Author: France 24

The 77th Cannes Film Festival kicked off Tuesday with a historic screening of Abel Gance’s restored 1927 masterpiece “Napoleon”, months after French critics heaped scorn on Ridley Scott’s “Anglo-Saxon” take on the French emperor. Source link

Gun battles between Israel and militants from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and smaller Palestinian factions intensified overnight into some of the fiercest in months in both northern and southern Gaza, both sides said on Wednesday. FRANCE 24 Chief Foreign Affairs Editor Rob Parsons has more. Source link

Film critic Lisa Nesselson and presenter Eve Jackson are live from opening night at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. They discuss France’s #MeToo reckoning, the opening film “The Second Act”, starring Bond girl Léa Seydoux, and some of this year’s expected highlights, including “Megalopolis”, a new film from “Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola. Source link

Civilians fled the southern Gaza city of Rafah ahead of a threatened Israeli ground offensive as Palestinians on Wednesday mark the anniversary of the Nakba (“catastrophe”), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments. Source link

US President Joe Biden has announced a raft of new tariffs on some 18 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods, including quadrupling the border tax on electric cars. The White House says the measures are carefully targeted at strategic sectors to protect American companies from unfair trade practices.  Beijing has strongly criticised the move.  Plus, a new version of ChatGPT is out… and it’s more human than ever. And Google is also revamping its search engine with artificial intelligence.  Source link

The Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with the presentation of an honorary Palme d’Or for Meryl Streep and a tribute to jury head Greta Gerwig as the French Riviera gathering kicked off its 77th edition against the backdrop of a defining #MeToo moment for French film. Source link

Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning author known as “Canada’s Chekhov” for her mastery of the short story, has died at 92, Canadian media reported Tuesday. Source link

Israel began toned down Independence Day celebrations at sundown on Monday, with hopes for an end to the seven-month-old Gaza war dim, anti-government protests growing and internal divisions festering. Story by Antonia Kerrigan. Source link

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival comes at a moment when the French movie business faces a belated reckoning over sexual abuse. Eve Jackson reports from the Croisette on opening day. Source link

Former US State Department Middle East Negotiator Aaron Miller, who served under six US secretaries of state on Arab-Israel affairs, told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday that Israel’s strategy in Gaza has essentially “broken down” despite its army’s progress in the enclave. Source link