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Belfast unrest: 'Racists and groups allied to the far right are now unified across Europe'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Professor Peter Shirlow, Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. Northern Ireland is once again confronting scenes of unrest, violence and anti-migrant attacks. Shirlow frames the violence within a wider European and global context. He argues that today's far-right mobilisations are no longer isolated local phenomena but are increasingly interconnected through digital networks, transnational misinformation campaigns and social media platforms that facilitate the rapid circulation of extremist narratives.

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'What makes the Sagrada Família so universal is precisely it being so local, so Catalan'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Antoni Vives, former deputy mayor of Barcelona in charge of urban planning. According to Vives, the Sagrada Família is not simply an architectural masterpiece. It is a living demonstration of how authenticity, rootedness and transcendence can converge in a single human project. Its significance lies not only in its extraordinary design, but in its ability to connect the local with the universal, the contemporary with the eternal, and nature with all that's sacred.

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Belfast unrest: 'Racists and groups allied to the far right are now unified across Europe'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Professor Peter Shirlow, Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. Northern Ireland is once again confronting scenes of unrest, violence, and anti-migrant attacks. Shirlow frames the violence within a wider European and global context. He argues that today's far-right mobilisations are no longer isolated local phenomena but are increasingly interconnected through digital networks, transnational misinformation campaigns, and social media platforms that facilitate the rapid circulation of extremist narratives.

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'Acknowledging rights and needs of Israelis and Palestinians: Shared path towards a secure future'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Avi Meyerstein, co-founder and president of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). At a moment when international attention is increasingly consumed by conflict across the Middle East, Meyer argues that the crises currently unfolding are not isolated events but manifestations of unresolved political conflicts that have been left to fester for decades. "While those things remain unresolved," he observes, any semblance of stability "is just an illusion."

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