Author: France 24

In this episode of arts24, we journey into the enchanting world of Isao Takahata, one of the founding fathers of Japanese animation and the creative force behind Studio Ghibli classics like “Grave of the Fireflies” and “Only Yesterday”. From his early days in the 1960s to his final masterpiece, a new Paris retrospective traces Takahata’s lifelong quest to capture humanity, emotion and the beauty of everyday life through animation.

The United Nations is warning that aid agencies are in a “race against time” to get food and other supplies into Gaza. According to the UN’s World Food Program, Israel continues to impede deliveries in spite of a month-long cease fire and many Gazans continue to suffer from acute hunger. Almost all of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced by the war.

FIFA announced Wednesday that it has created a new annual honour, the FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World, celebrating individuals who use football to promote unity and hope. The prize will be awarded during the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington.

A Lancet report released last week found that since the 1990s, heat-related deaths have increased 23% to 546,000 annually as global temperatures rise. We speak with Emilia Carrera, Director of the Health Initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation, about how urban areas can mitigate the impact of global warming in cities and protect residents in urban areas.

Canada’s Liberal government unveiled new federal budget plans in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday, which include a massive spending spree of 280 billion Canadian dollars (€173 billion). The spending is seen as a way to strengthen the Canadian economy after the imposition of steep tariffs by the United States, Canada’s most important trading partner. Also in this edition: iconic French glassware cooperative Duralex raises €19 million in a day, just over a year after employees bought back the firm.

This week on arts24’s film show, critic Manon Kerjean from Lost in Frenchlation joins us to explore four very different slices of French cinema – from monumental architecture to female bandits, nostalgic comedy and a sweeping national portrait. We begin with “L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche” (The Great Arch), a visually striking portrait of the architect behind Paris’s modern landmark, La Grande Arche de La Défense. Director Demoustier turns stone and steel into emotion, capturing the tension between ambition, politics and legacy, with Danish actor Claes Bang mastering French for the role.

Since the October ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, organisations in Gaza have been working actively to preserve heritage sites that were damaged or destroyed by Israel’s war on the enclave. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to the coordinator of the Intiqal programme, which was launched by the NGO Première Urgence Internationale to protect Gaza’s cultural heritage.

It is one of the most consequential legal proceedings in modern corporate history — a trial that could redefine what accountability means in the global economy. The Lafarge case, now before French courts, marks the first time a company as a legal entity is being prosecuted in France for financing a terrorist enterprise. Even more striking, it is the first case where a corporation faces this charge for payments made through a foreign subsidiary. At its heart lies a question that has haunted global business for decades: can a multinational corporation claim ignorance of crimes committed in its own supply…

Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to the season with a 2–1 victory over title-holders Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, in a Champions League clash overshadowed by an injury to Achraf Hakimi and a red card for Luis Díaz, who had earlier scored both goals.

US coffee chain Starbucks has announced it is forming a joint venture with asset management firm Boyu Capital in China, where the latter will hold a 60 percent stake in the company’s local business. China is Starbucks’ second-largest market globally and it has recently been struggling with increased competition from local rivals like Luckin Coffee. Also in this edition, we look at OpenAI’s blockbuster $38 billion deal with Amazon’s cloud services unit.