Author: France 24

FRANCE 24 spoke to Vali Nasr, professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at John Hopkins University. Nasr explained how Iranian reformist Masoud Pezeshkian ended up winning the presidential election that followed the death of hardline president Ebraim Raissi. While Iran’s accelerated uranium enrichment is condemned by Western powers, Nasr believes “it’s not too late” to “make a deal to stop them where they are”. The United States and Europe now “have a better chance of at least testing the waters on a diplomatic front with Pezeshkian”. Source link

The fate of French national rugby players Hugo Aradou and Oscar Jegou, accused of sexually assaulting a woman while on tour in Argentina, is now in the hands of the South American country’s justice system. The duo, who say there was consensual sex with their accuser, were detained in Buenos Aires, from where they were supposed to have left for a match in Uruguay, on Monday. Source link

Out of the 26 athletes representing Tunisia at the Paris Summer Games, 14 are women. In a country where many prejudices against women linger, these athletes have overcome multiple obstacles to qualify for the Olympics in various disciplines including boxing, rowing, archery and steeplechase running. Source link

At the conclusion of a three-day walkout, workers at Samsung Electronics in South Korea announced they would continue their industrial action with an “indefinite strike”. Among other demands, the 30,000 strong labour union is asking for a 3.5 percent increase in base wages. The strike is happening as the company’s profits are expected to increase 15-fold annually amid a global boom in demand for advanced chips to fuel the Artificial Intelligence revolution. Source link

Spain defeated France 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the Euro 2024 final, their first at a major tournament for 12 years. They will face the Netherlands or England. Source link

Dozens of Palestinians were killed or wounded in an Israeli strike on a school used as a displacement shelters near the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis, hospital sources said. It was the fourth Israeli strike on a school in four days, which Israeli authorities try to justify by claiming that Hamas militants were “hiding” in the schools. Source link

His second novel, “Grow Where They Fall”, shifts between the wonder of childhood and the existential pangs of 21st-century adulthood in South London. Michael Donkor’s elegant reflections on sexuality, class and British-Ghanaian identity dominate his latest novel. The author and former English teacher discusses his experience as a Black person in modern Britain, the challenge of inspiring a love for literature in the classroom and what the recent election results could mean for British society. Source link

In 2019, the Ratodero scandal broke out in Pakistan. The town in the country’s southern Sindh province was suddenly in the spotlight after a doctor revealed that thousands of children had been infected with HIV. An investigation showed that dangerous and illegal hygiene practices of doctors such as reusing disposable syringes for injections were at the origin of the outbreak. The scandal is Pakistan’s biggest healthcare scandal and the largest HIV epidemic among children in Asia. Five years on, those affected are discriminated against and treated like outcasts. Our correspondents report, with the collaboration of Sameer Mandhro.  Source link

South American free trade bloc Mercosur held its presidential summit on Monday in Paraguay without Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who was in Brazil for a conference of Latin American conservatives. The snub was slammed as “complete foolishness” by Brazil’s leader Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and underlines the political frictions within the bloc. In this edition, we take a closer look at some of the challenges Mercosur has faced and also head back to France to see what businesses and workers think of the leftist New Popular Front’s economic programme. Source link

France’s national rugby team was hit by another scandal when two unidentified players were arrested in Argentina over sexual assault allegations. The team, currently on a South American tour, lost its full-back, Melvyn Jaminet, earlier this week after he was suspended for posting racist comments on social media. Source link