Author: France 24

Back to homepage / Shows / arts24 Issued on: 06/02/2024 – 13:56 13:34 arts24 © FRANCE 24 Michael Morpurgo is one of the world’s most prolific and successful children’s writers. Out of his 150 books, his most famous is perhaps the 1982 novel “War Horse”, which became a global theatre phenomenon with more than 3,000 performances and a film directed by Steven Spielberg starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The storytelling supremo speaks to Eve Jackson about the film adaptation of his 1999 book “Kensuke’s Kingdom”, which he says is the only movie of his books that he truly likes. Read more on related…

Millions of people across Turkey on Tuesday mourned the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbors in the country’s catastrophic earthquake a year ago. Issued on: 06/02/2024 – 07:35 2 min To mark what it calls the “Disaster of the Century,” the government arranged a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the disaster in southern Turkey.In Antakya, the capital of the southern province of Hatay, angry crowds jostled with police as officials were led to the commemorations. Mayor Lutfu Savas was greeted with chants calling for him to resign, while Health Minister Fahrettin Koca…

French investigators have opened a legal probe into the pay of Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics organising committee, a source close to the case told AFP on Tuesday. Issued on: 06/02/2024 – 11:19 1 min French investigators have opened a legal probe into the pay of Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics organising committee, a source close to the case told AFP on Tuesday.The investigation by magistrates specialised in financial crimes began “last week” and will look into the manner in which Estanguet receives his pay as chief executive of the organising committee, the source…

Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the enclave, receives data from every hospital in the strip. Hospital administrators say they keep records of every wounded person occupying a bed and every body arriving at a morgue. The ministry also collects from other sources including the Palestinian Red Crescent.The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”. The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN…

Senegalese lawmakers voted late Monday to delay this month’s presidential election until December, an unprecedented move that has sparked international concern over a country normally seen as a beacon of stability in West Africa. The bill was passed near unanimously, with 105 votes in favor and one against, after opposition deputies were forcibly removed from the chamber.It paves the way for President Macky Sall to remain in office until his successor is installed, despite growing concern about the erosion of democracy. “The situation is completely catastrophic, Senegal’s image is ruined, and I don’t think we’ll be recovering from this democratic bankruptcy,…

A French Riviera chateau seized from late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has been sold to an undisclosed buyer, according to France’s agency for handling confiscated assets. Issued on: 05/02/2024 – 14:55Modified: 05/02/2024 – 14:54 2 min A local press report said the buyer was the Ukrainian-born co-founder of the WhatsApp messaging service.Berezovsky, who died in the UK under inconclusive circumstances in 2013, fell out with President Vladimir Putin after helping him rise to power in Russia.The powerful tycoon acquired the Chateau de la Garoupe on the Cote d’Azur in the 1990s while post-Soviet Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin was in…

A coalition ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, former minister Francois Bayrou, was acquitted of fraud charges on Monday in a verdict that could pave the way for a return to the cabinet or another run for the presidency. Issued on: 05/02/2024 – 15:48 1 min Bayrou, who helped Macron sweep to power in 2017 by abandoning his own bid for the top office, resigned as justice minister early in Macron’s presidency when the investigation into complicity in the misuse of European Parliament funds was opened. He had denied the charges.The court’s decision raises the possibility of a return to…

From our UN correspondent in New York – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced on January 26 that it had terminated the contracts of several employees pending an investigation into Israeli allegations that they had been involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel. The move prompted several nations to suspend vital funding to UNRWA while the inquiry proceeds, deepening Gaza’s already acute humanitarian crisis. But Israel refuses to share either its evidence or the intelligence dossier – a summary of which was seen by FRANCE 24 – with UNRWA, posing a challenge for the UN agency to…

Issued on: 05/02/2024 – 17:59Modified: 05/02/2024 – 18:04 As the war in Gaza approaches its fifth month, FRANCE 24 spoke to Mustafa Barghouti, a doctor, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) party and longtime human rights activist based in Ramallah. Barghouti called the situation on the ground in Gaza “absolutely horrifying”, with “people bombarded around the clock”. He also cast doubt on Israel’s stated goal of eradicating Hamas. “The real Israeli goal is to eradicate the Palestinian people, not Hamas,” he said. “They (Israel) know they cannot eradicate Hamas as a political force.” “The 100,000 people killed or injured…

King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday. Issued on: 05/02/2024 – 19:08Modified: 05/02/2024 – 19:31 1 min The palace says the cancer is not related to the king’s recent treatment for a benign prostate condition. It did not say what form of cancer the 75-year-old monarch has.The palace said “a separate issue of concern was noted” during Charles’ treatment for an enlarged prostate last month. “Diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer,” it said.“His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he…