france24--2020-06-09--Venezuelans queue for days as historic petrol shortage hits country

`` May 20 , petrol station on Andrés Bello Avenue in Caracas . ''
Petrol shortages aren ’ t new in Venezuela , but the problem has worsened over the past few months .
Since mid-March , when the government put in place a lockdown to halt the spread of Covid-19 , the capital city Caracas has also been affected by the shortages , even though it was largely spared in the past.This situation might seem surprising to some as Venezuela has the largest petrol reserves in the world .
The problem is that the country only produces 622,000 barrels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fifth of what it was producing 10 years ago , according to OPEC.The drop in petrol production is the result of a deterioration in infrastructure , a lack of investment and corruption .
Moreover , the country ’ s refineries can only process 100,000 barrels a day .
In the past , they could process more than a million barrels a day , but quite a number of sites have closed.As a result , Venezuela ’ s consumption of petrol exceeds its production capabilities , which means they have to import .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is becoming more and more difficult for the country to buy petrol abroad because of American sanctions .
The country is also short on cash because of the historic drop in oil prices and the serious economic crisis that has been gripping the country over the past few years.Recently , the government imposed petrol rationing and most petrol stations in the country have closed .
In order to get petrol , people have to go to one of the few open stations and wait in lines that sometimes stretch for kilometres upon kilometres @

VENEZUELA
Left, a photo by Enrique Rondon Nieto in San Antonio de los Altos (Miranda) on May 28. The image in the centre is a screengrab of a video filmed by Robert Lobo in Caracas on May 20. Right, a screengrab of a video taken by Ray Alvarado in Caracas on May 25.
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Venezuela is currently experiencing the worst petrol shortage in its history. With residents forced to wait in line for hours or even days to get just a few litres of petrol, some have started buying it on the flourishing black market… If they can afford it. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Venezuelans about how they are coping.
Petrol shortages aren’t new in Venezuela, but the problem has worsened over the past few months. Since mid-March, when the government put in place a lockdown to halt the spread of Covid-19, the capital city Caracas has also been affected by the shortages, even though it was largely spared in the past.
What caused the fuel shortage?
This situation might seem surprising to some as Venezuela has the largest petrol reserves in the world. The problem is that the country only produces 622,000 barrels a day. That’s just a fifth of what it was producing 10 years ago, according to OPEC.
The drop in petrol production is the result of a deterioration in infrastructure, a lack of investment and corruption. Moreover, the country’s refineries can only process 100,000 barrels a day. In the past, they could process more than a million barrels a day, but quite a number of sites have closed.
As a result, Venezuela’s consumption of petrol exceeds its production capabilities, which means they have to import. This isn’t new but it is becoming more and more difficult for the country to buy petrol abroad because of American sanctions. The country is also short on cash because of the historic drop in oil prices and the serious economic crisis that has been gripping the country over the past few years.
Petrol station queues that stretch for kilometres
Recently, the government imposed petrol rationing and most petrol stations in the country have closed. In order to get petrol, people have to go to one of the few open stations and wait in lines that sometimes stretch for kilometres upon kilometres.
#20May Estación de servicio de la Av. Andrés Bello, Caracas. pic.twitter.com/8xvyYQCaAY Robert Lobo (@Lobo21Jose) May 20, 2020
"May 20, petrol station on Andrés Bello Avenue in Caracas."
"I had to eat and sleep in my car while I was in line"
Miguel Villavicencio is a journalist in Guanare, in Portuguesa state.
I’ve waited in line for petrol two or three times, each time for two or three days, just to get to 10 to 20 litres. While I was in line, I ate and slept in my car and I had to deal with the heat. There are also risks: it isn’t very safe [Editor’s note: on April 20, two armed men robbed people who were waiting in line for petrol at a station in Caracas. One person sustained a gunshot wound.] Alternatively, you can leave your car with a friend to go and shower, eat and rest a little at home before going back to wait in line. We’ve had a petrol problem in our region for a long time. For example, we had to queue back in 2019, sometimes for more than a day. But you were also able to fill up your tank completely and all of the petrol stations were open. These days, you can only get 20 litres maximum and there are only three service stations open in all of Guanare [Editor’s note: which has more than 200,000 residents]. There’s a fourth one that is only open to doctors, farmers and government employees, and they are also limited as to the amount of petrol that they can get. New rules were put in place a few days ago. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they broadcast a draw on the radio that determines which petrol station you can go fill up at, depending on your license plate. That system has caused a few skirmishes because as soon as people know where they can go, they rush to get there as soon as possible.
#29Mayo Así transcurrió hoy con el segundo sorteo de la gasolina en #Guanare.
Conductores esperan en la calle los resultados anunciados por la radio, y de ahí salen a toda prisa hacia las estaciones de servicio que les correspondió por "suerte". #SoloEnPortuguesa pic.twitter.com/zHjdCRq9fo Miguel Villavicencio (@prensakike) May 29, 2020
"May 29th: This is how it went down today, after the second raffle for petrol stations in Guanare. Drivers waited in the street for the results to be announced on the radio and then took off as quickly as they could towards the petrol station where they were allowed to go [...]."
Motorcyclists can only go get petrol on Sundays and they aren’t allowed more than three litres. So they often start lining up a day or two in advance.
#23Mayo Cola de motorizados para surtir gasolina en #Guanare.
Y qué será del fulano distanciamiento social? pic.twitter.com/vstaHR9r2d Miguel Villavicencio (@prensakike) May 23, 2020
“May 23th: motorcyclists line up for petrol in Guanare. Whatever happened to social distancing?” This video, filmed on Saturday, shows motorcyclists queuing to get petrol the next day.
"To save petrol, I drive slowly and don’t use the AC”
Ana Isabel Dominguez is a doctor in Caracas.
I filled my tank in mid-March and it is still half full because I only use my car when I have to go out for work, once a week or every two weeks. But I drive slowly and I no longer use the air conditioning to save on petrol. Doctors can get a special paper so that we can get petrol more easily but you still have to line up the night before in the hopes of getting it around midday the next day.
#25May | Así es la cola para surtir combustible en la texaco de Caricuao. En ambos sentidos de la autopista Francisco Fajardo se encuentran motorizados y choferes en la espera de poder echar gasolina. @ReporteYa @sumariumcom pic.twitter.com/KYb4HrVVzd Ray Alvarado (@rayberdl18) May 25, 2020
"May 25th: Here’s the line to get petrol at the "Texaco" petrol station in Caricuao [in Caracas]. There are motorcyclists and drivers on both sides of the Francisco Fajardo highway [...]."
"I borrowed my father’s car, which still had half a tank of petrol”
Bernardo Rotundo works in cinema in Caracas.
Together, my wife and I have two cars and we have less than a quarter of a tank left. But since the start of quarantine, we’ve only been going out to buy food so we haven’t tried to go fill our tanks, especially considering the lines… I did end up borrowing my dad’s car, which still has half a tank of gas. And my wife gets picked up for work every day in a car belonging to the diplomatic corps because she works for an NGO. They buy their petrol on the black market.
The petrol black market
A litre of petrol sells for about $3 (2.70 euros) on the growing black market in the country. That’s a fortune in Venezuela, where the minimum monthly salary is less than $5 (4.50 euros). It’s an especially high amount considering that petrol has been practically free for decades. Multiple Venezuelans who spoke to our team accused security forces of fueling the black market. Authorities arrested soldiers who were taking part in the illegal trade in Zulia state.
Para surtir de gasolina hoy comencé la cola el martes a las 3 de la madrugada. Dan 150 puestos. Esto en San Antonio de los Altos pic.twitter.com/BIbav4hQs1 Enrique Rondon Nieto (@erondoni) May 28, 2020
To get petrol today [May 28th], I started waiting in line at 3a.m. on Tuesday [May 26th]. They had 150 spots. This was in San Antonio de los Altos [in Miranda state]."
"I walk"
Dimas lives in Puerto Ordaz, in Bolívar, state. Currently, Dimas is unemployed.
The petrol shortages started last year here so now there is practically no petrol left. So when I have to go less than five kilometres from my house, I walk. There are a few buses, but not many, and when they go by, they are usually packed. So I don’t want to take the risk [Editor’s note: during the Covid-19 pandemic].
All of the Venezuelans who spoke to our team said that public transportation had all disappeared. There are still a few taxis, but their prices have gone up.
Iranian fuel tankers
Iran sent five fuel tankers to Venezuela, four of which arrived in the country last week. According to the Venezuelan Minister of Petrol, the tankers carried fuel and additives as well as replacement parts and other equipment meant to help improve Venezuela’s ability to produce and refine petrol. These deliveries, which will help momentarily ease the crisis in the country, are occurring in the midst of ratcheting tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Price increase and end to state monopoly starting on June 1st
These deliveries do come with a price. On May 30, President Nicolás Maduro announced that the price of fuel would increase starting on June 1st. One litre would cost 5,000 bolivars (equivalent to 0.02 euros), versus 0,00006 bolivar (equivalent to less than 0.01 euro) previously.
He also announced that the 200 petrol stations run by private companies would be allowed to sell petrol at the international price, fixed at “50 cents per litre” (equivalent to 0.45 euro), ending the Venezuelan government’s monopoly on the sale of fuel.
He also declared that the government would subsidise 100% of public transportation for passengers and goods for the next 90 days.
Article by Chloé Lauvergnier.


france24--2020-06-09--Palestinian PM submits 'counter-proposal' to Trump's Middle East peace plan

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh gestures as he talks to reporters during a press conference in Ramallah on May 5 @ @ @ @ @ submitted a response to the US Mideast plan which sees parts of the West Bank @ @ @ @ @ Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Tuesday .
`` We submitted a counter-proposal to @ @ @ @ @ ago , '' he said , referring to the United States , Russia , the @ @ @ @ @ Union .
He said that it proposed the creation of a `` sovereign Palestinian state @ @ @ @ @ with `` minor modifications of borders where necessary '' .

