Author: France 24

With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year.  Issued on: 10/02/2024 – 15:02Modified: 10/02/2024 – 15:03 2 min It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. The dates of the holiday vary slightly each year, falling between late January and mid-February as it is based on the cycles of the moon.Festivities to mark the Year of the Dragon in Taiwan were marked by appearances by newly elected president Lai Ching-te…

London mayor Sadiq Khan warned Saturday that Eurostar passengers going from Britain to the continent face “chaos” once a new computerised border scheme proposed by the European Union takes effect. Issued on: 10/02/2024 – 13:48 1 min All visitors entering the EU with visas or visa waivers will have to go through the automated EU Entry/Exit System, which has been long delayed and now scheduled due to start in October.Almost 19 million people used the Eurostar — which connects Britain with Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands — last year as traveller numbers returned to their pre-pandemic levels.The system will…

Removing cars from an expanse around the Eiffel Tower to create a green pathway sounds pretty good on paper, but the mayor of Paris is struggling to win over residents and above all the police force to revamp one of the city’s most celebrated views. Issued on: 10/02/2024 – 08:26 3 min Thousands of tourists jostle every day to snap the Eiffel Tower from across the River Seine on the hill at Trocadero, with its magnificent gardens and a modernist palace housing museums.Walking to Trocadero is less romantic, however, requiring the crossing of two major intersections and the often traffic-clogged…

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…

Seven people, including three children, were killed Saturday in a Russian drone attack on a petrol station in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said. Issued on: 10/02/2024 – 08:40 1 min “Unfortunately the death toll from the occupiers’ attacks on Kharkiv has risen to seven,” Oleg Synegubov said on the Telegram social network.”Among them are three children: 7, 4 years old and a baby about six months old.”The attack sprayed nearby homes with burning fuel forcing at least 50 people to evacuate, Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said earlier.”The enemy’s Shaheds (Iranian-made drones) hit a petrol…

Back to homepage / Shows / Talking Europe Issued on: 09/02/2024 – 16:32 12:47 TALKING EUROPE © FRANCE 24 In the scope of our coverage of the European elections, we will broadcast a series of programs in which we will be taking a closer look at a specific country or group of member states to determine what issues voters care about. We start with the Eurozone’s largest economy: Germany. With its strong industry, a population of 84 million and 96 seats at the European Parliament, the country is the leading political and economic force in the EU. But it is also facing…

Issued on: 09/02/2024 – 16:32 Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. Yet the EU has just agreed to cut the programme’s budget by €2.1 billion, as part of the re-negotiation of the EU’s long-term budget, and continuing aid to Ukraine. Paradoxically, the cut comes as the EU says it wants to boost its competitiveness in the world. “I cannot be happy about that,” Iliana Ivanova tells Talking Europe. The EU’s commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, speaks to Armen Georgian about the future of Horizon, as well as about efforts to boost educational performance,…

Ukraine’s new army head Oleksandr Syrsky, who was appointed in Kyiv’s largest military shake-up since Russia invaded, is taking the helm at a precarious moment in the war. Issued on: 09/02/2024 – 16:47Modified: 09/02/2024 – 16:50 2 min After nearly two years of fighting, these are the five most pressing challenges the 58-year-old commander, who was born in Russia, is facing.Read moreUkraine’s Zelensky replaces top general Zaluzhny with Syrsky in dramatic military shakeupForeign aidUkraine’s allies, particularly Washington and Brussels, are struggling to keep up aid packages that have so far allowed Kyiv to hold out against Russia.The EU this month…

Pakistan’s 2024 general elections were dubbed the “most rigged” in the country’s history, with the popular Imran Khan barred from running and the military seen as backing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. That was before results showed Khan-backed independent candidates leading the race. The stage appears to be set for a turbulent period after an irate electorate reacted to the military’s perceived meddling in politics – again. Voters in the 2024 Pakistani general elections manoeuvred sheaves of ballot papers offering a profusion of symbols including tables, chairs, apples, airplanes, calculators and kitchen appliances. But there was no cricket bat on the ballot. With…

Issued on: 09/02/2024 – 19:43Modified: 09/02/2024 – 20:48 01:43 Catherine Norris Trent, February 9, 2024. © France 24 “The US has been trying to urge Netanyahu to exercise caution”, said Catherine Norris Trent, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Israel. “They are extremely worried about any ground offensive by the Israeli armed forces into Rafah, that border city into which well over a million Palestinians have fled and are now trying to eke out an existance there”, she added.  Read more on related topics: Source link