france24--2020-12-29--Rashford tames Wolves to send Man Utd into second

Marcus Rashford 's deflected strike deep into stoppage time moved Manchester United to within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Wolves on Tuesday .
United laboured for long spells against a youthful Wolves side , but got a huge slice of fortune in the 93rd minute when Rashford 's shot hit Romain Saiss to leave Rui Patricio helpless .
Victory takes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 's men up to second and continues an excellent run of 23 points from the last possible 27 to mount an unlikely title challenge after a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enjoying one more day 's rest amid the packed festive schedule than their opponents , Solskjaer made six changes from the side that drew 2-2 at Leicester on Boxing Day .
Edinson Cavani made just his second Premier League start , while Paul Pogba returned in midfield , but United were fortunate to get away with a pedestrian performance .
Wolves were in action just 48 hours previously when they held Tottenham 1-1 at Molineux .
Nuno Espirito Santo brought in youngsters Max Kilman , Ki-Jana Hoever , Rayan Ait-Nouri and Vitinha to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan so nearly earned a valuable point even though they just ran out of gas in the closing stages .
The last clash between the sides at Old Trafford in February was Bruno Fernandes 's debut for United .
The Portuguese has had a transformative impact on the United 's fortunes , but he could not beat international teammate Patricio with by far the hosts ' best chance of the first-half as he snuck in at the back post to meet Mason Greenwood 's cross .
On Sunday , Saiss flicked home Pedro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wolves a deserved point against Spurs and the same two players nearly combined to open the scoring when Saiss turned Neto 's free-kick goalwards forcing David de Gea into a smart save .
Solskjaer lauded Cavani 's predatory instincts on the eve of the game , suggesting the Uruguayan will be handed an extension to his contract for next season .
The 33-year-old did find the net with his only chance 20 minutes from time , but was offside as the ball broke his way from a corner .
United posed more attacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they did for the first 75 as Pogba then stung the palms of Patricio from long-range .
Anthony Martial also blazed over from the edge of the box before the breakthrough arrived in stoppage time .
Rashford raced onto Fernandes 's hopeful long ball over the top and the England international 's shot hit Saiss and flew in at Patricio 's near post .

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) –
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Marcus Rashford's deflected strike deep into stoppage time moved Manchester United to within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Wolves on Tuesday.
United laboured for long spells against a youthful Wolves side, but got a huge slice of fortune in the 93rd minute when Rashford's shot hit Romain Saiss to leave Rui Patricio helpless.
Victory takes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men up to second and continues an excellent run of 23 points from the last possible 27 to mount an unlikely title challenge after a slow start to the season.
Despite enjoying one more day's rest amid the packed festive schedule than their opponents, Solskjaer made six changes from the side that drew 2-2 at Leicester on Boxing Day.
Edinson Cavani made just his second Premier League start, while Paul Pogba returned in midfield, but United were fortunate to get away with a pedestrian performance.
Wolves were in action just 48 hours previously when they held Tottenham 1-1 at Molineux.
Nuno Espirito Santo brought in youngsters Max Kilman, Ki-Jana Hoever, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Vitinha to give the visitors' energy and his plan so nearly earned a valuable point even though they just ran out of gas in the closing stages.
The last clash between the sides at Old Trafford in February was Bruno Fernandes's debut for United.
The Portuguese has had a transformative impact on the United's fortunes, but he could not beat international teammate Patricio with by far the hosts' best chance of the first-half as he snuck in at the back post to meet Mason Greenwood's cross.
On Sunday, Saiss flicked home Pedro Neto's corner late on to earn Wolves a deserved point against Spurs and the same two players nearly combined to open the scoring when Saiss turned Neto's free-kick goalwards forcing David de Gea into a smart save.
Solskjaer lauded Cavani's predatory instincts on the eve of the game, suggesting the Uruguayan will be handed an extension to his contract for next season.
The 33-year-old did find the net with his only chance 20 minutes from time, but was offside as the ball broke his way from a corner.
United posed more attacking threat in the final 15 minutes than they did for the first 75 as Pogba then stung the palms of Patricio from long-range.
Anthony Martial also blazed over from the edge of the box before the breakthrough arrived in stoppage time.
Rashford raced onto Fernandes's hopeful long ball over the top and the England international's shot hit Saiss and flew in at Patricio's near post.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Steelers' Roethlisberger to sit out NFL regular season finale

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will sit out the NFL playoff-bound Steelers ' regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns The Pittsburgh Steelers , assured of an NFL playoff berth with the AFC North division title , will rest veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the regular-season finale against the Browns in Cleveland .
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Mason Rudolph would get the start .
`` It does not change our intentions , in terms of going to Cleveland this weekend , '' Tomlin said in comments posted on the team 's website .
`` Football is our game .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do our job .
We intend to prepare with that mindset .
And ultimately lead us to that destination .
We 're not seeking comfort .
We 're not grading ourselves on a curve . ''
The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have already locked up the top seed and only first-round bye in the AFC .
The Buffalo Bills can clinch the second seed with a victory over Miami or a loss by the Steelers , who will enter the playoffs at no worse than the No .
3 seed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he planned to `` airmail a player or two to the post-season , '' although he did n't say which other starters , besides Roethlisberger , might not start against the Browns .
The Browns go into the contest fighting for their playoff lives .
They must win to have a chance to advance .

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The Pittsburgh Steelers, assured of an NFL playoff berth with the AFC North division title, will rest veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the regular-season finale against the Browns in Cleveland.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Mason Rudolph would get the start.
"It does not change our intentions, in terms of going to Cleveland this weekend," Tomlin said in comments posted on the team's website.
"Football is our game. Our job is winning. We intend to do our job. We intend to prepare with that mindset. And ultimately lead us to that destination. We're not seeking comfort. We're not grading ourselves on a curve."
The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have already locked up the top seed and only first-round bye in the AFC.
The Buffalo Bills can clinch the second seed with a victory over Miami or a loss by the Steelers, who will enter the playoffs at no worse than the No. 3 seed.
Given that scenario, Tomlin said, he planned to "airmail a player or two to the post-season," although he didn't say which other starters, besides Roethlisberger, might not start against the Browns.
The Browns go into the contest fighting for their playoff lives. They must win to have a chance to advance.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Biden says Trump vaccine plan falling 'far behind'

US President-elect Joe Biden wears a mask as he arrives for a briefing on Covid-19 in Wilmington , Delaware US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed a relentless effort to fight Covid-19 the moment he takes office , as he warned that Donald Trump 's vaccination drive was falling dangerously short .
Speaking after a briefing by experts , Biden promised that as president he will undertake the `` greatest operational challenge we 've ever faced as a nation '' to inoculate against the illness that has claimed more than 1.7 million lives globally .
`` The Trump administration 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind , '' Biden said , promising : `` I 'm going to move Heaven and Earth to get us going in the right direction . ''
The Trump administration had predicted that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of December .
With less than three days left , some 2.1 million have received the first shot of the vaccine , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Biden , who takes office on January 20 , confirmed that he would invoke the Korean War-era Defense Production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up vaccine production for the government .
He also implored Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and said he would impose a mandate on face covers in areas where the federal government has jurisdiction , such as airplanes .
`` We 're planning a whole-of-government effort and we 're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-to-reach communities , '' Biden said , '' We 're going to make sure vaccines are distributed equitably so every person can get one , no matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they live . ''
He voiced confidence of a return to normality in 2021 -- but not immediately .
`` We might not see improvement until we 're well into March as it will take time for our Covid response plan to begin to produce visible progress , '' Biden said .
`` The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough -- a very tough period for our nation , maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic . ''

Wilmington (United States) (AFP) –
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US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed a relentless effort to fight Covid-19 the moment he takes office, as he warned that Donald Trump's vaccination drive was falling dangerously short.
Speaking after a briefing by experts, Biden promised that as president he will undertake the "greatest operational challenge we've ever faced as a nation" to inoculate against the illness that has claimed more than 1.7 million lives globally.
"The Trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling far behind," Biden said, promising: "I'm going to move Heaven and Earth to get us going in the right direction."
The Trump administration had predicted that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of December.
With less than three days left, some 2.1 million have received the first shot of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Biden, who takes office on January 20, confirmed that he would invoke the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to force private industry to step up vaccine production for the government.
He also implored Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and said he would impose a mandate on face covers in areas where the federal government has jurisdiction, such as airplanes.
"We're planning a whole-of-government effort and we're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-to-reach communities," Biden said,
"We're going to make sure vaccines are distributed equitably so every person can get one, no matter the color of their skin and where they live."
He voiced confidence of a return to normality in 2021 -- but not immediately.
"We might not see improvement until we're well into March as it will take time for our Covid response plan to begin to produce visible progress," Biden said.
"The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough -- a very tough period for our nation, maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Illness will sideline Blackhawks center Toews indefinitely

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews , celebrating a goal in a 2020 NHL playoff game against the Vegas Golden Knights , will be sidelined indefinitely as he seeks treatment for an undisclosed illness Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said Tuesday he will be sidelined indefinitely from NHL action as he battles an undisclosed illness .
The 32-year-old center said in a statement he 's been experiencing symptoms that have left him feeling `` drained and lethargic . ''
`` I am working with doctors so I can better understand my condition , '' Toews said .
`` Until I can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where I feel I can perform at an elite level and help my team , I will not be joining the Blackhawks for training camp .
`` I do not have a timetable for when I will rejoin the team .
I am extremely disappointed , but it would n't be fair to myself or my teammates to attempt to play in my current condition . ''
Toews , a three-time Stanley Cup champion , scored 60 points ( 18 goals , 42 assists ) in 70 games last season and nine points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in nine post-season games .
A shortened season -- in the wake of the pandemic-disrupted 2019-20 campaign -- is scheduled to begin on January 13 , with NHL teams due to start formal training camps on January 3 .
The seven teams that did not participate in the 2019-20 return to play in the league 's quarantine hubs in Canada can open their camps as early as Thursday .
`` Jonathan 's health is our top priority as he deals with this medical issue , '' Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical staff will provide all necessary resources to help him return to playing hockey . ''
The Blackhawks are scheduled to begin the 56-game regular season at the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning on January 13 .

