No French fries, lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

Paris (AFP) – There will be no French fries but plenty of lentils offered to athletes attending the Paris Olympics, with organisers unveiling their food offering on Tuesday that combines eco-minded recipes with French gastronomy.


Issued on: 25/06/2024 

A fruit stand at the Olympic village's restaurant for athletes 

© Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
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The giant 3,300-seat restaurant at the Paris Olympic village, which will welcome athletes next month, was given its first test-run on Tuesday by a hungry crowd of sports figures, officials and journalists.

Based in a vast former power station, the food hall includes six different dining areas offering meals from around the globe, with half of the 50 dishes available each day being 100 percent vegetarian.

"People are going to meet here in France, with its culture, its heritage but also its gastronomy and so there are expectations," chief Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet told reporters.

Although many athletes would stick to their usual nutrition before competing, they will also be offered the chance to discover France's famed food, with several Michelin-starred chefs taken on as advisors.

"We've allowed ourselves to put French gastronomy in pride of place so that curious athletes from around the world can try French culinary excellence," Estanguet added.

The giant warm-food buffets will not include French fries, however.

McDonalds, a long-time Olympics sponsor, had its own fast-food restaurant in the Olympic village until the Rio Olympics in 2016, but athletes wanting a hit of junk food will have to look elsewhere in Paris.

"For technical reasons, we can't offer fries," said Estelle Lamotte, deputy director of village catering at food group Sodexo, told reporters.

She explained deep-fat fryers were not allowed in the temporary kitchens at the site, which is usually used as a film studio.

Gregoire Bechu, head of sustainable food at the Paris organising committee, stressed the quality of the "delicious" lentil dal recipe that has been developed for athletes.

"One of the major commitments by Paris 2024 was offering vegetarian meals in order to halve the carbon footprint of each meal on average," he said.

"We wanted vegetarian meals everywhere."

At sports venues, 60 percent of food offered to fans will be vegetarian and the temporary stadium hosting skateboarding, BMX and breakdancing at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris will be entirely meat-free.

Comfortably warm?

In a further bid to lower carbon emissions, only two of the six restaurant areas at the village will be air-conditioned, with the rest in outdoor courtyards sheltered by fabric sun shades and ventilated with overhead fans.

An interior view of the Olympic and Paralympic village restaurant

 © Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP

Tuesday's test event, held under fierce sunshine and in 27C (80F) heat, saw some people visibly sweating.

"I think we've found a good compromise between offering the right temperature but also reducing our carbon emissions," Estanguet said. "It's one of the main challenges of the Paris 2024 edition."

The Olympic and Paralympic village restaurant is on the site of a former power station

 © Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP

In a break from Olympic tradition, the 2,800 apartments at the village do not come with air-conditioning as standard.

But many Olympic teams have decided to install portable coolers at their own cost.

Paris has suffered a series of record heatwaves in recent years with temperatures peaking above 40C in July and August, but 2024 has so far been wet and cool.

The Paris Olympics run from July 26-August 11 followed by the Paralympics August 28-September 8.

© 2024 AFP

At Paris Olympics, women athletes finally reach parity

Agence France-Presse
June 25, 2024 

Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir wins the last women's Olympic marathon (Giuseppe CACACE/AFP)

Once seen as a "celebration of manly virtue" without women athletes, the modern Olympics will reach gender parity for the first time during this year's Paris Games, 128 years since its first edition.

When the ancient Greek event was revived by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin in the late 19th century, he saw it as a celebration of gentlemanly athleticism "with female applause as its reward."

In 1924, the last time the Olympics were held in Paris, just four percent of competitors were female and they were restricted to sports considered suitable for them, such as swimming, tennis and croquet.

"For the first time in Olympic history we are going to have gender parity on the field," Marie Sallois, IOC director in charge of gender equality, told journalists about the Paris 2024 Games on International Women's Day in March.

The milestone is the result of incremental jumps in female participation at each Games, mirroring broader societal trends in most parts of the world that have gradually opened up male-only domains from the board room to the voting booth.

"It took a very long time for us to finally get to 44 percent (of women) in London in 2012, the first edition at which women could take part in all the sports, then 48 percent in Tokyo (in 2021)," Sallois added.

