Author: France 24

US authorities announced on Wednesday the first severe human case of avian flu in Louisiana, marking a critical escalation in the 2024 outbreak. With 61 cases reported nationwide, experts warn of rising pandemic risks.

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the third time this year, to 4.25-4.5%. But the central bank indicated it would likely slow the pace of its rate cuts in the coming year, as prices remain high. Rodney Sullivan, from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, says “the signal that the Fed is giving is that they intend to break the back of inflation and bring it down to their target rate of 2%.” 

Film critic Emma Jones tells us why she loved the tender, bittersweet romance at the centre of “We Live in Time”, as Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star as a London couple confronted with the brevity of life. We also discuss the new-gen version of “Nosferatu” as director Robert Eggers casts a stylishly spooky Lily-Rose Depp as the protagonist in this modern update of the vampire story. Plus, Aaron-Taylor Johnson delves deep into the Spiderman universe for his role in “Kraven the Hunter” and we check out filmmaker Barry Jenkins’ journey into the origin story of “Mufasa: The Lion King”.

A mental health worker who is working to give psychological first aid in the south of Gaza has spoken to FRANCE 24 from there about the horrors of what is happening in the region, and how she and her colleagues go about trying to help. Zahra Legris is Mental Health Activity Manager for Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF, based around Khan Younis. She speaks daily to people, often children, who have been deeply traumatised by the war. Many are suffering from grief, displacement and the destruction of their quality of life. She spoke to us in Perspective.

Today, the EU’s Green Deal faces pressure from an atmosphere of economic crisis: car factories in Germany are set to close, farmers protesting about excessive environmental protection measures, soaring energy bills for households. But as the recent floods in Spain have shown, the issue of the climate crisis remains unavoidable for Europe’s leaders. Ursula von der Leyen herself promised in 2019 that the EU would be carbon neutral by 2050. In 2024, the Commission president says the next step of the Green Deal is the Clean Industrial Deal or how the EU can better support its industry and European competitiveness,…

Barcelona playmaker Aitana Bonmati continues to dominate the awards for women’s soccer while Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior finally got his hands on a big global player award on Tuesday. 

Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch tells us about the Aïta tradition of sung poetry at the centre of “Everybody Loves Touda” as his latest film gets a release in France. He tells us why actress Nisrin Erradi was the perfect choice to play the central character, sharing some of her personality traits, and about Nisrin’s commitment to the serious training required to take on the role. Ayouch also tells us about challenging gender stereotypes and social norms in Morocco through his cinema and about music’s expressive power when it comes to saying the unsayable.

Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz delivers a tropical take on film noir in “Motel Destino”, an erotic thriller set on the sun-bleached shores of Northeastern Brazil. Aïnouz tells us why his home state of Céara was the perfect backdrop for this brooding tale, and why the clichéd gender dynamics of genre movies were due an update. We talk about toxic masculinity and the violent undercurrents that feature in his films which are a reflection of the social reality the filmmaker has observed in Brazil and beyond. 

New York prosecutors filed a murder charge against the suspect in the killing of a UnitedHealth executive, a brazen shooting that set off a manhunt that culminated in his capture in Pennsylvania. Story by Morgan Ayre.

Saudi Arabia was officially confirmed Wednesday by FIFA as the host of the 2034 World Cup in men’s football, sparking “sportswashing” accusations from human rights groups. Spain, Portugal and Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay each hosting one game.