france24--2020-12-28--Padres get Snell and Kim, seeking Darvish: reports

The San Diego Padres have made deals for Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell and South Korean infielder Kim Ha-seong and are in talks for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish , Major League Baseball 's website reported Monday .
The moves and interest in Chicago Cubs hurler Darvish have not been confirmed by the club because physical exams have not been completed , according to the reports , which cite unnamed sources .
San Diego would send two pitchers and two catchers to Tampa Bay in exchange for Snell , a 28-year-old left-hander who won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the major leagues in 2018 with 21 wins and topped the AL with a 1.89 earned-run average .
After struggling with a broken toe and left elbow issues in 2019 , he helped the Rays reach this year 's World Series , where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers .
Kim batted .292 with 133 home runs and 575 runs batted in over seven seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization .
While he spent most of his time at shortstop and third base , he likely would move to second base with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with 30 homers and 24 doubles in 138 games this year for the Kiwoom Heroes and played for South Korea in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and 2018 Asian Games .
Landing Snell will boost the Padres rotation but bringing in Darvish , a 34-year-old right-hander with eight MLB seasons after seven years in Japan , could make the starting lineup among MLB 's most formidable .
In a 2020 season shortened by Covid-19 , Darvish went 8-3 , leading the National League in wins , with a 2.01 earned-run average .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three years at $ 59 million ( 48.3 million euros ) , but Padres general manager A.J .
Preller knows Darvish from when both were with the Texas Rangers organization .
Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and led Japan to the title in the 2009 World Baseball Classic .

Los Angeles (AFP) –
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The San Diego Padres have made deals for Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell and South Korean infielder Kim Ha-seong and are in talks for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, Major League Baseball's website reported Monday.
The moves and interest in Chicago Cubs hurler Darvish have not been confirmed by the club because physical exams have not been completed, according to the reports, which cite unnamed sources.
San Diego would send two pitchers and two catchers to Tampa Bay in exchange for Snell, a 28-year-old left-hander who won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award as top pitcher.
American Snell led the major leagues in 2018 with 21 wins and topped the AL with a 1.89 earned-run average.
After struggling with a broken toe and left elbow issues in 2019, he helped the Rays reach this year's World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kim batted .292 with 133 home runs and 575 runs batted in over seven seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization. While he spent most of his time at shortstop and third base, he likely would move to second base with the Padres.
The 25-year-old batted .306 with 30 homers and 24 doubles in 138 games this year for the Kiwoom Heroes and played for South Korea in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and 2018 Asian Games.
Landing Snell will boost the Padres rotation but bringing in Darvish, a 34-year-old right-hander with eight MLB seasons after seven years in Japan, could make the starting lineup among MLB's most formidable.
In a 2020 season shortened by Covid-19, Darvish went 8-3, leading the National League in wins, with a 2.01 earned-run average.
The Cubs have a contract with Darvish for three years at $59 million (48.3 million euros), but Padres general manager A.J. Preller knows Darvish from when both were with the Texas Rangers organization.
Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and led Japan to the title in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-28--Man City's clash at Everton postponed due to multiple Covid-19 cases

Manchester City 's clash with Everton on Monday has been postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak at City Manchester City 's Premier League visit to Everton on Monday was postponed after multiple new positive tests for coronavirus were detected among Pep Guardiola 's squad .
City had already announced on Christmas Day there had been four positive tests at the club for players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus and two staff members .
`` Based on strong medical advice the Premier League , in consultation with both clubs , have decided to postpone the fixture , '' City said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ round of Covid-19 testing , the club returned a number of positive cases , in addition to the four already reported on Christmas Day .
`` With the security of the bubble compromised , there posed a risk that the virus could spread further amongst the squad , the staff and potentially beyond . ''
According to Premier League rules matches will not be postponed unless the affected club has fewer than 14 fit senior players .
However , the league said the match had been postponed as a precaution on medical advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Premier League today to rearrange the match following an increase in positive COVID-19 test results received by the club this morning , on top of the cases reported on Christmas Day , '' the Premier League said in a statement .
`` This rise has created uncertainty and the Premier League Board received medical advice that the match should be postponed .
`` The Board agreed to rearrange the game as a precaution , and further testing will now take place tomorrow .
The decision has been taken with the health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' The clash at Goodison Park was the only Premier League match in the current round of fixtures due to have fans in attendance .
The city of Liverpool is in Tier two for coronavirus restrictions meaning up to 2,000 supporters can attend Liverpool and Everton home matches .
Everton could have gone joint top of the table , alongside Liverpool , with victory .
`` Whilst Everton will always have public safety uppermost , we will be requesting full disclosure of all the information that Manchester City provided to the Premier League @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why this decision was taken , '' Everton said in a statement .
City 's training ground will now close for an `` indeterminate period '' with further testing on players and staff to take place before it can reopen .
They are due to face Chelsea away in the Premier League on Sunday and Manchester United in the League Cup semi-finals on January 6 .
`` I think we all sensed this next period might be a tough one with what 's been happening pre-Christmas with Covid in general , '' said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clash now in doubt .
`` I think the Premier League and clubs have done a great job to keep football going in difficult circumstances , so let 's hope we can keep it going . ''
Pep Guardiola 's men already face a congested schedule as they are still involved in four competitions and started their league season a week late after reaching last season 's Champions League quarter-finals .
It is just the second time that a Premier League match has been postponed due to Covid-19 since the 2019/20 season resumed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Newcastle earlier this month was called off due to an outbreak at Newcastle 's training ground .
The Premier League insisted the protocols put in place are still stringent enough to prevent another shutdown .
`` The Premier League continues to have full confidence in its protocols and rules , and the way in which all clubs are implementing them , '' the league added in its statement .
Guardiola 's mother died of coronavirus earlier this year and speaking after Saturday 's 2-0 win over Newcastle , the City manager said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priority .
`` What we want is that Gabriel and Kyle do n't get worse and can be asymptomatic and pass this 8-10 days without tough symptoms , '' said Guardiola .
`` Covid is here .
It is not just here in Man City , it is all around the world attacking hard so that 's why we have to be careful and what we want is the next days is for them not to have symptoms and recover . ''

London (AFP) –
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Manchester City's Premier League visit to Everton on Monday was postponed after multiple new positive tests for coronavirus were detected among Pep Guardiola's squad.
City had already announced on Christmas Day there had been four positive tests at the club for players Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus and two staff members.
"Based on strong medical advice the Premier League, in consultation with both clubs, have decided to postpone the fixture," City said in a statement.
"After the latest round of Covid-19 testing, the club returned a number of positive cases, in addition to the four already reported on Christmas Day.
"With the security of the bubble compromised, there posed a risk that the virus could spread further amongst the squad, the staff and potentially beyond."
According to Premier League rules matches will not be postponed unless the affected club has fewer than 14 fit senior players.
However, the league said the match had been postponed as a precaution on medical advice.
"Manchester City lodged a request with the Premier League today to rearrange the match following an increase in positive COVID-19 test results received by the club this morning, on top of the cases reported on Christmas Day," the Premier League said in a statement.
"This rise has created uncertainty and the Premier League Board received medical advice that the match should be postponed.
"The Board agreed to rearrange the game as a precaution, and further testing will now take place tomorrow. The decision has been taken with the health of players and staff the priority."
- Everton demand answers -
The clash at Goodison Park was the only Premier League match in the current round of fixtures due to have fans in attendance.
The city of Liverpool is in Tier two for coronavirus restrictions meaning up to 2,000 supporters can attend Liverpool and Everton home matches.
Everton could have gone joint top of the table, alongside Liverpool, with victory.
"Whilst Everton will always have public safety uppermost, we will be requesting full disclosure of all the information that Manchester City provided to the Premier League so the club can be clear on why this decision was taken," Everton said in a statement.
City's training ground will now close for an "indeterminate period" with further testing on players and staff to take place before it can reopen.
They are due to face Chelsea away in the Premier League on Sunday and Manchester United in the League Cup semi-finals on January 6.
"I think we all sensed this next period might be a tough one with what's been happening pre-Christmas with Covid in general," said Chelsea manager Frank Lampard with Sunday's clash now in doubt.
"I think the Premier League and clubs have done a great job to keep football going in difficult circumstances, so let's hope we can keep it going."
Pep Guardiola's men already face a congested schedule as they are still involved in four competitions and started their league season a week late after reaching last season's Champions League quarter-finals.
It is just the second time that a Premier League match has been postponed due to Covid-19 since the 2019/20 season resumed in June.
Aston Villa's clash with Newcastle earlier this month was called off due to an outbreak at Newcastle's training ground.
The Premier League insisted the protocols put in place are still stringent enough to prevent another shutdown.
"The Premier League continues to have full confidence in its protocols and rules, and the way in which all clubs are implementing them," the league added in its statement.
Guardiola's mother died of coronavirus earlier this year and speaking after Saturday's 2-0 win over Newcastle, the City manager said the health of his players must take priority.
"What we want is that Gabriel and Kyle don't get worse and can be asymptomatic and pass this 8-10 days without tough symptoms," said Guardiola.
"Covid is here. It is not just here in Man City, it is all around the world attacking hard so that's why we have to be careful and what we want is the next days is for them not to have symptoms and recover."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-28--US security agencies 'damaged' and 'hollowed out' under Trump, says Biden