- Men only -

The barriers for women were once so high that they were forced to compete in a rival "Women's Olympics" in the 1920s, before the event was absorbed by today's International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In 1928 in Amsterdam, they were allowed to compete in athletics for the first time, but the sight of exhausted female runners after the 800m final appalled male onlookers so much that they were excluded again.

Until 1968 -- forty years later -- women were barred from competing in any race of more than 200 metres, and even in 1976 women's events made up only a quarter of the Olympic program.

Long considered unable to cope with the physical demands of the marathon, they were allowed to take part for the first time at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

"We've come a long way over a relatively short space of time," the head of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, said recently in Paris.


- Prime-time -

The Paris 2024 Olympics will not only feature as many women as men, it will also give greater prominence to women's events.

Instead of the men's marathon being the athletics event, leading up to the closing ceremony, it will be the women's event instead.

"We've made a lot of effort to organise the women's events to ensure they get visibility, meaning over the weekend when there are more viewers, or during prime-time," Sallois added.

For the opening ceremony, the IOC has also suggested each national delegation nominate two flag carriers, a man and a woman.

Sallois conceded elite sport still had lots of work to do to achieve genuine gender parity.

Among coaching staff at the last Olympics in Tokyo, just 13 percent of coaches were women.

Sports administration remains overwhelmingly male, including in national Olympic delegations and in the federations that run sports.

The IOC has never had a female leader and its membership -- made up of 106 delegates who vote on key decisions -- remains 59 percent male.


But the organization has ensured gender parity on its internal commissions and the number of women members has increased significantly in recent years.

"The IOC needs to be a role model and set an example," Sallois added

THE COST OF GREENWASHING

Lufthansa to add environmental charge to fares

Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) – German airline giant Lufthansa said Tuesday it would add an environmental charge of up to 72 euros ($77) to fares in Europe to cover the cost of increasing EU climate regulations.

NOT TO COVER THE COST OF SUSTAINABLE FUEL

Issued on: 25/06/2024 - 

The extra cost will be added to all flights departing from EU countries as well as Britain, Norway and Switzerland

 © Adrian DENNIS / AFP

The extra cost will be added to all flights sold and operated by the group departing from EU countries as well as Britain, Norway and Switzerland, it said in a statement.

It will apply to flights from January next year and, depending on the route and fare, will vary from one to 72 euros.

"The airline group will not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own," said Lufthansa.

The group -- whose airlines include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines -- said it is facing extra costs from EU regulations related to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The EU legislation requires airlines to gradually increase use of the fuel on routes departing EU airports.

Carriers will need to include two percent of SAF in their fuel mix from next year, rising to six percent in 2030 and then soaring to 70 percent from 2050.

The aviation sector is among the toughest to decarbonise and SAF -- a biofuel that produces lower carbon emissions than traditional jet fuel -- is seen as a crucial ingredient to hitting emissions targets but is currently more expensive to produce.

In March, Airlines for Europe, which represents the continent's largest airline groups including Lufthansa, complained that production of the fuel in Europe is minimal and lags far behind projects launched in the United States.

Lufthansa said it also faces extra costs from changes to the EU's emissions trading system, and other regulatory measures.

The group aims to halve its net carbon emissions by 2030 compared to 2019, and to go carbon neutral by 2050.

After having to be bailed out by the German government during the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa racked up healthy profits in 2022 and 2023 as travel demand roared back.

But it was hard hit by a series of strikes at the start of this year, reporting a hefty first-quarter loss.

© 2024 AFP

CRIMINAL CAPPLETALI$M

Initial EU probe into App Store 'anti-steer' rules finds Apple in breach of competition law



European Union anti-trust regulators notified Apple on Monday that App Store rules preventing developers from "steering" consumers to offers and content outside of the app breach the bloc's 2022 

Digital Markets Act. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- European Union anti-trust regulators notified Apple on Monday that App Store rules preventing developers from "steering" consumers to offers and content outside of the app breach the bloc's Digital Markets Act.

The preliminary finding of a three-month probe found that Apple's terms of business infringe the legal right of developers distributing their apps via the App Store to, without being charged, inform their customers of cheaper alternatives, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases, the European Commission said in a news release.

"None of these business terms allow developers to freely steer their customers. For example, developers cannot provide pricing information within the app or communicate in any other way with their customers to promote offers available on alternative distribution channels," the EC said.

Regulators said steering that was allowed, via so-called "link-outs" where app developers include an in-app link to a web page where customers can sign up for a contract, was subject to several restrictions preventing developers from communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice.

The commission also ruled that the fees Apple charged developers for acquiring customers via the App Store went beyond what was reasonable and fair, such as an additional fee for every purchase a customer makes within seven days of a link-out from the store.

It announced a parallel DMA non-compliance probe into Apple's new contractual terms for developers providing alternative app stores or apps for iPhones including a so-called Core Technology Fee, hoops consumers are required to jump through to successfully download and install alternative app stores or apps, and whether strict eligibility requirements are necessary and proportionate.

Hailing the move in the enforcement of the DMA -- which Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft had to comply with in full by March 7 -- the commission's executive vice president for competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said the notification was a "very important day for the effective enforcement of the DMA."

"Our preliminary position is that Apple does not fully allow steering. Steering is key to ensure that app developers are less dependent on gatekeepers' app stores and for consumers to be aware of better offers," Vestager said.

"We have also opened proceedings against Apple in relation to its so-called core technology fee and various rules for allowing third-party app stores and sideloading. The developers' community and consumers are eager to offer alternatives to the App Store. We will investigate to ensure Apple does not undermine these efforts."

The commission said if its provisional findings on steering become final, all three sets of Apple's business terms would be in breach of the DMA and it would adopt a non-compliance decision within 12 months from the date it opened its probe March 25.

Under the 2022 law, the commission can impose fines of up to 10% of a "gatekeeper's" total worldwide turnover for each infringement, rising to as much as 20% for repeated offenses and in the case of systematic abuses, breaking them up or banning takeovers of related businesses.

In March, the EU fined Apple at least $1.95 billion for exploiting its market dominance to illegally block music subscription providers directing App Store users toward cheaper prices for the same subscription elsewhere.

The EC said it had imposed the penalty after an anti-trust investigation found Apple had "anti-steering provisions" in place that prevented streaming services such as Spotify from telling owners of iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad about other services.

EU accuses Microsoft of abusing dominant position with Teams

Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling its Teams communications app with its popular Office suite, Brussels said on Tuesday, as the US tech giant vowed to do what it takes to address competition concerns.

Issued on: 25/06/2024 - 

The European Commission launched a probe into Microsoft's Teams last year triggered by a complaint from Slack

 © Pau BARRENA / AFP/File

The charge sheet comes after the European Commission, the EU's influential antitrust regulator, launched a probe last year triggered by a 2020 complaint from Slack.

The commission informed Microsoft of its "preliminary view" that it had "breached EU antitrust rules" by bundling Teams with its cloud-based Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites, which include Word, Excel and Powerpoint programmes.

Even before the charges, Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.

The EU also had worries that Microsoft may have limited interoperability between Teams' competitors and its own offerings, although the company in September 2023 introduced "improvements" to make it easier for rivals.

But the commission said Microsoft's changes did not go far enough.

"The commission preliminarily finds that these changes are insufficient to address its concerns and that more changes to Microsoft's conduct are necessary to restore competition," it said in a statement.

The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said "Microsoft now has the opportunity to reply to our concerns".

The company will be able to offer commitments to avoid a large fine and president Brad Smith has indicated Microsoft would be willing to take further steps.

"Having unbundled Teams and taken initial interoperability steps, we appreciate the additional clarity provided today and will work to find solutions to address the commission's remaining concerns," Smith said in a statement.

Slack had lodged its complaint as its market share diminished, and it has since been bought by the company Salesforce.

There is no deadline for the formal inquiry to wrap up.

Should the outcome of the probe go against Microsoft, it could face a heavy fine or other ordered remedies.

Microsoft has come under greater European scrutiny in recent months.

EU regulators are looking into Microsoft's partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to determine whether it is a disguised merger.

The commission also received a separate complaint in late 2022 from Amazon-backed cloud trade group CISPE against Microsoft over its cloud licensing practices.

The two sides are currently seeking to resolve the issue through talks.