Palestinians have submitted a response to the US Mideast plan which sees parts of the West Bank being annexed by Israel, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Tuesday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh gestures as he talks to reporters during a press conference in Ramallah on May 5, 2020.
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"We submitted a counter-proposal to the Quartet a few days ago," he said, referring to the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union.
He said that it proposed the creation of a "sovereign Palestinian state, independent and demilitarised" with "minor modifications of borders where necessary".
(AFP)
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france24--2020-06-09--World’s largest digital arts centre opens in Bordeaux submarine base

A colossal concrete bunker that was once a submarine base for Nazi U-boats in the Second World War has been given a new lease of life as the world ’ s largest digital arts centre .
Called Bassins de Lumières , the vast gallery in Bordeuax in the south of France will open its doors to the public this Wednesday .
Visitors will be able to view giant digital renderings of works by famous artists set to music and projected on to the walls of the structure .
And despite the challenges of converting the base , abandoned for nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organisers say it is the perfect space for digital art .
“ The space is magical .
It mixes concrete , grandeur , water and reflections , ” Augustin de Cointet de Filain , director of the Bassins de Lumières , told AFP .
“ When we visited the space , we knew we had to work with it .
We had this epiphany and knew we had to put on exhibitions here.
” The monumental structure includes four 110m-long pools crossed by walkways and space for 12,000 m² of projections , using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fibre .
The base was built by the occupying German military in 1943 to house a flotilla of 43 U-Boats , but fell into disuse after the end of the war .
“ It was inaugurated on May 13 and was used for less than two years , ” said historian Mathieu Marsan .
“ The space is made of 600,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete .
Destroying it would not have been economically viable.
” The centre will open with a display of work by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and German painter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Klimt ) is an artist who is well-suited to the vastness of this space , because his early works were these large murals and here we have walls , we have space , ” Cointet de Filain .
“ Klimt represented innovation in art , and we thought it was time to show that this submarine base can be innovative too .
”

A colossal concrete bunker that was once a submarine base for Nazi U-boats in the Second World War has been given a new lease of life as the world’s largest digital arts centre. Called Bassins de Lumières, the vast gallery in Bordeaux in the south of France will open its doors to the public this Wednesday.
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Visitors will be able to view giant digital renderings of works by famous artists set to music and projected on to the walls of the structure.
And despite the challenges of converting the base, abandoned for nearly 50 years, into a gallery, organisers say it is the perfect space for digital art.
“The space is magical. It mixes concrete, grandeur, water and reflections,” Augustin de Cointet de Filain, director of the Bassins de Lumières, told AFP.
“When we visited the space, we knew we had to work with it. We had this epiphany and knew we had to put on exhibitions here.”
The monumental structure includes four 110m-long pools crossed by walkways and space for 12,000 m² of projections, using 90 video projectors and 100km of optical fibre.
The base was built by the occupying German military in 1943 to house a flotilla of 43 U-Boats, but fell into disuse after the end of the war.
“It was inaugurated on May 13 and was used for less than two years,” said historian Mathieu Marsan.
“The space is made of 600,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete. Destroying it would not have been economically viable.”
The centre will open with a display of work by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and German painter Paul Klee.
“He (Gustav Klimt) is an artist who is well-suited to the vastness of this space, because his early works were these large murals and here we have walls, we have space,” Cointet de Filain.
“Klimt represented innovation in art, and we thought it was time to show that this submarine base can be innovative too.”
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france24--2020-06-09--Tanzania’s main opposition leader attacked months ahead of election

File photo taken March 14 , 2020 of Tanzanian opposition leader Freeman Mbowe ( C ) after his release from prison .
Tanzania 's main opposition leader Freeman Mbowe was attacked by unidentified people as he entered his home early on Tuesday , his party said , the latest misfortune to befall the opposition ahead of a general election in October .
President John Magufuli , nicknamed `` the Bulldozer '' , swept to power in 2015 promising an end to corruption .
But he has been accused of curbing human rights including limiting freedom of expression and cracking down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the leader of the opposition in parliament and chairman of the CHADEMA party , was set upon by the assailants as he was returning home just after midnight on Monday , party officials said .
`` Unknown people surrounded him and assaulted him before he started taking the stairs .
Though these people had carried firearms , they did n't use them , '' said CHADEMA 's Secretary General , John Mnyika .
There were signs the assault was politically motivated , he said , because the perpetrators had mockingly asked Mbowe whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his campaign after the assault .
Police commander in the administrative capital Dodoma , Giles Muroto , told a news conference they were investigating the incident but warned against politicising it .
`` We are investigating this incident and we wo n't leave anything to ensure we get the truth , '' he added .
`` This incident is like others ... it should not be misused , it should not be used for political gains or for anything else to get popularity . ''
Mbowe , who along with other opposition lawmakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was rushed to a hospital in Dodoma , where he was receiving treatment , Mnyika said , without giving more details .
Tanzania 's ruling CCM party , and its predecessor TANU , have governed since independence from Britain in 1961 .
Mbowe , who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in a 2005 election , has not declared whether he will be a candidate in the October polls .
His deputy in CHADEMA , Tundu Lissu , has offered himself as a candidate in the presidential election .
Lissu has been living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escaped assassination by unknown gunmen in Dodoma , back in September 2017 .

Tanzania's main opposition leader Freeman Mbowe was attacked by unidentified people as he entered his home early on Tuesday, his party said, the latest misfortune to befall the opposition ahead of a general election in October.
File photo taken March 14, 2020 of Tanzanian opposition leader Freeman Mbowe (C) after his release from prison.
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President John Magufuli, nicknamed "the Bulldozer", swept to power in 2015 promising an end to corruption. But he has been accused of curbing human rights including limiting freedom of expression and cracking down on leading opposition figures.
Mbowe, the leader of the opposition in parliament and chairman of the CHADEMA party, was set upon by the assailants as he was returning home just after midnight on Monday, party officials said.
"Unknown people surrounded him and assaulted him before he started taking the stairs. Though these people had carried firearms, they didn't use them," said CHADEMA's Secretary General, John Mnyika.
There were signs the assault was politically motivated, he said, because the perpetrators had mockingly asked Mbowe whether he would be able to carry on his campaign after the assault.
I AM incredibly shocked and saddened by the news out of Dodoma this morning that Chairman @freemanmbowetz was brutally attached and injured last night. Praying for his quick and speedy recovery. WE strongly condemn this attack and argue for those responsible to brought to justice — Lazaro Nyalandu (@LazaroNyalandu) June 9, 2020
Police commander in the administrative capital Dodoma, Giles Muroto, told a news conference they were investigating the incident but warned against politicising it.
"We are investigating this incident and we won't leave anything to ensure we get the truth," he added.
"This incident is like others...it should not be misused, it should not be used for political gains or for anything else to get popularity."
Mbowe, who along with other opposition lawmakers was found guilty of sedition in March, was rushed to a hospital in Dodoma, where he was receiving treatment, Mnyika said, without giving more details.
Tanzania's ruling CCM party, and its predecessor TANU, have governed since independence from Britain in 1961.
Mbowe, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in a 2005 election, has not declared whether he will be a candidate in the October polls.
His deputy in CHADEMA, Tundu Lissu, has offered himself as a candidate in the presidential election. Lissu has been living in exile in Europe after he narrowly escaped assassination by unknown gunmen in Dodoma, back in September 2017.
(REUTERS)
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france24--2020-06-10--‘Black and treated as such’: France’s anti-racism protests expose myth of colour-blind Republic

