Cross-border commerce drives Türkiye-Azerbaijan-Georgia discussions
Expanding cross-border commerce and strengthening regional trade corridors topped the agenda in Baku on Tuesday (24 February), as senior lawmakers fro...
Indonesia and France have finalized an agreement to repatriate Serge Atlaoui.
Indonesia and France have signed an agreement to repatriate Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman who has been on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for alleged drug offenses. Atlaoui, 61, is set to return to France after months of talks between the two nations.
On February 4, following the signing of the deal remotely by Indonesia’s senior minister for law Yusril Ihza Mahendra and France’s Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, witnessed by both countries' delegations in Jakarta and Paris.
Indonesia has one of the toughest drug laws on the world. Atlaoui, who has been in prison for his involvement in an ecstasy production operation, was originally sentenced to life in prison, Atlaoui’s sentence was later changed to the death penalty after an appeal to the Supreme Court. After receiving the death sentence, he was initially held on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java, which is known as Indonesia’s "Alcatraz." Later on he was transferred to the city of Tangerang.
He received a temporary reprieve from the death sentence after Paris intensified its pressure, prompting Indonesian authorities to allow the pending appeal to be heard. He made a final plea last month, requesting to serve the remainder of his sentence in France due to his health condition, reportedly suffering from cancer.
The Indonesian government has agreed to transfer Atlaoui back to France, where he will complete his sentence. France’s ambassador to Indonesia, Fabien Penone, thanked the Indonesian government for granting Atlaoui’s request and emphasized the strengthening of legal cooperation between the two nations.
Atlaoui, a father of four, has maintained his innocence, claiming he believed he was working in an acrylics factory, not a drug lab. The agreement marks a step toward reinforcing bilateral relations between Indonesia and France.
Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.
The United States and Iran will hold a new round of nuclear negotiations in Geneva on Thursday as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to reach a potential agreement, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced on Sunday.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
Mexican authorities said on Sunday that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho and head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.
The European Parliament’s trade chief has urged a temporary suspension of the EU–U.S. trade agreement approval, citing “tariff chaos” following President Donald Trump’s new 15% tariffs and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating his previous global tariff programme.
U.S. military forces have seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean waters, the Pentagon said on Tuesday (24 February), adding that it was the third such operation.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday (24 February) urged Ukraine’s allies to maintain their backing as the war with Russia entered its fourth year, with divisions among European partners overshadowing anniversary commemorations.
Seven people were killed after gunmen ambushed a police patrol in Kohat, a district in Pakistan’s north-west near the Afghan border, on Tuesday, in an attack that comes amid rising militant violence and heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Western governments significantly expanded sanctions targeting Russia’s finance, energy, trade and technology sectors. The measures built on restrictions first imposed in 2014 following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.
Britain imposed its largest package of sanctions on Russia in years on Tuesday (24 February), marking the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as London also announced fresh military and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment