Author: France 24

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,…

Issued on: 27/12/2023 – 20:56Modified: 27/12/2023 – 21:50 03:23 “Gazan health authorities have revised their death toll upwards to over 21,000”, said FRANCE 24 reporter Luke Shrago, reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel. “No where in Gaza is truly safe”, with 1.9 million people displaced and moving place to place under bombardments, with strikes incoming and continuing, he added. Read more on related topics: Source link

The US government on Wednesday announced what it said was the last remaining package of weapons available for Ukraine under existing authorization, with Congress now needing to decide whether to keep supporting Kyiv’s battle against Russian invasion. Issued on: 27/12/2023 – 22:18Modified: 27/12/2023 – 22:55 1 min “The year’s final package” includes air-defense and artillery munitions, the State Department said in a statement. It added that Congress, where Republicans are split on supporting Ukraine, should “act swiftly” to renew the flow.President Joe Biden has made backing Ukraine a priority and US weapons and financial assistance have been crucial in helping…

Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the enclave, receives data from every hospital in the strip. Hospital administrators say they keep records of every wounded person occupying a bed and every body arriving at a morgue. The ministry also collects from other sources including 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…

Russia on Monday said its forces now fully controlled the town of Maryinka in eastern Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin hailed as a “success” that would mean less shelling on the nearby Russian-held city of Donetsk. Issued on: 25/12/2023 – 22:32 1 min “Our assault units have today completely liberated the settlement of Maryinka,” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin in a meeting shown on state television.Piles of rubble and gutted apartment buildings over a wide area could be seen in drone images shown on Russian television that were said to be of Maryinka.”I want to congratulate you,” Putin told…

A drone attack on Monday targeted a military base in northern Iraq used by US and anti-jihadist coalition forces, US and Iraqi officials said, in the latest such incident. Issued on: 25/12/2023 – 21:43Modified: 25/12/2023 – 21:44 1 min The number of attacks targeting the coalition, which deployed troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State group, has surged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7. In Monday’s incident a drone was launched towards a base close to Arbil airport, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Yehia Rasool, the Iraqi prime minister’s spokesman for military affairs, said in a statement.The attack…

More than a hundred people have been killed in central Nigeria in a series of attacks on villages, local government officials said Monday.  Issued on: 25/12/2023 – 19:11 1 min The toll marked a sharp rise from the initial figure reported by the army Sunday evening of just 16 dead in a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions. “As many as 113 persons have been confirmed killed as Saturday hostilities persisted to early hours of Monday,” Monday Kassah, head of the local government in Bokkos, Plateau State, told AFP. Military gangs, locally called “bandits”, launched “well-coordinated” attacks in…

Issued on: 25/12/2023 – 16:49Modified: 25/12/2023 – 17:38 03:43 There has been no break in the fighting over Christmas, said FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Luke Shrago. “Palestinian authorities said over a hundred peope have now been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in central Gaza.” The night between Sunday and Monday was one of the dealiest in over 80 days of warfare.  Read more on related topics: Source link

Serbian police said Monday they have detained at least 38 people who took part in a protest against reported widespread irregularities during a recent general ballot that declared the governing populists as winners of the parliamentary and local councils’ elections.  Issued on: 25/12/2023 – 17:30 2 min Opposition group Serbia Against Violence has been staging protests since the Dec. 17 elections, saying there has been election fraud, particularly in the capital, Belgrade. Some politicians began a hunger strike. On Sunday evening, protesters tried to enter Belgrade’s city council, breaking windows, before riot police pushed them back using tear gas, pepper spray…