Author: Noel Baldwin

“A concrete kennel, measuring 2.5m x 3m. Most often, it is unbearable due to the cold and dampness. Water collects on the floor, and the window is tiny. The walls are thick, stifling any airflow, and not even the cobwebs stir. There is no ventilation, leaving one feeling suffocated at night, akin to a fish out of water. An iron bunk, reminiscent of those found on sleeper trains, is bolted to the wall.” This is how Alexei Navalny described the cell in which he spent 308 out of 1125 days in solitary confinement. His imprisonment amounted to both physical and…

The Aerospace Force has dispatched a panel of inquiry to probe into the incident A military transport plane Ilyushin-76 crashed in the Belgorod Region on Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew and three escorts. “On January 24 this year an Ilyushin-76 transport plane crashed in the Belgorod Region during a scheduled flight at about 11 a.m. Moscow time (8 a.m. GMT). There were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being moved to the Belgorod Region for an exchange, and three escorts on board,” the Defense Ministry said.…

Journalists at France’s only dedicated Sunday newspaper have ended the country’s longest media strike in decades, on the day a controversial editor aligned with the far right took up his post as editor in chief. Staff at Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) said on Tuesday they were throwing in the towel knowing that their decision would mean they would either leave the paper or have to work under its new leadership. The strike since 22 June over the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune, 34, as editor in chief has meant the influential weekly missed six consecutive issues. The newspaper’s SDJ journalists’…

Armed robbers have raided a store of the luxury Swiss watch brand Piaget in central Paris, escaping with between €10m to €15m ( £8.5m to 12.8m) worth of jewellery, the Paris prosecutors office said. The robbery took place around lunchtime on Tuesday at the store on the Rue de la Paix in the high-end Place Vendôme area, home to several jewellers, watchmakers and luxury brands. The area has seen a spate of armed robberies in recent years. An investigation is now under way and a source close to the matter said police were looking for three suspects. Nobody was hurt, a police…

Mbappe netted a second-half penalty in Euro 2024 to become the all-time leading French scorer over a season with 54 goals. France striker Kylian Mbappe scored to set another milestone as his side maintained their perfect record in Euro 2024 qualifying Group B with a win over Greece who finished with 10 men after a late sending off. Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, the only goal of the match on Monday, to become the all-time leading French scorer over a season with 54 goals for club and country, beating the mark set by Just Fontaine in 1957-58. It also helped the Paris St…

Lebanon’s ambassador to France, Rami Adwan, has been investigated for rape and intentional violence following complaints by two former embassy employees, informed sources said Friday confirming a Mediapart report. A first woman, aged 31, filed her complaint in June 2022 for a rape she says was committed in May 2020 in the ambassador’s private apartment. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. According to her deposition seen by AFP she made clear her lack of interest in having sex and that she screamed and burst into tears. The woman, who was working as an editor,…

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of Dragon Oil, welcomed a high-level delegation from the Republic of Turkmenistan, headed by Ashyrguly Begliyev, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan in Dubai. The delegation comprised Haji Muhammad Raja Muradov, Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan, Batyr Amanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkmen Gas, Sardar Mamed Jarajayev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to the UAE, Jovanch Agajanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkmennebit, and Nyazly Nyazlyyev, Chairman of the State Concern (Turkmenhimiya). Also in attendance were Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Ahmed Sharaf, Hussain Lootah, and Qusay Al Shared, Board Members…

Public figures in France want a paid leave for women having an abortion. The thirty signatories which include journalists, lawyers, and social activists have called on government officials to allow paid time off in the event of a forced termination. “We want our daughters and granddaughters to be able to have an abortion without shame or loss of salary,” they wrote in a petition to the government, which was quoted in Valeurs Actuelles. Sick leave While abortion has been legalised in the country for the last fifty years, it remains a “subversive act” that is within the “collective subconscious.” Abortion itself…

Caregivers who had been suspended in 2021 for not being vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to be reinstated ‘mid-May’, France’s health minister announced. “These caregivers will be reinstated. In recent weeks, I have brought together all the parties involved, because I want the reintegration to take place, but under good conditions”, explained French Health Minister François Braun in an interview published this weekend in Le Pays Briard newspaper. This decision follows the green light of France’s Health body (HAS) given at the end of March to the lifting of the obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 for health workers and other professionals concerned. “The non-vaccinated are…

Early in the morning in the Russian-controlled Melitopol, Zaporozhye region, the head of the district police department was killed as a result of an explosion. This is reported by the mayor of the city Ivan Fedorov and the city administration appointed by Russia. The explosion occurred in the city center, at the entrance of an apartment building. Fedorov called the name of the deceased – Alexander Mishchenko. According to him, before the Russian invasion, Mishchenko was the head of the Azov department of the city police. After the capture of the city, he remained in his post. The Russian administration of Melitopol reports that two police officers were…