Anti-government protests resume in several Madagascar cities
Protesters once again took to the streets of Madagascar’s cities on Monday, marking a third consecutive week of anti-government demonstrations now c...
Iran and France indicated on Monday that talks on the release of two French citizens held in Iran in exchange for an Iranian national detained by France were progressing.
Iran has been holding Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris since 2022. An 18-year-old French-German cyclist, Lennart Monterlos, is also being held in Iran after his arrest in June.
France has repeatedly accused Iran of holding Kohler and Paris arbitrarily, keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran's Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection. The Islamic Republic denies the accusations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested in mid-September the French nationals could be exchanged for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon who was arrested this year over anti-Israel social media posts.
"The decision regarding the release of these two individuals and Mrs Esfandiari is currently being reviewed by the competent authorities," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a news conference on Monday.
"We hope that once the necessary procedures are completed, this will happen soon."
Outgoing French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio on Monday: "We have solid prospects of being able to bring them back in the coming weeks."
He added: "we remain fully mobilised and demand their immediate and unconditional release."
According to the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, Iran acquitted French-German national Lennart Monterlos of espionage charges, the chief justice of the southern province of Hormozgan said on Monday.
France in September dropped its case before the International Court of Justice against Iran for violating the right to consular protection of its citizens, a move that signalled there had been progress in efforts to reach a deal.
The case at the ICJ or World Court was widely seen as a bid to pressure Iran over the detention of its citizens. Iran has accused the pair of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Protesters once again took to the streets of Madagascar’s cities on Monday, marking a third consecutive week of anti-government demonstrations now calling for President Andry Rajoelina to step down.
Ukraine’s military says it has carried out strikes on one of Russia’s main explosives factories and an oil terminal in occupied Crimea, escalating long-range attacks on key sites supporting Moscow’s war effort.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will face bids to remove her for the second time in three months when hard-right and left groups in the European Parliament present no-confidence motions this week.
On the shores of the Red Sea, a bold architectural vision is taking shape. The Jeddah Tower, once called the Kingdom Tower, is set to become the world’s tallest building, a structure that doesn’t just redefine skylines, but reimagines what cities of the future could be.
The UK government has announced plans to give police new powers to restrict repeated protests in the same location, following pro-Palestinian demonstrations that went ahead despite requests to cancel them after a deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment