Author: France 24

Issued on: 28/12/2023 – 10:38Modified: 28/12/2023 – 11:04 04:12 Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza as West Bank violence flares © France 24 Israeli forces pressed on with intensified attacks in the Gaza Strip’s biggest southern city and a central refugee camp, after the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry reported more than 21,000 people had been killed in 11 weeks of war. FRANCE 24 journalist Luke Shrago brings us the latest from the ground in Tel Aviv, Israel.  Read more on related topics: Source link

The Islamic State group attacking truffle producers in the Syrian desert, an Ivorian recruited to fight with the Wagner militia in Ukraine and the far-reaching impacts of India’s “love jihad” conspiracy. These are just a few of the stories that shaped 2023 for us. The FRANCE 24 Observers team takes a look back at some of the key investigations from this year. Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 15:17 4 min An Ivorian who fought for Wagner in UkraineOn January 1, a video showed the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, with a fighter said to be an Ivorian who…

Western powers on Thursday condemned Iran accelerating its production of highly enriched uranium, after a watchdog said it had upped manufacture following months of slowdown. Issued on: 28/12/2023 – 21:39 2 min In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany and the US said they “condemn this measure that further aggravates the continued escalation of the Iranian nuclear programme,” adding that “Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium has no credible civilian justification”.The statement came two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying Iran “increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023.”Iran…

From drought in Spain to floods in the Horn of Africa and wildfires in Canada, 2023 was marked by some alarming environmental disasters. However, it wasn’t all bad news – the past few months have seen some significant advances in the fight against climate change. The hottest year in historyIt was hot this year, sometimes very hot – temperatures reached 53°C in Death Valley in the United States, 55°C in Tunisia, and 52°C in China. Even after summer, the mercury did not drop to regular levels with September, October and November all experiencing unusually warm temperatures. The news everyone anticipated finally…

Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 18:12Modified: 29/12/2023 – 19:05 01:48 A former hostage held in Gaza by Hamas, Mia Schem, has given her first interview to Israeli media, since she was released a month ago. Read more on related topics: Source link

A NASA spacecraft, recently returned from a mission to asteroid Bennu, has been relaunched to study another asteroid as it approaches Earth’s orbit: Apophis, named after the Egyptian god of Chaos. The space rock is expected to pass within 32,000 kilometres of the Earth’s surface on April 13, 2029. Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 16:41 3 min On December 22, NASA announced it had relaunched its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to study a 370-metre-diameter asteroid approaching Earth’s orbit named Apophis.In Egyptian mythology, Apophis is a serpent-shaped god and an embodiment of darkness and disorder which seeks to eradicate the world. Thankfully, the asteroid…

Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 19:10 Thirteen short months ago, an innocuous tweet from the head of a Silicon Valley nonprofit launched something called ChatGPT. But within five days, more than one million people had taken up Sam Altman’s offer and tried out the new baby of OpenAI. Out were decades of grappling over the theoretical dangers of powerful artificial intelligence systems. In was a race to corner the market, with the parent companies of rivals Google and Facebook scrambling to match Microsoft’s $13 billion investment. High-stakes drama ensued, with the firing and re-hiring of Altman. But at the heart of that Silicon…

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…

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket blasted back into space on Thursday night to ferry the US military’s secretive X-37B drone to a research mission.  Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 10:04 2 min After weeks of delays, the rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:07 pm Eastern Time (0107 GMT Friday) in a liftoff livestreamed on SpaceX’s website.It is unclear where exactly the uncrewed and autonomously operating spacecraft is headed on its seventh mission.The Pentagon has released little information about the space drone and its mission, which was initially scheduled for December 7, and SpaceX only cited the Pentagon’s…

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite”, was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide, Yonhap news agency reported. Issued on: 27/12/2023 – 06:19 1 min The actor was discovered inside a vehicle at a park in central Seoul, Yonhap reported, citing police.Lee, 48, had been under police investigation over his alleged use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs.Once celebrated for his wholesome image, local news outlets reported that the actor was being dropped from television and commercial projects following the scandal.A graduate of South Korea’s prestigious Korea National University of Arts,…