Category Archives: Sport

French rail network hit by arson attacks before Olympics opening ceremony

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‘Massive’ coordinated attacks on TGV bring severe disruption to France’s busiest rail lines

France’s high-speed rail network has been hit by coordinated “malicious acts” including arson attacks that have brought major disruption to many of the country’s busiest rail lines hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

The state-owned railway operator, SNCF, said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with the country’s west, north and east and that traffic would be severely disrupted across the country during the weekend.

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Friday briefing: How a doping scandal could overshadow the Olympics

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In today’s newsletter: As Paris gears up for the Games, the excitement is palpable, but concern about performance-enhancing drugs threatens the reputation of one of its sports

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Good morning.

The Olympics is here! Get ready for some truly awe-inspiring displays of athleticism. But there is also a scandal hovering over the Games in Paris that threatens to move focus away from the athletes.

Health | Wes Streeting has called England’s healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), “not fit for purpose” after an interim report found significant failings were hampering its ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices.

Budget | Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for potential tax rises in the autumn budget.

Israel-Gaza war | Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has pressed Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu on the “dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza in talks that she described as frank, adding “I will not be silent.”

Assisted dying | Keir Starmer is under pressure to fulfil a promise to allow a parliamentary vote on legalising assisted dying, as a bill is to be introduced into the House of Lords on Friday.

Police | A teenager who was kicked in the face by an armed police officer while lying prone on the ground is “traumatised” and receiving hospital treatment after the “barbaric” assault, his solicitor has said. Akhmed Yakoob said 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was a victim of “police brutality” after footage showed an officer stamping on his head during an arrest at Manchester airport on Tuesday.

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French athlete may swap hijab for a cap to avoid Olympic opening ceremony ban

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Sounkamba Sylla reportedly reaches compromise after France’s strict laws on secularism threatened to bar her

A French sprinter is expected to swap her headscarf for a cap in order to participate in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, in a compromise reportedly struck after the country’s strict laws on secularism threatened to bar her from the event.

Earlier this week Sounkamba Sylla, a Muslim member of France’s 400m women’s and mixed relay teams, said she would not be able to take part in Friday’s ceremony because she wears a hijab.

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Deafening concerts have turned Madrid stadium into ‘torture-drome’, say residents

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People living next to Santiago Bernabéu venue say gigs – including those by Taylor Swift – are ruining their lives and are taking action

When Delphine de Pontevès opens the window of her first-floor flat in Madrid a little before 10pm on a Tuesday night, more spills into the living room than the unforgivingly hot night air.

The voices and shouts of the crowds below give way to cheers, then to bass-heavy beats and music that will last until midnight and further stretch the patience of those who, like De Pontevès, live next door to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

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Salt Lake City must lobby for end to FBI doping investigation in return for 2034 Winter Olympics

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  • FBI is looking into allegations of Chinese doping
  • French Alps given 2030 Winter Olympics

What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics on Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup.

In a separate decision earlier in Paris, the 2030 Winter Games were awarded – with conditions – to France for a regional project split between ski resorts in the Alps and Nice. That project needs official signoff from the national government which is still being formed after elections in France earlier this month.

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Snoop Dogg to carry Olympic torch on final stages through Paris

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US rapper will conclude torch’s relay through Saint-Denis and Olympic Village to mark start of 33rd Games

Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic torch through the final stages when it passes through Paris before the opening ceremony on Friday.

The US rapper will be hoping he won’t Drop It Like It’s Hot when he holds the torch in Saint-Denis to mark the start of the 33rd Games.

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France Unbowed MP sparks outrage by saying Israeli Olympians not welcome

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Thomas Portes accused of ‘putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes’ with remarks at protest against Gaza war

An MP for the radical-left France Unbowed party has sparked outrage after saying Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympics and calling for protests against their presence.

Citing Israel’s war in Gaza, Thomas Portes told a pro-Palestinian gathering in Paris on Saturday: “We are just a few days away from an international event to be held in Paris, the Olympic Games. And I’m here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris. We have to use this deadline and all the levers we have to mobilise.”

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