Friday, June 30, 2023
Watch: Protesters attack Nike store in central Paris
Crowds attempted to break into a Nike store, kicking and hitting windows. Violent riots rocked Paris for a third night after a French teenager was shot dead during a traffic stop.
Six In The Morning Friday 30 June 2023
French PM says gendarmes to use armoured vehicles against riots
The French gendarmerie, a military unit with law enforcement duties among the civilian population that is distinct from the police force, will use armoured vehicles to suppress riots, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said Friday, following three nights of violence after the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old boy during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.
The French gendarmerie will use armoured vehicles to suppress riots, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said Friday, after three nights of violence following the deadly shooting of a teenager during a traffic stop.
"Additional mobile forces" would be deployed along with the vehicles belonging to France's gendarmerie, Borne said, also announcing the cancellation of "large-scale events binding personnel and potentially posing risks to public order".
4:34pm: 'Perpetual lack of opportunity' in France's poorer suburbs
Poverty, lack of jobs and lack of opportunities are problems that have plagued many of the poorer suburbs surrounding Paris and other French cities for decades despite efforts to improve conditions by multiple French presidents, says FRANCE 24's international affairs commentator Douglas Herbert, following a third night of violence triggered by the police shooting of a teen in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
War crimes surge in Burkina Faso, the world’s ‘most neglected crisis’
Villagers increasingly caught up in army crackdown on Islamist militants, with both sides accused of mass killings of civilians
Civilians in Burkina Faso are being punished by the “total war” the government is waging against Islamist militant groups, with both sides accused of war crimes.
The military has been accused of targeting the Fulani ethnic group, while jihadists have sought retribution against villagers they believe support the government.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled), 1,694 civilians have been killed over the past year by the army and Islamist militants and the number soared between April and June, after a “general mobilisation” was announced to fight a more aggressive battle against the jihadists.
Chinese spy balloon did not collect information, US says
The Chinese balloon that flew across the US from Alaska early this year did not collect intelligence, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said that the US "took steps to mitigate" intelligence collection by the balloon.
The US Air force shot down the object just off of the South Carolina coast on February 4, after it had floated over the US mainland for days.
US officials have been studying the debris recovered from the Atlantic ocean.
"As you heard at that time, we were aware that the balloon has intelligence collection capabilities," Pat Ryder said in a press conference.
Darfur: Between two wars
Twenty years of conflict in Sudan, from Darfur to Khartoum and back.
In 2003, the Darfur war began. In 2023, a new conflict has engulfed the streets of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, while violence escalates in the restive western region. Where does this leave Darfur? Jérôme Tubiana, who has reported from the region numerous times since 2004, returned in March and early April 2023, just before the new conflict began.
I. Twenty years of war
It is 2023 and Darfur has officially been in conflict for 20 years.
But since January, speculation about tensions within the fragmented military apparatus in the Sudanese capital had funnelled attention away from this grim anniversary and towards worries about the immediate future. Then, on April 15, the fighting began - first in Khartoum, then the rest of the country. Now Darfur is embroiled in another conflict - or the extension and escalation of an old one.
Exclusive: Russian General Sergey Surovikin was secret VIP member of Wagner, documents show
Documents shared exclusively with CNN suggest that a top Russian military commander, Gen. Sergey Surovikin, was a secret VIP member of Wagner, the private military company that staged a brief rebellion exposing disunity among senior Russian military officials.
The documents, obtained by the Russian investigative Dossier Center, showed that Surovikin had been assigned a personal VIP Wagner registration number in 2018.
Surovikin is listed along with at least 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials, who the Dossier Center said are also VIP Wagner members. The identities of those officials has not been revealed.
Poland charges Russian ice hockey player with spying
By Jaroslav Lukiv
BBC News
An ice hockey player from Poland's major league has been charged with spying for Russia, Warsaw says.
The man, a Russian citizen, was arrested on 11 June in Silesia, southern Poland, and is believed to be part of a Russian spy ring.
Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) has so far detained 14 people suspected of being part of the group.
It says all of them are citizens of countries to the east of Poland, not necessarily just Russia.
The decades-long spy conflict between Russia and the West has intensified since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Poland is one of Ukraine's strongest allies, providing military and financial help as well as sheltering millions of Ukrainian refugees.
Thursday, June 29, 2023
The world’s most dangerous arms dealer
He’s a key figure in the clandestine wranglings of two superpowers: the United States and China. The FBI announced a five-million-dollar bounty for information leading to his arrest. Intelligence agencies and investigators have been trying for decades to stop him in his tracks: the arms dealer Karl Lee.
France police officer charged after Nahel shooting
The police officer accused of shooting dead 17-year-old Nahel M in Paris has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed under arrest.
It comes after the local prosecutor of Nanterre, where the teen lived and died, said earlier that the officer involved had been put under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.
