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Wildfires kill at least 3 and displace thousands across southern Europe
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Four years on: Taking stock of the Taliban's return to Kabul
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Trump-Putin summit: Ukraine's European allies discuss ceasefire conditions
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Does Netanyahu envision annexing Palestinian territories and parts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt?
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Taliban mark fourth year in power in Afghanistan
Helicopters circled above Kabul, dropping flower petals over the city to mark the Taliban seizure of the capital on August 15, 2021. Taliban members and supporters leaned out of trucks and rickshaws on the streets below waving the black-and-white "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" flags. They also carried yellow jerry cans -- a common receptacle for homemade bombs during the 20-year war against US-led forces. Celebrations were organised across the country, although a military parade like the one held with much fanfare last year at the Bagram airbase, once the linchpin for US-led operations, was cancelled without public explanation. A gathering was held instead at the enormous Loya Jirga Hall in Kabul, where hundreds of men listened to ministers praise the government's achievements. Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who remains largely secluded in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar, did not attend but, in a statement read by a spokesman, hailed the return of security to Afghanistan. "Our people were saved from corruption, oppression, usurpation, narcotics, theft, plunder and looting in the light of Islamic laws," the statement said. "A positive environment was created for the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan." The speeches did not mention the steep challenges facing a country gripped by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations. In Jalalabad in the east, farmer Zabihullah -- who like many Afghans only uses one name -- celebrated the Taliban takeover but also hoped authorities would address poverty and unemployment. "They should address the bad situation in the country, because of unemployment poor Afghans are going from one country to another, some die, some are detained, it is a chaotic situation," the 45-year-old told AFP. The Taliban government remains largely isolated on the global stage over restrictions imposed under their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with women facing restrictions the UN has deemed "gender apartheid". The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in July for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over the persecution of women and girls who are banned from most education and work. Women and girls are also barred from parks and gyms, and from travelling without a male guardian. International engagement The Taliban authorities scored a victory in July when Russia became the first country to officially recognise their administration. Kabul also enjoys close ties with China, Qatar and several Central Asian states. The Taliban government has reported talks in Kabul with officials from Western states, including Norway, Britain and the United States. International Crisis Group analyst Ibraheem Bahiss said women's rights are still important to the international community but other issues, particularly security, take precedence. "Even Europe -- because it has a core interest with migration -- has continued to pursue engagement," he told AFP, although discussions with Taliban authorities on women's rights were "a complete non-starter". The Taliban authorities have almost no internal opposition but struggle with economic fragility, international aid cuts and the influx of four million Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) condemned any engagement with the Taliban authorities in a statement. Contrary to its claims, RAWA said, the Taliban government "is not dedicated to ensuring peace and human dignity but is bent on destroying the last vestiges of our people's most basic rights". Independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council called on the international community on Thursday not to normalise relations with the Taliban authorities and to reject their "violent and authoritarian rule".
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
Far-right Israeli minister taunts jailed Palestinian leader in prison visit
Israel 's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Friday showing him confronting the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody in his prison cell. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the Palestinian Fatah party, has spent more than 20 years behind bars after being sentenced for his role in anti-Israeli attacks in the early 2000s. In the clip published by Ben Gvir on X, the minister and two other individuals, including a prison guard, surround Barghouti in a corner of his cell. "You will not defeat us. Whoever harms the people of Israel, whoever kills children, whoever kills women... we will erase them," Ben Gvir says in Hebrew. Barghouti tries to respond but is interrupted by Ben Gvir, who says: "No, you know this. And it's been the case throughout history." The video does not specify where Barghouti is currently being held. Contacted by AFP, sources close to Ben Gvir said the meeting took place "by chance" in Ganot prison in southern Israel during an inspection visit by the minister, but they would not say when the footage was filmed. "This morning I read that various 'senior officials' in the Palestinian Authority didn't quite like what I said to arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti – may his name be erased," Ben Gvir said in the post accompanying the video on Friday morning. "So I will repeat it again and again, without apology: whoever messes with the people of Israel, whoever murders our children, whoever murders our women – we will wipe them out. With God's help." Barghouti, who is now in his sixties, was arrested in 2002 by Israel and sentenced to life in 2004 on murder charges. Israel considers him a "terrorist" and convicted him over his role in the second intifada, or uprising, from 2000-2005. He often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described by his supporters as the "Palestinian Mandela". In a statement released by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry denounced the confrontation as "an unprecedented provocation". Responding to the video in a post on X, the Palestinian mission to the United Nations said Barghouti was "enduring extremely harsh humanitarian conditions in his solitary confinement cell". It added that he had "lost more than half his weight due to deliberate medical neglect and mistreatment". "At the same time, extremist Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir continues to directly threaten him in an attempt to break his will and resilience." Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas 's political bureau, expressed solidarity with Barghouti and said "there is no meaning of savagery left that has not been embodied by" Ben Gvir.
France 24
7 hours ago
- France 24
Macron vows to punish antisemitic 'hatred' after memorial tree cut down
Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, the 23-year-old died on the way to hospital. An olive tree, planted in 2011 in Halimi's memory, was cut down, probably with a chainsaw, on Wednesday night in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine. The incident stoked fresh concerns about an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France as international tensions mount over Gaza. "Every effort will be made to punish this act of hatred," Macron said on X, adding that France's fight against antisemitism will be "uncompromising". "The nation will not forget this son of France who died because he was Jewish," Macron said. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou called the tree "a living bulwark against oblivion". "The never-ending fight against the deadly poison of hatred is our primary duty," he added. Officials pledged to plant a new memorial tree "as soon as possible". - 'Extremely painful' - Members of France's Jewish community -- one of the largest in the world -- have said the number of antisemitic acts has surged following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 which was followed by Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and aid blockade. In 2006, Halimi's murder struck horror into France's Jewish community and stirred debate about antisemitism in France. Police at the time initially refused to consider the murder a hate crime, and tens of thousands took to the street to demand justice. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), said on Friday the felling of the tree was "extremely painful". "There is nothing more cowardly, and those who have murdered his memory are no better than those who took his life 20 years ago," Arfi told AFP. "This is not just another antisemitic act, it is a way for antisemites to shout that they are here more than ever." Herve Chevreau, the mayor of Epinay-sur-Seine, filed a criminal complaint. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez condemned what he called a "despicable act" and said an investigation had been launched. Halimi was lured by a 17-year-old girl to a housing estate basement in the suburbs, where he was attacked and subdued with ether. Held prisoner for ransom, Halimi was tortured for 24 days before he was found naked, bound and gagged on February 13, 2006. Youssouf Fofana, the head of the gang dubbed the "Barbarians", was sentenced to life in prison. The son of Ivorian immigrants, Fofana had recruited followers among youths from Paris's bleak immigrant suburbs. Two other trees planted in tribute to Halimi were vandalised and sawn down in 2019 in the southern suburb of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, where Halimi was found dying near a railway track. Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.