President-elect Joe Biden is briefed by expert members of his national security and foreign policy agency review teams at the Queen Theater on December 28 , 2020 in Wilmington , Delaware .
US President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America 's security agencies had been `` hollowed out '' under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an `` irresponsibility . ''
`` We 've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget , '' Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreign policy team .
`` Right now we just are n't getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas .
It 's nothing short , in my view , of irresponsibility , '' he said .
After Biden beat Trump in the Nov. 3 election , the Democrat ’ s team only began meeting with administration officials in late November to coordinate the handover .
Trump , a Republican , has refused to concede defeat and his administration only authorized cooperation with Biden on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden 's team said they had met resistance to their requests for information from some Pentagon officials .
The Pentagon pushed back against the Biden team 's earlier complaints .
A senior defense official last week said that the Pentagon had conducted 163 interviews and 181 requests for information and that it would continue to provide information and meetings .
But Biden reiterated those concerns on Monday .
`` We encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department ( Pentagon ) .
And the truth is many of the agencies that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage , '' Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team .
`` The truth is that many of the agencies that are crucial to our security have incurred enormous damage .
Many of them have been hollowed out – in personnel , capacity and in morale , '' he said .

US President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America's security agencies had been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an "irresponsibility."
President-elect Joe Biden is briefed by expert members of his national security and foreign policy agency review teams at the Queen Theater on December 28, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware.
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"We've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team.
"Right now we just aren't getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," he said.
After Biden beat Trump in the Nov. 3 election, the Democrat’s team only began meeting with administration officials in late November to coordinate the handover.
Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede defeat and his administration only authorized cooperation with Biden on Nov. 23.
Earlier this month, Biden's team said they had met resistance to their requests for information from some Pentagon officials.
The Pentagon pushed back against the Biden team's earlier complaints. A senior defense official last week said that the Pentagon had conducted 163 interviews and 181 requests for information and that it would continue to provide information and meetings.
But Biden reiterated those concerns on Monday.
"We encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department (Pentagon). And the truth is many of the agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage," Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team.
"The truth is that many of the agencies that are crucial to our security have incurred enormous damage. Many of them have been hollowed out – in personnel, capacity and in morale," he said.
Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
(REUTERS)
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france24--2020-12-28--USADA hails new anti-doping safeguards for horse racing

Horses running at such stories venues as Churchill Downs in Kentucky will be governed by a new law that US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis T. Tygart says will hail a new era in American horse racing with its equine safety measures US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis T. Tygart on Monday hailed the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act as the start of a `` new era '' for the sport .
The legislation , signed into law on Sunday night by US President Donald Trump , sets a national standard for anti-doping rules and racetrack safety regulations addressing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overseen by USADA .
`` This passage signifies the beginning of a new era in the storied history of the horse racing industry , '' Tygart said in a statement .
`` The landmark legislation will establish a uniform approach to better protect horses and jockeys and to bolster the strength and fairness of the sport . ''
Federal prosecutors indicted trainers and veterinarians in March for drugging horses to make them faster , and concerns by US lawmakers about horse safety have grown in recent years .
USADA will help design rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clean competition for equine athletes , '' Tygart said .
`` USADA welcomes the opportunity to partner with horse racing stakeholders to develop uniform rules and to implement robust independent testing and enforcement that will contribute to the longevity and legacy of the sport . ''

Washington (AFP) –
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US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis T. Tygart on Monday hailed the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act as the start of a "new era" for the sport.
The legislation, signed into law on Sunday night by US President Donald Trump, sets a national standard for anti-doping rules and racetrack safety regulations addressing the safety of horses and jockeys, overseen by USADA.
"This passage signifies the beginning of a new era in the storied history of the horse racing industry," Tygart said in a statement.
"The landmark legislation will establish a uniform approach to better protect horses and jockeys and to bolster the strength and fairness of the sport."
Federal prosecutors indicted trainers and veterinarians in March for drugging horses to make them faster, and concerns by US lawmakers about horse safety have grown in recent years.
USADA will help design rules and a testing model "to ensure clean competition for equine athletes," Tygart said.
"USADA welcomes the opportunity to partner with horse racing stakeholders to develop uniform rules and to implement robust independent testing and enforcement that will contribute to the longevity and legacy of the sport."
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-28--Milan snowbound as storms hit Italy

Milan snowbound as storms hit Italy

Milanese shuffle past the Duomo Cathedral after the city woke up to a thick layer of snow Storms hit much @ @ @ @ @ while business hub Milan woke up to a thick layer of snow .
Around 20 @ @ @ @ @ of snow fell in the city , where a 76-year-old homeless man died in hospital @ @ @ @ @ street .
Falling trees disrupted traffic , with local authorities deploying dozens of snowploughs to @ @ @ @ @ storms caused tailbacks on several motorways , notably the A26 bound for Italy 's largest @ @ @ @ @ capital of the Liguria region .
Several trains were disrupted with falling trees causing delays @ @ @ @ @ .
The Great St Bernard Tunnel on the border with Switzerland was closed to heavy @ @ @ @ @ typically humid climate , Milan rarely sees snow on a large scale but January 1985 @ @ @ @ @ with smaller falls in 2006 and 2009 .
Rome was hit by heavy rain as @ @ @ @ @ storms .

Rome (AFP) –
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Storms hit much of northern Italy on Monday while business hub Milan woke up to a thick layer of snow.
Around 20 centimetres(8 inches) of snow fell in the city, where a 76-year-old homeless man died in hospital after being found in the street.
Falling trees disrupted traffic, with local authorities deploying dozens of snowploughs to clear main thoroughfares.
The storms caused tailbacks on several motorways, notably the A26 bound for Italy's largest commercial port of Genoa, capital of the Liguria region.
Several trains were disrupted with falling trees causing delays of up to two hours.
The Great St Bernard Tunnel on the border with Switzerland was closed to heavy goods vehicles.
With a typically humid climate, Milan rarely sees snow on a large scale but January 1985 notably saw 90 centimetres, with smaller falls in 2006 and 2009.
Rome was hit by heavy rain as well as strong winds and storms.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-28--US actress Loughlin released from prison

Actress Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced by a federal judge in August American actress Lori Loughlin was released from prison on Monday after serving a two-month sentence for her part in a scam to secure spots for privileged children at prestigious universities , authorities said .
The 56-year-old known from her role as Aunt Becky in the 1980s-90s hit sitcom `` Full House '' had entered a low-security federal prison in Dublin , some 30 miles east of San Francisco , on October 30 .
Actress Felicity Huffman of `` Desperate Housewives '' fame was released in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serving 11 days of a two-week sentence for her role in the scam .
Loughlin and her husband , designer Mossimo Giannulli , were among some 50 people indicted over the elaborate scam .
She and her husband were sentenced by a federal judge in August after having pleaded guilty .
The pair admitted to paying $ 500,000 to gain admission for their two daughters to the University of Southern California as recruits to the rowing crew team -- a sport neither had ever trained in .
Loughlin was also sentenced to two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 150,000 fine and 100 hours of community service .
Giannulli , 57 , described by prosecutors as the more active participant of the duo , was sentenced to five months , a $ 250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service .
He began serving his sentence on November 19 at the Lompoc prison near Santa Barbara , California .
The ringleader behind the college admissions scam , William `` Rick '' Singer , who authorities say was paid about $ 25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators , has pleaded guilty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next year .

Los Angeles (AFP) –
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American actress Lori Loughlin was released from prison on Monday after serving a two-month sentence for her part in a scam to secure spots for privileged children at prestigious universities, authorities said.
The 56-year-old known from her role as Aunt Becky in the 1980s-90s hit sitcom "Full House" had entered a low-security federal prison in Dublin, some 30 miles east of San Francisco, on October 30.
Actress Felicity Huffman of "Desperate Housewives" fame was released in October 2019 from the same prison after serving 11 days of a two-week sentence for her role in the scam.
Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, were among some 50 people indicted over the elaborate scam.
She and her husband were sentenced by a federal judge in August after having pleaded guilty.
The pair admitted to paying $500,000 to gain admission for their two daughters to the University of Southern California as recruits to the rowing crew team -- a sport neither had ever trained in.
Loughlin was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, a $150,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.
Giannulli, 57, described by prosecutors as the more active participant of the duo, was sentenced to five months, a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service.
He began serving his sentence on November 19 at the Lompoc prison near Santa Barbara, California.
The ringleader behind the college admissions scam, William "Rick" Singer, who authorities say was paid about $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, expected sometime next year.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--French fashion designer Pierre Cardin dies at 98

French fashion designer Pierre Cardin in his store , Boutique Pierre Cardin , on June 27 , 2019 , in Paris .
Legendary French fashion designer Pierre Cardin died Tuesday at the age of 98 at a hospital in Neuilly in western Paris , his family told AFP .
Cardin was born in Italy in 1922 but emigrated to France as a small child .
Cutting his teeth working at top couture houses such as Christian Dior , Cardin went on to launch his own brand and pioneered the use of licensing in fashion , plastering his label ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His savvy business sense brought him a mix of admiration but also scorn from fashion purists at the time .
In the 1960s and '70s he upended traditional fashion with his futuristic , avant-garde looks .
He became known for his visionary creations , shaking up fashion with bubble dresses and geometrical designs .
Cardin was also one of the first to bring high fashion to the masses by selling collections in department stores beginning in the late 1950s .
While he no longer presented runway collections in his later years , Cardin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties and events and taking young designers under his wing .
He had previously been a mentor to prominent designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier .
His death was also announced by France 's Academy of Fine Arts on Twitter .
“ It is with great sadness that the members of the Academy of Fine Arts announce the death of their fellow member Pierre Cardin , '' the academy tweeted .