A purge at the top of Russia's military establishment? | DW News
New revelations could signal the start of a purge at the top of Russia's military establishment. The Moscow Times and Financial Times report that General Sergei Surovikin has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner group's failed rebellion. The New York Times also says Surovikin had advance knowledge of Prigozhin’s plans. Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, has warned that, a 'weaker Putin is a greater danger.'
Six in The Morning Thursday 29 June 2023
French policeman formally placed under arrest over teenager's killing
A French policeman has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed under arrest on Thursday ahead of trial over the killing of a teenager at point blank range which sparked nationwide protests. Thousands gathered to honour the victim, alongside his family and loved ones, in his Paris neighbourhood. France's interior minister said 40,000 police officers will deployed on Thursday night to quell any fresh outbreaks of violence.
- The 17-year-old victim, identified only as Nahel M., was shot at point-blank range by a police officer on Tuesday morning in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. He was driving a yellow Mercedes in Nanterre when he was pulled over for traffic violations.
- Police initially reported that he was shot after driving his car at police, but this was contradicted by a video that rapidly went viral across social media and was later authenticated by AFP. The footage shows the two policemen standing by the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver. A voice is heard saying, "You are going to get a bullet in the head." The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off before gradually coming to a stop.
- The incident has so far caused two nights of violent unrest in the capital and cities across France that have seen protesters clash with police. Authorities said at least 150 people were arrested overnight.
- France's interior minister said 40,000 police officers will be deployed on Thursday night to quell further outbreaks of violence.
- A silent march is taking place in Nanterre on Thursday to honour Nahel M.
Many people in Mexico without power as deadly heat leads to strain on grid
Climate change has made high temperatures more common in the country, which has already surpassed peak energy demand of 2022
- This piece is republished from Inside Climate News.
When Raquel Rubio’s 13-month baby developed a 102F fever last week, she rushed to the doctor. Her son, Liam, had been in Rubio’s apartment without air conditioning for several hours; Nuevo León, the Mexican state where she lives, had reached 109F that day.
The doctor confirmed Rubio’s suspicions that the heat was driving her son’s temperature, and instructed her to bathe Liam and keep him hydrated. But Rubio couldn’t go back home; she had been dealing with power shortages for the past two weeks and didn’t want to take her son back into the blistering heat.
India: Rahul Gandhi stopped by police in Manipur
The opposition leader was on his way to the northeastern state of Manipur, where clashes between ethnic groups broke out in May. Police warned that the highway Gandhi's convoy was traveling along was at risk of attack.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was stopped by local police on Thursday while he was on his way to visit the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur.
Reports said police fired tear gas near the 53-year old's convoy to disperse a crowd that had started gathering in the area.
Gandhi was traveling to Churachandpur district, one of the areas worst affected by the violence.
Manipur, which borders Myanmar, has been witnessing heavy clashes between ethnic groups since early May.
Gandhi had planned to visit relief camps to meet people who were displaced by the recent unrest.
His convoy was stopped by security forces citing safety reasons and the volatile situation on the ground..
In blow to Sunak, UK court rules Rwanda deportation plan unlawful
Judges say Rwanda cannot be considered a safe third country, after the scheme was heavily criticised by rights groups.
A British court has ruled that the government’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful as the African nation cannot be considered a safe third country.
In a major setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has pledged to deter people from arriving across the Channel in small boats, three Court of Appeal judges on Thursday said the “removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda” would be “unlawful”.
“The deficiencies in the asylum system in Rwanda are such that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk that persons sent to Rwanda will be returned to their home countries where they face persecution or other inhumane treatment,” judge Ian Burnett said, but added that he, himself, disagreed with the other two judges on this point.
Protestors break into Swedish embassy in Baghdad after Stockholm Quran burning
Demonstrators breached the perimeter of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad Thursday, a day after a protestor burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden.
The protests in the Iraqi capital were ordered by the powerful Iraqi Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who also called for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad.
Videos circulating on social media showed some protesters climbing over a barricaded wall outside the embassy. It is unclear how far into the building they got, before withdrawing.
Sweden said its staff were safe. “We are well informed about the situation. Our Embassy staff are in safety and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is in regular contact with them,” the Swedish foreign ministry’s press office told CNN in an email.
Wagner: Satellite images show activity at military base in Belarus
By Jake Horton & Daniele Palumbo
BBC Verify
Satellite images appear to show activity at a disused military base in Belarus, amid speculation about Wagner forces relocating to the country.
An image from 27 June obtained by BBC Verify, and first reported by Radio Free Europe, shows what could be tents or similar structures appearing at the base.
An earlier image taken on 19 June shows the fields within the military compound largely empty.
The Wagner group, which is made up of mercenaries, had been fighting for Russia in Ukraine until last weekend, when it staged a rebellion.
Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, later called off an advance to Moscow after a deal was struck with the help of the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
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