AUTHORITIES in France have opened an investigation into anti-Semitic remarks hurled at a noted philosopher during a yellow vest protest in the capital.
The Paris prosecutor’s office announced the investigation was into “public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion”.
A few demonstrators targeted philosopher Alain Finkielkraut with insults on the sidelines of a protest through Paris on Saturday.
The incident prompted criticism from President Emmanuel Macron and a handful of other prominent French figures.
The incident has raised national concerns about the yellow vest movement’s growing radical fringe.
The increasingly divided movement has protested every Saturday since November 17, but some groups rallied yesterday to celebrate its three-month birthday.
The demonstrations, which began as protests against a fuel tax hike, have broadened to include a range of issues ordinary families are facing.
AT least nine people in India have died after a fire broke out at a slum in Bangladesh.
The fire began while residents of Chittagong city slept.
As many as 200 shanty homes were gutted before firefighters brought the blaze under control.
Four of the dead were from a single family.
The cause of the fire was not yet known and an investigation has been ordered.
POLICE in the United States say four people are dead and a suspect is in custody after a domestic dispute in Mississippi led to a fatal hostage situation.
The incident began at about 2.30am on Saturday inside a home in the city of Clinton and lasted for about 12 hours, a spokesman said.
Police chief Ford Hayman said two children who had been inside were released before the hostage situation ended.
ALSO in the US, Chicago police have said “the trajectory of the investigation” into the reported attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett has shifted.
Two men were detained for questioning on Friday but released without charge.
Authorities now want to conduct another interview with Smollett.
The actor claims two masked attackers looped a rope around his neck while shouting racial and anti-gay slurs at him on January 29. He said they also poured some kind of chemical on him.
Lawyers for Smollett said the actor would continue to cooperate with police, but felt “victimised” by reports that he might have been involved in the attack.
Police said they combed surveillance video but were unable to find any footage of the attack.
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