Author: France 24

In this arts24 episode, we talk to fugitive director Mohammad Rasoulof about his powerful Iranian film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, a brazen and startling picture about the misogyny and theocracy in his country. The director had to flee Iran where he was sentenced to prison for his filmmaking. The movie won a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May where it premiered. French culture editor Louise Dupont sat down with him in Paris.

On matchday 1 of the Champions League Barcelona dropped points, Manchester City and Arsenal failed to win and there were some banner results already. Bayern Munich scored nine goals.

Infections of drug-resistant superbugs are projected to kill nearly 40 million people over the next 25 years, a global analysis predicted on Monday, with the researchers urging action to avoid this grim scenario.

People in Martinique are protesting the cost of living. That’s because food products on the island cost up to 42% more than in mainland France. Sri Lankans are gearing up for a presidential election – and this year, the economy will be at the top of voters’ minds. The Bank of England decided to hold its key rate steady at 5%, a day after the US Federal Reserve kicked off its own rate cuts with a half percentage point reduction.

The explosion of pagers and walkie talkies in an attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon has seen the country’s entire hospital sector mobilized to treat the wounded. The victims, mostly young, underwent eye surgery and, in many cases, amputations. For the medical teams of the French Hospital of the Levant in Beirut, it has meant working non-stop. Our team on the ground send this report.

Director Mohammad Rasoulof had escaped a prison sentence in Iran just days before his latest film screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year. “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” went on to stun critics and win the Jury Prize. Critic Emma Jones tells us why it was her favourite film of the festival and how Rasoulof managed to incorporate the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests to great effect. We also discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s epic project “Megalopolis” and see James McAvoy in a chilling new role in “Speak No Evil”. Plus, French actress and director Julie Delpy injects her unique…

One of France’s leading Paralympians has spoken to FRANCE 24 about his motto in life, as he reflects on the success of this summer’s Paralympic Games here in Paris. Stéphane Houdet told us that “everyone has two lives, and the second one starts when you understand that you have only one”. He says sport is about communication and what we can do together worldwide. Houdet is a three-time Paralympic tennis doubles champion – in 2008 in Beijing, 2016 in Rio and 2021 in Tokyo, as well as a silver medallist in singles and a bronze medallist in doubles at the…

We take a look at some of the findings that emerged from this year’s European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Barcelona. Some 30,000 people attended the forum to hear what advances doctors and researchers have made in the fight against cancer.

The US Federal Reserve lowered its key lending rate by a deeper-than-expected 0.5%, in its first rate cut in more than four years. The move indicates that while monetary policymakers are confident about taming inflation, their focus has shifted to supporting the slowing job market. Plus, France 24’s Yuka Royer speaks with Regina Mayor, Global Head of Clients & Markets at KPMG International, about what is top of mind for global CEOs amid economic uncertainty and technological advances. 

Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated late on Wednesday afternoon across Lebanon’s south and in Beirut’s southern suburbs, security sources and witnesses said, further hiking tensions with Israel a day after similar explosions launched via the group’s pagers.