The unprecedented wave of protests that swept French cities over the past week has exposed cracks in the country ’ s universalist model , lifting long-standing taboos and fuelling calls to shed the “ myth ” of a Republic immune to racism .
Maelle B. dithered at length before heading to the Paris courthouse to protest against racism and police brutality .
Sporting a broad face mask , the 23-year-old student from the Paris suburbs carried milk and eye drops in her rucksack to ease the sting from teargas .
“ We ’ re black , Arab , white etc @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we need to stop pretending that blacks and others are not discriminated against , ” she said , holding up a sign that read : “ It ’ s not black vs white .
It ’ s everyone vs racists ” .
Maelle was among more than 20,000 people who rallied in northern Paris on June 2 to vent their anger and frustration over discriminations that have been allowed to fester unchallenged for decades .
Inspired by the global protest movement triggered by the George Floyd killing in the US , the Paris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rally in decades .
“ Of course France and America are very different countries , but they have a common enemy in racism , ” said Maelle .
“ Nothing will ever change until people are educated about racism.
” The June 2 gathering was just the first in a wave of rallies that have swept French cities in recent days , surprising even their organisers by the size and diversity of the crowds .
It reignited a longstanding dispute about policing in the immigrant-rich suburbs of France ’ s largest cities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ there are racist police officers ” and that such deviance can not be tolerated .
Rokhaya Diallo , a prominent anti-racism campaigner who attended the Paris rally , said she had never seen such a large gathering before .
In an interview with FRANCE 24 , she credited the impressive mobilisation with helping to lift entrenched taboos .
“ Racism and police brutality were largely hushed by the media before , ” Diallo explained .
“ The coverage now is still often skewed against the protesters , but at least these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beyond the issue of policing , the mobilisation has led to a new bout of soul-searching about the long-neglected cracks in the French Republic ’ s universalist model , which undermine its cherished principles of égalité and fraternité .
Mirroring debates taking place in the US , it has prompted talk of “ white privilege ” — a notion France ’ s nominally colour-blind Republic is deeply uncomfortable with .
In a searing letter read out on France Inter radio on June 4 , prominent novelist Virginie Despentes compared treatment of racial minorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ In France we are [ supposedly ] not racist , and yet the last time a waiter refused to serve me I was with an Arab ; the last time I was told to show my ID , I was with an Arab ; the last time a person I was waiting for almost missed a train because police stopped her , she was black , ” Despentes wrote .
She added : “ A white person like me can move freely through the city without even noticing the police .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I am a woman .
But I can forget I am white .
That ’ s what it means to be white .
To think about it or not , depending on your mood .
In France , we are not racist , but I don ’ t know a single black or Arab person who has such a choice.
” The racialised nature of inequality in France is a no-brainer for Maboula Soumahoro , a specialist of African diaspora studies at the University of Tours .
“ I am black and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told FRANCE 24 in a televised interview earlier this year .
She said France ’ s reluctance to address such matters derives in part from a misreading of its history .
“ France is not blind to racism .
France thinks it ’ s blind to racism , ” she explained , arguing that French colonialism and slave trade had “ produced race ” throughout the world , but outside mainland France .
“ Because slavery was illegal on the mainland , people in France have the impression that this hyper-racialised history that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concerns the Americas , when in fact we have our own history , ” Soumahoro said .
According to Diallo , denial of racism is a legacy of the French Republic ’ s “ mythology ” .
“ We are fed the story of a country that is blind to colour and impermeable to racism , but this is merely a mystification , ” she said .
In a perverse effect , she argued , this denial prevents the country from addressing the problem in the first place .
“ France won ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and address racial discriminations , ” Diallo explained .
“ The country continues to view racism from a moral and individual standpoint .
In doing so , it excludes the possibility of enacting broad policies that can tackle the structural problem of racism.
” While France famously doesn ’ t compile official statistics based on faith , ethnicity or skin colour , racial discrimination in all spheres of public life has been widely documented , frequently overlapping with socio-economic inequality .
The intersecting social and racial disparities were glaringly exposed during the nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread of the coronavirus .
The immigrant-rich Seine-Saint-Denis department northeast of Paris – France ’ s poorest – accounted for a disproportionately high number of both fatalities from Covid-19 and fines handed out for breaching the lockdown rules .
There are obvious reasons for this .
The combination of large families in cramped quarters and a lack of doctors and hospital beds left the local population particularly exposed to the virus .
And while many Parisians fled to countryside residences or switched to working from home , the capital ’ s poorer suburbs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept the metropolis running .
Touching on this subject in her letter last week , Despentes noted that many commentators added insult to injury by attributing the high mortality to a lack of discipline .
“ In France we are not racist , but when we were told that the death rate in Seine-Saint-Denis was 60 times higher than the national average , not only did we not care , we even had the nerve to suggest this was because ‘ they don ’ t confine themselves properly ’ , ” the novelist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , protesters said this mix of indifference and condescension was apparent in the way much of the media and the political establishment treated their grievances .
Divy Vasanth , a former journalist , pointed to the case of Camélia Jordana , a French singer and actress of Algerian origin who recently caused a storm by using the term “ massacre ” to talk of police violence in the suburbs .
The ensuing backlash , he argued , was indicative of a society that ignores people so long as they live in the banlieue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ shut up ” when they are successful .
“ When [ protest leader ] Assa Traoré speaks , she ’ s told to shut it because she ’ s from the suburbs .
And when Camélia Jordana says something , she ’ s told she has no reason to complain , ” Vasanth said .
“ They don ’ t listen to what we have to say : they mock the words we use and ignore the substance.
” Carole Reynaud-Peligot , a historian and sociologist who recently curated an exhibition on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Homme in Paris , traces the origins of France ’ s unspoken racism to the “ contradiction ” between the French Republic ’ s universalist principles and the reality of colonialism .
“ The result of this contradiction is a form of universalism that is itself not universal , tainted by a sense of superiority and a tendency to depreciate other cultures , ” she explained .
“ Racism is derived from this context of domination , a context that is still at play today , most notably in France ’ s relations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the years , French ambivalence regarding this past has translated into widely differing political initiatives .
In 2001 , under a Socialist government , lawmaker Christiane Taubira — one of only a handful of black politicians to have held a high-ranking ministerial portfolio under France ’ s five republics — sponsored a landmark bill that recognised slavery as a crime against humanity .
Just four years later , a conservative administration sought to pass a law stating the “ benefits ” of colonisation for France ’ s colonial subjects , until a backlash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down .
Reynaud-Paligot said French authorities had failed to identify the legacy of racism as a threat to the unity of the French Republic and the legitimacy of its institutions .
“ School programmes continue to be skittish and shy about racism , as though this were not a priority , ” said the historian , for whom the situation is even worse when it comes to training civil servants .
“ Studies have shown that racism has largely penetrated state institutions , particularly the police and prefectures , ” she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national government at the local level .
“ A huge training effort is required in such institutions , but this is not seen as a priority.
” Instead , she added , officials “ have been obsessed with the threat of radicalisation ever since the recent wave of terrorist attacks , ” neglecting the widespread discrimination that has provided the Republic ’ s foes with such fertile terrain .
Though born out of legitimate concerns , “ the psychosis over radicalisation in turn amplified racial prejudice , ” said Diallo , pointing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increased the existing racism against minorities perceived to be of Muslim faith '' , giving free reign to an already prejudiced security apparatus .

