JK Rowling defended by Warner Bros after question about writer blocked at ‘Harry Potter’ celebration

Fung Wai-kong is the seventh executive at the shuttered pro-democracy newspaper to be arrested under the auspices of a national security law in recent weeks. He was reportedly trying to board a plane to the UK.

Critic Lisa Nesselson joins us to discuss the importance of France's annual "Fête du Cinéma". We also talk about "Charlatan", the latest feature from Polish director Agnieszka Holland. In her fact-inspired drama, a Czech man who has devoted his life to diagnosing and healing people with plants faces the wrath of the Czech government.

Notwithstanding the hike in the price of foodstuff, ram and other items in Nigeria due to Eid-el-Kabir, Muslims in Nigeria are celebrating the holy festival also known as Eid-al-Adha. However, with the price of a ram ranging between ₦120,000 and ₦400,000, not everyone is smiling as they observe the yearly ritual.⁣⁣

Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, 72, won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for his writing on the “effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee," the award-giving body said on Thursday. Born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, Gurnah moved to Britain as a young refugee in 1968.

A new report by Tsinghua University in Beijing has revealed that the Chinese Communist Party used cloud seeding to artificially bring down pollution levels for its centenary celebrations on July 1. The peer-reviewed study shows just how far China has come with this technology. FRANCE 24's Technology Editor Peter O'Brien breaks down how cloud seeding works, and the scale of China's ambitions to change the weather.

He's the controversial poet-provocateur idolised as France's biggest literary export, holding up a mirror to the grim truths of contemporary France. Michel Houellebecq's eighth book "Anéantir", which translates as "Annihilate", hits bookshelves today with a massive print run of 300,000 copies.

Nationals from Tunisia and Ghana who have fled Ukraine have finally made it home with others who are set to follow. Tens of thousands of Africans have been stranded in war-torn Ukraine since Russia's invasion last week. And we speak to award winning Ugandan writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. The author has filed a case against Uganda in the East Arican Court of Justice. He was tortured over tweets in which he called the president's son obese and a curmudgeon.

He doesn't often speak to the media, but when he does, we listen. Since 2018, Italian designer Riccardo Tisci has been at the helm of British fashion powerhouse Burberry. The chief creative officer speaks to us exclusively about his life and his sartorial vision. Back in Paris, we take a look at the latest offerings from Yohji Yamamoto and Christelle Kocher, who both place diversity and cultural exchanges at the heart of their work.

Italians poured into the streets and squares of Rome in massive numbers on Wednesday as the A.S. Roma soccer team defeated Feyenoord to win the Europa conference league final.

JK Rowling has been defended by Warner Bros after a question about her was blocked at a ‘Harry Potter’ event.

Annette Young meets acclaimed US artist and writer, Alison Bechdel, whose latest book has been translated into French. They talk about the need for exercise, feminism and American politics following the demise of Roe v. Wade. We also report on how the record-breaking floods in Pakistan that have left millions homeless, have placed women in an even more vulnerable position. Plus the many facets of American war photographer, Lee Miller, who was so much more than being simply the muse for Surrealist artist, Man Ray.

A very rare edition of "The Philosopher's Stone" won by a competition winner sold for £8,000 at auction following a year of record sales for first edition copies.