Author: France 24

Issued on: 01/01/2024 – 11:27Modified: 01/01/2024 – 11:56 02:00 In Tel Aviv’s “hostages square” not far from the city’s party district, the ambience is noticeably quiet as passersby pause to reflect. © FRANCE 24 In Israel as elsewhere, people rang in the new year on Sunday night, but the proceedings were markedly more muted than in previous years, given the backdrop of the war in Gaza. Even so, some Israelis hit the streets in an effort to find a moment of badly needed levity following nearly 3 months of war – and while over a hundred hostages are still being held…

The tsunami threat from a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a series of 20 other earthquakes measuring 4.0 or stronger that struck central Japan on Monday has “largely passed”, a US agency said, after waves over a metre high had earlier hit some areas.  Issued on: 01/01/2024 – 09:08Modified: 01/01/2024 – 13:19 2 min  “The tsunami threat has now largely passed,” the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.A succession of 21 earthquakes registering 4.0 magnitude or stronger struck central Japan in just over 90 minutes on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.The strongest jolt measured 7.6, it said. The quakes prompted the tsunami…

US Navy helicopters sank three small boats used by Iran-backed Houthi militants to attack a Maersk merchant vessel in the Red Sea, US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday. The Yemen-based Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Read our live blog for all the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.  Source link

Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and most of his supporters have been rejected as candidates for the February 8 election, party officials said Sunday after nominations for the ballot closed. Issued on: 31/12/2023 – 11:11Modified: 31/12/2023 – 11:14 2 min Khan has been in prison since August, facing trial over a slew of cases he insists have been orchestrated to prevent him from contesting the election as the figurehead of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.The former cricket star was found guilty of graft earlier this year, but a court suspended his three-year sentence and the conviction is being…

Issued on: 26/12/2023 – 15:26Modified: 26/12/2023 – 15:35 02:13 2023-12-26 15:01 ‘Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have launched a slew of attacks on US and allied forces’ © FRANCE 24 An Israeli strike killed Razi Moussavi, a top Iranian general, near the Syrian capital on Monday. Moussavi was the most senior commander in the Quds Force – the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – to be killed outside Iran in nearly four years. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed condolences for Moussavi’s death, saying Israel “will certainly pay for this crime”.  Read more on related topics: Source…

Bolivia’s Constitutional Court has disqualified former president Evo Morales from running for re-election in 2025, reversing a ruling that had let him seek a fourth term in 2019. Issued on: 30/12/2023 – 19:05 1 min It said on its website that term limits provide “an ideal measure for ensuring that someone does not perpetuate themself in power.”Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Morales first took power in 2006 and was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in office in 2019.He won that vote but was forced to resign amid deadly protests over alleged election…

Issued on: 26/12/2023 – 15:27Modified: 26/12/2023 – 15:47 01:47 2023-12-26 15:04 Tensions soar as Iran vows revenge on Israel for killing top general © FRANCE 24 Tensions between Israel and Iran are soaring after an Israeli air strike killed an Iranian senior general. Razi Moussavi, a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s foreign arm was killed near the Syrian capital of Damascus on Monday. FRANCE 24’s Luke Shrago reports. Read more on related topics: Source link

Thousands of protesters gathered Saturday in Belgrade in the biggest of a series of rallies against alleged electoral fraud. Issued on: 30/12/2023 – 17:13 2 min It marked the 13th consecutive demonstration since the December 17 parliamentary and local elections in which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s party said it secured a commanding victory.Opposition groups contested the results and protesters have erected sporadic roadblocks in Belgrade, with more than 30 arrested after an attempt to storm city hall last week.”Students, 18 and 20 years old, are being charged for overthrowing the constitutional order, they are in house arrest — is that…

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…

A British warship arrived off the coast of Guyana on Friday, further fueling tensions over a territorial dispute with Venezuela, which has launched a major military exercise in response to what it termed an “unacceptable” threat. Issued on: 29/12/2023 – 22:43Modified: 29/12/2023 – 22:41 2 min Venezuela and Guyana have been locked in a land dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, but has long been claimed by Caracas.Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday ordered over 5,600 troops to join a “defensive” exercise near the Guyana border, in response to Britain sending a…