Author: France 24

Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of the Syrian president, will stand trial in Switzerland for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that decades ago earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Hama”. Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 13:11Modified: 12/03/2024 – 13:09 3 min The office of Switzerland’s Attorney General (OAG) said it was charging the former Syrian vice president and former Syrian army officer with a long list of crimes committed in February 1982, during a notorious clash between the Syrian military and Islamist opposition in the town of Hama in western Syria.There was no immediate official reaction from Syria nor…

Pro-Ukrainian militias on Tuesday staged a brazen cross-border attack on Russia, hours after Kyiv launched one of its largest drone attacks since the start of the war. Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 13:30Modified: 12/03/2024 – 13:31 4 min Groups of pro-Kyiv volunteer fighters, made up of Russians who oppose the Kremlin, said that they had broken into the Kursk and Belgorod regions, while Moscow said it had foiled multiple Ukrainian attempts to infiltrate the border. “We crossed the border,” the Freedom of Russia legion, a militia that claims to be made up of Russian citizens fighting on behalf of Ukraine, said it…

Voters in Portugal go to the polls Sunday in an early election that could see the country join a shift to the right seen across Europe after eight years of Socialist rule.  Issued on: 10/03/2024 – 07:35 2 min Final opinion polls published Friday show the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) narrowly ahead of the Socialist Party (PS) but short of an outright majority in parliament, which could make the far-right party Chega a kingmaker for forming a governing coalition.But analysts warned the results of the election, Portugal’s second in two years, remained wide open given the large number of undecided…

French President Emmanuel Macron’s Ukraine strategy will be put to a symbolic vote in parliament’s lower house on Tuesday as political tensions rage in the run-up to June’s European Parliament elections. Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 11:01 2 min Following a debate, the National Assembly lower house will hold a non-binding vote on the government’s Ukraine strategy including a bilateral security agreement signed by Macron and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky last month.While the vote will be symbolic, it will give political parties an opportunity to publicly express their positions in relation to Macron’s strategy on the conflict as Russia’s invasion of…

Back to homepage / Shows / Business Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 11:01 05:20 BUSINESS DAILY © FRANCE 24 Brussels is working on a plan to send Ukraine the interest and profits generated from seized Russian assets according to the Financial Times. US lawmakers move towards a possible ban on TikTok, and Boeing fails 33 out of 89 tests in an FAA audit of its 737 Max production program. Read more on related topics: Source link

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been selected to seek a third, successive term in July 28 elections, a senior ruling party official said Monday.  Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 02:57 2 min A vote by the PSUV party concluded that Maduro would be its presidential candidate, said Diosdado Cabello, considered the number 2 in the ruling movement which was founded by the late Hugo Chavez and has been in power for 25 years.Maduro, 61, has not made any announcement himself, but has been widely expected to seek reelection in a vote from which his main opposition challenger has been barred from running.”We will continue to…

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published…

Airline watchdogs were on Tuesday investigating why a Boeing-made LATAM plane bound for New Zealand suddenly lost altitude mid-flight, dropping violently and injuring dozens of terrified travellers. Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 04:57 3 min Passengers said the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plunged earthward while en route from Sydney to Auckland on Monday evening, slinging unrestrained travellers out of their seats and smashing some into the roof of the cabin.Chile-based LATAM Airlines said Tuesday it was working with authorities to pinpoint the unspecified “technical event” that caused flight LA800 to experience “a strong movement”.It is the latest in a string of safety…

Donald Trump on Monday pledged to free people jailed for taking part in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol as one of his first actions if reelected, calling them “hostages.” Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 05:08 1 min The rioters — egged on by the then-president and fueled by his false claims of voter fraud — stormed the seat of US democracy on January 6, 2021, in a bid to halt the transfer of power to Joe Biden.Around 1,358 defendants have been charged in the 38 months since then, according to the latest figures from the Justice Department released last…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced an additional $100 million to finance the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti following a meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica to halt the country’s violent crisis. Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 03:15 4 min Blinken also announced another $33 million in humanitarian aid and the creation of a joint proposal agreed on by Caribbean leaders and “all of the Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition” and create a “presidential college.”He said the college would take “concrete steps” he did not identify to meet the needs of Haitian people and enable…