Iran hangs man over 2022 protest deaths, activists say conviction wrongful

Iran on Wednesday hanged a man convicted of killing seven people, including a 10-year-old boy, during nationwide protests in 2022 but human rights groups said he was the victim of a wrongful conviction.Abbas Kurkuri, also known as Mojahed Kurkur, was hanged at dawn in Sheiban prison in the western city of Ahvaz, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Hengaw groups said. His execution was reported by the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website which said he had been convicted by a Revolutionary Court of the capital offences of “corruption on earth” and “waging war against God”.He had been arrested more than two years previously over the deaths in November 2022 at the height of the nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd detained for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women. He was accused of opening fire with a military weapon in the town of Izeh northeast of Ahvaz in an attack that left seven people dead, including 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak, whose death sparked outrage at the time.At his trial, Kurkuri confessed to the charges and said he had been “under the influence of social media”, Mizan said.But human rights groups said his confession, which was broadcast by Iranian state media and re-published by Mizan on Wednesday, had been obtained under duress and accused the authorities of framing him to take the blame away from the security forces.- ‘Tsunami’ of executions -“During his detention, Korkor endured severe torture and was denied access to legal counsel,” said Hengaw, adding that Pirfalak’s mother had said at her son’s funeral that it was security personnel who fired at their vehicle.It noted that the execution had taken place on what would have been the boy’s birthday.IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam described the execution as “an extrajudicial killing”.”The Islamic republic authorities attempted to blame him for the murder of 10-year old Kian Pirfalak by forcing confessions under torture,” he said.He said the hanging of Kurkuri, a member of Iran’s Bahktiari minority, was the latest in a “tsunami” of executions in Iran, with convicts currently being put to death at a rate of four a day.According to IHR, at least 569 people have been hanged in Iran so far this year.Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, currently on leave from her own prison sentence, said Kurkuri had been “brutally tortured in solitary confinement (and) falsely accused of Kian’s murder based on fabricated claims by interrogators and the regime’s judiciary”.Amnesty International said he was convicted after a “grossly unfair sham trial marred by torture-tainted ‘confessions’ obtained while he was subjected to enforced disappearance”.The London-based group said its investigations had showed “plainclothes security officials used unlawful lethal force during protests in Izeh and fatally fired live ammunition at the child”.”Authorities immediately blamed ‘terrorists’, but the boy’s family repeatedly refuted these claims publicly and attributed the responsibility to the authorities.”Over 550 people were killed in the authorities’ crackdown on the protests, according to the IHR’s figures. The authorities emphasise that members of the security forces also lost their lives.Kurkuri’s execution comes a day after Iran hanged nine men convicted of plotting to carry out attacks in 2018 on behalf of the Islamic State group.Iran is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.

