Author: France 24

Pope Leo’s plane has departed Beirut for Rome, marking the end of his first overseas trip as head of the Catholic Church, which included visits to Turkey and Lebanon. During the visit, he delivered a strong plea for Lebanon’s diverse communities to come together to address the country’s deep crises, speaking to tens of thousands at a Mass on Tuesday. He also urged broader peace across the region. France24 correspondent Rawad Taha reports from Beirut.

As high-stakes war discussions unfold, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, where the Kremlin insists it is open to peace talks but maintains its war objectives must still be met, casting doubt on its willingness to end the conflict. Ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with leaders of the UK and France, as well as Witkoff, and is now in Dublin for trade and security talks with Irish officials. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Russia claims to have seized the strategic eastern…

South Africa, Eswatini and Zambia have begun administering Lenacapavir, a groundbreaking new HIV-prevention injection, in the drug’s first public rollouts in Africa, which has the world’s highest HIV burden. It has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent, making it akin to a powerful vaccine. All the while, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, is warning of the dire, even deadly, consequences directly linked to the abrupt defunding from the US, and, to a lesser extent, the UK: “The complex ecosystem that sustains HIV services in dozens of low-and-middle income countries was…

Airbus said it was inspecting “a limited number” of A320s after it identified a quality issue with metal panels used on the exterior of the plane.  It says it’s unlikely to cause any safety issue and all newly produced panels conform to requirements.  The revelation sent the planemaker’s stock tumbling, coming days after a software recall resulted in the grounding of some 6,000 passenger jets worldwide. Also in the segment, cryptocurrencies continue to slide after a very bad November. 

In this edition of our arts24 music show, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with Ambroise and Zoé from indie band Astral Bakers. The French four-piece have a real Americana, soft-grunge sound, blending warm harmonies with stripped-down arrangements. Their second album “Vertical Life” was recorded in the Catskills in upstate New York, and celebrates their collective identity. We also look at the return of the cassette tape, which is hoping to emulate the same success vinyl records have had in recent years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the country’s president on Sunday for a pardon in his long-running corruption trial, arguing that the criminal proceedings were hindering his ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for Israel. Under Israeli law, however, the president does not have the power to pardon someone who is not a convicted criminal, FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky said, noting that no verdict has yet been rendered on Netanyahu, who is actively seeking to prevent his trial from reaching its conclusion.

Stunned 1-0 by Monaco on Saturday at the Stade Louis-II, Paris Saint-Germain suffered their second league defeat of the season on Matchday 14. Marseille, held 2-2 in dramatic fashion by Toulouse, squandered the chance to climb back to the top of Ligue 1.

With the launch of ChatGPT three years ago to the day, it looked like America had won the next major technology race before it had even started. But the landscape has shifted dramatically. China is overtaking the United States in open-source models, Europe is walking back its regulatory ambitions, and the internet is drowning in AI-generated rubbish.

British playwright Tom Stoppard, a dramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love”, has died at the age of 88. Famed for his dazzling wit and depth, Stoppard was credited with reshaping modern theatre, combining intellectual subjects with comedy. 

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will take no further steps in indirect talks with Turkey as long as its founder Abdullah Ocalan remains imprisoned, said a senior commander. Since talks began last year, the PKK has complied with several peace process steps as Turkey prepares a legal framework for the group’s political integration.