Author: France 24

After adapting three of Stephen King’s horror stories, director Mike Flanagan opted for the author’s sweet and life-affirming novella “The Life of Chuck” for his latest film. Film critic Emma Jones tells us why Tom Hiddleston brings a sweet levity to this uncynical life story, told in reverse. We also discuss the latest big budget live action remake as the “How to Train Your Dragon” series gets a 2025 version, and we find out more about the quirky arranged marriage at the centre of “Sister Midnight”, an Anglo-Indian production that amused critics at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Plus we…

The war in Sudan has led to the total or partial destruction of clinics and hospitals, but health professionals are determined to rebuild what has been lost. Among them are scientists researching and treating mycetoma, a rare but devastating fungal disease. The Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC) in Khartoum was unique and worked in partnership with several companies and organisations, including the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative. Today, doctors are appealing for help to rebuild the partially destroyed centre. FRANCE 24’s Shirli Sitbon spoke with the MRC’s director, Professor Ahmed Hassan Fahal.

England suffered its first loss in 21 games against African opposition on Tuesday as Senegal rolled to a 3-1 victory in Nottingham, escalating scrutiny over Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel’s ability to end his team’s World Cup drought.

Israel deported activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on with other activists was seized by the Israeli military. She left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden. Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel’s ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.

Funk icon and pioneering multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, whose band Sly and the Family Stone remolded musical norms and challenged segregation along racial and gender lines, died at the age of 82 on Monday, his family said, leaving behind a legendary, genre-mashing discography which lifted Afrocentric music and hippie culture.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday dismissed all 17 members of a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel, accusing them of conflicts of interest in his latest salvo against vaccines. Scientists have denounced the political meddling in public health policy.

Manchester City have agreed a €40 million fee to sign French wonderkid Rayan Cherki from Lyon. The 21-year-old will sign a five-year contract and join his new team for the upcoming Club World Cup.

As France hosted a UN conference on protecting the ocean, NGOs denounced the fact that large shipping companies were sponsoring the event, calling them some of the biggest polluters.  The maritime transport sector accounts for 3% of global CO2 emissions, as dry cargo shipments more than doubled since 2000. Plus, the US and China have started a new round trade talks in London, with Beijing’s export control of rare earths firmly in focus. 

Syria’s national unity plan aims to rebuild trust, governance, and social cohesion in the aftermath of years of civil conflict. Aleppo, once the country’s economic hub and a focal point of the war, serves as a key case study in this effort.

In this edition of our arts24 music show, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with UK-based Nigerian musician Obongjayar. He’s just released his second album called “Paradise Now”, a danceable record inspired by partying. He even hosted a series of parties of the same name in London as he was producing the record. The Ivor Novello-nominated musician moved from Nigeria to London as a teenager and his music is infused with West African rhythms, pop, punk and dance. Aside from nightlife, “Paradise Now” also talks about love, religion, belonging and calling out political inaction – like on the diss track “Jellyfish”.