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Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said Tuesday he will be sidelined indefinitely from NHL action as he battles an undisclosed illness.
The 32-year-old center said in a statement he's been experiencing symptoms that have left him feeling "drained and lethargic."
"I am working with doctors so I can better understand my condition," Toews said. "Until I can get my health back to a place where I feel I can perform at an elite level and help my team, I will not be joining the Blackhawks for training camp.
"I do not have a timetable for when I will rejoin the team. I am extremely disappointed, but it wouldn't be fair to myself or my teammates to attempt to play in my current condition."
Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, scored 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) in 70 games last season and nine points (five goals, four assists) in nine post-season games.
A shortened season -- in the wake of the pandemic-disrupted 2019-20 campaign -- is scheduled to begin on January 13, with NHL teams due to start formal training camps on January 3.
The seven teams that did not participate in the 2019-20 return to play in the league's quarantine hubs in Canada can open their camps as early as Thursday.
"Jonathan's health is our top priority as he deals with this medical issue," Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. "The Chicago Blackhawks organization and our medical staff will provide all necessary resources to help him return to playing hockey."
The Blackhawks are scheduled to begin the 56-game regular season at the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning on January 13.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Russia launches new 'fraud' probe against Kremlin adversary Navalny

An activist holds a portrait of opposition politician Alexei Navalny during a picket in his support in Saint Petersburg , Russia December 22 , 2020 .
Russian investigators on Tuesday opened a criminal probe into Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny , alleging he used more than 356 million rubles ( $ 4.8 million ) of donations to his organisations for personal purposes including holidays abroad .
The Investigative Committee , which probes major crimes , said in a statement that the money was part of more than 588 million rubles Navalny had raised `` exclusively '' for his non-profit organisations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Navalny used the money to acquire `` personal property ( and ) material assets and to pay expenses ( including holidays abroad ) . ''
`` In this way , the funds collected from citizens were stolen , '' the committee added , saying it had opened a criminal case into `` fraud on an especially large scale '' .
The charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison .
Navalny , 44 , is currently recovering from a poisoning attempt in Germany .
He has said he will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restored .
In August , the Kremlin critic fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow and was hospitalised in the city of Omsk before being transferred to Berlin by medical aircraft .
Experts in several Western countries concluded that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent -- a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied .
Navalny , Russia 's most prominent opposition figure , has said the main security agency Federal Security Service ( FSB ) was behind the poisoning at the direction of President Vladimir Putin .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ probe against him as `` invented by Putin '' .
`` Well , I immediately said that they will try to put me in jail because I did n't die '' from the poisoning , he wrote on Twitter .
Navalny has faced charges of fraud before .
In February 2014 he was charged with fraud and money laundering and spent almost a year under house arrest before receiving a suspended sentence in December that year .
Last year Europe 's tops right courts ruled that Russia had violated Navalny 's rights with @ @ @

Russian investigators on Tuesday opened a criminal probe into Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, alleging he used more than 356 million rubles ($4.8 million) of donations to his organisations for personal purposes including holidays abroad.
An activist holds a portrait of opposition politician Alexei Navalny during a picket in his support in Saint Petersburg, Russia December 22, 2020.
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The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement that the money was part of more than 588 million rubles Navalny had raised "exclusively" for his non-profit organisations, including the Anti-Corruption Fund.
The committee said Navalny used the money to acquire "personal property (and) material assets and to pay expenses (including holidays abroad)."
"In this way, the funds collected from citizens were stolen," the committee added, saying it had opened a criminal case into "fraud on an especially large scale".
The charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Navalny, 44, is currently recovering from a poisoning attempt in Germany. He has said he will return to Russia once his health is restored.
In August, the Kremlin critic fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow and was hospitalised in the city of Omsk before being transferred to Berlin by medical aircraft.
Experts in several Western countries concluded that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent -- a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition figure, has said the main security agency Federal Security Service (FSB) was behind the poisoning at the direction of President Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday Navalny described the fresh criminal probe against him as "invented by Putin".
"Well, I immediately said that they will try to put me in jail because I didn't die" from the poisoning, he wrote on Twitter.
Navalny has faced charges of fraud before.
In February 2014 he was charged with fraud and money laundering and spent almost a year under house arrest before receiving a suspended sentence in December that year.
Last year Europe's tops right courts ruled that Russia had violated Navalny's rights with the case.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-12-30--Ex-France coach Domenech gets a clown's welcome at Nantes

Raymond Domenech 's first training session at Ligue 1 club Nantes Wednesday was marred by a band of supporters playing circus music with a 'ringmaster ' taking aim at both the former France coach and club owner Waldemar Kita Raymond Domenech 's first training session at Ligue 1 club Nantes Wednesday was marred by a band of supporters playing circus music with a 'ringmaster ' taking aim at the former France coach and club owner Waldemar Kita , and comparing players to goats .
An onlooking Domenech , who has signed a six-month contract with Nantes for his first job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cup , had taken a back seat to allow club trainer Cyril Moine to put the players through their paces .
But the peaceful atmosphere soon changed , with Domenech , who last coached a club side in 1993 and left his role as les Bleus boss after finishing bottom of the group and suffering a player revolt in South Africa , the clear target .
`` Ladies and gentlemen , welcome to the Kita Circus !
The Kita Circus brings you some new amazing new acts , '' boomed a member of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a background of deafening circus music .
`` Raymond Domenech will explain to us his vision of football , what will make us laugh on the upcoming weekends . ''
Domenech and Kita aside , the players were also targeted .
`` And finally the Kita Circus brings you its traditional animal act .
Eleven goats will be dispersed on a green rectangle and will have to pass a ball .
`` Exclusively at the Kita Circus , a show that has lasted 13 years , for the young and the old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reference to the arrival of Kita as club president in 2007 .
The criticism did not sit well with the players , Abdoulaye Toure having to be held back by his teammates .
Flanked by two bodyguards , Kita himself attended the end of the training session to talk with the players in front of a complete turnout of backroom staff .

Nantes (France) (AFP) –
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Raymond Domenech's first training session at Ligue 1 club Nantes Wednesday was marred by a band of supporters playing circus music with a 'ringmaster' taking aim at the former France coach and club owner Waldemar Kita, and comparing players to goats.
An onlooking Domenech, who has signed a six-month contract with Nantes for his first job since the fiasco at the 2010 World Cup, had taken a back seat to allow club trainer Cyril Moine to put the players through their paces.
But the peaceful atmosphere soon changed, with Domenech, who last coached a club side in 1993 and left his role as les Bleus boss after finishing bottom of the group and suffering a player revolt in South Africa, the clear target.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kita Circus! The Kita Circus brings you some new amazing new acts," boomed a member of the 'Brigade Loire' supporters' club to a background of deafening circus music.
"Raymond Domenech will explain to us his vision of football, what will make us laugh on the upcoming weekends."
Domenech and Kita aside, the players were also targeted.
"And finally the Kita Circus brings you its traditional animal act. Eleven goats will be dispersed on a green rectangle and will have to pass a ball.
"Exclusively at the Kita Circus, a show that has lasted 13 years, for the young and the old," the 'ringmaster' said in reference to the arrival of Kita as club president in 2007.
The criticism did not sit well with the players, Abdoulaye Toure having to be held back by his teammates.
Flanked by two bodyguards, Kita himself attended the end of the training session to talk with the players in front of a complete turnout of backroom staff.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--Coutinho injury blow for Barcelona

Coutinho injury blow for Barcelona

Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho needs surgery to mend a torn meniscus after the Brazilian limped off the pitch late in @ @ @ @ @ with Eibar .
His loss adds to a long list of injuries including Lionel Messi @ @ @ @ @ La Liga seven points off leaders Atletico Madrid .
`` It 's the meniscus in @ @ @ @ @ needs surgery , which will be carried out in the coming days , '' a @ @ @ @ @ was recruited from Liverpool for £142 million pounds ( 157m euros ) in 2018 .
@ @ @ @ @ the success he enjoyed on Merseyside in Barcelona , where his talent has withered in @ @ @ @ @ was loaned out to Bayern Munich last season but the Germans opted against signing him @ @

