Author: France 24

A 58-km roundtrip train ride between New York and Meadowlands stadium will cost football fans $150 during the World Cup, local officials said Friday. The journey normally costs just $12.90.

They are known as “forever chemicals”: synthetic compounds that resist breakdown in the human body and the environment. Also known as PFAS, there are thousands of them, and you might not even realise that you are being exposed to them while doing simple everyday tasks like cooking. The EU does have a strict rulebook on chemicals, when compared to other parts of the world, but some say that industrial lobbying is holding back more stringent regulation. In this episode we look at how the EU is trying to tighten its rules on these pollutants.

Hungary is preparing for a new era, after the centre-right Tisza party of Peter Magyar won a landslide victory over longtime nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Magyar says he’ll seek to repair Hungary’s confrontational relationship with the European Union, something that could unlock much-needed EU funding for Ukraine and for Hungary itself. Many voters said the stagnating economy was a major factor in their decision to turn against 16 years of Orban’s rule. 

The annual Paris Book Festival is honouring Iceland this year, and Icelandic author Jón Kalman Stefánsson will be doing a book signing. He tells us about his latest novel, “Celestial Bodies at the Edge of the World”, which sheds light on a little-known dark chapter in Icelandic history. He also tells us why Icelandic literature is booming in France.

William Hilderbrandt is pleased to welcome Basil Germond, Professor of International Security in the School of Global Affairs and Co-Director of the University research institute Security Lancaster. He examines the emerging European-led initiative to secure the Strait of Hormuz in a post-war context, placing it within broader questions of maritime security, geopolitical negotiation, and transatlantic relations. From his perspective, this initiative reflects a strategic shift: European actors are attempting to shape the conditions of peace and stability themselves, beyond a US-led framework.

A two-goal deficit was overcome by Strasbourg, who, spurred on by their home crowd at the Meinau, thrashed Mainz to reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. This is the first time the Alsatians have reached this stage of European competition. “We told ourselves that anything was possible,” said Abdoul Ouattara, the Ivorian RC Strasbourg midfielder who scored the equaliser.

France announced Tuesday that it will expand access to sustainable menstrual products by reimbursing reusable cups and underwear for eligible young women and low-income groups. The move, aimed at tackling period poverty, is expected to benefit millions once implemented through the country’s social security system from the upcoming academic year.

European airlines could run out of jet fuel in six weeks’ time. That’s the warning from the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, who says passengers should expect fewer flights and higher prices. Carriers are already reducing their flight schedules ahead of the summer holiday season. Also in the show – European officials urge governments not to forget the Ukraine war, saying that Russia’s economy cannot be allowed to benefit from the energy shock. 

Exiles, migrants, refugees: there are as many ways to label “strangers” as there are to misunderstand them and reduce their identity to their outsider status. Ece Temelkuran explores this existential and very physical reality in her new book “Nation of Strangers”, as the Turkish author and journalist reflects upon what it means to lose one’s home morally, spiritually and politically.

Angela Diffley is pleased to welcome Bilal Y. Saab, Senior Managing Director of TRENDS US.Former Pentagon Official in the first Trump administration. According to Saab, Lebanon is at a crossroads: the government is committed to reform, is fundamentally “pro-Lebanese” and rejects interference from external actors. The central challenge remains Hezbollah, an entrenched, hybrid actor operating across political, military, and economic domains. Rather than advocating for abrupt or violent confrontation, he emphasises a peaceful gradualist strategy, paired with nation-building efforts and sustained international support.