Author: France 24

Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups appealed to the international community in France on Friday to keep pursuing a two-state solution, warning that the window for peace is narrowing. The call came as world powers gathered amid mounting concern over settlement expansion and violence in the occupied West Bank.

Team USA made a commanding statement in their World Cup campaign, defeating Paraguay 4-1 in their Group D opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Despite a late Paraguayan rally, the co-hosts’ attacking prowess proved too much for La Albirroja, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice to set the tone.

Genie Godula is pleased to welcome Dr. Hypolite Muhindo Mavoko, M.D., Professor in the Department of Tropical Medicine at the University of Kinshasa. Dr. Mavoko offers a sobering analysis of the latest Ebola outbreak linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain in the eastern DR Congo. He places the crisis within a longer epidemiological history, reminding viewers that it was first identified in Uganda in 2007 before appearing in the DRC in 2012. He warns that “the body can still continue transmitting the disease” even after death, underscoring how burial practices may unintentionally accelerate contagion. Yet beyond the virology, he offers…

A senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry has said that a test took place two years ago involving fully autonomous drones set to destroy anything in a given area, with confirmed casualties, according to a report in New Scientist. Speaking on FRANCE 24, Mariarosaria Taddeo, Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, explains that these systems “are fully indiscriminate; whether the system sees a combatant, a child, an old person, it won’t be able or won’t be designed to discriminate, so civilians are going to be put in harm’s way”.

This week, Paris des Arts heads to the Czech Republic to visit Prague, a cultural capital and UNESCO World Heritage city. We meet one of the most provocative Czech artists of the international scene, David Cerny, who takes us inside his exhibition space – a former industrial site he’s named the “Musoleum”, a mashup of “museum” and “mausoleum”.

A video claiming to show the Iranian army downing a US Apache attack helicopter has garnered millions of views on social media. But the video was AI-generated.

South Korea won their first World Cup match on Thursday beating the Czech Republic 2-1, thanks to a decisive late goal from substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Anne Moore, Professor of Biochemistry at University College Cork. She is warning about the seriousness of the latest Ebola outbreak linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain. While tests and vaccines exist for the Zaire strain, Professor Moore says “we don’t yet have proof that vaccines work against the current strain” and that tests have not yet been designed to detect Bundibugyo. Moore stressed that shrinking international funding is weakening the global response. “We’re plugging gaps instead of deploying the full countermeasures we could.” Moore broadens her analysis beyond virology, arguing for international solidarity and…

Expectations are high for the IPO of SpaceX. The company – which includes rockets, satellites, and AI units – could become one of the most valuable in the world following its market launch on Friday. Founder Elon Musk is set to retail near total control of SpaceX, with 85% of the voting rights. Igor Pejic, Tech Investing Strategist and author of the book “Tech Money,” says Musk’s personal influence is likely to draw in more investors – but the company is overvalued at $1.75 trillion. 

With a sensual voice that contrasts with the strength of her lyrics, Mélissa Laveaux creates music that blends her Haitian and Canadian heritage with themes of history, sexuality, and the dark humour she brings to questions of life and death. She joins us in the studio to discuss her latest album, “At My Softest, I Am Most Dangerous”, and her exploration of Voodoo traditions and beliefs surrounding mortality. We also look at her personal geography – the places and influences that have shaped her artistic journey. We also discuss Paris’s first Pride Ball, a star-studded gala celebrating LGBTQ+ communities.