Signing off? Trump rushes to turn page on Iran war

Signing off? Trump rushes to turn page on Iran war

Surprise! A stroke of a pen over dinner at Versailles has pre-empted plans for that big Friday signing in Switzerland of an interim agreement between the United States and Iran. Coming off the G7 in France, we ask why Donald Trump suddenly decided to get it over with and whether the region and the world can breathe a sigh of relief. Read moreMore than 12 million oil barrels transited the Strait of Hormuz overnight, Vance says [https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260617-middle-east-live-trump-iran-s-president-sign-deal-to-end-mideast-war] Oil markets certainly believe. They're down again as the Strait of Hormuz [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/strait-of-hormuz/] gets set to reopen. But it's only a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding. And while Gulf neighbours will cheer the lifting of the blockade on what's the world's biggest maritime choke point for oil and gas, we take a second look at the agreement brokered by Pakistan [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/pakistan/] and Qatar – most notably, the inclusion of a cessation of fighting in Lebanon [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/lebanon/]. What happens if Israel [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/israel/] or Hezbollah [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/hezbollah/] don't like the way negotiations unfold? Would Washington and Tehran be able to rein them in? How does the US president's plan compare with the 2015 UN [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/united-nations/] nuclear agreement that he constantly belittles? Are we headed for closure or a whole new level of uncertainty? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

At the mercy of Silicon Valley? Europe exposed by Trump AI export ban

Is it better to persuade or to confront? French leader Emmanuel Macron is opting for the royal treatment with Donald Trump at Versailles, what with a dinner to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the King of France's support for the birth of a new nation. It's all about keeping the US president on board: on Ukraine, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and more. But will flattery work when it comes to the AI revolution? Lunch preceded dinner with tech titans the guests of honour on the closing day of the G7 [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/g7/] summit in the French Alps. There, the elephant in the room was Trump's sudden decision last Friday to give Anthropic [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/anthropic/] 90 minutes to shut down foreign access to its latest artificial intelligence models. The reason cited: national security. How exposed are both governments and major corporations like French banking [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/banking/] giant BNP Paribas [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/bnp-paribas/], which recently announced it was partnering with Anthropic for its security needs? Can a stroke of the pen from the Oval Office suddenly expose the rest of the world to hackers? Read moreAnthropic disables access to top-tier AI models after US ban on foreign use [https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260613-anthropic-disables-access-to-top-tier-ai-models-after-us-ban-on-foreign-use] For years, the same Europeans who counted on the US defence [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/defence/] shield to protect them also banked on its big tech: everything from Visa credit cards and Google [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/google/] searches to Amazon deliveries and cloud storage. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/jeff-bezos/] is the star attraction at this week's VivaTech trade fair in Paris [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/paris/]. Silicon Valley's dominance has grown to the point where it draws the planet's money and data. Its billionaire bosses dictate their terms and oligarchs like Elon Musk [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/elon-musk/] peddle pro-Kremlin, far-right messaging on their platforms. So how does the rest of the world defend its own national security and sovereignty? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Ukraine back in favour? At G7, Trump threatens return of Russia oil sanctions

Before he left Washington, there were reports that Volodymyr Zelensky wasn't even on Donald Trump's G7 bilateral meeting list. But in the end, the US president took the meeting, and more. In the French Alps resort of Evian, Trump is putting the onus on Vladimir Putin to come to the bargaining table and even suggesting a rapid return to full sanctions on Russian oil. Why the sudden turn-for-the-better in relations between Washington and Kyiv? Watch moreTrump suggests US can swiftly reimpose sanctions on Russian oil [https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/business/20260616-trump-suggests-us-can-swiftly-reimpose-sanctions-on-russian-oil] How much of it is down to facts on the ground? Overnight, a Moscow-area refinery was hit by a long-range drone, illustrating Kyiv [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/kyiv/]'s growing capacity to cripple Russia [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/russia/]'s oil and gas exports with long-range strikes. Already, Europeans are tapping into that Ukrainian military upscaling in what's a race against time, with the US drawing down its NATO [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/nato/] presence on the continent, making allies pay for Ukraine [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/ukraine/]-bound US hardware and pulling rank on the use of AI [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/artificial-intelligence/] by traditional allies who know that true strategic autonomy is years away. So at summits like this one, even after an Iran war [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/iran-conflict/] they didn't ask for, G7 members' primary job, critics say, is to placate the president of the United States. Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

'Let the oil flow!' Can US and Iran actually strike a lasting deal?

If Donald Trump calls it a peace deal, does that make it so? '"Let the oil flow," trumpeted the US president after agreeing on the day of his 80th birthday to a memorandum of understanding with Iran. Trump was quick to schedule a signing ceremony for this coming Friday in Switzerland, across from where he's flown in for a G7 summit on the French side of Lake Geneva. We ask what's actually in the memorandum of understanding brokered by Pakistan [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/pakistan/] and Qatar [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/qatar/], and whether the uncertainty is well and truly lifted for the world's biggest maritime choke point, the Strait of Hormuz [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/strait-of-hormuz/]. Will Iran [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/iran/] continue to charge for passage? Will the Gulf states pay the US protection money, as Trump insinuated in a New York Times interview?  Read moreWhat we know about the US-Iran memorandum of understanding [https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260615-what-we-know-us-iran-memorandum-understanding] Are Europeans right to volunteer naval patrols? And what should those signatories of the 2015 UN-brokered nuclear agreement make of vague US promises of a new deal with Iran? Everything was done to accommodate the US. Hosts France [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/france/] even pushed back the G7 [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/g7/] summit by a day so Trump [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/donald-trump/] could enjoy his birthday festivities in Washington. How accommodating  should allies be going forward? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Trump's World Cup: More matches, higher prices, fewer foreigners

Can blatant racism and shameless greed ruin the World Cup? Fans of the beautiful game and its history can take solace in the opening match at Mexico City's storied Azteca Stadium, the only venue to already host two World Cup finals. It's a stark contrast with the build-up in the United States, a host nation [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/world-cup-2026/] that's barred Somalia's African referee of the year despite accreditation and a valid visa, refused entry to fans and support staff from a host of nations, imposed short stay restrictions on Iran's team, which will have to plane-hop between LA and new base camp Tiujana, while FIFA's president counts the cash from both a bloated 48-team tournament and ticket prices that are out of this world. Read moreSomali referee banned by US from World Cup to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says [https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20260611-somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa] When is it too much? Each World Cup is a snapshot of its time: 1978 in junta-ruled Argentina [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/argentina/], 1998 and France [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/france/] feting its black-blanc-beurre multiracial heroes, 2014 and the social unrest of post-commodities boom Brazil [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/brazil/]. FRANCE 24's François Picard had the privilege of covering the last time the World Cup [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/world-cup/] was in the United States, in 1994: the highs and lows of Diego Maradona [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/maradona/], Bulgaria's shock upset of defending champions Germany and a very different America that hosted the final between Brazil and Italy [https://www.france24.com/en/tag/italy/]. How will this one be remembered? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew Hilliar.