© 2024 AFP

Dominance, data, disinformation: Europe’s fight with Big Tech


By AFP
June 24, 2024

Tech giants have been targeted by the EU for a number of allegedly unfair practices - Copyright AFP/File Philippe LOPEZ

The European Union warned Apple on Monday that its App Store is breaching its digital competition rules, placing the iPhone maker at risk of billions of dollars in fines.

It is the latest in a years-long battle between Brussels and giant tech firms, covering subjects from data privacy to disinformation.

– Stifling competition –

Brussels has doled out over 10 billion euros in fines to tech firms for abusing their dominant market positions.

The latest threat for Apple comes three months after the bloc hit the California firm with a 1.8-billion-euro ($1.9 billion) penalty for preventing European users from accessing information about cheaper music streaming services.

Among big tech firms, only Google has faced a bigger single antitrust fine — more than four billion euros in 2018 for using its Android mobile operating system to promote its search engine.

Google has also incurred billion-plus fines for abusing its power in the online shopping and advertising sectors.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive, recommended last year that Google should sell parts of its business and could face a fine of up to 10 percent of its global revenue if it fails to comply.

– Privacy –

Ireland issues the stiffest fines on data privacy as the laws are enforced by local regulators and Dublin hosts the European offices of several big tech firms.

The Irish regulator handed TikTok a 345-million-euro penalty for mishandling children’s data last September just months after it hit Meta with a record fine of 1.2 billion euros for illegally transferring personal data between Europe and the United States.

Luxembourg had previously held the record for data fines after it slapped Amazon with a 746-million-euro penalty in 2021.

– Taxation –

The EU has had little success in getting tech companies to pay more taxes in Europe, where they are accused of funnelling profits into low-tax economies like Ireland and Luxembourg.

In one of the most notorious cases, the European Commission in 2016 ordered Apple to pay Ireland more than a decade in back taxes — 13 billion euros — after ruling a sweetheart deal with the government was illegal.

But EU judges overturned the decision saying there was no evidence the company had broken the rules, a decision the commission has been trying to reverse ever since.

The commission is also fighting to reverse another court loss, after judges overruled its order for Amazon to repay 250 million euros in back taxes to Luxembourg.

– Disinformation, hate speech –

Web platforms have long faced accusations of failing to combat hate speech, disinformation and piracy.

The EU passed the Digital Services Act last year, which is designed to force companies to tackle these issues or face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover.

Already the bloc has begun to show how the DSA might be applied, opening probes on Facebook and Instagram for failing to tackle election-related disinformation.

The bloc has also warned Microsoft that the falsehoods generated by its AI search could fall foul of the DSA.

– Paying for news –

Google and other online platforms have also been accused of making billions from news without sharing the revenue with those who gather it.

To tackle this, the EU created a form of copyright called “neighbouring rights” that allows print media to demand compensation for using their content.

France has been a test case for the rules and after initial resistance Google and Facebook both agreed to pay some French media for articles shown in web searches.

NY congressional primary race exposes Democratic Party rifts over Gaza, role of big money

The Democratic primary race in New York's 16th congressional district between incumbent Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman and Westchester County Executive George Latimer is revealing deep rifts within the party over US policy on Gaza. The race has been dominated by allegations of disinformation, race-baiting and questions about the role of big money. Voting is underway Tuesday in what is now the most expensive US primary race ever.


Issued on: 25/06/2024 

Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman is shown on the campaign trail in Yonkers, New York on June 23, 2024. 

© Jessica Le Masurier

By:J essica LE MASURIER

Four years ago, Bowman toppled 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel, one of the most staunch supporters of Israel in US government, in New York's Democratic primary for the 16th district. Now up for re-election, Bowman's fighting for his political life, largely over to his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Bowman, 48, a former middle school principal turned progressive politician, is famously a member of "The Squad", an unofficial group of nine of the most progressive and most-watched Democratic members of Congress.

In the autumn, pro-Israel groups encouraged Westchester County Executive George Latimer, 70, to challenge Bowman for New York’s 16th Congressional district – which covers working class parts of the Bronx as well as wealthy suburbs in Westchester. Latimer refuses to criticise Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, putting him to the right of US President Joe Biden.

