Author: France 24

Australian author Anna Funder talks to Dheepthika Laurent about her latest book “Wifedom”, a part-fiction, part non-fiction and part-hybrid novel about Eileen O’Shaughnessy. She was the highly educated wife of George Orwell, who played a pivotal but largely uncredited role in his career. Anna Funder also responds to criticism by the Orwell Society that the book portrayed Orwell as “maleficent” and talks about what propelled her to leave her career as a government lawyer to pursue writing full-time.

European football’s most coveted competition debuted its new format on Tuesday, foregoing its classic ‘group stage’ games for a giant league compromised of all 36 teams. Bayern Munich scored a record-breaking nine goals against Dinamo Zagreb and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé registered his first for the reigning champions, while both Liverpool and newcomers Aston Villa recorded wins. 

Bacterial illnesses resistant to available antibiotic medicines will cause more than 39 million deaths worldwide over the next 25 years and indirectly contribute to an additional 169 million deaths, according to a forecast published on Monday. FRANCE24’s Sharon Gaffney speaks to Ben Cooper, Professor of Epidemiology at the Centre for Global Health Research at Oxford University, one of the authors of the report. He says that vaccines, hygiene and antibiotic education are key to avoid the crisis.

After weeks of negotiations, European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen has unveiled her top team – giving key economic portfolios to France, Italy and Spain. If approved by the European Parliament, the bloc’s new top brass will be charged with steering the EU’s industrial agenda in the face of competition from China and the US. Plus, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a new plan to make a part of Oxford Street completely traffic-free.  

FRANCE 24 spoke to Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. Earlier this Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made the safe return of residents to the north of Israel – which is facing near-daily attacks by Hezbollah from neighbouring Lebanon – an official war goal. “We are still trying diplomatic channels in order to allow them to come back to their communities,” Danon said of the residents. But he warned that Israel will “use other capabilities” if it sees no progress. “There is some point in life where you have to put a red line and understand that you have to take…

Olivia Salazar-Winspear and Dheepthika Laurent take a look at all the winners, losers and surprises from the 2024 Emmy Awards ceremony, including historic wins for American-Japanese epic “Shogun” in the drama category. Also: they look at season four of irreverent British spy drama “Slow Horses” and a new season of Ryan Murphy’s true crime series based on the story of the Menendez brothers, who killed their parents in 1989. Plus: don’t miss “La Maison”, a new “Succession”-style family drama à la française!

The head of the 2012 London Olympics, Briton Sebastian Coe, and the chief of international cycling, Frenchman David Lappartient, are among the names being mentioned as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) looks to elect its new president. Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry is the only woman among the seven candidates who would not only become the IOC’s first female president if she is elected, but the first to come from Africa. The election will take place in March 2025.

Boeing announced a hiring freeze and costcutting measures amid a crippling strike at its assmbly plants that has brought production of its best-selling jets, including the 737 Max, to a virtual halt.But first, lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance made their case against a US law, signed in April, that gave them until January 19th to sell the app to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban. The legal battle is expected to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

An Iranian woman who fled to France after taking in protests in Iran two years ago following the death of Mahsa Amini has spoken to FRANCE 24, saying her actions against the Iranian regime were worth it. Marjane Jangjoo escaped after 30 men came to her workplace to arrest her and her colleagues for joining the demonstrations. She spent several months in hiding before making her way across snowy mountains to cross the border. She says the Iranian regime is like a robe which little by little is shredding a thread, and that one day real change will come so…

 Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi of Morocco set a new world record in the women’s marathon for runners with visual impairments as the Paris Paralympics wrapped up on Sunday with China topping the medals table, ahead of Britain and the United States.