Author: France 24

The United States struck overnight Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops, drawing condemnation Saturday from government and groups in the region. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 18:54 3 min The United States, which promised more strikes, blamed Sunday’s drone attack on a US base in Jordan on forces backed by Iran.US forces however did not strike inside Iranian territory, with both Washington and Tehran seemingly keen to avoid all-out war.But with tensions already running high in the face of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, both the Syrian and Iraqi government joined Tehran…

Around 150,000 people took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday as nationwide protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) entered their fourth week. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 17:37 1 min Protests were also taking place in cities such as Dresden and Hanover, in a sign of growing alarm at strong public support for the AfD.People flocked to the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin, where protesters gathered under the slogan “We are the Firewall” to protest against right-wing extremism and to show support for democracy.”Whether in Eisenach, Homburg or Berlin: in small and large cities across the country, many…

Senegalese President Macky Sall on Saturday announced the indefinite postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25, just hours before official campaigning was due to start. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 15:26Modified: 03/02/2024 – 16:05 2 min In an address to the nation, Sall said he had signed a decree abolishing a previous measure that set the date as lawmakers investigate two Constitutional Council judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned. “I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election,” Sall added without giving a new date.It…

Russian police on Saturday detained a group of around 20 journalists, including an AFP reporter, covering a protest in Moscow by the wives of men mobilised to fight in Ukraine.  Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 13:44Modified: 03/02/2024 – 13:54 2 min The women have staged rare protests outside the Kremlin walls for weeks, in an uncomfortable movement for the authorities that has so far not been put down. A detained AFP video journalist said Russian and foreign reporters — all men — were detained and transported in a van to a police station. The group of journalists was arrested as they covered and…

Issued on: 02/02/2024 – 14:44 In the run-up to February 7 presidential elections, repression has increased in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus that borders Iran and Armenia. Any opposition to President Ilham Aliyev is silenced. Human rights activists, journalists and political opponents are on the receiving end of the regime’s wrath on a daily basis. Our reporters Karina Chabour and Roméo Langlois met victims of torture who are denouncing a violent system of repression. They also looked into the Council of Europe’s ambiguous links to the regime in Baku. In November 2023, several journalists and a member…

Chilean firefighters were battling rapidly expanding wildfires Saturday that officials fear have claimed around 10 lives and are threatening hundreds of homes, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 06:47Modified: 03/02/2024 – 06:45 2 min About a dozen fires have been raging since Friday.The blazes are concentrated in the Vina del Mar and Valparaiso tourist regions, where they have ravaged thousands of hectares of forest, cloaked coastal cities in a dense fog of gray smoke and forced people to flee their homes.”We have preliminary information that several people have died, around 10,” said Sofia…

The United States on Friday carried out strikes against Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria in retaliation over a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 09:40Modified: 03/02/2024 – 09:59 3 min Here is what we know so far:Hitting Iran unit, but not Iran The US military said the air strikes hit more than 85 targets inside Iraq and Syria targeting both the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and affiliated militia groups.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said at least 18 pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the strikes in eastern Syria.The…

Michelle O’Neill on Saturday becomes the first nationalist leader of Northern Ireland’s government, when the assembly returns after the end of a two-year boycott by the biggest pro-UK party. Issued on: 03/02/2024 – 07:43 3 min The Sinn Fein politician’s nomination will be confirmed at a special sitting of the devolved legislature, which will also see the appointment of a deputy first minister and ministers.Under the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement that ended three decades of sectarian violence over British rule in Northern Ireland, the first minister and deputy first minister posts are equal.But the appointment of a Roman…

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…

France’s agriculture minister said Friday that the worst of a crisis that saw farmers block roads nationwide for days was over, as protesters began lifting roadblocks following government promises of cash and eased regulation. Issued on: 02/02/2024 – 15:50 3 min In some of the angriest protests that have spread across Europe, French farmers have been out in force for more than a week, using tractors to block key roads into Paris and other major highways nationwide.The litany of farmers’ complaints is long, ranging from burdensome environmental rules to cheap imports of produce from outside the EU such as Ukraine,…