Quelques arrestations à Los Angeles sous couvre-feu

La nuit de mardi à mercredi est restée plutôt calme dans le centre-ville de Los Angeles, même si la police a interpellé plusieurs personnes qui violaient le couvre feu instauré au cinquième jour de manifestations parfois violentes contre la politique migratoire du gouvernement Trump De nombreux policiers, à pied, en voiture ou à cheval, quadrillent la ville survolée par des hélicoptères, a constaté l’AFP, tandis que des ouvriers posent des panneaux de bois pour protéger des vitrines. Des centaines de Marines, envoyés en renfort par de Donald Trump, devraient se déployer mercredi.”Des groupes multiples continuent de se rassembler… et des arrestations massives sont en cours. Le couvre-feu est en vigueur”, a indiqué mardi soir la police de la mégapole californienne, deuxième plus grande ville américaine. Vingt-cinq personnes ont été arrêtées, selon le Los Angeles Times, qui affirme que la ville a connu “sa nuit la plus calme depuis une semaine”.Quelques heures plus tôt, la maire démocrate de cette ville à forte population d’origine hispanique, Karen Bass, avait annoncé instaurer “un couvre-feu dans le centre de Los Angeles pour mettre fin aux actes de vandalisme et de pillage” de 20H00 locales (03H00 GMT mercredi) à 06H00 du matin.Depuis vendredi, des heurts sporadiques opposent des protestataires dénonçant des raids de la police fédérale de l’immigration (ICE) contre les clandestins aux forces de l’ordre en tenue anti-émeute. – “Anarchie” -Dans cet épisode devenu un enjeu de rivalité politique intense entre l’administration Trump et les dirigeants démocrates, le poids lourd républicain Greg Abbott, gouverneur du Texas, grand état du Sud, frontalier du Mexique, où vit une forte population latino-américaine, a annoncé mardi soir qu’il ordonnait le déploiement de la Garde nationale. “Manifester dans le calme est légal. S’en prendre aux personnes ou aux biens est illégal et déclenchera des arrestations”, a-t-il dit, alors qu’au fil des jours, des manifestations et heurts ont éclaté dans d’autres points des Etats-Unis, comme à Chicago ou San Francisco.Mardi en début de soirée, quelques milliers de personnes ont marché dans le sud de Manhattan à New York. “Je suis ici pour défendre ceux qui ne peuvent pas faire entendre leur voix”, a expliqué à l’AFP une jeune femme née aux Etats-Unis d’une mère mexicaine clandestine.Dans la banlieue d’Atlanta, en Géorgie, plusieurs dizaines de manifestants se sont rassemblés également mardi en brandissant des pancartes dénonçant la police fédérale de l’immigration (ICE). “La contribution des latinos à ce pays est tellement significative que nous ne devrions pas être traités de cette manière”, confiait Victoria Hernandez, 48 ans, qui travaille dans le milieu associatif. En Californie, le gouverneur démocrate Gavin Newsom, devenu la figure de proue de l’opposition et considéré comme un candidat potentiel à la Maison Blanche pour 2028, tire à boulet rouge contre Donald Trump et veut contester dans les prétoires sa décision de déployer l’armée dans son Etat, bastion démocrate.Dans une allocution télévisée mardi soir, il a dénoncé un “abus de pouvoir éhonté”.”Déployer dans la rue des combattants entraînés pour la guerre est sans précédent et menace le fondement même de notre démocratie”, a-t-il dénoncé dans un communiqué, ajoutant : “Donald Trump se comporte comme un tyran, pas comme un président.”Le président républicain, qui agonit régulièrement d’injures et de quolibets M. Newsom, a déjà déployé en Californie la Garde nationale, force de réserve, contre la volonté des autorités locales.”Cette anarchie ne se poursuivra pas. Nous ne permettrons pas que des agents fédéraux soient attaqués et ne laisserons pas une ville américaine être envahie et conquise par des ennemis étrangers”, a lancé mardi Donald Trump lors d’un discours sur une base militaire.Il a menacé de recourir à l’Insurrection Act, régime d’état d’urgence qui confère au président le pouvoir d’utiliser les forces armées dans des missions de maintien de l’ordre sur le territoire américain.Quelque 700 Marines, un corps d’élite normalement utilisé comme force de projection extérieure, doivent rejoindre 4.000 militaires réservistes de la Garde nationale déjà mobilisés par Donald Trump.Jusqu’à quand ce déploiement de militaires, d’un coût estimé à 134 millions de dollars par le Pentagone, durera-t-il ? “Jusqu’à ce qu’il n’y ait plus de danger”, a répondu Donald Trump.

Foot: “Il y aura une chaîne Ligue 1 à la reprise du championnat”, promet Tavernost