Legendary French fashion designer Pierre Cardin died Tuesday at the age of 98 at a hospital in Neuilly in western Paris, his family told AFP.
French fashion designer Pierre Cardin in his store, Boutique Pierre Cardin, on June 27, 2019, in Paris.
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Cardin was born in Italy in 1922 but emigrated to France as a small child.
Cutting his teeth working at top couture houses such as Christian Dior, Cardin went on to launch his own brand and pioneered the use of licensing in fashion, plastering his label’s name on products of all kinds. His savvy business sense brought him a mix of admiration but also scorn from fashion purists at the time.
In the 1960s and '70s he upended traditional fashion with his futuristic, avant-garde looks. He became known for his visionary creations, shaking up fashion with bubble dresses and geometrical designs. Cardin was also one of the first to bring high fashion to the masses by selling collections in department stores beginning in the late 1950s.
While he no longer presented runway collections in his later years, Cardin remained active in the industry, attending parties and events and taking young designers under his wing.
He had previously been a mentor to prominent designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.
Quand Pierre Cardin faisait défiler ses modèles dans la Grande salle des séances du Palais de l’@InstitutFrance où il siégeait chaque mercredi comme membre de l’@AcadBeauxarts : https://t.co/DdQwjBXBDs https://t.co/Q8WbmqALne pic.twitter.com/pjGH6pxfc4 — Cyril Barthalois (@cbarthalois) December 29, 2020
His death was also announced by France's Academy of Fine Arts on Twitter.
“It is with great sadness that the members of the Academy of Fine Arts announce the death of their fellow member Pierre Cardin," the academy tweeted.
Le Secrétaire perpétuel, Laurent Petitgirard, et les membres de l’Académie des beaux-arts ont la très grande tristesse d’annoncer la disparition de leur confrère Pierre Cardin. Il avait été élu le 12 février 1992 au fauteuil de Pierre Dux (section des membres libres). pic.twitter.com/sA1mABvZB5 — Académie beaux-arts (@AcadBeauxarts) December 29, 2020
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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france24--2020-12-29--Croatia rocked by powerful 6.4 earthquake

A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake collapsed buildings in central Croatia on Tuesday , striking near the town of Petrinja where @ @ @ @ @ through the rubble .
The tremor , which struck at a depth of 10 kilometres @ @ @ @ @ to the US Geological Survey ( USGS ) , was also felt strongly some 50 @ @ @ @ @ north of the epicentre in the capital Zagreb , where panicked residents raced onto the @ @ @ @ @ AFP reporter .
`` We are pulling people from cars , we don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ or injured , '' the mayor of Petrinja Darinko Dumbovic told regional broadcaster N1 .
@ @ @ @ @ , people are looking for their loved ones . ''
Images of the town , @ @ @ @ @ 20,000 , showed collapsed roofs and streets strewn with bricks and other debris .
The @ @ @ @ @ a smaller earthquake struck Petrinja , causing some damage to buildings .
The Balkan region @ @ @ @ @ and is regularly hit by earthquakes .

Zagreb (AFP) –
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A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake collapsed buildings in central Croatia on Tuesday, striking near the town of Petrinja where rescue teams raced to comb through the rubble.
The tremor, which struck at a depth of 10 kilometres at around 1130 GMT according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), was also felt strongly some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the epicentre in the capital Zagreb, where panicked residents raced onto the streets, according to an AFP reporter.
"We are pulling people from cars, we don’t know if we have dead or injured," the mayor of Petrinja Darinko Dumbovic told regional broadcaster N1.
"There is general panic, people are looking for their loved ones."
Images of the town, which is home to around 20,000, showed collapsed roofs and streets strewn with bricks and other debris.
The tremor comes one day after a smaller earthquake struck Petrinja, causing some damage to buildings.
The Balkan region lies on major fault lines and is regularly hit by earthquakes.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Cochran-Siegle sweeps Bormio super-G for maiden World Cup win

Ryan Cochran-Siegle , pictured on December 19 , 2020 , is the first US winner of a World Cup super-G @ @ @ @ @ Ryan Cochran-Siegle recorded his maiden World Cup victory , at the age of 28 , @ @ @ @ @ win in the super-G at the Italian resort of Bormio on Tuesday .
Cochran-Siegle 's @ @ @ @ @ second in the downhill in neighbouring Val Gardena earlier this month .
It was also @ @ @ @ @ skier won a World Cup super-G since Bode Miller 's victory in Hinderstoder in 2006 @ @ @ @ @ of Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr , with Norwegian Adrien Smiseth Sjersted ( +0.94sec ) rounding out @ @ @ @ @ , reigning World Cup overall champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde , came in fourth in a @ @ @ @ @ because of poor weather .
Kilde currently sits second in the general classification behind France @ @ @ @ @ finished 12th in Bormio .

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In-form American Ryan Cochran-Siegle recorded his maiden World Cup victory, at the age of 28, by sweeping to a convincing win in the super-G at the Italian resort of Bormio on Tuesday.
Cochran-Siegle's sole previous podium finish was second in the downhill in neighbouring Val Gardena earlier this month.
It was also the first time an American skier won a World Cup super-G since Bode Miller's victory in Hinderstoder in 2006.
Cochran-Siegle finished 0.79sec ahead of Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, with Norwegian Adrien Smiseth Sjersted (+0.94sec) rounding out the podium.
Another Norwegian, reigning World Cup overall champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, came in fourth in a race held back from Monday because of poor weather.
Kilde currently sits second in the general classification behind France's Alexis Pinturault, who finished 12th in Bormio.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Philippines bans arrivals from 20 countries over new virus strain

The Philippines has recorded nearly 500,000 cases of coronavirus The Philippines will shut its borders to foreigners arriving from 20 countries and territories in a bid to prevent a new strain of coronavirus entering the nation , officials said Tuesday .
The ban on travellers from places including Australia , France , Japan and Hong Kong comes as the archipelago braces for a post-Christmas surge in the virus that has infected nearly half a million people .
Dozens of countries closed their borders to the Britain in recent weeks over rising cases of a variant that is believed to spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not yet detected the new strain -- was among them , and in Tuesday 's announcement it extended the ban to January 15 .
Foreigners have been largely banned from entering the country during the pandemic , but authorities recently started to allow entry to holders of certain types of visas .
Filipinos returning home from countries on the list will be allowed to enter , but will have to undergo 14-days quarantine even if they test negative for Covid-19 , he added .
Meanwhile , after months of talks , the Philippines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate -- developed by Johnson & Johnson 's Belgian subsidiary Janssen -- the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday .
It comes after authorities said members of President Rodrigo Duterte 's security team had been given a Chinese-made vaccine that has not been approved for use in the country , sparking criticism the jabs were illegal and the recipients had jumped the queue .
Roque said the Sinopharm vaccine had been donated , but he did not say who provided it .

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The Philippines will shut its borders to foreigners arriving from 20 countries and territories in a bid to prevent a new strain of coronavirus entering the nation, officials said Tuesday.
The ban on travellers from places including Australia, France, Japan and Hong Kong comes as the archipelago braces for a post-Christmas surge in the virus that has infected nearly half a million people.
Dozens of countries closed their borders to the Britain in recent weeks over rising cases of a variant that is believed to spread faster.
The Philippines -- which has not yet detected the new strain -- was among them, and in Tuesday's announcement it extended the ban to January 15.
The measure takes effect Wednesday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Foreigners have been largely banned from entering the country during the pandemic, but authorities recently started to allow entry to holders of certain types of visas.
Filipinos returning home from countries on the list will be allowed to enter, but will have to undergo 14-days quarantine even if they test negative for Covid-19, he added.
Meanwhile, after months of talks, the Philippines has approved an application for its first clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate -- developed by Johnson & Johnson's Belgian subsidiary Janssen -- the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.
It comes after authorities said members of President Rodrigo Duterte's security team had been given a Chinese-made vaccine that has not been approved for use in the country, sparking criticism the jabs were illegal and the recipients had jumped the queue.
Roque said the Sinopharm vaccine had been donated, but he did not say who provided it.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--South Africa hammer injury-hit Sri Lanka

