The Debate

Tipping point? The scramble to contain global energy crisis

It's easy to lecture world leaders about how fuel subsidies ruin the environment and bleed state coffers dry, but try telling that to beleaguered Bolivians and cornered Kenyans, two of the many nations where the energy crisis has reached breaking point with citizens unable to keep up with prices at the pump. It's not just in the Americas, Africa and Asia where the Iran war is destroying livelihoods and derailing fiscal roadmaps. France [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/france/] – which at the outset of an election year is already running the biggest budget deficit of the eurozone at 5.1 percent of GDP – is further loosening the purse strings, with the prime minister announcing fresh measures. Watch moreFrance announces €710 million in new energy aid [https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/business/20260521-france-annouonces-€710-million-in-new-energy-aid] So, to subsidise or not to subsidise? On that score, what lessons have been learned from the last energy [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/energy/] crisis in 2022? Oil and gas prices are notoriously volatile. What if the Strait of Hormuz [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/strait-of-hormuz/] is never the same again? And how much fuel is left before the entire global economy's running on empty? Produced by François Picard, Antonia Cimini, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

Ebola returns: How to fight outbreak amid defunding of global health?

Can border walls keep out pandemics? The World Health Organization is officially branding the Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo a "public health emergency of international concern". As the death toll from the rare strain climbs, so does the number of contact cases. Ituri province may seem remote on a map, but nowhere's very far in a globalised world. Watch moreEbola in DR Congo: 'This could be a very bad outbreak,' MSF health worker says [https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/perspective/20260520-ebola-in-dr-congo-this-could-be-a-very-bad-outbreak-msf-health-worker-says] We ask about the outbreak [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/ebola/] and the lessons learned from previous pandemics. Since Covid, the United States has quit the UN [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/united-nations/]'s health body. Public aid and science [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/science/] budgets are trending down among all G7 [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/g7/] nations. What does that mean for the WHO [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/who/] and for global health? Why is it that despite Covid and despite globalisation [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/globalisation/], there's such a backlash against vaccines, cross-border cooperation and more broadly, against science itself?  Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

Putin on the back foot? Russian president in China as Ukraine campaign stalls

Days after Donald Trump left Beijing, it's Vladimir Putin's turn in the Chinese capital, where the Russian president can boast that unlike his US counterpart, he'll be signing actual business deals. But the biggest one may have to wait. Xi Jinping is in no hurry to agree to the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which would double Russia's exports to China. We ask why, particularly during a global energy [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/energy/] crisis. Since 2022, Russia [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/russia/]'s dependence on China [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/china/] has grown as it remains bogged down in its war in Ukraine [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/ukraine/]. Of late, the enemy's drones [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/drones/] have been hitting key infrastructure further and further inside Russian territory.  For its part, the Kremlin [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/kremlin/] is publicly flexing its muscles with three days of joint military drills with Belarus [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/belarus/] to practice the deployment of nuclear weapons [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/nuclear-weapons/]. A show of strength or a show of weakness? Who's really got the momentum at the outset of yet another summer of war in Europe [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/europe/]? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Margot Loizillon.

Cuba instead? Trump ups pressure on Havana as Iran campaign stalls

If Venezuela proved easier than Iran – where Donald Trump's still looking for a win – could that explain why the attention seems to be turning to Cuba? The United States last week dispatched its CIA director to Havana and offered aid, all the while its crippling blockade is plunging the Communist island nation in the dark. We talk about carrots and sticks in the latest of a long, very long list of US pressure campaigns. History is littered by failed US attempts at regime change in Cuba, dating all the way back to 1959 and the revolution led by Fidel Castro – who would have turned 100 this year. We ask our panel if this time is any different for a regime that has survived embargoes and the end of the Cold War, the decline of agriculture and sugar cane exports, as well as successive waves of mass emigration. In this standoff, Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been front and center. Just how much does the US secretary of state's push jibe with what citizens of Cuba want or need? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

China's Xi woos Trump with state banquet: Taiwan on the table?

From the Temple of Heaven to the Forbidden City, plenty of great power pageantry was on display as the leaders of the world's two mightiest nations toasted each other at an official state banquet. The US president was flanked by the likes of Elon Musk [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/elon-musk/], Tim Cook of Apple and Jensen Huang of chipmaking leader Nvidia [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/nvidia/] – tech titans keen to see trade tensions smoothed over. Hardly surprising, then, that the laudatory toasts between Xi Jinping [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/xi-jinping/] and Donald Trump [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/donald-trump/] were not what you might call straight talk. But behind the scenes, critics worry if instead of straight talk, it's a straight swap and a tale of two Straits: our panel reacts to Trump's softer messaging on Taiwan [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/taiwan/] – separated only from the mainland by the Strait of Formosa – and ask if Washington instead wants Beijing more involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/strait-of-hormuz/]. China [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/china/] is the largest importer of Iranian oil. Whether it's Taiwan or artificial intelligence, is the course of history [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/history/] and global security [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/global-security/] being decided on a cocktail napkin at the Great Hall of the People? What do both countries – and leaders – have to gain? What do they have to lose? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Guillaume Gougeon, Margot Loizillon.