America's largest pro-Israel lobbyist group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) has poured more than $14 million into Latimer's campaign. Latimer's team launched an ad campaign accusing Bowman of anti-Semitism after his criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

A Socialist Congressman Fights for His Political Life in New York

FRANCE 24's New York correspondents, Jessica Le Masurier and Fanny Chauvin, caught up with both candidates on the campaign trail. They asked Bowman about the allegations of anti-Semitism. They also tried to ask Latimer about the big money behind his campaign, but he repeatedly avoided answering the question. The report features the moment Latimer's staffer shoved our reporter

02:03  Video by: Fanny CHAUVIN|Jessica LE MASURIER

Kenyan police force arrives in Haiti for UN-backed security mission

The first wave of Kenyan police disembarked a plane at the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti on Tuesday as part of a UN-backed security mission to defeat the powerful gangs ravaging the island nation.


Issued on: 25/06/2024 -

Police from Kenya arrive at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. 

© Odelyn Joseph, AP

By: FRANCE 24

The officers are expected to lead a mission to tackle raging gangland violence convulsing the Caribbean nation, which has suffered a prolonged period of instability amid a severe humanitarian crisis.

Kenyan police streamed out of the plane at the capital’s airport as a small crowd, mostly airport personnel, greeted them on the tarmac.

Kenya volunteered in last July to lead an international force to stem the latest wave of violence to afflict Haiti, where gangs control most of the capital Port-au-Prince while carrying out widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence.

Read more How a lack of leadership allowed gangs to take over Haiti

But the deployment has been repeatedly delayed by court challenges and a deterioration of the security situation in the Caribbean country, which in March forced its former prime minister to resign.

The Kenyans will be joined by police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of 2,500 officers that will be deployed in phases for an annual cost of some $600 million, according to the UN Security Council.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP)

Victims of Haiti's gangs  FAILED STATE face health system in crisis

Port-au-Prince (AFP) – Suffering from gunshot wounds to the leg and buttocks, 31-year-old Olivier Vilminio sought treatment in a hospital in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.


Issued on: 25/06/2024 -

Over half a million Haitians have been displaced by rampant gang violence 

© ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/File

But even there, he was not safe from a surge of gang violence that has upended life in the impoverished Caribbean nation and made medical care even more difficult to attain.

Armed gang members raided the hospital, forcing Vilminio to flee, he told AFP recently from a school where he and other displaced people now reside.

Needing crutches to walk, the father of two young daughters said his wounds have left him in constant pain.

"I've run out of medication. The painkiller I should be taking is (the powerful opioid) tramadol, and it's extremely expensive, 750 Haitian gourdes a pack," he said, or around $6.5.

He said he hoped to possibly get antibiotics from Alima, an NGO operating mobile medical units that was visiting the school-turned-refuge that morning.

After years of gaining ground across Haiti's capital, gangs launched a wave of coordinated attacks in late February calling for then prime minister Ariel Henry to resign.

He announced in early March that he would step down and hand executive power to a transitional council responsible for leading the country toward elections. No vote has been held in Haiti since 2016.

Vilsaint Lindor says gang members robbed him at home before shooting him

 © ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/File

A new prime minister and cabinet have since taken office, but their task of restoring order in the nation of 10 million is monumental.

No power, money for X-rays

Gangs control most of the sprawling capital and have repeatedly attacked hospitals and clinics, making off with much-needed medical supplies.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that about 580,000 Haitians have now fled their homes due to gang violence, a 60 percent spike since March.

Another gunshot victim at the center is Marie Joanne Laguerre, 24, who took a stray bullet to the back of her head while standing outside the school.

"At first, I thought I'd been hit by a stone," she told AFP.

Haiti's sprawling capital is largely controlled by gangs who have outgunned the national police

 © ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP

Three months later, she still has not been able to get an X-ray.

"I went to the hospital and they bandaged me up, they gave me medicine" but not an X-ray, she said, as there was a power outage that day.

"Now I have no money to do it. I still don't know what's inside my head."

The hospitals that remain open in Haiti are struggling to stay afloat, frequently facing shortages of fuel for their generators and other materials.

Jean Philippe Lerbourg, medical director of Hopital La Paix, told AFP he considers his establishment "lucky" to have all its services remain open.

