Author: France 24

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the frontline city of Avdiivka to avoid being encircled, new military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Saturday, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory following Kyiv’s failed summer counter-offensive. Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 06:55Modified: 17/02/2024 – 09:50 3 min Russia has been trying to capture Avdiivka for months. It is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May and comes ahead of the second anniversary of the start of the invasion.”I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defence on more favourable lines,”…

World leaders and Russian opposition activists wasted no time Friday in blaming the reported death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on President Vladimir Putin and his government.  “It is obvious that he was killed by Putin,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Germany for the Munich Security Conference as he sought aid for his country’s efforts to fight off an invasion by Russia.“Putin doesn’t care who dies — only for him to hold his position. This is why he must hold onto nothing. Putin must lose everything and be held responsible for his deeds,” Zelenskyy added.U.S. President…

Back to homepage / Shows / Truth or Fake Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 10:21 04:36 TRUTH OR FAKE © FRANCE 24 As reported in Wednesday’s edition of Truth of Fake, FRANCE 24 has been the victim of a deepfake. The video in question, which manipulates an extract from one of our French-language news bulletins by using artificial intelligence to simulate the presenter’s voice, falsely claims that French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a trip to Ukraine over fears of a plot to assassinate him there. The video is still being spread on social media. Pro-Russian propaganda outlet Pravda.fr, which originally shared the…

Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 11:28Modified: 16/02/2024 – 11:32 Our reporter Constantin Simon managed to secretly enter Myanmar, where he filmed the fighting between the rebels and the ruling junta. He also followed a rebel commander. FRANCE 24 brings you his exclusive 25-minute report. Three years ago in Myanmar, on February 1, 2021, the military staged a surprise coup and threw the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government in prison. They thereby put an end to the country’s decade of quasi-democracy, which had begun in 2011. The Burmese population demonstrated against the power grab, but…

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has further diminished a rapidly shrinking Russian opposition, which has seen its members assassinated, sentenced to lengthy prison terms or forced into exile as Russian President Vladimir Putin makes it clear he will not tolerate challenges to his regime.  It was widely feared that Alexei Navalny was risking his life by positioning himself as Putin’s most vocal critic in an increasingly repressive Russia, even challenging him for the presidency in 2018. Navalny narrowly survived being poisoned with novichok – a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union – in 2020 and spent months recuperating in Germany. He…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security pact with France in Paris on Friday, having earlier secured a similar deal with Germany hailed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a “historic step” anchoring support for Kyiv in its raging battle against Russia. Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 18:44Modified: 16/02/2024 – 22:56 3 min The agreement includes a French aid pledge for up to €3 billion for 2024, after €1.7 billion in 2022 and €2.1 billion last year.Both deals are part of Zelensky’s drive to shore up help for his forces who are struggling to hold off Russian attacks on the frontline city…

As wildfires ravaged central Chile, a number of posts have been circulating online claiming that buildings or objects painted blue are immune to the fires. Why? Well, these accounts claim the fires were actually set by powerful lasers that don’t work on anything colored blue. These claims are baseless.  If you only have a minute… A series of wildfires have been devastating the region of Valparaiso, Chile throughout February 2024. A number of posts have been circulating online claiming that buildings and objects painted blue have miraculously resisted the flames. Some of these posts claim that Chileans are starting to…

A New York judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $355 million over fraud allegations and banned him from running companies in the state for three years Friday in a major blow to his business empire and financial standing.  Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 22:21 3 min Trump — almost certain to be the Republican presidential nominee this November — was found liable for unlawfully inflating his wealth and manipulating the value of properties to obtain more favorable bank loans or insurance terms.As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of jail time. But Trump said ahead of the…

Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 21:12Modified: 16/02/2024 – 21:13 Reacting to news of Alexei Navalny’s death in an interview with FRANCE 24 on Friday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko blamed the Kremlin for the Russian opposition leader’s “killing”. He said: “In Russia, if you tell your opinion, and if it is different from Vladimir Putin’s, you will be put in prison or be killed.” Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Klitschko urged the West to continue backing Ukraine after two years of bloody war. “Everyone in the West has to understand we in Ukraine defend not just our home and our families, we…

The Kremlin placed Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and other Baltic officials on a list of wanted criminals on Monday in a move aimed at preserving Russia’s view of its glorious past from present-day challenges. The Kremlin said Kallas was put on the list for her efforts to remove WWII-era monuments to Soviet soldiers, moves seen by Moscow as unlawful and “an insult to history”. Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 19:37 4 min Russia has a track record of putting foreign officials on wanted lists, but this latest move makes Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas the first foreign head of government…