Author: Frank Deux

France 24 correspondent Wassim Cornet reports from Los Angeles, where authorities have ordered thousands to evacuate the Northern Palisades neighbourhood as a massive wildfire, buoyed by the strongest windstorm in almost 15 years, careened down the coast of southern California on Tuesday. People were seen leaving their cars to flee on foot, forcing authorities to remove the vehicles with bulldozers to allow hundreds of firefighters to attempt to contain the blaze. Thousands ordered to evacuate Los Angeles suburb as wildfire rages

US President-elect Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., visited Greenland on Tuesday, while his father refused to rule out military or economic coercion as a means to purchase the mineral and oil-rich island. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the Danish territory, as well as the Panama Canal, saying on Tuesday that they are necessary to ensure the US’ “economic security”.

Chad and Senegal hit back at comments made by President Macron claiming that African countries in the Sahel had “forgotten to say thank you” to France for helping to combat jihadist insurgencies. Both countries have demanded in recent months the withdrawal of French troops from their territories as France’s military presence in West Africa continues to wane. Chad FM accuses Macron of ‘contemptuous attitude towards Africa’

The US Department of Defense has added Chinese social media giant Tencent and battery leader CATL to a list of firms it says work with the Chinese military. We take a closer look. Also in this edition: Nippon Steel vows to keep trying to acquire US Steel under the new Trump administration, and the 2025 CES gets underway in Las Vegas. Pentagon says Chinese tech firms Tencent, CATL affiliated with Beijing’s military

France’s far-right figurehead Jean-Marie Le Pen died Tuesday aged 96, according to local media. Le Pen founded France’s National Front party, which is now known as the National Rally and led by his daughter Marine. French far-right figurehead Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at age 96

The South Asian kingdom of Bhutan has become a champion of environmental protection. Its forests are protected by the constitution, environment classes are taught in school and its electricity is 100 percent hydroelectric. All of this has contributed to making Bhutan the first carbon-negative country in the world. However, that doesn’t mean it’s immune to the effects of climate change. Because of global warming, Bhutan’s glaciers are melting and threatening to flood the villages down below. Our regional correspondents report. In carbon-negative Bhutan, glaciers are threatened by climate change

A South Korean court has approved a new arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon suk Yeol after he resisted an attempt by police last week. Anti-graft investigators are seeking to detain Yoon over his botched bid to impose martial law on the country early December.  South Korean investigators secure new arrest warrant for President Yoon

More than 2.7 billion in prizes Good morning. We start the live narration of the day of the Christmas Lottery draw. The bass drums are already ready at the Teatro Real in Madrid and will begin to move at 9:00, Spanish peninsular time. In total, 2,702 million euros will be distributed. The jackpot prize is valued at four million euros per series (which translates into 400,000 euros per tenth), while the second will distribute 125,000 euros per tenth and the third, 50,000 euros. Finally, the fourth prizes will give away 20,000 euros per ticket, while the fifth prizes will contribute…

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson arrived in France on Friday after spending five months in detention in Greenland based on an extradition request filed by Japan. He spoke to FRANCE 24 about his time in detention and his plans for the future.  ‘The most powerful weapon in the world is a camera,’ says anti-whaling activist Paul Watson

Pilar Alegría, Diana Morant, Óscar López and, predictably, María Jesús Montero return to their native regions to replicate the success of Salvador Illa in Catalonia Read Disembarkation of ministers, with little work as ministers, for control…

Kawéni shantytown, Mayotte, December 19, 2024. MORGAN FACHE FOR THE WORLD How many people will France mourn on Monday, December 23, the day of national mourning decreed by the president on Thursday during his visit to the French archipelago? The authorities have refused to comment. A number is eagerly awaited, but life-threatening emergencies are taking precedence over making these initial estimates. Anger is mounting, and the Interior Ministry admits that logistical difficulties are preventing it from helping those who have no water, electricity or food, six days after cyclone Chido passed through. “Neighborhoods remain difficult to access. The priority is…

One has 57 pages. The other, only two. The first is dated November 21. The second, last Thursday. The first analyzed the messages sent or received by email or instant messaging applications by the provincial chief prosecutor of Madrid, Pilar Rodríguez, between March 8 and 14. The second, those that contained the electronic devices of the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, on the same dates. They are two of the three reports that the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has sent in the last month to Judge Ángel Hurtado in an attempt to advance the investigations…

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…

“I’m getting tired of these passive-aggressive reminders,” says one Reddit user. And they’re not the only one to have complained about Duolingo’s messages. These range from texts criticizing users for not using the language-learning app, to images of the iconic owl looking sad, or even near-moribund when users haven’t logged in for a few days.“He’s just really tired of having to remind everyone to do their lessons, obviously,” said Duolingo’s head of social media on TikTok in reference to the owl’s sad-looking appearance, making it clear that the popular learning platform is using passive aggression to keep users engaged.More than…

