Author: France 24

Paris’s CAC 40 index jumps at the open after losing more than 6 percent last week, as investors calculate the possibility of a hung parliament in Europe’s second-largest economy. Plus, we take a closer look at France’s public debt and the spending plans of the far-right National Rally and the left-wing New Popular Front coalition. Source link

Acclaimed Albanian writer and longtime Nobel Prize contender Ismail Kadare, who penned novels like “Broken April” and “The General of the Dead Army” chronicling the fate of his country under the rule of communist dictator Enver Hoxha, died of a heart attack in Tirana on Monday aged 88. He had defected to France in 1990 and only recently returned to Albania. Source link

The Taliban government, which has imposed severe restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021 that the UN has described as a system of “gender apartheid”, will send its first delegation to the third round of talks on the Afghan crisis starting in Qatar on Sunday.  Source link

England was on the brink of elimination at Euro 2024 but Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time bicycle kick and a Harry Kane header early in extra-time took them through to the next round after beating Slovakia.  Source link

The first round of Iran’s presidential election, despite a low turnout, showed support for the only candidate calling for reform. Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist contender, and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili led the polls held on Friday to replace the late ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. Source link

Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin won the second stage of the Tour de France, a 199-km bumpy ride from Cesenatico to Bologna on Sunday as Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, the 2020 and 2021 champion, claimed the leader’s yellow jersey. Source link

Heavy battles and bombardment hit Gaza City’s Shujaiya district for a fourth day on Sunday, months after Israel declared Hamas’s command structure dismantled in the northern area. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the army said it has fought Palestinian militants both “above and below ground” in tunnels. Source link

A Taliban delegation on Sunday attended a United Nations-led meeting in Qatar on Afghanistan after organisers said women would be excluded from the gathering. The two-day meeting is the third UN-sponsored gathering on the Afghan crisis in the Qatari capital of Doha. Source link

Sunday marked the fourth day of heavy fighting in Gaza City’s Shujaiya district. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated area as Israeli forces reported they had eliminated several targets, located weapons and conducted raids on booby-trapped compounds. Source link

Germany advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Denmark. The game, which experienced delays due to a thunderstorm, was secured with goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala.  Source link