The Debate FRANCE 24 English

Iran has regime just lost a safe pair of hands. Yes, another hardliner’s sure to replace Ebrahim Raisi – known to detractors as the butcher of Tehran for the thousands of dissidents he sent to the gallows as a state prosecutor – but the president’s sudden death in a helicopter crash may still change the equation…

A black swan moment. The assassination attempt of populist Slovak leader Robert Fico has shocked both Slovaks and Europeans. But in hindsight it is easy to point to security lapses and a climate of verbal violence in a country that finds itself increasingly polarised. Our guests take a look.

Another showdown in the country that launched the so-called coloured revolutions. Georgia’s parliament has shrugged off some of the biggest protests in its post-Soviet history by approving a “foreign agents” bill that mirrors legislation in neighbouring Russia. The opposition argues it is the way for the government to curb media freedom and dissent in a country which only recently graduated to EU candidate status.

It’s that place where once a year, high art and hustlers rub elbows, a place for icon worshipers and insurgents, old legends and young upstarts…

Welcome to the French Riviera resort of Cannes and the 77th film festival that bears its name… the first one since French actress and director Judith Godrèche went back on her personal story – her filmmaker's mistress at age 14 – and sparked a MeToo reckoning in French cinema. 

Moscow has opened a new front with Ukraine after taking several villages near Kharkiv. Russia’s spring offensive takes form as President Vladimir Putin replaces defence minister Sergei Shoigu with another Kremlin loyalist – Andrei Belousov, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.

After the massive party in Marseille to welcome the arrival of the Olympic flame, it's time to turn our gaze north for what's also billed as another "it's a small world after all" feelgood celebration. Malmö, Sweden is host of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, that heart-shaped ode to kitsch where pop contestants do battle with tremolos, glitter and kicks. But just as politics bleeds into sports, it bleeds into music.