Author: France 24

Some 900 tonnes of lithium batteries were on fire at a battery recycling plant in southern France, authorities said on Sunday, sending a cloud of thick black smoke into the sky above the site.  Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 18:53 1 min  The fire broke out on Saturday in a warehouse owned by French recycling group SNAM in Viviez, north of Toulouse, local councillor Pascal Mazet said in a statement on X.Lithium batteries are vital in electrical devices from phones to electric cars, but contain combustible materials which, combined with the energy they store, can make them vulnerable to catching fire…

Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 14:35Modified: 18/02/2024 – 15:39 04:07 Russia has invited Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow on Monday, February 26, for talks on the Israel-Hamas war and other issues in the Middle East. The factions include the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as representatives of Fatah and the broader Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle explains that the aim of the meeting is to try to hammer out some kind of agreement on a future Palestinian leadership after the Gaza war ends. But it’s a tall challenge. Read more on related topics: Source…

Over 400 people were detained in Russia while paying tribute to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died at a remote Arctic penal colony, a prominent rights group reported.  Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 11:00 3 min The sudden death of Navalny, 47, was a crushing blow to many Russians, who had pinned their hopes for the future on President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe. Navalny remained vocal in his unrelenting criticism of the Kremlin even after surviving a nerve agent poisoning and receiving multiple prison terms. The news reverberated across the globe, and hundreds of people in dozens of Russian cities streamed to…

Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 09:16Modified: 18/02/2024 – 09:58 01:42 Trent in Jerusalem 18 02 2024 © France 24 “Israel has said that it wouldn’t carry out a major ground offensive until it has managed to evacuate civilians from Rafah”, said Catherine Norris Trent, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Israel. “Something which aid agencies have told us they believe is impossible- they simply don’t have the means to deliver aid to them and that would mean displacing people who have already been displaced several times.” Read more on related topics: Source link

Russia claimed the capture of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka after Ukraine withdrew, but Moscow said that some Ukrainian troops were still holed up in a vast Soviet-era coke plant after one of the most intense battles of the war.  Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 11:31 4 min  The fall of Avdiivka is Russia’s biggest gain since capturing the city of Bakhmut in May 2023, and comes almost two years to the day since President Vladimir Putin triggered a full-scale war by ordering the invasion of Ukraine.Ukraine said it had withdrawn its soldiers to save troops from being fully surrounded after…

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived back at his Bangkok home from police hospital early Sunday, just six months after he was arrested following a dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile. Issued on: 18/02/2024 – 07:04Modified: 18/02/2024 – 07:43 3 min The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse-of-power charges upon his return in August.But his sentence was cut to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn within days of his return and the government said last week the 74-year-old was…

Greece’s parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted a bill legalising same-sex marriage and adoption in a landmark reform promoted by the conservative government despite opposition from the powerful Orthodox Church. Once the law is promulgated, Greece will become the 37th country in the world and the first Orthodox Christian one to legalise adoption by same-sex families.The bill, which was supported by the New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was approved with 176 votes out of the 245 MPs present following two days of debates.”This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece — a progressive, and democratic country,…

Back to homepage / Shows / Talking Europe Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 11:13 12:01 TALKING EUROPE © FRANCE 24 With our eyes on this June’s European elections, we hold the second debate in our series on countries or groups of EU countries. We look at three founding members of the European Economic Community in 1957, which became the European Union in 1993: Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, known as the Benelux states. They see themselves as frontrunners in European integration, having pioneered a customs union 80 years ago, which showed their neighbours the benefits of trading without tariffs. Benelux prime…

Thousands on Saturday joined the first authorised protest in Senegal’s capital since President Macky Sall postponed elections for his successor, only for a top court to overturn his ruling. Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 20:45 2 min In a sign of calming tensions in the West African country, the protests passed peacefully and police largely kept their distance.Sall’s last-minute move to delay the February 25 poll triggered traditionally stable Senegal’s worst crisis in decades.The Constitutional Council intervened on Thursday and the president, under growing pressure at home and abroad, vowed to organise the elections “as soon as possible”, without any date…

Israel said it had taken 100 people into custody at one of Gaza’s main hospitals Saturday after troops raided the facility, with fears mounting for patients and staff trapped inside. The deadly bombardment of Gaza continued overnight with another 100 people killed in Israeli strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.At least 120 patients and five medical teams are stuck without water, food and electricity in the Nasser hospital in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, according to the health ministry.Israel has for weeks concentrated its military operations in Khan Yunis, the hometown of Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar,…