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Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho needs surgery to mend a torn meniscus after the Brazilian limped off the pitch late in Tuesday's drab home draw with Eibar.
His loss adds to a long list of injuries including Lionel Messi with the club sixth in La Liga seven points off leaders Atletico Madrid.
"It's the meniscus in his left knee and it needs surgery, which will be carried out in the coming days," a Barcelona statement said.
Coutinho was recruited from Liverpool for £142 million pounds (157m euros) in 2018.
But Coutinho failed to replicate the success he enjoyed on Merseyside in Barcelona, where his talent has withered in Messi's shadow. He was loaned out to Bayern Munich last season but the Germans opted against signing him permanently.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--Indonesia bans hardline Islamic Defender's Front

Police tore down signs at the headquarters of Indonesian hardline Islamic Defenders Front after banning the organisation Indonesia has banned an influential hardline Islamic group as police held its leader in custody over allegations he violated virus protocols by holding mass gatherings , the country 's chief security minister said Wednesday .
The order bans the Islamic Defender 's Front ( FPI ) from holding activities or using its name in public , effectively yanking its ability to legally operate .
The politically powerful group was long-notorious in the world 's most populous Muslim majority nation for targeting night clubs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' .
It has also attacked minority Muslim sects it considers `` deviant '' .
`` The government prohibits and will stop any FPI activities because they do not have legal standing as a mass organisation , '' chief security minister Mahfud MD told reporters in Jakarta Wednesday .
The group 's license to operate had expired last year but it continued activities illegally , he added .
The move sparked an angry reaction from the Islamist group , which vowed to carry on despite the ban .
`` They can ban FPI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to defend the country and religion , '' said group spokesman Novel Bamukmin .
`` If we want , we can declare a new Islamic organisation this afternoon .
If it 's banned again , we will do it again ... We 're here to stay , '' he added .
Police arrested the FPI 's firebrand leader Rizieq Shihab two weeks ago over allegations he breached coronavirus restrictions after holding a series of sermons with tens of thousands of followers .
The arrest came just days after Jakarta police shot dead six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If found guilty , Shihab could face up to six years behind bars .
Shihab was welcomed by tens of thousands of followers on his return last month from Saudi Arabia where he fled shortly after police named him a suspect in a pornography case in 2017 .
He remained in exile for three years .
Since his return , he 's called for a `` moral revolution '' , stirring concerns about the group 's bid to boost its political power .
Shihab was among the main figures behind mass rallies in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Basuki Tjahaja Purnama , over allegations that he insulted the Koran .
Basuki , who is Christian , was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy .

Jakarta (AFP) –
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Indonesia has banned an influential hardline Islamic group as police held its leader in custody over allegations he violated virus protocols by holding mass gatherings, the country's chief security minister said Wednesday.
The order bans the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI) from holding activities or using its name in public, effectively yanking its ability to legally operate.
The politically powerful group was long-notorious in the world's most populous Muslim majority nation for targeting night clubs and other establishments it deemed "immoral".
It has also attacked minority Muslim sects it considers "deviant".
"The government prohibits and will stop any FPI activities because they do not have legal standing as a mass organisation," chief security minister Mahfud MD told reporters in Jakarta Wednesday.
The group's license to operate had expired last year but it continued activities illegally, he added.
The move sparked an angry reaction from the Islamist group, which vowed to carry on despite the ban.
"They can ban FPI but they cannot stop our struggle to defend the country and religion," said group spokesman Novel Bamukmin.
"If we want, we can declare a new Islamic organisation this afternoon. If it's banned again, we will do it again... We're here to stay," he added.
Police arrested the FPI's firebrand leader Rizieq Shihab two weeks ago over allegations he breached coronavirus restrictions after holding a series of sermons with tens of thousands of followers.
'Moral revolution'
The arrest came just days after Jakarta police shot dead six FPI followers in a highway shootout.
If found guilty, Shihab could face up to six years behind bars.
Shihab was welcomed by tens of thousands of followers on his return last month from Saudi Arabia where he fled shortly after police named him a suspect in a pornography case in 2017.
He remained in exile for three years.
Since his return, he's called for a "moral revolution", stirring concerns about the group's bid to boost its political power.
Shihab was among the main figures behind mass rallies in 2016 against the then governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, over allegations that he insulted the Koran.
Basuki, who is Christian, was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--Blasts hit Yemen's Aden airport as new government arrives

Smoke clouds billowed into the air after explosions at Yemen 's Aden airport on December 30 , 2020 , shortly after the arrival of a plane carrying members of a new unity government Explosions rocked Yemen 's Aden airport on Wednesday shortly after the arrival of a plane carrying the new unity government , with the information minister accusing Iran-backed Huthi rebels of the `` cowardly '' attack .
`` At least two explosions were heard as the cabinet members were leaving the aircraft , '' an AFP correspondent at the scene said .
The number of casualties remains unclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported to be unharmed .
Plumes of smoke billowed from the airport building in the southern city as debris lay strewn across the area , with people rushing to tend to the wounded , footage broadcast by Saudi television channel Al-Hadath showed .
Crowds who had gathered on the airport apron waiting to greet the new government fled , terrified .
Sporadic gunfire was heard soon after .
Yemen 's internationally recognised government and southern separatists formed a power-sharing cabinet on December 18 , forging a joint front against the Huthi rebels who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the north .
Yemeni Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani said that all the members of the government were safe .
`` We assure our great people that members of the government are fine , and we assure you that the cowardly terrorist attack by the Iran-supported Huthi militia will not deter us from carrying out our patriotic duty , '' he said on Twitter .
The cabinet members arrived in Aden days after being sworn in by Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia , which leads a military coalition against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Riyadh after Sanaa fell to the Huthis in 2014 .
Tens of thousands of people , mostly civilians , have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen 's grinding five-year war , which has triggered what the United Nations has called the world 's worst humanitarian disaster .
The new government includes ministers loyal to Hadi and supporters of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council ( STC ) , as well as other parties .
Prime Minister Main Said has retained his position in the new government , while changes have taken place in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
While all oppose Huthi forces , deep divisions have grown between the forces , and the Riyadh-sponsored push to form the unity government was designed to mend rifts .
Saudi Arabia has been encouraging the unity government to quell the `` war within a civil war '' and to bolster the coalition against the Huthis , who are poised to seize the key town of Marib , the last government stronghold in the north .
In recent months , the rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia -- including its critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Riyadh-led military campaign .
Yemen also still hosts a significant jihadist presence , including Al-Qaeda and militants loyal to the Islamic State group , despite two decades of air and drone strikes by the United States .
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP ) , which the US considers the terror group 's most dangerous branch , has thrived in the chaos of Yemen 's civil war between pro-government forces and the Huthi rebels .
It has carried out operations against both the Huthis and government forces .
The unity government formation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US President-elect Joe Biden , who was critical of Saudi Arabia during his campaign amid the humanitarian disaster in Yemen since Riyadh 's intervention in the conflict in 2015 .

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Explosions rocked Yemen's Aden airport on Wednesday shortly after the arrival of a plane carrying the new unity government, with the information minister accusing Iran-backed Huthi rebels of the "cowardly" attack.
"At least two explosions were heard as the cabinet members were leaving the aircraft," an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
The number of casualties remains unclear, although all the government ministers were reported to be unharmed.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the airport building in the southern city as debris lay strewn across the area, with people rushing to tend to the wounded, footage broadcast by Saudi television channel Al-Hadath showed.
Crowds who had gathered on the airport apron waiting to greet the new government fled, terrified. Sporadic gunfire was heard soon after.
Yemen's internationally recognised government and southern separatists formed a power-sharing cabinet on December 18, forging a joint front against the Huthi rebels who have seized the capital Sanaa and much of the north.
Yemeni Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani said that all the members of the government were safe.
"We assure our great people that members of the government are fine, and we assure you that the cowardly terrorist attack by the Iran-supported Huthi militia will not deter us from carrying out our patriotic duty," he said on Twitter.
The cabinet members arrived in Aden days after being sworn in by Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition against the insurgents.
Hadi fled to the Saudi-capital Riyadh after Sanaa fell to the Huthis in 2014.
- Humanitarian crisis -
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen's grinding five-year war, which has triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
The new government includes ministers loyal to Hadi and supporters of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as other parties.
Prime Minister Main Said has retained his position in the new government, while changes have taken place in several ministries, including the foreign ministry.
While all oppose Huthi forces, deep divisions have grown between the forces, and the Riyadh-sponsored push to form the unity government was designed to mend rifts.
Saudi Arabia has been encouraging the unity government to quell the "war within a civil war" and to bolster the coalition against the Huthis, who are poised to seize the key town of Marib, the last government stronghold in the north.
In recent months, the rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia -- including its critical oil infrastructure -- in retaliation for the Riyadh-led military campaign.
Yemen also still hosts a significant jihadist presence, including Al-Qaeda and militants loyal to the Islamic State group, despite two decades of air and drone strikes by the United States.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which the US considers the terror group's most dangerous branch, has thrived in the chaos of Yemen's civil war between pro-government forces and the Huthi rebels.
It has carried out operations against both the Huthis and government forces.
The unity government formation comes a month before the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, who was critical of Saudi Arabia during his campaign amid the humanitarian disaster in Yemen since Riyadh's intervention in the conflict in 2015.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--Criticism grows in France over 'slow' vaccination drive

