France returns sacred talking drum looted from Côte d’Ivoire over 100 years ago

Djidji Ayôkwé was handed to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this month

A sacred artefact looted by French colonial authorities more than a century ago has been returned to Côte d’Ivoire in one of the most significant cultural restitutions to a former French colony in years.

The Djidji Ayôkwé, a talking drum confiscated in 1916 by French administrators, landed at 8.45am on Friday at the airport in Port Bouët on the outskirts of the economic capital, Abidjan. It was handed over to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this month after being removed from the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum.

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‘I don’t give a shit about Iran. I don’t want to pay higher gas’: Motor City motorists feel pinch as gas prices surge

Drivers in Detroit are unhappy with the spike in gas prices, even if reactions are mixed to the US-Israel war on Iran

On a rainy Detroit afternoon at a gas station off Interstate 75, Victor Rodriguez watched the pump tally tick up as he filled up his F-250 diesel pickup truck for $4.19 per gallon. It totaled $110. “Ridiculous,” he said.

The US-Israel war on Iran has crippled major portions of the oil supply chain, sending gas prices soaring as the conflict enters its third week. Rodriguez said he supports “getting rid of this thug”, referring to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by the US, but the cost is too high.

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Israeli-backed Palestinian militias step up operations against Hamas in Gaza

Armed groups appear to have increased their firepower as they carry out raids deep in Hamas-controlled territory

Pro-Israel Palestinian militia have launched repeated raids, clandestine assassination and abduction operations deep inside parts of Gaza controlled by Hamas in recent months, with new operations launched recently despite the outbreak of conflict with Iran.

The militia, which are all based in eastern parts of Gaza that are under Israeli control after a ceasefire came into effect in October, have received significant logistic support from Israel since last year but appear to have increased their firepower, allowing new and more aggressive attacks in recent weeks.

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Clerics question Khamenei Jr’s leadership role | Iran International – ایران اینترنشنال

  1. Clerics question Khamenei Jr’s leadership role | Iran International  ایران اینترنشنال
  2. Iran’s new supreme leader has yet to appear, and the system may not need him to  CNN
  3. Iran’s new leader issues first statement: Strait of Hormuz must remain closed until war ends  The Hill
  4. Hegseth claims Iran's supreme leader is "wounded and likely disfigured"  Axios
  5. The New Khamenei  Foreign Affairs
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Two wounded as Hezbollah continues attacks on Israel’s North – The Jerusalem Post

  1. Two wounded as Hezbollah continues attacks on Israel’s North  The Jerusalem Post
  2. After Friday airstrikes, IDF says over 110 Hezbollah command centers hit since escalation  The Times of Israel
  3. 'Just Follow the Money': How Hezbollah Recovered and Resurged in Lebanon  Haaretz
  4. Hezbollah’s Gamble  Phenomenal World
  5. Another front in the war with Iran: the Israel-Lebanon border  NPR
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Who are the key figures in the sewage crisis, and where are they now?

With anger stoked by Channel 4’s drama Dirty Business, we look at what has happened to some of the main players

Water companies have been in the public eye for the wrong reasons again recently. South West Water was in the dock pleading guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption, while the regulator fined South East Water £22.5m for repeated supply failures that affected more than 280,000 people over three years.

As the full scale of the sewage pollution scandal has been revealed to the public over the past six years, key figures working for the regulators and the privatised companies have been heavily criticised. Channel 4’s drama Dirty Business has focused attention on individuals at the heart of the scandal.

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An environmental activist and her family escaped death threats in Honduras. ICE deported her husband anyway

Oscar, Ana and their children fled violence for safety in the US. Now Oscar, afraid and alone, is back in Honduras – ‘at the mercy of God and his will’

As soon as Oscar’s deportation flight landed at the La Lima airport in Honduras, he put on his baseball cap. On the airport shuttle toward the terminal, he pulled his cap even lower – trying to obscure his face at various police checkpoints.

His parents picked him up in a car, and drove him to a lodging they had arranged for him – miles away from his family home. He has hardly stepped outside since. “Because I can’t trust anyone – not the authorities, not the government, not a police officer,” he said. He has visited his mother a handful of times since the US deported him three weeks ago, and only under the cover of night. “They will kill anyone here. There is death everywhere.”

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‘A minefield’: taoiseach prepares for St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington

Traditionally jovial affair poses potential debacle for Irish leader at odds with US over foreign policy, tax and immigration

For Ireland’s leaders, it has long been the highlight of the political calendar: a love-fest in Washington with hosts who sport shamrocks and toast Saint Patrick.

Irish delegations are traditionally received on Capitol Hill and at the White House in a blaze of goodwill and backslapping that has them wishing every day was 17 March.

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US defends Israel against South Africa’s allegation of genocide in top UN court – The Times of Israel

  1. US defends Israel against South Africa’s allegation of genocide in top UN court  The Times of Israel
  2. Netherlands Joins South Africa's ICJ Case Accusing Israel of Genocide in Gaza  Haaretz
  3. Israel's ICJ genocide defense brief likely delayed by war  The Jerusalem Post
  4. US defends Israel in new ICJ intervention in South Africa genocide case  Middle East Eye
  5. Six countries intervene in ICJ genocide case against Israel  thenationalnews.com
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Romania’s Eurovision song criticised for ‘glamorising sexual strangulation’

Calls for Alexandra Căpitănescu’s Choke Me to be banned as campaigners say lyrics are ‘dangerous’ and ‘reckless’

Romania’s Eurovision entry Choke Me has been labelled “dangerous” and “reckless” for appearing to glamorise sexual strangulation, an unsafe practice that can lead to brain injury and death.

Campaigners against sexual violence said the entry, in which the words “choke me” are repeated 30 times during the three-minute song, was “playing fast and loose with young women’s lives”.

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Bailiffs board Ryanair plane after airline refuses to pay delayed flight compensation

Austrian officials took action after airline ignored court order to pay €890 to unnamed women

Bailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.

Austrian officials took action after the budget carrier ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman €890 (£742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago.

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Patients face long journeys for medicines as pharmacies cut weekend hours

More than 20% of weekend availability lost in England since 2022, forcing some to turn to A&E, says national association

People who need to obtain medication at the weekend are having to undertake long trips because more pharmacies are cutting their opening hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

One in six pharmacies in England have reduced their hours at weekends since 2022, with some shutting altogether, as a result of “unsustainable” pressures on their budgets.

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Iranian attacks escalate across Middle East as container ship struck near Dubai – Fox News

  1. Iranian attacks escalate across Middle East as container ship struck near Dubai  Fox News
  2. Tracking Iranian attacks on civilian ships in the Gulf  Reuters
  3. Thailand’s Precious Shipping Falls To One-Month Low After Cargo Vessel Struck In Strait Of Hormuz  Forbes
  4. Strike on Thai tanker in Strait of Hormuz may be message to the U.S., analyst says  CBS News
  5. Tracking the wave of ship attacks that has choked off Strait of Hormuz  BBC
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‘We’re living in an Orwellian nightmare’: Grace Tame calls Anthony Albanese a ‘coward’ in scathing critique

In an essay for Crikey, the former Australian of the Year says the PM is a ‘turncoat’ who is ‘capitulating to foreign powers’ amid the US-Israel war on Iran

Grace Tame has said “we’re living in an Orwellian nightmare” in a scathing critique of the prime minister and his government’s position on the war in the Middle East.

In an essay published in Crikey on Friday, the advocate for sexual abuse survivors and human rights activist accused Anthony Albanese of being a “coward” and a “turncoat” for refusing to condemn the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

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