Franco-Iranian author and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi dies at 56
via Business News2 min read
Marjane Satrapi, the Franco-Iranian cartoonist, author, and filmmaker, passed away on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at the age of 56. Her family announced her death in a statement to Agence France-Presse AFP, which was then reported by several international media outlets. Satrapi was a significant figure in contemporary comic art, gaining international recognition with her autobiographical work "Persepolis," published in the early 2000s. This graphic novel chronicled her childhood in Tehran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution and her teenage years in Europe. The work became a global reference and helped popularize the graphic novel genre. In 2007, Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud adapted "Persepolis" into an animated film, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and received an Oscar nomination, solidifying its international acclaim. Born in Rasht, Iran, in 1969, Marjane Satrapi left her home country in her youth before settling permanently in France. Her work, which blended comic art, cinema, and political activism, explored themes of freedom, exile, identity, and the female condition. In addition to "Persepolis," she authored other notable works, including "Embroideries" and "Chicken with Plums." She also directed several films, such as "The Voices," "Radioactive," and most recently "Dear Paris." According to the press release, the artist died just over a year after the passing of her husband, producer and screenwriter Mattias Ripa. Her family attributed her death to "sa
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During a series of site visits, President Kaïs Saïed addressed various administrative dysfunctions, particularly concerning water and electricity services. Visiting the Ghdir El Golla hydraulic complex and the Oued Medjerda flood protection project, the President acknowledged the efforts of technical teams but strongly criticized persistent failures. He stated that the situation, marked by repeated power outages and water distribution issues, cannot continue, emphasizing the need for officials to take responsibility and accelerate reforms. Saïed stressed that each region should have its own maintenance workshops and spare parts to reduce intervention times for repairs. He also highlighted the importance of a national water management strategy to better utilize resources and called for the preservation of national heritage, inspecting the restoration of the historic Qantara Bizerte bridge. The President's visits, following a period of absence, underscored his commitment to reforming state services and improving public administration responsiveness.
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On Sunday, July 19, 2026, users worldwide experienced a major outage affecting the web versions of Facebook and Instagram. Attempts to log in from computers resulted in error messages. Facebook displayed "Account temporarily unavailable. Your account is currently unavailable due to a site issue. We hope to resolve this quickly. Please try again in a few minutes." Instagram's web version showed "Sorry, something went wrong. We're working on it and we'll get it fixed as soon as we can." Mobile applications for both social networks appeared to be functioning normally, suggesting the outage primarily impacted browser-based services. The specialized website DownDetector reported a significant increase in user complaints early in the morning, confirming the widespread nature of the incident. Many users also reported their difficulties on other accessible social media platforms. As of now, Meta has not released a statement regarding the cause of the outage or an estimated time for full restoration of services. Users are advised to wait or use the mobile applications, which seem unaffected.