In the first three days of the campaign less than 100 people have been given the jab in France .
The French government on Wednesday faced criticism over the slow progress of its drive to vaccinate people against Covid-19 , a problem compounded by the high levels of public scepticism about the campaign .
France on Sunday joined several other EU countries in launching vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab , focussing its initial efforts on elderly residents of care homes .
But in the first three days of the campaign less than 100 people have been given the jab , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany -- raising questions over the government 's cautious approach to vaccinating a largely sceptical population .
France 's strategy `` is not suited to a situation that is so dangerous , '' Axel Kahn , a prominent geneticist who leads the National League against Cancer told Europe 1 radio .
Kahn said the government should seek to persuade people who are hesitating to be inoculated with `` transparency and enthusiasm '' .
`` We need to protect the French people and those who are vulnerable . ''
He also called for health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the queue for the jab , over the elderly .
Britain , which began vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks ahead of the EU , has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people , while over a million have received a jab in the United States .
Philippe Juvin , emergency services chief at Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris , said that there appeared to be no national `` vaccine strategy '' in France .
`` As an individual , I would like to be vaccinated , to set an example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't die from the vaccine , we die from Covid .
And when we do n't die , we get severe forms which are very disabling , '' he told CNews TV channel .
A poll on vaccine consent conducted by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum showed the hurdles faced by the government to achieve mass immunity .
It showed that just 40 percent of the French want to receive the vaccine .
This puts France well behind other developed nations like Britain on 77 percent and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Speaking on France 2 television late Tuesday , Health Minister Olivier Veran defended the more measured pace in France , saying that officials were taking time to win people over to the idea of being vaccinated .
`` It takes a little more time to get going , '' he said , adding he expected to catch up on the rest of the world by the end of January .
Rebuffing criticism on social media , a health ministry official said : `` We have not set out for a 100-metre sprint but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunday welcoming the vaccine rollout , President Emmanuel Macron had alluded to the widespread vaccine scepticism in France .
He said `` reason and science must guide us '' in the homeland of Louis Pasteur , the 19th century scientist who discovered the principles of vaccination .
`` The vaccine is not obligatory .
Have confidence in our scientists and doctors , '' said Macron .

Paris (AFP) –
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The French government on Wednesday faced criticism over the slow progress of its drive to vaccinate people against Covid-19, a problem compounded by the high levels of public scepticism about the campaign.
France on Sunday joined several other EU countries in launching vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, focussing its initial efforts on elderly residents of care homes.
But in the first three days of the campaign less than 100 people have been given the jab, -- compared to 42,000 so far in Germany -- raising questions over the government's cautious approach to vaccinating a largely sceptical population.
France's strategy "is not suited to a situation that is so dangerous," Axel Kahn, a prominent geneticist who leads the National League against Cancer told Europe 1 radio.
Kahn said the government should seek to persuade people who are hesitating to be inoculated with "transparency and enthusiasm".
"We need to protect the French people and those who are vulnerable."
He also called for health workers to be moved to the top of the queue for the jab, over the elderly.
Britain, which began vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks ahead of the EU, has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people, while over a million have received a jab in the United States.
Philippe Juvin, emergency services chief at Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris, said that there appeared to be no national "vaccine strategy" in France.
"As an individual, I would like to be vaccinated, to set an example, and show people that we don't die from the vaccine, we die from Covid. And when we don't die, we get severe forms which are very disabling," he told CNews TV channel.
- 'Takes time' -
A poll on vaccine consent conducted by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum showed the hurdles faced by the government to achieve mass immunity.
It showed that just 40 percent of the French want to receive the vaccine.
This puts France well behind other developed nations like Britain on 77 percent and the United States on 69 per cent.
Speaking on France 2 television late Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran defended the more measured pace in France, saying that officials were taking time to win people over to the idea of being vaccinated.
"It takes a little more time to get going," he said, adding he expected to catch up on the rest of the world by the end of January.
Rebuffing criticism on social media, a health ministry official said: "We have not set out for a 100-metre sprint but a marathon."
In tweets on Sunday welcoming the vaccine rollout, President Emmanuel Macron had alluded to the widespread vaccine scepticism in France.
He said "reason and science must guide us" in the homeland of Louis Pasteur, the 19th century scientist who discovered the principles of vaccination.
"The vaccine is not obligatory. Have confidence in our scientists and doctors," said Macron.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--Blasts and gunfire at Yemen's Aden airport as new unity govt arrives

A security personnel member reacts as dust rises after explosions hit Aden airport , upon the arrival of the newly-formed Yemeni government in Aden , Yemen December 30 , 2020 .
At least five people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday , a security source said , shortly after a plane carrying a newly formed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen arrived from Saudi Arabia .
Loud blasts and gunfire were heard at the airport shortly after the plane arrived , witnesses said .
The cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber , were transferred safely to the city 's presidential palace , the witnesses and Saudi media said .
`` We and the members of the government are in the temporary capital of Aden and everyone is fine , '' Maeen tweeted from Maasheq palace .
`` The cowardly terrorist act that targeted Aden airport is part of the war that is being waged against the Yemeni state and its great people . ''
A local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport 's hall .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with southern separatists .
The two groups are the main Yemeni factions in a southern-based , Saudi-backed alliance , fighting against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north , including the capital Sanaa .
Live TV footage from Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel showed dozens of people leaving the airplane when a first blast hit the airport 's hall .
Heavy gunfire from armoured vehicles followed with plumes of white and black smoke rising from the scene .
Other video showed damage to the terminal 's concrete walls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city of Aden has been mired in violence because of a rift between the separatists and Hadi 's government , based there after being driven from the capital by the Houthis in 2014 .
The separatist Southern Transitional Council ( STC ) , which seeks independence for south Yemen , declared self rule in Aden earlier this year , triggering clashes and complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the overall conflict .
The Saudi-led coalition announced earlier this month the new power-sharing cabinet that would include the separatists .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negotiated for more than a year with Saudi mediation .

At least 26 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday, medical and security sources said, shortly after a plane carrying a newly formed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen arrived from Saudi Arabia.
A security personnel member reacts after explosions hit Aden airport, upon the arrival of the newly formed Yemeni government in Aden, Yemen on December 30, 2020.
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Hours after the attack, a second explosion was heard around Aden's Maasheq presidential palace where the cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, had been taken to safely, residents and local media said.
Loud blasts and gunfire were heard at the airport shortly after the plane arrived, witnesses said. A local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport's hall.
Aden health official Mohamed Robeid gave the death figure and said 50 people were wounded, adding the death toll could rise. Médecins Sans Frontières aid group earlier said 17 people had been treated for wounds at its hospital in Aden.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said one of its employees was among those confirmed dead and "two others are unaccounted for and three were injured".
Government officials were among the casualties in the airport attack, sources said.
There was no claim of responsibility and it was unclear what caused the explosions.
"We and the members of the government are in the temporary capital of Aden and everyone is fine," PM Maeen tweeted from Maasheq palace. "The cowardly terrorist act that targeted Aden airport is part of the war that is being waged against the Yemeni state and its great people."
The newly formed cabinet unites the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with southern separatists. The two groups are the main Yemeni factions in a southern-based, Saudi-backed alliance, fighting against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north, including the capital Sanaa.
Live TV footage from Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya channel showed dozens of people leaving the airplane when a first blast hit the airport's hall. Heavy gunfire from armoured vehicles followed with plumes of white and black smoke rising from the scene.
Other video showed damage to the terminal's concrete walls and smashed glass.
The southern port city of Aden has been mired in violence because of a rift between the separatists and Hadi's government, based there after being driven from the capital by the Houthis in 2014.
The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks independence for south Yemen, declared self rule in Aden earlier this year, triggering clashes and complicating United Nations efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the overall conflict.
The Saudi-led coalition announced earlier this month the new power-sharing cabinet that would include the separatists.
The cabinet landed from Riyadh where both parties negotiated for more than a year with Saudi mediation.
The Houthis denied any responsibility for the attack. The separatists said their leadership was the main target of the attackers and not the government.
UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths condemned the attack in a statement.
"I wish the cabinet strength in facing the difficult tasks ahead," he said. "This unacceptable act of violence is a tragic reminder of the importance of bringing Yemen urgently back on the path towards peace."
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)
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france24--2020-12-30--Annus horribilis: A look back at the top 12 stories of 2020

