In France's Loire Valley, castles are relying on the magic of Christmas to secure their future. Each winter, historical landmarks are turned into festive, fairy-tale settings, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. But beyond the lights and decorations lies a pressing challenge: how to preserve these iconic sites in the face of mounting structural and financial woes.

In France, the mental health of young people has deteriorated in recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. In this edition, we met several young people suffering from mental health struggles, who shared their stories in the hope of overcoming taboos.

Could Shein be suspended in France? The Chinese giant is under growing scrutiny for selling controversial products, including childlike sex dolls and bladed weapons. The ultra-fast fashion brand has just opened its first physical store in the BHV, one of Paris's iconic department stores. French fashion brands denounce what they call unfair competition in an already weakened sector: one in two fashion retailers is facing serious financial difficulties, with 37,000 jobs lost in the last decade. We take a closer look.

Ten years after the November 13 Paris terror attacks, France's security and intelligence services are dealing with reports of increasingly younger individuals who often become radicalised quickly via social networks. Through rare access inside the police's radicalisation telephone hotline, as well as interviews with terrorism experts, a former prisoner and a survivor of the Bataclan attack, we explore the lessons learnt since 2015 and what the terrorism threat looks like today.

With the Grand Egyptian Museum set to open in Cairo, we explore the enduring passion of the French for Ancient Egypt. With its hieroglyphics, pyramids and mysteries, the land of the pharaohs fascinates young and old alike. Exhibitions showcasing its ancient treasures are always a hit. So where does this passion originate from? We take a closer look in this edition of France in Focus.

With nearly 85,000 inmates for a capacity of only 62,000, French prisons are overflowing. In this rare documentary, our cameras were able to enter the Grenoble-Varces prison, which is regularly singled out for its unsanitary conditions and overcrowding. In this detention centre, inmates are sometimes crammed three to a cell measuring only nine square metres. With inhumane conditions, exhausted prison staff and record reoffending rates, the French prison system seems to be nearing breaking point. We take a closer look.

Fortnite, Valorant, and Rocket League tournaments are taking French stadiums by storm, drawing packed arenas and thousands of fans to spectacular shows. Esports is booming in France: the sector’s turnover has tripled in four years, clubs are becoming more established, and pro players are emerging as stars. Sonia Baritello, Olivia Salazar-Winspear, and Elodie Radenac followed the Vitality club during the Rocket League World Championships in Lyon to capture the excitement of this highly anticipated event. They also discussed the issue of gender equality in gaming with pro player Lou Henguelle during the Valorant World Championships at the Bercy arena in Paris.

At least one in five people in France suffer from a mental health condition. The issue has been named a priority for the government in 2025, which hopes to tackle a wide range of conditions, from mild symptoms to severe and chronic illnesses. Every day, psychiatric emergency departments in hospitals treat patients in distress, while operating in increasingly difficult conditions. To find out more, we spent time with the Ville-Evrard psychiatric unit of the Delafontaine Hospital in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, France has welcomed several hundred Gazans to safety. Priority has been given to families of children seriously injured in bombings, such as Ayham, who lost both his legs at just 15 years old on October 14, 2023. Artists and scientists have also been evacuated through the PAUSE program, which supports intellectuals in exile. Dr. Fadel Afana joined a team of psychiatrists at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris, while Gazan rapper Abu Joury was evacuated with help from the Al Kamandjati association in Angers. Florence Gaillard and Mohamed Fahrat met with each of them to share their stories.

The fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge in 1975 was the beginning of a genocide that would claim up to 2 million lives. Among the hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who fled the horror, many found refuge in France. But 50 years on, what remains of their memories? We take a closer look in this edition of France in Focus.

This week, France in Focus is shining a spotlight on the father of modernist architecture, on the 60th anniversary of his death. Franco-Swiss master Le Corbusier laid the foundations for a new epoch, with his revolutionary 1923 book "Towards an Architecture" acting as a blueprint for architects to this day.

Last year's summer of sport shone a light on the French capital's iconic monuments, with many Olympic events taking place in or around Parisian landmarks, to the delight of spectators around the world. But the Olympics came with a pledge: that the event would improve conditions in districts like the Seine-Saint-Denis department, the poorest in mainland France. So has this promise been fulfilled? FRANCE 24's Sonia Baritello and Olivia Salazar-Winspear report.

To mark the centenary of his birth, France in Focus looks back at Frantz Fanon's extraordinary career: a volunteer at the age of 18 to fight the Nazis, a committed writer against racism and colonialism, a visionary psychiatrist and a campaigner for Algerian independence.

This week, France in Focus explores the "Bétharram scandal", named after the Catholic school in southwestern France where hundreds of pupils were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse for decades. The perpetrators of these crimes were never brought to justice, despite complaints lodged as early as the 1990s. Our colleagues at franceinfo investigate. Warning: Viewers may find this report disturbing.

Ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, our reporters went to meet some of the French scientists working to better understand and preserve the ocean. From high-tech robots 6,000m below sea level to critical mineral exploration in the Pacific, the team takes a look at some of the initiatives across the country. They also explore how cuts to climate change projects in the US are having an impact in France.

This week we delve into the life of Jules Verne, one of the world's most widely translated writers. The French author's "Extraordinary Voyages" include "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth". They continue to inspire fans of adventure stories, 120 years after his death in 1905.

After the fall of France in 1940, the clergy welcomed Marshal Pétain as a saviour. But when Jewish people started being rounded up in the summer of 1942, Protestant pastors and Catholic clerics spoke out against the deportations. Their words broke the silence of the institutions and encouraged the Resistance, while schools and convents opened their doors to Jewish refugees.

Faced with American uncertainty surrounding the war in Ukraine and the future of NATO, Europe is looking to wean itself off US defence. France has promised to ramp up spending, putting its industry into overdrive, but what are the financial and recruitment issues? From the factory floor to AI engineers, our reporters went to meet the companies that are trying to rise to the challenge. 

Paris's status as a cosmopolitan hub for artists from all over the world was forged in the 20th century, particularly in the postwar period, when it was seen as a beacon for Black artists and intellectuals fleeing colonisation, racism and segregation in their countries of origin. The "Paris Noir" exhibition at Paris's Pompidou Centre is now exploring that pivotal moment when the French capital served as a crossroads for the major Black figures who were debating and designing a post-colonial future. The show features 350 works by 150 artists of African heritage – many of whom have been historically sidelined or forgotten – in an attempt to re-write these "unrecognised and fundamental" contributions into a more complete history of art.

In France, 400,000 children and young adults depend on the child protection system, known as the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance, or ASE. As FRANCE 24's Natacha Vesnitch and Claire Paccalin report, this institution is supposed to protect them, but its failures sometimes put them in danger. Lack of placements, separation of siblings, unsuitable structures, absence of psychological support, mistreatment – the list of shortcomings within the system is long. A parliamentary commission of inquiry presented its conclusions on April 8, after months of work investigating a system undermined by dysfunction and neglect.