Author: France 24

Indonesia is gearing up to inaugurate its new capital Nusantara later this week, on the country’s Independence Day.  Amid delays and slow private investment, President Joko Widodo hailed the unfinished city as a “canvas on which to draw the future”.  Yuka Royer takes a closer look at the 30 billion euro megaprojects and convroversies surrounding it. 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that an Israeli delegation will attend a new round of Gaza peace talks slated for Thursday in Doha, along with officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas representatives will not attend but are expected to be briefed by mediators afterwards. The talks come at a crucial time as Israel braces for an expected retaliation from Iran after the murder of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

Charlotte Kool beat fellow Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes on the line Tuesday to defend her leader’s yellow jersey in the second stage of the Tour de France for women. Meanwhile West Ham signed Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka in a deal worth a reported £15 million ($19 million) on Tuesday. FRANCE 24 Sports Editor Leo McGuinn reports.

Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv but there were no reports of casualties, Israeli media reported, after Hamas’s armed wing said it had targeted the city with M90 rockets. Earlier in the day, Iran rejected Western calls to “stand down” its threats to retaliate for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran amid US warnings of a “significant” attack on Israel that could come as early as this week. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

Amid rising tensions over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, threats from the Islamic State group, and France’s history of homegrown Islamist terror plots as well as far-right extremism, there were real concerns about France’s ability to ensure adequate security during the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, French security services managed to keep thousands of athletes and millions of fans safe – a “gold-medal” performance, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. 

The Pentagon said Sunday that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. The moves come as tensions soar in the region following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. “It has to be noted, it’s pretty rare for the Pentagon, for the US, to actually publicly state submarine movements, so that in itself is pretty significant,” FRANCE 24’s Kethevane Gorjestani said in an analysis, adding…

At 19, Israeli man Yoni has to put aside his plans to join the military and instead enter rehab for drug abuse that has worsened since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. Health professionals said Yoni’s case is not an exception in wartime Israel, noting a surge in drug and alcohol abuse as well as other addictive behaviours. Psychiatrist Shaul Lev-Ran, founder of the Israel Center on Addiction, carried out a study with his team, and found “a connection between indirect exposure to the October 7 events and an increase in addictive substances consumption” of about 25 percent.

French basketball star Victor Wembanyama said Saturday’s defeat by the United States would motivate him and his teammates to go for a gold medal at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Even though France also lost to Team USA in the Tokyo final in 2021, Wembanyama remains optimistic: “We have diamonds coming out of our country, so we have every chance. If it wasn’t this time it will be the next.”

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City early Saturday, killing more than 60 people, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest strikes in the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike, claiming it hit a Hamas command center within the school. Hamas denied using the school as a command center.

France coach Thierry Henry described his team’s Olympic performance as “magical” despite their agonising extra-time defeat against Spain in the men’s football final on Friday.