Author: France 24

Oil and gas giant TotalEnergies has won a contract to build “Centre Manche 2”, a 1.5 GW wind farm off the coast of Normandy.  Planned to go onstream in 2033, the €4.5 billion project will generate electricity for some 6 million households and boost France’s overall wind power generation. Plus, with the price of gold hitting record highs, more and more French shoppers are selling their gold jewellery and investing in the precious metal. 

US President Donald Trump berates delegates at the UN General Assembly, Paris Fashion Week kicks off, displaced Palestinian families migrate south, Kyiv braves another attack by Russian forces and Colombian miners emerge after being trapped underground for two days: here’s a look at the week’s most striking images.

🏥 As Israeli troops bear down, the health care system in Gaza City is coming under fire and being pushed toward collapse. ⛑️Vaughan is a nurse from Seattle. She volunteered through the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association in July, and has just come back from the enclave. 📲 She kept a video diary of her time at al-Quds, occasionally posting on social media. She shared dozens of videos with The Associated Press, which verified them.

Generic versions of a groundbreaking injectable HIV-prevention drug should be available for $40 a year in more than 100 countries from 2027, according to Unitaid and the Gates Foundation. The two organisations have entered into separate agreements with Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce cheaper generic versions of lenacapavir — a twice-yearly injection shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent — for low- and middle-income countries. Details by Unitaid executive directorn Philippe Duneton.

Tournament hosts and favourites England outclassed Canada 33-13 in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final on Saturday to clinch the title for a third time on a memorable day for the sport.

France’s public debt has risen above €3.4 trillion in the second quarter of this year, to 115.6 percent of GDP, new official data shows. It comes as the country’s new prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, is trying to get support from political parties, unions and businesses to draft a budget for 2026, which needs to go before parliament by October 7. Meanwhile, the country’s national rail operator SNCF is introducing a new ultra-premium class as it faces increasing international competition. 

This week on Paris des Arts, Valérie Fayolle welcomes author Fatou Diome, who shares insights on her latest novel, a tender and intimate tribute to her grandfather. Next, we head to an iconic Parisian department store, Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, to discover choreographer Mourad Merzouki’s latest creation. Finally, in our highlight of the week, singer Imany makes her comeback with a powerful fifth album entitled “Women Deserve Rage”.

A year after Israeli bunker-busting bombs killed Hezbollah’s charismatic leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Lebanese government is working to disarm the Shiite militant group while Israel says its power has been decimated. But many experts and Hezbollah supporters disagree.

In a politically charged and deeply polarised France, the sentencing of a revered yet divisive former head of state has become a defining test of institutional independence. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, once the standard-bearer of the Gaullist tradition, now finds himself at the centre of one of the sternest judicial sanctions ever imposed on a French leader. This is not his first encounter with the courts: Sarkozy’s career has long been shadowed by trials and sprawling investigations that probe the boundaries between political power and personal accountability. To help us untangle the legal, moral, and political implications of this moment,…

US President Donald Trump has made sweeping statements urging Americans not to use the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (paracetamol) during pregnancy, saying it had links to autism. But he provided little scientific evidence to back this up. He also made sweeping statements about there being “virtually no autism” amongst the Amish or in Cuba. Most dangerously, he also repeated debunked claims about vaccines causing autism. FRANCE 24’s Vedika Bahl fact-checks these claims in Truth or Fake.