The year was dominated by news of the coronavirus , which rapidly spread from Wuhan , China , to kill more than 1.7 million people and forcing much of the world into lockdown while highlighting global inequalities and institutional failures .
But other issues also grabbed the world ’ s attention , from the devastating Australia bushfires to global protests against racism .
Record temperatures and severe drought gave rise to massive fires that roared across the Australian bush throughout the summer season in the southern hemisphere , peaking in December 2019 and January .
More than 10.3 million hectares @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burned , equal to the size of South Korea .
The fires created one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history , killing or displacing more than 3 billion animals including 60,000 koalas .
At least nine firefighters were killed trying to combat the fires .
More than 5,900 buildings including more than 2,800 homes were destroyed .
Scientists estimated that the wildfires pumped around 900 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere , nearly double Australia ’ s total greenhouse gas emissions over the preceding year .
The smoke became @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were admitted to hospital because of smoke inhalation , which was linked to at least 445 deaths as the smoke shrouded cities including Sydney , Adelaide and Canberra .
Some 20 million people , around 80 percent of the Australian population , were affected by the smoke , which travelled across the globe to create hazy skies 12,000km away in South America .
A January 3 US drone strike near Baghdad airport killed Qassem Soleimani , the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ’ s special Quds Force .
Soleimani , who had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his death , has been instrumental in establishing or expanding Iranian influence throughout the Middle East .
His forces backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country ’ s civil war as well as militant groups across the region including Kata ’ ib Hezbollah in Iraq , Hezbollah in Lebanon , Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Israel , and the Houthis in Yemen .
Soleimani ’ s backing of non-state armed groups had earned him EU sanctions and the Quds Force a spot on the US terrorist blacklist .
His death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strike on an Iraqi army base that killed an American civilian contractor and an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad , sparked fears of regional destabilisation amid escalating tensions with the United States .
A popular and charismatic figure in Iran , huge crowds attended Soleimani ’ s funeral procession in Tehran on January 7 , with at least 56 people killed in a stampede .
According to the Pentagon , which claimed responsibility for his death , Soleimani and his forces “ were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of thousands more ” .
Britain officially left the EU as scheduled on January 31 , although the UK has remained part of the EU single market and customs union during the agreed transition period with the de facto divorce delayed until December 31 .
Negotiations on the two sides ’ future relationship were stalled until a last-ditch deal on December 24 broke the impasse , giving goods from both sides tariff- and quota-free access to each other ’ s market .
Fishing was one of two major stumbling blocks .
Currently , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU fishermen .
The EU wanted the UK to largely maintain this status quo while the UK wanted to ensure that “ British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats ” .
The agreement requires EU fishing boats to give up 25 percent of their current quotas over the next five and a half years .
After that , there will be annual negotiations on the amount of fish that EU ships can take from British waters .
State aid was the other sticking point .
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clause in the EU withdrawal agreement that would have limited his options for subsidising British companies .
The EU insisted on a “ level playing field ” without distortive subsidies in the UK .
The December 24 agreement included the creation of an independent body to oversee any concerns either side has about the other ’ s use of state aid .
The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 gave rise to the greatest global crisis since World War II , prompting nationwide lockdowns and plunging economies into crisis .
The first cases were discovered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Hubei province , as early as November 2019 .
Most scientists believe the Covid-19 virus emerged from animals in China , probably bats , before jumping to humans .
Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang tried to raise the alarm in late December , only to be silenced by local authorities .
He died of Covid-19 in February .
Hubei ’ s nearly 60 million residents went into lockdown in late January .
Italy became the first European nation to impose a nationwide lockdown in February as the northern city of Bergamo became a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human toll .
Many Western countries including France , the UK and Spain implemented lockdowns in March .
Several US states including New York and California did the same .
Stocks crashed – with Wall Street suffering its biggest one-day loss since the 2008 financial crisis on March 9 – until central banks led by the Federal Reserve pumped liquidity into markets later in the month .
In the first three months of 2020 , the G20 group ’ s economies contracted by 3.4 percent year-on-year , according to the OECD .
Workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10 percent in the first nine months of 2020 , according to the International Labour Organisation , with millions unable to work due to forced shutdowns and many small businesses struggling to survive .
The coronavirus resurged across the Western world after the first confinement measures ended , prompting several nations to impose second lockdowns towards the end of the year .
The WHO has so far registered more than 1.7 million deaths from the virus .
Mass protests in the US against systemic racism in the wake of the death of George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to France , which has had its own problems with accusations of racism in policing .
Video images shared on social media showed Floyd , 44 , being held down , a policeman 's knee on his neck , as he repeatedly pleaded for air .
“ I can ’ t breathe , ” Floyd ’ s last words , appeared on protest signs around the world .
Floyd ’ s death prompted a resurgence of the US Black Lives Matter ( BLM ) movement , which first emerged in the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin , 17 , in Florida .
The US saw more than 4,700 Black Lives Matter demonstrations , which reached a crescendo on June 6 when half a million people protested at almost 550 locations across the country .
Inspired in part by the Black Lives Matter movement , protesters took to the streets across the world .
In June , protesters in the British city of Bristol toppled a statue of 18th-century slave trader Edward Colston while Belgium removed statues of King Leopold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo , across the country .
Outrage against police also spilled onto the streets of Paris , where Floyd ’ s death shined a new spotlight on the case of Adama Traoré , a 24-year-old Black man who died in 2016 after being restrained by French police .
An autopsy ordered by his family found that he was killed by asphyxiation .
But experts overruled that in May , exonerating the three police officers involved .
More than 10,000 people demonstrated in “ Justice for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters also taking to the streets in Marseille , Lyon and Lille .
In November , four police officers were charged over the beating of Black music producer Michel Zecler in Paris .
The attack on Zecler – images of which were first published by news site Loopholder and which involved officers hurling racial epithets – galvanised fresh protests against a draft law that would have limited the right to share images of on-duty police .
Critics , who warned the bill would curtail the ability to document police misconduct , eventually won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the controversial provision known as Article 24 .
After living in relative peace and harmony since the 1997 handover , 2020 was the year that China tightened the screws on Hong Kong – officially a semi-autonomous special administrative region – with the introduction of a security law that would have allowed for China to extradite Hong Kong citizens .
Hong Kong residents rallied en masse and China backed down on extraditions but implemented new restrictions on popular protests .
In late June the National People ’ s Congress in Beijing passed a controversial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ separatism , subversion , terrorism and collusion with foreign countries .
Critics say the law contravenes Hong Kong ’ s autonomous status under the 1984 Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China when Hong Kong was still a British colony .
Colonial Hong Kong enjoyed a degree of political liberalism including freedom of expression , the rule of law and an impartial justice system .
A number of pro-democracy activists were arrested this year , including Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow and media tycoon Jimmy Lai .
“ Hong Kong has been put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which “ you can ’ t trust further than you can spit ” , said Christopher Patten , the last British governor of Hong Kong , in an interview with FRANCE 24 .
On August 4 , the accidental detonation of a stockpile of chemicals stored at the Beirut port killed more than 200 people , left another 300,000 instantly homeless and devastated the already struggling Lebanese economy .
Decades of state negligence were blamed for the blast , which was caused by the ignition of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many years .
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab as well as three ex-ministers were charged with criminal neglect .
The explosion happened as Lebanon was already grappling with a financial meltdown including rapid inflation , soaring poverty and mass unemployment .
The international community has been urging Lebanon 's leaders to break the political deadlock that has blocked billions of dollars in assistance from the World Bank , the UN and the European Union while Beirut struggles to form a new government .
The aid – which includes food and healthcare as well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the port of Beirut – remains contingent on government reforms .
The World Bank said in December that Lebanon ’ s economy is facing an “ arduous and prolonged depression ” with real GPD expected to plunge by nearly 20 percent because its leadership has failed to introduce reforms .
The Belarusian opposition mounted an unprecedented challenge in 2020 to President Aleksander Lukashenko , who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994 .
Belarus ’ s rival candidates were in prison during this year ’ s August 9 elections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a prominent jailed opposition figure , ran anyway , vowing to release political prisoners and conduct free and fair elections within six months .
Lukashenko announced himself the victor with 80 percent of the vote – to widespread incredulity .
Tikhanovskaya was detained and forced to read out a statement decrying the protest movement before fleeing to Lithuania .
Since the vote , thousands took to the streets during months of weekend protests .
Lukashenko has tried to clamp down with mass arrests , beatings and torture , according to Human Rights Watch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ determined , according to a recent survey by Poland-based sociologists , that found 84 percent of demonstrators are willing to carry on protesting until Lukashenko leaves office .
The long-disputed , semi-autonomous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh stole global headlines after a long-simmering conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted into a hot war in September .
Azerbaijan , backed by drones from Turkey , launched a military assault on Nagorno-Karabakh , a predominantly ethnic Armenian region on its territory , leaving several thousand dead .
A Russia-brokered peace agreement in November ended the fighting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas of the breakaway region along with seven neighbouring areas .
In the town of Kalbajar people burned their homes before fleeing ahead of arriving Azerbaijani troops .
But according to Paris-based historian and Eastern Europe specialist Galia Ackerman , all parties involved benefitted from the peace deal expect for Armenia .
“ Russia regains its grip on Armenia and gets boots on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh , ” Akerman told FRANCE 24 .
“ Turkey strengthens its links with Azerbaijan ; and Azerbaijan is delighted because they have recovered territory that separatists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a century.
” The death of French middle-school teacher Samuel Paty on October 16 prompted a new round of soul-searching in France over secularism , integration and freedom of religion .
Paty was murdered by a Russian-Chechen Islamist incensed that Paty showed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a class on civil liberties and freedom of speech .
Paty had shown the controversial images , from satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo , to his civics class while emphasising that students could choose not to look at them if they found them offensive .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , President Emmanuel Macron hailed the slain teacher as a hero and vowed that France would never give up its Enlightenment values – including the right to caricature , the right to blaspheme and the “ right to mock ” , even to mock religion .
France has a long tradition of caricature in which it has often challenged both religious and political authorities .
Charlie Hebdo caricatures often lampoon Catholicism as well as other religions .
On October 29 , an attacker with a knife killed three people worshipping at a church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was seeing a wave of Islamist violence .
A Tunisian man who arrived in France the previous month was charged for murder .
Macron announced plans to combat `` radical Islamism '' on French soil in December .
But some critics feared the law would unduly stigmatise the country ’ s Muslim community , which is Europe 's largest .
It took weeks to become official , but Democratic challenger Joe Biden beat Republican incumbent Donald Trump , who still refuses to concede , in the November 3 US presidential elections .
Two-thirds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election , a turnout not seen in more than a century , with nearly 160 million people casting ballots – up from around 138 million in 2016 .
Biden garnered 80 million votes , more than any other presidential candidate in history .
Amid Trump ’ s frequent fraud allegations before and after Election Day , the country was braced for worst-case scenarios that would test the world 's most powerful democracy .
In the end , Trump lost with 232 electoral college votes to 306 for Biden .
Despite a raft of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Electoral College on December 14 officially confirmed Joe Biden as the nation ’ s next president .
Biden not only won the crucial “ rust belt ” states of Michigan , Wisconsin and Pennsylvania ( states that Democrat Hillary Clinton famously lost in 2016 ) but he also won the former GOP strongholds of Georgia and Arizona , which had not voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1992 and 1996 , respectively .
As the world fixated on results trickling in from the US presidential elections , Ethiopian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) Abiy Ahmed on November 4 ordered a military assault against the Tigrayan People ’ s Liberation Front ( TPLF ) in the northern breakaway province of Tigray .
Tensions between the government and TPLF , which was once part of the governing coalition , had been on the rise in recent months .
Tigray held its own elections in September , insisting Abiy ’ s rule was illegitimate after a national vote was delayed due to the coronavirus .
Federal forces said on November 28 that they had captured Mekelle , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said this meant the conflict was over but the TPLF vowed to continue fighting until the “ invaders ” leave .
As the conflict raged , tens of thousands fled over the border into Sudan .
Meanwhile , resources were running out for 100,000 Eritrean refuges who had been sheltering in camps in Tigray .
Ethiopia finally granted access to the UN to deliver aid to the area at the start of December .
The UN has warned a million people have so far been displaced by the conflict and said evidence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civilians have been reported killed in artillery strikes , UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on December 22 .
A communications blackout has made reports of Eritrean military involvement and mass civilian casualties hard to verify .