La Ligue 1 n’a pas encore de diffuseur à deux mois de la reprise du championnat, mais elle disposera bien de sa chaîne “en août”, a affirmé mercredi à l’AFP Nicolas de Tavernost, le patron de la société commerciale de la Ligue de football professionnel (LFP).L’ex-propriétaire des Girondins de Bordeaux (1999-2018) a par ailleurs estimé que l’abonnement à cette chaîne devrait être inférieur à 20 euros.”Il y aura une chaîne Ligue 1 à la reprise du championnat. On y travaille. On communiquera sur la façon dont on va procéder à la fin du mois de juin, puisqu’il faut être prêt pour le 15 août, date de la reprise du championnat”, a expliqué mercredi Nicolas de Tavernost, devenu fin avril directeur général de LFP Media, réitérant des propos tenus sur RMC.  La création de cette chaîne est actée depuis le divorce début mai entre la Ligue et DAZN, qui était cette saison son principal partenaire audiovisuel.Deux chantiers occupent essentiellement l’ancien président du groupe M6 (2000-2024) : la production et la distribution de cette chaîne Ligue 1, qui sera propriété de la LFP.Pour ce qui est de la production, M. de Tavernost planche actuellement avec ses équipes sur ce qu’il pourra faire en interne et ce qui nécessitera d’être externalisé. Le 2 juin, LFP Media a lancé un appel d’offres pour quatre lots: la production des magazines, celle des avant et après matches, la gestion des multiplex et enfin la gestion des personnels éditoriaux. Les candidats intéressés ont jusqu’à jeudi pour rendre leur dossier. “Beaucoup ont répondu”, assure M. de Tavernost. – Un tarif pour les jeunes -Parmi les prétendants figurent ainsi DAZN qui, tournant la page des bisbilles avec la LFP, s’est dit prêt à investir 110 millions d’euros sur deux ans dans cette chaîne.Canal+, ex-partenaire historique de la Ligue 1, serait également disposé à investir dans cette future chaîne, comme l’ont indiqué plusieurs sources à l’AFP, sans que l’on connaisse les détails de cet éventuel engagement. Ce pourrait être dans la distribution de la chaîne, l’autre chantier de LFP Media. “Qui va la distribuer et comment elle va être distribuée?”, telle est en effet l’autre question à laquelle doit répondre M. de Tavernost.Cette chaîne, précise-t-il, sera disponible directement via une application et via les distributeurs classiques – encore à déterminer – que sont les fournisseurs d’accès à internet (FAI) ou les plateformes (Canal Plus, BeIn, DAZN, mais aussi Amazon, Warner ou Disney).  LFP Media souhaiterait obtenir de son distributeur un montant minimum garanti qu’elle pourrait réallouer directement aux clubs, mais les candidats rechignent sur ce point. S’il se montre encore prudent sur le tarif de cette future chaîne, Nicolas de Tavernost a affirmé qu’il serait “inférieur à 20 euros” et qu’il existera un abonnement à destination des jeunes.En parallèle de ses deux chantiers prioritaires, de Tavernost discute avec BeIn Sport, toujours propriétaire jusqu’à la saison prochaine d’un match par journée de championnat. “BeIn a le droit de conserver son match, il apporte en contrepartie 80 millions d’euros en cash à la Ligue 1. Je ne garantis pas que l’année prochaine, il y aura neuf matches sur la chaîne de la Ligue 1, il pourrait n’y en avoir que huit. Par contre, l’année suivante, il y aura bien neuf matches sur la chaîne”, explique Nicolas de Tavernost qui vise le million d’abonnés pour la première saison. 

Police make arrests in downtown LA during nighttime curfew

Downtown Los Angeles was largely calm overnight into Wednesday, with police arresting at least 25 people for violating a curfew after a fifth day of protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.Heavily armed security officers, including several riding horses, patrolled near government buildings, while men boarded up storefronts after dark on Tuesday to protect against vandalism.Looting and vandalism in the second-biggest US city have marred the largely peaceful protests over ramped-up arrests by immigration authorities.The demonstrations, which began Friday, and isolated acts of violence prompted Trump to take the extraordinary step of sending in troops, over the objection of the state governor.One protester told AFP the arrest of migrants in a city with large immigrant and Latino populations was the root of the unrest.”I don’t think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It’s whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence,” she said Tuesday.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the curfew — meant to stop vandalism and looting — was in effect within one square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city’s more-than-500 square mile area from 8:00 pm and 6:00 am (0300 to 1300 GMT).That zone was off-limits for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services, she added.Protests against immigration arrests by federal law enforcement have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Austin.On Tuesday, in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven, dozens of demonstrators waved American and Mexican flags and held signs against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that has ramped up arrests and deportations of migrants under Trump.”You got people that are being arrested on the street by (immigration) agents that don’t wear badges, wear masks… it makes me really angry,” 26-year-old protester Brendon Terra told AFP.- Breaking curfew -The Los Angeles protests again turned ugly Tuesday night, but an hour into the curfew only a handful of protesters were left downtown, with police making several arrests as they warned stragglers to leave.”Multiple groups continue to congregate” within the designated downtown curfew area, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) wrote on X late Tuesday. “Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated.”Police arrested at least 25 people on suspicion of violating the curfew as of Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing an LAPD spokesperson.At their largest, the protests have included a few thousand people taking to the streets, but smaller groups have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows.Overnight Monday 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days.- ‘Provide protection’ -Trump has activated 4,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control, even though local law enforcement authorities insisted they could handle the unrest.A military spokeswoman said the Marines were expected to be on the streets by Wednesday. Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and provide protection to federal officers during immigration enforcement operations.The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million.Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.Late Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state would deploy its National Guard “to locations across the state to ensure peace & order” after solidarity protests.- Behaving like ‘a tyrant’ -In sprawling Los Angeles on Tuesday, it was largely a typical day, with tourists thronging Hollywood Boulevard, children attending school and commuter traffic choking streets.But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump painted a darker picture.”What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty,” the Republican told troops at Fort Bragg.”We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.”California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump’s shock militarization of the city was the behavior of “a tyrant, not a president.”In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing.US law largely prevents the use of the military as a police force — absent the declaration of an insurrection, which Trump has mused.The president “is trying to use emergency declarations to justify bringing in first the National Guard and then mobilizing Marines,” said law professor Frank Bowman.