But since February the hospital has been "under pressure," taking in patients from other locations that have been forced to close, the doctor said.
Hospitals over capacity

"We exceeded our capacity a long time ago," Lerbourg said, adding that budget constraints have forced the hospital -- a public facility -- to charge patients for medical equipment.

"We try to do as much as possible to give free emergency care... but once emergency care is over, if you come in for surgery, you don't pay the surgeon, but all the materials you'll need, you're going to have to buy," he said.

For most Haitians "the situation is extremely difficult," he said, with many patients displaced from their homes or freshly unemployed.

Marie Joanne Laguerre, a 24-year-old woman in Port-au-Prince, took a stray bullet to the back of her head months ago but has not been able to receive an X-ray 

© ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/File

Lerbourg said his hospital saw a peak in gunshot wound cases on February 29, the day armed gangs launched their concerted attacks.

Sitting on a hospital bed, 40-year-old Vilsaint Lindor has a large bandage wrapped around his waist.

A few days earlier, he was at home and about to take a shower, when a gunman knocked on his door.

The man "asked me to give him everything -- phone, computer, money," Lindor said.

"They took everything and when they couldn't take the inverter, he shot me," he said bitterly.

"I'm just at home, and the gangs come and rob me."

© 2024 AFP

At least five killed, Kenya's parliament on fire amid protests over tax bill

A torched military vehicle burns outside of the Parliament during a protest against tax hikes in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday. Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA-EFE

June 25 (UPI) -- Human rights groups said at least five people were shot and killed amid protests in the capital city of Nairobi that left portions of Kenya's parliament building on fire Tuesday.

In addition to the five deaths at least 31 people were injured, including 13 shot with live bullets, four hit with rubber bullets and three struck with launched canisters, Amnesty International Kenya, the Kenya Medical Association, the Law Society of Kenya and Police Reforms Working Group Kenya said in a joint statement.

"We urge the State and all parties to de-escalate the situation and stop the use of lethal force to protect life," the groups said. "We urge the authorities to desist from reportedly threatening mass media houses. We appeal for safe medical corridors for all medical personnel and ambulances to access the injured."

Some demonstrators broke through police lines in the capital of Nairobi to break into the building where legislators had passed a finance bill that would lead to raising taxes.

Hundreds of protesters in the streets essentially paralyzed activity and slowed movement around the capital and demonstrators took part in running battles with police.

Police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowds.

Auma Obama, a Kenyan-British activist and half-sister of former U.S. President Barack Obama, was teargassed on live television during an interview with CNN. Obama stood with a group of young demonstrators when they were teargassed.

"I'm here because look at what's happening," Obama said. "Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They are demonstrating with flags and banners."

Local media reports said that Kenyan lawmakers escaped the Parliament building through an underground tunnel as protesters broke into the complex.

The Kenyan chapter of Amnesty International said it was investigating the disappearance of 12 people the night before the planned protests on Parliament.

"We are horrified by some of the testimonies we have heard over the last 12 hours," Irungu Houghton, executive director of Amnesty Kenya said. He said the missing people were allegedly taken away by people by those "uniformed and not uniformed."

Faith Odhiambo, president of the Law Society of Kenya, charged intelligence officers with carrying out illegal acts.

"Evidently, this was not an arrest as the police did not identify themselves or engage in any conversation prior to the arrest to inform him of his rights," she said.

At least five killed, parliament set ablaze in Kenya tax protests

Police shot at protesters as they breached the parliament complex in Nairobi on Tuesday, with at least five demonstrators killed and dozens more wounded. Angry over proposed tax hikes, many protesters across the country are calling for President William Ruto to leave office.

Issued on: 25/06/2024 -

Protesters hold flags and chant anti-government slogans inside the Kenyan Parliament compound after storming the building during a strike to protest tax hikes in downtown Nairobi, June 25, 2024. © Luis Tato, AFP

By:FRANCE 24

The mainly youth-led rallies, which began last week, have caught Ruto's government off guard, with Ruto saying over the weekend he was ready to talk to the protesters.

But tensions sharply escalated on Tuesday afternoon, as crowds began to throw stones at police and push back against barricades, making their way towards the parliament complex, which was sealed off by police in full riot gear.

Police fired at crowds massing outside the parliament building, where lawmakers had been debating a contentious bill featuring tax hike proposals.