South Africa wrapped up victory by an innings and 45 runs shortly after lunch on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday South Africa wrapped up victory by an innings and 45 runs shortly after lunch on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday .
Sri Lanka , needing 225 runs to avoid an innings defeat , were bowled out for 180 .
Kusal Perera hit a spirited 64 off 87 balls for the tourists and debutant Wanindu Hasaranga slammed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as South Africa seemingly tried to lift their over-rate by rushing through six overs of slow bowling after lunch .
Sri Lanka resumed at 65 for two on Tuesday but never recovered after all-rounder Wiaan Mulder dismissed overnight batsman Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella in quick succession .
Batsman Dhananjaya de Silva , who retired hurt after making 79 in the first innings , did not bat for Sri Lanka .
He was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a torn thigh muscle .
Sri Lanka suffered a spate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara hobbled to the crease to delay the inevitable .
Both suffered groin injuries while bowling .
Sri Lanka started the match well , making 396 after winning the toss but an injury-depleted bowling attack conceded 621 runs when South Africa batted , with former captain Faf du Plessis hitting 199 .
Du Plessis was named man of the match .
It was South Africa ’ s second win in eight matches in the world Test championship .
They have suffered six defeats .
Sri Lanka have won one , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five matches .
Chandimal , who appeared to suffer a groin injury towards the end of Monday ’ s play , resumed his innings on Tuesday and survived for 40 minutes before being bowled for 25 by a ball from the medium-paced Mulder which cut back off the pitch .
Mulder , 22 , followed up by having Niroshan Dickwella caught behind .
He provided the control that was missing from much of South Africa ’ s bowling in the first innings during a spell of two for 29 in nine overs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perera caught behind off a faint edge , with South Africa successfully reviewing what was originally a not-out decision .
Perera hit 10 fours .
Debutant Lutho Sipamla and Nortje both finished with two wickets , while Vishwa Fernando was run out without scoring .
The second and final Test starts in nearby Johannesburg on Sunday .

Centurion (South Africa) (AFP) –
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South Africa wrapped up victory by an innings and 45 runs shortly after lunch on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka, needing 225 runs to avoid an innings defeat, were bowled out for 180.
Kusal Perera hit a spirited 64 off 87 balls for the tourists and debutant Wanindu Hasaranga slammed 59 off 53 balls, taking advantage as South Africa seemingly tried to lift their over-rate by rushing through six overs of slow bowling after lunch.
Sri Lanka resumed at 65 for two on Tuesday but never recovered after all-rounder Wiaan Mulder dismissed overnight batsman Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella in quick succession.
Batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who retired hurt after making 79 in the first innings, did not bat for Sri Lanka. He was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a torn thigh muscle.
Sri Lanka suffered a spate of injuries during the match but bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara hobbled to the crease to delay the inevitable. Both suffered groin injuries while bowling.
Sri Lanka started the match well, making 396 after winning the toss but an injury-depleted bowling attack conceded 621 runs when South Africa batted, with former captain Faf du Plessis hitting 199. Du Plessis was named man of the match.
It was South Africa’s second win in eight matches in the world Test championship. They have suffered six defeats. Sri Lanka have won one, lost three and drawn one of their five matches.
Chandimal, who appeared to suffer a groin injury towards the end of Monday’s play, resumed his innings on Tuesday and survived for 40 minutes before being bowled for 25 by a ball from the medium-paced Mulder which cut back off the pitch.
Mulder, 22, followed up by having Niroshan Dickwella caught behind. He provided the control that was missing from much of South Africa’s bowling in the first innings during a spell of two for 29 in nine overs.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje had the left-handed Perera caught behind off a faint edge, with South Africa successfully reviewing what was originally a not-out decision. Perera hit 10 fours.
Debutant Lutho Sipamla and Nortje both finished with two wickets, while Vishwa Fernando was run out without scoring.
The second and final Test starts in nearby Johannesburg on Sunday.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--Swiss get 24/7 fighter jet protection

Swiss get 24/7 fighter jet protection

The new system will cost an additional 30 million Swiss francs ( $ 34 million , 28 million euros ) a year .
Switzerland will get round-the-clock airspace protection starting this week , the military said Tuesday , nearly seven years after the country was unable to scramble fighter jets to respond to an hijacking outside of business hours .
Starting on December 31 , two F-18 fighter jets will be operational 24/7 to protect the airspace over the small , landlocked country , the armed forces said in a statement .
`` From now on , the air police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a day to guarantee the security and the sovereignty over Swiss airspace , '' the statement said .
The plan to increase Swiss airspace surveillance was proposed to parliament in 2009 , but it was boosted by an incident five years later that cast a spotlight on the lack of round-the-clock protection .
In February 2014 , an Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot , Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn , hijacked his own plane , carrying 202 passengers and crew from Addis Ababa to Rome , and forced it to land in Geneva .
When Tagegn locked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went to the bathroom , Italian and French fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane through their respective airspaces .
But although the co-pilot-turned-hijacker quickly announced he wanted to land the plane in Switzerland , where he later said he aimed to seek asylum , Switzerland 's fleet of F-18s and F-5 Tigers remained on the ground .
The Swiss airforce explained at the time that this was because its planes were only available during office hours .
Following the embarrassing incident , the Swiss parliament set a plan in motion to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the aim of eventually ensuring that two fighter jets be constantly on call and capable of taking off with 15 minutes ' notice .
The plan `` has successfully been completed within the expected timeframe , '' Tuesday 's statement said .
To finalise the project , nearly 100 additional jobs have been created across the airforce , army logistics and command centres , it said .
The new system will cost an additional 30 million Swiss francs ( $ 34 million , 28 million euros ) a year , it added @

Geneva (AFP) –
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Switzerland will get round-the-clock airspace protection starting this week, the military said Tuesday, nearly seven years after the country was unable to scramble fighter jets to respond to an hijacking outside of business hours.
Starting on December 31, two F-18 fighter jets will be operational 24/7 to protect the airspace over the small, landlocked country, the armed forces said in a statement.
"From now on, the air police service will be on call 24 hours a day to guarantee the security and the sovereignty over Swiss airspace," the statement said.
The plan to increase Swiss airspace surveillance was proposed to parliament in 2009, but it was boosted by an incident five years later that cast a spotlight on the lack of round-the-clock protection.
In February 2014, an Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot, Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn, hijacked his own plane, carrying 202 passengers and crew from Addis Ababa to Rome, and forced it to land in Geneva.
When Tagegn locked himself in the cockpit while the pilot went to the bathroom, Italian and French fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane through their respective airspaces.
But although the co-pilot-turned-hijacker quickly announced he wanted to land the plane in Switzerland, where he later said he aimed to seek asylum, Switzerland's fleet of F-18s and F-5 Tigers remained on the ground.
The Swiss airforce explained at the time that this was because its planes were only available during office hours.
Following the embarrassing incident, the Swiss parliament set a plan in motion to gradually scale up the airspace protection, with the aim of eventually ensuring that two fighter jets be constantly on call and capable of taking off with 15 minutes' notice.
The plan "has successfully been completed within the expected timeframe," Tuesday's statement said.
To finalise the project, nearly 100 additional jobs have been created across the airforce, army logistics and command centres, it said.
The new system will cost an additional 30 million Swiss francs ($34 million, 28 million euros) a year, it added.
© 2020 AFP


