Author: France 24

Palestinians wait in long queues for food in Gaza as shortages persist despite slight improvements in deliveries of aid to the besieged Strip. Gazans say they are forced to skip meals and haven’t seen vegetables in weeks. “There is famine, full-blown famine in the north and it’s moving its way south,” World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said in an interview Friday as she called for a ceasefire and unfettered, safe access to Gaza. Source link

Dressed all in black, pop idol Madonna broke into her hit “Nothing Really Matters” Saturday night before throngs of joyful fans jammed onto Brazil’s famed Copacabana beach in Rio. Source link

In Gaza, Israeli forces have reportedly been using AI to identify tens of thousands of potential targets with a software called Lavender. It analyses data collected on most of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents and scores them based on how likely they are to be a militant. Source link

Real Madrid claimed a record-extending 36th LaLiga title on Saturday after Girona’s 4-2 thrashing of local rivals Barcelona left Carlo Ancelotti’s side with an unassailable lead in the standings. Source link

Dozens of rappers have been arrested in Iran since the rise of hip-hop in the country in the early 2000s. But the death sentence pronounced on April 24 against the rapper Toomaj Salehi marks a turning point in the Iranian regime’s intolerance of artists with a political message. Exiled rap artists Justina and Ghogha told FRANCE 24 of their admiration for Salehi, “who scares the powers that be”. Source link

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to launch a ground assault in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah despite ongoing truce talks with Hamas. If Israeli ground forces invade Rafah, “Gaza will become uninhabitable in the sense that the whole infrastructure of the Gaza Strip would have been destroyed,” warned Oliver Mcternan, director of NGO Forward Thinking. “We’ve got, for the sake of humanity, to have a ceasefire,” he said. Source link

Fans of Star Wars celebrate the franchise across the world Saturday as they look forward to the annual French light sabre tournament due to be held in Paris in June. The 7th edition of the Open de France de Sabre Laser 2024 is the largest of its kind in the world with 80 participants, event founder Alexis Leperlier told FRANCE 24. Source link

A Hamas delegation heads to Cairo on Saturday as pressure mounts to reach a truce deal. “Hamas will not agree to a deal unless at the end of the three phases there is a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops,” said Scott Lucas, professor of US and International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College. Meanwhile “Israel will under no circumstances agree to the end of the war as part of an agreement to release hostages,” Lucas stressed. Source link

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks. Fundamental disagreements between the warring sides remain: Hamas seeks a permanent ceasefire while Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu vows to crush Hamas fighters in Rafah. Source link

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel’s threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a “bloodbath”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday reiterated Washington’s objections to the long-threatened Rafah offensive.  Read our live blog to follow today’s developments in the Israel-Hamas war.  Source link