Author: France 24

Film critic Emma Jones tells us why Hugh Grant’s creepy character is the star attraction in his latest film, “Heretic”. We also discuss timely French feature “Animale”, as Oulaya Amamra plays a woman trying to navigate the macho world of bull-running in the Camargue region, while grappling with personal trauma. Plus, Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes returns with an international voyage that combines humour, romance and musings on a post-colonial world in “Grand Tour” and we check out Disney’s big release for the holidays, “Moana 2”.

Olympic rugby sevens gold medallist Antoine Dupont set up two tries as France eased past Japan 52-12 in Paris on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says there’s no need to panic over the country’s plummeting currency, despite the ruble weakening to its lowest level in over two years. Plus, Australia has passed a law banning social media for under-16s. Voters in Ireland are heading to the polls on Friday, but whoever ends up governing the country will be faced with a unique economic situation. Plus, political uncertainty in France has briefly driven its borrowing costs to the same level as Greece’s for the first time.

Rebel forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad – mainly composed of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions – have launched their biggest offensive in years this week, controlling a majority of Syria’s second city of Aleppo according to a monitor. The apparent success of HTS’s surprise operation rest primarily on “popular discontent”, said Marc Pierini, former EU ambassador to Syria and Turkey, adding that the Assad regime has failed to restore the lives of citizens since taking control in 2016.

In this edition of arts24, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with the first jazz act to ever win a Mercury Prize. Ezra Collective are one of the UK’s most exciting improvisation groups, blending jazz with Afrobeat, reggae and soul. The quintet released their third album this autumn called “Dance, No One’s Watching”, a mission statement to get everybody on the dance floor.

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, November 29: The debate over assisted dying rages on in the UK ahead of a key vote in Westminster this Friday. In other news, the French government makes concessions to the far right in the hope of surviving a likely no-confidence vote next week. Finally, Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral is resplendent after five years of renovation following a catastrophic fire.

France superstar Antoine Dupont said on Saturday he was “hungry” as he provided two try-scoring assists in the easy 52-12 win over Japan in Paris on his 15-a-side return.

With the advent of social media, our brains are receiving a constant stream of images. So how can we undergo a visual detox? Annette Young speaks to Marine Tanguy who has written a book on how to do just that. Also as we face a global epidemic of domestic violence, a novel approach in southern Italy offers survivors the opportunity to rebuild their lives by providing training and accommodation. Plus a female theatre group in the Balkans stage the ancient Greek play which condemns women’s suffering in war while celebrating our capacity to resist.

Syria insurgents, backed up by their Turkish allies, on Friday pushed ahead with their lightning advance and shelled the country’s second city Aleppo. Since the rebels on Wednesday launched their first major offensive against government troops in five years, they have seized more than 50 towns and villages in northern Syria.

They hit the headlines shortly after Islamist fundamentalists proclaimed a caliphate in Syria and Iraq: the young women who packed their bags and embarked upon a new life, unaware of the fate that would await them. A new film, “Rabia”, imagines the journey of a young French recruit and her encounter with the notorious Madam known as the “Black Widow of ISIS”. Plus, comic strip cowboy “Lucky Luke” celebrates 78 years as the most American of Belgian cartoon icons and we get a glimpse inside the home of the breathtaking art of flying trapeze: the Winter Circus in Paris.