Author: France 24

Egypt has filed a formal FIFA complaint after its controversial World Cup exit against Argentina, accusing officials of “double standards” and demanding the removal of the referee and his team. Egypt led 2-0 before Argentina’s dramatic comeback, with controversy surrounding a VAR decision that ruled out a crucial Egyptian goal. The defeat has fuelled viral claims of Argentina favouritism and a “rigged” World Cup designed to benefit Lionel Messi’s squad.

The IMF has cut its global growth forecast for the second time this year, flagging “uncertainty and risks” brought on by the war in Iran. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez responds to threats from Donald Trump that the US will cut off all trade with his country. And, the heatwave is putting France’s power system is under pressure.

Manon Kerjean explains why the animated feature In Waves, Phuong Mai Nguyen’s adaptation of a bestselling graphic novel, has been moving audiences to tears. We also take a look at Stéphane Demoustier’s dark summertime thriller The Heat and enjoy the behind-the-scenes comedy of La Comédie Française, set inside France’s most prestigious theatre. Finally, 20th-century cinematic visionary Jacques Tati is back in the spotlight with a retrospective of his quirky, forward-looking films, now being screened in newly restored 4K versions.

Both supporters of the Iranian regime and members of the opposition have been sharing AI-generated images of funeral services held in early July for Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – killed during a US-Israeli strike on February 28.

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, June 25: UK papers discuss the Nottingham maternity care scandal. Next: is there going to be another heatwave in Europe this summer? Also: the Euclid telescope took extraordinary photos of the Milky Way. Finally, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s upcoming wedding is getting both Swifties and gamblers excited.

Trailing 2-0 with 15 minutes to go, Argentina came from behind to beat Egypt 3-2 in the World Cup round of 16. Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

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Two-time Booker prize-winning author, Margaret Atwood has spent four decades warning what happens when democracy, women’s rights and free expression begin to erode. Today, many readers believe the world has caught up with her fiction. In this interview with FRANCE 24’s Eve Jackson, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale reflects on US President Donald Trump, the expanding book bans in the United States, the rollback of reproductive rights, censorship and why she torched an “unburnable” edition of her most famous novel. 

Nearly 20 years after taking power in Gaza, Hamas said on Monday it would hand over control of the territory to a committee of Palestinian technocrats. The move is a bid to get the ball rolling on the second phase of a peace plan backed by US President Donald Trump and wrest some control of the territory from Israel’s grasp, Middle East expert Jean-Paul Chagnollaud told FRANCE 24.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology at NYU and Author of “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago”. He challenges one of the dominant assumptions surrounding extreme heat: that technological adaptation alone can protect societies from climate change. Drawing on his landmark study of Chicago’s deadly 1995 heatwave, he argues that mortality during extreme heat is shaped as much by the strength of social ties as by meteorological conditions.