Author: France 24

Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there, but more than a million people are sheltering in the city, prompting warnings from the United Nations of a humanitarian catastrophe. British doctor James Smith testifies for FRANCE 24. Source link

Talks aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal are ongoing, and Israel and Hamas militants are close enough to an agreement that they should be able to close the gaps, the White House said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israel is pursuing an incursion into the overcrowded southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and seized the Rafah crossing into Egypt that is the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory. Story by Catherine Khédir-Clifford. Source link

From the tenth entry in the “Planet of the Apes” saga – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” – to Viggo Mortensen’s feminist Western “The Dead Don’t Hurt”, film critic Lisa Nesselson speaks to Eve Jackson about the week’s film news. Source link

Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe shouldered the blame for their 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday which saw them exit the Champions League semi-finals 2-0 on aggregate. Story by Oliver Farry. Source link

A senior U.S. official said President Joe Biden’s administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in an apparent response to the expected Rafah offensive. The White House and Pentagon declined to comment. Is Netanyahu willing to risk the steadfast support he’s been getting from Washington? FRANCE 24 news anchor Delano D’Souza asked Avi Hyma, Israeli government spokesperson. Source link

Thousands of ride-or-die Taylor Swift fans who missed out on her U.S. concert tour last year or didn’t want to buy exorbitantly priced tickets to see her again found an out-of-the-way solution: Fly to Europe.  Source link

The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an official said Tuesday, marking the first time in the conflict that President Joe Biden has squeezed military aid to the key US ally. ABC’s correspondent in Jerusalem Jordana Miller has more.  Source link

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have filed a petition with a US court, seeking to block a law that forces them to sell the social media app to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban. They argue the legislation is unconstitutional, setting the stage for a historic legal battle. But first, China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived in Serbia on the second leg of his European tour. He expects to receive a much warmer welcome than he did in France.  Source link

Kylian Mbappe will not get his dream farewell from Paris Saint-Germain after their shock Champions League exit at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday deprived him of playing his last game for the club in the final at Wembley next month. Source link

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military’s capture of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing is an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas’ military and economic capabilities. Story by Tom Canetti Source link