Author: France 24

Rwanda’s ruling party on Saturday picked President Paul Kagame as its candidate for the July election, teeing up a contest widely expected to return the longtime leader to office for a fourth seven-year term.  Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 18:51 1 min The 66-year-old has ruled over the landlocked African nation with an iron fist for decades and won the presidency in elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017 – with more than 90 percent of the vote.Kagame’s candidacy was unopposed during the Rwandan Patriotic Front congress that ended Saturday, the party said. Kagame’s only known challenger in the July polls is opposition Green…

The alleged leader of a major drug gang from the southern French port city of Marseille has been arrested in Morocco, French authorities announced on Saturday. Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 16:54 1 min Marseille, France’s second-largest city but also one of its poorest metropoles, has been hit by drug-related violence.”One of Marseille’s biggest drug traffickers was arrested in Morocco. Bravo to the police officers who tirelessly continue the fight against drug trafficking,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.  Un des plus grand narcotrafiquant marseillais a été arrêté au Maroc. Bravo aux policiers qui poursuivent sans relâche…

Pakistan’s lawmakers elected Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday as the country’s president for the second time.  Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 15:06 1 min He is the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and the father of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Zardari secured 411 votes from national and provincial lawmakers. His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who is backed by the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, received 181 votes. The Pakistani presidency is a largely ceremonial role. Zardari was previously in the job between 2008 and 2013.He was the favorite to win on Saturday because of his alliance with…

Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 13:58Modified: 09/03/2024 – 14:02 01:44 For Muslims worldwide, Ramadan is a time of prayer, reflection and joyful evening meals, but all Gazans wish for this year is an end to five months of war and suffering. Despite the incessant fighting, people in Gaza continue gather at the ruins of former mosques to pray ahead of the holy month. Some 1,000 out of 1,200 mosques have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, according to local officials. Read more on related topics: Source link

A “mass bleaching event” is unfolding on Australia’s famed Great Barrier Reef, authorities said Friday, as warming seas threaten the spectacular home to thousands of marine species. Issued on: 08/03/2024 – 02:19Modified: 08/03/2024 – 03:40 3 min Often dubbed the world’s largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300 kilometre (1,400 mile) expanse of tropical corals that house a stunning array of biodiversity.But repeated mass bleaching events have threatened to rob the tourist drawcard of its wonder, turning banks of once-vibrant corals into a sickly shade of white.”We know the biggest threat to coral reefs worldwide is climate…

Senegalese presidential candidates launched their shortened campaigns on Saturday, two days after a court confirmed the election would be held on March 24, ending weeks of uncertainty and kick-starting a competition that remains wide open. Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 11:40 2 min Tensions have gripped the country since early February, when a bid by President Macky Sall to postpone by 10 months a vote that had been due to take place on Feb. 25 provoked widespread protests and warnings by critics of democratic backsliding.Senegal, a country of 18 million, is normally one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.The worst of…

Issued on: 09/03/2024 – 10:30Modified: 09/03/2024 – 10:51 02:02 A ship bearing humanitarian aid was making preparations to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza, the European Commission president said Friday as international donors launched a sea corridor to supply the besieged territory that is facing widespread hunger after five months of war. Israel said Friday it welcomed the maritime corridor, but cautioned it would also need security checks. Aid deliveries by land remained the most effective way to meet the needs in Gaza according to aid officials. Read more on related topics: Source link

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women’s rights on International Women’s Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France’s constitution at a special public ceremony. Applause filled the cobblestoned Place Vendome as France became the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter.The measure was overwhelmingly approved by French lawmakers earlier this week, and Friday’s ceremony means it can now enter into force.While abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the US, it’s legal in nearly all of…

China’s “Two Sessions” congress that began this week is the country’s most important political event of the year. To understand what’s at stake, it helps to have some fluency in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) parlance. Terms such as “new productive forces” and “new three” appear vague, but they speak volumes about the party’s agenda during the 10-day congress. China’s annual political extravaganza has attained cruising speed. The “Two Sessions” congress of two of the country’s most important political bodies has already touched on economic recovery, the modernisation of the army, foreign relations and the question of Taiwan.During the event, nearly 3,000…

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…