Retrospective
The year was dominated by news of the coronavirus, which rapidly spread from Wuhan, China, to kill more than 1.7 million people and forcing much of the world into lockdown while highlighting global inequalities and institutional failures. But other issues also grabbed the world’s attention, from the devastating Australia bushfires to global protests against racism.
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AUSTRALIA BUSHFIRES
Record temperatures and severe drought gave rise to massive fires that roared across the Australian bush throughout the summer season in the southern hemisphere, peaking in December 2019 and January. More than 10.3 million hectares (103,000 sq km) were eventually burned, equal to the size of South Korea.
The fires created one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history, killing or displacing more than 3 billion animals including 60,000 koalas. At least nine firefighters were killed trying to combat the fires. More than 5,900 buildings including more than 2,800 homes were destroyed.
Scientists estimated that the wildfires pumped around 900 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, nearly double Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions over the preceding year.
The smoke became another hazard. More than 4,000 people were admitted to hospital because of smoke inhalation, which was linked to at least 445 deaths as the smoke shrouded cities including Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra. Some 20 million people, around 80 percent of the Australian population, were affected by the smoke, which travelled across the globe to create hazy skies 12,000km away in South America.
Scientists estimated that the Australia wildfires in the 2019-20 southern hemisphere summer pumped around 900 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Peter PARKS AFP
THE KILLING OF QASSEM SOLEIMANI
A January 3 US drone strike near Baghdad airport killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s special Quds Force.
Soleimani, who had led the Quds Force since 1998 until his death, has been instrumental in establishing or expanding Iranian influence throughout the Middle East. His forces backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war as well as militant groups across the region including Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Israel, and the Houthis in Yemen. Soleimani’s backing of non-state armed groups had earned him EU sanctions and the Quds Force a spot on the US terrorist blacklist.
His death, which came days after a rocket strike on an Iraqi army base that killed an American civilian contractor and an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, sparked fears of regional destabilisation amid escalating tensions with the United States.
A popular and charismatic figure in Iran, huge crowds attended Soleimani’s funeral procession in Tehran on January 7, with at least 56 people killed in a stampede.
According to the Pentagon, which claimed responsibility for his death, Soleimani and his forces “were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more”.
BRITAIN OFFICIALLY LEAVES THE EU
Britain officially left the EU as scheduled on January 31, although the UK has remained part of the EU single market and customs union during the agreed transition period with the de facto divorce delayed until December 31.
Negotiations on the two sides’ future relationship were stalled until a last-ditch deal on December 24 broke the impasse, giving goods from both sides tariff- and quota-free access to each other’s market.
Fishing was one of two major stumbling blocks. Currently, British waters are a common resource for EU fishermen. The EU wanted the UK to largely maintain this status quo while the UK wanted to ensure that “British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats”. The agreement requires EU fishing boats to give up 25 percent of their current quotas over the next five and a half years. After that, there will be annual negotiations on the amount of fish that EU ships can take from British waters.
State aid was the other sticking point. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced legislation in September to break a clause in the EU withdrawal agreement that would have limited his options for subsidising British companies. The EU insisted on a “level playing field” without distortive subsidies in the UK.
The December 24 agreement included the creation of an independent body to oversee any concerns either side has about the other’s use of state aid.
COVID-19 AND A WORLD ON LOCKDOWN
The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 gave rise to the greatest global crisis since World War II, prompting nationwide lockdowns and plunging economies into crisis.
The first cases were discovered in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province, as early as November 2019. Most scientists believe the Covid-19 virus emerged from animals in China, probably bats, before jumping to humans. Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang tried to raise the alarm in late December, only to be silenced by local authorities. He died of Covid-19 in February.
Hubei’s nearly 60 million residents went into lockdown in late January. Italy became the first European nation to impose a nationwide lockdown in February as the northern city of Bergamo became a chilling warning of the pandemic’s human toll.
Many Western countries including France, the UK and Spain implemented lockdowns in March. Several US states including New York and California did the same. Stocks crashed – with Wall Street suffering its biggest one-day loss since the 2008 financial crisis on March 9 – until central banks led by the Federal Reserve pumped liquidity into markets later in the month.
In the first three months of 2020, the G20 group’s economies contracted by 3.4 percent year-on-year, according to the OECD. Workers’ incomes fell by an average of 10 percent in the first nine months of 2020, according to the International Labour Organisation, with millions unable to work due to forced shutdowns and many small businesses struggling to survive.
The coronavirus resurged across the Western world after the first confinement measures ended, prompting several nations to impose second lockdowns towards the end of the year.
The WHO has so far registered more than 1.7 million deaths from the virus.
A doctor on a visit to see a woman and her 80-year-old mother (in bed) with potential Covid-19 symptoms near Bergamo, Italy on March 27, 2020. AFP - PIERO CRUCIATTI
DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD SPARKS GLOBAL PROTESTS
Mass protests in the US against systemic racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd spread across the globe, including to France, which has had its own problems with accusations of racism in policing.
Video images shared on social media showed Floyd, 44, being held down, a policeman's knee on his neck, as he repeatedly pleaded for air. “I can’t breathe,” Floyd’s last words, appeared on protest signs around the world.
Floyd’s death prompted a resurgence of the US Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which first emerged in the United States in 2013 after neighbourhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Florida.
The US saw more than 4,700 Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which reached a crescendo on June 6 when half a million people protested at almost 550 locations across the country.
Inspired in part by the Black Lives Matter movement, protesters took to the streets across the world. In June, protesters in the British city of Bristol toppled a statue of 18th-century slave trader Edward Colston while Belgium removed statues of King Leopold II, known for his brutal rule of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, across the country.
Outrage against police also spilled onto the streets of Paris, where Floyd’s death shined a new spotlight on the case of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old Black man who died in 2016 after being restrained by French police. An autopsy ordered by his family found that he was killed by asphyxiation. But experts overruled that in May, exonerating the three police officers involved. More than 10,000 people demonstrated in “Justice for Adama” rallies in June, with protesters also taking to the streets in Marseille, Lyon and Lille.
In November, four police officers were charged over the beating of Black music producer Michel Zecler in Paris. The attack on Zecler – images of which were first published by news site Loopholder and which involved officers hurling racial epithets – galvanised fresh protests against a draft law that would have limited the right to share images of on-duty police. Critics, who warned the bill would curtail the ability to document police misconduct, eventually won out, with the government eventually abandoning the controversial provision known as Article 24.
A man recites poetry at a makeshift memorial for George Floyd, at the spot where he was taken into custody, in Minneapolis, USA, June 1, 2020. REUTERS - LUCAS JACKSON
CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON HONG KONG
After living in relative peace and harmony since the 1997 handover, 2020 was the year that China tightened the screws on Hong Kong – officially a semi-autonomous special administrative region – with the introduction of a security law that would have allowed for China to extradite Hong Kong citizens. Hong Kong residents rallied en masse and China backed down on extraditions but implemented new restrictions on popular protests. In late June the National People’s Congress in Beijing passed a controversial security law against ambiguously worded offences of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries.
