At the beginning of August, the World Bank announced it would freeze new loans towards Uganda in light of its new anti-LGBTQ laws. Many initially viewed the move as a sign that the bank was taking a more progressive approach towards human rights issues. But is it a misguided approach?

In October 2017, the Catalan regional government called a referendum on an independent Catalonia. Spanish authorities deployed police in a bid to stop the vote. In the end, the result was unrepresentative, and Catalan politicians and activists were tried in court or fled abroad.

The French front pages are gripped by rugby fever as the World Cup kicks off this Friday on home soil. Will France convince as host nation, less than a year before the Olympics? Also: another South Korean elementary school teacher commits suicide as teachers protest nationwide against bullying and pressure from parents.

The 10th edition of the Rugby World Cup opens this Friday, September 8 with a blockbuster match. Hosts France will face New Zealand in one of the most powerful match-ups in the sport's history. This year, organisers are also expecting record attendance for the tournament, highlighting how professionalisation has transformed the sport in recent years.

More than 30 countries are participating in the 50th World Petanque Championships in Cotonou, Benin. It marks the first time that a world cup is being hosted in West Africa.

The war in Ukraine has entangled both politics and religion. In Berlin, it shaped the large peace rally organized by the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio, which brought together representatives from dozens of faiths.

As France hosts hundreds of thousands of rugby fans from around the world for the 2023 World Cup, we take a deep-dive into the business that surrounds the game with Herbert Mensah, president of Rugby Africa who joins us from Accra in Ghana, as well as Christina Philippou, a principal lecturer at the University of Portsmouth with a particular research interest in sports finance.

The French Catholic Church is facing new accusations of a sexual abuse scandal within Paris’s Foreign Missions Society, an organisation dedicated to spreading Christianity overseas. As a criminal investigation has been opened into accusations against three clergymen from the group, a FRANCE 24 investigation by journalists Karina Chabour and Julie Dungelhoeff sheds light on the allegations against the society.

Warnings abound about the risks of ever-deepening cultural rifts. But things may not be as bad as they seem, researchers say. Difference can actually be a healthy part of how society evolves.

Fiji claim historic win over Australia as England hold firm against Japan

Many Catalans have long called for an independent Catalonia. The dispute over the region’s future divides not only Spanish but also Catalan society.

Prehistoric ruins outside the ancient West Bank city of Jericho have been given UNESCO World Heritage status after a vote of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh. The UN agency says Tell al-Sultan was home to a permanent settlement by the 9th or 8th millennium BC. But the decision has sparked controversy, with Israelis denouncing the move and Palestinians celebrating it. FRANCE 24's Science reporter Shirli Sitbon examines how UNESCO tries to dissociate heritage from politics.