france24--2020-12-29--12 women who blazed trails or took a stand in 2020

From politics to science to culture and sports , many women smashed glass ceilings or became the symbols of a movement in 2020 .
FRANCE 24 takes a look at 12 women who overcame the odds , blazed trails or took a stand .
The year 2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic and by many women who distinguished themselves during the global health crisis .
A comparative analysis of 194 countries by the World Economic Forum and Centre for Economic Policy Research found that “ responses to the Covid-19 crisis were systematically better in countries led by women ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deadly virus , females made breakthroughs in many sectors and emerged as leading figures in protest movements that erupted from Belarus to Hong Kong .
Kamala Harris : the first female US vice president Democrat Joe Biden 's running mate Kamala Harris made history in November when she became the first US female vice president-elect after winning the race for the White House .
Harris , the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father , is also the first Black woman and the first Asian-American to be elected to the office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman in US government history .
“ While I may be the first woman in this office , I will not be the last , ” Harris proclaimed in a victory speech at the Delaware Chase Convention Center days after the November 3 election to roars from the crowd .
Harris , along with Biden , was named Time magazine ’ s Person of the Year in 2020 for “ changing the American story ” .
In his interview with the magazine , Biden hailed the vice president-elect ’ s mix of strength @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as an arrow .
She is really , really bright .
She is tough .
But yet she has a heart that understands what it ’ s like to be on the other side of prejudice , ” he explained .
Born in Oakland , California , Harris began her career at the local district attorney ’ s office before she was elected attorney general of her home state .
As California ’ s “ top cop ” , Harris had to negotiate tricky crosscurrents to meet her self-proclaimed “ progressive prosecutor ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her rising up Democratic Party ranks .
The toughness was on display on the 2020 campaign trail when Harris emerged unscathed by President Donald Trump ’ s barbs .
Her presence on the Democrat ticket was viewed as a repudiation of Trump ’ s anti-immigrant policies and his predatory track record with women , including several sexual abuse allegations .
Harris ’ s rise represents the progress women , especially women of colour , have made in America .
It ’ s a legacy the US vice president-elect acknowledged in her victory speech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on their struggle , their determination and the strength of their vision ...
I stand on their shoulders.
” Katalin Kariko : the scientist behind the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine The development of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine , the first vaccine approved in the West , is the crowning achievement of decades of work for Hungarian biochemist Katalin Kariko .
Born in January 1955 in a Christian family in the town of Szolnok in central Hungary , Kariko began her career at 23 at the University of Szeged ’ s Biological Research Centre , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was there that she first developed her interest in RNA .
Communist Hungary ’ s laboratories lacked resources and in 1985 she was sacked .
Kariko looked for work internationally , getting a job at Temple University in Philadelphia .
Hungarians were forbidden from taking money abroad , so she sold the family car and hid the proceeds in her 2-year-old daughter ’ s teddy bear .
“ It was a one-way ticket , ” she told Business Insider .
> > Read more : Katalin Kariko , the scientist behind the Pfizer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in front of a photocopier in 1997 that turbocharged Kariko ’ s career .
She met immunologist Drew Weissman , who was working on an HIV vaccine , and they decided to collaborate on developing a way of making synthetic RNA go unrecognised by the body ’ s immune system – an endeavour that succeeded to widespread acclaim in 2005 .
The duo continued their research and were able to place RNA in lipid nanoparticles , a coating that prevents them from degrading too quickly and facilitates their entry into cells .
Researchers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to develop their vaccines .
Both use the same strategy of introducing genetic instructions into the body to trigger the production of a protein identical to that of the coronavirus , thereby eliciting the desired immune response .
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman are now favourites to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine .
As governments across the world scrambled to respond to the pandemic this year , New Zealand 's prime minister proved once again to be an excellent manager in times of crisis .
The Ardern administration ’ s quick and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closure of national borders in March and seven weeks of strict lockdown , proved decisive in New Zealand ’ s confinement of the viral spread .
The country of 5 million people recorded only 25 deaths due to Covid-19 , earning praise from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and a top spot on business confidence indices .
Rising from the opposition Labour parliamentary backbench , Ardern was elected prime minister in 2017 just weeks after becoming party leader following a last-minute resignation .
The young prime minister ’ s strength of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a white supremacist shot dead 51 worshippers in two Christchurch mosques in the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand 's history .
Ardern ’ s mix of compassion for the victims and swift response on gun control and online hate speech won her admirers across the world .
Her brand of efficient , compassionate governance won her party a landslide win in the October general election , handing Labour its best result in half a century and congratulations for her “ outstanding result ” from her opponent , Judith Collins .
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Belarus In the 2020 Belarus presidential election , Alexander Lukashenko , “ Europe ’ s last dictator ” , faced an unexpected young opponent .
Svetlana Tikhanovskya was called the “ unlikely candidate ” when she threw her hat in the political ring following the arrest of her husband , Sergei Tikhanovskaya , a well-known blogger and opposition activist .
The former English teacher and mother of two managed to mobilise the country , galvanising supporters who took to the streets after Lukashenko was declared the winner in poll results discredited by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests , leading to thousands of arrests and forcing the 37-year-old opposition candidate to flee to Lithuania , citing threats from the authorities .
Supported by Moscow , Lukashenko refused to step down from power and launched a vicious campaign against the opposition , cracking down on protesters and arresting members of Tikhanovskaya ’ s campaign team .
From exile , Tikhanovskaya kept up the calls for democratic change in her home country , earning the Belarusian opposition the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought .
Receiving the prize on December 16 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fellow opposition activist , Veronika Tsepkalo , hailed “ each and every Belarusian ” who participated in the bid to bring democratic change to Belarus .
“ Without a free Belarus , ” she noted , “ Europe is not fully free either . ''
As the first woman to lead the European Union , Ursula von der Leyen oversaw Britain ’ s official exit from the bloc on January 31 as well as months of fraught negotiations before a post-Brexit bilateral trade deal was finally clinched on December 24 .
Von @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who had long headed the bloc ’ s executive branch , in the EU 's top post on December 1 , 2019 .
Born in Brussels as one of eight children , when she was 13 the family moved to Germany , where von der Leyen studied economics at the University of Göttingen .
In 1978 she was forced to spend more than a year in hiding in London after her family learned that a far-left militant group , the Baader-Meinhof gang , planned to kidnap her to extort her father .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ studied at the London School of Economics .
She returned to Germany in 1979 , where she trained as a doctor and went on to work in a women ’ s clinic in Hanover until she and her husband started a family .
Throughout much of the 1990s she stayed at home to care for the couple ’ s seven children , with the family also spending four years in Stanford , California .
After returning to Germany , von der Leyen got involved in local politics .
In the early 2000s she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian Democratic Union of Germany party .
When Merkel took office in 2005 , von der Leyen joined the cabinet as family affairs minister and , between 2009 and 2013 , she worked as labour and social affairs minister before being appointed Germany ’ s first female defence minister .
Von der Leyen is the only cabinet member to have served continuously in Merkel ’ s government and was long seen as the likely successor to the chancellor .
In Hong Kong , China continued its muscular takeover of the former autonomous territory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contentious new National Security Law against ambiguously worded offenses of separatism , subversion , terrorism and collusion with foreign countries .
Under the law , pro-democracy parliament members have been dismissed while dozens of activists have been arrested , charged or are under investigation .
In early December , three of the most prominent activists , Joshua Wong , Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam , were sentenced to prison .
Chow , 24 , began her political career as a teenager when she joined the “ Umbrella Movement ” in 2014 and emerged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 , she was the first candidate to be banned from running for a seat in Hong Kong ’ s Legislative Council on the grounds that her party advocated `` self-determination '' .
Fluent in Cantonese , English and Japanese , Chow was instrumental in drawing international attention to Hong Kong ’ s democracy movement .
In Japan , where the young activist in her trademark skirt and collared shirt is a household figure , Chow is known as a “ the goddess of democracy ” while her Chinese supporters have nicknamed her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legendary Chinese heroine who fought to save her family and country .
In early December , Chow , Wong and Lam , were arrested and sentenced to 10 months in prison for participating in a banned anti-government rally in June 2019 .
In 2020 , the US saw its largest anti-racism mobilisations since the 1960s civil rights movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police .
Weeks earlier , another African-American , Breonna Taylor was shot dead in the middle of the night in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The killing of the Black 26-year-old medical worker occurred when three police officers forced entry into her apartment under a `` no knock '' warrant during a drug investigation .
The suspect they were looking for did not live at Taylor 's address .
Breonna Taylor ’ s name was soon chanted during Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country under the # SayHerName movement , which seeks to raise awareness of the many Black female victims of police brutality .
In September , public anger mounted after it was announced that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involved in Taylor ’ s death would not be prosecuted .
Actors George Clooney and Viola Davis joined several other cinema and sports stars in voicing frustration over the decision .
Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna : the first 100 % female Nobel Prize in sciences French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on gene editing technology , marking the first time a Nobel scientific prize has gone to an exclusively female duo .
Announcing the award , the Nobel Committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scissors for its “ revolutionary impact on the life sciences ” which , the citation noted , “ is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true ” .
The genetic scissors are easy to use , inexpensive , and allow scientists to cut DNA exactly where they want , for example to create or correct a genetic mutation and treat rare diseases .
The 51-year-old French woman and the 56-year-old American became the sixth and seventh women to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have won the award are Marie Curie with her husband , Pierre Curie ( 1911 ) , their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie ( 1935 ) , Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin ( 1964 ) , Ada Yonath ( 2009 ) and Frances Arnold ( 2018 ) .
Loujain al-Hathloul , a Saudi women 's rights activist , was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison ( with two years and 10 months suspended ) on December 28 , just weeks after her case was transferred to a terrorism court .
Hathloul , 31 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May 2018 when she was arrested with other female activists , first garnered public attention for their activism in demanding that Saudi women be allowed to drive .
She was arrested in 2014 for trying to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates and again in June of 2017 .
UN experts have called the charges against her `` spurious '' .
Rights campaigners say the anti-terrorism Specialised Criminal Court is known for being used to silence those critical of the Saudi regime by issuing long prison sentences .
On Christmas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lawsuit brought by Hathloul over the alleged torture she has suffered while in prison .
Saudi Arabia 's `` Sabq '' newspaper reported that the court in Riyadh dismissed Hathloul 's case after a review of medical reports , surveillance cameras and witness testimonies concluded her claims were `` invalid '' .
Speaking to FRANCE 24 from Brussels , Loujain al-Hathloul ’ s sister urged Western leaders to pressure the Saudi regime to free the female activists .
Alia al-Hathloul said her sister had started a hunger strike in late October to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contact with her parents .
She said the family was `` very worried '' about the deterioration of her health , stressing that their repeated requests to Saudi authorities for an update had gone unanswered .
> > Watch : The Interview : 'Now is the time to release my sister' In a statement in mid-December , the chairwoman of the UN ’ s working group on discrimination against women and girls called on Saudi authorities to release Hathloul .
`` We are extremely alarmed to hear that Al-Hathloul , who has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on spurious charges , is now being tried by a specialised terrorism court , '' chairwoman Elizabeth Broderick said .
`` We call once again on Saudi Arabia to immediately release Al-Hathloul , a woman human rights defender who has greatly contributed to advancing women 's rights.
” French referee Stéphanie Frappart made history on December 2 when she became the first female to referee a men ’ s UEFA Champions League match .
Frappart , 36 , had already made history as the first woman to referee in Ligue 1 , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea .
She also made her Europa League debut in October .
The former Herblay-sur-Seine player in the Paris region , who began refereeing at the age of 13 , has broken several glass ceilings in a field dominated by men .
`` We have to prove physically , technically and tactically that we are the same as the men .
I 'm not afraid of that , ” she said in August 2019 on the eve of the European Super Cup match between Liverpool and Chelsea .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ director and actor is shot in Kabul Colonel Saba Sahar , 45 , is a senior female police officer and one of Afghanistan 's most famous actors as well as a director .
On August 25 she was leaving for work with her 4-year-old daughter , her driver and a bodyguard when her car came under fire .
All three of the adults were hit by bullets .
“ It took me another moment to realise I ’ d been shot too , ” she told the Guardian in an interview published December @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six metres away , and they were moving closer to the car , still firing .
They would have killed my child.
” Sahar grabbed the gun from her wounded bodyguard and began returning fire .
Her husband , Emal Zaki , had heard the gunshots and called his wife .
By the time he reached her car the gunmen were gone .
After getting the wounded bodyguard and driver into the car , they headed for the hospital .
“ My wife stayed conscious until she was sure our daughter was safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zaki told the Guardian .
Sahar was only one of the Afghan policewoman targeted this year .
Fatima Faizi , 23 , an officer with the anti-narcotics squad , was kidnapped and killed in July .
Another was dragged her out of her house and killed in Kunduz province .
Ghazni policewoman Khatera , 33 , was attacked and blinded with a knife by three men on a motorcycle .
Responding to the news of Sahar ’ s shooting , Amnesty International said there had been an `` extremely worrying '' rise in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : A voice for women in the Sahel The Fulani writer from northern Cameroon , who is a celebrity in her home country , won France ’ s prestigious Goncourt des Lycéens literary award in early December for her book , `` Les Impatientes '' , a poignant novel about the status of women in the southern Sahel region .
`` The writing is simple and touching and sounds right , without superfluous lyricism .
It is a subtle book that allows us to observe the issue of forced marriage through the prism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jury president Clémence Nominé .
Born in northern Cameroon to an Egyptian mother and a Cameroonian father , Amadou Amal was married at 17 to a 50-year-old man she did not know .
After divorcing her first husband , she remarried 10 years later but was a victim of domestic violence .
When she managed to escape her abusive husband , he kidnapped her two daughters in a bid to force her to return .
Undaunted , Amal enrolled in a business management school , earning a degree while taking up writing as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience , Amal weaves the narrative in `` Les Impatientes '' around three young women from wealthy families in Marouna in northern Cameroon and their struggles to live up to society ’ s expectations .
The novel deals openly with polygamy , rape and forced marriage , which all too many women in the Sahel still face in 2020 .

