Author: France 24

Space loomed large over the 2026 VivaTech festival. Startups and technology giants alike have entered the new space economy – a sector previously dominated by government agencies. FRANCE 24’s Business Editor Kate Moody sat down with Marta Oliveira, Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer at Atmos Space Cargo, to talk about reusable rockets, raising money in the private sector and international competition in the 21st century space race. 

Dancer, photographer and artistic director Mathieu Forget talks to FRANCE 24 about celebrating 10 years of his “Levitation” project. Part sport, part travel, the series features photos of himself or French athletes mid-air against breathtaking backdrops. He also recounts going viral last year after a publishing a video online of his real-life partner, Victoria Dauberville, dancing on a ship’s bow in Antarctica. The video was viewed 500 million times on social media. Finally, he details some of his possible future projects, including a series for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. 

As the on-again, off-again fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia has revealed its deadly FPV drone fleet: small quadcopters equipped with light explosives. Analysis of videos of the attacks suggests the Israeli army has turned to a Second World War-era trick to counter Hezbollah’s FPVs: decoys.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Dr Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC, said the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo is “serious” but not “out of control”. He warned that “no one is safe” if it is not stopped at the source and argued that the West would already have a vaccine if the disease had struck there.

Ivory Coast have reached the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time in four appearances after defeating Curaçao 2-0 on Thursday. The Elephants finished second in their group and will face either France or Norway in the Round of 16 on June 30.

Oil prices continue their slide on Thursday as traffic through the Hormuz Strait has picked up over the past few days. Uncertainty lingers for the shipping industry, though, as disagreements over a potential toll to pass through the Strait could be a stumbling block in US-Iran talks. Also in this edition, US chipmaker Micron’s better-than-expected sales forecast sends AI stocks surging again.

In this edition, we look at Tate Modern’s exhibition dedicated to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. It displays her famous self-portraits and works by other artists who were influenced by her. Also: French World Cup fans go crazy for Panini sticker albums as newsstands experience shortages. Meanwhile, the Ghanaian music genre of Highlife has been added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. Finally, one of France’s biggest music festivals, Solidays, kicks off this Friday with French stars Gims, Orelsan, Bigflo & Oli and American EDM group Major Lazer all set to perform.

More Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are competing in the 2026 World Cup than at any previous tournament, much to the delight of fans from Morocco to Jordan. But as always with sports, politics is never far from the pitch. Iran, of course, springs to mind. Never before has a country hosted a World Cup while at war with one of the competing nations.

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton, UK. He argues that Europe’s current heatwave should not be understood as an exceptional weather event but as evidence of a new climatic reality shaped by anthropogenic warming. While acknowledging that adaptation measures can significantly reduce mortality and social disruption, he maintains that increasingly intense heat extremes are ultimately driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Williams presents France as a notable case study in climate adaptation, citing its post-2003 reforms…

South Africa reached the World Cup knockout stage for the first time on Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over South Korea, completing a remarkable recovery after losing their opener. Thapelo Maseko scored the decisive second-half goal as Bafana Bafana secured second place in Group A behind Mexico after drawing with the Czech Republic.