Author: France 24

The International Olympic Committee’s decision to reintroduce gender testing for the first time since 1999 is a “step backwards”, French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari said on Friday. She said that genetic testing would unfairly rule out many athletes with differences in sexual development – previously known as intersex athletes.

As tensions between the US, Israel and Iran choke the Strait of Hormuz, cutting global energy and fertiliser flows, markets face rising prices and food insecurity. We discuss the global fallout with Carlos Razo from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), exploring the risks for the world’s poorest economies and the threat of widespread inflation.

From teenage pub gigs in London to a number one album at age 66 with Rod Stewart, Jools Holland has spent more than five decades at the heart of music. He’s best known as the bandleader of his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, co-founder of rock group Squeeze and host of Britain’s longest-running live music show, “Later… with Jools Holland”, where guests have included Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney.

William Hilderbrandt is pleased to welcome Nitzan Horowitz, Journalist and former Israeli Minister of Health (2021–2022). According to Horowitz, regime change and the dismantling of military capabilities were unattainable. And now there’s a widening gap emerging between expectation and reality, not only at the military level but within society itself. Public support is now eroding under the weight of prolonged insecurity, economic paralysis, and the absence of tangible results. The resilience of the Iranian regime challenge the foundational assumptions that justified the war. 

The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday it was re-introducing testing for gender to determine eligibility to compete in the female category, preventing transgender women from competing. The screening will mean Olympic women’s sports from the 2028 Los Angeles Games will be limited to biological females, which would also rule out those with differences in sexual development (DSD). FRANCE 24’s Selina Sykes reports.

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety has released alarming call to the government to lower the levels of cadmium found in food. Compared to other EU nations, cadmium levels in France are two to three times higher. Not only that, but level shave nearly doubled in the past decade, with over 47% of people having dangerous quantities of cadmium in their bodies.

Concern that the Iran war could plunge the world into stagflation is rising as hostilities in the Middle East continue with no end in sight. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s chief economist Beata Javorcik tells France 24’s Yuka Royer that while the world is not yet seeing high stagflation risks, everything depends on how long the conflict will last as high energy prices will lead to higher inflation which will in turn hurt growth. 

Musicians from the world of jazz have been speaking out about the sexism and sexual violence that has long cast a shadow over their corner of the music industry. FRANCE 24’s reporters went to meet the women who are now working to change that culture and are demanding justice and accountability.

US President Donald Trump in a cabinet meeting said that Iran was “begging to make a deal”, not Washington. Trump also added that he was “disappointed in NATO because they have done nothing”. As the US-Israeli war on Iran creeps towards the one-month mark, both sides continue to harden their positions while a diplomatic push for a ceasefire stalls. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates. 

In their final warm-up match before the start of the FIFA World Cup (June 11- July 19) in the United States, Mexico and Canada, France face Brazil in a friendly. Weakened by absences, the Brazilians will have their work cut out against the French, the World Cup runners-up, who comfortably topped their qualifying group. This international break could also be Kylian Mbappé’s chance to become the French national team’s all-time leading goalscorer.