Retrospective
From politics to science to culture and sports, many women smashed glass ceilings or became the symbols of a movement in 2020. FRANCE 24 takes a look at 12 women who overcame the odds, blazed trails or took a stand.
Advertising Read more
The year 2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic and by many women who distinguished themselves during the global health crisis. A comparative analysis of 194 countries by the World Economic Forum and Centre for Economic Policy Research found that “responses to the Covid-19 crisis were systematically better in countries led by women”.
In a year largely overshadowed by the deadly virus, females made breakthroughs in many sectors and emerged as leading figures in protest movements that erupted from Belarus to Hong Kong.
Kamala Harris: the first female US vice president
US vice president-elect Kamala Harris at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec 1, 2020. REUTERS - LEAH MILLIS
Democrat Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris made history in November when she became the first US female vice president-elect after winning the race for the White House. Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, is also the first Black woman and the first Asian-American to be elected to the office, which will make her the highest-ranking woman in US government history.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” Harris proclaimed in a victory speech at the Delaware Chase Convention Center days after the November 3 election to roars from the crowd.
Harris, along with Biden, was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2020 for “changing the American story”. In his interview with the magazine, Biden hailed the vice president-elect’s mix of strength and empathy. “She is straight as an arrow. She is really, really bright. She is tough. But yet she has a heart that understands what it’s like to be on the other side of prejudice,” he explained.
Born in Oakland, California, Harris began her career at the local district attorney’s office before she was elected attorney general of her home state. As California’s “top cop”, Harris had to negotiate tricky crosscurrents to meet her self-proclaimed “progressive prosecutor” goal, displaying political agility that saw her rising up Democratic Party ranks.
The toughness was on display on the 2020 campaign trail when Harris emerged unscathed by President Donald Trump’s barbs. Her presence on the Democrat ticket was viewed as a repudiation of Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and his predatory track record with women, including several sexual abuse allegations.
Harris’s rise represents the progress women, especially women of colour, have made in America. It’s a legacy the US vice president-elect acknowledged in her victory speech when she noted, “I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision ... I stand on their shoulders.”
Katalin Kariko: the scientist behind the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine
The development of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is the crowning achievement of decades of work for Hungarian biochemist Katalin Kariko. © Family handout/AFP
The development of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the first vaccine approved in the West, is the crowning achievement of decades of work for Hungarian biochemist Katalin Kariko.
Born in January 1955 in a Christian family in the town of Szolnok in central Hungary, Kariko began her career at 23 at the University of Szeged’s Biological Research Centre, where she obtained her PhD. It was there that she first developed her interest in RNA.
Communist Hungary’s laboratories lacked resources and in 1985 she was sacked. Kariko looked for work internationally, getting a job at Temple University in Philadelphia. Hungarians were forbidden from taking money abroad, so she sold the family car and hid the proceeds in her 2-year-old daughter’s teddy bear. “It was a one-way ticket,” she told Business Insider.
>> Read more: Katalin Kariko, the scientist behind the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine
It was a serendipitous meeting in front of a photocopier in 1997 that turbocharged Kariko’s career. She met immunologist Drew Weissman, who was working on an HIV vaccine, and they decided to collaborate on developing a way of making synthetic RNA go unrecognised by the body’s immune system – an endeavour that succeeded to widespread acclaim in 2005. The duo continued their research and were able to place RNA in lipid nanoparticles, a coating that prevents them from degrading too quickly and facilitates their entry into cells.
Researchers at Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna used these techniques to develop their vaccines. Both use the same strategy of introducing genetic instructions into the body to trigger the production of a protein identical to that of the coronavirus, thereby eliciting the desired immune response.
Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman are now favourites to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Jacinda Ardern: New Zealand's PM conquers the coronavirus
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led her party to a landslide win in the October 2020 general elections. Marty MELVILLE AFP
As governments across the world scrambled to respond to the pandemic this year, New Zealand's prime minister proved once again to be an excellent manager in times of crisis.
The Ardern administration’s quick and tough pandemic response, by announcing a closure of national borders in March and seven weeks of strict lockdown, proved decisive in New Zealand’s confinement of the viral spread. The country of 5 million people recorded only 25 deaths due to Covid-19, earning praise from the World Health Organization (WHO) and a top spot on business confidence indices.
Rising from the opposition Labour parliamentary backbench, Ardern was elected prime minister in 2017 just weeks after becoming party leader following a last-minute resignation. The young prime minister’s strength of character was tested in March 2019 when a white supremacist shot dead 51 worshippers in two Christchurch mosques in the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand's history. Ardern’s mix of compassion for the victims and swift response on gun control and online hate speech won her admirers across the world.
Her brand of efficient, compassionate governance won her party a landslide win in the October general election, handing Labour its best result in half a century and congratulations for her “outstanding result” from her opponent, Judith Collins.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: the unlikely face of opposition in Belarus
Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya holds a picture of Belarusian politician Mikalai Statkevich while receiving the Sakharov human rights prize at the European Parliament on December 16, 2020. © John Thys, AFP pool
In the 2020 Belarus presidential election, Alexander Lukashenko, “Europe’s last dictator”, faced an unexpected young opponent. Svetlana Tikhanovskya was called the “unlikely candidate” when she threw her hat in the political ring following the arrest of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovskaya, a well-known blogger and opposition activist. The former English teacher and mother of two managed to mobilise the country, galvanising supporters who took to the streets after Lukashenko was declared the winner in poll results discredited by the international community.
The re-election triggered mass protests, leading to thousands of arrests and forcing the 37-year-old opposition candidate to flee to Lithuania, citing threats from the authorities. Supported by Moscow, Lukashenko refused to step down from power and launched a vicious campaign against the opposition, cracking down on protesters and arresting members of Tikhanovskaya’s campaign team.
From exile, Tikhanovskaya kept up the calls for democratic change in her home country, earning the Belarusian opposition the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Receiving the prize on December 16 on behalf of the opposition, Tikhanovskaya and fellow opposition activist, Veronika Tsepkalo, hailed “each and every Belarusian” who participated in the bid to bring democratic change to Belarus.
“Without a free Belarus,” she noted, “Europe is not fully free either."
Ursula von der Leyen: leading the EU through Brexit
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses MEPs during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels on December 16, 2020. © John Thys, AP
As the first woman to lead the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen oversaw Britain’s official exit from the bloc on January 31 as well as months of fraught negotiations before a post-Brexit bilateral trade deal was finally clinched on December 24.
Von der Leyen took over from Jean-Claude Juncker, who had long headed the bloc’s executive branch, in the EU's top post on December 1, 2019.
Born in Brussels as one of eight children, when she was 13 the family moved to Germany, where von der Leyen studied economics at the University of Göttingen. In 1978 she was forced to spend more than a year in hiding in London after her family learned that a far-left militant group, the Baader-Meinhof gang, planned to kidnap her to extort her father. While in London, von der Leyen studied at the London School of Economics.
She returned to Germany in 1979, where she trained as a doctor and went on to work in a women’s clinic in Hanover until she and her husband started a family. Throughout much of the 1990s she stayed at home to care for the couple’s seven children, with the family also spending four years in Stanford, California.
After returning to Germany, von der Leyen got involved in local politics. In the early 2000s she joined Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany party. When Merkel took office in 2005, von der Leyen joined the cabinet as family affairs minister and, between 2009 and 2013, she worked as labour and social affairs minister before being appointed Germany’s first female defence minister. Von der Leyen is the only cabinet member to have served continuously in Merkel’s government and was long seen as the likely successor to the chancellor.
>> Read more: Ursula von der Leyen: controversial at home, lauded abroad
Agnes Chow: Hong Kong’s ‘goddess of democracy’
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam arrive at a Hong Kong court on Nov. 23, 2020. REUTERS - TYRONE SIU
In Hong Kong, China continued its muscular takeover of the former autonomous territory with the adoption in June of a contentious new National Security Law against ambiguously worded offenses of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries.
Under the law, pro-democracy parliament members have been dismissed while dozens of activists have been arrested, charged or are under investigation. In early December, three of the most prominent activists, Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, were sentenced to prison.
Chow, 24, began her political career as a teenager when she joined the “Umbrella Movement” in 2014 and emerged as a leading activist figure. In 2018, she was the first candidate to be banned from running for a seat in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on the grounds that her party advocated "self-determination".
Fluent in Cantonese, English and Japanese, Chow was instrumental in drawing international attention to Hong Kong’s democracy movement. In Japan, where the young activist in her trademark skirt and collared shirt is a household figure, Chow is known as a “the goddess of democracy” while her Chinese supporters have nicknamed her “Mulan”, a reference to the legendary Chinese heroine who fought to save her family and country.
In early December, Chow, Wong and Lam, were arrested and sentenced to 10 months in prison for participating in a banned anti-government rally in June 2019.
Breonna Taylor: a catalyst for tackling police violence
Protester holding a poster of Breonna Taylor at a Minneapolis demonstration, June 3, 2020. AFP - JASON CONNOLLY
In 2020, the US saw its largest anti-racism mobilisations since the 1960s civil rights movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Weeks earlier, another African-American, Breonna Taylor was shot dead in the middle of the night in her Kentucky home during a botched police raid. The killing of the Black 26-year-old medical worker occurred when three police officers forced entry into her apartment under a "no knock" warrant during a drug investigation. The suspect they were looking for did not live at Taylor's address.
Breonna Taylor’s name was soon chanted during Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country under the #SayHerName movement, which seeks to raise awareness of the many Black female victims of police brutality.
In September, public anger mounted after it was announced that two of the three White police officers involved in Taylor’s death would not be prosecuted. Actors George Clooney and Viola Davis joined several other cinema and sports stars in voicing frustration over the decision.
Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna: the first 100% female Nobel Prize in sciences
Charpentier (L) and Doudna (R) are the first all-woman team to receive a Nobel science prize Miguel RIOPA AFP/File
French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on gene editing technology, marking the first time a Nobel scientific prize has gone to an exclusively female duo.
Announcing the award, the Nobel Committee hailed the duo’s CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors for its “revolutionary impact on the life sciences” which, the citation noted, “is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true”.
The genetic scissors are easy to use, inexpensive, and allow scientists to cut DNA exactly where they want, for example to create or correct a genetic mutation and treat rare diseases.
The 51-year-old French woman and the 56-year-old American became the sixth and seventh women to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry since 1901. The other five women who have won the award are Marie Curie with her husband, Pierre Curie (1911), their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie (1935), Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1964), Ada Yonath (2009) and Frances Arnold (2018).
Loujain al-Hathloul: Saudi rights activist sentenced by terrorism court
Loujain al-Hathloul © AFP photo/Facebook account of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul
Loujain al-Hathloul, a Saudi women's rights activist, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison (with two years and 10 months suspended) on December 28, just weeks after her case was transferred to a terrorism court. Hathloul, 31, who has been in jail since May 2018 when she was arrested with other female activists, first garnered public attention for their activism in demanding that Saudi women be allowed to drive. She was arrested in 2014 for trying to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates and again in June of 2017.
UN experts have called the charges against her "spurious". Rights campaigners say the anti-terrorism Specialised Criminal Court is known for being used to silence those critical of the Saudi regime by issuing long prison sentences.
On Christmas Eve, a Saudi criminal court rejected a lawsuit brought by Hathloul over the alleged torture she has suffered while in prison. Saudi Arabia's "Sabq" newspaper reported that the court in Riyadh dismissed Hathloul's case after a review of medical reports, surveillance cameras and witness testimonies concluded her claims were "invalid".
Speaking to FRANCE 24 from Brussels, Loujain al-Hathloul’s sister urged Western leaders to pressure the Saudi regime to free the female activists. Alia al-Hathloul said her sister had started a hunger strike in late October to protest not being allowed to have regular contact with her parents. She said the family was "very worried" about the deterioration of her health, stressing that their repeated requests to Saudi authorities for an update had gone unanswered.
>> Watch: The Interview: 'Now is the time to release my sister'
In a statement in mid-December, the chairwoman of the UN’s working group on discrimination against women and girls called on Saudi authorities to release Hathloul. "We are extremely alarmed to hear that Al-Hathloul, who has been in detention for more than two years on spurious charges, is now being tried by a specialised terrorism court," chairwoman Elizabeth Broderick said.
"We call once again on Saudi Arabia to immediately release Al-Hathloul, a woman human rights defender who has greatly contributed to advancing women's rights.”
01:51
Stéphanie Frappart: French referee breaks FIFA's glass ceiling
Football referee Stéphanie Frappart at a Champions League match Dec. 2, 2020. REUTERS - MASSIMO PINCA
French referee Stéphanie Frappart made history on December 2 when she became the first female to referee a men’s UEFA Champions League match.
Frappart, 36, had already made history as the first woman to referee in Ligue 1, and took charge of the 2019 UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea. She also made her Europa League debut in October.
The former Herblay-sur-Seine player in the Paris region, who began refereeing at the age of 13, has broken several glass ceilings in a field dominated by men. "We have to prove physically, technically and tactically that we are the same as the men. I'm not afraid of that,” she said in August 2019 on the eve of the European Super Cup match between Liverpool and Chelsea.
Saba Sahar: Afghan policewoman, film director and actor is shot in Kabul
Afghan film director Saba Sahar directs a scene for a TV series on May 30, 2011, in Kabul. © Ahmad Masood, Reuters
Colonel Saba Sahar, 45, is a senior female police officer and one of Afghanistan's most famous actors as well as a director. On August 25 she was leaving for work with her 4-year-old daughter, her driver and a bodyguard when her car came under fire. All three of the adults were hit by bullets.
“It took me another moment to realise I’d been shot too,” she told the Guardian in an interview published December 24. “They were five or six metres away, and they were moving closer to the car, still firing. They would have killed my child.”
Sahar grabbed the gun from her wounded bodyguard and began returning fire. Her husband, Emal Zaki, had heard the gunshots and called his wife. By the time he reached her car the gunmen were gone.
After getting the wounded bodyguard and driver into the car, they headed for the hospital. “My wife stayed conscious until she was sure our daughter was safe and then she passed out,” Zaki told the Guardian.
Sahar was only one of the Afghan policewoman targeted this year. Fatima Faizi, 23, an officer with the anti-narcotics squad, was kidnapped and killed in July. Another was dragged her out of her house and killed in Kunduz province. Ghazni policewoman Khatera, 33, was attacked and blinded with a knife by three men on a motorcycle.
Responding to the news of Sahar’s shooting, Amnesty International said there had been an "extremely worrying" rise in attacks in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan: The rise in attacks and assassination attempts on human rights defenders, political activists, journalists and film actors is extremely worrying. These attacks must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable. The authorities must protect everyone at risk. https://t.co/0VGT7G4Mlm — Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) August 25, 2020
Djaïli Amadou Amal: A voice for women in the Sahel
L'écrivaine camerounaise Djaïli Amadou Amal, le 17 novembre 2020, à Paris AFP - JOEL SAGET
The Fulani writer from northern Cameroon, who is a celebrity in her home country, won France’s prestigious Goncourt des Lycéens literary award in early December for her book, "Les Impatientes", a poignant novel about the status of women in the southern Sahel region.
"The writing is simple and touching and sounds right, without superfluous lyricism. It is a subtle book that allows us to observe the issue of forced marriage through the prism of this moving testimony," said jury president Clémence Nominé.
Born in northern Cameroon to an Egyptian mother and a Cameroonian father, Amadou Amal was married at 17 to a 50-year-old man she did not know. After divorcing her first husband, she remarried 10 years later but was a victim of domestic violence. When she managed to escape her abusive husband, he kidnapped her two daughters in a bid to force her to return. Undaunted, Amal enrolled in a business management school, earning a degree while taking up writing as a hobby.
Inspired by her own experience, Amal weaves the narrative in "Les Impatientes" around three young women from wealthy families in Marouna in northern Cameroon and their struggles to live up to society’s expectations. The novel deals openly with polygamy, rape and forced marriage, which all too many women in the Sahel still face in 2020.
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france24--2020-12-29--Zhang Zhan: the defiant citizen journalist jailed for challenging China's virus story

