Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics
Boxing at the Olympics seems to be perennially under threat, so each time the competition rolls around there is the very real possibility of it being the last.
Some of the most famous boxers in history made their name at the Olympics, from Muhammad Ali through Sugar Ray Leonard to Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, and even current heavyweight kingpins like Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
A total of 249 fighters – 125 male and 124 female – will compete in boxing at Paris 2024, from July 27 until August 10.
They qualified from an original pool of 2,000 boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and Individual Neutral Athletes that took part in the 'Boxing - Road to Paris' qualification series, totalling 2,115 bouts across five continents in the past two years.
The Paris 2024 boxing tournament will include 13 different weight categories, seven men’s and six women’s, and be staged at Roland Garros – home of French Open tennis – and the North Paris Arena at Villepinte.
Below we pick out five exciting fighters to check out during the upcoming fortnight.
Cindy Ngamba, ROT
The UK-based boxer Cindy Ngamba heads to Paris with the dream of becoming the first athlete to win a medal for the Refugee Olympic Team.
In June's qualifiers, Ngamba became the first refugee boxer to independently secure a spot at the Olympics with victory over Kazakhstan’s Valentina Khalzova in the women’s 75kg category.
Ngamba was born in Cameroon and moved to the UK aged 11. Since then she has faced a battle to stay in her adopted homeland and has spoken of her struggles, including being sent to a detention centre over administrative issues.
She now looks set to be part of a thriving women's boxing scene where amateur success is steadily transferring into professional rewards. A medal in Paris and the future will look extremely bright for Ngamba, an athlete who has had to fight for everything she has.
She told the Olympic Channel: “I just look at the time when I had a hard time in life, my papers, coming to the UK, the language barrier and the tough times that I faced when I first came to the UK. I think about if I was able to overcome those times then I can overcome any situation and anyone in the world can overcome anything.
“I dream about [winning gold] sometimes and I visualise it for it to actually come into reality. I’d be speechless, I’d be lost for words. I would even know where to start.”
Teremoana Junior, Australia
At two metres in height and around 120kg in weight, Australian Teremoana Junior puts the super in super-heavyweight.
The 26-year-old will make his Olympic debut at Paris 2024 and is considered a dark horse for a medal after his defeat of Elvino Maroulis to become the Australian champion. Teremoana is of Cook Islands heritage and first boxed at the age of 12. He was introduced to the sport by his father, but it wasn’t until the loss of his grandfather in 2018 that he seriously considered boxing as a career.
“After I turned 21, I just looked at everything and thought, ‘Nah, stuff this, I’m going to give it a go, give it a crack, because what can you lose?’,” he told the official Olympics website.
These days Teremoana has linked up with the Aussie boxing stable of promoter Mick Francis. The 'Tasman Fighters' gym already has one professional world champion in the shape of cruiserweight belt holder Jai Opetaia.
Teremoana is an aggressive and exciting watch and has been drawn against the Ukrainian Dmytro Lovchynskyi in the opening round. Lovchynskyi will have unified heavyweight champion Usyk backing him up as part of Team Ukraine.
If he wins his opener then it is likely he will meet Tokyo 2020 champion and overwhelming gold medal favourite Bakhodir Jalolov in a must-watch bout.
Uzbekistan's Jalolov beat Teremoana in the 2023 World Championships and the Aussie is desperate for revenge.
Aziz Mouhiidine, Italy
The 25-year-old Italian with Moroccan heritage, Aziz Mouhiidine, is a European champion and a two-time world silver medallist at heavyweight (92kg).
That pedigree means he will be a dangerman in Paris in a stacked division.
Born to a Moroccan father and Italian mother, Mouhiidine says he has benefitted from growing up in a multicultural home.
"My parents have always respected each other’s cultures and taught me so much about both. I started boxing thanks to my father, we watched the film about Muhammad Ali starring Will Smith for the first time together. Then I understood that I wanted to become a great boxer and a great person like him," Mouhiidine said.
Mouhiidine has honed his craft as a sparring partner for top professionals and has pro dreams of his own after a crack at gold this summer. His style is slick, languid and easy on the eye.
"I was the sparring partner of both Mairis Briedis and Anthony Joshua, and it was a unique and truly amazing experience. With this, I started to approach the world of professional boxing and my goal is to go professional after Paris," he said.
"Now, my goal will be to win the Olympic gold medal in Paris. I have been preparing for this competition all my life and I will be ready."
If Mouhiidine is to win gold then he will have to do it the hard way after being drawn against the tough Uzbek Lazizbek Mullojonov up first, not to mention being in the same division as amateur boxing royalty.
Cuba's Julio Cesar La Cruz is the most decorated active amateur in the world. The 34-year-old won gold at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, as well as a hugely impressive five world championship titles. A third Olympic gold this summer will see him join compatriots Felix Savon and Teofilo Stevenson on the honour roll.
Jahmal Harvey, USA
No country has won more Olympic medals in boxing than the USA, but incredibly they haven't landed a gold since Andre Ward in 2004. Although, missing out on gold hasn't always been a curse for US boxing talent – ask Roy Jones Jr (1988) and Floyd Mayweather (1996) who were both robbed of glory by egregious judging.
Among those looking to end that surprising sequence in Paris will be Jahmal Harvey. Featherweight Harvey, 21, previously won gold at the 2021 World Championships and at the 2023 Pan-Am Games. He is considered Team USA's best bet for gold.
He certainly isn't lacking in confidence, as he told Boxing Scene: "My name was always known overseas; all the countries, most of the coaches and fighters knew me.
"I feel like I'm definitely one of the top dogs at featherweight coming into the Olympics. I want [gold] bad. To become an Olympic gold medallist, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I’m going to be working real hard, putting my body on the line, just pushing myself."
To be fair to Harvey, he has all the talent to back up those words. Perhaps his biggest rival at featherweight is the Uzbekistani boxer Abdumalik Khalokov.
Ruslan Abdullaev, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has been a talent factory for boxers for some time now and they look to have another strong team in Paris, with the exciting Ruslan Abdullaev joined by the likes of Khalokov, Jalolov and Hasanboy Dusmatov at 51kg.
Abdullaev is the reigning world champion in the 63.5kg division after beating Mongolia's Baatarsukhiin Chinzorig in the final in Tashkent last year.
In Paris, he has a bye in the first round and will face the Mexican Miguel Angel Martinez Ramirez in his first bout at the last-16 stage.
Should they both progress to the semi-finals, he could meet home favourite and French medal hope Sofiane Oumiha, himself an amateur European and world champion and a silver medallist in Rio in 2016
Volvo ES90 Specs
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
- Sweden (19%)
- Austria (14%)
- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
- Luxembourg (10%)
Source: VCOe
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Results
Stage Two:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 04:20:45
2. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Fenix
3. Pascal Ackermann (GER) UAE Team Emirates
4. Olav Kooij (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
General Classification:
1. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Fenix 09:03:03
2. Dmitry Strakhov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:04
3. Mark Cavendish (GBR) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 00:00:06
4. Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:00:10
5. Pascal Ackermann (GER) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:12
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The five pillars of Islam
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
