Author: France24

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured nervous NATO allies on Thursday of Washington’s commitment but urged them to massively ramp up defense spending. The call comes as Donald Trump sows doubt over alliance security, engages Russia on Ukraine, and escalates trade tensions with new tariffs.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court will make its long-awaited verdict on the fate of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, as the embattled nation seeks closure following months of political turmoil in the aftermath Yoon’s failed martial law bid last December.

Ramping up its renewed offensive in Gaza since the ceasefire broke down last month, Israel’s latest airstrikes killed 100 Palestinians across Gaza

on Thursday, as Israel continued its month-long blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza. Israel maintained that its brutal attacks on the enclave are the only way to return the hostages held by Hamas, but both the Palestinian immigrant group and Israel have accused the other of stalling negotiations for a new ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a “coordinated European response” in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose “brutal and unfounded” tariffs on all US imports. Macron further suggested that European Union member states, who were hit with 20% tariffs, suspend their US investments as Trump’s trade war worsens fears of a global recession.

Washington has switched off a satellite transmitting the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russia, chief executive Stephen Capus said Thursday. Although the station won a temporary restraining order against US President Donald Trump’s funding freeze, it is still waiting to receive the $77 million it needs to keep running until October.

Judges who convicted Marine Le Pen on embezzlement charges and banned the far-right politician from public office for five years have faced death threats since the sentencing earlier this week. FRANCE 24’s Sharon Gaffney speaks to Andrew Smith, lecturer in liberal arts at Queen Mary, University of London. He says that the ramping up of rhetoric against the judiciary is particularly dangerous and ‘it reeks of 1934’.

US President Donald Trump has called tariffs the “most beautiful word” in the dictionary. Some African countries might disagree. Lesotho was slapped with the White House’s highest tariff rates in a list released on Wednesday, with a 50% import tax. Other countries hit include Madagascar with 47% and South Africa with 30%. South Africa’s trade minister says they’re now actively working on new opportunities.

President Trump announced his ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariff package, in a move that’s set global economies into panic and stock markets into turmoil. But Trump said several falsehoods – many that he’d made before – and economists are baffled as to the White House’s methodology to calculate the exorbitant reciprocal rate. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

Stocks plummeted on Thursday after Donald Trump’s trade war escalation sparked a global sell-off. Beijing is amongst those worst hit by the announcement, and has called the move “bullying”. Reports hint that it could soon be the end of Elon Musk’s time in Washington. Plus, Trump’s tariffs target odd locations like uninhabited volcanic islands home to penguins.

Scrambling to limit the “dire” consequences of sweeping new US tariffs, the EU on Thursday told President Donald Trump the door remained open for trade talks — while threatening retaliation like targeting US Big Tech if negotiations fail. FRANCE 24’s David Keating reports from Brussels.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged European businesses to suspend investment in the US “until things are clarified with the United States”. The EU is facing 20 percent tariffs on exports to the US following President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread global tariffs on Wednesday.

Will global trade ever be the same?

In the name of “unrelented economic warfare” allegedly waged by friend and foe alike against the United States, Donald Trump unveiling a dizzying list: There’s worldwide tariffs, there’s targeted tariffs, there’s retaliatory tariffs, carve-out, exceptions, confusion.

Trump also signed an executive order ending duty-free shipments of small-value packages from mainland China and Hong Kong. It’s a blow to ecommerce companies.

Spring is in the air and one of the highlights of the season here in France is Easter. Like in many countries, the Christian holiday in France has long been associated with chocolate. It’s the chocolate industry’s second-biggest season after Christmas. In total, French people eat an average 12.5 kilos or some 25 pounds of chocolate per household every year! In this edition of Entre Nous, Nicolas Guercio from the prestigious Hotel Lutetia tells us all about creating a different kind of Easter egg. 

An author described by the Los Angeles Times as a writer of unique genius has spoken to FRANCE 24 about his new novel “Wild Houses”. Colin Barrett, who grew up in the northwest of Ireland, bases his books around a series of characters from the region. “Wild Houses” tells the story of a small-town revenge kidnapping that goes very wrong. He says that as a writer you don’t choose the subjects and locations yourself, but they choose you. He spoke to us in Perspective.

In this edition of arts24, we dive into the global sensation “Adolescence” – a gripping series about a young girl’s murder that’s sparking change in how we view toxic masculinity. Plus: Donald Trump’s executive order on “American Greatness,” the latest Michelin star guide, and a tribute to the legendary Val Kilmer. Don’t miss the cultural stories everyone’s talking about!

European journalists weighed in on the pros and cons of Nintendo’s long-awaited Switch 2 gaming console at a preview event at the Grand Palais exhibition space in Paris on Thursday.

Monique Clesca is an author, former United Nations official and well-known pro-democracy activist from Haiti. In an interview with FRANCE 24, she explained that “daily life is hellish” and compared the capital Port-au-Prince to “an open-air prison”. She criticised the UN-backed international force in Haiti as well as the country’s transitional presidential council, saying she believes it will not be able to organise elections by the internationally agreed deadline of February 2026.

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, April 3: There’s disbelief, anger and scepticism in the international press after US President Donald Trump announces tariffs hikes on the US’s international trade partners. Also: fury continues after the deaths of 15 aid workers in Gaza last month, which the UN now blames on Israeli forces. Plus: Paris’s Fondation Louis Vuitton will honour British artist David Hockney in a new exhibition – but a cigarette on his exhibition poster has put him at odds with Paris metro authorities!

Although France is less exposed than EU neighbours Italy and Spain, new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday could severely impact strategic industries including aeronautics, wine and spirits, and luxury goods. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday pledged a “massive response”.

Archaeological treasures across Gaza have been damaged and destroyed in the war that is once more raging in the Palestinian territory. Some that escaped the devastation went on show at the Arab World Institute on Thursday, April 3, shedding light on the extraordinary heritage of a land that has been for centuries a crossroads of civilisations. 

On March 13, Syria’s Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa approved a temporary constitutional declaration, setting the stage for a new regime. The declaration specifies that only the state can have an army. This has raised concerns for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led military faction in northeastern Syria. Under an agreement signed with Damascus, the SDF will eventually be integrated into the national army. But how can Syria’s most powerful armed force join a unified army when some of their potential allies are also their enemies? The path to a unified Syrian army remains uncertain.

Syria on Thursday condemned deadly Israeli strikes across the country as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, after Israel said it struck “military capabilities”. The onslaught on military targets and in the southern province of Daraa killed at least 13 people. 

ChatGPT has just rolled out its latest viral feature, allowing social media users to reproduce AI-generated images imitating Japan’s Studio Ghibli aesthetic. The Israeli army decided to “hop on” the trend, drawing a major backlash and sparking counter-creations depicting what users say is the “actual” representation of the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, others are condemning the use of Ghibli’s anti-war aesthetic to depict AI-generated conflict scenes. We explain in this edition of Truth or Fake.