Critics say the law contravenes Hong Kong’s autonomous status under the 1984 Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China when Hong Kong was still a British colony. Colonial Hong Kong enjoyed a degree of political liberalism including freedom of expression, the rule of law and an impartial justice system.
A number of pro-democracy activists were arrested this year, including Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow and media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
“Hong Kong has been put into handcuffs by the Chinese regime”, which “you can’t trust further than you can spit”, said Christopher Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, in an interview with FRANCE 24.
BEIRUT BLAST DEVASTATES LEBANON
On August 4, the accidental detonation of a stockpile of chemicals stored at the Beirut port killed more than 200 people, left another 300,000 instantly homeless and devastated the already struggling Lebanese economy.
Decades of state negligence were blamed for the blast, which was caused by the ignition of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at Beirut port for many years. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab as well as three ex-ministers were charged with criminal neglect.
The explosion happened as Lebanon was already grappling with a financial meltdown including rapid inflation, soaring poverty and mass unemployment.
The international community has been urging Lebanon's leaders to break the political deadlock that has blocked billions of dollars in assistance from the World Bank, the UN and the European Union while Beirut struggles to form a new government. The aid – which includes food and healthcare as well as funds for education and the reconstruction of the port of Beirut – remains contingent on government reforms.
The World Bank said in December that Lebanon’s economy is facing an “arduous and prolonged depression” with real GPD expected to plunge by nearly 20 percent because its leadership has failed to introduce reforms.
A woman sits amidst the rubble in her damaged house in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 6, 2020. - AFP
BELARUS PROTESTS
The Belarusian opposition mounted an unprecedented challenge in 2020 to President Aleksander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.
Belarus’s rival candidates were in prison during this year’s August 9 elections. But Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of a prominent jailed opposition figure, ran anyway, vowing to release political prisoners and conduct free and fair elections within six months. Lukashenko announced himself the victor with 80 percent of the vote – to widespread incredulity. Tikhanovskaya was detained and forced to read out a statement decrying the protest movement before fleeing to Lithuania.
Since the vote, thousands took to the streets during months of weekend protests. Lukashenko has tried to clamp down with mass arrests, beatings and torture, according to Human Rights Watch. However, the opposition movement remains determined, according to a recent survey by Poland-based sociologists, that found 84 percent of demonstrators are willing to carry on protesting until Lukashenko leaves office.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
The long-disputed, semi-autonomous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh stole global headlines after a long-simmering conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted into a hot war in September. Azerbaijan, backed by drones from Turkey, launched a military assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian region on its territory, leaving several thousand dead.
A Russia-brokered peace agreement in November ended the fighting, with Armenia required to withdraw from three areas of the breakaway region along with seven neighbouring areas. In the town of Kalbajar people burned their homes before fleeing ahead of arriving Azerbaijani troops.
But according to Paris-based historian and Eastern Europe specialist Galia Ackerman, all parties involved benefitted from the peace deal expect for Armenia.
“Russia regains its grip on Armenia and gets boots on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Akerman told FRANCE 24. “Turkey strengthens its links with Azerbaijan; and Azerbaijan is delighted because they have recovered territory that separatists had occupied for more than a quarter of a century.”
A house burns in a village outside the town of Kalbajar, on November 14, 2020, after a peace agreement was signed to end the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Alexander NEMENOV AFP/File
TEACHER’S KILLING REVIVES DEBATE OVER ISLAMISM IN FRANCE
The death of French middle-school teacher Samuel Paty on October 16 prompted a new round of soul-searching in France over secularism, integration and freedom of religion. Paty was murdered by a Russian-Chechen Islamist incensed that Paty showed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a class on civil liberties and freedom of speech.
Paty had shown the controversial images, from satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, to his civics class while emphasising that students could choose not to look at them if they found them offensive.
In response to Paty’s murder, President Emmanuel Macron hailed the slain teacher as a hero and vowed that France would never give up its Enlightenment values – including the right to caricature, the right to blaspheme and the “right to mock”, even to mock religion. France has a long tradition of caricature in which it has often challenged both religious and political authorities. Charlie Hebdo caricatures often lampoon Catholicism as well as other religions.
On October 29, an attacker with a knife killed three people worshipping at a church in Nice, sparking fears that France was seeing a wave of Islamist violence. A Tunisian man who arrived in France the previous month was charged for murder.
Macron announced plans to combat "radical Islamism" on French soil in December. But some critics feared the law would unduly stigmatise the country’s Muslim community, which is Europe's largest.
French President Emmanuel Macron, pays his respects in front of the coffin of Samuel Paty at Sorbonne University, Paris on October 21, 2020, AFP - FRANCOIS MORI
JOE BIDEN BEATS DONALD TRUMP
It took weeks to become official, but Democratic challenger Joe Biden beat Republican incumbent Donald Trump, who still refuses to concede, in the November 3 US presidential elections.
Two-thirds of eligible voters took part in the election, a turnout not seen in more than a century, with nearly 160 million people casting ballots – up from around 138 million in 2016. Biden garnered 80 million votes, more than any other presidential candidate in history.
Amid Trump’s frequent fraud allegations before and after Election Day, the country was braced for worst-case scenarios that would test the world's most powerful democracy. In the end, Trump lost with 232 electoral college votes to 306 for Biden. Despite a raft of court challenges by Trump's legal team, the Electoral College on December 14 officially confirmed Joe Biden as the nation’s next president.
Biden not only won the crucial “rust belt” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (states that Democrat Hillary Clinton famously lost in 2016) but he also won the former GOP strongholds of Georgia and Arizona, which had not voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1992 and 1996, respectively.
President-elect Joe Biden announces several new members of his administration at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, December 11, 2020. © Susan Walsh, AP
ETHIOPIA’S WAR IN TIGRAY
As the world fixated on results trickling in from the US presidential elections, Ethiopian PM (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Abiy Ahmed on November 4 ordered a military assault against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern breakaway province of Tigray. Tensions between the government and TPLF, which was once part of the governing coalition, had been on the rise in recent months. Tigray held its own elections in September, insisting Abiy’s rule was illegitimate after a national vote was delayed due to the coronavirus.
Federal forces said on November 28 that they had captured Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region. Abiy said this meant the conflict was over but the TPLF vowed to continue fighting until the “invaders” leave.
As the conflict raged, tens of thousands fled over the border into Sudan. Meanwhile, resources were running out for 100,000 Eritrean refuges who had been sheltering in camps in Tigray. Ethiopia finally granted access to the UN to deliver aid to the area at the start of December.
The UN has warned a million people have so far been displaced by the conflict and said evidence of war crimes was mounting.
Hundreds of civilians have been reported killed in artillery strikes, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on December 22. A communications blackout has made reports of Eritrean military involvement and mass civilian casualties hard to verify.
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france24--2020-12-30--Abortion rights around the world

