France 24

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, 18 April: Papers in Italy discuss Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit to the White House. Next, US President Donald Trump escalates his battle with Harvard University and academia in the United States. Also, rising chocolate and egg prices put a dampener on Easter. Finally, the winner of the World Press Photo competition is a haunting photo of a young Palestinian boy.

Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, are struggling as climate change and plant diseases have hurt harvests in recent years. As mass-produced chocolate prices surge in supermarkets and chain stores, our guest Chocolate Maker Mikkel Frils-Holm has surprisingly not been adversely affected by the cacao crisis. Prior to the chocolate crisis, the high-quality cacao he uses generally cost about 3-4 times as much as his mass-producing colleagues." And so he sees the surge in prices mainly affecting the "cheap chocolate in the supermarkets."

At least 57 civilians have been killed in clashes between Sudanese paramilitaries and the army in El-Fasher, Darfur. Civilians fear further violence as fighters close in on the city, including the Zamzam refugee camp, claimed by paramilitary forces. Jens Laerke, Deputy Spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was invited by FRANCE 24 to talk about the situation in the camp, which is difficult for aid workers to access.

The first trials of those arrested during recent anti-government protests in Turkey are expected to open this Friday. The rallies were sparked by the arrest one month ago of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, seen as a key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The student-led protests began on the campus of Istanbul University, where young people say they won't be scared off the streets. FRANCE 24's reporters Andrew Hilliar, Julie Dungelhoeff and Amar al-Hameedawi went to meet them.

Pope Francis, recovering from pneumonia, surprised Rome's Regina Coeli prison with a visit ahead of Easter, a key moment in Holy Week for the Vatican, marking a rare outing during his recovery. At the same time, US Vice President JD Vance is in Rome for talks with far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. FRANCE 24's Seema Gupta has the details from Rome.

Cocoa prices are soaring, driven by supply chain disruptions and increased demand, posing challenges for Easter chocolate producers. As costs rise, some are turning to alternative ingredients or smaller-scale production to adapt.

American Senator Chris Van Hollen said Thursday he had met with a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to his home country by the Trump administration, in a case that has sparked outrage in the United States.

As discussions about Ukraine took place in Paris between Emmanuel Macron and several American envoys, Europe also joined the negotiating table. Marco Rubio praised the European proposals, a positive sign according to our international editor Erin Ogunkeye, even though no concrete progress was announced during this intense diplomatic exchange.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a series of attacks against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, accusing the central bank chief of "playing politics" by not cutting interest rates, asserting he had the power to evict Powell from his job "real fast," and looking forward to the day when Powell was gone.

The Vatican began Holy Week with Pope Francis recovering and cardinals leading key services. At 88, he missed Holy Thursday Mass but reportedly planned to visit a Rome prison, honouring his tradition of commemorating Christ’s Last Supper with the less fortunate.

Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni hit an optimistic note about a possible US-EU tariffs deal as the far-right Italian prime minister mounted a charm offensive at the White House. Casting herself as the only European who can de-escalate Trump's trade war, Meloni highlighted their conservative common ground and said she wanted to "make the West great again." For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Yinka Oyetade welcomes Laura Montecchio, Laura Montecchio, Lecturer and Doctoral Researcher at King's College London.

Overnight Russian drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Sumy have killed at least two people and wounded dozens more, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of stepping up its attacks on civilian targets following an agreement last month not to target energy infrastructure.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that historic injustice was imposed on Haiti when it was forced to pay a colossal indemnity to France in exchange for its independence 200 years ago. Macron also announced the creation of a joint French-Haitian historical commission to ‘’examine our shared past'' and assess relations, but did not directly address longstanding Haitian demands for reparations. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's François Picard welcomes Etienne Côté-Paluck, Editor-in-Chief of HAÏTI MAGAZINE and HAITI WEEKLY.

As the global call for slavery reparations reaches a critical juncture, pressure mounts on former colonial powers to confront their historic wrongs. Amid this reckoning, French President Emmanuel Macron prepares to officially acknowledge France’s 200-year-old extortion of Haiti following its fight for independence. Will recognition lead to reparations? For expert analysis and deeper insight, FRANCE 24’s Angela Diffley welcomes Dr. Christopher Sabatini, Senior Fellow for Latin America at Chatham House.

Google illegally wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market, a US judge ruled on Thursday, in a legal blow that could rattle the tech giant's revenue engine. It is one of two federal suits targeting Google that could ultimately see the company split up and curb its influence – and part of a wider government push to rein in Big Tech.

38 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in a series of US air strikes on the key Yemeni fuel port of Ras Issa, said the country's Houthi rebels. It is one of the highest reported death tolls so far from US President Donald Trump's renewed assault on the Iran-backed group.

From a Bulgarian factory to Sudanese militias, the FRANCE 24 Observers team reveals how European-made ammunition ended up on the Sudanese battlefield, despite a European Union embargo on sending weapons to this war-torn country. This second article in our five-part investigation focuses on International Golden Group, an Emirati company known for its involvement in diverting arms to countries under international embargo. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that historic injustice was imposed on Haiti when it was forced to pay a colossal indemnity to France in exchange for its independence 200 years ago. Macron also announced the creation of a joint French-Haitian historical commission to ‘’examine our shared past'' and assess relations, but did not directly address longstanding Haitian demands for reparations. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's François Picard is pleased to welcome Pierre Haski, French journalist specialising in geopolitics at France Inter et "Nouvel Obs", Co-founder of Rue89, author of “Décolonisations africaines” and President of Reporters sans frontières (RSF).

Hamas on Thursday rejected Israel's latest truce offer, demanding a "comprehensive" deal to end the 18-month war. The group's chief negotiator spoke after Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 40, mostly women and children, in renewed attacks

Scientists have detected potential evidence of life on K2-18b, a distant exoplanet. A Cambridge team using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope found molecules in its atmosphere that, on Earth, are produced by living organisms. This marks the second, more promising, detection of such chemicals.

Manchester United rallied from 4-2 down in extra time to beat Lyon in a thrilling Europa League quarter-final on Thursday. Trailing by two with six minutes left, Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire struck late to complete a stunning comeback. United, despite Lyon's Corentin Tolisso being sent off, will now face Athletic Bilbao in the semis.

More than one million children in Haiti are suffering critical food shortages due to violence, displacement, and limited aid access, UNICEF said Thursday. Nearly 2.9 million children—one in four—face severe food insecurity, per the IPC, a global hunger monitoring system.

Ukraine and the US signed a "memorandum of intent" on Thursday to advance a deal granting Washington access to Kyiv’s natural resources and critical minerals, Ukraine said. The pact aims to foster an economic partnership and create a reconstruction fund, Deputy PM Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Trump on Thursday said he doesn't hold Zelenskyy "responsible" for Russia's invasion of his country but continued to criticize the Ukrainian leader. Trump added Thursday that a deal with Ukraine on extracting the war-wracked country's strategic minerals could be reached next week. We speak to Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell. He says that Ukrainians see the deal as 'exploitative and typical of Trump's gangster-like diplomacy.