Author: France 24

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were handed a blockbuster tie against Chelsea in Friday’s Champions League Round of 16 draw. The draw offers PSG a measure of revenge, months after the Parisians fell to the London side in the 2025 Club World Cup final. Elsewhere, a heavyweight showdown awaits as Real Madrid take on Manchester City.

Some 2 million people worldwide are poisoned by snakebites every year, resulting in the deaths of around 130,000 of them. Yet these deaths are avoidable through preventive measures, first aid and public policies to make antivenom available. The World Health Organization has labelled snakebite a neglected tropical disease and believes the subject should be given more attention. Our correspondent reports from Kenya, where war has been declared on snakebites. 

Despite headwinds from US tariffs and Chinese competition, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s latest report shows stronger-than-expected GDP growth, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa as decelerating inflation boosts consumer spending power. In Business, we spoke to the report’s lead author, EBRD chief economist Beata Javorcik.

France’s top film awards honoured Canadian-American actor Jim Carrey with a lifetime achievement prize on Thursday, recognising his eclectic career. Carrey accepted the honorary Cesar in French, joking about his language skills and recalling French ancestry. The actor, long compared to comic great Jerry Lewis, has stepped back from Hollywood.

Yossi Kupperwasser, Israeli intelligence and security expert, is our guest.

Worn down after four years as Morocco coach, Walid Regragui is expected to step down, with the World Cup now less than four months away. The Moroccan federation, which met on Thursday, is likely to announce Regragui’s successor soon. The leading candidate is Mohamed Ouahbi, who’s currently in charge of the nation’s U20 world champion side.

European countries have some of the best public health systems in the world. And yet cancer rates have been going up, according to the European Commission. For instance, in 2022, there was a 2.3 percent increase on the year 2020.

What does the corporate workplace look like in 2026? Following the Covid-19 pandemic, many employers implemented flexible schedules, which allowed employees to work from home for some or all of their week. Many firms are now backtracking, saying that even a hybrid model is no longer suitable. Some of the major employers who are mandating a full or partial return to the office include tech giants, as well as financial firms. For more, we speak to Roger Philby, UK Head of Consulting at the management consulting firm Korn Ferry. 

Ben Croll and Dheepthika Laurent look at the all the winners – and losers – from the César awards ceremony in Paris, including Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” and the moving family drama “The Ties That Bind Us”. Ben takes us through the highlights of the evening, including a lifetime achievement award for actor Jim Carrey and Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani’s tribute to Iranian protesters.

Israeli attacks killed five people in Gaza on Thursday, the territory’s health officials said. Medics reported two killed in an air strike in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood and others in drone strikes on police checkpoints in Khan Younis and near Bureij camp. Israel’s military said it killed a militant posing a threat.