Attacks in central Nigeria kill at least 20Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:16:57 GMT

Attacks in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state have killed at least 20 people this week, local government and humanitarian sources said Wednesday, in the region’s latest flare-up of violence.The three separate assaults across the Mangu local government area followed a series of attacks and reprisals that appear to have started while people were mining in the …

Attacks in central Nigeria kill at least 20Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:16:57 GMT Read More »

Rare earths: China’s trump card in trade war with US

China is counting on one crucial advantage as it seeks to grind out a deal to ease its high-stakes trade war with the United States — dominance in rare earths.Used in electric vehicles, hard drives, wind turbines and missiles, rare earth elements are essential to the modern economy and national defence.AFP takes a look at how rare earths have become a key sticking point in talks between the US and China.- Mining boom -“The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths,” Deng Xiaoping, the late Chinese leader whose pro-market reforms set the country on its path to becoming an economic powerhouse, said in 1992.Since then, Beijing’s heavy investment in state-owned mining firms and lax environmental regulations compared to other industry players have turned China into the world’s top supplier.The country now accounts for 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency.But the flow of rare earths from China to manufacturers around the world has slowed after Beijing in early April began requiring domestic exporters to apply for a licence — widely seen as a response to US tariffs.Under the new requirements — which industry groups have said are complex and slow-moving — seven key elements and related magnets require Beijing’s approval to be shipped to foreign buyers.- Deep impact -Ensuring access to the vital elements has become a top priority for US officials in talks with Chinese counterparts, with the two sides meeting this week in London.”The rare earth issue has clearly… overpowered the other parts of the trade negotiations because of stoppages at plants in the United States,” said Paul Triolo, a technology expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, in an online seminar on Monday.That disruption, which forced US car giant Ford to temporarily halt production of its Explorer SUV, “really got the attention of the White House”, said Triolo.Officials from the two countries said Tuesday that they had agreed on a “framework” for moving forward on trade — with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressing optimism that concerns over access to rare earths “will be resolved” eventually.- Rare earth advantage -The slowing of licence issuance has raised fears that more automakers will be forced to halt production while they await shipments.China’s commerce ministry said over the weekend that as a “responsible major country” it had approved a certain number of export applications, adding that it was willing to strengthen related dialogue with “relevant countries”.But that bottleneck has highlighted Washington’s reliance on Chinese rare earths for producing its defence equipment even as trade and geopolitical tensions deepen.An F-35 fighter jet contains over 900 pounds (more than 400 kilograms) of rare earth elements, noted a recent analysis by Gracelin Baskaran and Meredith Schwartz of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.”Developing mining and processing capabilities requires a long-term effort, meaning the United States will be on the back foot for the foreseeable future,” they wrote.- Playing catch up -The recent export control measures are not the first time China has leveraged its dominance of rare earths supply chains.After a 2010 maritime collision between a Chinese trawler and Japanese coast guard boats in disputed waters, Beijing briefly halted shipments of its rare earths to Tokyo.The episode spurred Japan to invest in alternative sources and improve  stockpiling of the vital elements — with limited success.That is “a good illustration of the difficulty of actually reducing dependence on China”, said Triolo, noting that in the 15 years since the incident, Japan has achieved only “marginal gains”.The Pentagon is trying to catch up, with its “mine-to-magnet” strategy aiming to ensure an all-domestic supply chain for the key components by 2027.The challenge facing Washington to compete with Beijing in rare earths is compounded by sheer luck: China sits on the world’s largest reserves.”Mineable concentrations are less common than for most other mineral commodities, making extraction more costly,” wrote Rico Luman and Ewa Manthey of ING in an analysis published Tuesday.”It is this complex and costly extraction and processing that make rare earths strategically significant,” they wrote.”This gives China a strong negotiating position.”