"At least five people have been shot dead. Thirty-one people have been injured," the Kenya Medical Association said in a statement.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission had earlier said in a statement on X that: "Police have shot four protesters, as witnessed by KHRC, killing one."

Shortly before, Irungu Houghton, the executive director of Amnesty International Kenya, told AFP that "human rights observers are now reporting the increasing use of live bullets by the National Police Service in the capital of Nairobi".

"Safe passage for medical officers to treat the many wounded is now urgent," he said

A Reuters journalist counted the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament. A paramedic, Vivian Achista, said at least 10 had been shot dead.

Another paramedic, Richard Ngumo, said more than 50 people had been wounded by gunfire. He was lifting two injured protesters into an ambulance outside parliament.

Kenya's internet service also suffered "major disruption" on Tuesday, global web monitor NetBlocks said.

"Live network data show a major disruption to internet connectivity in #Kenya; the incident comes amidst a deadly crackdown by police on #RejectFinanceBill2024 protesters a day after authorities claimed there would be no internet shutdown," the watchdog said on X, formerly Twitter.

Anger over a cost-of-living crisis spiralled into nationwide rallies last week, with demonstrators calling for the finance bill to be scrapped.

Despite a heavy police presence, thousands of protesters had earlier marched through Nairobi's business district, pushing back against barricades as they headed towards parliament.

Police in full riot gear were firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, according to AFP journalists.

As protesters gained ground in their push towards parliament, many were livestreaming the action earlier in the day as they sang, chanted and beat drums.

Crowds also marched in the port city of Mombasa, the opposition bastion of Kisumu, and Ruto's stronghold of Eldoret, images on Kenyan TV channels showed.

'At a crossroads'

Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said at least 200 people were wounded in last week's protests in Nairobi.

Amnesty's Kenya chapter posted on X Tuesday that "the pattern of policing protests is deteriorating fast", urging the government to respect demonstrators' right to assembly.

On Monday, ahead of the rallies, the rights body said Kenya was "at a crossroads".

"Despite mass arrests and injuries, the protests have continued to grow, emphasising the public's widespread discontent," it said, warning that "the escalation of force could lead to more fatalities and legal repercussions."

Rights watchdogs have accused the authorities of abducting protesters in violation of the law.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission said the abductions had mostly occurred at night and were "conducted by police officers in civilian clothes and unmarked cars", calling for the "unconditional release of all abductees".

Police have not responded to AFP requests for comment on the allegations.

The protesters have also deployed unconventional tactics, including asking bars to stop playing music at midnight on the weekend as party-goers burst into chants of "Ruto must go" and "Reject finance bill!"

Their demonstrations have drawn support from some Anglican and Catholic church leaders.

Debt mountain

The cash-strapped government agreed last week to roll back several tax increases.

But it still intends to raise other taxes, saying they are necessary for filling the state coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.

Kenya has a huge debt mountain whose servicing costs have ballooned because of a fall in the value of the local currency over the last two years, making interest payments on foreign-currency loans more expensive.

The tax hikes will pile further pressure on Kenyans, with well-paid jobs remaining out of reach for many young people.

After the government agreed to scrap levies on bread purchases, car ownership and financial and mobile services, the treasury warned of a budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.56 billion).

The government now intends to target an increase in fuel prices and export taxes to fill the void left by the changes, a move critics say will make life more expensive in a country already saddled with high inflation.

Kenya has one of the most dynamic economies in East Africa but a third of its 52 million people live in poverty.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP)

Police open fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya parliament, several dead

Issued on: 25/06/2024 -

Police opened fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya's legislature on Tuesday, with at least five protesters killed, dozens wounded and sections of the parliament building set ablaze as lawmakers inside passed legislation to raise taxes. For more, protester and journalist Vivianne Wandera joins FRANCE 24 to share what she saw on the ground.

01:31  Video by: FRANCE 24

'Chaotic day in Kenya': Protesters enter parliament, bodies seen in streets nearby

Issued on: 25/06/2024 - 

Part of Kenya's parliament building was on fire Tuesday as thousands of protesters opposing a new finance bill entered and legislators fled, in the most direct assault on the government in decades. Journalists saw at least three bodies outside the complex where police had opened fire. Protesters had demanded that legislators vote against the bill imposing new taxes on a country, East Africa's economic hub, where frustrations over the high cost of living have simmered for years. FRANCE 24's Olivia Bizot reports from Nairobi.

