A second-hand dealer in France has appeared in court accused of deceiving a couple by paying €150 (£130) for an African mask which he resold for €4.2m. The pensioner couple found the mask from Gabon at the home of an ancestor who had been a colonial governor. They sold it to the dealer in 2021,…
Stars of David have been found graffitied on buildings in the Paris area, in acts that political leaders have said “recall the 1930s”. Some 60 Stars of David were painted on walls in the 14th arrondissement of Paris on Monday night. France is grappling with a big rise in antisemitic incidents. More than 850 such…
A US teenager who was taken hostage by Hamas while visiting family in Israel is back home in Chicago, the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest confirmed on Monday. Natalie Raanan and her mother, Judith, were taken by Hamas on 7 October in the surprise raid on Israel that killed 1,400 people. They were…
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza interrupted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. Numerous people stood in the crowd and repeatedly yelled “Ceasefire now!” Secretary Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are testifying about the White House’s $106bn (£87.4bn) national security funding request. It includes $14.3bn to…
“The Jewish community at the moment is full of dread, full of fear, like I’ve never seen before,” says Justin Cohen, news editor and co-publisher of Jewish News. He talks of this anxiety playing out with a backdrop of intense trauma caused by the Hamas killings and kidnappings on 7 October. More than 70% of…
A Russian billionaire has been detained in France suspected of violating EU sanctions and tax fraud. In one of the first actions of its kind in France since the Ukraine war began, Alexei Kuzmichev was detained in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. Police raided properties in both Saint-Tropez and Paris which are linked to the…
French counter-terrorism police have shot a woman reportedly threatening passers-by in southern Paris. A police source told the BBC that they intervened at Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand train station on Tuesday after being alerted by passengers. The woman, said to be wearing a veil, reportedly threatened to blow herself up. When she refused to comply with police…
South Africa’s rugby union team are back home from France after winning the World Cup for a record fourth time. The players were met at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg by a huge, rapturous crowd on Tuesday. South Africa is the most successful team at the World Cup after winning four titles in eight appearances….
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifies, an unlikely development has emerged – China playing the part of peace broker. But there are limits to what it can achieve. China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, discussed the conflict with officials in Washington at the weekend amid fears of a bigger regional war. The US has…
US President Joe Biden has revealed plans to expel Uganda, Gabon, Niger and the Central African Republic from a special US-Africa trade programme. The countries were either involved in “gross violations” of human rights or not making progress towards democratic rule, the president said. The US introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in…