The unprecedented wave of protests that swept French cities over the past week has exposed cracks in the country’s universalist model, lifting long-standing taboos and fuelling calls to shed the “myth” of a Republic immune to racism.
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Maelle B. dithered at length before heading to the Paris courthouse to protest against racism and police brutality. Sporting a broad face mask, the 23-year-old student from the Paris suburbs carried milk and eye drops in her rucksack to ease the sting from teargas.
“We’re black, Arab, white etc. This is the reality. And we need to stop pretending that blacks and others are not discriminated against,” she said, holding up a sign that read: “It’s not black vs white. It’s everyone vs racists”.
Maelle was among more than 20,000 people who rallied in northern Paris on June 2 to vent their anger and frustration over discriminations that have been allowed to fester unchallenged for decades. Inspired by the global protest movement triggered by the George Floyd killing in the US, the Paris gathering was France’s largest such rally in decades.
“Of course France and America are very different countries, but they have a common enemy in racism,” said Maelle. “Nothing will ever change until people are educated about racism.”
White privilege
The June 2 gathering was just the first in a wave of rallies that have swept French cities in recent days, surprising even their organisers by the size and diversity of the crowds. It reignited a longstanding dispute about policing in the immigrant-rich suburbs of France’s largest cities, forcing the government into a rare admission that “there are racist police officers” and that such deviance cannot be tolerated.
Rokhaya Diallo, a prominent anti-racism campaigner who attended the Paris rally, said she had never seen such a large gathering before. In an interview with FRANCE 24, she credited the impressive mobilisation with helping to lift entrenched taboos.
“Racism and police brutality were largely hushed by the media before,” Diallo explained. “The coverage now is still often skewed against the protesters, but at least these subjects are considered worthy of debate.”
For Maelle M. (right) and her friend Aline, tackling racism is they key to healing the fraught relationship between police and youths in the suburbs. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24
Beyond the issue of policing, the mobilisation has led to a new bout of soul-searching about the long-neglected cracks in the French Republic’s universalist model, which undermine its cherished principles of égalité and fraternité. Mirroring debates taking place in the US, it has prompted talk of “white privilege” — a notion France’s nominally colour-blind Republic is deeply uncomfortable with.
In a searing letter read out on France Inter radio on June 4, prominent novelist Virginie Despentes compared treatment of racial minorities with the relative privilege of being white.
“In France we are [supposedly] not racist, and yet the last time a waiter refused to serve me I was with an Arab; the last time I was told to show my ID, I was with an Arab; the last time a person I was waiting for almost missed a train because police stopped her, she was black,” Despentes wrote.
She added: “A white person like me can move freely through the city without even noticing the police. [...] I cannot forget I am a woman. But I can forget I am white. That’s what it means to be white. To think about it or not, depending on your mood. In France, we are not racist, but I don’t know a single black or Arab person who has such a choice.”
Republican ‘mythology’
The racialised nature of inequality in France is a no-brainer for Maboula Soumahoro, a specialist of African diaspora studies at the University of Tours.
“I am black and I am treated as such,” Soumahoro told FRANCE 24 in a televised interview earlier this year. She said France’s reluctance to address such matters derives in part from a misreading of its history.
“France is not blind to racism. France thinks it’s blind to racism,” she explained, arguing that French colonialism and slave trade had “produced race” throughout the world, but outside mainland France.
“Because slavery was illegal on the mainland, people in France have the impression that this hyper-racialised history that is characteristic of the modern world only concerns the Americas, when in fact we have our own history,” Soumahoro said.
According to Diallo, denial of racism is a legacy of the French Republic’s “mythology”.
“We are fed the story of a country that is blind to colour and impermeable to racism, but this is merely a mystification,” she said. In a perverse effect, she argued, this denial prevents the country from addressing the problem in the first place.
“France won’t give itself the means to measure and address racial discriminations,” Diallo explained. “The country continues to view racism from a moral and individual standpoint. In doing so, it excludes the possibility of enacting broad policies that can tackle the structural problem of racism.”
Social and racial divides
While France famously doesn’t compile official statistics based on faith, ethnicity or skin colour, racial discrimination in all spheres of public life has been widely documented, frequently overlapping with socio-economic inequality.
The intersecting social and racial disparities were glaringly exposed during the nationwide lockdown imposed in mid-March to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The immigrant-rich Seine-Saint-Denis department northeast of Paris – France’s poorest – accounted for a disproportionately high number of both fatalities from Covid-19 and fines handed out for breaching the lockdown rules.
There are obvious reasons for this. The combination of large families in cramped quarters and a lack of doctors and hospital beds left the local population particularly exposed to the virus. And while many Parisians fled to countryside residences or switched to working from home, the capital’s poorer suburbs supplied most of the frontline workers who kept the metropolis running.
Touching on this subject in her letter last week, Despentes noted that many commentators added insult to injury by attributing the high mortality to a lack of discipline.
“In France we are not racist, but when we were told that the death rate in Seine-Saint-Denis was 60 times higher than the national average, not only did we not care, we even had the nerve to suggest this was because ‘they don’t confine themselves properly’,” the novelist wrote.
At the June 2 rally, protesters said this mix of indifference and condescension was apparent in the way much of the media and the political establishment treated their grievances.
Divy Vasanth, a former journalist, pointed to the case of Camélia Jordana, a French singer and actress of Algerian origin who recently caused a storm by using the term “massacre” to talk of police violence in the suburbs. The ensuing backlash, he argued, was indicative of a society that ignores people so long as they live in the banlieue and expects them to be grateful and “shut up” when they are successful.
“When [protest leader] Assa Traoré speaks, she’s told to shut it because she’s from the suburbs. And when Camélia Jordana says something, she’s told she has no reason to complain,” Vasanth said. “They don’t listen to what we have to say: they mock the words we use and ignore the substance.”
Racism ‘not a priority’
Carole Reynaud-Paligot, a historian and sociologist who recently curated an exhibition on racism at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, traces the origins of France’s unspoken racism to the “contradiction” between the French Republic’s universalist principles and the reality of colonialism.
“The result of this contradiction is a form of universalism that is itself not universal, tainted by a sense of superiority and a tendency to depreciate other cultures,” she explained. “Racism is derived from this context of domination, a context that is still at play today, most notably in France’s relations with the so-called developing world.”
Over the years, French ambivalence regarding this past has translated into widely differing political initiatives. In 2001, under a Socialist government, lawmaker Christiane Taubira — one of only a handful of black politicians to have held a high-ranking ministerial portfolio under France’s five republics — sponsored a landmark bill that recognised slavery as a crime against humanity. Just four years later, a conservative administration sought to pass a law stating the “benefits” of colonisation for France’s colonial subjects, until a backlash led by historians forced it to back down.
Reynaud-Paligot said French authorities had failed to identify the legacy of racism as a threat to the unity of the French Republic and the legitimacy of its institutions.
“School programmes continue to be skittish and shy about racism, as though this were not a priority,” said the historian, for whom the situation is even worse when it comes to training civil servants.
“Studies have shown that racism has largely penetrated state institutions, particularly the police and prefectures,” she said, referring to administrative bodies that represent the national government at the local level. “A huge training effort is required in such institutions, but this is not seen as a priority.”
Instead, she added, officials “have been obsessed with the threat of radicalisation ever since the recent wave of terrorist attacks,” neglecting the widespread discrimination that has provided the Republic’s foes with such fertile terrain.
Though born out of legitimate concerns, “the psychosis over radicalisation in turn amplified racial prejudice,” said Diallo, pointing to a “climate of suspicion that only increased the existing racism against minorities perceived to be of Muslim faith", giving free reign to an already prejudiced security apparatus.
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france24--2020-06-10--Sweden closes probe into 1986 murder of PM Olof Palme, suspect dead

Roses lie on a plaque marking the location where Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot and killed on a Stockholm street in 1986 .
Sweden on Wednesday dropped its investigation into the unsolved murder of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme , who was shot dead 34 years ago in downtown Stockholm .
The case ’ s chief prosecutor , Krister Petersson , said the case was being closed because the main suspect , Stig Engstrom , had died in 2000 .
Palme was gunned down on Feb. 28 , 1986 , after he and his wife Lisbet Palme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capital .
Petersson said Engstrom , also known as the Skandiamannen for working in the nearby Skandia insurance company , had a strong dislike of Palme and his policies .
He was one of the first at the murder scene and was briefly considered a possible suspect .
“ Since he has died , I can not indict him , ” Petersson told a news conference .
Several other witnesses gave descriptions of the fleeing killer that matched Engstrom while others said he wasn ’ t even at the scene .
Engstrom himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning , spoke to Lisbet Palme and police , and attempted to resuscitate the victim .
Soon after the murder , Engstrom appeared in Swedish media and developed an increasingly detailed story of his involvement in the events and criticized the police .
He claimed those witnesses who had described the killer had in fact been describing him , running to catch up with police officers in pursuit of the assassin .
The police then labelled Engstrom as an unreliable and inconsistent witness and classified him as a person of no interest .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ life as possible and would often go out without any bodyguards .
The night of the murder , he had no protection .
Lisbet Palme was injured in the attack and later identified the shooter as Christer Pettersson , an alcoholic and drug addict , who was convicted of Palme ’ s murder .
The sentence was later overturned after police failed to produce any technical evidence against him , leaving the murder an unsolved mystery .
Pettersson died in 2004 .
Palme , who cut a flamboyant , even boyish figure , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his left-leaning views .
He was eyed with suspicion in conservative circles and by the United States .
Among Swedes and in the Nordic region , he was much loved , but also hated .
More than 100 people have been suspected of the crime and the unsolved case has been surrounded by conspiracy theories , ranging from foreign involvement , people with right-wing sympathies within Sweden ’ s police , to an act by a lone shooter .

Sweden on Wednesday dropped its investigation into the unsolved murder of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot dead 34 years ago in downtown Stockholm.
Roses lie on a plaque marking the location where Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot and killed on a Stockholm street in 1986.
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The case’s chief prosecutor, Krister Petersson, said the case was being closed because the main suspect, Stig Engstrom, had died in 2000.
Palme was gunned down on Feb. 28, 1986, after he and his wife Lisbet Palme left a movie theater in the Swedish capital.
Petersson said Engstrom, also known as the Skandiamannen for working in the nearby Skandia insurance company, had a strong dislike of Palme and his policies. He was one of the first at the murder scene and was briefly considered a possible suspect.
“Since he has died, I cannot indict him,” Petersson told a news conference.
Several other witnesses gave descriptions of the fleeing killer that matched Engstrom while others said he wasn’t even at the scene. Engstrom himself claimed to have been present from the beginning, spoke to Lisbet Palme and police, and attempted to resuscitate the victim.
Soon after the murder, Engstrom appeared in Swedish media and developed an increasingly detailed story of his involvement in the events and criticized the police. He claimed those witnesses who had described the killer had in fact been describing him, running to catch up with police officers in pursuit of the assassin.
The police then labelled Engstrom as an unreliable and inconsistent witness and classified him as a person of no interest.
If anyone’s wondering why Swedes aren’t out enjoying our lack of corona restrictions this morning it’s because we’re by the tv or radio. After 34 years we’re (hopefully) about to find out who murdered our Prime Minister Olof Palme. 2020, what a year. pic.twitter.com/gEXskRHzoT — Stephanie Zakrisson (@StephZakrisson) June 10, 2020
Palme sought to live as ordinary a life as possible and would often go out without any bodyguards. The night of the murder, he had no protection.
Lisbet Palme was injured in the attack and later identified the shooter as Christer Pettersson, an alcoholic and drug addict, who was convicted of Palme’s murder. The sentence was later overturned after police failed to produce any technical evidence against him, leaving the murder an unsolved mystery. Pettersson died in 2004.
Palme, who cut a flamboyant, even boyish figure, had an aristocratic background but was known for his left-leaning views. He was eyed with suspicion in conservative circles and by the United States. Among Swedes and in the Nordic region, he was much loved, but also hated.
More than 100 people have been suspected of the crime and the unsolved case has been surrounded by conspiracy theories, ranging from foreign involvement, people with right-wing sympathies within Sweden’s police, to an act by a lone shooter.
(AP)
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france24--2020-06-09--Calls for justice at George Floyd's funeral in Houston

