FRANCE 24 English

Mbappe named France's player of the year, ends seven seasons with PSG Mbappe was named France's player of the year on Monday at an awards ceremony in Paris, as he comes to the end of his seven-season stay with Paris Saint-Germain. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKPb.g

Fierce fighting rocks north and south Gaza as hundreds of thousands flee Thousands fled northern Gaza on Monday as renewed shelling pounded areas where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped, despite having announced them cleared months ago. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKOc.g

Fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen testifies against Trump in hush money case Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, directly implicated the former president in a hush money scheme Monday, telling jurors that his celebrity client approved hefty payouts to stifle stories about sex that he feared could be harmful to his 2016 White House campaign. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKOF.g

Iranian director’s escape stokes drama as Cannes gears up for explosive film fest News of director Mohammad Rasoulof’s escape from Iran adds a dramatic twist to the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on Tuesday against an already volatile backdrop of wars raging on Europe’s doorstep, potential worker strikes and the threat of sex abusers being outed even as they hit the red carpet. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKNl.g

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof flees to Europe ahead of Cannes premiere Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof said Monday he had left Iran after being sentenced to jail on national security charges, a day ahead of the opening of the Cannes Film Festival where his new film is in the main competition. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKMh.g

Threats against NGO leaders multiply as Georgia green lights ‘Russian law’ for final vote A decisive vote on Tuesday could see the final adoption of a law, dubbed the “Russian law” by critics, that targets civil society organisations and independent media in Georgia that receive foreign funding. For ten days now, the pro-Russian government in power in Tbilisi has made no secret of its intention to use force to impose the law as a means to silence opponents. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKLZ.g

Georgians protest in last-ditch effort to block controversial ‘Russian law’ Hundreds of young Georgians crowded outside the Caucasus country's parliament on Monday after a night-long demonstration against a controversial "foreign influence" law that critics say was inspired by repressive Russian legislation. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKKL.g

France bags record $16 billion in foreign investment pledges at annual 'Choose France' summit France won a record 15 billion euros ($16.17 billion) in foreign investment pledges on Monday, allowing President Emmanuel Macron to bask in the limelight with global CEOs and forget about strained public finances and weak polls for a while. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKKm.g

Putin defence minister shake-up a sign of plans for ‘long confrontation’ with West President Vladimir Putin's nomination of top economic official Andrei Belousov as defence minister is a sign of the importance the Russian leader places on the war economy in gaining the upper hand in what he expects will be a long conflict against Ukraine, analysts say. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKLN.g

Chad election runner-up Succes Masra files bid to annul presidential poll result Succès Masra, who came second in Chad's presidential election, announced Sunday he had lodged a request with the Constitutional Council to have the vote annulled. 👉 Read more: https://f24.my/AKHs.g