Lumbala is sentenced in France to 30 years in prison over atrocities committed two decades ago during the Second Congo War. Plus...
The U.S. has agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a peace deal to end Russia's nearly four-year war, and more talks are likely this weekend, U.S. officials said Monday following the latest discussions with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Berlin. FRANCE 24's Gulli...
Once prized fighters under the Tsars, Russia’s Cossack population was ostracised by authorities during the Soviet era. Under President Vladimir Putin, they have reintegrated into Russian society, acting as a supplementary police force and restoring their military status on the front lines in Ukra...
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US negotiators are meeting in Berlin on December 15, after five hours of talks the day before. As the US grows increasingly pressed to end the four-year war, the peace negotiations continue, with territorial concessions to Russia remaining the potentia...
The EU must take "very important" decisions on funding Ukraine at a crunch summit this week, said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday, adding that talks over using frozen Russian assets were getting harder. "We are not there yet, and it is increasingly difficult, but we're doing the work...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees as he held talks in Berlin with US envoys that were set to continue on Monday. The Ukrainian leader rejected the US push for ceding territory to Ru...
Israeli leaders on Sunday “loudly blamed” the Australian government for ignoring warnings of antisemitic threats, FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky reported, noting that Tel Aviv has offered little condolence to Australia’s Jewish community. Tarnopolsky also highlighted a pattern of attacks on J...
A 14-year-old girl arrived at a refugee clinic near death with an untreated infection from an alleged rape her family says was carried out by Russian fighters in Mali – a case that aid workers say exposes how sexual violence in the country’s war has remained largely hidden by fear and shame....
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was ready for "dialogue" as he headed for critical talks with US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and European leaders in Berlin on ending the war with Russia. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates....
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday he had visited troops fending off Russian advances near the embattled city of Kupiansk that Moscow claimed to have captured last month, which Kyiv denies. Ukraine said earlier its army had retaken two settlements in the northern Kharkiv region and...
The European Union agreed on Friday to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe, removing a big obstacle to using the cash to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia. A first big step is to immobilise 210 billion euros ($246 billion) worth of Russian sovereign assets for as...
Kyiv received 114 prisoners released by Belarus under a US-brokered deal on Saturday, including Ukrainian citizens accused of working for intelligence services and Belarusian political prisoners. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet Ukraine’s Presi...
Fighting and insecurity continue in the eastern part of the DRCongo, amid rising diplomatic anger over the latest offensive by the M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda. According to regional officials, more than 400 civilians have been killed in South Kivu Province since the rebel group escalated its offen...
The US plan to end the war in Ukraine allows for Kyiv to join the EU in 2027, a senior official said Friday. Even if the bloc's Moscow-friendly governments such as Hungary were to agree to Ukraine's accession, complex questions would need to be quickly resolved, European diplomats and officials sai...
"I don't think [US President] Donald Trump is really motivated by US national security interests, or NATO, or Ukrainian interests. I think he wants the Nobel Peace Prize – I think it's been on his mind since the first term," argues former US national security adviser John Bolton in an interview...
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned Friday of the risk of "conflagration" in DR Congo's Great Lakes region as M23 rebels make territorial gains there. The US ambassador accused Rwanda, which supports the M23, of leading the region toward war. ...
Romania is on NATO's eastern flank, and it is feeling the heat from drone incursions attributed to Russia, and from the Trump administration's strategic shift away from Europe. We speak to Romanian President Nicușor Dan about how his country is faring with these headwinds, and also about tough eco...
Germany said Friday it had summoned Moscow’s ambassador after it accused Russian-linked groups of hacking its air traffic control system and attempting to influence the 2024 general election. Dubbing such operations, including drone flights near European airports, as “hybrid attacks”, Berlin...
A cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Portovaya plant was delivered to the Beihai terminal in China on December 8. This marks the first delivery since the facility was placed under US sanctions in January 2025. The development highlights deepening China-Russia energy ties as Moscow s...