Roxie Washington holds Gianna Floyd , the daughter of George Floyd as they attend the funeral service for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday , June 9 , 2020 , in Houston .
Houston said farewell to George Floyd in a rousing hometown funeral Tuesday , with poignant tributes and calls for justice for the 46-year-old African American whose death `` touched the world '' and ignited global protests against police brutality and racism .
Politicians , civil rights activists and celebrities joined in sharing memories of the man they called a `` gentle giant '' after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sanctuary by six pallbearers in masks , as a row of police officers stood at attention and saluted .
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton delivered a fierce eulogy , punctuated by the deep chords of a church organ , in which he accused President Donald Trump of showing indifference over Floyd 's death , and sending police a signal of impunity .
`` We are fighting wickedness in high places ! ''
Sharpton thundered , uttering the phrase over and over as he accused Trump of `` scheming on how you can spin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ achieve justice . ''
`` You sit now trying to figure out how you 're going to stop the protest , rather than how you 're going to stop the brutality , '' he said , charging : `` The signals that we 're sending is that if you are in law enforcement , that the law does n't apply to you . ''
Acknowledging the presence of the parents of previous victims of police violence -- including Eric Garner , Botham Jean and Michael Brown -- Sharpton said they `` know better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Floyd family .
`` Until we know the price for black life is the same as the price for white life , we 're going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again , '' the preacher told The Fountain of Praise Church in southern Houston .
Though the occasion was solemn , the church echoed with music and words of fond remembrance for a man whose savage death galvanized a movement .
`` Even in a pandemic , people are walking out in the streets not even following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world , '' Sharpton said .
`` And as we lay you to rest today , the movement wo n't rest until we get justice . ''
Floyd died on May 25 as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for almost nine minutes , his pleas of `` I ca n't breathe '' becoming a rallying cry for protesters .
His death has come to embody fractured relations between communities of color and police in the US and beyond as tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the final stage in a series of ceremonies before Floyd 's coffin was conveyed by horse-drawn carriage in the early evening to his final resting place by his mother 's grave .
On the way to the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery , the cortege passed hundreds of well-wishers who chanted Floyd 's name .
`` Rest in power '' was scrawled in blue chalk on the road , while one held up a sign saying : `` We will never forget . ''
Some 500 guests -- all masked due the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx , filmmaker Tyler Perry , singer Ne-Yo and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather who is reportedly paying all expenses .
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden , who has visited the family , offered words of condolence to Floyd 's children in a video message urging them to `` change the world for the better '' in their father 's name .
`` Today now is the time , the purpose , the season to listen and heal , '' said Biden , who suffered his own tragedy with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children .
`` Now is time for racial justice ... Because when there 's justice for George Floyd we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America . ''
The funeral comes after the Minneapolis authorities pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department in the city where Floyd died during an arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $ 20 bill .
Derek Chauvin , the 44-year-old white officer who was filmed pressing his knee on the handcuffed Floyd 's neck , faces up to 40 years if convicted on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and manslaughter .
His bail was set on Monday at $ 1 million with conditions , or $ 1.25 million without .
Three other policemen involved in Floyd 's arrest are charged with aiding and abetting his murder .
All four officers have been fired .
The arrest was caught on chilling cellphone video played in all corners of the world over the past two weeks .
Floyd was born in North Carolina , but grew up in Houston 's predominantly African American Third Ward where he was remembered as a towering high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have taken to the streets for two weeks of the most sweeping US protests for racial justice since the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr .
The demonstrations were marred by several nights of violence that focused attention at home and abroad on police brutality as numerous videos have emerged that allegedly show incidents of heavy-handed policing .
The Democrats have introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress , that they hope will make it easier to prosecute officers for abuse , and rethink how they are recruited and trained .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reforms -- starting with bans on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets .

Houston said farewell to George Floyd in a rousing hometown funeral Tuesday, with poignant tributes and calls for justice for the 46-year-old African American whose death "touched the world" and ignited global protests against police brutality and racism.
Roxie Washington holds Gianna Floyd, the daughter of George Floyd as they attend the funeral service for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Houston.
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Politicians, civil rights activists and celebrities joined in sharing memories of the man they called a "gentle giant" after his golden casket was carried into the sanctuary by six pallbearers in masks, as a row of police officers stood at attention and saluted.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton delivered a fierce eulogy, punctuated by the deep chords of a church organ, in which he accused President Donald Trump of showing indifference over Floyd's death, and sending police a signal of impunity.
"We are fighting wickedness in high places!" Sharpton thundered, uttering the phrase over and over as he accused Trump of "scheming on how you can spin the story rather than how you can achieve justice."
"You sit now trying to figure out how you're going to stop the protest, rather than how you're going to stop the brutality," he said, charging: "The signals that we're sending is that if you are in law enforcement, that the law doesn't apply to you."
Acknowledging the presence of the parents of previous victims of police violence -- including Eric Garner, Botham Jean and Michael Brown -- Sharpton said they "know better than anyone else the pain" of the Floyd family.
"Until we know the price for black life is the same as the price for white life, we're going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again," the preacher told The Fountain of Praise Church in southern Houston.
02:06
Though the occasion was solemn, the church echoed with music and words of fond remembrance for a man whose savage death galvanized a movement.
"Even in a pandemic, people are walking out in the streets not even following social distancing because you've touched the world," Sharpton said.
"And as we lay you to rest today, the movement won't rest until we get justice."
Floyd died on May 25 as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for almost nine minutes, his pleas of "I can't breathe" becoming a rallying cry for protesters.
His death has come to embody fractured relations between communities of color and police in the US and beyond as tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets.
The Fountain of Praise was the final stage in a series of ceremonies before Floyd's coffin was conveyed by horse-drawn carriage in the early evening to his final resting place by his mother's grave.
On the way to the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery, the cortege passed hundreds of well-wishers who chanted Floyd's name. "Rest in power" was scrawled in blue chalk on the road, while one held up a sign saying: "We will never forget."
Some 500 guests -- all masked due the coronavirus pandemic -- were at the funeral, including actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, filmmaker Tyler Perry, singer Ne-Yo and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather who is reportedly paying all expenses.
'He made a difference'
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has visited the family, offered words of condolence to Floyd's children in a video message urging them to "change the world for the better" in their father's name.
"Today now is the time, the purpose, the season to listen and heal," said Biden, who suffered his own tragedy with the deaths of a wife and two children.
"Now is time for racial justice... Because when there's justice for George Floyd we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America."
The funeral comes after the Minneapolis authorities pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department in the city where Floyd died during an arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill.
Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old white officer who was filmed pressing his knee on the handcuffed Floyd's neck, faces up to 40 years if convicted on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.
His bail was set on Monday at $1 million with conditions, or $1.25 million without.
Three other policemen involved in Floyd's arrest are charged with aiding and abetting his murder. All four officers have been fired.
The arrest was caught on chilling cellphone video played in all corners of the world over the past two weeks.
Heavy-handed policing
Floyd was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Houston's predominantly African American Third Ward where he was remembered as a towering high school athlete and good-natured friend.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets for two weeks of the most sweeping US protests for racial justice since the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The demonstrations were marred by several nights of violence that focused attention at home and abroad on police brutality as numerous videos have emerged that allegedly show incidents of heavy-handed policing.
The Democrats have introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress, that they hope will make it easier to prosecute officers for abuse, and rethink how they are recruited and trained.
Some US cities have already begun to embrace reforms -- starting with bans on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-06-10--Boko Haram kills dozens, destroys village in northern Nigeria

File photo : Nigerian soldiers in Bosso , following a Boko Haram attack on June 17 2016 .
Boko Haram gunman killed at least 69 people and razed a village to the ground in northern Nigeria 's Borno state on Tuesday afternoon , three sources told Reuters .
The men attacked the village of Faduma Koloram , in the Gubio district of Borno state , starting about noon .
They arrived in vehicles and on motorcycles , shooting with AK-47s , razing the village and stealing 1,200 cattle and camels .
A resident , a Civilian Joint Task Force ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmed the same account .
They said the men attacked because they suspected residents of sharing information on Boko Haram 's movements with security authorities .
`` It 's an unfortunate day for us to witness this , '' said CJTF fighter Kachallah Bumu .
While he said the residents were armed , and had repelled previous attacks , this one caught them off guard .
`` They took us unaware and killed our people , '' he said .
A military spokesman could not be reached for comment .
Boko Haram and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Province ( ISWAP ) , have killed thousands and displaced millions in northeastern Nigeria .
ISWAP is a splinter faction that broke away from Boko Haram in 2016 .
It has intensified attacks against the military in the last two years , repeatedly carrying out deadly strikes against soldiers .
In recent months there has been an increase in attacks on civilians blamed on the group .
The decade-long conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast .
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regional military coalition to fight the insurgents .

