Author: France24

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Saturday announced the shutdown of TikTok for at least one year from 2025. The decision comes after a 14-year-old student was stabbed to death by a classmate last month in a fight that had started on social media. 

Paul Watson has dedicated his life to sailing into danger to protect marine life and defend whales at sea. 

At 73, his decades of activism have brought him into conflict with numerous countries, multiple arrests, and even Interpol red notices—the latest issued by Japan, a nation with a long history of whaling. Paul has made it his mission to expose illegal whaling operations, even when such activities are disguised as scientific research. 

Most recently, he spent nearly five months in detention in Greenland, held by Danish authorities at Japan’s request. Japan seeks his extradition, accusing him of a 14-year-old offense involving his team launching raw butter stink bombs at the crew of a whaling research vessel. 

Earlier this week, Paul was released without extradition, allowing him to return to France and reunite with his family.

Industrial waste and sewage from the Nairobi River are seeping into crops and drinking water, raising serious health and environmental concerns for local communities.

UN estimates reveal that 2.7 million women of reproductive age have been displaced in Sudan, highlighting the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict on vulnerable populations.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba stirred controversy with provocative tweets, igniting debates over his political ambitions and the country’s future. France 24’s Clément di Roma tells us more.

The Saudi suspect in Germany’s deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market held strongly anti-Islam views and was angry with Germany’s migrant policy, official said on December 21. Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the ‘terrible, insane’ attack that killed five people and shocked the nation, days before Christmas and eight years after a jihadist drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin. France 24’s Nick Holdsworth tells us more.

Kyiv on December 21 staged a major drone attack on the Russian city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the frontier, the latest in a series of escalating aerial attacks in the nearly three-year conflict. France 24’s Philip Turle tells us more.

The future of Syria is hanging in the balance following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime nearly two weeks ago. Back in Paris after reporting from northern Syria, FRANCE 24’s Andrew Hilliar recounts his encounters with Syrians who are calling for vengeance on former supporters of the Assad regime and minority communities who are calling for protection and stability from the country’s new rulers.

Germans on Saturday mourned the victims and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people, including a small child, and wounding at least 200 others.

Some 20 people were killed and others were wounded in attacks carried out by suspected jihadists in six villages in central Mali on Friday. Grain silos were burned and members of the local population fled, authorities reported. 

A government shutdown would have disrupted everything from law enforcement to national parks and suspended paychecks for millions of federal workers. Dr. Andrew Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, was our guest.

The late-night vote capped a frantic week that saw President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk defeat an initial bipartisan deal, throwing Congress into disarray. Scott Lucas, Professor of US and International Politics, was our guest.

The Saudi suspect behind the deadly car attack on a Christmas market in Germany is believed to be “Islamophobic”, the interior minister said Saturday. The 50-year-old doctor, now under arrest, said German authorities had not done enough to fight the “Islamism of Europe” and had also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party. 

A French court sentenced eight people to prison terms ranging from one to 16 years for their roles in a hate campaign that culminated in the murder of Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in class.

Eight individuals have been convicted over their roles in the 2020 beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty. FRANCE 24’s Claire Paccalin was at the courtroom in the French capital.

The Flamanville 3 EPR nuclear reactor, France’s most powerful to date, finally began providing electricity to French homes on Saturday after a plethora of technical setbacks led to a 12-year delay and a four-fold increase in the project’s overall cost.

German officials hunted for clues on Saturday after a 50-year-old Saudi national with a history of anti-Islamic comments drove his car into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing five people, including a small child, and injuring more than 200 others.

World leaders share heartfelt messages online to pay tribute to the victims of the tragic Magdeburg Christmas market attack.

A car barrelled through a Christmas market crowd in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday December 20. The suspect of the the incident is thought to be a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006. Our correspondent Nick Holdsworth tells us more.

France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. FRANCE 24’s Claire Paccalin was at the courtroom in the French capital.

Scores of people were injured and at least two people, including a small child, were killed on Friday after a car ploughed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg, in what local officials described as a terror attack. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other politicians were expected to visit the site of the car ramming on Saturday. FRANCE 24’s correspondent Nick Holdsworth has the latest from Magdeburg.