French politicians from across the spectrum have expressed dismay over the resignation of a Paris school headmaster. He had received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil, Catherine Khedir-Clifford reports. Monte Francis also speaks to Gabriel Lattanzio, a former high school teacher in the Paris suburbs and now Associate Professor of English at the Sorbonne Law School.
Anti-establishment figure Bassirou Diomaye Faye has comfortably won the Senegalese presidential election with 54.28 percent of votes in the first round, official provisional results showed Wednesday.
Leading 2-1 on aggregate after the first-leg, eight-times titleholders Lyon bettered that score at the Groupama Stadium to claim the tie 6-2. Marie-Yasmine Alidou equalised minutes after Cascarino's opener at the end of the first half, but the 27-year-old hit a second shortly after half-time before a late Diani goal and an own goal gave Lyon a comfortable victory. Lyon created several good early chances but failed to find a way past Lena Pauels in the Benfica goal until the 43rd minute. Cascarino... Читать дальше...
"Oh God, end the captivity of Youssef and Hamza," the 59-year-old said as he knelt at the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, referring to his brother and nephew who were abducted during the October 7 attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Israel's impoverished and long-marginalised Bedouins -- Arab Muslim descendants of herders who once roamed freely through the Negev desert -- have been hit hard by the war. They lost at least 17 members on October 7 and several others have been killed while serving in the Israeli military. Читать дальше...
Attal, a former education minister, said the state would be filing a complaint against the student over falsely accusing the headmaster of mistreatment during the incident in late February. "The state... will always stand with these officials, those who are on the frontline faced with these breaches of secularism, these attempts of Islamist entryism in our education establishments," he said during the evening news on the TF1 television channel. Secularism and religion are hot-button issues in France... Читать дальше...
Garcia went into the match on the back of an upset win over third-seeded American Coco Gauff but was unable to get a foothold against the Floridian. Garcia still appeared to be troubled by an injury to her right shoulder and received some treatment early in the second set. Collins broke to go 5-3 up in the first set and then held serve for the set, then in the second set broke in the third game and never looked back as she wrapped up the win in one hour and 19 minutes. Collins reached the semi-finals... Читать дальше...
The 35-year-old Manchester City defender, who won 121 caps for the Lionesses, will end her playing career at the end of the current Women's Super League campaign. Houghton began her career with northeast club Sunderland in 2002 and also represented Leeds Carnegie and Arsenal before moving to City 10 years ago. "There is no easy way to say it, but I am retiring from football at the end of the current WSL season," Houghton said in a statement published on her own website. "Taking the decision to retire is such a difficult thing to do. Читать дальше...
Four people were sentenced Wednesday to death and two to life in prison for a murder that sparked widespread unrest in Tunisia and became emblematic of the country's early challenges transitioning from dictatorship to democracy after the Arab Spring.
Farid Hafez, an Austrian political scientist, filed the $10 million lawsuit against George Washington University and Lorenzo Vidino, the director of its program on extremism. It's the second such case in US courts this year that sheds light on what researchers call a lucrative "disinformation for hire" industry. Foreign governments have long been accused of buying influence with large donations to US universities and think tanks. But Hafez's lawsuit takes it further, accusing a premier higher... Читать дальше...
Those sporting Afro-styled hair, blonde or ginger hair, dreads, braids or even balding heads could gain new protections in France, where a lawmaker from the French Caribbean has introduced a bill that would make discrimination based on hair texture, length, colour or style illegal. While some argue the law is unnecessary, others say it will fill a gap in existing legislation tackling discrimination.
The 29-year-old star will now miss Sunday's blockbuster Tour of Flanders and next week's Paris-Roubaix but could be back for the Giro d'Italia in May, where he will be hoping for several stage wins. Wednesday's crash happened with the lead group riding at speeds approaching 60km/h on a broad highway. Van Aert fell on the uneven surface before being run over by another cyclist. Clearly in agony, with his riding outfit almost entirely shredded and with abrasion marks covering his back, he was left... Читать дальше...
In a strange twist, global warming could even help out timekeepers by delaying the need for history's first "negative leap second" by three years, a study published on Wednesday suggested. Experts fear that introducing a negative leap second -- a minute with only 59 seconds -- into standard time could cause havoc on computer systems across the world. For most of history, time was measured by the rotation of the Earth. However in 1967, the world's timekeepers embraced atomic clocks -- which use... Читать дальше...