Abortion rights around the world

Pro-choice activists celebrate after the Senate approved a bill to legalize abortion outside the Congress in Buenos Aires .
Abortion laws vary around the world , with some countries having outright bans while others maintain highly restrictive laws .
After Argentina became one of only a handful of South American nations to legalise the process , following hours of debate in the Senate , here is a snapshot of the global situation : In El Salvador , the courts have handed down lengthy jail sentences , some of up to 30 years , to women who have lost their babies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Malta is the only European Union country to ban abortion totally , imposing jail terms of between 18 months and three years if the law is broken .
Abortion is also banned in Andorra , the Vatican and San Marino , which are in Europe but not members of the European Union .
Globally there are total bans in Congo-Brazzaville , Democratic Republic of Congo , Dominican Republic , Egypt , El Salvador , Gabon , Guinea-Bissau , Haiti , Honduras , Laos , Madagascar , Mauritania , Nicaragua , Philippines , Palau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow abortions in cases where the mother 's life is deemed to be in danger .
In Brazil the law only allows terminations in cases of rape , risk to the life of the mother or if the foetus is missing part or all of the brain .
In 2017 , Chile ended nearly three decades of a strict ban when then president Michelle Bachelet signed into law legislation to decriminalise abortion in certain cases .
In 2019 South Korea 's constitutional court ordered the country 's decades-old abortion ban to be lifted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law to be revised by the end of 2020 .
In October the Seoul government submitted a draft law allowing abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy , to the ire of pro-lifers , while not satisfying abortion campaigners either .
The same month in Poland the constitutional court ruled that abortions due to birth defects were unconstitutional -- a decision that would impose a near-total ban on terminations .
The ruling has not yet been published officially , meaning it does not apply , but doctors have been cancelling scheduled abortions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law .
Women from Europe , North America and Oceania benefit from the most liberal legislation , in some cases acquired only recently .
Argentina 's landmark bill legalises voluntary abortions at any stage up to 14 weeks of pregnancy .
Previously , terminations had only been allowed in two instances : rape , and danger to the mother 's life .
New Zealand only decriminalised abortion in March 2020 .
Up to then it was punishable with a 14-year prison term .
In Australia , the state of Queensland legalised abortion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ era law .
Only New South Wales , the country 's most populous state , continues to ban abortion .
In Ireland abortion has only been legal since 2018 , following a historic referendum which did away with the constitutional ban on abortion in the Catholic country .
It was also legalised in 2019 in Northern Ireland , the only part of the United Kingdom where it was prohibited .
In the United States abortion was legalised nationwide in 1973 but it has remained a contentious issue .
President-elect Joe Biden during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to abortion in law if he was elected .
Campaigners for abortion rights fear a step backwards in the Supreme Court which US President Donald Trump in October tilted firmly to the right , picking his third conservative judge , Amy Coney Barrett , who is deeply opposed to abortion .

Paris (AFP) –
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Abortion laws vary around the world, with some countries having outright bans while others maintain highly restrictive laws.
After Argentina became one of only a handful of South American nations to legalise the process, following hours of debate in the Senate, here is a snapshot of the global situation:
- Total ban -
In El Salvador, the courts have handed down lengthy jail sentences, some of up to 30 years, to women who have lost their babies, including through abortion.
Predominantly Catholic Malta is the only European Union country to ban abortion totally, imposing jail terms of between 18 months and three years if the law is broken.
Abortion is also banned in Andorra, the Vatican and San Marino, which are in Europe but not members of the European Union.
Globally there are total bans in Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Laos, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Philippines, Palau, Senegal and Suriname.
- Restricted -
Many countries allow abortions in cases where the mother's life is deemed to be in danger.
A partial list includes: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, Paraguay, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Venezuela, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.
In Brazil the law only allows terminations in cases of rape, risk to the life of the mother or if the foetus is missing part or all of the brain.
In 2017, Chile ended nearly three decades of a strict ban when then president Michelle Bachelet signed into law legislation to decriminalise abortion in certain cases.
In 2019 South Korea's constitutional court ordered the country's decades-old abortion ban to be lifted in a landmark ruling and ordered the law to be revised by the end of 2020.
In October the Seoul government submitted a draft law allowing abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy, to the ire of pro-lifers, while not satisfying abortion campaigners either.
The same month in Poland the constitutional court ruled that abortions due to birth defects were unconstitutional -- a decision that would impose a near-total ban on terminations.
The ruling has not yet been published officially, meaning it does not apply, but doctors have been cancelling scheduled abortions for fear of falling foul of the law.
- Change -
Women from Europe, North America and Oceania benefit from the most liberal legislation, in some cases acquired only recently.
Argentina's landmark bill legalises voluntary abortions at any stage up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Previously, terminations had only been allowed in two instances: rape, and danger to the mother's life.
New Zealand only decriminalised abortion in March 2020. Up to then it was punishable with a 14-year prison term.
In Australia, the state of Queensland legalised abortion in 2018, abolishing an 1899 British colonial era law. Only New South Wales, the country's most populous state, continues to ban abortion.
In Ireland abortion has only been legal since 2018, following a historic referendum which did away with the constitutional ban on abortion in the Catholic country.
It was also legalised in 2019 in Northern Ireland, the only part of the United Kingdom where it was prohibited.
In the United States abortion was legalised nationwide in 1973 but it has remained a contentious issue. President-elect Joe Biden during the 2020 race promised to enshrine the right to abortion in law if he was elected.
Campaigners for abortion rights fear a step backwards in the Supreme Court which US President Donald Trump in October tilted firmly to the right, picking his third conservative judge, Amy Coney Barrett, who is deeply opposed to abortion.
burs-eab/adp
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-30--New tremors shake Croatia after deadly quake

The 6.4-magnitude quake left gaping holes in buildings and crushed cars under mountains of bricks Fresh tremors shook Croatia on Wednesday as the Adriatic country was still picking up the pieces of a deadly earthquake that claimed seven lives and reduced buildings to rubble the day before .
The aftershocks jangled nerves in towns south of Zagreb where Tuesday 's 6.4-magnitude quake left gaping holes in buildings and crushed cars under mountains of bricks .
Many in and around the the hard-hit town of Petrinja spent a sleepless night in fear of new tremors , with some opting to pass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nearby military barracks .
`` We spent the night in the car with our children , as did our inlaws in theirs .
Our house is gone , it 's all cracked inside , we ca n't be there anymore '' , a young woman from the small village of Majske Poljane , where five were killed , told regional broadcaster N1 .
The dead also included a young girl who was struck dead by falling debris on a street in Petrinja , and another man who was buried beneath rubble in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told state news agency HINA .
Wednesday morning 's 4.8 and 4.7 magnitude aftershocks rattled the region before dawn , striking near the same epicentre 50 kilometres ( 30 miles ) south of Zagreb , according to the United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) .
Rescue teams with dogs had spent the night scouring ruins in the area , but no new victims were found by the mountain rescue service , the organisation 's chief Josip Granic told reporters .
At least 20 people were injured , Croatian police said , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wreckage with the help of dogs .
The European Union 's crisis management chief , Janez Lenarcic , was due to visit Petrinja on Wednesday as the bloc prepared aid for its member state .
`` At the moment , mostly winter tents , electric heaters , sleeping beds and sleeping bags are needed as well as housing containers '' , Lenarcic wrote on Twitter .
Parts of Petrinja and the nearby town Sisak were still without electricity Wednesday morning .
Tuesday 's major quake rocked homes , schools and other buildings in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a moderate tremor a day earlier on Monday .
The Balkans lie near fault lines and see regular seismic activity .
`` I hope that the authorities of the country , with the help of the international community , will soon be able to alleviate the suffering of the dear Croatian people '' .

Petrinja (Croatia) (AFP) –
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Fresh tremors shook Croatia on Wednesday as the Adriatic country was still picking up the pieces of a deadly earthquake that claimed seven lives and reduced buildings to rubble the day before.
The aftershocks jangled nerves in towns south of Zagreb where Tuesday's 6.4-magnitude quake left gaping holes in buildings and crushed cars under mountains of bricks.
Many in and around the the hard-hit town of Petrinja spent a sleepless night in fear of new tremors, with some opting to pass the night in cars or shelter in a nearby military barracks.
"We spent the night in the car with our children, as did our inlaws in theirs. Our house is gone, it's all cracked inside, we can't be there anymore", a young woman from the small village of Majske Poljane, where five were killed, told regional broadcaster N1.
The dead also included a young girl who was struck dead by falling debris on a street in Petrinja, and another man who was buried beneath rubble in a nearby village church, a priest told state news agency HINA.
Wednesday morning's 4.8 and 4.7 magnitude aftershocks rattled the region before dawn, striking near the same epicentre 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Zagreb, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Rescue teams with dogs had spent the night scouring ruins in the area, but no new victims were found by the mountain rescue service, the organisation's chief Josip Granic told reporters.
At least 20 people were injured, Croatian police said, while six were rescued alive Tuesday from the wreckage with the help of dogs.
- EU aid -
The European Union's crisis management chief, Janez Lenarcic, was due to visit Petrinja on Wednesday as the bloc prepared aid for its member state.
"At the moment, mostly winter tents, electric heaters, sleeping beds and sleeping bags are needed as well as housing containers", Lenarcic wrote on Twitter.
Parts of Petrinja and the nearby town Sisak were still without electricity Wednesday morning.
Tuesday's major quake rocked homes, schools and other buildings in central Croatia that were already weakened by a moderate tremor a day earlier on Monday.
The Balkans lie near fault lines and see regular seismic activity.
"I hope that the authorities of the country, with the help of the international community, will soon be able to alleviate the suffering of the dear Croatian people".
© 2020 AFP