Author: France 24

Garage Punk queens The Darts formed in 2016 and have since attracted fans around the world. They are currently on a 100-date tour of Europe which has taken them from Spain to Finland. They popped by FRANCE 24 to tell us about their latest album “Boomerang” and how they keep going from venue to venue. We also look at new releases from Manu Chao, Katy Perry and Sophie. 

Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was in intensive care in Kenya on Tuesday after she was doused with petrol and set on fire allegedly by her partner in the latest horrific case of gender-based violence in the East African country.

Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Monday killed 182 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry, in by far the deadliest cross-border escalation since war erupted in Gaza on October 7. Many Lebanese had received phone and text messages from Israel telling them to leave the targeted areas, but the time given for them to evacuate before the strikes began was in some cases “very limited”, reports France 24’s correspondent in Beirut Rawad Taha.

Used to competing with relatively few spectators in the stands, Paralympic athletes have commented widely on the buzz they’re getting from competing in Paris, with enthusiastic French fans turning out en masse to support the more than 4,000 Paralympians at the 2024 Games.

Sri Lankan voters will head to the polls this Saturday to choose a new president. We’ll see why the economy will be at the heart of the campaign with the financial collapse of 2022 still present in peoples’ minds. In 2024, economic indicators have recovered but Sri Lankans are still suffering. Also in this edition, Donald Trump accuses the US federal reserve of “playing politics” after it cut its target interest rate.

An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 34 workers and injured 17 others, officials said Sunday, marking one of the worst mining disasters in the country’s history as others remained missing hours after the blast. Details by Morgan Ayre.

An award-winning writer and poet has spoken to FRANCE 24 about her motto “Do it Afraid”, as she prepares to launch her latest book of poems. British Nigerian poet Theresa Lola first became known six years ago when she was awarded the Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and the following year was the Young People’s Laureate for London. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing from University of Oxford, earning a distinction. Her second poetry book “Ceremony for the Nameless” is due out in a month or so. She said she would always encourage others who wish to write to…

French Paralympic Judokas Cyril Jonard and Jason Grandry both secured bronze medals in men’s judo Saturday. FRANCE 24’s James Vasina reports from Paris. 

This week’s attacks on Hezbollah pagers and radios have spread anxiety among Lebanese people, and a sense that no electronic device is safe. Amid some confusion over how the explosions were triggered, you might be wondering whether you can trust the phone in your pocket, or the headphones on your ears. On this week’s Tech 24, we break down how the attacks were done, how they compare to other massive hardware hacks like Stuxnet and An0m, and whether you should be worried about your own device. 

From cartoon baddies to Hollywood pin-ups, Bill Plympton’s animations embrace an eccentric collection of characters, all of them set in motion in his unique, shimmering style. As the animator and cartoonist’s work goes on show at the Formula Bula Festival in Paris, he joins us to discuss the tens of thousands of hand-drawn plates that go into his feature animations, some of which have won him the industry’s most prestigious awards. He tells us about the one-minute movie about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that prompted death threats and why his latest exploration of the Western genre, “Slide”, features the…