The legal pressure and heavily publicized bicoastal operation, which saw armed agents enter his sprawling luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles, mark a rapid downfall for the powerful mogul who in recent years has vied to rebrand as "Brother Love." The 54-year-old founded the Bad Boy record label in 1993, with proteges including the late Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige, ushering hip hop into the global lifestyle brand it is today. The artist, who's gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy... Читать дальше...
The deal, reportedly worth $1.725 billion, transfers ownership from the family of the late Peter Angelos to Rubenstein, 74, a co-founder of The Carlyle Group private equity firm. MLB ownership approval was the final step in a transfer process that began when an agreement was reached in January and also included the Orioles' stake in Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which owns telecast rights for the Orioles and the nearby Washington Nationals. An ownership committee backed approval of the deal earlier this month. Читать дальше...
President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that France would help Brazil develop nuclear technology for submarines, crucial assistance which has been a sensitive topic between the two nations.
Israel's deadly airstrike in southern Lebanon targeting a paramedic center linked to a Sunni Muslim group triggered a barrage of rockets Wednesday into northern Israel that was claimed by the militant group Hezbollah, killing at least one person. Reporting from Jerusalem, FRANCE 24's Rob Parsons says the situation in northern Israel is "very febrile" with Hezbollah now using longer range rockets instead of anti-tank missiles while Israel is under increasing domestic pressure to use more military force against the Lebanese Shiite party.
Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry has urged its citizens to put off unnecessary travel to Russia after the deadly mass shooting at a concert hall near Moscow. The arrest of several suspects from Tajikistan and one from Kyrgyzstan has fanned anti-immigrant sentiment in Russia, while authorities, including Vladimir Putin, have been quick to try to cool ethnic tensions, pointing the finger instead at the West.
The 24-year-old Californian Jorgenson won the Paris-Nice earlier in March and confirmed his burgeoning status in his first season with Dutch team Visma. Jorgenson broke away from an elite clique of six riders with a devastating turn of pace 6km away from the finish line after a 188km run with huge crowds. "It's surreal," said Jorgenson, wiping tears from his eyes at the finish line. Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen and the Swiss Stefan Kueng was third, 29sec off the pace. More memorably a mass collision... Читать дальше...
Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched dozens of rockets at Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli town over the border, early on Wednesday in response to deadly Israeli strikes on the village of Hebbariyeh in southern Lebanon a day earlier. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza, in the biggest escalation between the old enemies since a month-long conflict in 2006.
Scientists at an Israeli state-funded agricultural research institute warn that budget cuts have already halted research as Israel has slashed budgets to fund the war. Hundreds of research projects now hang in the balance at the Volcani Institute, a world leader in agricultural research and development – specialising in arid and desert environments – fields increasingly relevant on a planet wracked by extreme weather caused by climate change.
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after being struck by a container ship,is likely to cause major economic damage for as long as it continues to block shipping in the Port of Baltimore. The bridge's dramatic destruction shut the port for maritime traffic, which last year accounted for more than 52 million tons of foreign cargo, worth some $80 billion, according to a recent statement from Maryland Governor Wes Moore's office.
The British pair won the men's synchronised 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and Lee also triumphed alongside Noah Williams at the Commonwealth Games the following year. But Lee, 26, will miss the Olympics after receiving treatment. "The surgery went well but my surgeon told me my nerve was very stuck and it took longer than expected to remove my bulging disc without damaging my nerve," he said in an Instagram post. "He also told me it wouldn't have got better on its own so to have the surgery was the right decision." Lee added... Читать дальше...
U.S. federal safety investigators recovered the black box from the freight ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge, the agency chief said on Wednesday as rescuers searched for the remains of six construction workers lost in the bridge collapse.
The Brazilian and the French presidents on Tuesday announced a plan to invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the Amazon, including parts of the rainforest in neighboring French Guiana. As French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meet to rekindle the relationship between the two economic powerhouses, boost trade, and deepen cooperation to protect the rainforest, FRANCE 24's Genie Godula is joined by Anthony Pereira, Professor of Political Science... Читать дальше...
FRANCE 24 spoke to Egyptian-American comedian Bassem Youssef, who is speaking out against the war in Gaza. Formerly a TV icon in Egypt before fleeing to the US, Youssef called accusations of anti-Semitism against him "laughable". Calling the label "overused", especially against Jews supporting the Palestinian cause, he said that anti-Semitism "has become a comical accusation". "Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism," he added.
