145 revellers stabbed with syringes in wave of attacks at huge music festival after calls on social media to jab women
Victims were taken to hospital for toxicology tests after fears they could have been injected with a mystery poison.
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Some reported feeling unwell following the pricks.
Millions took to the cobblestone pavements across France on Saturday to attend a street music festival called Fête de la Musique.
The stabbings happened across France with 13 jabbed in Paris, according to cops.
Disgusting calls on social media had spread before the festival calling for women to be stabbed, according to Le Monde.
French cops have arrested 12 people.
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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
France's top court annuls arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad
France's highest court has cancelled an arrest warrant for the former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country's civil war. The Cour de cassation declared the warrant invalid under international law, which gives heads of state personal immunity from prosecution in foreign courts while they are in office. The judges ruled there were no exceptions, but said their decision did allow for a new arrest warrant to be issued now Assad was no longer a head of state. Since December 2024, Assad has been living in exile in Russia after rebels led by Turkish-backed forces took control of Syria. Mariana Pena, a senior legal counsel with the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), said the ruling was a 'missed opportunity' for the court to make an exception on the waiving of immunity for heads of state accused of the most serious crimes, but added the campaign to bring Assad to justice would continue. A French court issued the international arrest warrant in November 2023 in response to two chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In the first, in August 2013, the banned gas sarin is believed to have killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, in the district of Ghouta, in eastern Damascus. In the second, in April 2018, 450 people were injured in the towns of Adra and Douma. The case that led to the arrest warrant was brought by civil parties including survivors of the attacks, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and the OSJI. Its cancellation was initially sought by France's anti-terrorism office on the grounds of head of state immunity. Last year, the Paris court of appeal upheld the warrant following a request for annulment, only for the anti-terrorism office and the public prosecutors' office to lodge a fresh appeal. At the appeal hearing, the OSJI argued that immunity should not apply when leaders perpetrated grave crimes against their own population. France has previously issued international arrest warrants for three other senior Syrian officials, including the former leader's brother Maher al-Assad for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Cour de Cassation did not rule on these warrants, which are still in effect. The sarin attack in 2013 almost led to US intervention in Syria's civil war. Barack Obama, then US president, had warned Assad that the use of chemical weapons would be a 'red line', but backed down from military action after Syria agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion In 2020, a report by the UN-aligned body that oversees chemical weapons use accused Syria of using sarin gas on the battlefield. The report was hailed by rights groups as a landmark moment with implications for war crimes investigations. The Syrian conflict began with protests and pro-democracy rallies in 2011 and escalated into civil war the following year. Up to 610,000 people are believed to have died.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
French supreme court cancels arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad
France's supreme court has cancelled an arrest warrant for the former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country's civil war. The Cour de cassation declared the warrant invalid under international law, which gives heads of state personal immunity from prosecution in foreign courts while they are in office. The judges ruled there were no exceptions, but said their decision did allow for a new arrest warrant to be issued now Assad is no longer a head of state. Since December 2024, Assad has been living in exile in Russia after rebels led by Turkish-backed forces took control of Syria. Mariana Pena, a senior legal counsel with the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), said the ruling was a 'missed opportunity' for the court to make an exception on the waiving of immunity for heads of state accused of the most serious crimes, but added the campaign to bring Assad to justice would continue. A French court issued the international arrest warrant in November 2023 in response to two chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In the first, in August 2013, the banned gas sarin is believed to have killed more than 1,000 people including hundreds of children in the district of Ghouta in eastern Damascus. The second, in April 2018, saw 450 people injured in the towns of Adra and Douma. The case that led to the arrest warrant was brought by civil parties including survivors of the attacks, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and the OSJI. Its cancellation was initially sought by France's anti-terrorism office on the grounds of head of state immunity. Last year, the Paris court of appeal upheld the warrant following a request for annulment, only for the anti-terrorism office and the public prosecutors' office to lodge a fresh appeal. At the appeal hearing, the OSJI argued that immunity should not apply when leaders perpetrated grave crimes against their own population. France has previously issued international arrest warrants for three other senior Syrian officials, including the former leader's brother, Maher al-Assad for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Cour de Cassation did not rule on these warrants, which are still in effect. The sarin attack in 2013 almost led to US intervention in Syria's civil war. Barack Obama, then US president, had warned Assad that the use of chemical weapons would be a 'red line', but backed down from military action after Syria agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion In 2020, a report by the UN-aligned body that oversees chemical weapons use accused Syria of using sarin gas on the battlefield. The report was hailed by rights groups as a landmark moment with implications for war crimes investigations. The Syrian conflict began with protests and pro-democracy rallies in 2011 and escalated into civil war the following year. Up to 610,000 people are believed to have died in the conflict.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
France's top court says arrest warrant for Assad is invalid, new one can be issued
PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - France's highest court ruled on Friday that an arrest warrant for former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was invalid as it was issued when he was still in office, but said a new warrant can now be issued as he is no longer a sitting head of state. French investigating magistrates issued the warrant in November 2023 following a French investigation into chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian city of Douma and Eastern Ghouta district in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people. Then-President Assad's government denied using chemical weapons during the country's civil war that began in 2011. Assad was toppled last December by Islamist rebels whose leader is now the interim president. The Court of Cassation's decision overturns one made by the Paris Court of Appeal, which ruled last year that the warrant was valid. Prosecutors, who would need to ask police to carry out the warrant, challenged its validity. "International custom does not allow any exception to the personal immunity of a foreign head of state during the entire duration of their term in office, even when the alleged acts constitute genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity," the Court of Cassation said in a statement. "The arrest warrant issued at a time when this person was the head of state of Syria is therefore invalid ... However, an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity can now be issued since this person no longer holds the position of Head of State." Mariana Pena, senior legal officer at Open Society Justice Initiative which helped gather evidence against Assad, described the court's ruling as "a missed opportunity for justice." But she said the fact that France's top court had agreed to hear the case signalled a growing willingness to challenge immunity. This, she said, was also reflected in "today's decision which leaves the door open to the prosecution of Assad" now that he is no longer in office. Separately, French officials issued a warrant in January against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, notably the launch of a deliberate attack on civilians, as part of a inquiry into the case of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national, who was killed in 2017 in a bombing strike in Syria. Assad fled to Russia in December 2024 when insurgent forces swept through the country in a rapid offensive, ending over 50 years of rule by his family. While arrest warrants against sitting heads of state are rare due to immunity protection, international law has exceptions when that leader is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts.
