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The Paris 2024 Olympics Games officially opened Saturday with an opening ceremony along the River Seine. Lady Gaga sang, there were acrobats, Moulin Rouge can-can dancers, aircraft flyover, French Revolution references, a heavy metal band, and of course the athletes on boats parading up the river. Jo Aleh and Aaron Murray Gate, Flagbearers of Team New Zealand. Photo: HANNAH PETERS A heart made with red smoke by 4 planes floats in the air near Notre-Dame Cathedral. Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP Athletes of Team New Zealand pose for a photo as they cruise along the River Seine. Photo: HANNAH PETERS Smoke clouds in the tricolours of the France flag are seen at Pont d'Austerlitz. Photo: ANN WANG / AFP Tightrope walker Nathan Paulin performs on a high rope during the at...

The Cambridge Dictionary defines "boop" as "a gentle hit or touch" on the nose or head as a joke or to indicate affection. Photo: 123rf By Lucy Clarke-Billings, BBC News "The ick" and "boop" are among more than 3200 new words and phrases added to the Cambridge Dictionary this year. The latest additions - which have gained prominence in online and youth culture in recent years - are expected to be more than a fleeting part of the English language. Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary's publishing manager, said that while language is constantly evolving, these new additions have "staying power". The dictionary defines "the ick", popularised by the reality show Love Island, as "a sudden feeling that you dislike someone or something or are no longer attracted to someone because of somethi...

By Ana Faguy and Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House, BBC News, Washington Barack Obama and Kamala Harris have known each other for decades. Photo: Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla Barack Obama has endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, ending days of speculation over whether he would support her. Former President Obama and ex-First Lady Michelle Obama said in a joint statement that they believe Harris has the "vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands". Mr Obama was reportedly among more than 100 prominent Democrats Harris spoke to after President Joe Biden announced last Sunday he was dropping out of the race. In a statement at the time, Obama praised Biden's exit, but stopped short of endorsing Harris. The US...

Photo: AFP There is one country that constantly produces the tallest people in the world - so what is their secret? Like in the rest of Europe and Western nations, heights in the Netherlands have increased dramatically over the past 200 years - but for some reason, the Dutch grow higher. The Dutch started shooting up in the late 19th century, Kristina Thompson, an associate professor of health and society at Wageningen University, told RNZ's Nights. "At the beginning of the 19th century, the Dutch were relatively short - they were around 163-165 centimetres for men. And we really start to see a massive shift towards the middle of the 19th century when the Dutch start growing at this tremendous rate. "And it was only really in the 20th century that the Dutch outstripped other nations and ...

Passengers gather around the departure and arrival boards at the Gare Montparnasse train station in Paris on July 26, 2024 as France's high-speed rail network was hit by malicious acts disrupting the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP Vandals targeted France's high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption to some of the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The state-owned railway operator said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in west and Strasbourg in the east. It urged all travellers to postpone their journeys. Repairs were underway but traffi...