Zhang Zhan was jailed by Chinese authorities over her coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan Frail and in a wheelchair from prolonged hunger strike , 37-year-old former lawyer Zhang Zhan issued a mostly silent rebuke to the Chinese legal system , before being jailed for publishing stories about the pandemic that China does not want to be told .
Zhang started reporting from Wuhan in February , questioning the lockdown of the city , access to virus testing and hospital capacity .
Her videos also captured the aggression of Chinese authorities when confronted by a woman filming on her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unvarnished glimpses from the virus epicentre during the first months of the outbreak , in a country where sharing information unsanctioned by authorities is a perilous pursuit .
The coronavirus would soon seep across the world and blame would be heaped on China for failing to act early enough on it .
Beijing then began work sculpting a neater narrative , extolling China 's Communist leadership for bringing an unprecedented public health crisis under control .
Like the three other citizen journalists who also travelled to Wuhan during the early stages of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expose gaps in that storyline .
In one of her videos , she mentioned being under tight surveillance .
Her videos and social media posts -- many on Twitter and YouTube , platforms blocked in China -- suddenly ended when she was detained by authorities in May .
Then on Monday , after seven months in detention , she was jailed by a Shanghai court for four years for `` picking quarrels and provoking trouble '' .
Shortly before her detention , she had been trying to campaign for the grieving relatives of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ -- a sensitive topic for Chinese authorities .
`` Zhang Zhan wanted to help ordinary Wuhan people .
She wanted to understand their sufferings and let the wider world know , '' said her lawyer Zhang Keke , also from Wuhan .
He was repeatedly hassled by authorities to drop her case and not to agree to foreign media interviews .
Zhang was the first of the citizen journalists known to face legal proceedings for her activities , which prosecutors deemed `` fabricating lies and spreading false information '' .
They were all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about going to Wuhan when everyone else was trying to leave , '' said her friend and fellow lawyer Li Dawei .
`` She is a staunch Christian and said it was God 's will -- she had to do this and tell everyone the truth . ''
The others -- Fang Bin , Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua -- have now stopped speaking out altogether .
Chen and Li have reportedly returned home , while Fang 's whereabouts are unknown .
In a short documentary filmed before her arrest and released after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ post from a Wuhan resident motivated her to travel there in search of the truth about the outbreak .
`` He said he felt like he was left there to die , I was very touched by what he wrote , '' she told the anonymous filmmaker , who released the film on the website China Change .
Zhang spoke little during the trial , an act of protest , her lawyers said , against the legal process and China 's restrictions on free speech .
Defence counsel Zhang Keke said his client @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked her to confirm her identity to the court .
The lawyer told AFP : `` When he asked why , she replied , 'If you think I 'm fabricating lies , then when I reply to your questions does that not count as fabricating lies too ? '
'' Her mother sobbed loudly in court as the sentence was read but Zhang was unmoved , lawyers said .
Foreign reporters and diplomats were not allowed in to observe proceedings , which concluded within three hours .
But she maintains her innocence and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chance , her lawyers said .
She has also been on a hunger strike in protest , which has ravaged her health since her detention .
Zhang Keke said she is force-fed via a nasal tube , and has had her hands and feet restrained for long periods .
As a result , she suffers chronic headaches , fatigue and stomach pain , he added .
`` Perhaps her determination to resist will continue until the very end , '' he said .
Zhang 's observations of daily life in Wuhan -- businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run-ins with the police -- did not have a huge online impact , but they attracted the attention of Chinese authorities nonetheless .
Her videos also betrayed a wider discontent with China 's system of authoritarian governance .
`` The main way of governing the city relies on threats and intimidation , '' she said in one YouTube video filmed in May .
`` This is the tragedy of China , of Wuhan . ''

