Author: France 24

Of the three major European film festivals, Berlin’s annual event has often featured political films and commentary. Yet this year’s jury president Wim Wenders stirred up controversy when he said that artists should “stay out of politics”, prompting Indian author Arundhati Roy to cancel her appearance at the festival. Film critic Emma Jones brings us up to date on this heated debate and flags up the movies making headlines at the Berlinale so far.

UN missions from 85 member states on Tuesday condemned what they described as Israel’s expanding control in the West Bank, warning it could amount to de facto annexation. In a joint statement, they said unilateral measures violated international law and urged Israel to reverse them immediately.

Japan’s Ami Nakai led the women’s figure skating event after the Olympic short program on Tuesday, landing a triple axel to score 78.71 points ahead of teammate Kaori Sakamoto, with American Alysa Liu third, as Germany swept the two-man bobsled medals in dominant fashion after mistakes hurt other US contenders.

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into Shein over suspicion that the online retail giant has violated the EU’s Digital Services Act. The probe comes months after the online retail giant came under fire for allowing child-like sex dolls to be sold on its site. But first, France is inching closer to finalise a massive deal over the sale of 114 Rafale fighter jets to India, as Emmanuel Macron kicks off his state visit. 

As Iran faces growing international outrage over its violent crackdown on protesters, Iranian-French actress Mina Kavani is bringing a story of exile and resistance to the Paris stage.

Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main “guiding principles” in a second round ​of indirect talks over their nuclear dispute on Tuesday, but that does not mean a deal is imminent, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said. FRANCE 24’s Angela Diffley brings you this analysis

Switzerland’s Loïc Meillard led a commanding display in men’s alpine skiing at the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday, securing a fourth Swiss victory in five events. China’s freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu claimed silver in the big air, and Japan celebrated a historic pairs figure skating triumph.

India has kicked off the 4th edition of the AI Summit, the first such event in the global south. The five-day event will draw world leaders including the French and Brazilian presidents, as well as tech bosses like Google’s Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, serving as an opportunity for New Delhi to showcase its burgeoning AI industry. Also in the segment, a Pokemon card owned by wrestler Logan Paul has fetched a whopping $16.5 million in an online auction. 

Oscar-winning US actor Robert Duvall died Sunday at the age of 95, his wife said on Monday. Duvall was known for legendary roles including soft-spoken mob loyalist Tom Hagen in the first two installments of “The Godfather” and the maniacal Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic “Apocalypse Now”.

Israel’s cabinet on Sunday approved a process to register land in the West Bank, a move far-right Finance Minister ​Bezalel Smotrich hailed as “continuing the revolution of settlement”. The Palestinian Authority condemned what it called “a ​de-facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory” and several Arab countries criticised the measure as illegal under international law.