Boko Haram gunman killed at least 69 people and razed a village to the ground in northern Nigeria's Borno state on Tuesday afternoon, three sources told Reuters.
File photo: Nigerian soldiers in Bosso, following a Boko Haram attack on June 17 2016.
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The men attacked the village of Faduma Koloram, in the Gubio district of Borno state, starting about noon.
They arrived in vehicles and on motorcycles, shooting with AK-47s, razing the village and stealing 1,200 cattle and camels. A resident, a Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) member and a soldier each confirmed the same account.
They said the men attacked because they suspected residents of sharing information on Boko Haram's movements with security authorities.
"It's an unfortunate day for us to witness this," said CJTF fighter Kachallah Bumu. While he said the residents were armed, and had repelled previous attacks, this one caught them off guard.
"They took us unaware and killed our people," he said.
A military spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have killed thousands and displaced millions in northeastern Nigeria.
ISWAP is a splinter faction that broke away from Boko Haram in 2016.
It has intensified attacks against the military in the last two years, repeatedly carrying out deadly strikes against soldiers.
In recent months there has been an increase in attacks on civilians blamed on the group.
The decade-long conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast.
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)
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france24--2020-06-10--Global economy to shrink by at least 6 percent in 2020, OECD says

Japan dived into its first recession since 2015 as the world 's third-largest economy wrestled with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic .
The global economy will contract at least six percent this year due to economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak , the OECD said Wednesday , warning that recovery will be `` slow and uncertain '' .
In the case of a second wave of contagion later in the year , world economic output could shrink by as much as 7.6 percent in 2020 , it said .
This would be followed in 2021 by GDP growth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` By the end of 2021 , the loss of income exceeds that of any previous recession over the last 100 years outside wartime , with dire and long-lasting consequences for people , firms and governments , '' the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its latest outlook , entitled `` World Economy on a Tightrope '' .
`` Private debt levels are uncomfortably high in some countries and business failure and bankruptcy risks loom large . ''
In a previous report in March , by when the outbreak had hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other large economies , the OECD slashed its global growth forecast by half a percentage point to 2.4 percent , which would have been the worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis .
As long as there is no vaccine or treatment against the coronavirus , which has killed more than 400,000 people worldwide to date , policymakers will continue walking a tightrope , the report said .
Physical distancing to prevent contagion , testing people for the virus , and tracing and isolating those infected , will be the main instruments to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sectors affected by border closures and those requiring close personal contact , such as tourism , travel , entertainment , restaurants and accommodation will not resume as before , '' it said .
These steps may not even be enough to prevent a second outbreak , it warned .
`` Governments will need to adapt support and accompany the transition , allowing fast restructuring processes for firms .
`` Global cooperation to tackle the virus with a treatment and vaccine and a broader resumption of multilateral dialogue will be key for reducing doubt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .

The global economy will contract at least six percent this year due to economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the OECD said Wednesday, warning that recovery will be "slow and uncertain".
Japan dived into its first recession since 2015 as the world's third-largest economy wrestled with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
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In the case of a second wave of contagion later in the year, world economic output could shrink by as much as 7.6 percent in 2020, it said.
This would be followed in 2021 by GDP growth of between 2.8 and 5.2 percent.
"By the end of 2021, the loss of income exceeds that of any previous recession over the last 100 years outside wartime, with dire and long-lasting consequences for people, firms and governments," the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its latest outlook, entitled "World Economy on a Tightrope".
"Private debt levels are uncomfortably high in some countries and business failure and bankruptcy risks loom large."
As #COVID19 restrictions begin to be eased, the path to economic recovery remains highly uncertain and vulnerable to a second wave of infections.
Read more in our 🆕 #EconomicOutlook ➡ https://t.co/HLrGXh0cRN pic.twitter.com/KFUOMA8Pqh — OECD ➡ Better policies for better lives (@OECD) June 10, 2020
In a previous report in March, by when the outbreak had hit China but not yet the world's other large economies, the OECD slashed its global growth forecast by half a percentage point to 2.4 percent, which would have been the worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis.
As long as there is no vaccine or treatment against the coronavirus, which has killed more than 400,000 people worldwide to date, policymakers will continue walking a tightrope, the report said.
Physical distancing to prevent contagion, testing people for the virus, and tracing and isolating those infected, will be the main instruments to fight the pandemic.
"But those sectors affected by border closures and those requiring close personal contact, such as tourism, travel, entertainment, restaurants and accommodation will not resume as before," it said.
These steps may not even be enough to prevent a second outbreak, it warned.
"Governments will need to adapt support and accompany the transition, allowing fast restructuring processes for firms.
"Global cooperation to tackle the virus with a treatment and vaccine and a broader resumption of multilateral dialogue will be key for reducing doubt and unlocking economic momentum," it said.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-06-10--New York lawmakers vote to scrap police discipline secrecy law

Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd , at the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City , U.S. , May 31 , 2020 .
Picture taken May 31 , 2020 .
New York lawmakers voted on Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that shields police officers ' disciplinary records from the public .
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign the bill into law amid nationwide protests against police brutality .
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that he will sign the bill into law this week amid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill is part of a package of police reform measures advanced by the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate in Albany this week as protests gripped the nation following the death of George Floyd , a black man , as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck .
On Monday , the legislature voted to ban the use by police of chokeholds .
The practice had come under intense condemnation when an African-American man , Eric Garner , died after a white New York City police officer used a chokehold on him during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accountability have long been pushing for the repeal of the contentious section of New York 's Civil Rights Law , 50-a , that prevented disclosure to the public of disciplinary records of police officers .
`` The legislation that will be passed over the coming days will help stop bad actors and send a clear message that brutality , racism , and unjustified killings will not be tolerated , '' New York Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement .
New York police unions have called the legislation an attack on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent very clearly to police officers by our elected officials : We do n't like you , '' Richard Wells , president of the statewide union the Police Conference of New York , told reporters .
`` We do n't respect you .
We will not support you .
We want you to go away . ''
He said the repeal of 50-a would enable criminal defense attorneys to cite old complaints against an officer in court to undermine the officer 's testimony .
The New York City Council was also considering a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which has widespread support among lawmakers but is opposed in its current form by the mayor .

New York lawmakers voted on Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that shields police officers' disciplinary records from the public. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign the bill into law amid nationwide protests against police brutality.
Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., May 31, 2020. Picture taken May 31, 2020.
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that he will sign the bill into law this week amid nationwide protests against police brutality.
The Legislature just voted to repeal 50-A and I will sign it into law this week.
The countless voices for reform united and were heard.
NOW is the moment for real change. — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 10, 2020
The bill is part of a package of police reform measures advanced by the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate in Albany this week as protests gripped the nation following the death of George Floyd, a black man, as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
On Monday, the legislature voted to ban the use by police of chokeholds. The practice had come under intense condemnation when an African-American man, Eric Garner, died after a white New York City police officer used a chokehold on him during a 2014 arrest.
Advocates for police accountability have long been pushing for the repeal of the contentious section of New York's Civil Rights Law, 50-a, that prevented disclosure to the public of disciplinary records of police officers.
"The legislation that will be passed over the coming days will help stop bad actors and send a clear message that brutality, racism, and unjustified killings will not be tolerated," New York Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement.
New York police unions have called the legislation an attack on police.
"The message has been sent very clearly to police officers by our elected officials: We don't like you," Richard Wells, president of the statewide union the Police Conference of New York, told reporters. "We don't respect you. We will not support you. We want you to go away."
He said the repeal of 50-a would enable criminal defense attorneys to cite old complaints against an officer in court to undermine the officer's testimony.
The New York City Council was also considering a bill to criminalize the use of chokeholds, which has widespread support among lawmakers but is opposed in its current form by the mayor.
(REUTERS)
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france24--2020-06-10--India Covid-19 surge continues with nearly 10,000 cases amid lockdown easing

A vendor arranges facemasks on mannequins installed outside a retail apparel store after the government eased a lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Siliguri , India , on June 6 , 2020 .
The number of coronavirus cases in India continued to rapidly increase Wednesday , with officials reporting nearly 10,000 new cases over the past 24 hours .
The spike has come as the government moves forward with reopening restaurants , shopping malls and religious places in most of its states after a more than two-month-old lockdown .
The government has already partially restored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shops and manufacturing to reopen .
Subways , hotels and schools and colleges , however , remain shuttered nationwide .
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported an 24-hour increase of 9,985 cases and 274 deaths .
India has recorded 276,583 positive cases , the fifth highest in the world , and 7,745 deaths .
The actual numbers , like elsewhere in the world , are thought to be far higher due to a number of reasons such as limited testing .
More than 4.9 million tests have been conducted in the country of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crossing 140,000 people .
Maharashtra , Tamil Nadu and New Delhi are the worst-hit states with 90,787 , 34,914 and 31,309 positive cases respectively .

The number of coronavirus cases in India continued to rapidly increase Wednesday, with officials reporting nearly 10,000 new cases over the past 24 hours.
A vendor arranges facemasks on mannequins installed outside a retail apparel store after the government eased a lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Siliguri, India, on June 6, 2020.
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The spike has come as the government moves forward with reopening restaurants, shopping malls and religious places in most of its states after a more than two-month-old lockdown.
The government has already partially restored train services and domestic flights and allowed shops and manufacturing to reopen. Subways, hotels and schools and colleges, however, remain shuttered nationwide.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported an 24-hour increase of 9,985 cases and 274 deaths. India has recorded 276,583 positive cases, the fifth highest in the world, and 7,745 deaths.
The actual numbers, like elsewhere in the world, are thought to be far higher due to a number of reasons such as limited testing.
More than 4.9 million tests have been conducted in the country of 1.3 billion people, with daily testing crossing 140,000 people.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi are the worst-hit states with 90,787, 34,914 and 31,309 positive cases respectively.
(AP)
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france24--2020-06-10--High Covid-19 toll in Canada's care homes highlights wider problem

More than 80 percent of people who died from Covid-19 in Canada lived in nursing or retirement homes .
Paul @ @ @ @ @ for Protection of the Sick , says ER doctors in Quebec are seeing patients from @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 , but from dehydration or malnutrition .
`` This has been traumatic for families @ @ @ @ @ 24 .
`` People dying alone , abandoned .
It 's starting to look like @ @ @ @ @ opinion , '' he says .
FRANCE 24 's François Rihouay and Haxie Meyers-Belkin report @

High Covid-19 toll in Canada's care homes highlights wider problem
02:00
More than 80 percent of people who died from Covid-19 in Canada lived in nursing or retirement homes. Paul Brunet, of the Council for Protection of the Sick, says ER doctors in Quebec are seeing patients from such facilities dying not from Covid-19, but from dehydration or malnutrition. "This has been traumatic for families," Brunet tells FRANCE 24. "People dying alone, abandoned. It's starting to look like criminal negligence, in our opinion," he says. FRANCE 24's François Rihouay and Haxie Meyers-Belkin report.


