France: the City Council of Paris votes in favour of the bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games

The Council of Paris voted by "an overwhelming majority" in favour of the city's bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games on 13/04/2015.

"Dear colleagues, dear friends, our Olympic adventure has begun! (...) Beyond its symbolic and aesthetic value, why does a Paris bid sense now? Firstly, because it would be an engine for the progress that all Parisians desire. After the Olympics, we will see thousands of homes built, an improved public transport network, and an acceleration of the ecological transition," stated Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris.

• "The CNOSF (French National Sports and Olympics Committee) and the CFSI (French Committee for International Solidarity) welcome the vote of the City Council of Paris in favour of its candidature"

Candidates to host the 2024 Olympics

Italy: Rome was the first city to formalise its candidacy

• Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, announced Italy's candidature for the 2024 Olympics. "The bid will obviously be centered on Rome," Renzi said. "But it will also involve Florence, Naples and Sardinia," he said at the…