Author: France 24

Lille midfielder Nabil Bentaleb staged a star comeback on Sunday, scoring the opening goal in a match won by his team that marked his return to the pitch following a heart attack last year.

Once the powerhouse of Europe, Germany’s economy has seen no real growth in five years as its industrial export model has been battered by structural changes in the Chinese market and the end of cheap energy from Russia. Public investment that could change that model is constrained by the country’s strict debt limit. We take a closer look in this edition.

There’s been an increase in US forces’ drone attacks on former Al Qaeda operatives in the Syrian province of Idlib since the fall of Bachar al-Assad’s regime. Analysis by FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr.

She captivated audiences with performances in films like “Attenberg”, which won her best actress at the Venice Film Festival, “Alps” and “The Lobster” from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, and “Assassin’s Creed”. Now, French actress Ariane Labed is making her directorial debut with “September Says” – a gothic, suspense-filled exploration of sisterhood. She speaks to culture editor Eve Jackson about adapting Daisy Johnson’s novel “Sisters”, the importance of showing female messiness on screen, and her combat for gender equality and real cultural change within the French film industry.

France got their Six Nations campaign firmly back on track on Sunday with an 11-try masterclass which put Italy to the sword 73-24 and ensured Les Bleus stayed in touch with tournament leaders Ireland.

France’s independent public audit office shared its assessment of the pension system deficit with Prime Minister François Bayrou this Thursday. This is the starting point of a renegotiation of the 2023 pension reform that raised the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. Both worker and employer representatives will start discussions next week. One option on the table to reduce that deficit is to complement the existing worker and employer contributions with private sector pension funds. We take a closer look in this edition.

Mourners dressed in black, some waving Hezbollah flags or clutching portraits of the group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, gathered in their thousands to attend his funeral on Sunday in a stadium on the outskirts of Beirut.

Designers Jeanne Friot, Walter Van Beirendonck and Louis Gabriel Nouchi have taken a stand to defend gender-neutral fashion, calling for inclusion rather than exclusion. Meanwhile, Japanese labels Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto propose a simple, comfortable wardrobe, underpinned with poetry. All of these designers have opted for extraordinary fabrics to create their latest collections. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

Mbappe was the star of the show as he scored a hat-trick which helped Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-1 to reach the last-16 of the Champions League on Wednesday. PSG annihilated Brest 7-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The economy is a top concern for voters in Germany as they go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new government. The country has seen two consecutive years of economic contraction and this stagnation could very well continue for a third year. Its post-Covid recovery was completely stunted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis that followed, laying bare Berlin’s deep dependence on Moscow’s oil and gas. Now the return of Donald Trump as US president is further muddying the prospects for growth. To better understand how Germany got here and how it can dig itself…