Author: France 24

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.

Olympique de Marseille host Paris Saint-Germain in the final game of Ligue 1’s matchday five. PSG come in as clear favourites, with Marseille having failed to beat their arch-rivals at home in the League since 2011.

Brazil, under the leadership of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is now the target of tariffs of up to 50 percent on most of its goods heading to the United States. Brazilian businesses are looking to the Chinese market to make up for losses in the US market. But can China fill that gap for the Brazilian economy? Charles Pellegrin speaks to Tulio Cariello, director of research at the Brazil-China Business Council. Plus, our reporters met with coffee producers in Brazil who are trying to reduce their reliance on the US.

“Art is my way of turning pain into hope.” Those are the words of Gaza-based photographer Belal Khaled, whose images have been seen by millions and published in Time, the Guardian and The Wall Street Journal. His work, along with that of 10 other Gaza-based photographers, is at the heart of a powerful new exhibition at P21 Gallery in London, titled “Against Erasure: Photographs from Gaza.” In a war where foreign reporters have been banned from Gaza, these photojournalists risk their lives to document what’s happening and ensure their stories are not silenced.

Facing international isolation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage on day four of the UN General Assembly on Friday (September 26). Scores of delegates have walked out of as he entered the hall to give his speech.

Global health agencies announced Wednesday that generic versions of a groundbreaking injectable drug to prevent HIV will be made available from 2027 at around $40 a year in more than 100 low and middle-income countries, a move hailed as a potential gamechanger in the fight against the AIDS epidemic.

Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won a third successive individual time-trial title at the Road Cycling World Championships in Rwanda on Sunday, suging past Tadej Pogacar in the race’s final stretch as the Tour de France winner narrowly missed out on a medal. 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) released its latest growth projections this Thursday, outlining the challenges facing the economies in which the development bank operates. From the impact of US tariffs, to intensifying Chinese competition on exports by way of Ukraine’s wartime economy and the fiscal troubles facing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, we discuss it all with the EBRD’s chief economist, Beata Javorcik.