People standing in front of the Paris special criminal court, on December 20, 2024, ahead of the verdict against eight people linked to the murder of Samuel Paty in 2020. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP Rarely was the verdict of a terrorist trial so eagerly awaited and scrutinized. Perhaps more than any other terrorist attack, the murder of Samuel Paty, who was decapitated on October 16, 2020, just a few meters from his school, has powerfully highlighted the fragilities and the strengths of a pillar of democracy: freedom of expression. This fundamental right had been the theme of the class…

Infant sleep is multiphasic, with many naps over 24 hours, before gradually becoming predominantly nocturnal from 4 to 6 months. JOHNÉR/PHOTONONSTOP With circles under their eyes and nerves on edge, parents of young children are flooded with sometimes contradictory advice on how to get their child to sleep. Clueless, some turn to a third party, such as sleep coaches, in order to find nocturnal respite. On Parents magazine’s Instagram account, one mother recounted her experience: “Our daughter still wasn’t sleeping through the night at seven months. (…) We needed a pacifier, to swaddle her, it took an infinite amount of…

“Dizziness, vomiting and in the worst cases, cardiac arrest, stroke and even death,” is the first thing Google responds when you type “alcohol and Diazepam.” However, Carla (not her real name), 15, and her friends don’t seem to give it any importance: “On special occasions, like New Year’s or the end of the school year, we mix alcohol with Diazepam so that we get high sooner,” she commented. this Thursday in the vicinity of Almansa Park, in the University City of Madrid. She and her friends started drinking approximately a year ago, coinciding with what has been reported for years…

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.  Albania to shut down TikTok for one year after fatal school stabbing

The Flamanville nuclear power plant in the Cotentin region of northern France. EDF hopes to connect France’s first EPR reactor, whose dome can be seen in the photo, to the grid before the end of 2024. ED ALCOCK / MYOP FOR THE WORLD France connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid on Saturday, December 21, in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays, budget overruns and technical setbacks. The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes at 11.48 am Saturday, the EDF power company’s CEO…

Gisèle Pelicot addresses the world’s press after the verdict is announced in Avignon on December 19, 2024. MANON CRUZ / REUTERS Four hundred and twenty years in prison… and now what? The world’s press unanimously hailed Gisèle Pelicot’s courage and the conviction of the 51 defendants on trial for the rapes under sedation that she endured for almost a decade. But beyond the judgment and the facts, what most foreign commentators underlined is that it marks the start of a new era in which everything remains to be done, because “we could all be the monster,” as The Country put…

There will be no cleaning strike on the next holidays in Barcelona. Unions and concessionaire companies have reached an agreement this Saturday that suspends a three-day cleaning strike in Barcelona during the Christmas holidays in Barcelona, ​​UGT sources have confirmed to EFE.The agreement, which both parties are drafting after a marathon negotiation, will allow the cleaning service in the city not to be suspended until December 25, as the unions had announced.In the last few hours, and as a preventive measure, Barcelona City Council had even appealed to “citizen collaboration” to, as far as possible, keep waste well separated and…

There have been so many horrors since September 2. And now peace. “The criminal hearing is adjourned,” Roger Arata, the presiding judge at the criminal court in Avignon, said on Thursday, December 19. After three months and 17 days, the courtroom emptied. The area around the courthouse was cleared for traffic. The feared outbursts did not occur. The few hundred feminist activists who had come with oranges to throw them at the defendants – they were confiscated by law enforcement – sang their last songs, shouted their last cries of support for Gisèle, then left with their placards. Read more…

Gisèle Pelicot leaves the courthouse with her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau after the verdict in the trial for Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-accused, in Avignon, France, December 19, 2024. ALEXANDRE DIMOU / REUTERS Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman whose ex-husband was jailed for 20 years for orchestrating and committing mass rapes against her with dozens of strangers, has no fear of a new trial if defendants appeal, her lawyer said Friday, December 20. Gisèle Pelicot, 72, has been hailed as a hero and feminist icon for her courage and dignity in the three-month trial that ended Thursday with all 51 defendants,…

Plainclothes agents of the Civil Guard, patrolling along AV-562, in Cebreros (Ávila), on Sunday, December 15.JUAN BARBOSATwo large-displacement motorcycles circulate a short distance away on the AV-562 highway, in the municipality of Cebreros (Ávila). They do it at a calm speed, enjoying the landscape and the dense forest on both sides of the road. They pass other bikers on their way, who wave to them to greet them. In the opposite direction, up to five and six two-wheeled vehicles pass together, on the way to the town of Avila. What those who greet them do not know is that, on…

Households will save between 4,700 and 5,900 million and energy companies will save between 1,100 and 1,500 Read The accounts, item by item, of savings for companies and families after the pact of the right against the Government