Author: France 24

Back to homepage / Shows / Focus Issued on: 15/03/2024 – 13:17 05:24 FOCUS © FRANCE 24 Exiled Russians who have fled to France since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have few illusions about the outcome of Russia’s presidential election. Voting began this Friday, with the main aim being to ensure a high turnout, rather than deciding on Vladimir Putin’s re-election, which is a certainty. The vote is overshadowed by last month’s death in prison of Putin’s main opponent Alexei Navalny – widely denounced as a political assassination by the Russian opposition. Navalny’s death also brought much shock and sadness to…

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…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will receive French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin on Friday after tensions between the leaders blew out into the open over differences on how to support Ukraine. Issued on: 15/03/2024 – 04:46 3 min After a clear-the-air meeting in the chancellery, the pair will be joined by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for urgent consultations on further European military backing for Kyiv.Ukraine has faced a series of battlefield setbacks in repelling Russian troops, as its forces have faced critical shortages of ammunition and aid from Western allies has stuttered.A massive US aid package of $60 billion…

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his second-in-command, presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison in Dakar on Thursday evening, 10 days before the election, according to one of their lawyers and an AFP journalist. Issued on: 15/03/2024 – 02:23 2 min “They came out in front of us,” lawyer Cheikh Koureyssi Ba said, as an AFP journalist witnessed a motorcade exiting the prison through a large crowd.Their release follows weeks of crisis after President Macky Sall postponed the February 25 presidential vote.It could also dramatically alter the presidential campaign, with Sonko’s powerful rhetoric striking a chord with…

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…

Russia began voting on Friday in an election set to prolong President Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years, as Kyiv branded the vote a “farce” and launched a barrage of deadly attacks on border regions. Issued on: 14/03/2024 – 23:55 3 min Officials in Moscow warned against any protests during the March 15-17 presidential vote, after calls from the opposition for anti-Putin demonstrations on Sunday.The Kremlin says the vote will show that the country is fully behind his assault on Ukraine and polling stations have been set up in Russian-held territories.Ahead of the election, Kyiv ramped up its aerial…

At a hospital in the holy city of Qom, a young woman squats in a corner with a sick child in her arms. Her headscarf has slipped down to her shoulder revealing her hair, and a mullah is seen using his phone nearby. Surveillance video of the scene published on March 9 has caused a furore in Iran, with women angrily accusing the mullah of planning to denounce the mother for hijab violations on a special app created by the Islamic regime. Users supporting the regime have labelled the mother a “bitch”, and Iranian women in response have flooded social…

A proposal to install new leadership in Haiti appeared to be crumbling Wednesday as some political parties rejected the plan to create a presidential council that would manage the transition. The panel would be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister and a council of ministers that would attempt to chart a new path for the Caribbean country that has been overrun by gangs. The violence has closed schools and businesses and disrupted daily life across Haiti.Jean Charles Moïse, an ex-senator and presidential candidate who has teamed up with former rebel leader Guy Philippe, held a news conference Wednesday to…

Pro-Ukrainian forces are conducting incursions into Russian territory, temporarily seizing a village in the border region of Kursk, reminiscent of similar operations in the spring of 2023 but occurring in a very different military and political context. Ukraine-based Russian militias are again on the attack, staging cross-border raids this week into Russian territory. Pro-Ukrainian forces even claimed on Tuesday, March 12, to have taken full control of a Russian village. The Freedom of Russia Legion, mainly composed of anti-Putin Russian fighters, posted a video showing Russian soldiers deserting Tetkino, a municipality in the Kursk region, on the Russian side of the…

At least 60 people died on a migrant boat that lost power as it tried to reach Europe from Libya, an aid group said Thursday, citing accounts from those rescued. Issued on: 14/03/2024 – 17:51 1 min “Survivors report that at least 60 people died en route, including women and at least one child,” said Marseille-based SOS Mediterranee.The group’s Ocean Viking rescue ship is currently heading for port, carrying 224 people rescued from different boats.Among them are 25 from a boat that survivors said had set off from Zawiya, Libya on March 8 — only for its motor to give…