Author: France 24

UN aid agencies warn of deep service cuts as US funding plummets under President Donald Trump. His administration has slashed 83% of programs funded by USAID, which had a $42.8 billion annual budget—42% of all global humanitarian aid. As vital operations for millions of people worldwide is severely scaled back, FRANCE 24’s Delano D’Souza welcomes Avril Benoît, Chief Executive Officer of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the US. Prior to joining MSF, Ms. Benoît had a “distinguished 20-year career” with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as an award-winning broadcast journalist, documentary producer and international correspondent. Her work with the CBC took her to…

US President Donald Trump has blamed Joe Biden for a 0.3% shrink in GDP for the first three months of the year, as firms stockpiled imports ahead of tariffs. The S&P 500 fell Wednesday as a result… Trump’s first 100-days in office have seen the worst stock market performance in half a century.

Massive wildfires broke out near Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, forcing the evacuation of communities, road closures and prompting Israel’s government to order the deployment of troops to support firefighters. 

Michel Leclerc has never shied away from delicate social topics and the French director has now managed to inject humour into the issue of sexual assault in “Not all men, but…”. Critic Perrine Quennesson tells us why his gamble has paid off and why entertaining performances from Léa Drucker and Benjamin Lavernhe bring levity to a heavy subject. We also hear about Régis Wargnier’s long-awaited feature “La Réparation”, a family mystery set between France and Taiwan which unites a stellar cast. Meanwhile, filmmaker Lawrence Valin marks himself out as a rising talent with “Little Jaffna”, a thriller set in Paris’s…

Arsenal host PSG in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals in a clash between two sides that have never won the competition.

The White House blasted Amazon over a reported plan to display how much additional costs are coming from tariffs right next to the total price of a product on its website.  The e-commerce giant denied such a plan had been approved, after Donald Trump directly complained to its founder Jeff Bezos. Plus, France plans to impose a handling fee on small-value parcels, as the EU mulls introducing import duties on such parcels that have hitherto been exempted from tariffs. 

Attacks on the global human rights system have intensified since the return of US President Donald Trump, Amnesty International warns in its latest annual report. Secretary General Agnès Callamard cites mounting assaults on accountability, international law, and the UN. As authoritarianism rises worldwide, FRANCE 24’s Annette Young welcomes Heba Morayef, MENA Regional Director at Amnesty International, from Beirut, for in-depth analysis and a broader perspective.

Operatic soprano Chen Reiss has just released a new album alongside Daniel Grossman and the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich entitled “Jewish Vienna”. The Austrian capital has always been a key spot for classical music and the goal of this record was to focus on the artists and composers who were part of this rich scene until the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. We also look at how the internet and social media may have killed off the video star, as well as the new album from Welsh rockers Stereophonics.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 5-1 to clinch the Premier League title at Anfield on Sunday, sealing a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown. Liverpool are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint-most successful club in English top-flight history.

Electricity is gratually being restored to parts of Spain and Portugal following a massive blackout that brought much of the two countries to a standstill. While the cause of the outage is still being investigated, Yuka Royer takes a look at how Europe is trying to modernise its grid system. Plus, India has ordered 26 more Rafale fighter jets from French defence giant Dassault, marking another step in the Asian nation’s reliance on French military hardware.