02:14  Video by: Olivia BIZOT

Indians march to end 'slavery' after worker death shakes Italy

"We come here to work, not to die,"

Latina (Italy) (AFP) – Thousands of Indian farm labourers urged an end to "slavery" in Italy on Tuesday after the gruesome death of a worker shone a light on the brutal exploitation of undocumented migrants.

25/06/2024 -

Indians have worked in the Agro Pontino -- the Pontine Marshes -- since the mid 1980s. © Tiziana FABI / AFP

Satnam Singh, 31, who had been working without legal papers, died last week after his arm was sliced off by a machine. The farmer he was working for dumped him by the road, along with his severed limb.

"He was thrown out like a dog. There is exploitation every day, we suffer it every day, it must end now," said Gurmukh Singh, head of the Indian community in the Lazio region of central Italy.

"We come here to work, not to die," he told AFP.

Children held up colourful signs reading "Justice for Satnam Singh" as the procession snaked through Latina, a city in a rural area south of Rome that is home to tens of thousands of Indian migrant workers.

Indians have worked in the Agro Pontino -- the Pontine Marshes -- since the mid-1980s, harvesting pumpkins, leeks, beans and tomatoes, and working on flower farms or in buffalo mozzarella production.

Singh's death is being investigated, but it has sparked a wider debate in Italy over how to tackle systemic abuses in the agriculture sector, where use of undocumented workers and their abuse by farmers or gangmasters is rife.

The CGIL, Italy's largest trade union, estimates that as many as 230,000 agricultural workers do not have a contract 

© Tiziana FABI / AFP

"Satnam died in one day, I die every day. Because I too am a labour victim," said Parambar Singh, whose eye was seriously hurt in a work accident.

"My boss said he couldn't take me to hospital because I didn't have a contract," said the 33-year-old, who has struggled to work since.

"I have been waiting 10 months for justice," he said.

Paid a pittance

The workers get paid an average of 20 euros ($21) a day for up to 14 hours labour, according to the Osservatorio Placido Rizzotto, which analyses working conditions in the agriculture industry.

Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sought to reduce the number of undocumented migrants to Italy, while increasing pathways for legal migration for non-EU workers to tackle labour shortages.

But according to the Confagricoltura agribusiness association, only around 30 percent of workers given a visa actually travel to Italy, meaning there are never enough labourers to meet farmers' needs.

This month, Meloni said Italy's visa system was being exploited by organised crime groups to smuggle in illegal migrants.

She condemned the circumstances of Singh's death, saying they were "inhumane acts that do not belong to the Italian people".

"I hope that this barbarism will be harshly punished," she told her cabinet ministers last week.

Italy's financial police identified nearly 60,000 undocumented workers from January 2023 to June 2024.

But Italy's largest trade union CGIL estimates that as many as 230,000 people -- over a quarter of the country's seasonal agricultural workers -- do not have a contract.

While some are Italian, most are undocumented foreigners.

Female workers fare particularly badly, earning even less than their male counterparts and in some cases suffering sexual exploitation, it says.

The workers get paid an average of 20 euros a day for up to 14 hours labour

 © Tiziana FABI / AFP

"We all need regular job contracts, not to be trapped in this slavery," said Kaur Akveer, a 37-year-old who was part of a group of women in colourful saris marching behind the community leaders.

"Satnam was like my brother. He must be the last Indian to die," she said.

© 2024 AFP

In an 'increasingly socially liberal' UK, are Tories headed for the political wilderness?

AFP
Issued on: 25/06/2024 -

09:52

Britain will hold a national election on July 4 which opinion polls indicate will end 14 years of Conservative Party-led government. Opinion polls show the opposition Labour Party more than 20 points ahead of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives. Pollster YouGov has projected Labour could win 425 seats, with Conservatives on 108, which would mark the lowest number of seats won by the party in its near 200-year history. With the conservatives heading for a once-in-a-lifetime historic defeat, just days away from the polls, FRANCE 24 is joined by Tim Bale, Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London.