Author: France 24

This week, we welcome Oumou Sangaré, one of Mali’s greatest divas. Currently on an international tour and preparing for her next album, she takes us on a lively walk through the Château Rouge district in northern Paris, known as “Little Africa”, where she’s welcomed with open arms by many of her fans. Next, Camille Berthollet, the young violin and cello virtuoso, introduces her new solo album “Legends”, a heartfelt tribute to Celtic music that transcends time and borders.

Israel and Hamas have begun to implement a deal providing for a ceasefire and the release of the 20 Israeli hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza – and the return of the bodies of 26 captives presumed dead. Here’s what we know about the hostages still held by Hamas.

Alison Sargent welcomes Simon Mabon, Professor of International Politics and Middle East Studies at Lancaster University. Professor Simon Mabon expresses both relief and caution in assessing the recent ceasefire deal for Gaza. In the short term, he sees a vital humanitarian breakthrough: hostages returning, aid entering, and a cessation of killing. But in the long term, he doubts the viability of the architecture of a roadmap to peace and a two-state solution. The draft plan is riddled with ambiguities over disarmament, governance of Gaza, and the eventual role of the Palestinian Authority. And there is no clear path to statehood.…

Egypt became the 19th team to secure their spot in the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 victory against Djibouti. Mohamed Salah, who scored a brace, brought his goal tally for Egypt to 63.

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome Grégoire Borst, Full Professor of Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience of Education at Université Paris Descartes. Professor Borst illustrates how reading is so much more than learning, pleasure or information retention. It is mental training and brain reinforcement. By engaging working memory, perspective‑taking, and sustained attention, reading builds veritable pathways in the brain that support critical thinking, empathy, and cognitive resilience. Fiction fosters the ability to infer others’ mental states; nonfiction deepens factual knowledge and strengthens the capacity to question, analyse and engage in critical thinking. Over time, such habits may lower risk factors…

Ferrari has unveiled technology – new powertrain and chassis – that will power its first electric car, scheduled for launch next year.  However the Italian carmaker also scaled back its electrification plan, and its revised profit and revenue forecast disappointed investors sending its stock down 15%.  But first, amid the ongoing political chaos, we look at how French businesses are struggling to plan ahead. 

The 1967 film “Les demoiselles de Rochefort” by Jacques Demy starred a young Catherine Deneuve and her real-life sister Françoise Dorleac as twins living in the French seaside town of Rochefort, where they sang and danced their way through a series of pastel settings in search of true love. Almost 60 years later, the movie has come to life in a show at the Lido theatre on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. We speak to Juliette Tacchino and Marine Chagnon, the two French actresses who play the twins Delphine and Solange.

The European Union is ready to discuss how it can contribute to the Gaza peace plan, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Thursday ahead of a conference on Gaza in Paris. James André has more.

As France wrestles with an unwieldy political class, spiralling economic crisis and unraveling political order, German MEP Rasmus Andresen, Green Party and ECON member, views the country’s political and economic crises not as an insular French problem, but as a European one. The old model, of a presidency able to command majorities, is no longer sustainable in an ultrafragmented party landscape. The inability to seek compromise and collaborate across ideological divides has considerably weakened governance across the board. With France as a linchpin in the EU’s economy, its instability risks contagion: financial markets, deficit pressures, and far‑right ambitions all amplify…

OL Lyonnes beat Arsenal 2-1 in their opening match of the Women’s Champions League. Melchie Dumornay scored a brace.