Author: France 24

Archeologists have uncovered a cluster of lost cities in the Amazon rainforest that was home to at least 10,000 farmers around 2,000 years ago. Issued on: 12/01/2024 – 10:12 2 min A series of earthen mounds and buried roads in Ecuador was first noticed more than two decades ago by archaeologist Stéphen Rostain. But at the time, “I wasn’t sure how it all fit together,” said Rostain, one of the researchers who reported on the finding Thursday in the journal Science. Recent mapping by laser-sensor technology revealed those sites to be part of a dense network of settlements and connecting roadways,…

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…

Visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday announced £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in new military aid for Ukraine, saying it sent a “strong signal” of UK support for the war-torn nation. Issued on: 12/01/2024 – 16:47Modified: 12/01/2024 – 19:23 2 min The funding package for the coming year is £200 million higher than the £2.3 billion pledged per year in both 2022 and 2023.It will ensure the “largest ever commitment of drones”, Sunak’s office said in a statement.The UK prime minister said the aid was designed “to send a strong signal of support to the Ukrainian people”.Russian President Vladimir…

A continent away from the war in Gaza, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians there and pleaded with the United Nations’ top court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to the country’s military operation. Israel has vehemently denied the allegations.  South African lawyers said during the opening arguments that the latest Gaza war is part of a decadeslong oppression of the Palestinians by Israel.The two-day hearing is the public side of a landmark case, one of the most significant to be heard in an international court and which goes to the heart of one of…

While cross-strait relations remain an overarching theme in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections this weekend, many young voters are more concerned with domestic issues, such as low wages and housing, that preoccupy them as much as or even more than the threat of an invasion by the People’s Republic of China. FRANCE 24 met with several of them.  Some 19.5 million Taiwanese are eligible to vote in the island’s presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, January 13. Some 2.8 million, or 15 percent, are aged between 20 and 29 years old. Voters will determine Taiwan’s next leader from among three candidates: the Democratic Progressive…

Issued on: 11/01/2024 – 15:51Modified: 11/01/2024 – 19:19 00:51 Reflecting on a landmark day in international justice as the UN’s top court began hearings Thursday on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, Rosa Freedman, professor of law, conflict and global development at the University of Reading, says it marked an “important” development. But international courts have limited enforcement mechanisms, so rulings require “political enforcement” by the international community, she explains. Read more on related topics: Source link

Issued on: 12/01/2024 – 21:45 Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a team of archivists has been tirelessly sorting, pasting and reassembling documents that were destroyed by the Stasi, the East German secret police. Nicknamed the “Puzzle Women”, these heroines of collective memory face the Herculean task of piecing together these files: the paper fragments are tiny, and the number of archivists is only a fraction of what would be required to complete the job without recourse to new technology. Meanwhile, the Stasi’s victims are getting older, and time is running out. Niagara Tonolli reports. In 1989,…

Back to homepage / Shows / Truth or Fake Issued on: 11/01/2024 – 23:08 04:56 TRUTH OR FAKE © FRANCE 24 A video has been circulating of a female Israeli soldier dancing, along with claims that she is now one of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. It is one of dozens of clips posted on social media by Israeli soldiers, who are accused of trivialising the war in Gaza. However, the soldier in this video is not who she is claims to be. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake. Read more on related topics:…

A Serbian opposition party formally lodged a complaint on Friday against alleged fraud by President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling party during parliamentary and local elections last month. Issued on: 12/01/2024 – 21:55 1 min The move follows weeks of controversy that saw thousands take to the streets following accusations of official malfeasance during the elections. “We are starting the legal battle today,” said Miodrag Gavrilovic, a Serbian MP and vice-president of the Democratic Party (DS), who is also a member of the “Serbia against violence” opposition coalition.The coalition has been leading the public campaign denouncing alleged “irregularities” at the polls and calling…

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in several cities on Friday to condemn the US and UK strikes on their country, in response to weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who say they act in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Crowds under a sea of Yemen and Palestinian flags chanted “Death to America, death to Israel” as they massed in the giant Sanaa square in the historic city’s centre.”If America and its allies decide to declare open war on us, we’re ready for it and we won’t have any choice but to…