france24--2020-06-10--Roger Federer out of tennis until 2021 after knee injury setback

Twenty-time Grand Slam singles champion Roger Federer said Wednesday he will be sidelined until 2021 after undergoing his second knee operation in a matter of months .
The 38-year-old Swiss said he underwent follow-up arthroscopic surgery `` a few weeks ago '' after undergoing a similar keyhole procedure in February .
Federer , whose last Grand Slam win was the 2018 Australian Open , said he `` experienced a setback during ( his ) initial rehabilitation '' .
`` I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level , '' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season . ''
The announcement is likely to renew speculation about retirement for Federer , who holds the record for men 's Grand Slam singles titles and last month topped Forbes ' list of the world 's highest earning athletes .
Federer , who won his first major trophy in 2003 , lies just ahead of his longtime rivals Rafael Nadal ( 19 ) and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all-time list .
The biggest title he has yet to win is an Olympic singles gold medal .
The Tokyo Games -- seen as Federer 's final opportunity to complete a career `` golden '' Grand Slam -- have been postponed until next year because of the pandemic , and Federer will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony .
After the initial operation , Federer had originally planned to return for the now cancelled grass-court season this month .
His last tournament match was on January 30 in the Australian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eventual champion Djokovic .
His last appearance on court was in front of 51,954 fans -- touted by organisers as a world record for tennis -- at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in early February .
Tennis ground to a halt in March because of the coronavirus , and the globetrotting sport faces an uncertain route to recovery given crippling travel restrictions .
In April , Federer said he was `` devastated '' when Wimbledon , where he has won a record eight titles , was cancelled for the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , known for his elegant style of play , has got off lightly with injuries during a career in which he has won 103 singles titles , including all four majors .
He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee -- the first operation of his career -- in early 2016 after suffering a freak injury while running a bath for his daughters .
But after failing to win a title that year Federer returned strongly in 2017 , winning seven tournaments including the Australian Open and Wimbledon -- his most prolific season @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors ' all-time record of 109 .
Tour-level tennis has been suspended until the end of July at the earliest , with the US Open scheduled to start on August 24 and the rescheduled French Open on September 20 .
Federer has not won the title at either Flushing Meadows or Roland Garros since his only French Open triumph in 2009 .

Twenty-time Grand Slam singles champion Roger Federer said Wednesday he will be sidelined until 2021 after undergoing his second knee operation in a matter of months.
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The 38-year-old Swiss said he underwent follow-up arthroscopic surgery "a few weeks ago" after undergoing a similar keyhole procedure in February.
Federer, whose last Grand Slam win was the 2018 Australian Open, said he "experienced a setback during (his) initial rehabilitation".
"I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level," he said in a statement on Twitter.
"I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season."
The announcement is likely to renew speculation about retirement for Federer, who holds the record for men's Grand Slam singles titles and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest earning athletes.
Federer, who won his first major trophy in 2003, lies just ahead of his longtime rivals Rafael Nadal (19) and Novak Djokovic (17) on the all-time list.
The biggest title he has yet to win is an Olympic singles gold medal.
The Tokyo Games -- seen as Federer's final opportunity to complete a career "golden" Grand Slam -- have been postponed until next year because of the pandemic, and Federer will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony.
After the initial operation, Federer had originally planned to return for the now cancelled grass-court season this month. His last tournament match was on January 30 in the Australian Open semi-finals, where he lost to eventual champion Djokovic.
His last appearance on court was in front of 51,954 fans -- touted by organisers as a world record for tennis -- at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in early February.
Tennis ground to a halt in March because of the coronavirus, and the globetrotting sport faces an uncertain route to recovery given crippling travel restrictions.
In April, Federer said he was "devastated" when Wimbledon, where he has won a record eight titles, was cancelled for the first time since World War II.
Federer, known for his elegant style of play, has got off lightly with injuries during a career in which he has won 103 singles titles, including all four majors.
He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee -- the first operation of his career -- in early 2016 after suffering a freak injury while running a bath for his daughters.
But after failing to win a title that year Federer returned strongly in 2017, winning seven tournaments including the Australian Open and Wimbledon -- his most prolific season in a decade.
He is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109.
Tour-level tennis has been suspended until the end of July at the earliest, with the US Open scheduled to start on August 24 and the rescheduled French Open on September 20.
Federer has not won the title at either Flushing Meadows or Roland Garros since his only French Open triumph in 2009.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-06-10--Brazil resumes publishing Covid-19 virus toll after outcry

Gravediggers wearing protective suits bury the coffin of 70-year-old Manuel Farias , who died from the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) , at Recanto da Paz cemetery , in Breves , southwest of Marajo island in Para state , Brazil , June 7 , 2020 .
Brazil 's government resumed publishing the country 's total death toll from the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday , after facing accusations of trying to hide the magnitude of its raging health crisis .
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro 's government had stopped publishing the total number of deaths from the new coronavirus Friday , saying it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only report the number of deaths recorded in the past 24 hours in its daily bulletin .
That drew accusations of foul play from a long list of high-profile critics , as well as a ruling from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday that the government must return to the old format .
The health ministry did so Tuesday , indicating the death toll had risen by 1,272 , to a total of 38,406 people killed by the virus -- the third-highest toll in the world , after the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total number of confirmed infections had risen to 739,503 , the second-highest caseload in the world , after the US .
Experts say under-testing means the real numbers in the country of 212 million people are probably much higher .
The health ministry did not immediately respond to questions from AFP on why it returned to the old format and its plans for the future .
Bolsonaro , who famously compared the virus to a `` little flu , '' has railed against the consensus response to the pandemic , saying stay-at-home measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threatened Friday to quit the World Health Organization over `` ideological bias '' -- criticism echoed Tuesday by his foreign minister , Ernesto Araujo .
`` The WHO lacks independence , transparency and coherence .
The foreign ministry is following its role with great concern , '' Araujo said .
`` We need to look into it .
Is it a matter of political influence , is it a matter of non-state actors influencing the WHO ? ''
Bolsonaro 's threat to quit the WHO followed in the footsteps of President Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ withdrew the United States from the organization last month .
Trump accused the WHO of bias in favour of China , with whom his administration has clashed over the origin and handling of the pandemic .

Brazil's government resumed publishing the country's total death toll from the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, after facing accusations of trying to hide the magnitude of its raging health crisis.
Gravediggers wearing protective suits bury the coffin of 70-year-old Manuel Farias, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Recanto da Paz cemetery, in Breves, southwest of Marajo island in Para state, Brazil, June 7, 2020.
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Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government had stopped publishing the total number of deaths from the new coronavirus Friday, saying it was adopting a new methodology and would only report the number of deaths recorded in the past 24 hours in its daily bulletin.
That drew accusations of foul play from a long list of high-profile critics, as well as a ruling from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday that the government must return to the old format.
The health ministry did so Tuesday, indicating the death toll had risen by 1,272, to a total of 38,406 people killed by the virus -- the third-highest toll in the world, after the United States and Britain.
The ministry said the total number of confirmed infections had risen to 739,503, the second-highest caseload in the world, after the US.
Experts say under-testing means the real numbers in the country of 212 million people are probably much higher.
The health ministry did not immediately respond to questions from AFP on why it returned to the old format and its plans for the future.
Bolsonaro, who famously compared the virus to a "little flu," has railed against the consensus response to the pandemic, saying stay-at-home measures are needlessly wrecking the economy.
He threatened Friday to quit the World Health Organization over "ideological bias" -- criticism echoed Tuesday by his foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo.
"The WHO lacks independence, transparency and coherence. The foreign ministry is following its role with great concern," Araujo said.
"We need to look into it. Is it a matter of political influence, is it a matter of non-state actors influencing the WHO?"
Bolsonaro's threat to quit the WHO followed in the footsteps of President Donald Trump, whom he admires, and who withdrew the United States from the organization last month.
Trump accused the WHO of bias in favour of China, with whom his administration has clashed over the origin and handling of the pandemic.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-06-09--Covid-19: France's daily death toll stays below 100 for seventh day in a row

A health worker stores samples in the covid-19 test department of the Broussais Hospital as the lockdown introduced two months ago to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) starts to ease in Paris , France , May 11 , 2020 .
Picture taken May 11 , 2020 .
France 's coronavirus death toll rose by 87 or 0.3 percent to 29,296 on Tuesday , the highest daily toll since June 2 , but remained under 100 for the seventh day in a row , health ministry data showed .
On Monday , 54 Covid-19 deaths were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of daily confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 403 or 0.3 percent to 154,591 , up on the 211 seen on Monday and 343 on Sunday , but remained below the more than 500 seen on Thursday through Saturday .
The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 continued its weeks-long decline and fell by 354 to 11,961 , while the number of people in intensive care units fell below 1,000 for the first time since March 19 , down 69 to 955 .
Both numbers are important measures of a health system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After the government lifted a strict 55-day lockdown on May 11 , the hospital and mortality data have been on steady downtrends , but the number of new confirmed infections has stubbornly remained at a few hundred per day .
In the past seven days , France counted an average of 467 new infections per day compared to an average of 478 the first week after lockdown ended .
Besides confirmed cases , France also reports probable cases , but these have not been updated in more than a week .
Adding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 37,000 - to Tuesday 's confirmed cases yields a total of 191,588 cases , putting France in ninth place in the world by that count , behind Spain , Italy and Peru , and ahead of Germany .

