Author: France 24

With less than a week to go until Christmas, hosts everywhere are finalising plans for their festive meal, whether it’s dinner or lunch depending on where they celebrate. Amid the abundance of advice, we’re turning to the best, as food guide and restaurant critic Andy Hayler joins us live from London to walk us through the key dos and don’ts for Christmas.

Improved aid access means there is no longer famine in Gaza, but the war-ravaged territory still faces emergency conditions, a UN-backed global hunger monitor said on Friday. Israel denied that there is a food shortage in Gaza, where around 1.6 million people are expected to face “crisis” levels of food insecurity in the coming months.

Morocco won the Arab Cup after a thrilling final against Jordan (3-2) on Thursday in Lusail, Qatar, three days before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations at home.

It’s a deal that’s been decades in the works, but might not make it across the finishing line. The free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur trading bloc is driving a wedge between those who are eager to diversify and strengthen their international trade, like Germany, and those who are concerned about protecting their agricultural sector, like France. FRANCE 24’s Charles Pellegrin speaks to Maxime Combes, a French economist who fundamentally opposes the Mercosur trade deal – but not for the same reasons the French government does. 

Like it or not, AI is here to stay. Time magazine named the “architects of AI” as 2025’s person of the year. In this edition, we focus on artificial intelligence and entertainment. A UK AI-focused studio recently released “Non Player Combat”, which it calls the world’s first AI-generated reality TV show. Dheepthika Laurent talks to Tom Paton, CEO of the studio and in a first, we interview Clara, the AI host of the show!

The WHO and its partners have evacuated more than 10,600 patients from Gaza with severe health conditions, including more than 5,600 children, since the start of the war, the head of the UN health agency said Friday, adding that 1,092 patients are known to have died while awaiting medical evacuation over the past 18 months.

In Morocco, at least 37 people have been killed after flash floods swept through the city of Safi. Officials say it’s the country’s deadliest flooding disaster in more than a decade. Online, viral videos have since claimed that torrential rain also severely damaged two major stadiums in Rabat – days before AFCON 2025 is set to kick off. In this edition of Truth or Fake, we trace the origin of these AI-generated videos, and confirm that Morocco is indeed ready to host the competition.

After a three-and-a-half-month trial, anaesthetist Frédéric Péchier was sentenced Thursday in Besançon to life in prison for all the charges against him, a verdict he plans to appeal. Péchier is accused of poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died, between 2008 and 2017.

London-based energy giant BP announced on Wednesday it was appointing Meg O’Neill as CEO starting on April 1. The executive, who has been at the head of Australian group Woodside Energy for the past four years, is expected to focus her efforts on the company’s core oil and gas activities in a bid to catch up with rivals. Also in this edition: YouTube gains the rights to broadcast the Oscars ceremony starting in 2029, underlining streaming’s increasing power in Hollywood. 

From 2029, the Oscars will no longer air on US network television but will stream worldwide on YouTube, ending ABC’s decades-long broadcast. The Academy says the move reflects its global audience, as falling TV ratings and the rise of streaming continue to reshape Hollywood and the wider entertainment industry.