France Expels Palestinian Activist

Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France 
Christophe SIMON - AFP
Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP
TT

France Expels Palestinian Activist

Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France 
Christophe SIMON - AFP
Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, has been expelled by France Christophe SIMON - AFP

France on Friday expelled a Palestinian activist to Egypt after a protracted court battle over her presence, police said.

Mariam Abu Daqqa, 72, is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which is considered a "terrorist" organization by the European Union.

Abu Daqqa was detained by police on Wednesday night after the State Council, France's highest administrative court, overturned a lower court ruling that had suspended an interior ministry expulsion order.

Abu Daqqa had a 50 day visa to visit France to take part in conferences on the Middle East conflict. The ministry said that her presence was a risk after the deadly October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel.

She took part in two conferences that had been banned while in France.

Reached by phone at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport as she awaited a flight to Cairo, Abu Daqqa slammed her expulsion as "an attack against the right of Palestine to have a state, an identity, an existence".

"The process that I have undergone is not worthy of a democratic government," she said.

Her lawyers, Elsa Marcel and Marie David, told AFP they would launch further appeals and even take the case to the European Court of Human rights.

France, which has large Jewish and Muslim populations, has seen a spike in tensions amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.



Russia Defense Ministry Says its Jets Prevented US Bomber Planes Violating State Border

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, July 19, 2024, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan  (Hurricane) fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, July 19, 2024, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan  (Hurricane) fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
TT

Russia Defense Ministry Says its Jets Prevented US Bomber Planes Violating State Border

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, July 19, 2024, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan  (Hurricane) fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, July 19, 2024, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan  (Hurricane) fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets prevented US В-52Н strategic bombers from violating the state border over the Barents Sea.
"As the Russian fighter jets approached, the American strategic bombers adjusted their flight course... and subsequently turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation," the ministry said in a statement.