France's coronavirus death toll rose by 87 or 0.3 percent to 29,296 on Tuesday, the highest daily toll since June 2, but remained under 100 for the seventh day in a row, health ministry data showed.
A health worker stores samples in the covid-19 test department of the Broussais Hospital as the lockdown introduced two months ago to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) starts to ease in Paris, France, May 11, 2020. Picture taken May 11, 2020.
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On Monday, 54 Covid-19 deaths were reported, on Sunday 13.
The number of daily confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 403 or 0.3 percent to 154,591, up on the 211 seen on Monday and 343 on Sunday, but remained below the more than 500 seen on Thursday through Saturday.
The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 continued its weeks-long decline and fell by 354 to 11,961, while the number of people in intensive care units fell below 1,000 for the first time since March 19, down 69 to 955.
Both numbers are important measures of a health system's ability to deal with the epidemic.
After the government lifted a strict 55-day lockdown on May 11, the hospital and mortality data have been on steady downtrends, but the number of new confirmed infections has stubbornly remained at a few hundred per day.
In the past seven days, France counted an average of 467 new infections per day compared to an average of 478 the first week after lockdown ended.
Besides confirmed cases, France also reports probable cases, but these have not been updated in more than a week.
Adding last week's probable cases - about 37,000 - to Tuesday's confirmed cases yields a total of 191,588 cases, putting France in ninth place in the world by that count, behind Spain, Italy and Peru, and ahead of Germany.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
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france24--2020-06-09--Veteran Burundi president Nkurunziza dies of heart failure at 55

Burundi 's President Pierre Nkurunziza has died at the age of 55 , June 9 2020 .
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has died of heart failure , the government said Tuesday , just months before he was to step down after 15 turbulent years at the head of the troubled nation .
Nkurunziza , 55 , first began to feel unwell after attending a volleyball match on Saturday , and appeared to be improving until he took a turn for the worse on Monday and his heart stopped , the presidency said in a statement .
`` Despite intense efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to save the patient , '' said the statement , adding that doctors had spent several hours trying to revive him .
A post on the government 's official Twitter account early Tuesday evening announced Nkurunziza 's death `` with great sadness '' , and a statement from the presidency said he died in a hospital in the eastern city of Karuzi .
Many Burundians heard the news via a statement read out on national television and radio , which disrupted its programming to broadcast religious songs in Kirundi , the national language @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Denise Bucumi , is currently recovering from the coronavirus in a Nairobi hospital after being evacuated late last month .
Nkurunziza 's death comes as he was preparing to leave office following the election last month of his hand-picked successor Evariste Ndayishimiye .
In a Twitter post Tuesday night , Ndayishimiye praised Nkurunziza 's `` legacy '' and vowed to `` continue his high-quality work that he has done for our country , Burundi '' .
An evangelical Christian who believed he was chosen by God to rule the East African nation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the tail end of a brutal civil war .
He was re-elected in 2010 .
In 2015 , his decision to run for a third term sparked outrage among the opposition who claimed it was unconstitutional , leading to protests and a failed coup which plunged the country into violence .
At least 1,200 people were killed and some 400,000 fled the country , and following Nkurunziza 's successful election , a climate of fear prevailed with rights groups regularly denouncing a crackdown on the opposition and media .
Burundi , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's three poorest countries , has been under sanctions from its major donors since then .
Nkurunziza exacerbated the country 's international isolation by withdrawing from the International Criminal Court in 2017 , and last year he shut down a local United Nations rights office which was probing killings , enforced disappearances and other rights abuses in the country .
More recently Burundi expelled staffers from the World Health Organization despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
Nkurunziza had come in for heavy criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his claims God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Officially Burundi has recorded 83 cases and one death , however doctors in Bujumbura speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity say many cases and deaths are going unreported .
`` If all over the world we talk about the coronavirus pandemic , but we were able to gather without any problem , hold an electoral campaign without any problem , send our children to school and go to the market without worries ... it is the hand of God which shows he has placed a special sign above our Burundi , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed were among the first world leaders to express their condolences Tuesday evening , with Kenyatta hailing Nkurunziza 's `` contribution to the integration and progress of the region '' .
The country remains under the tight control of the ruling CNDD-FDD political party and its notoriously violent youth league , the Imbonerakure , which the United Nations has described as a militia .
In May 2018 , Burundi approved in a referendum constitutional reforms that would have enabled Nkurunziza to rule until 2034 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was marked by widespread repression and abuses .
But in a surprise move , Nkurunziza announced the following month that he would not run again .
His death comes on the heels of elections on May 20 that saw Ndayishimiye secure a seven-year term as president -- a result confirmed by the constitutional court last Thursday .
Ndayishimiye was due to be sworn in in August .
Julien Nimubona , a Burundian political scientist , told AFP Tuesday that the president of the National Assembly , Pascal Nyabenda , should take over on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in accordance with Burundi 's constitution .
Like Ndayishimiye , Nkurunziza fought for the ethnic Hutu rebellion during the country 's 1993-2006 civil war with the minority Tutsi-dominated army .
The war left some 300,000 dead .
The ruling party granted him the title of `` visionary '' earlier this year .
Tuesday 's statement from the presidency said the country would observe seven days of mourning to mark his death .

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has died of heart failure, the government said Tuesday, just months before he was to step down after 15 turbulent years at the head of the troubled nation.
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has died at the age of 55, June 9 2020.
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Nkurunziza, 55, first began to feel unwell after attending a volleyball match on Saturday, and appeared to be improving until he took a turn for the worse on Monday and his heart stopped, the presidency said in a statement.
"Despite intense efforts, the medical team was not able to save the patient," said the statement, adding that doctors had spent several hours trying to revive him. A post on the government's official Twitter account early Tuesday evening announced Nkurunziza's death "with great sadness", and a statement from the presidency said he died in a hospital in the eastern city of Karuzi.
JUST IN: Govt of Burundi announce death of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
According to this statement Mr Nkurunziza died after suffering a heart attack. pic.twitter.com/Ui8fEwozga — Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) June 9, 2020
Many Burundians heard the news via a statement read out on national television and radio, which disrupted its programming to broadcast religious songs in Kirundi, the national language.
Nkurunziza's wife, first lady Denise Bucumi, is currently recovering from the coronavirus in a Nairobi hospital after being evacuated late last month.
Nkurunziza's death comes as he was preparing to leave office following the election last month of his hand-picked successor Evariste Ndayishimiye.
In a Twitter post Tuesday night, Ndayishimiye praised Nkurunziza's "legacy" and vowed to "continue his high-quality work that he has done for our country, Burundi".
An evangelical Christian who believed he was chosen by God to rule the East African nation, Nkurunziza was elected by parliament in 2005 at the tail end of a brutal civil war. He was re-elected in 2010.
In 2015, his decision to run for a third term sparked outrage among the opposition who claimed it was unconstitutional, leading to protests and a failed coup which plunged the country into violence.
Growing isolation
At least 1,200 people were killed and some 400,000 fled the country, and following Nkurunziza's successful election, a climate of fear prevailed with rights groups regularly denouncing a crackdown on the opposition and media.
Burundi, which the World Bank ranks among the world's three poorest countries, has been under sanctions from its major donors since then.
Nkurunziza exacerbated the country's international isolation by withdrawing from the International Criminal Court in 2017, and last year he shut down a local United Nations rights office which was probing killings, enforced disappearances and other rights abuses in the country.
More recently Burundi expelled staffers from the World Health Organization despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Nkurunziza had come in for heavy criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his claims God had protected Burundi from its worst ravages.
Officially Burundi has recorded 83 cases and one death, however doctors in Bujumbura speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity say many cases and deaths are going unreported.
"If all over the world we talk about the coronavirus pandemic, but we were able to gather without any problem, hold an electoral campaign without any problem, send our children to school and go to the market without worries... it is the hand of God which shows he has placed a special sign above our Burundi," Nkurunziza said last month.
Change of power
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed were among the first world leaders to express their condolences Tuesday evening, with Kenyatta hailing Nkurunziza's "contribution to the integration and progress of the region".
The country remains under the tight control of the ruling CNDD-FDD political party and its notoriously violent youth league, the Imbonerakure, which the United Nations has described as a militia.
In May 2018, Burundi approved in a referendum constitutional reforms that would have enabled Nkurunziza to rule until 2034, after a campaign Human Rights Watch said was marked by widespread repression and abuses.
But in a surprise move, Nkurunziza announced the following month that he would not run again.
His death comes on the heels of elections on May 20 that saw Ndayishimiye secure a seven-year term as president -- a result confirmed by the constitutional court last Thursday.
Ndayishimiye was due to be sworn in in August.
Julien Nimubona, a Burundian political scientist, told AFP Tuesday that the president of the National Assembly, Pascal Nyabenda, should take over on an interim basis before Ndayishimiye's swearing-in, in accordance with Burundi's constitution.
Like Ndayishimiye, Nkurunziza fought for the ethnic Hutu rebellion during the country's 1993-2006 civil war with the minority Tutsi-dominated army. The war left some 300,000 dead.
The ruling party granted him the title of "visionary" earlier this year.
Tuesday's statement from the presidency said the country would observe seven days of mourning to mark his death.
(AFP)
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