Shanghai (AFP) –
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Frail and in a wheelchair from prolonged hunger strike, 37-year-old former lawyer Zhang Zhan issued a mostly silent rebuke to the Chinese legal system, before being jailed for publishing stories about the pandemic that China does not want to be told.
Zhang started reporting from Wuhan in February, questioning the lockdown of the city, access to virus testing and hospital capacity. Her videos also captured the aggression of Chinese authorities when confronted by a woman filming on her smartphone.
Her reports provided rare, unvarnished glimpses from the virus epicentre during the first months of the outbreak, in a country where sharing information unsanctioned by authorities is a perilous pursuit.
The coronavirus would soon seep across the world and blame would be heaped on China for failing to act early enough on it.
Beijing then began work sculpting a neater narrative, extolling China's Communist leadership for bringing an unprecedented public health crisis under control.
Like the three other citizen journalists who also travelled to Wuhan during the early stages of the outbreak, Zhang's reporting threatened to expose gaps in that storyline.
In one of her videos, she mentioned being under tight surveillance. Her videos and social media posts -- many on Twitter and YouTube, platforms blocked in China -- suddenly ended when she was detained by authorities in May.
Then on Monday, after seven months in detention, she was jailed by a Shanghai court for four years for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
- 'Rebellious soul' -
Shortly before her detention, she had been trying to campaign for the grieving relatives of virus victims, who were seeking compensation -- a sensitive topic for Chinese authorities.
"Zhang Zhan wanted to help ordinary Wuhan people. She wanted to understand their sufferings and let the wider world know," said her lawyer Zhang Keke, also from Wuhan.
He was repeatedly hassled by authorities to drop her case and not to agree to foreign media interviews.
Zhang was the first of the citizen journalists known to face legal proceedings for her activities, which prosecutors deemed "fabricating lies and spreading false information".
They were all eventually detained.
"I warned her about going to Wuhan when everyone else was trying to leave," said her friend and fellow lawyer Li Dawei.
"She is a staunch Christian and said it was God's will -- she had to do this and tell everyone the truth."
The others -- Fang Bin, Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua -- have now stopped speaking out altogether. Chen and Li have reportedly returned home, while Fang's whereabouts are unknown.
In a short documentary filmed before her arrest and released after her sentencing, Zhang said an online post from a Wuhan resident motivated her to travel there in search of the truth about the outbreak.
"He said he felt like he was left there to die, I was very touched by what he wrote," she told the anonymous filmmaker, who released the film on the website China Change.
"Maybe I have a rebellious soul."
- 'The tragedy of Wuhan' -
Zhang spoke little during the trial, an act of protest, her lawyers said, against the legal process and China's restrictions on free speech.
Defence counsel Zhang Keke said his client even refused to answer a judge who asked her to confirm her identity to the court.
The lawyer told AFP: "When he asked why, she replied, 'If you think I'm fabricating lies, then when I reply to your questions does that not count as fabricating lies too?'"
Her mother sobbed loudly in court as the sentence was read but Zhang was unmoved, lawyers said.
Foreign reporters and diplomats were not allowed in to observe proceedings, which concluded within three hours.
But she maintains her innocence and is likely to appeal if given the chance, her lawyers said.
She has also been on a hunger strike in protest, which has ravaged her health since her detention.
Zhang Keke said she is force-fed via a nasal tube, and has had her hands and feet restrained for long periods. As a result, she suffers chronic headaches, fatigue and stomach pain, he added.
"Perhaps her determination to resist will continue until the very end," he said.
Zhang's observations of daily life in Wuhan -- businesses struggling to recover, grieving relatives, run-ins with the police -- did not have a huge online impact, but they attracted the attention of Chinese authorities nonetheless.
Her videos also betrayed a wider discontent with China's system of authoritarian governance.
"The main way of governing the city relies on threats and intimidation," she said in one YouTube video filmed in May.
"This is the tragedy of China, of Wuhan."
© 2020 AFP