Thousands protest in Tbilisi over Georgia’s ‘foreign agents’ law
Second day of protests follow clashes over ‘Russian law’ critics say could harm efforts to become EU member state
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Georgia’s capital for a second day to rally against a “foreign agents” law that critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.
The protests in Tbilisi came a day after Georgia’s parliament passed the first reading of the law, which would require some organisations receiving overseas funding to register as “foreign agents”.
Iran sentences French-Irish national to 6.5 years in prison
Bernard Phelan, 64, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison by the Iranian authorities, his family says.
An Irish-French citizen, Bernard Phelan, is facing six and a half years in prison after Iranian authorities detained him in October on national security charges, his sister said in a statement.
Phelan's family, who said that "his life is in danger," have expressed concerns over his health.
What are the accusations against Phelan?
Early in October, Phelan — a travel consultant based in Paris — was arrested in the northeastern city of Mashhad as anti-government demonstrations erupted nationwide.
He was indicted for taking photographs of a burned mosque and police officers and sending them to a British newspaper.
Ex-Wagner mercenary Andrey Medvedev: 'I apologise to the Ukrainian people'
FRANCE 24 spoke to Andrey Medvedev, a deserter of Russia's Wagner Group, almost two months after he fled to Norway. The 26-year-old Russian ex-mercenary entered the country illegally on January 13 in a bid to seek asylum there. Speaking from Oslo, Medvedev explained that he "witnessed many things" while fighting with the Wagner Group in Ukraine. However, he said he was unable to talk in detail about them and was keeping this information for Norwegian investigators. Medvedev also apologised to the Ukrainian people.
Medvedev, who fought for the paramilitary Wagner Group in Ukraine between July and November 2022, fled to Norway after deserting. He told FRANCE 24 he did so because of the "methods" and "orders" of Wagner's commanding officers. According to the former mercenary, the men were sent into battle as "cannon fodder".
He said he took the risk of fleeing despite knowing that Wagner deserters suffered "very, very severe consequences", such as the execution of one of them with a sledgehammer, a horrific scene filmed and made public by Wagner.
86% fear Japan could be involved in war as tensions mount
Over 86 percent of people polled in a Japanese government survey released Tuesday said they see a danger of the country being involved in a war, a figure that is slightly up from the previous poll in 2018.
In the Cabinet Office survey, conducted between Nov 17 and Dec 25, 86.2 percent of the respondents said they see such danger or would say there is if they had to say, the highest figure since the 2009 survey when the response choices were changed to the current format. In the previous survey, 85.5 percent of the polled cited such a risk.
A Defense Ministry official said the respondents seem to believe there is a worsening security environment due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, China's military moves in the East and South China seas and North Korea's repeated launches of ballistic missiles.
Oceans littered with 171 trillion plastic pieces
More than 171 trillion pieces of plastic are now estimated to be floating in the world's oceans, according to scientists.
Plastic kills fish and sea animals and takes hundreds of years to break down into less harmful materials.
The concentration of plastics in the oceans has increased from 16 trillion pieces in 2005, data suggests.
Last week, nations signed the historic UN High Seas treaty aiming to protect 30% of the oceans.
In Russia, children opposing the Ukraine war are being targeted
A 12-year-old was punished over her anti-war artwork, the latest sign of a growing crackdown against young people.
Last April, 12-year-old Masha Moskalyova was asked to draw a picture for art class showing support for Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
Instead, she drew a mother and a child standing in the path of missiles with the captions “no to war” and “glory to Ukraine”.
The following day, her father Alexey Moskalyev, who was raising her alone in the town of Yefremov, in the Tula region, about 200km (125 miles) south of Moscow, was called to her school.
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