Author: Looys Martel

Paris, Washington (13/7 – 50) Kenes Rakishev (Keñes Hamitūly Raqyşev) aka Kenges Rakishev is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, former special envoy for Kazakhstan, head of the Kazakh boxing federation, a family man, and most importantly, a man of success. Under Kenges Rakishev’s leadership, the Kazakh female and male boxing squad leaped considerable forward and secured the top ranking in the recent boxing championship putting Kazakhstan boxing squarely in the top ranking in the world. A total of 21 medals were won by the Kazakhstan’s boxers – a tally of six gold, seven silver and eight bronze – and all were honoured…

Mali has told the UN that its 12,000 peacemakers need to leave, after 10 years countering Islamist militants in the country. Last year, France withdrew its forces after military leaders seized control of Mali and brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group. Why did the UN send a peacekeeping force to Mali? In 2013, the UN launched a mission after separatist rebels and Islamist fighters banded together and occupied northern Mali. They hoped to create a separate state. The UN peacekeepers arrived after 5,000 French troops, who were sent to try and put down the uprising. The threat from Islamist…

It was the third killing this year during a police traffic stop and followed a record 13 deaths last year. Most of the victims have been of black or Arab origin, Reuters news agency reports. What is the legal basis for firing during a traffic stop? By law French police are allowed to shoot in five instances following a 2017 change in the law. That includes when the driver or occupants of a vehicle ignore an order to stop and are deemed to pose a risk to the officer’s life or physical safety, or other people’s. France’s human rights ombudsman…

A French policeman has been charged with homicide and is now in custody over the killing of a teenager during a traffic stop near Paris on Tuesday. The 17-year-old, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards. Anger at his killing has sparked violence across the country. A march led by the boy’s mother was marred by clashes on Thursday afternoon. In a third night of unrest, 667 people were arrested, French officials say. In Paris, shops were ransacked and cars set on fire overnight despite a heavy police presence. Across…

France is on a knife edge. Holding its breath as unrest spreads across the country, bursting out of the banlieues – the often socially-neglected suburbs – after the fatal shooting this week of a 17-year-old from a French-Algerian family by police near Paris. These types of riots are not unheard of in France. But the intensity of feeling taking hold of the country, whether amongst those sympathising with the police or with the banlieues and the victim’s family – hasn’t been witnessed in France since summer 2005. And while President Macron visibly struggles to get the situation under control, his…

The outbreak of rioting in France is the stuff of bad dreams for President Emmanuel Macron. To the list of other civil order crises he has had to surmount – terrorism, yellow-vests, left-wing protests over pensions – can now be added that persistent French crisis-in-waiting which is the banlieue – or suburb. Sporadically over the last 18 years there have been outbreaks of rioting in the suburban cités or tenements, whose once-immigrant populations are now often third- or fourth- generation French. Typically triggered by the accidental death or injury of a young male resident – an accident blamed on the police – they tended…

Thousands of extra security forces are facing a second night of unrest in France after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by police near Paris on Tuesday during a traffic check. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards. Paris police said they had contained “sporadic episodes” of fresh violence. In Toulouse, protesters started a fire and threw stones at firefighters as they tried to put it out. Demonstrators also clashed with police in the northern city of Lille. In the western town of Rennes, about 300 people…

A man who fatally shot three women he accused of ruining his career has been sentenced to life imprisonment in France. Gabriel Fortin, 48, was given the maximum sentence for murder and attempted murder by a court in the city of Valence on Wednesday. This means he will spend up to 22 years behind bars. Fortin, who was dubbed the “HR killer”, was arrested in 2021 – days after the women were shot dead. Speaking to reporters following the verdict, the lawyer for the family of Géraldine Caclin, one of the victims, told the AFP news agency that Fortin’s “only…

French President Emmanuel Macron came out quickly and strongly in support of the family of 17-year-old Nahel M, calling his shooting by police “inexplicable and inexcusable”. The teenager was shot in his car in the Paris region after failing to stop when ordered to by traffic police. Video of the incident on social media shows an officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car. The officer then appears to fire at point-blank range as the driver tries to drive off. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said the video of his killing contained “shocking images showing a police intervention manifestly…

Moscow’s ability to sabotage essential infrastructure is also considered ‘a serious threat,’ in new report. Germany’s military spy agency is warning that Russia and China are boosting their espionage activities in the country. In a new report published Friday, Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service said that it is of “prominent value” for Russia, hence why a “high number of Russian intelligence operatives” are deployed there. Since Germany started actively backing Ukraine with ammunition and weapons to fend off Russia’s full-scale aggression, it is “being reconnoitered even more intensively by Russian services,” according to the report. Russia’s ability to spy on Germany has been…