Author: France 24

Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “ Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.

In a special edition, we focus on menopause since general knowledge of what it means for those who experience it and how to best treat it, is minimal to say the least. Although menopause is still considered taboo in many parts of the world, we report on how attitudes are changing dramatically in the UK where legislation is being discussed and employers now have a legal responsibility to support middle-aged women at work. Annette Young is also joined by noted American urologist, Dr Kelly Casperson, and Mathilde Neme who’s designed an app in France to help women deal with its…

French rugby superstar Antoine Dupont paid a visit to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, two months after inspiring France to a historic rugby sevens gold at the Paris Olympics. But he played down rumours of a future shift to American football.

OpenAI, the world’s most valuable AI startup, has just lost another executive. Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati is one of more than 20 key staff who have departed this year, leaving CEO Sam Altman with just one of his fellow co-founders.

She’s one of the greatest contralto singers in the world; a French-speaking Canadian opera star who has performed on stage across the planet. Marie-Nicole Lemieux talks to Eve Jackson about wanting to speak to the audience’s emotions through music, being a body positive role model for women of different shapes and sizes and why Maria Callas’s tragic life nearly put her off becoming an opera singer. You can see her perform at the Bastille Opera house as Mrs Quickly in Verdi’s “Falstaff” until September 30. After that she’ll be back in January for Wagner’s “Das Rheingold”.

Amnesty International is accusing big tech platforms of playing an active role in fuelling racist violence. The accusation comes after riots erupted in the UK this summer following the publication of false information on social media, but it also applies to many other issues and conflicts around the world. The issue of online content and free speech are also at the forefront of the US presidential election campaign. In Perspective, we spoke to Head of Big Tech Accountability at Amnesty International, Pat de Brun.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on the world to stop providing Israel with weapons, saying it has devastated the Gaza Strip to the point where it is no longer fit for living. Abbas made the plea in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

It was a low-budget, erotic film that became the most successful French movie of the time. “Emmanuelle” went on to be the symbol of the sexual liberation and free love of the 1970s. Fifty years after Just Jaeckin’s softcore movie first became a global phenomenon, a remake is being released with some big changes. Directed by a woman, award-winning director Audrey Divan has moved the action from Thailand to Hong Kong and the sensual character exploring her sexual desires is played by Noémie Merlant. Film critic Perrine Quennesson and erotic literature specialist and author of “Emmanuelle Arsan”, Camille Moreau join Eve…

France’s World Cup-winning defender Raphaël Varane announced his retirement from football at the age of 31 on Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on a hugely successful career after suffering a serious knee injury.

The French Medicines Agency has decided to sanction 11 pharmaceutical companies that did not respect the minimum four-month stocks for drugs “of major therapeutic interest”, handing them a record fine amounting to €8 million. This is 16 times the amount of sanctions imposed in one year, suggesting that the agency is shifting its strategy to address shortages of medication in the country. FRANCE 24’s Julia Sieger tells us more.